Audi Planning a Driver's Crossover With Lively Rear End

Matt Posky
by Matt Posky

Until now, the formula for most “sporting” crossovers was simple: make north of 300 horsepower and ensure the suspension can get a two-ton vehicle around a corner without drama.

That status quo may be changing, as Autocar reports that Audi is putting the finishing touches on a SQ5 focused specifically on creating a little drama in those corners.

Is Audi starting new trend or merely fixing the old one?


Deep into development and due out next year, the next-generation SQ5’s handling received extra attention from Audi engineers to make it more involving to drive. What does involvement mean, specifically? Oversteer.

We typically don’t associate things like oversteer with crossover vehicles. Due to their naturally higher center of gravity, holding the road like a car is already an achievement. So, intentionally giving them driving dynamics that highlight this characteristic is well outside what could be considered the norm.

And Audi isn’t necessarily looking to make it the norm. While all new SQ5s should be livelier to drive than the standard Q5, you’ll have to pay more if you want oversteer. Power slides — if the electronic traction nannies allow them — will be largely dependent on an optional sports differential on the Quattro all-wheel system’s rear axle.

Steel springs and passive dampers will likely come as standard, with air springs and adaptive dampers as an option. Steering software will also be tweaked with dynamic variable steering system as optional.

The company is also rumored to be toying with the SQ5’s bigger sibling, the SQ7. There are rumors of using the larger crossover’s electric subsystem to power an electric turbo, active anti-roll bars, and rear-wheel steering.

Audi also has a plug-in hybrid version of the standard Q5 in development for 2018.

[Image: Audi]

Matt Posky
Matt Posky

A staunch consumer advocate tracking industry trends and regulation. Before joining TTAC, Matt spent a decade working for marketing and research firms based in NYC. Clients included several of the world’s largest automakers, global tire brands, and aftermarket part suppliers. Dissatisfied with the corporate world and resentful of having to wear suits everyday, he pivoted to writing about cars. Since then, that man has become an ardent supporter of the right-to-repair movement, been interviewed on the auto industry by national radio broadcasts, driven more rental cars than anyone ever should, participated in amateur rallying events, and received the requisite minimum training as sanctioned by the SCCA. Handy with a wrench, Matt grew up surrounded by Detroit auto workers and managed to get a pizza delivery job before he was legally eligible. He later found himself driving box trucks through Manhattan, guaranteeing future sympathy for actual truckers. He continues to conduct research pertaining to the automotive sector as an independent contractor and has since moved back to his native Michigan, closer to where the cars are born. A contrarian, Matt claims to prefer understeer — stating that front and all-wheel drive vehicles cater best to his driving style.

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  • TybeeJim TybeeJim on Oct 19, 2016

    I had a Q5 2.0T and it was a perfectly good SUV, not a street racer. It does seem inane to make rockets out of these.I drove an SQ5 and it is seriously fast even for a lot of cars.Not a handler though. And all should be aware that the SQ5 and Porsche Macan share underpinnings. The Macan is now Porsche's top-selling vehicle! I recall one comparo where the SQ5 beat a Macan Turbo around some race track! Oh, I now how a road rocket S3!

  • Voyager Voyager on Oct 20, 2016

    A couple of years ago Audi was experimenting with active suspension, making the car bank in long bends - letting the car dip on the inside, contrary to what a car tends to do (i.e. dip on the outside). Haven't heard from it in a long time.

  • CanadaCraig You can just imagine how quickly the tires are going to wear out on a 5,800 lbs AWD 2024 Dodge Charger.
  • Luke42 I tried FSD for a month in December 2022 on my Model Y and wasn’t impressed.The building-blocks were amazing but sum of the all of those amazing parts was about as useful as Honda Sensing in terms of reducing the driver’s workload.I have a list of fixes I need to see in Autopilot before I blow another $200 renting FSD. But I will try it for free for a month.I would love it if FSD v12 lived up to the hype and my mind were changed. But I have no reason to believe I might be wrong at this point, based on the reviews I’ve read so far. [shrug]. I’m sure I’ll have more to say about it once I get to test it.
  • FormerFF We bought three new and one used car last year, so we won't be visiting any showrooms this year unless a meteor hits one of them. Sorry to hear that Mini has terminated the manual transmission, a Mini could be a fun car to drive with a stick.It appears that 2025 is going to see a significant decrease in the number of models that can be had with a stick. The used car we bought is a Mk 7 GTI with a six speed manual, and my younger daughter and I are enjoying it quite a lot. We'll be hanging on to it for many years.
  • Oberkanone Where is the value here? Magna is assembling the vehicles. The IP is not novel. Just buy the IP at bankruptcy stage for next to nothing.
  • Jalop1991 what, no Turbo trim?
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