Audi Q5 SUV drives like a dreambut has baffling controls

ByABC News
July 17, 2009, 8:48 PM

— -- Audi's Q5 compact SUV jumped from non-existent at the start of this year to become the brand's second-best seller in the U.S., behind the A4 sedan on which it is mechanically based.

That illustrates two key points: Audi was smart enough to spot a hole in its lineup and fill it fast, and even in a recession there have been buyers for premium-price crossover SUVs.

The Q5 starts at about $38,000. Audi figures you'll consider the Q5 if your shopping list includes the likes of BMW X3, Lexus RX 350, Volvo XC60.

Based on time spent in a $48,275 test vehicle, what you get in the Q5 is a sweet-driving vehicle with commendable space for its size, comfort to be coveted and controls that are unnecessarily complicated.

As Ford shows in the top versions of the 2010 Taurus, you can have a lot of functions and have them simply controlled.

The Q5 comes only with a 3.2-liter V-6, "quattro" all-wheel drive and a six-speed automatic though Audi says it's mulling a diesel option and definitely plans a hybrid version as soon as the first quarter of 2011.

Audi is almost boringly consistent in personality. You can recognize what folks in the auto business love to call the company's "DNA" in everything from the small A3 and TT to the big A8 sedan and R8 sports car: Tight gaps between body panels; rich but simple interior trim; firm and comfortable seats; potent engines; crisp-shifting transmissions; right-now brake response; artful lighting; eye-ravishing styling.

And the absurd MMI control system whether the full-Cleveland version in the pricey models or MMI Lite in Q5 and other lower-price Audis. Under no circumstances should you need to search through a menu to tune the radio, nor pick among four out-of-sight-while-driving buttons to diddle with the station presets or the sound mix or control any other routine functions.

MMI can be sufficient reason to take an Audi off your list, just as BMW's iDrive is an argument against buying that brand and Mercedes-Benz's Comand setup is a pretty good reason to buy a Lexus instead.