Video: 2025 Audi Q5 and SQ5 Review: More Screen, More Power

I'm here in Colorado to drive both the Q5 and the sportier SQ5 and see if this new generation is the version to choose. We are in the Q5 Prestige right now, and I'm going to show you the Audi virtual stage, which is the new multimedia system. It comprises the 11.9 inch virtual cockpit and the 14.5 inch central touchscreen. Works great. I've been really enjoying my time using this. It's very responsive, it's very intuitive. I'm not a huge fan of the climate controls being integrated into the screen here. It is nice that there's a dedicated row of them at all times and it doesn't take away from anything as you're using it, so it doesn't pop up above and block the screen like if you're using the nav. There's a nice little shelf here as well to rest your hand, you're not gonna touch anything. Works very well. Wireless Apple CarPlay, wireless Android Auto. Per Audi, this will not be moving to the larger CarPlay Ultra, which also takes over the instrument panel, but works great. As part of the prestige package in this Q5, you also get a 10.9 inch passenger screen. Still don't really understand the purpose of a passenger screen, but you can do all sorts of things over here. It has what Audi calls active shuttering, so depending on what's on display or whether or not the car is moving, I can see it from the driver's seat and sometimes it's blocked out. You have things like YouTube. Again, though, don't really understand the point. If this is something your passenger would use, they're probably capable of doing all this on their phone without it being on the screen or integrated into the car in any way. But it's nice to have, I guess, if that's something you're interested in. It does look very nice and techy, nicely integrated into the whole interior design. Otherwise, the real standout problem in the Q5 are the steering wheel controls and the control panel on the door here. They're touch sensitive, very easy to hit while you're driving, the controls on the wheel that is. Not the most responsive, at least when you want them to be, but if you're driving, you can suddenly do that, brush up against the variety of controls, including for the Audi voice control or the phone call, or you can turn the audio up and down. It's just very distracting. I wish they'd kept physical controls on the steering wheel. Physical controls down here for things like your mirrors, seat memory, child blocks, et cetera. While the touch sensitive controls are pretty frustrating, that is the price you pay for the other improvements to the Q5, and I'm willing to make that trade off. We are in the Q5, which is the more pedestrian of the new Q5 family. The power in the Q5 comes from a turbocharged two liter, four cylinder. Horsepower is 268, torque 295 pounds feet. Those are slight improvements over the previous generation, seven more horsepower, 22 more pounds feet. I wouldn't say the power increase is exceedingly noticeable, but it is nice to have a little bit more, get up and go when you need it. But this is just a very comfortable vehicle, especially at this trim level, this is the prestige trim, which adds an adaptive air suspension, so very, very well damped. We're riding on 20 inch wheels, it doesn't feel like it. Sometimes that can lead to harsher impacts than you would like. Here, everything's real good, real comfortable. The steering has been updated as well, so you don't get as much unnecessary feedback or vibrations from things like bumps, road imperfections, road seams, that sort of thing. Instead, you're getting more feedback in terms of where the wheels are pointed and what the car is doing, which is very welcome, especially on twisty mountain roads like we have here in the Aspen area. You do get more drive modes than some other Audis because this is an SUV, so we have balanced, dynamic, comfort, those are really your pavement drive modes. And then on top of that you have an off-road and an off-road plus option, which is for lower speed off-roading, more difficult terrain, that sort of thing. This is not an off-road SUV, we drove it on some washboard dirt roads, did a really great job absorbing the bumps, still slipped on occasion, lost a little bit of grip. If it had been raining, wouldn't have felt nearly as confident, but again, this is a luxury compact SUV, it's meant for the street, and there it's incredibly comfortable. This is probably my favorite of the two for just regular highway driving between this and the SQ5. Just feels a lot more comfortable. Really enjoyed it. In the SQ5, you get a ton of sportiness that you don't get in the Q5. It's really an entirely different animal than the Q5. I really enjoy it. I think it's got a fantastic sounding exhaust that really seems to be pretty much natural, like there's not a lot of augmentation going on, unlike, say the Genesis GV70, which is almost fake. Power-wise, you have 362 horsepower, 406 pounds feet of torque. Those are increases over the previous SQ5. The result is you're a little bit quicker. It's what you expect for more power, right? The updated steering does a great job of giving you a ton of feedback that helps you navigate things like canyon roads, twisty roads, and the suspension is fantastic at isolating the cabin, even in its sportiest setting. I wouldn't call it the most comfortable ride setting here, I would leave that for comfort. But for what it is, you feel very stable, you feel very comfortable even at speed. Just really all around a good package and I think between this and the new GV70, I would rather have this. I mean, you do have the questionable steering wheel controls that I could do without, you have maybe slightly less screen real estate than the Genesis, but I like the orientation of these screens better. I like the way they work better. And while the Genesis does have climate controls down here, they're sort of touch sensitive haptic feedback, and it's not really much of an upgrade from the climate controls at the bottom of the screen here. So really for me, this just feels sportier than the GV70 with its twin Turbo V6, and this is the one I would take. It's just a blast to drive. I've had a ton of fun driving this. It's nice and loud. But if you are trying to be polite, you can throw it in comfort and it's just a good, balanced luxury SUV at that point. So in the compact luxury SUV wars when it comes to sporty, but not crazy sporty vehicles, this is my current front runner. With the exception of some very annoying controls, the updated Q5 and SQ5 improve on what was already a winning formula for Audi and make the all new 2025 models the best version of Audi's best seller. For my full review of the 2025 Audi Q5 and SQ5, head to cars.com/news.