2025 Audi Q5/sq5 Review: Power, Tech, And Luxury Suv

The Audi Q5 is one of those SUVs that feels acquainted also if you’ve never driven one in the past. That’s up from 201 hp and 236 lb-ft from the former base Q5 40 TFSI, or a tick up over the previous Q5 S line 45 TFSI, which made 261 hp and 273 lb-ft. Port right into the driver’s seat, and it becomes promptly evident where Audi’s designers invested the mass of their time and cash on this 2025 performance of the Q5. The 2025 Audi Q5 is EPA-rated for 22 mpg in the city, 30 on the highway, and 25 mpg combined. That’s down one from the old Q5’s score, but in my testing, I did slightly much better, coming in at 25.8 mpg.

Performance and Fuel Economy

The 2025 Audi Q5 is EPA-rated for 22 mpg in the city, 30 on the highway, and 25 mpg incorporated. That’s down one from the old Q5’s ranking, but in my screening, I did a little better, coming in at 25.8 mpg. On the SQ5 side, you’re taking a look at 19 mpg city, 26 freeway, and 22 integrated. I again can be found in quite near to the official score at 23 mpg.

The Audi Q5 is among those SUVs that really feels acquainted also if you’ve never driven one previously. As Audi’s very popular design, they’re easy to find in most parking lots, striking the right mix of unobjectionable styling on the outside and aspirational high-end on the inside to provide mass-market allure. For 2025’s Q5, that fundamental idea doesn’t transform. Audi’s tweaks to this portable SUV are refined, including a bit a lot more cargo area below and a little bit a lot more legroom there, plus a great little bit extra power and regarding an acre’s worth of extra digital screens. The outcome is still significantly the very same recipe, however the result is sweeter yet sharper than in the past.

Interior Design and Technology

The panel behind the guiding wheel actions 11.9 inches on the angled, while the new infomercial display is a touch larger at 14.5. Need even more? Tick the right boxes, and you’ll get a third display on the guest side, one not almost as crisp-looking however providing yet an additional way to interface with Audi’s latest MMI software application.

There’s also higher feel through the guiding wheel, thanks in part to Audi making use of stiffer places to connect the front subframe to the chassis. That swap does lead to a slight fine in ride quality, especially over separation joints and other short, sharp effects, however the optional air suspension on both Q5 and SQ5 provides remarkably excellent ride high quality in spite of the larger wheel sizes. Sadly, I had not been able to example a version with steel springs.

Costs And also and Stature designs likewise get a new heads-up display screen, larger and brighter than in the past. It works better with polarized sunglasses and uses several various sights with enough telemetry information that also data-hounds will certainly maintain their eyes when traveling. That’s excellent since if your eyes must remain also long on a roadside hot dog stand or other cooking diversion, the common driver-monitoring system will chime very early and frequently.

Driving Experience and Handling

Piloting the brand-new Q5 with the urban spread is as uncomplicated as it’s ever before been. That brand-new DCT has actually been tuned by Audi, not for immediate, rapid-fire shifts however to slip between equipments similar to an automated. It eases itself carefully up to speed, sliding from one cog to the next without so much as a nod from your travelers. Power delivery, too, is refined and loosened up, needing you to flex your foot hard on that particular accelerator to get the turbo working. Steering, nonetheless, is ultra-light, with U-turns calling for simply one finger.

I additionally discovered myself despising the capacitive touch buttons on the guiding wheel. By the end of the day, I ‘d lost matter of the number of times I inadvertently turned up the quantity when my right palm foraged the upper part of the touch-sensitive location.

On the within, the most significant layout adjustment is the previously mentioned faceful of OLED pixels, but various other refined modifications are right here, too, consisting of a switch to a much smaller shifter. That develops room for bigger mug owners and storage space cubbies. There’s more storage space out back, 27.6 cubic feet worth with the seats up and 56.9 down. Legroom is up, too, all thanks to the inevitable boost in dimension over the outbound model. The 2025 Q5 has to do with an inch and a half longer and a half-inch wider than in the past.

The fundamental form and personality of the Q5 haven’t altered a lot in 2025, however the details are fairly various. The grille in advance is also larger than in the past, and while the total look is more majestic and sophisticated, I need to state I choose the svelte shapeliness of the previous generation.

The HUD is a great upgrade, yet the software application driving the gauge collection disappoints. It offers lots of web pages of information to cycle through but isn’t virtually as customizable or, frankly, as aesthetically engaging as what you’ll locate in a brand-new BMW or Mercedes-Benz. The lackluster style on such a lovely screen feels like a waste.

That’s right, no hybrid offerings neither expensive, high-voltage electric turbos or anything of the like. Those turbos are new, however, with a variable geometry design planned to decrease lag despite those higher outcome numbers. The most significant modification, though, begins the other end of the crankshaft: The SQ5 obtains a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission, a nice upgrade over the former generation’s automated.

The SQ5 provides much the same experience when you’re idling via town. Find some more interesting roads (of which there are plenty in Colorado, where I tested these SUVs), dial it up to Dynamic, and the sportier of the 2 actually does really feel substantially different.

The taillights and headlights are the most substantial change, keeping up with the modern-day fad of going as narrow as possible while including excessive levels of complexity in pursuit of aesthetic style. That comes courtesy of a grid of LED-illuminated sections at the front and a crystalline-like structure of OLED panels at the rear, every one of which can be tailored in the cars and truck’s app or infomercial center to supply some degree of customization.

The engine that will certainly drive the bulk of Q5 designs offered continues to be the very same, fundamental turbocharged 2.0-liter inline four-cylinder as before. It’s been massaged a bit, though, currently providing 268 horse power and 295 pound-feet of torque. That’s up from 201 hp and 236 lb-ft from the former base Q5 40 TFSI, or a tick up over the previous Q5 S line 45 TFSI, which made 261 hp and 273 lb-ft. Fuel economy is 25 mpg integrated.

Slot right into the vehicle driver’s seat, and it ends up being instantly apparent where Audi’s engineers invested the bulk of their money and time on this 2025 rendition of the Q5. Like on the Q6 E-Tron, scale collection and infomercial duties are handled by a set of OLED shows joined at the bezel to develop a single sweeping pane. OLED innovation implies bold colors and lush comparison, however most notably, it delivers the kind of pure blacks at night that automotive-grade LCDs can just desire for.

Pricing and Value

The Q5 starts at $52,200, a large jump from the 2024 model’s mid-$40,000 MSRP, and you’ll require to go down another $8,400 for the Reputation package if you want precisions like the air suspension and the gratuitous passenger-side display. The Q5 Eminence version I drove stickered at $63,290, consisting of the $1,295 location. The SQ5 begins at a rather dearer $64,800, but also for that, you at the very least obtain the air suspension requirement. The added splurge on the SQ5 really feels worthwhile if you’re believing of Q5. The modifications to the framework cause a recognizable improvement in feel, while the additional aggression from both engine and transmission make for an even more interesting drive without much in the means of compromise. Regardless, the new Q5 is barely a reinvention, but it does supply sufficient new power and playthings to keep up with the Joneses– or the Bavarians, as it were.

The steering gains quite a bit of heft as you cycle with the drive settings, however there’s an unusual amount of feeling throughout. In Dynamic, the sportiest, the SQ5’s throttle now ends up being far more sharp and that transmission more eager, if still kicked back. Touches on the change paddles behind the wheel are still taken care of on a delayed basis, a hold-up compounded by a visible amount of turbo lag.