Audi SQ5 2025 Review - International

Audi hasn’t confirmed Australian pricing for the 2025 SQ5 and the rest of the upcoming Q5 range yet, but expect a small upward creep and no massive surprises.

That said, the outgoing Audi SQ5 listed at $119,084, which marked a near-$20,000 rise from the second-generation SQ5’s 2017 introductory price. Oddly, the SQ5’s retail price actually fell more than $600 this year.

The entry level 2.0-litre TFSI listed at $70,850 last year before climbing to $73,400 this year, which may have been Audi building in some cushion before the third-generation version arrives in the third quarter this year.

Whatever it’s priced at, the SQ5 will deliver a turbocharged V6 petrol powerplant, accompanied by a 48-volt mild-hybrid electric booster, all married to a seven-speed automatic transmission and all-wheel drive. It promises to be quiet, with sound-deadening acoustic glass for the windscreen and optional acoustic glass for the front side windows, too. Audi’s signature lighting wizardry brings a typical kaboom, with six OLED rear light panels broken into 266 segments, plus a brake light built into the rear spoiler that projects onto the rear screen to provide greater visibility.

The assistance-systems list is, well, long, and includes a rear-parking assistant (with a built-in distance display), active cruise control, lane-departure warning, attention and driver drowsiness assistant, and even a driving efficiency assistant to help eke out greater economy. There are optional packages for even more driver-assistance systems, including an improved adaptive driving assistant that brings in swarm data from other vehicles and high-resolution mapping to optimise its digital inputs.

There are also optional systems to cover autonomous front emergency braking, crash evasion, spotting hidden vehicles in turns and in exiting car parks, plus traffic-sign recognition.

Recognising that 15 Watts sometimes doesn’t cut it, the 2025 Audi SQ5 ups the gristle so that its charging ports, which can now optionally charge at 100 Watts in the rear to power tablets and laptops on the fly, and 60 Watts in the front. That’s going to keep the family happy, with an inductive (and cooled) charger in the centre console, and two charging ports for each row of seats.

Audi also makes quite a deal out of its sliding, rake-adjustable middle seat, even though the second-generation Q5 also had it. They are very comfortable, as second-row pews go, and there is a healthy amount of legroom. The infotainment setup is also first rate, and the curved single glass panel includes both the 11.9-inch instrument cluster and a 14.5-inch OLED touchscreen multimedia display, powered by the Android Automotive operating platform. There’s also an optional 10.5-inch display for the passenger, in case it gets boring looking at the rest of the digital tech curving away from the left-hand seat.

But the best part of the SQ5 remains as it always has: its effortless urge, quiet ride and expensive-feeling fit and finish and material choices. The powertrain is rich and sumptuous in its power delivery, and the SQ5 comes with stiffer springs and a rortier exhaust note, giving drivers feel choices ranging from cruisy to sporty.

The V6 plus mild-hybrid combination delivers 270kW of power and 550Nm, and the 18kW/230Nm boost from the mild hybrid system’s 1.7kWh battery can also be used as a (very limited) EV for parking and reversing. As a car, it does nothing wrong, ever, and has an enormously wide usage envelope.

Audi spent a lot of time talking up the 2025 Audi SQ5’s fore-aft second seat adjustment, and its luggage capacity. The truth is that the second-generation Q5 also had fore-aft adjustment, and the total luggage capacity has decreased from 1520 to 1473 litres, but Audi data suggests the full, folded-flat arrangement is rarely used, so focuses on the 520 litre standard luggage space.

For all of its handling unflappability, the SQ5 rounds off the finer edges of driver involvement, rather than making them a feature, leaving the car feeling oddly isolated from the below-decks goings on, even when it’s being pushed. That’s a good thing in most circumstances for this market segment, but it does have that “S” in the SQ5 name.

Should you test a 2025 Audi SQ5, you are unlikely to find any compelling, jarring reasons not to take it home with you. Neither, though, are you likely to fall head over heels for it, and with a substantially upgraded BMW X3 also launched this year and Mercedes-Benz’s GLC still selling well, it doesn’t have an easy road ahead of it.

But its refinement is such that it feels more impressive, and more impressively coherent, with every metre of road that rolls under its 21-inch rubber, and that augers well for the ownership experience.

2025 Audi SQ5 at a glance:
Price: $120,000 approximately
Available: Q3 2025
Engine: 3.0-litre V6 twin-turbo petrol
Output: 270kW/550Nm
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Fuel: 8.1-8.8L/100km (WLTP)
CO2: 185-200g/km (WLTP)
Safety rating: Not tested

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