Every time a new Volkswagen or Audi is released, German tuner ABT Sportsline can be relied upon to come up with performance and appearance packages to enhance them. The latest ride to get attention is the Audi Q5, and as you can see in the renderings ABT sent out, the body kit helps matters, because the showroom-trim Q5 is actually pretty vanilla-looking. The new visuals are backed up by a modified suspension, 20" wheels, more braking power, and performance upgrades for each available engine. Depending on which mill is nestled underhood, horsepower in the ABT-tuned Q5 ranges from 240 horsepower for the 2.0 TFSI all the way up to 310 horses for the 3.0 TDI with the Power S package.
Taking a lesson from BMW, who have been successfully manufacturing cars and SUVs in Spartanburg, South Carolina for more than a decade, Audi may seek manufacturing capabilities for their A4 sedan and Q5 SUV in the States. The new Volkswagen factory in Chattanooga, Tennessee, just announced last week, may be tasked with building upwards of 200,000 vehicles per year -- including the two Audis. Estimated to cost $973.5 million, the 1,359 acre plant is large enough to handle the domestic production for VW, Audi, and even shareholder Porsche... although the proud automaker from Stuttgart vehemently denies even considering it.
For those of you queuing for the Q5, Audi has let loose a flood of new info on its high performance, low consumption, relatively low emission sports SUV. Consumers outside the U.S., get to choose between one of two diesel-sipping TDIs -- of 170 hp and 240 hp -- that are the envy of Stateside quattrophiles. Even with that 240 hp and 369 lb-ft, you'll still get 31 MPG. Folks in the fifty U.S. will need to make do with the 211 hp, 2.0-liter V6 FSI... which isn't exactly a complaint.
The vehicle wrapped around those engines is a study in efficiency, from the power steering pump to the energy recovery to the .33 coefficient of drag. The full press release is after the jump -- it's probably the only one you'll read this year that mentions a "holistic optimization of energy
Our sources indicate this rendering from OmniAuto.it is very close to what Audi's upcoming Q5 will look like. Although this looks like a photograph on an Italian web site, it is really a rendering that looks nearly identical to the Q5 spy shots we showed you in February. When it debuts later this month at the Beijing Motor Show, expect the engine to be a longitudinal (north-south) mount, to allow a variety of powerplants including V8 and TDI derivatives.
The Audi Q5 will reportedly make its official debut at the Bejing Motor Show next month and with Porsche's increased stake in the Volkswagen group – going from 31-percent to more than 50-percent – that means that VAG and Porsche might begin to finally play nice again with platform sharing.
Initially, the new Q5 was supposed to underpin Porsche's own mini 'ute, but rumors suggested that Audi's board nixed the idea for fear that a Porsche model sharing the same platform could steal sales from the new CUV. That's about to change as Porsche gets a few seats on VAG's board, and according to Autoweek, development of the vehicle-formerly-known as the Roxster is back in full swing.
While there's no new information about the Porsche, Audi's Q5 will be revealed packing the new seven-speed dual-clutch S-tronic gearbox mated to a longitudinal engine. The real benefit of the new DL500 transmission is that it can handle torque output up to 405 lb.-ft. and engine revs of 8,500 rpm. The new tranny will disseminate throughout the rest of the Audi lineup in coming years, first in Quattro models, including the new A4, and then on down to the automaker's front-wheel-drive models.
