► Audi’s all-new Q5 SUV driven
► Petrol and diesel versions tested
► UK prices start from just under £50k
What Audi needs right now, to steer itself back to greatness, is to focus on its core cars. Y’know… the executive stuff and the SUVs like this one – almost all of which are coming on stream in 2025.
Ingolstadt management, then, will likely have all its collective fingers crossed for the new-generation Q5, as the model in general is a huge seller around the world. So, can this new-era SUV – complete with actual combustion engines – keep Audi on the straight and narrow?
At a glance
Pros: Smooth and quiet, responsive diesel, practical enough, well equipped
Cons: Not all that exciting, some interior niggles, we’ll have to wait for UK cars to drive ones on standard suspension
What’s new?
This is an all-new generation of Audi Q5, using the same Premium Platform Combustion architecture as the latest Audi A5 and engine-powered versions of the A6 (which was originally going to be called A7). This is a properly global model for Audi and effectively its bread and butter in many markets.
Audi claims this generation is not only smarter with all the new technology on board, but more efficient due to the use of its MHEV Plus mild hybrid technology across all of its non-electrified engines. Smaller details like more flexible rear seats, a stowable parcel shelf feature, too.
In some ways, the design has gotten both busier and cleaner. The front is more bullish and brash, particularly if it’s specified in a light silver trim, while the rear end is arguably neater than the outgoing model. The Q5 now also benefits from customisable light signatures front and rear via its new OLED lenses, and new paint colours include Sakhir Gold (pictured) – a properly interesting sandy beige colour that originated with the updated Audi Q8. I predict absolutely no one will spec it in the UK (not least because it’s a £1495 option at the time of writing), which would be a shame as it looks quite distinctive.
As well as the SUV model driven here, Audi will also sell you a Sportback model with a more coupe-like roofline as well as a high-performance SQ5.
What are the specs?
Much like the A5 and A6, the Q5 launches with a single petrol and a diesel option. Both are 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinders, both generate 201bhp and both are connected to a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission that sends power to all four wheels. Relatively straightforward, then.
Interestingly, in a departure from the A5 and A6, *both* the petrol and diesel engines feature Audi’s MHEV Plus system that’s designed to offer around 20bhp of e-boost and enable engine-off coasting and low-speed driving when you’re in traffic. That differs from other recent Audi combustion cars as this is the first time a four-cylinder petrol engine has featured the tech.
Two plug-in hybrid models will also launch in the summer to flesh out the range: one with 295bhp and one with 362bhp.
As for trim variants, the Q5 has the same spec walk-up as the A5. The range starts at Sport, rises to S line and tops out at Edition 1. Sport is impressively well equipped already, with 19-inch wheels, adaptive LED headlights, heated electric front seats, three-zone climate control, 360-degree parking assistance, adaptive cruise, ambient lighting and that enormous infotainment system all thrown in. Audi UK knows the score, though, and unsurprisingly predicts the lion’s share of sales will go to the sportier-looking S line model, with Edition 1 having all the spangliest kit on it – including a largely pointless passenger display.
Options list boxes to potentially tick, besides colours, include things like a panoramic glass roof, some interior trim alternatives and a deployable towbar – as well as the Sound and Vision pack that throws in a head-up display, Bang & Olfusen audio and speedier chargers.
The most interesting bit of kit is the possibility of air suspension, designed to give the ride quality an extra edge. It’s a paid option on the regular Q5, while it’s standard on the latest SQ5. Frustratingly, though, all the Q5s we drove out on international roads had air equipped – so you’ll have to wait for our UK-spec update to this review for more detail on the stock suspension.
What’s it like to drive?
It is still a bit odd to press the start button of a combustion car and for nothing to happen besides a bong, but it means straight away you know that MHEV Plus system is at work. It means you get some instant throttle response and near-silence when crawling out of that multi-storey car park or off your driveway – handy when trying to make a quiet getaway.
