Audi SQ5 – Ultimate adventure vacation  transport!

There are several factors that point to the SQ5 as being the Audi of choice for the sporty minded yet family considerate owner. First, since we do not have the option for the S4 Avant here, it’s the only way to get the 3.0TFSI engine and S level trim with the Avant body style (Yes, we know it’s not the same. But bear with us.). Second, The SQ5 is a really great car to drive, being basically an S4 Avant on taller tires and suspension, yet with a wider track (by almost 4 inches) and more power (354 vs 333).  The SQ5 is about 500 lbs. heavier, which does admittedly almost negate the extra power the SQ5 generates over the S4 but it doesn’t do much to dull the driving experience.

Sure, the SQ5 isn’t quite as athletic in the really tight twisty bends as the S4. This is mostly thanks to the higher center of gravity as well as the taller tire sidewalls, as well as the aforementioned extra weight. But honestly, how many of us are looking for max handling out of a vehicle like this? And frankly, even though it might not seem like it, the limits of this car are high enough that you’d surely not find them on a public road without risking jail time.

All of this is ok to us. Where the SQ5 shines is when you load it up with everything you could possibly need for a week of camping. For us, that meant throwing our Thule Hyper XL box on the factory equipment roof rails, as well as our Thule sidearm bike carriers. Truth be told, if this was our own car, we’d opt for a hitch mounted bike carrier as the whole arrangement becomes kind of tall with bikes on top, but since this particular car didn’t have a hitch, our only option was to squeeze the bikes on the roof. It was very tight, but we did fit 2 Sidearms with the Hyper XL on the factory crossbars.

With the cargo hatch stuffed, all seats filled, and the roof box full of luggage, the SQ5 shrugged off the load as if wasn’t there.  Highway performance is unaffected even with the big Thule box on top. We were pleased with the stability at cruising speeds. This is one platform that manages to shrug off heavier loads, thanks to the excellent chassis balance.

The 355 teutonic horses are always just a poke of the right foot away, and they are always willing to give their all. Even fully loaded, the SQ5 accelerates quickly. On paper it’s just a tad slower 0-60 than the S4 (sedan), but that doesn’t matter when you’re toting mountain bikes and all kinds of other stuff on the roof.

Even though the SQ5 does not use the 7 speed dual clutch transmission of the S4, opting instead for the tried and true 8 speed traditional automatic, shifting is very crisp, and there is no “slushy” feeling of torque converters of old. Audi have the programming perfectly dialed in on this engine/transmission pairing, to the point where we prefer it over the DSG.

Inside the SQ5, you will find the familiar Q5 interior, with the S car only extra chunky 3 spoke flat bottom steering wheel, the sport seats (sadly not the high back seats such as in the S4 or S5). The SQ5 can be optioned with tons of extra things, such as more leather and more technology. Our test car didn’t have any optional leather, but did have the full Technology package, with the excellent Bang and Olufsen sound system.

We know that some will debate if the SQ5 is “S” enough to justify the extra price over the base Q5 3.0TFSI, and we absolutely feel it is. The extra power alone is more than worth it, as is the overall feeling of the car. There is an extra sportiness and feeling of quality that the S cars have which makes them so nice to drive.

Since we can’t have any other S Avant in the USA, the SQ5 has very large shoes to fill, and it fills them very well.