Yahoo Autos For 2025, Audi Gives Q5 and SQ5 a Fresh Face and Familiar Engines
The Audi Q5 and SQ5, with an entirely new look, will go on sale by midyear next year as 2025 models.
Both of the new compact luxury SUVs will be gas powered, with no electrified version of either SUV at launch.
However, we expect a plug-in-hybrid version to come later.
From the familiar looks of the redesigned Q5 and SQ5, it's clear that Audi didn't want to mess with the success of its popular mid-size SUV. It's still powered by gas-fed engines and not batteries and electric motors. On sale next spring or early summer as 2025 models, the new Q5 and SQ5 are built off Audi's Premium Platform Combustion (PPC) architecture, what's expected to be the brand's last new gas platform.
While the silhouette and the shape of the greenhouse (the windows) is what we're accustomed to seeing when we imagine a Q5, the design is entirely new. A massive grille flanked by two large air inlets dominates the face. A thin strip of LEDs acts as a sort of eyebrow over the LED headlights. From the side, there's subtle sculpturing through the door panels and a black piece of trim toward the base of the doors that disguises some of the visual mass of the Q5's profile.
The Q5 will come standard with 18-inch wheels, with 19s and 20s optional, wrapped with all-season rubber. The SQ5 starts with 20s and offers 21s with all-seasons or more aggressive summer performance tires.
In back, Audi seems to have spent a lot of time tinkering with the horizontal OLED taillights that can change looks. Made up of six panels with 266 different OLED elements, in markets outside of the U.S., the Q5's taillights can animate warnings to other drivers of heavy braking, accidents, or breakdowns with different patterns—imagine different checkerboard patterns and you'll have an idea of how this works. Even the third brake light is getting into the act. Mounted on the underside of the spoiler at the top of the hatch, the third brake light shines a light pattern on the rear window to increase brake-light visibility. Don't worry, you can't see the reflected light from inside the vehicle; we checked.
New Transmission, Familiar Engines
Powering the Q5 and the performance-oriented SQ5 are two familiar engines. Last year's 201-hp base engine is gone. The Q5 now starts with a 268-hp 2.0-liter turbocharged four that is used throughout the Volkswagen empire, from the Volkswagen GTI to the Porsche Macan. A seven-speed dual-clutch automatic replaces the old Q5's eight-speed conventional automatic transmission. Presumably the new dual-clutch automatic will allow for launch control, and with the 2.0-liter making seven more horses than its predecessor, we expect zero-to-60-mph runs to go from today's 6.1 seconds to somewhere in the high-five-second range.
If that's not quick enough, the SQ5 offers a 362-hp turbocharged 3.0-liter V-6 that makes 13 more horsepower than last year. Like the Q5, the SQ5 ditches its eight-speed automatic for a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic. Should the dual-clutch offer launch control, we expect it to bring the 60-mph time into the four-second range—today's SQ5 runs to 60 in 5.1 seconds. We expect fuel economy to remain about where it was in the previous generation: a combined 26 mpg for the Q5 and 21 mpg for the SQ5.
The previous generation offered a 362-hp plug-in-hybrid version, but that model is tabled for now. And U.S.-bound models won't get the mild-hybrid system that the rest of the world will get, either, so we'll miss out on the 24-hp electric motor's small fuel-economy benefit and the brief bursts of power it can provide under acceleration. Audi tells us the new platform has the flexibility to spawn plug-in-hybrid versions that are expected to arrive later in 2025.
The interior is a departure from the previous generation. The upper portion of the instrument panel is dominated by two large screens, which Audi calls the Digital Stage. The center touchscreen measures 14.5 inches and is the keeper of all settings, audio controls, HVAC, and other vehicle controls. Mercifully, there is a volume knob that can be used as a joystick to skip a track or as a seek function for the radio. The screen directly ahead of the driver measures 11.9 inches and shows vehicle speed and other information.
The new Q5's digital cluster lacks the adjustability and display options of Audi's current digital gauges. Perhaps to make up for that, a head-up display (HUD) with an 85 percent larger projection area is available. A third, 10.9-inch screen for the passenger to more easily control the infotainment system or watch videos is optional. When the vehicle is in motion, the passenger's screen is not visible to the driver.
Historically, nearly half of all Q5s (including SQ5) have been sold in the United States, and their popularity here is likely to continue when the new versions go on sale in the spring to early summer of 2025, thanks to Audi's conservative approach to the outside and its success in modernizing the cabin. Although the PHEV powertrain won't be available at launch, we expect it to come soon, and until then, the two gas engines will be familiar and comforting to returning customers. We'll let you know how it performs after we drive it next year.
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