Audi Q5 Tuning

"Thank you for reading this Audi Q5 tuning article."

People doubted that Audi needed a mid sized SUV in it's line up as the Q5 was launched in 2008 but it has gone on to be a very popular car with a wide ranging appeal.

Engine choices were limited but well specified namely two petrol varients, 2.0 L TFSI and the more powerful Quattro powering 3.2 L V6 FSI and diesel options were 2.0 L TDI diesel  and the now common 3.0 L TDI diesel V6.

All engines offer a good ratio of power and economy (if driven carefully) although the 142ps version of the diesel can feel a little underpowerd until remapped it still remains a good option.

From 2011 we see the introduction of a Hybrid option thankfully setup for power rather than economy.

The Q5 is a good project car to have. With the right mods your Q5 can be transformed into a fun car. Don't waste money, do your homework and follow our unbiased guides to each performance upgrade to avoid wasting money.

Our aim in Q5 engine tuning should be to increase peak power and Torque at the top end.

Smaller engines do not provide much of a return in terms of power so start with a bigger engine. Engine swaps are a good option if you have a small engine size.

Engine Tuning.

Typically these uprated mods are usually carried out by our members, decide how far you want to go before you start.

Getting the correct grade of sports upgrades for your planned usage of the car is a time and money saver. Stage 3 competition upgrades just won't work well on the road and will make the car undrivable.

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Stages of Tune

Stage 1 mods: Remap, Sports exhaust, Panel air filter, Lighter flywheel, Suspension upgrade (drop 30mm but focus on alignment and components used), Alloy wheels.

Stage 2 mods: Power/Sport clutch, fuel pump upgrades, Ported and polished head, Fast road cam, high flow fuel injector.

Stage 3 mods: Adding or upgrading forced induction (turbo/supercharger), Competition cam, Engine balancing, Sports gearbox, Internal engine upgrades (pistons/head/valves).

You need to keep as much low end torque as possible and aim to achieve a long power band across the rev range rather than a narrow top end power hike.

In this article we shall give a limited introduction to the best mods for your car, but we'd encourage you to spend some time on the site looking into the details of each type of performance mod.One of the most cost effective mechanical tuning parts you can do on your NASP engine is to fit a fast road camshaft .

It maximises the intake and exhaust durations and increases the power if done right. Ideally you'd add other mods and finish up with a remap. TorqueCars would caution you not to go with a motor sports profile cam as this affects the engines idling and general town driving characteristics.

When pushing up the power you will need to ramp up to the fuelling. More power needs more fuel.

Using high octane petrol is another option if you find you are suffering from pinking or premature ignition on your Audi project after fitting other mods. Larger injectors will enable you to supply sufficient fuel to the engine.

Uprate the fuel pump to cope with the extra fuel requirements of your tuned Q5s uprated injectors.

Intake and Exhaust Tuning.

The next area for modification is the intake and exhaust. Please note that WE DO NOT FEEL YOU GET POWER GAINS FROM INDUCTION KITS, unless you have tuned your car extensively and are finding that the standard air intake has become the bottleneck.

Derestricting the flow of air into the engine is a primary goal of performance tuning so get a better flowing air filter if you find that the car is running lean only if you find the car is running lean. Induction kits can sound sporty but due to the warm air in the engine bay they will not add noticeable power and usually rob you of power on most cars.

Sports exhausts can help balance the flow of gases through the engine. But if your exhaust is too big, ie: over 2.5 inches bore, you will lose a lot of your flow rate and end up sapping power and torque.

Airflow through the head can be dramatically increased with some professional gas flowing. These should match and be setup to take into account any other engine mods. A good heavy duty fast road power clutch will help to keep that power going where it should. Never skimp or expect your standard OEM clutch to cope. The best mods that we recommend for your Q5 are fast road camshaft, remap, induction and exhaust, suspension.

NASP engines do not achieve big power gains if you remap them, unless you have done extensive modifications. With turbocharged engines this is another story. A remapped turbo will give large power gains and take full advantage of the strength of the block. The most impressive power gains for NASP engines usually involve the addition of forced induction. Superchargers are generally easier to add than a turbo. It is harder to map a turbo as the boost increases exponentially with revs.

Superchargers however will give a boost which is proportional to engine speed so is easier to map. Alternatively you could fit water injection to control knock.

Handling/Suspension upgrades

Many Q5 owners uprate the handling of their cars with fast road suspension mods as a priority, this will certainly increase your enjoyment of the car.

We found that most Q5 factory suspension setups need tweaking, a few degrees of toe out -1 to 2, and a tiny bit of negative camber will radically improve your cornering and handling.

Drop the car by as much as 30mm and fit motorsport grade stiffer dampers, bigger drops will need other modifications in most instances. but focus on the alignment more than anything else. Aftermarket coilovers give a smoother ride, and improved handling.

Alloy wheel upgrades.

Because alloy wheels are lighter they improve performance and they will help to cool the brake disks. Pay attention to your choice of tyres (tyres) for your car, a good track legal slick tyre can really enhance your cars handling. The downside to large rims on your Q5 is that you're altering your effective final drive ratio so this will have a negative effect on performance.

Due to this fact try to keep the overall rolling diameter of the wheel the recommended OEM sizes. In all cases we do not recommend going bigger than 18 inches.

But we would avoid 20's or higher even though they look really nice, they just add too much unsprung weight and in our opinion compromise the handling too much.

There is a more updated version of this Audi Q5 Tuning article on TorqueCars.com.

For more information on Tuning your car please join us in our friendly forum where you can discuss Q5 options in more detail with our Q5 owners. It would also be worth reading our unbiased Audi tuning articles to get a full grasp of the benefits and drawbacks of each modification.

We need your help improving this article, so please send us your feedback in the comments box below and pass on any tips, points or facts we have wrong or have not covered.

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This article is flagged for an update, so please pass on specific tips below that I can include. All articles, and content was written by me, Waynne Smith TorqueCars founder. Some outlines are just too general so I appreciate your feedback and suggestions. This entry was filed under Audi. You can leave a response below or join our forum to discuss this article and car modification in detail with our members.

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