2021 Audi SQ5 review: A little more S, please

The Audi SQ5 absolutely sure sounds sweet on paper. It has 88 extra horsepower than the conventional Q5, complemented by an supplemental 96 pound-feet of torque. The SQ5 will even do the -to-60-mph jaunt a complete second quicker than its less-effective sibling. But honestly, you would hardly ever know.

For all the points the SQ5 does well, it has a important deficiency in one critical area: drama. It truly is a challenge that isn’t exclusive to the SQ5 several of Audi’s sporty styles are only much too buttoned-up for their own fantastic. But this deficiency of visceral enjoyment appears notably egregious in the SQ5. And that’s a shame, since objectively speaking, this compact luxury crossover is actually fantastic.

The SQ5’s 3.-liter turbocharged V6 makes 349 hp and 369 lb-ft — quite big improves in excess of the conventional Q5’s two.-liter I4. Audi states the SQ5 will strike 60 mph in four.seven seconds, which is just as swift as its two primary opponents, the BMW X3 M40i and Mercedes-AMG GLC43. The situation is that the V6 offers up coming to nothing at all in the way of aural accompaniment. There’s no hearty engine note, no raspy exhaust. There’s no genuine turbo punch, either, just a specific and linear application of thrust. The SQ5 is effective, but almost everything is so easy and predictable, it won’t truly feel effective.

All the things else about the SQ5’s driving working experience is a comparable tale. The experience high quality is tremendous easy, the entire body won’t roll below really hard cornering and the brakes are surefooted and potent. The steering is quite gentle and entirely numb, and though the SQ5 can hold its own if you just take a corner quickly, this SUV just won’t truly feel like it cares about obtaining a fantastic time. It truly is a straight-A university student held again by its own apathy.

If you will find an upside of this shrug-and-a-meh enthusiasm, it is really that you are going to come across it simple to meet up with and exceed the EPA’s gas economic climate estimates. Given that the SQ5 won’t goad you into driving with gusto, you are going to have no difficulty matching the eighteen miles for each gallon town, 24 mpg highway and twenty mpg put together ratings. In truth, following a week of screening, I averaged 24 mpg. You is not going to get that in a GLC43 or X3 M40i. Then yet again, you is not going to be obtaining as substantially fun.

Fittingly, I suppose, the SQ5 won’t look all that sporty, nevertheless I am not much too upset about that. The conventional Q5 is a handsome thing, and the SQ5-certain updo is tasteful. The lessen air intakes look rather extra aggressive, and twenty-inch wheels come conventional, with greater 21s out there if you have obtained extra dollars to blow. The SQ5 will get all of the base Q5’s 2021 product year styling enhancements, much too, including redesigned headlights with conventional LED illumination and a modestly tweaked rear bumper and diffuser. There are some new colors on the selections checklist, as well, including the wonderful District Environmentally friendly you see listed here.

The SQ5’s inside is a ton like its exterior: Clear and handsome, with tiny in the way of superfluous flair. This take a look at vehicle is unfortunately awash in a sea of black and gray components, which makes the complete cabin look quite darkish and drab. (Bolder coloration strategies are out there.) Also, there are 5 or six different shades of gray in this example — the dash, door cards, get handles, seats, carbon fiber trim and piano black console are all ever so somewhat different from one yet another. If this monochromatic tapestry is supposed to increase visible fascination to the SQ5’s cabin, it absolutely won’t get the job done. At minimum all the points you are going to actually touch are truly large high quality, and the buttons and knobs on the heart console have a gratifying click to their motion.

Up entrance, the leather sport seats are tremendous comfy for very long drives. Rear travellers is not going to have anything to complain about, either, until they’re 95th-percentile tall. The SQ5 offers 25.eight cubic feet of cargo room with its rear seats upright, which is extra than the Mercedes-AMG GLC43 but less than the BMW X3 M40i. Fold the seats flat and you are going to have 54.one cubic feet of room to get the job done with, even though in this configuration, both of those the BMW and Mercedes give extra space.

The Q5’s 2021 product year update brings updated infotainment tech to the get together, with Audi’s MIB 3 multimedia system housed on a ten.one-inch touchscreen atop the dash. I enjoy this interface — it is really neatly structured, colorful and vivid, and most importantly, swift to reply to inputs. Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are both of those conventional, as well, nevertheless only the previous connects wirelessly.

The infotainment isn’t the cabin’s most impressive bit of tech, by the way. That honor goes to Audi’s Digital Cockpit, which isn’t a new bit of infotainment wizardry, but it is really nonetheless one of the greatest. A twelve.3-inch reconfigurable gauge cluster sits behind the steering wheel, offering Google Earth maps and tons of car or truck and multimedia facts. You can manage a ton of the infotainment weighty lifting via this interface, with out ever needing to just take your hands off the steering wheel.

Speaking of tech, the SQ5 arrives with lane-departure warning, blind-place monitoring, rear cross-targeted traffic notify and forward collision warning conventional. You have obtained to pony up for a higher trim degree to get niceties like complete-pace adaptive cruise management, lane-preserving aid, parking aid or a 360-degree digicam, which feels like a bummer on a luxury SUV that begins at $fifty three,995 (including $one,095 for location). I am going to remind all the luxury carmakers that a ton of people selections come conventional on less-pricey Hondas, but what ever, you do you.

Go for the gold and you can solution a 2021 SQ5 Prestige like my take a look at vehicle up higher than $70,000. With points like the S Activity pack, dynamic steering, 21-inch wheels, Black Optic pack and Nappa leather seats, the SQ5 pictured listed here arrives out to $71,790 sent. Oh, and if you want all this SQ5 goodness in a extra eye-catching but less functional form, Audi will promote you the complete package and caboodle in swanky new Sportback guise for an extra $3,200.

Ultimately, since the SQ5 lacks so substantially in the way of raw entertainment, I am not actually absolutely sure it offers ample of a attract in excess of the conventional $44,395 Q5. Essentially, if it is really outright energy you might be following, the Q5 plug-in hybrid must be your jam, with 362 hp, 369 lb-ft, 19 miles of all-electric powered selection and greater total gas economic climate. Did I point out the Q5 PHEV also charges $one,000 less? The 2021 SQ5 is a champ at its core competencies, but with out any added emotion, I can’t assume of a reason to get it in excess of Audi’s by now-superb Q5.