Can I let you into a little secret? I enjoy my job immensely. I mean, what’s not to like? I fly around the world and drive some amazing motors, but… Oh yes, there’s always a ‘but’ isn’t there. And my ‘but’ in this case is the press conference. Often, press conferences go on and on ad infinitum. They can be interminable, miserable affairs, with some well-intentioned but uncharismatic geek explaining, in inexplicable detail, a load of guff that’s presumably been foisted onto them by the marketing department. Guff about how a new headlight design incorporates ‘the soul of our founder’; why the swage line is ‘emotionally expressive; or that ‘a modified logo font better expresses the dynamism of the brand’. Shucks to that stuff. Cars should trigger an emotional response, sure, but through headlights, swage lines and logos? Nope. Sorry. On the whole, I just cannot get excited about that malarkey.
That’s why the press conference for the new Audi SQ5 in Malaga was so refreshing. It was beautifully succinct. They talked a bit about the design and, looking at it in the flesh, it’s fresh and neat. Truth be told, I even like the slimmed-down headlights and its swage line. Overall, the new SQ5’s styling is evolutionary rather than a new dawn, but that’s fine. The only bit I dislike is the usual array of oversized black plastic grilles; to my eyes, they spoil what’s otherwise an understated and elegant aesthetic. There was a bit of marketing guff in the press pack, though, some of which was about the lights. Does this sound like gobbledygook to you?
‘Audi’s rear lights 2.0 makes communication with the vehicle’s immediate surroundings (Car-to-X) possible, warning other road users of accidents and breakdowns. For example, the OLED real lights on SQ5 models can, when necessary, display integrated warning symbols in critical driving situations.’
I’ve read that several times and, so far, have determined that the new SQ5 has some brake lights. And this riveting light news went on. Apparently, the front and rear lights can show eight different light shows when you lock or unlock the car. Now, look, I’m sure some people will think this is marvellous. Each to their own, but I’ve been to a Pink Floyd concert, and, having seen what the SQ5 can do, the Floyd’s light show was way better.
Moving inside, the new car’s interior looks swish. It has plenty of fine-grade materials, including the obligatory Alcantara with bright red stitching and carbon trims – although the matt finish carbon looks a tad fake. Everything feels reasonably solidly put together, though. It is, however, yet another screen fest. To go with the razzmatazz of the OLED exterior light show, inside the SQ5 is a vista of OLED over the dashboard as well. This IMAX on wheels has been given a name, of course. The marketing team calls it the ‘Digital Stage’. It’s Audi’s new default infotainment set-up and the same one that appeared in the new A5. Again, I’ll refer you to the press pack.
‘The clearly aligned displays are integrated into the interior with a perfect fit. The slim, free-standing Audi MMI panoramic display has a curved design and OLED technology and houses the 11.9-inch Audi virtual cockpit and the 14.5-inch MMI touch display.’
I don’t know about you, but my takeaway this time is that they’re proud everything fits and it all lines up. You can have more screens, too. There’s an augmented head-up display and the optional 10.9-inch passenger screen, which none of your passengers will ever use. On the off chance that they do, at least the passenger screen is shielded from the driver’s view so it’s not a distraction. That just leaves all the other ones to distract the driver. Fair play, the infotainment’s graphics are good, the screens are crisp, and I can’t fault the software’s responsiveness. But, by heck, there’s a lot going on. The menus, for example, are layer upon layer of features and more features.
It takes an age to trawl through them all, setting everything up to your liking. Admittedly, if you owned the car you’d spend a few hours on day one sorting the bulk of it out and leave it alone thereafter. I’m not trying to retreat across the Rubicon, either; this is the way of things now, but, as I said to the Audi guys, I’d just like a few more physical buttons as well. For the climate controls and, perhaps, a single point of contact to disengage the annoying ADAS stuff. Renault showed the way there. It invented this thing. It’s called a button, and you press to turn off all the mandated stupidity. It’s flipping genius. Forget dancing light signatures – that button is the best bit of technology fitted to any new model in years. Back to the positives, though, and the SQ5’s USB chargers pack a weighty 100-watt punch and the wireless charger actually charges your phone without turning it into a super-heated neutron star.
