I posted this in the AudiWorld Q5 forum and got basically no response. There are a few diesel owners over there but most are gasser owners and not TDI enthusiasts who want to know all about the engine or care that much about fuel efficiency.
I come over from a 2011 Touareg TDI with vastly different driving characteristics to my new (for me) Q5. That bigger rig with the gen 1 engine would upshift anywhere from 2200 rpm in sedate driving to 3500 in spirited driving. Sport mode wasn't particularly useful for it.
My Q5 TDI wants to upshift no higher than 1800-1900 in normal driving mode, maybe 2500 if I really push down on the pedal. It doesn't seem like it even uses the meat of the torque and hp curve this engine is blessed with. Not only am I not getting the performance the engine is capable of, if I am running at low revs using turbo boost I don't see how I am saving any mpg. It almost seems like Audi engineered the comfort mode to shift like a gasser.
I have paddle shifters (nice feature) and started off using them to downshift in normal mode when I thought I was revving too low, but now I think driving the car in sport mode and using the paddle shifters to upshift would be more suitable, more enjoyable, and possibly even more fuel efficient.
What do you all notice about your vehicle?
For an explanation of why 2000-3000 is the most fuel efficient rpm for a TDI when accelerating, see this link:
http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=335035
I come over from a 2011 Touareg TDI with vastly different driving characteristics to my new (for me) Q5. That bigger rig with the gen 1 engine would upshift anywhere from 2200 rpm in sedate driving to 3500 in spirited driving. Sport mode wasn't particularly useful for it.
My Q5 TDI wants to upshift no higher than 1800-1900 in normal driving mode, maybe 2500 if I really push down on the pedal. It doesn't seem like it even uses the meat of the torque and hp curve this engine is blessed with. Not only am I not getting the performance the engine is capable of, if I am running at low revs using turbo boost I don't see how I am saving any mpg. It almost seems like Audi engineered the comfort mode to shift like a gasser.
I have paddle shifters (nice feature) and started off using them to downshift in normal mode when I thought I was revving too low, but now I think driving the car in sport mode and using the paddle shifters to upshift would be more suitable, more enjoyable, and possibly even more fuel efficient.
What do you all notice about your vehicle?
For an explanation of why 2000-3000 is the most fuel efficient rpm for a TDI when accelerating, see this link:
http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=335035