First Drive: 2009 Audi Q5

Transforming the A4 Into an SUV By Erin Riches, Senior Editor We think it's normal to feel some trepidation when driving an SUV outside the United States, even a compact crossover like the 2009 Audi Q5. Utility vehicles don't get any kind of special treatment here in Valencia, Spain, and once you stray from the main motorways, the roads get narrow and drivers in subcompacts get fearless. Yet even as we're squeezing the Q5 between medieval buildings with tiny Renaults underfoot, we're relaxed, because Audi's new SUV is the right size. Probably you're not surprised to hear this, as the 2009 Audi Q5 is built in Ingolstadt, Germany, from the same unibody platform architecture as the 2009 Audi A4. Both ride on a 110.6-inch wheelbase, and the Q5 is actually 3 inches shorter than the A4 sedan at 182.2 inches. Audi's compact SUV is 3... [read full story]