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A luxury crossover for people who like to drive | 2018 Audi Q5 First Drive

1.6 million. That's how many Q5s Audi has sold since the model's 2008 debut, making the agreeable but stylistically neutral sport-ute the best-selling premium SUV on the planet. One in four Audis sold is a Q5, which is a big part of why the German carmaker made significant improvements intended to ensure the 2018 Audi Q5 is another success story. For starters, the Q5 has swollen in size. Not by much – we're talking 1.3 inches in length, half an inch in wheelbase, and incrementally more height – but enough to boost rear legroom by 0.39 inch and add 0.31 inch to rear headroom. If you're worried that curb weight has bloated in direct proportion to the larger footprint, fear not: The 2018 model is actually up to 198 pounds lighter than the model it replaces, thanks to a carefully modulated blend of high tensile steels and aluminum in the chassis, and incremental weight savings throughout. Two turbocharged engines are available: the Q5's 2.0-liter TFSI engine producing 252 horsepower and 273 pound-feet of torque (doing the 0-to-62-mph sprint in 6.4 seconds), and the SQ5's 3.0-liter TFSI mill that turns 354 hp and 369 lb-ft (capable of whisking it to 62 mph in 5.2 seconds). The 2.0-liter meets a new seven-speed dual-clutch S tronic transmission, while the beefier 3.0-liter gets a conventional eight-speed torque-converter-equipped gearbox to handle the higher torque. Audi's new Quattro ultra setup (already seen in the A4 and Q7) offers fully variable torque distribution that helps achieve 20/27 mpg with the 2.0-liter and 18/26 mpg for the 3.0-liter. The system can de-couple the rear axle via an electronic clutch, which improves fuel economy; with 100 percent of torque directed to the front wheels during straight-line driving, the parasitic losses of running power needlessly through the rear differential are avoided, while a second clutch controls front/rear torque distribution. Audi says the ultra setup works proactively, not reactively, using torque vectoring to distribute power and anticipating changes in vehicle dynamics 500 milliseconds before the torque is redistributed. While there are numerous tech updates under the skin, the body itself is very familiar. In person, the Q5's looks are tweaked ever-so-slightly thanks primarily to a curvier, crisper character line that is so sharp, it casts its own shadow under certain lighting conditions. Inside, a Q7-like upgrade gives the cabin a more sophisticated feel.

2016 Audi A6 First Drive [w/video]

The Audi A6 could be seen as a singular kind of sleeper. It sells in volumes that are one-half to one-third those of its German competition. The sedan doesn't command a conversation much less the imagination, its history bereft of iconic brand identifiers. Think of the way the E28 BMW 5 Series turned the segment into something to be proud of, or those double headlamps from the W210 Mercedes-Benz E-Class, or that other E from 1986 simply known as Der Hammer. There is currently no RS6 sedan in the US to draw halo attention to the clan. And it was the first in its segment to slip into a design lassitude such that you had to check the badge to make sure it wasn't a different Audi. However, I look at the A6 from the other side: it's an underappreciated gem. With the 3.0-liter supercharged V6, it's a thoroughly fun steer. It has more power and torque than the competition. I think it has the finest interior. It's probably my favorite sedan in the segment considering how many boxes it checks before you cross the bridge to things that begin with S, M, and AMG. But you have to get to know an Audi in order to comprehend what it possesses, and the "product improvement" rolled out for the 2016 A6 won't change that. I'll call these "blind spot updates," because someone needs to point out where they are, and even then you've got to work to see them. Nevertheless, they're there, in places like the wider grille, new headlights and taillights with revised LED DRL signatures, new bumpers, side sills, rockers, and trapezoidal tailpipe finishers. The interior and driver assistance systems get gussied-up. The interior and driver assistance systems get gussied-up, too. The base A6 2.0T can be had with driver aids now – Audi pre-sense comes standard, the night vision assistant will identify animals, and the blind spot monitor works with lane keep assist to give you even more warning before changing lanes. There are two new colors and new inlays, like the layered walnut on the tester I drove, which is an upper-tier luxury feature that's finally filtered downstream. The biggest interior rework comes via the MMI system, which gets the Nvidia Tegra 3 quadcore chip pushing graphics to a retractable, eight-inch touchscreen. The additional processing power allows for new features like expanded codec playback – you can now play uncompressed .flac files straight through the stereo.