New Ride!

We finally got a bit of sun here in Colorado, so I had a chance to get the car cleaned up. Beautiful morning to run out for some coffee and bagels and stop to snap a few pictures of the new Audi Q5 3.2FSI. So far I'm enjoying this car as much as any I've ever owned!

it looks great against 'The Front Range' Tim !

Very nice Tim!

There's a new ad over here showing the R8 Spyder looking particularly nice. Not very practical like yours, but nice nonetheless.

Enjoy the Q5, Tim.

Thanks Dave, Bernard and Justin.

Justin, the R8 is in a completely different class. When I picked mine up they had a coupe in the staging area. There was a kid sitting in it fiddling with everything and I was thinking "WOW, that's not cool". Turns out his dad was picking up the car at the same time as me. The guy showed me the car top to bottom before I left and I really fell in lust with it. It was the same color as mine (Quartz Grey) with the carbon fibre (that's for you Justin) side scoops. Once I got done drooling I was head over heels with my Q5 though.

I love how the Quartz Grey looks different depending on the ambient light. It might sound silly in comparison, but one of my favorite features about the car is the iPod interface. I can control everything from the steering wheel and it displays the track information on the MMI screen in the cockpit. Sounds great! I'll post some shots of the interior later.

I've just been looking at the range of options available for it in the audio/visual dept and it is pretty stunning what you can have. See below - hold down control and use the mouse wheel if it turns out to be difficult to read. These are the European options which I guess might be different stateside.

Mercedes - are you watching?

Now - CLS frames in Quartz Grey? It just might work, you know

Lookin' good Tim. Maybe you can give us a ride at the next RMAF??

Steve,

It is not a question of yes or no.

It's only a question of when.

Looking forward to RMAF 2010 and seeing all of you again.

That even includes the ubiquitous and ever "soft spoken / non opinionated" Twitch man.

Gordon

PS: Justin, time to make a trip.

Great car!

As for the R8, my good friend that takes care of Seinfeld's fleet of Porsches told me that the R8 is an amazing car, and will probably not hold it's value as a collectible, so if I want one, to wait a few years.

In the meantime, I'm thinkin a TT roadster will hold me over!

ultimate factories

you may want to check this out.

http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/series/ultimate-factories/4544/Overview

very nice wheels tim, love the flatirons behind it.

I went to the launch for the Q5 in San Diego California. With an unbiased opinion, this is the best handling SUV in its class on the road. At the launch, we were able to drive an X3, get out and walk 5 steps into a Q5 to so side by side comparisons. This also included the Infiniti FX and the Lexus RX although the RX is technically in a larger SUV class and should be comparable to the Q7.
Anyway, it is kind of like speakers...most people do not know the difference between a great speaker and a good speaker because they do not hear them one right after the other. Sometimes I think that my car stereo system that I meticulously planned sounds great. Then I get home and throw the same cd on the logans and BAM...I feel like a newbie again!

Thats how great the Q5 is. Great choice!
by the way, I dont mean to insult the other vehicles...i guess they are ok...lol
Dominick

Nice ride Tim! I had a A4 back in 05 and 06 and had a lot of fun with it.

Dominick22 said:

I went to the launch for the Q5 in San Diego California. With an unbiased opinion, this is the best handling SUV in its class on the road. ...
Thats how great the Q5 is. Great choice!
by the way, I dont mean to insult the other vehicles...i guess they are ok...lol
Dominick

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I'll bet it's a great ride. Audi knows how to make a vehicle; I especially love their interior designs. I would say that the Porsche Cayenne is one very fine handling SUV, the best I've driven, but I haven't driven the Audi.

Cayenne is the same base as the Toureg and Q7, I think the Q5 is the same base as the smaller VW SUV and there was talk (before VW took over Porsche) that there would be a little brother to the Cayenne... Cayenne Turbo is SUPERFAST! Wicked fast even!

