Audi's New X3.. I mean Q5...

[X5audi]

^The new 2.0T engine has 11 more horsepower than the B7's engine, not to mention a whopping 58 more lb ft of torque. According to those who have driven it is a massive improvement. Combined with their new ZF six-speed transmission, it should be a lot of fun in the B8 A4.

Unfortunately, as far as I know the Q5 will only be available with the 270hp 3.2 at launch. Hopefully Audi will come to its senses and offer the 2.0T, if not the 3.0TDI.

[StanF18]

To me the side profile has similarities to the new Acura MDX body. Don't know what MSRP Audi will be asking for, but if it's going to be in the $mid-40s or higher, why limit yourself to 270 hp when the Acura will get you 300 horses for low $40s?

[FSETH]

Originally Posted by StanF18

To me the side profile has similarities to the new Acura MDX body. Don't know what MSRP Audi will be asking for, but if it's going to be in the $mid-40s or higher, why limit yourself to 270 hp when the Acura will get you 300 horses for low $40s?

German Vs. Japanese automotive engineering and IMO German wins everytime. Acura has done a good job with their 4-wheel drive system in the MDX, but the fit and finish in the Audi are much better than the Acura.

[AzNMpower32]

Originally Posted by FSETH

German Vs. Japanese automotive engineering and IMO German wins everytime. Acura has done a good job with their 4-wheel drive system in the MDX, but the fit and finish in the Audi are much better than the Acura.

The MDX doesn't feel like 300bhp. We've tried it before and felt it was good, but mediocre in many ways at the same time. There were plastics (esp. interior door handles) that come off a Civic. The sat nav is unfathomable for me. There's annoying blind spots, and the motor is coarser than we're used to from an inline-6.

[E61Silver]

Originally Posted by FSETH

German Vs. Japanese automotive engineering and IMO German wins everytime. Acura has done a good job with their 4-wheel drive system in the MDX, but the fit and finish in the Audi are much better than the Acura.

That may be true but if you are going to keep it long term, Japanese will require less maintenance.

[AzNMpower32]

Originally Posted by x54.4blue

That may be true but if you are going to keep it long term, Japanese will require less maintenance.

Parts will wear out on any car, and will require replacement. Most modern cars don't feel like they're built to last 3000 years anymore, mostly because we don't demand them. Let's not turn this into another Japanese reliability argument.

[E61Silver]

Originally Posted by AzNMpower32

Parts will wear out on any car, and will require replacement. Most modern cars don't feel like they're built to last 3000 years anymore, mostly because we don't demand them. Let's not turn this into another Japanese reliability argument.

Why because its true?

Funny but when one of members moved to VW everyone talk about reliability problems?

[AzNMpower32]

Reliability is stuff that is covered under warranty and should not break in the short term. This is inclusive of things like electric window regulators and electronic hiccups and moonroofs leaking.

But hardware will always age and require replacement. Just because something is a Honda, does it mean that the shocks and struts will last forever? I mean, do you expect them to last forever? I can tell you, we've had two Toyotas (okay, one of them was a Lexus ES to be precise) and they were reliable. But they were also aging. The '96 ES I drove had its fair share of problems. The only two fluids not leaking when I sold it at 126k was the brake fluid and windscreen washer fluid. The pass. window was slow. The valve cover was, and had been leaking badly, although this was an engineering/design flaw that was corrected the following year. There were other items as well.

Our X3 has been just as reliable than our previous cars, but much more enjoyable. It's been over 60k miles, and it starts the first time I try unless it was a bad tank of petrol. It's smooth, everything works properly, and it listens to what the driver asks. In the long term, I don't predict it to be any worse than the other Japanese cars we've had.

[sfhondapilot]

On the reliability question, I can vouch first hand that (a) my 2003 Honda Pilot is been MUCH better than my 2004 X3 (if you seen my posts over at bimmerfest you know what I am referring to as my s/n on that forum is sfca-325i). I can also say that our 2006 B7 A4 has been very reliable.

Here's a summary:

2003 Honda Pilot purchased new 12/02. Zero issues that I encountered that forced me to bring the car in for service. There were two service actions (airbag programming and oil jet kit for the tranny) that were performed at my scheduled maintenance.

2004 X3 3.0 si purchased new in 4/04.

• 4/05 replaced accelerator pedal and passenger mirror.
• 9/05 replaced passenger mirror.
• 12/05 replaced ignition coils.
• 3/06 replaced sunroof cassette and front passenger window regulator.
• 4/06 replaced sunroof cassette (second repair) and replaced front passenger seat mat.
• 5/06 replaced steering gear.
• 12/07 replaced rear disks and pads due to ebrake problem.
• 3/08 replaced front passenger seat mat (second repair). Some of these repairs required multiple visits (parts backordered, etc.)

Combine this with the tranny issues reported on the recent X3 models suggests that build quality is an issue.

2006 A4 2.0t cvt purchased new 11/05. So far, only scheduled maintenance has been performed. No service actions.

Honda/Acura seems, however, to have a problem with road noise. It's a common "con" mentioned in consumer reports. My pilot is no exception.

The fit and finish in the A4 has been excellent. Based on my direct experience with the A4, if the Q5 was offered with the 2.0T, I would definately consider that as a replacement for our X3.