Like the A5, the new Q5 and SQ5 use the latest Premium Platform Combustion (PPC) underpinnings. It means the latest SQ5 has grown a little longer than the outgoing model but it’s not chalk and cheese. The wheelbase is longer but only by 10mm yet, somehow, the new model feels a lot bigger inside. I’m certain some of that must be my mind playing tricks, but I’m fairly sure I couldn’t sit behind my driving position in the back of the previous SQ5. In the new one I can – just. As before, the rear seats recline and slide, so you can extend the boot length by 100mm if needs be. There’s still a mighty transmission tunnel to hop over, and anyone sitting in the middle rear seat will be legs akimbo – here’s some consumer advice: don’t sit in the middle seat of an SQ5 if you’re a) wearing a mini skirt and b) going commando; this will likely cause more driver distraction than the screens. Rear seats up, the boot offers 520 litres (515 litres for the Sportback), which is plenty. There’s also some underfloor storage, including a slot for the tonneau cover when it’s not in use. The Audi guys seemed very proud of that trick and so they should. It’s an upgrade that’s genuinely useful.
What else is useful is the twin-turbo 3.0-litre V6. It produces 367hp and 406lb ft, and that’ll get you from 0-62mph in 4.5 seconds if you pop the seven-speed dual-clutch ‘box into its sportiest setting. That’s all relatively conventional, though the 48-volt mild hybrid system is anything but. Even though it’s only a MHEV it has PHEV-like qualities. Typically, an MHEV system will add some torque boost and maybe run the ancillaries, like the air conditioning compressor, when the stop-start has kicked and you’re stuck in traffic. Audi’s MHEV system goes further, though. The SQ5 can do all that and potter around at parking speeds without troubling the V6. That’s because the 1.7kWh battery is big for a MHEV and the motor is powerful – it adds 25hp and 170lb ft. It can regen at up to 25kW, too.
The MHEV system is also used to make the SQ5 more agile. How so, you ask? Well, not only does the quattro system vector torque around, the electric motor adds its two-penn'orth as well. As you turn in, the electric motor, which is connected to the rear wheels, over-speeds the back axle, helping to rotate the car into corners. The effect is so noticeable that I came back after my initial test drive and asked whether the press conference was so brief they’d forgotten to mention the SQ5’s rear-wheel steering? They hadn’t. It doesn’t have RWS but it feels like it does. They took me over to a working cutaway display of the driveline, showing the electric motor clutching seamlessly in and out, and explained how it all worked. That was genuinely fascinating stuff.
Does this mean that the new SQ5 is a revelation dynamically? Is it going to challenge the Alfa Romeo Stelvio Quadrifoglio for kicks and giggles? No, not really. Sure, it feels eager to turn in, and that’s added to by the progressive steering, which ramps up the rate of turn the more lock you apply. But the steering’s not the least bit communicative – and I say that as someone who doesn’t default automatically to old tropes like ‘It’s an Audi, therefore the steering’s anodyne’. But a stopped clock is right twice a day and, in this case, that old trope is true. The SQ5 feels heavier and less pin-sharp than the Stelvio QV and, from distant memory, next to the outgoing model as well.
There’s loads of grip in the dry, mind. Hard as I tried, I couldn’t unstick the rear out of hairpin bends that were willing me to ‘give it some’. Even with a bung to upset the rear and a bootful of throttle – yes, I went ‘full hoodlum’ – the SQ5 wasn’t having any of it. It remained eminently sensible, until, that is… Later in my drive, having long given up on my quest to find the SQ5’s fun side, a light rain shower left the road surface glistening away in the Spanish sun. Haplessly, I’d forgotten to reignite the traction control and ESP and, when turning right at a set of lights: woof! The thing went full-on sideways, and this time without any deliberate provocation. A corner or two later it lunged into plough-on understeer, too. At that point, I decided the SQ5 is the Jekyll and Hyde of performance SUVs and treated the throttle with kid gloves.
