Sports SUV surprise

Just two weeks ago, we told you all about Volvo's all-new XC60 and today it's Audi's chance to stake its claim on the ever-growing niche.

Audi likes to think that it's 'establishing a new market segment' in Q5, but is actually just the latest carmaker to throw its best at those people who until now had nothing much more then the BMW X3 to opt for.

Still, the benefit of being able to make good on wherever its main rival may have erred gives Audi a certain advantage over its almost five-year old rival. And the all-new Q5, or performance sports utility vehicle as Audi likes to call it, certainly does seem to deliver ? if first impressions are anything to go by.

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It reckons Q5 combines the dynamic appeal of a sports sedan with an impressively versatile interior and multiple capabilities aimed at both leisure and family use. And we have to admit, they seem to have done a bloody good job at it, too.

Any SUV (or SAV or 4x4 or whatever you want to call it) has to compromise and it seems Audi has benchmarked that X3 rival in its efforts to provide Mr. Everyman with a great all-rounder.

So while Q5 has adequate off-road skills, it stars on the road. The vast majority of the people who buy this thing won't ever get off the tarmac, so who cares about off-road ability anyway ? even though Q5 can do off-road reasonably well?

On the road we were immediately impressed with the new arrival. And at a starting price of R407 000, if you have an active family, it immediately begs the question why bother with a similarly powered A4 in the first place? Or an avant?

See, Q5 brings a hell of a lot more to the party for not much more money, creating a most interesting choice for anyone walking onto an Audi showroom floor ? especially considering that the Q5 hardly suffers the perceived disadvantages of '4x4' driving on the road.

It?s pretty well just like an A4 on the tar and has the advantage of a 'command' driving position that gives you a better look out over the road and traffic.

Anyway, what about this Q5 then?