The new 2025 Audi SQ5 is the Luxury Sport SUV of the Year

Hey guys, what's up? It's Joe Rady from Rady's Rides. I'm back here at one of my favorite filming spot locations because guess what? We have something new and improved from that iconic German brand. What am I talking about? This vehicle right here. This is it. This is a 2025 Audi SQ5. But before we get into this compact luxury performance SUV, let's talk about what's going on here. So Audi, they have really expanded their lineup of vehicles over the years. And it's sad to think that the R8 doesn't exist anymore. The Audi TT, you still have the availability of an Audi RS3, but you also have a new look to the Audi Q5. Now the Q5 is your standard compact crossover from Audi. But then when you see that letter S, SQ5, now we're raising the ante, not only on stylish looks, but also on sporty performance. At the end of the day, there's a lot of different crossover SUVs to choose from. Of course, two other iconic German Euro brands, Mercedes-Benz and BMW, plus a plethora of other competitors in there, including Genesis, which a lot of people forget. But what I wanna find out is, is this SUV of the year when it comes to style, technology, and performance? Let's go ahead, let's dive in and find out. Right off the bat, one of Steven's favorite colors that he loves to film, Glacier White. It's a very, very bright white. And right now it's overcast, so it's kind of got a little different attitude, but when the sun's out, you really need to have your Ray-Bans on. At the front of the business, you see all of the changes starting right away. All new headlight design, all new LED headlights. Actually, they're OLED headlights, turn signals, and daytime running lamps. Working your way down, all new front fascia. So we have functional corner air curtains, the flat black with the gloss black, and then you'll notice that Glacier White body color as it wraps around. Definitely think it's an improvement over the previous model year. Very aggressive, and I'm happy that it's functional. Now, as we come across that open-faced grille, it's interesting because Audi was the first brand to start this. We do have the black optics package, so we have our Audi badge all blacked out, the Auto Union badge, forward-facing camera, and there's the S badge with a little bit of red that elevates the performance. Functional up top, and then down below, you have that honeycomb grille design that's flat black that's fully functional as well with the Glacier White body colored lower lip splitter. But let me know what you think about the updated face of this SQ5. Very interesting how they did this lower portion by blending the flat black with the gloss black. But nice that you get a forward-facing camera. As we rise up, you have that very clean design of the hood. Two indentations, one on each side, and then you'll notice that crisp fold as it drips into the front fender. Very, very unique style. One of the things I'm gonna have to zonk is how the hood meets the front fascia. Now, I know it's like that for crash safety, but it just looks like it has a bit of an overbite. So I would like to get some braces, maybe that old-fashioned headgear that kids used to wear back in the 80s and put it on this SQ5 to straighten that out. Now, when we come around the bend, we're working with optional wheels and tires. So you're getting 21-inch wheel. Love the machined aluminum. New design with the Audi badge, the Auto Union badge. Updated calipers, painted bright red with the S badging on them. And if you're wondering, well, Joe, what is the size of this tire? You're looking at 255 on the width, 40-series sidewall, and this is the Pirelli PZero summer tire. Of course, you're gonna get Quattro all-wheel drive. Remember, Audi was one of the first companies to really take that all-wheel drive and bring it to the forefront. And then one of my other favorite things is that you have no flat black, no gloss black around the fender openings. Now, we do have adaptive air ride suspension. And I'm gonna have Steven kind of zoom in, show you the upper control arm. And if you peek back there, you can see the shock absorber and everything for the air ride suspension. Nice, large rotors. And let me know what you think about the wheel. I think it's a great, nice, clean-looking wheel, very stylish, very Audi, without going too over the top. Now, as we come down the side, you do have power folding mirrors, LED turn signals, 360-degree cameras. From this side of the vehicle, you can see the overall dimensions. This is smaller, obviously, than a Q7. This is a compact. But don't get hung up on the word compact, because it really doesn't mean anything anymore. It's a pretty good size. Up top, you do have the roof rails, nice and close to the roof. And then you do have a panoramic sunroof, which is nice as well. Like the way they put the Audi name here, with the Quattro and the SQ5, color matched on the door handles. Little bit of gloss black, just a little bit along the lower door, outer door shells. Coming towards the rear, I like the way they take that gloss black trim, flare it out on the back. Nice, round fender. Really flare it out nicely. And then you'll notice that you get the red calipers painted on the rear as well. Tires are gonna be 255 squares. So you have the same 21 inch wheel, 255 tire, all four corners. And then when we spin around back, look at the way they really do such a good job on their OLED lighting. OLED all the way across. Nice long