Is the Q5 exciting to drive, though? Not really, but it’s all pretty good. The steering has some reasonable weight and fluidity to it, the driving position is adjustable and offers decent visibility and many of the pedal weights are well balanced. The brake pedal feels rather firm and alert, which took a little while to get used to but becomes fluid and welcome very quickly – particularly when so many cars have soggy brake pedals when they need to balance physical braking with energy regeneration.
As mentioned, our only time in these new Q5s has been with ones with adaptive air suspension. The ride height raises and lowers depending on drive mode (it drops in Dynamic, for example, compared to Efficiency or Balanced modes) and it’s a good ride balance on actually-less-good-than-you’d-expect Spanish roads – even on 20 or even 21 inch wheels. There is some body roll when you corner aggressively, mind, but there’s no wallowy or floatiness when hittng significant undulations.
And, in the year 2025, it’s quite interesting to know that the better of the two engines is the diesel. Not only does it claim better possible efficiency figures and is only 0.2sec slower than the petrol, but it also actually feels like the more responsive powertrain when it comes to the engine and transmission talking to each other. Shifts feel speedier (and that’s in Balanced mode, let alone sportier Dynamic) and that lump of extra torque helps it feel more flexible more of the time compared to the petrol, while that din that usually accompanies a diesel product feel better damped and less harsh than the raspy, dry-throated petrol’s engine note. The petrol engine’s performance is perfectly fine, mind you, but the diesel felt eminently more flexible for more of the time.
What’s the interior like?
The Q5 shares an interior design architecture with the A5 and A6, as well as the Q6 e-Tron SUV. Naturally, then, that means some predictable details like an oddly-shaped steering wheel, huge ‘digital stage’ display that includes the driver’s instruments and central infotainment screen and features like active ambient lighting.
Fiddly haptic buttons remain on the steering wheel, as does the massive panel on the drivers’ side for controlling various functions in one place. The infotainment system itself is responsive and, in places, can be user-friendly. But, like the other cars running the same software, it can still feel quite menu-heavy. It’s also a bit of a shame that the ability to customise your view on the ‘virtual cockpit’ instruments has been drastically pared back compared to older Audis.
When driving the A5, I cried out for the return of the bright and tactile brushed metal trim from Audis of old. While there’s still a lot of gloss black panelling in the Q5, it seems the brand’s designers have sort of – only sort of – listened. Why? Because the Q5 can be had with material trimmings with metal patterns on them, and what at least looks like brushed aluminium but is unfortunately just plastic. Beggars, choosers, etc.
While I did call the optional passenger display largely pointless earlier, I did find some use for it during our time, as it came with a karaoke app. Handy for at least keeping the little ones occupied for a while, although playing a game on one while the car was in motion did make us want to barf after a little while.
In the second row, tall adults can sit behind tall adults perfectly well, though the door opening feels a little small and it’s a little gloomy if you don’t spec the glass roof. Like the last Q5, you can recline your seat but for this generation, you can slide the seat bench to enable more legroom or more boot space.
Boot space for the SUV is rated at 520 litres with the parcel shelf in place, and the Q5 has an entirely flat floor. It’s a good size, though it’s actually smaller than the old one – and smaller than an X3 or a GLC.
Under the parcel shelf of the combustion models we’ve driven, there’s a handy stowage space for your parcel shelf – though we suspect that won’t be available for the plug-in hybrid models given that’s usually where the battery pack is placed.
Before you buy
A hotly contested segment, but one Audi’s not worried about. This is one of its core cars, selling boatloads of them despite countless rivals. Naturally, the Q5 will be flanked closest by the BMW X3 and Mercedes GLC and splits them down the middle. The X3 is the sharper car but is hampered by a harder ride; the GLC will be techier still compared to the Audi. Volvo’s perennial (and still very good) XC60 remains another option, with a facelift recently announced.
Verdict: Audi Q5
A keystone model, and the one Audi needs right now. The Q5 is a perfectly good to drive, reasonably practical, very well equipped and a great balance in the premium SUV market as it flanks the harder X3 and the chintzy GLC. Is it exciting? Nope. But it’ll do the job of being a family SUV pretty darn well.
Specs are for an Audi Q5 S Line TDI quattro S Tronic