2016 Audi SQ5 Plus

Highlights 

• High-performance Audi SUV

• 3.0 V6 diesel (ULEZ)

• 0-60mph in 5.1 secs

• 335bhp

• Full service history

Overview

In many ways, the performance SUV is the modern equivalent to a hot hatch. Where upwardly mobile professionals of the 1980s and 1990s aspired to yuppified versions of the era’s most popular hatchbacks, their modern progenies have bought SUVs in their droves, and the aspirational among them have added some souped-up additions.

That’s where the Audi SQ5 Plus sits. With 335bhp, it’s as spicy as a compact SUV gets, but unlike many of its rivals, the German family bahnstormer delivers its prodigious power (not to mention its 700Nm of torque) to all four of its quattro-equipped wheels via diesel power. It’s a monumentally punchy car, and one that’s as clinical and as smart as you’d expect an Audi to be. 

Plus, if you don’t wind it up too much, then it’ll do 40mpg without too much drama, making it the perfect dual-purpose motor – a practical family car during the working week, and a powerful plaything at the weekends. It’s much, much more than a Waitrose equivalent to a Nissan Qashqai. Leave that to the BMW X3. Indeed, it’s a car tuned by Audi’s famous S-Division to deliver incredible performance, peerless handling and a sense of wellbeing that few other SUVs can muster this side of a Porsche Macan.

The SQ5 has been on sale for a decade now, and while the latest generation has morphed into hybrid and e-tron territory, for performance car fans it’s the original that’s arguably the best. Harking from an era where proper performance was offered at no expense to environmental credits, it’s a car that was developed to take your breath away – and it still does. The way it puts its power down is so disgracefully out of the ordinary for an SUV that it’s a sheer delight. 

This example is the up-rated 'Plus' model, where Audi raised injection pressure to increase torque reach an impressive output 335 bhp an increase of 27 bhp over the standard version.

Further 'Plus' upgrades over standard include luxuries such as diamond-stitched nappa leather seats, external styling tweaks and most importantly a rear sports differential.

Not only is it impressively capable through the corners, but it looks the part, too, with SQ silver highlights all-round and chunky 21-inch alloys with SQ calipers winking out from between the spokes. There’s an awful lot here to like.

The owner has had the car for almost a year and has put a fair few miles on it, but like so many PHers, he has a wish list of performance cars to make his way through, and he’s ready for his next one. That means it’s your opportunity to get your hands on a genuine, well-maintained example of one of the best-regarded high-speed SUVs, safe in the knowledge it comes from a fellow enthusiast. And because it’s a practical family SUV with good fuel economy and ULEZ compliant, it’s an easier one than most to justify. 

History and documentation

• UK V5C in the name of the vendor

• MOT to December 2025

• Original handbook and book pack

• Service book stamped to 2022

• More recent service records at 65,167 miles (2023, independent), 72,908 (2024, independent, 75,609 miles (2024, independent), 86,036 (2024, independent), 96,163 (2025, independent)

• Two keys

• Full tool kit including ad blue bar

Interior

• Black diamond-weave leather in superb condition

• Electrically adjustable heated sports seats with adjustable lumbar support

• Full-length panoramic glass sunroof

• Powered tailgate

• Bang & Olufsen infotainment system with DAB

• Bluetooth audio and phone prep

• Radar cruise control

• Climate control

• Flat-bottom leather sports steering wheel

• Excellent door trims and headlining

• Boot area is clean and well-presented

• Sat nav

• Reversing camera

• Auto wipers and xenon headlights

• Hill descent control and auto hold parking brake

Exterior

• Original Ultra Blue metallic

• Lovely colour with no major marks

• The car has a few small stone chips, commensurate with it being used regularly on the motorway

• 21-inch alloy wheels with Pirelli P Zero tyres

• No major kerb marks or rim damage, but some light scuffs

• One minor scuff on rear bumper load protector

• Small patch of dull paint on bonnet

Mechanical

• 3.0-litre V6 diesel

• 335bhp

• Rear sports differential

• 8-speed ZF S Tronic sequential auto transmission

• 0-60mph in 5.1secs

• Valved sports exhaust, which opens up under load to deliver deep tone that the vendor reports as ‘great, and not at all intrusive’

• The vendor tells us that the car drives well and returns over 500 miles per tank of diesel, and that there are no mechanical issues that he is aware of

Summary

If you’re after a high-performance car that you can justify with your head just as much as your heart, then here it is. The SQ5 is an impressive piece of kit, which offers all of the utility, practicality and sensibility of an SUV, but with phenomenal power and performance. That’s why it was a car that would have set you back £72,000 when new. 

Today, it’s a different proposition, and with a fair few miles on the clock, this one could well be the performance SUV bargain of the year. It’s going to be an awful lot of car for the money, and a difficult one to resist. 

To arrange a viewing, please request this in the Q&A section. You can click through to the seller's profile and use the 'Email Me' function to arrange a viewing privately. This seller is located in Chatham, Medway.