roof spoiler. You know where I'm going next, right? Gotta zonk that wiper. That wiper needs to be tucked underneath there. It would really just allow you to take in the aesthetics of the rear of the vehicle and really allow you to focus more on the auto union badge rather than on the wiper. And if you wondered, why is there four rings? Is this like the Olympics? No, has nothing to do with the Olympics. It has to do with the four German auto manufacturers that during the world depression were gonna go under, but they decided to form a union. Hence the name auto union. Working our way down, you got that blacked out SQ5 badge. The one zonk I have for the back bumper is that fake grill area. I don't like it. It doesn't look good whatsoever, but I do like that simulated rear diffuser. And we have a quad tip functional exhaust, oval opening, staggered tips that actually emit sound. Wait until we fire up this SQ5. But until then, let me know what you think about the exterior. We're gonna go pop the hood and check out the power, but behind this Audi. Hi guys, we got the hood popped. You do have hood struts. Underneath the hood, first of all, notice the bracing at the front end of the vehicle to stiffen up the front end. And you'll notice the wires going to that adaptive air ride suspension, tasteful engine cover with the auto union badge with a little bit of red, because this is an SQ5. What are you looking at? You're looking at a three liter V6 turbocharged engine. 362 horsepower, 462 pound feet of torque. It does use what Audi calls an S-tronic seven speed. What that really is, is a seven speed dual clutch transmission. Zero to 60 in about 4.5 seconds. Top speed, 155 miles an hour. MPGs, 19 in the city, 26 on the highway. And the vehicle weighs 4,465 pounds. Now, when it comes to getting that power to the ground, like I said, you have that Audi specific Quattro all wheel drive system. But why don't we go ahead, let's fire it up and hear what it sounds like. All right guys, we are inside this 2025 Audi SQ5. Now I know you're saying to yourself, well Joe, I'm actually liking this new Audi SQ5. I kind of backed away from Audi vehicles because the styling just got a little bland, but I'm liking this one. How much is it? Very good question. The way that it's optioned, you're looking at an MSRP right at $74,000, but I think you might find that it's got a lot of good options. Let's see what you get when you go SQ5 to the door panels. Love the two-tone. You got the soft touch black with that red, very nice red Alcantara material. You got the Bang & Olufsen sound system, wonderful silver trim and ambient lighting, door pocket large enough for a bratwurst and a bottle of root beer. Now going from the door panel to the dash, all new set up in here. First of all, the soft touch with the stitching. Second of all, look at that nice large 10 inch display for the passenger, full touchscreen capability, all the different apps, including YouTube. So you could watch Rady's rides. Of course, we got Alexa media, even video games. Steven was playing this BB Racing 2 game and was in love with it, absolutely love it. And he loves video games, different themes you could do. So it's really cool how they really brought a lot of different technology, new technology, not only for the driver, but also for the passenger. Slide on in, look at what we got, an uninterrupted all new screen, 14 inch OLED set up here. Look at the beautiful maps. I could actually see Steven's house right there. That's where he lives. Go to home, your home screen, go to the vehicle settings. You could make all your adjustments, the displays, massage, massage seats for both passenger and driver in here, nice to see that. And then of course, on top of that, you do have your drive select. So you could go into drive select and go into your different modes. We're gonna be going dynamic. That's what we're gonna be doing. But it's nice to have all those different settings all by the press of a button. The challenge is though, everything else is in the screen. So if you want AC, you gotta hit here and then that brings up your blower fan. You got heated steering wheel in the screen. We got three stages of ventilated seats, three stages of heated seats. And of course it's dual climate control, but everything is in the screen. Let me throw it into reverse, backup camera, nice clear resolution, nice and large, trajectory, the 360, nice to have all of that set up. And then you can make your choices on where you wanna look. So kind of cool that they make it simple to use like that. And then basically we're right where we started. This is not carbon fiber, it's just flat black, but it looks okay. I like the Alcantara underneath it, super slim on the AC vents, your drive select button, your start, stop button with a little bit of a red rim job around the outer edge. When you fire this up, real volume knob for your sound. And then down below, you're gonna have wireless charging, two USB-Cs, a 12 volt for a radar detector, two cup holders, and then here's your new shifter for that seven speed dual clutch transmission. You'll notice there's like a edge within the silver. This is all ambient lighting. Love the red, look how nice and soft that is. You can open it up. Audi is one of the only brands that do this. So you actually get this Audi specific microfiber cloth. You're gonna need this for all the gloss black and for the screens. So, because if you're eating KFC, you're gonna get finger licking good fingerprints