2009 Audi Q5 3.2

In my role as a motor gopher and summer intern at Automobile Magazine, I spent nearly two hours with fellow intern Andrew Trahan taking photographs of the Q5. I've been curious to drive the Q5 since it was introduced as the Q7's smaller, better-looking sibling, and this was my first time driving any Audi. From the moment I spied its pearlescent white paint sparkling in the garage, I wasn't disappointed. The interior fit like a tightly sewn German glove (if there is such a thing). The controls were intuitive, the supple leather seats were supportive, and the car exuded quality. I spent time with a BMW X3 several years back, and by comparison the Q5 felt light-years ahead in quality and style. As unattractive as the X3 is, the Q5 is beautiful; as harshly as the X3 rides, the Q5 has a controlled feeling about it. It's difficult to imagine how the X3 can even compete with the Q5. Andrew, who is more familiar with the Audi product line, suggested that I try the Q5's three-mode suspension settings. The dynamic mode made the steering a little too heavy for what we were doing, which was, essentially, driving through a corner and smiling for the camera seventeen times in a row, so I switched over to "automatic" and left the dial in that position. The one flaw in the different modes is that "dynamic" = "sport," so if you only want to have sportier shifts, you still need to be in dynamic mode with the accompanying heavier steering and stiffer ride. BMW's system, on the other hand, allows you to dial in faster shifting without the stiffer suspension. Eventually, we moved our photo shoot to the heart of the University of Michigan campus, in search of a more stately backdrop. It was probably the best idea we had all afternoon. Driving the pearl-white Q5 around a college campus, I noticed everyone staring. Everyone. Students turned their heads and gawked. I knew what they were thinking. Who could THAT be driving around? Why is that car SO cool? Apart from slinking around in the magazine's Four Seasons Audi R8, I don't know how I would have gotten more stares. Jeffrey Jablansky, Intern