Audi Q5 - Interior, design & technology
Audi’s latest cabin design centres around cutting-edge technology, however this may have been at the expense of material quality
While the design of the BMW X3 is more divisive than ever these days, the Audi Q5 has stuck with a sophisticated, quite dynamic yet understated look. There are more than a few new styling details, such as the wide single-frame grille with the brand’s recently refreshed, 2D four-ring badge, plus slim LED headlights and a sizeable pair of air intakes on either side of the bumper.
At the rear, the Q5 features a full-length light bar and a set of customisable LED tail-lights, which are designed to emphasise the car’s width. There’s also a third brake light in the roof-mounted spoiler with a “mirror” function, meaning it projects onto the rear window for increased visibility. Alloy wheel sizes range from 19 to 21 inches.
What is the Audi Q5 like inside?
The Q5 features the same tech-centric interior design as the closely related A5 saloon and estate, as well as the all-electric A6 e-tron and Q6 e-tron. The focal point is what Audi calls the ‘Digital Stage’, which is a curved panel that incorporates the 11.9-inch Virtual Cockpit driver’s display and a 14.5-inch central touchscreen found in every model.
Range-topping models also feature a separate 10.9-inch passenger screen, which is integrated into the dashboard and allows whoever is riding shotgun to control the media, navigation and even stream content, supposedly without distracting the driver.
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We’ve never seen the point of these passenger screens, and the Q5’s does nothing to convince us that these aren’t just a gimmick. If you really need something to occupy your passengers on long journeys, just buy them an iPad.
Entry-level Sport models feature a round four-spoke steering wheel with silver accents, while S Line and Edition 1 trim add a sportier looking, and slightly nicer, three-spoke one with a flat top and bottom. Both feature haptic feedback panels, rather than physical buttons, which look sleek and modern, but proved very annoying during our testing because we often had the radio suddenly coming on after we merely grazed one of the buttons.
What is the interior quality like?
The Q5’s interior looks incredibly impressive and premium, with squidgy materials on the dashboard and an ambient lighting strip stretching across it too, extending onto the doors. We really liked the cream upholstery in our test car, which made the cabin feel even more spacious. Other models we drove featured ‘Dinamica’ upholstery and fabric on lots of surfaces. It’s made of roughly 50 per cent recycled polyester, but gives the look and feel of suede.
On closer inspection, you quickly notice the amount of plastics in the Q5’s interior, and some do feel cheap. For instance, there’s about three or four different plastic colours and finishes on the doors alone. As always, the piano black plastic on the centre console is likely to pick up dust, fingerprints and scratches. Overall everything feels very solid, from the indicators to the centre console, however the same thing is true about most Hyundais these days.
Sat-nav, stereo and infotainment
Every Q5 gets an 11.9-inch Virtual Cockpit driver’s display and 14.5-inch central touchscreen, which are both high-resolution OLED panels, like the best TVs. They’re incredibly sharp, responsive and simply impressive to behold, as the screens deliver stupendous black levels.
The very slick infotainment system is powered by Android Automotive, and can receive over-the-air updates from Audi. Owners can also add apps including YouTube and Spotify, although wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto come as standard too.
There are loads of menus and sub-menus for you to adjust various functions, right down to the front and rear lighting signature. Navigating them can be very distracting on the go, but thankfully there are some on-screen shortcut buttons, and the climate controls are permanently displayed along the bottom of the touchscreen.
There are two proper shortcut buttons on the centre console, one to switch drive modes, while the other, much more useful one opens up a customisable menu with toggle switches to deactivate key driver-assist functions.
It’s disappointing that the Q5’s driver’s display doesn’t offer a full-screen map view, because this used to be a standout feature of Audi’s Virtual Cockpit displays. The brand believes the central screen is now big enough you don’t need that anymore, but it’d be nice to still have the option.
Finally, like a lot of brands are doing these days, Audi has integrated hot-topic artificial intelligence tool ChatGPT into its “Hey Audi” virtual assistant. It can apparently perform about 800 different functions, though ironically, despite a dozen or so attempts, we learned one thing the virtual assistant can’t do is tell you what those functions are.