all over it. Plus there's enough room in there. You could put, I would say, a stack of about a thousand Deutschmarks. And you'll notice this is like, it ratchets. So what do you think? See, it's the leather, love the softness. Look at the way they embossed the S badge, the diamond pleated stitching, nice bolstering, electric assist for the passenger with the massage. Same for the driver. Up top, check it out. Panoramic sunroof with a power shade. I like seeing that. Gotta wait for that to close. And then we can close the whole setup. Very easy. So nice to have that shade that's so easy to operate. Why don't you come over to the business center. I wanna show you behind the all new wheel in this SQ5. Hi guys, business time behind the wheel. I just wanted to show you that on the driver's side, you do get a nice assortment of switch gear, the two memory seat settings for the driver's seat, and then all the other controls mounted on the door panel. You also get, very interesting, a side sill. So it's actually a sill plate, nice aluminum with the S badge on the side, ambient lighting, and then a pedal box. Audi's always done a great pedal box. Nice large aluminum dead pedal, brake pedal, and throttle. Sitting here, feels good. Love the amount of room that we have. Lots of headroom and everything. You got your seat controls, easy to get to, including your massage settings. The seats themselves are very supportive, very comfy, but they're good for daily driving. So don't think that they're gonna squeeze you too tight. And then our new Audi steering wheel, the smooth leather, the perforated leather. It does have gloss, nothing, no thank you. You gotta tell this thing no thank you or it won't shut up. But you're gonna get fingerprints all over the gloss black. But you have your microfiber cloth, which is good. Love the S badge there and the auto union badge. It is a power, where is it, somewhere, power tilting telescoping wheel. And you do have paddles, but they're plastic. Come on, Audi, give me some metal paddles to go up and down that seven speed dual clutch. And then of course you have the other part of the screen display that's 14 inches, a digital gauge cluster. Just like other Audi vehicles, you could change up the view real easily. And you could bring up all sorts of information and make your adjustments on the screen by just operating with the buttons on the wheel. But while we go ahead, it's not just about the people up front. Let's get into the back seat because I want to take it for a spin in this Audi. Hi guys, backseat time in this Audi SQ5. I'm in love with this red leather. I mean, look at this stitching and everything. Just really needle point perfect. Back to the seats, I don't like the cargo net. If you put a Ginsu knife, like Steven always walks around with a big Bowie knife. If he put that back here, he's going to rip right through it. So I would like a solid pocket, not the cargo net. Little bit of a command center. You got two USBCs, AC vents, but here's the double zonk. First of all, you could only adjust temperature. What happens if I want a little bit more airflow? Then I got to talk to them up there and then it's only heated seats, no ventilated seats. That's another zonk. Sitting here though, you do have your security shades and I like how easy they are to erect them, to make them erect. Very simple to make it erect. And then you do have sliding action on the seats with a little bit of recline. That's how much recline you get. You see that? So here I am sitting here. Oh, that feels so much more comfortable. Oh wow, that's crazy. I'm being sarcastic. I mean, come on, if you're going to have a seat recline, make a recline and then pull this bad boy down. Get your arm rest, two cup holders, but it's that time. Let's get in that cargo area because I want to go for a spin in this SQ5. All right guys, cargo area time. We just hit the button. Nice electric assist is going to be giving you some pretty good room for a compact crossover SUV. What are we looking at? You're looking at basically 27.6 cubic feet of space with the seats up, fold the seats down. It's going to give you 57.1 cubic feet of space. Now I like the way that Audi has the handles for you to pull to fold down the seats. And then you also are able to raise and lower because of that adaptive air ride. We have our Nordschleife Twinkie cargo net. This is where you put your box of Twinkies. And then on this side, you have your little tiny cup holder here to put a trapezoidal cup that you have. Anybody have a trapezoidal cup? But I'm surprised, oh, duh, it's behind the Twinkies. I was a little confused for a second. You do have 12 volt, thank God. And LED lighting in the back. But let's see what we have underneath. Wow, I got to see what we got. Steven, we didn't want to show this, but I'm going to show it. No spare, you get a can of flat fix and an electric air compressor, but you'll notice a lot of storage room underneath. So this is going to be where you put the things you don't want the kids to see, the adult stuff. Keep that underneath there. And then what's nice is you can take this beautiful Audi cargo net and it just hooks back into place so easily. Look at that, almost easy. There you go, look at that. Then we hit that button, comes on down. If you're ready, I'm ready. Let's go for a little on-throttle spin in this SQ5. All right, guys, we're behind the wheel of this 2025 Audi SQ5. And right away, I love the new environment that they've created. That's