2026 Audi SQ5 First Test: Hot but Not Scalding

Audi’s S cars and SUVs have come to represent sporty midlevel models splitting the difference between the brand’s mainstream cars and its harder-core performance products. In some cases, they are the sportiest offering, and that’s the case with the 2026 Audi SQ5, which mechanically differentiates itself from the regular Q5 compact SUV with a powerful turbocharged V-6 engine, standard sport-tuned adaptive air suspension, and bigger front brakes.

During our SUV of Year testing, we found the SQ5 to be a stronger offering than the regular Q5, though it lacked a certain spark. Since then, Audi has made some slight tweaks to the entire Q5 model range. There’s an updated steering wheel with a scroll wheel and a new version of Audi MMI designed to make navigating the infotainment system easier. So we revisited the model via this Glacier White 2026 Audi SQ5 Prestige to see how the sporty compact luxury SUV holds up on public roads, twisting mountain passes, and at our test track.

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Putting the Sport in SUV

Audi’s 3.0-liter turbocharged V-6 is a lovely engine. The six-cylinder is smooth and sounds tremendous thanks to a genuine quad-tip exhaust setup, finally ditching the fake tips used by the prior-generation model. Outputting 362 hp and 406 lb-ft of torque, the turbo V-6 engine pulls hard when the accelerator is slammed to the floor, letting loose a growl made even better under the reverberant cover of a tunnel. With the help of a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission and Audi’s signature Quattro all-wheel-drive system, the SQ5 shoots from 0 to 60 mph in 4.8 seconds, beating the last model we tested during SUVOTY by 0.2 second.

The SQ5 scoots through the quarter mile, transmission clicking through the gears without hesitation, in 13.4 seconds and clearing the trap at 102.8 mph. That’s a hair quicker than the model we tested during SUVOTY, which posted a 13.5-second time at 101.8 mph.

As a nonhybrid SUV, the Audi SQ5 gives up some acceleration to the newly fortified BMW X3 M50 xDrive. BMW’s mild hybrid system grants better responsiveness, power delivery, and efficiency. The sporty X3 variant crushes the 0–60-mph sprint in 4.0 seconds and sails through the quarter mile in 12.6 seconds at 109.7 mph.

But there’s more to this Audi than its accelerative abilities. Grippy SUV-specific Michelin Pilot Sport 4 tires encourage enthusiastic cornering. The steering is precise, if somewhat vague around center, but the SQ5 has a confidence-inspiring front end.

Audi’s brake upgrades pay off; the SQ5’s stoppers yank the SUV down from 60 to 0 mph in just 111 feet, matching the BMW X3 M50 xDrive. The brake pedal is firm, but there’s enough travel to make it easy to squeeze the calipers smoothly.

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Our figure-eight test track captures the essence of a vehicle’s total performance in a short one-third-mile lap. The Audi SQ5 demonstrates good balance around our short circuit, but only once its transmission has been cheated into staying in the right gear. While the DCT does its job properly when the throttle is pinned, in other scenarios it’s eager to upshift even when manual mode is in use. Frustratingly, downshifts feel lazy and hesitant, putting a hurdle between the driver and full command over the SQ5’s behavior. We managed a lap time of 25.7 seconds, trailing the X3 M50 xDrive by 0.4 second, but a more cooperative transmission could have made the time even better.

This characteristic also shows itself on curvy mountain roads, where one might want to hold a gear to get the powerband ready for corner exit or simply for the sake of hearing the engine sing on a Sunday drive. Again, the 2026 Audi SQ5 shows great poise and ability when the pavement gets twisty, with excellent chassis composition supplied by its standard adaptive air suspension. You merely have to accept the transmission will choose when it upshifts and might resist downshifting.

We have few complaints about the SQ5 as a luxury SUV. In its Comfort setting, the Audi has a silken ride only broken by the largest bumps in the road; these sharp strikes feel more dramatic due to the thin-profile tires wrapped around the large 21-inch wheels. Peak torque is available from just 1,700 rpm, so you don’t have to worry about the SQ5 feeling lethargic around town. Other than the V-6’s growl, the cabin stays whisper quiet, even at freeway speeds.