R8...rides and drives nice, but to sterile for me. Not enough pomp and circumstance plus those blades just look like crap to me! I like the spider version better because it does not have those blades on it. Don't get me wrong, from the drivers seat on a long trip, there are few better places to sit than in an R8 (cough 928 GTS) but...there are many other cars I would take before an R8 FOR SURE (Maserati GranTurismo for sure!)

Pcar928fan said:

Cayenne is the same base as the Toureg and Q7, I think the Q5 is the same base as the smaller VW SUV and there was talk (before VW took over Porsche) that there would be a little brother to the Cayenne... Cayenne Turbo is SUPERFAST! Wicked fast even!

R8...rides and drives nice, but to sterile for me. Not enough pomp and circumstance plus those blades just look like crap to me! I like the spider version better because it does not have those blades on it. Don't get me wrong, from the drivers seat on a long trip, there are few better places to sit than in an R8 (cough 928 GTS) but...there are many other cars I would take before an R8 FOR SURE (Maserati GranTurismo for sure!)

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Actually, the Q5 is built on the same base as the current A5/S5 - not the VW Tiguon. That's from where it derrives it's handling capabilities. It's a bit bigger than the Tiguon (the baby VW you were referencing James), smaller than the Tourag/Q7/Cayanne.

I've never ridden in an R8, nor enough Porsches for that matter. My boss has a recent (2008) 911 (but I don't what variant) and it's a blast! My old college roommate has a Cayanne Turbo and it's also capable of making me soil my underpants. Someday I'll own a Porsche - maybe something like Steve's Cayman!

Here's MY new ride... a Lexus RX 450h, in "matador red" metallic with perforated tan leather interior. Not as sporty as the Q5, but 32 MPG city/30 MPG hwy. Believe it or not, I did NOT get the Mark Levinson Premium sound pkg, but rather the basic stereo with the 12 speaker upgrade. I figure I can upgrade further after-market if need be, for a lot less $$. The base system has both USB and Bluetooth connectivity, so I'll have plenty of music playback options. This is my first new car in 10 yrs, so I have a long learning curve just to master the new technology!

Pcar928fan said:

Cayenne is the same base as the Toureg and Q7, I think the Q5 is the same base as the smaller VW SUV and there was talk (before VW took over Porsche) that there would be a little brother to the Cayenne... Cayenne Turbo is SUPERFAST! Wicked fast even!

R8...rides and drives nice, but to sterile for me. Not enough pomp and circumstance plus those blades just look like crap to me! I like the spider version better because it does not have those blades on it. Don't get me wrong, from the drivers seat on a long trip, there are few better places to sit than in an R8 (cough 928 GTS) but...there are many other cars I would take before an R8 FOR SURE (Maserati GranTurismo for sure!)

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Sorry for the minor hijack, Tim. James, you should have been at the Leander "Coffee and Cars" car show Sunday. There was a beautiful R8 there. I never liked the side blades on the car as seen in the magazines, but I think it looks cool in person. I was also surprised at the sporting shape to the front end as compared to how it looks in the magazines. I'd definitely consider that car if I were spending that kind of money on a vehicle.

MiTT said:

Actually, the Q5 is built on the same base as the current A5/S5 - not the VW Tiguon. That's from where it derrives it's handling capabilities. It's a bit bigger than the Tiguon (the baby VW you were referencing James), smaller than the Tourag/Q7/Cayanne.

I've never ridden in an R8, nor enough Porsches for that matter. My boss has a recent (2008) 911 (but I don't what variant) and it's a blast! My old college roommate has a Cayanne Turbo and it's also capable of making me soil my underpants. Someday I'll own a Porsche - maybe something like Steve's Cayman!

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Tim, that would be an excellent choice! I've got 20,000 miles on mine now and love it!

Tim -

Love the Q5... Melissa was looking at one before she decided on the RX. Felt the Audi was too "manly"! LOL...

Alan -

Test drove the RX350 (similar to yours) last week with my brother. Nice ride and quite like a bank vault.