When the road is dry and you’re not scared of the accelerator, the SQ5 will cover ground rapidly, which is partly down to the V6’s potency. It’s quick in a straight line, just not alarmingly so. The gyros in my bum left me in no doubt that the Stelvio QV is quicker, but the SQ5’s turn of speed will still impress anyone who’s not driven the Alfa. Or a Tesla Model Y, for that matter. The 3.0 TFSI sounds better than a Model Y at full chat, mind, and quite tasty compared with some other V6s. It’s not too raspy and has some mechanical sweetness to savour at points in the rev range. And I salute whoever at Audi eschewed the blight of the stupid pops and bangs. There are no obviously contrived theatrics here; just some mild but pleasant off-throttle exhaust burbles from time to time.
The driveability could be more consistent, though. When everything’s in sync – engine, gearbox, electric motor – it romps off almost the moment you hit the throttle, with the gearbox proving quick and slick thereafter through its seven gears. But there are other times when it feels like it’s not in sync and things unravel. The engine is always quite boosty, so that doesn’t help the situation, but even with that mighty MHEV system supposedly filling in the blanks, the driveline can leave you floundering. On more than one occasion, after plunging the throttle deep into the carpet expecting something to happen, I had to wait a second or two before it did. I noticed a bit of driveline shunt, too, and while we’re on the subject of smoothness, the brake pedal is a little overzealous at the top of the travel for my liking. It’s strong and dependable beyond that, though.
All in all, I’d say that as a performance SUV, the SQ5 is fine - but it won’t blow your socks off. Nevertheless, if you want something comfortable you’re in for a treat; it does that bit brilliantly. The SQ5 is the only model in the Q5 range to come with adaptive air suspension as standard and it’s marvellous. It’s ridiculously supple for a performance SUV and very nicely damped to boot. It deals with bumps, abrasions and mid-corner humps effortlessly. So much so that, rather than slowing down for speed bumps or swerving potholes, I found myself accelerating towards them or aiming for them simply to find out if and when the ride would break down. The answer is rarely. Not even in the Dynamic mode, which is tauter and busier, but you can press on revelling in the reduced body lean with no fear of bruising to the spine.
And when you’re not hustling the SQ5, those issues of driveline shunt and throttle response arise less frequently, if at all. Indeed, at seven-tenths pace this car bowls along with a level of grace and pace that Sir William Lyons would’ve been happy with. There’s very little wind or tyre noise, making it a decidedly polished motorway cruiser.
What we have here, then, is a vehicle that covers ground with consummate ease and much comfort. But as a performance SUV it’s about as fun as a bowl of punch that’s all fruit and no zing. A perfectly pleasant thing that left me completely unmoved; I didn’t love it, but didn’t hate it, either. Which, dare I say it, fits the stereotype of an Audi that’s a bit anodyne. Sorry Audi, but for once I’m afraid that’s true. Still, I enjoyed the press conference very much, though, and I’ll tell you something else I enjoyed: the cheaper Q5 2.0 TDI. Its super-smooth and torquey diesel was by far the best-resolved engine I tried and it’s still otherworldly comfortable with air suspension fitted. Without any performance SUV baggage to live up to, it struck me as a very fine car indeed.
Specification | Audi SQ5 SUV
Engine: 2992cc V6, twin-turbocharged
Transmission: seven-speed, twin-clutch auto, all-wheel drive
Power (hp): 367 @ 5,500-6,300rpm
Torque (lb ft): 406 @ 1,700-4,000rpm
0-62mph: 4.5 sec
Top speed: 155mph
Weight: 2,040kg
MPG: 33.6
CO2: 190g/km
Price: £74,430
1 / 14
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 4 3"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="https://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1 1"%3E%3C/svg%3E)