Just a while back, I had a chance to drive Audi's petite but luxurious Q5 entry into the luxury crossover segment and came away impressed. I had determined then that Audi's long-suffering mid-range V6, the 3.2L FSI, had finally lived up to its promise, so the quest for the best of Audi's Q5 should have been over. Test done, Dave, move on.
But that was before I had driven the latest rendition of Audi's signature powerplant, the 2.0T. For those not familiar with the ubiquitous little four-banger, it has appeared, in one guise or another, in virtually every Volkswagen product save the Audi A6; and I'll probably even be corrected on that. It's an undersquare - that's geek-speak for the bore being smaller than the stroke - double overhead camshaft inline four. Nothing extraordinary about that, except Audi then turbocharges the snot out of it, this version of the 2.0 boasting about 13.7 psi of boost.
For good measure, Audi then throws in its FSI direct fuel injection, which, as the name suggests, injects fuel directly into the combustion chamber rather than into the intake manifold. Turbocharged engines especially like the direct fueling route because the one drawback of pressurising the intake system for more power is that it also generates more heat in the manifold. Pump gas into this now superheated chamber and then direct it to the inside of the combustion chamber and the whole mess goes kablooey (that's tech speak for the combustion process) prematurely in a devastating process called detonation.
Old-time turbocharged engines got around this by lowering the compression ratio in the cylinders. This doesn't affect top-end power, because at peak revs the turbocharger is literally jamming fuel into the engine, circumventing any lethargy that the low compression ratio otherwise might engender. But, at low speeds, before the turbo spools up (gearhead-speak for rotating at optimal speed), the engine was essentially just a normal four-banger, the reduced compression wreaking havoc with low-rpm torque. A little 2.0L four is anemic enough when compression is high; reducing it really takes the edge off. Low compression (8.0:1 was typical) was largely responsible for the dreaded turbo lag that was the bane of boosted engines.
Coming back to the main plot: injecting the raw fuel directly into the combustion chamber at the very last moment gives it no chance to overheat, thus preventing the previously mentioned, piston-melting detonation. That means - and thankfully Dave is finally getting to the point - that a direct-injected engine can maintain a relatively high compression ratio (the 2.0T runs 9.6:1) even when it is turbocharged. All of the top-end power with none of the lag down low.
And, indeed, you can feel that low-end pulling power when you're driving the 2.0T version of the Q5. In this guise, the 2.0L gathers up its 350Nm of torque as low as 1,500 rpm (the 2.0T's maximum horsepower of 211 is attained at a diesel-like 4,300rpm as well), very ably emulating a V6. Actually, even in its new and improved format, Audi's 3.2L V6 can't match the 2.0's off-idle punch. Mated, as it now is in the Q5, to Audi's new eight-speed automatic, the 2.0T's revs are kept surprisingly low and yet it responds to calls for forward motion quickly. Really, you could drive the Q5 hard all day and seldom get the little engine above 4,000rpm, so perfectly matched are the 2.0T's torque curve and the gears in the close-ratio, eight-speed automatic trannie. Many manufacturers have tried to match the 2.0T's combination of sophistication and urge in a small four-cylinder format; none have yet succeeded.
The rest of the Q5 is pretty much as I had driven recently. I did notice, however, that thanks to the addition of the Audi Drive Select system - it provides customisable control of the Q5's steering, suspension, etc - the steering was a bit more precise and roll just a smidgen reduced. Indeed, the chassis emulates the engine's performance: capable beyond its genre and pushing the expectation envelope.
As for the interior, it is, as with all Audis in general and the Q5 in particular, hedonistic even beyond its already premium price tag. Audi continues to impress by building incredible interiors that confound rival manufacturer's auditors. If Audis ever become as reliable as Lexus, the rest of the premium segment is going to be in trouble.
As it is, the Q5 in this exact guise - 2.0T with the Premium package (but without the panorama sunroof) - is exactly the CUV I would buy if I were shopping a small luxury crossover. I don't need six pistons; four will suffice, as long as they're blown by a high-tech turbocharger.
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
MATCH INFO
Quarter-finals
Saturday (all times UAE)
England v Australia, 11.15am
New Zealand v Ireland, 2.15pm
Sunday
Wales v France, 11.15am
Japan v South Africa, 2.15pm
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
The bio
Studied up to grade 12 in Vatanappally, a village in India’s southern Thrissur district
Was a middle distance state athletics champion in school
Enjoys driving to Fujairah and Ras Al Khaimah with family
His dream is to continue working as a social worker and help people
Has seven diaries in which he has jotted down notes about his work and money he earned
Keeps the diaries in his car to remember his journey in the Emirates
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, (Leon banned).
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
Women & Power: A Manifesto
Mary Beard
Profile Books and London Review of Books
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
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Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
APPLE IPAD MINI (A17 PRO)
Display: 21cm Liquid Retina Display, 2266 x 1488, 326ppi, 500 nits
Chip: Apple A17 Pro, 6-core CPU, 5-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine
Storage: 128/256/512GB
Main camera: 12MP wide, f/1.8, digital zoom up to 5x, Smart HDR 4
Front camera: 12MP ultra-wide, f/2.4, Smart HDR 4, full-HD @ 25/30/60fps
Biometrics: Touch ID, Face ID
Colours: Blue, purple, space grey, starlight
In the box: iPad mini, USB-C cable, 20W USB-C power adapter
Price: From Dh2,099
What is an FTO Designation?
FTO designations impose immigration restrictions on members of the organisation simply by virtue of their membership and triggers a criminal prohibition on knowingly providing material support or resources to the designated organisation as well as asset freezes.
It is a crime for a person in the United States or subject to the jurisdiction of the United States to knowingly provide “material support or resources” to or receive military-type training from or on behalf of a designated FTO.
Representatives and members of a designated FTO, if they are aliens, are inadmissible to and, in certain circumstances removable from, the United States.
Except as authorised by the Secretary of the Treasury, any US financial institution that becomes aware that it has possession of or control over funds in which an FTO or its agent has an interest must retain possession of or control over the funds and report the funds to the Treasury Department.
Source: US Department of State
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In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
LA LIGA FIXTURES
Friday (UAE kick-off times)
Real Sociedad v Leganes (midnight)
Saturday
Alaves v Real Valladolid (4pm)
Valencia v Granada (7pm)
Eibar v Real Madrid (9.30pm)
Barcelona v Celta Vigo (midnight)
Sunday
Real Mallorca v Villarreal (3pm)
Athletic Bilbao v Levante (5pm)
Atletico Madrid v Espanyol (7pm)
Getafe v Osasuna (9.30pm)
Real Betis v Sevilla (midnight)
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Titanium Escrow profile
Started: December 2016
Founder: Ibrahim Kamalmaz
Based: UAE
Sector: Finance / legal
Size: 3 employees, pre-revenue
Stage: Early stage
Investors: Founder's friends and Family
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How much sugar is in chocolate Easter eggs?
- The 169g Crunchie egg has 15.9g of sugar per 25g serving, working out at around 107g of sugar per egg
- The 190g Maltesers Teasers egg contains 58g of sugar per 100g for the egg and 19.6g of sugar in each of the two Teasers bars that come with it
- The 188g Smarties egg has 113g of sugar per egg and 22.8g in the tube of Smarties it contains
- The Milky Bar white chocolate Egg Hunt Pack contains eight eggs at 7.7g of sugar per egg
- The Cadbury Creme Egg contains 26g of sugar per 40g egg
