BMW’s X4 is 3-seriesbased, but longer and lower than
its X3 sibling. Porsche and Audi are playing the same game. Who’s winning?
The older SQ5 costs similar money to the others at $72919,
but its extra performance swings the tables back in its favour. Audi might have
dominated Le Mans with diesel power for years, but it was the SQ5 that first
introduced it to Audi’s sporty S production cars. Hence it gets the
sledgehammer biturbo 3.0-litre V6 TDI, which hits hard with 309bhp and 479lb ft
and blows both the Porsche and the BMW into the weeds. It also sounds beter
than any other diesel, with some proper rortiness to accompany the speed that
ramps up like a penny falling from the Eifel Tower. Where the Porsche and the
BMW can be caught napping, the Audi is constantly wired and ready to respond.
Audi might have
dominated Le Mans with diesel power for years, but it was the SQ5 that first
introduced it to Audi’s sporty S production cars.
Sporty Audis often don’t ride well, but the SQ5 does and
what’s more it handles brilliantly; it’s got more puppy-dog-playfulness than
the Macan. There’s more body roll than the Porsche, but the front end bites
hard on turn-in, then the all-wheel-drive system allows you to keep the power
on all the way through a corner. Brake hard and the back will jink just a
little, giving the Audi a real sense of agility. It’s a hot-hatch crossover,
and it makes the BMW feel big and lumbering and heavy, the Macan just a little aloof.
Audi usually adds Drive Select to its performance cars, so
you can tweak the steering and dampers and throttle response. It often adds
very little and sometimes even detracts, but for some reason it’s absent here.
I can only think it’s to keep weight or cost down, but it’s refreshing and the
SQ5 manages perfectly well without it.
I can only think
it’s to keep weight or cost down, but it’s refreshing and the SQ5 manages
perfectly well without it.
Well, mostly, because the SQs’s steering feels over-assisted
to the point of disconnection at very low speeds. It means you take longer to
trust it than you perhaps should. Even at high speed it’s much lighter than the
Porsche’s and communicates less, but it’s a small and relatively insignificant
mark on a package that actually works very well whether you’re blatting over
deserted B-roads or mooching around town.
The Audi is unexpectedly brilliant, but I suspect the
Porsche will suit most of you more of the time. It’s still got its box-fresh
lustre and has the nicer driver environment; it’s incredibly refined and yet
still incredibly good to drive; it’s practical, it costs no more than the Audi,
it’s probably the right call for the vast majority. But I’m taking the Audi,
because it’s fun factor and extra performance overrides its other weaknesses in
my eyes.
In many ways, there’s nothing more contrived about the BMW
than the others, save that it’s a little less practical than it otherwise could
have been. But that and the fact it’s the least appealing drive ultimately
rules it out here.
In many ways,
there’s nothing more contrived about the BMW than the others, save that it’s a
little less practical than it otherwise could have been.