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Vorsprung Durch Technik

Audi’s “Vorsprung durch Technik” philosophy, German for “progress through technology,” is on display in the 2026 SQ5 to mixed results. Audi’s lighting elements dazzle, from its configurable DRL signatures to the lighting band inside the cabin that spans the dashboard. This strip is more than ornamental, showing animated greetings, warnings, and turn signal indication. Below that strip is Audi’s “Digital Stage,” a shelf of screens that has all of the content a modern person could want or need. This test car is equipped at the top-level Prestige trim, so it gets a third display on the passenger side of the interior.

Audi’s revisions to its infotainment system have mixed results. The simplified menu structure is easier to navigate thanks to a hot bar of commonly used menus and applications on the left side of the display. Most of the SQ5’s interior controls are either on the screen or accessed via capacitive touch, so you end up using the ribbon at the bottom of the main display frequently to adjust the climate or seat controls.

The revised digital instrument cluster is legible, but the graphics are plain and boring, especially considering that the SQ5 is meant to be the sporty upgrade over the Q5. The three-pod design has a central tachometer and speedometer flanked by two configurable pods, but there’s an awful lot of dead space for such a large display.

The rest of the cabin is much more exciting with a rich mix of carbon fiber, Nappa leather, and microsuede. The varied materials and tapestry of red, silver, and black create an appropriately sporty atmosphere. Audi’s love for piano black plastic is a stumbling point, however, cheapening what is an otherwise attractive interior with the scratch-prone surface.

Our fully equipped test car was further dressed up with a Bang & Olufsen sound system, a head-up display, and Audi’s full driver assistance suite. Dual-pane acoustic glass, rear sunshades, and a 360-degree camera view system add to the SQ5’s abundance of equipment. Comfortable, quiet, and superbly well equipped, the 2026 Audi SQ5 Prestige is every bit the luxury SUV it needs to be a contender in a highly competitive class.

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Show Me the Money

There are three trims available for the 2026 Audi SQ5: Premium, Premium Plus, and Prestige. Pricing begins at $66,695 for the entry-level Premium model and reaches $72,595 for an SQ5 Prestige like this one. Factor in extra charges for paint ($595), the Black Optic package ($1,900), the Audi Guard protection kit ($385), the cargo cover ($345), Audi “S Beam” puddle lights ($300), and a wheel lock kit ($150) to get to our as-tested price of $76,270.

The starting price of the 2026 Audi SQ5 slightly undercuts the 2026 BMW X3 M50 xDrive, which begins at $67,850. However, a loaded BMW X3 M50 with metallic paint and comparable options tops out at $76,100. If performance credentials are a top priority on your hot luxury SUV shopping list, the X3 will get you where you’re going more quickly. However, we’ve found the BMW’s HVAC controls to be fussy and its infotainment software to be obtuse, so you ought to cross shop the two models.

As an Audi S model, the 2026 SQ5 stays the course with the formula of sportiness and luxury that buyers have come to expect. However, Audi has already been outgunned by one of its closest rivals just one year since its new-generation compact SUV entered production. The SQ5 can be summed up by the “jack of all trades, master of none” figure of speech, but it nevertheless rates highly pretty much across the board.

And for those who want to go faster, Audi will likely bring the rumored RS Q5 to our market with the RS5’s hopped-up PHEV powertrain and sophisticated chassis tech. Of course, it will be countered by the eventual new-generation BMW X3 M. That should be fun.

Photography byWilliam Walker

Deputy Director of Photography

Like many of my coworkers, my love for cars was cemented at a young age, thanks in part to Hot Wheels, car magazines, and every car poster I could afford when the book fair set up shop in my elementary school library. While most kids went straight for Where’s Waldo? and Goosebumps, I was torn between the poster of the Lamborghini Countach and the ’32 Ford hot rod with airbrushed flames on the cowling. In high school, I worked at Bergstrom's Antique Autos, a historic garage in Port Townsend, Washington. Surrounded by nearly a century of automotive history, I immersed myself in cleaning, sorting, and selling car parts and memorabilia. I also spent countless hours flipping through vintage car magazines and can comfortably say that I've looked through every Motor Trend, Car & Driver, Hot Rod, and Sports Car Graphic up until the early 1980s. Around the same time, I picked up photography—naturally, with cars as my main subject. Despite my high school photography teacher's advice to branch out, I stuck to my passion and attended every car show I could find. This led me to the Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara, California, where I earned a bachelor’s degree with a focus on automotive photography. I began my career at Motor Trend as a photography intern. After freelancing for a few years, I joined the Motor Trend team full-time in late 2010. My passion for cars and photography continues to fuel my work, and I hope it shines through in every shot.

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