2014 Audi SQ5 – A New Standard For Luxury And Heart-Racing Intensity

The Audi seems like a yuppie dream machine: faster than a BMW X3 xDrive35i, more fashionable than a Mercedes-Benz GLK, and the ideal petite footprint to be the new Cinderella of the suburbs. That dream may seem like a nightmare to owners of the Audi S4, S5, A6, and A7, though. That’s a short list of Audis with the formidable 3.0-liter supercharged V-6 – or formidable before this crossover cutie topped them all with 354 hp and 347 lb-ft of torque. Output swells over the Q5 3.0T and its 272 horses and 295 lb-ft.

Audi bolstered the 3.0T with a stiffened block and a beefier crankshaft and bearings. More air gets through the sizable single-frame grille than in Audi cars with the same engine. Enlarging the radiator further improved cooling, allowing boost to rise to set this new bar for 3.0T power.

Barry Hoch, general manager of product planning for Audi of America, asked and answered the question that was on many minds: “Does anyone really need a 354-hp grocery getter? Probably not. But this is a business, and some people want it. Why not swing for the fences?”

With the SQ5, the fences have been cleared and the groceries gotten. Audi declares a 5.1-second 0-to-60-mph sprint and a top speed electronically pegged at 155 mph.

Numbers alone can’t describe how the SQ5 blitzed the fantasy roads of western Colorado, carrying a triple-digit pace with ease, stability, and cabin isolation. Forget SUV clichés: Body roll is practically nil due to firmed-up springs and hydraulic dampers. The V-6 pours power like a bottomless gravy boat. Tire and wind noise barely intrude even at high speeds. A new exhaust manifold and a two-mode, quad-pipe outlet provide the rowdiest soundtrack yet from the usually subdued 3.0T.

“Best yet” also describes the eight-speed Tiptronic transmission, managed via a metal-and-leather cue-ball shifter or shift paddles. The gearbox is so fleet and graceful that some journalists assumed it was a dual-clutch affair – and an especially good one at that.

Stealth rules the sleek exterior, but fans will catch the S badging, standard twenty-inch wheels, aluminum-look side view mirrors, twin horizontal blades spanning the grille and fog lamps, and a revised roof spoiler. Big-bolstered sport seats are essentially borrowed from the Q5′s options list. S upgrades include a flat-bottomed steering wheel, gray-faced instruments, aluminum pedals, and optional inlays of carbon fiber or wafer-thin slices of aluminum sandwiched between wood.

Audi Drive Select lets you adjust engine and transmission, steering assist, and exhaust sound over comfort, standard, and dynamic modes and store one “individual” setting. The electric power steering, best left in standard mode, can seem aloof at everyday speeds. But as g-forces near Squealville and the Audi holds the center like Bill Clinton on the campaign trail, the steering’s precision makes it easy to forgive any feedback shortage.

The brakes are even more sensitive. The Brembos with four-piston calipers were part of the standard Q5′s face-lift for 2013, but the SQ5 finds ten percent more front braking surface area, with fifteen-inch rotors, and adds larger, painted front calipers.

Finally, S still stands for splurge. Our striking Estoril blue SQ5 test vehicle stickered at $61,420. (That’ll be $1075 for the paint, bub.) A $52,795 base price is $7000 beyond a BMW X3 xDrive35i and smack atop the new Corvette Stingray. Then again, top-tier Audi buyers aren’t known as price shoppers. With the original Q5 marking its sixth model year, the SQ5 gives trendsetters one last chance to top the neighbors before a new generation is unveiled.

Call the 2014 Audi SQ5 what you will: SUV, crossover, tall hatchback, sport wagon. Free-spending hot-hatch lovers, all grown up and craving luxury and space, will want to call it their own.