one thing that I think Audi has never strayed from is their interiors are always spot on the money. Now you have that screen for the passenger. The weird thing is I'm surprised I could actually see what's on the screen. So I don't know if that's going to be super distracting, if my front seat passenger is watching a movie or watching Rady's Rides, but I can see everything from the driver's seat. That nice, large 14-inch display, really beautiful. Once you get the hang of it, it actually makes quite, it makes the sense of it, it all comes together. So very easy to figure out, especially when you bring up, look at all the different apps and icons and stuff. It's ridiculous. And then we're right back where we started. The one thing I wish changed a little bit more was the digital gauge cluster. This is pretty much what you get. I do have it in dynamic mode, which is going to be that sport performance mode. And I want to showcase the launch control because it does have launch control. It's got all this ambient lighting all the way across the top of the dash, the head-up display. So left foot on brake, right foot on throttle, and then we are going to go on throttle in this vehicle. Just want to put it in S-shift mode here. Let me get that right, there we go. So you got to make sure that you have it in S-sport mode shift for the transmission. Love the displays there on the screen. All right, let's try this again. Left foot on the brake, right foot on throttle, release, on throttle! Nice! So really, they do a great job with that launch control. The Quattro all-wheel drive, just grabbing at the asphalt like a freaking puma. And I like the sound I'm getting. Now it's a mixture of some sound out of the exhaust, but also some sound that's being pumped in through the Bang & Olufsen sound system, but it's super clean and it matches perfectly with what is going on underneath the hood. Getting to that new 14-inch screen is well within reach and everything is well-sorted in here. Wireless charging, where the shifter is for that dual-clutch transmission. You can see the augmented virtual reality here on the dash showing the vehicles around me, which is really cool. And then you have those paddles. Now they are plastic, but you do have paddles behind the wheel to go up and down the seven-speed dual-clutch transmission. But I'm gonna go ahead and use those paddles. You got a small gear indicator. That's fourth gear, third gear, on throttle, here we go! On the brakes, nice! This is where things get good. Love the handling of this SQ5. And the shifts are so quick and buttery smooth. And the grip, I mean, the fact that I could be in a right-hand bender and just lay on the throttle and the vehicle just does what it's supposed to do, that really is the proof of the work that Audi has done with their Quattro all-wheel drive system. I mean, look at this, really nice grip. All right, let's do launch control again. You ready? On throttle! Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. Really, really handles well. And it's very planted, doesn't feel floaty. It changes direction very quickly. And the steering is lots of good communication coming through the wheel. And then visibility is great. The materials, the Alcantara, this flat black textured trim is not my favorite, but I've seen worse and I'm just glad it's not gloss black like every other Audi that we've been in as of late. On throttle, here we go! On the brakes, yeah! The rear end comes around a little bit to square off the corner. Really does a fantastic job of getting the power down and just being very playful. I like the way it's playful. But you can see like that vehicle in front of me on the dash, nicely displayed. You have the tack on both sides. Let's see what a U-turn is like here. If we could, there we go, look at that! Don't have to throw it into reverse. Don't have to do a 10 point turn. Just go back on throttle. Super smooth, nice and quiet in here. No outside road noise or wind noise. Oh yeah, baby. Yeah! Very, very impressed with this Audi SQ5. Very impressed, especially when you compare it to the previous model year. It just doesn't, it doesn't just have new looks. It's got a whole new feel to it. But really easy to drive. Nice! Really, really capable. I mean, super smooth. Look at that. One, two, three. But it drives so well. The handling is great. The sound quality of the interior, the materials, everything feels fantastic. But I'm hoping that this has been, look at that, stops on a dime. I hope that this has been a good review for you to really showcase what Audi is bringing for 2025 and the SQ5. We're gonna get back to where it all started and wrap this one up. So I'll see you in a split second. Hi guys, another great day in so many ways with this SQ5. Definitely gotta thank Nathan and the rest of the team over at Audi USA for allowing us to have access to this press wheel vehicle. Let me know what you think. Does it bring all the goods into that nice fancy recipe of the special sauce of a performance luxury SUV? Let me know in that comment section. But if you're new to the channel, you're on your way out, hit that subscribe button. I promise you it's worthwhile. Come back for more. If you are a subscriber, thanks for being part of the Razorback family. Gotta give it up to Stephen Flood. He is one chef that really loves to stir the pot. So Stephen, keep doing what you do and making people feel all those good emotions. And just like always guys, I'll see you on the next ride.