2025 Audi Q5 First Drive Review: A Luxe Crowdpleaser

Take the mathematical average of every new car being sold today, and you might just get the 2025 Audi Q5. With a starting price of $53K, a compact-but-not-too-compact crossover body, and a luxurious yet fairly attainable badge, the Q5 feels like a default for anyone shopping comfortably for a new car. Yes, it’s a luxury ride, but I’d argue that, with very few exceptions, being able to afford any new car in this day and age comfortably is in and of itself a luxury.

Not only does it feel like The Average 2025 New Car in premise, but it also feels that way in execution. It’s fairly sporty but not in a way that crimps its cushy parent-mobile cred. The interior is a mix of big, futuristic screens and decent physical controls—the lightbar at the top of the dash that mirrors turn signal activity is just the sort of superfluous yet harmless doodad that could’ve been ripped out of a parody of modern luxury vehicles. 

This decidedly crowd-pleasing nature also makes the new Q5 adaptable. Quick and agile, stylish and comfortable, fancy but not ostentatious, Audi’s newest SUV remains a strong all-around choice for those with money in their pocket looking for a crossover that’ll mostly do it all.

The Basics

Slotting in between the midsize Q7 and subcompact Q3, the Q5 is Audi’s compact crossover and happens to be the company’s best-selling model. This 2025 edition is completely redesigned, taking it into its third generation and giving it a smoother, modern design. The headlights are squintier, the grille is wider, the taillights are a single bar that stretches across the rear, the fenders ever so slightly harken back to Audi’s old school rally cars, and, get this, all of the exhaust tips are now real.

Compared to the old Q5, this new one has grown ever so slightly: it’s 1.4 inches longer, 0.2 inches taller, and 0.6 inches wider than last year’s model. 

Inside, Audi’s newest control scheme and infotainment system dedicates more things to touch-sensitive interfaces, but that’s pretty much par for the course if you’re shopping anywhere near this space (and beyond). Yeah, I don’t really love it either, but spend some time getting used to it, and Audi’s setup is far from terrible. There’s still an honest-to-god volume knob complete with track seeking functionality, for starters, and the OLED screens in front of the driver are bright, clear, fairly customizable, and well laid out. Buttons on the steering wheel are touch-sensitive but well implemented—they click and have grooves that make ‘em easier to use without looking.

Style and materials-wise, I’d put the Q5’s cabin near, if not at the top of its segment, though that’s not that high of a bar to clear these days. The main screen’s bezel is shaped as if somebody tried to draw a rectangle with their non-dominant hand after several glasses of wine, but other than that, it’s a clean, high-end, and interestingly styled space. I’m a sucker for the wooden ledge underneath the screens (it’s carbon wrapped in the sportier SQ5), build quality feels pretty good throughout, and the A-pillars are noticeably thinner than that of its main rivals for better outward visibility.

The seats are unobtrusively comfortable, and the rear bench is appropriately spacious for the class. That bench can slide fore and aft four inches and recline, and rear passengers get their own climate controls and vents as standard. Q5’s cargo area has grown since last gen: With all the seats up, there’s 1.7 cubic feet more than before (27.6 total), and with the rear seats folded, it’s 3.4 cubic feet more spacious (56.9 total). 

Driving Experience

As a thing to drive, the new Q5 is probably best described as agreeable. The ride is comfy, the powertrain—a 268-horsepower 2.0-liter turbo-four sending torque to all four wheels—is smooth and reasonably capable, and its road manners are accessibly confident. Steering is appropriately light and sufficiently precise (stiffened components lend to a more direct rack at low speeds and a more relaxed vibe at higher ones) while the brake pedal is pleasantly solid and responsive for a vehicle of this type. 

It may rock Quattro badges, but the Q5 is a luxury grocery getter at the end of the day, and it feels perfectly docile and placeable around town. Highway cruising is stable and reasonably quiet, and it even features off-road modes that raise the optional air suspension 1.2 inches. This first test happened to involve a good amount of dirt road driving, and I can attest that Audi’s compact crossover can and will hold its own flung down an unpaved pathway. 

S(picy)Q5

Step up to the $66K SQ5 and the turbo-four is replaced with a 3.0-liter turbocharged V6 making 362 hp and 406 lb-ft of torque—that’s 13 hp and 37 lb-ft more than the old SQ5. Click it into Sport mode, turn stability control off, hold the brake and gas simultaneously, and you’ll activate launch control. Lift your left foot and the SQ5 kicks you in the back of the head with startling intensity and can apparently hit 60 mph in 4.6 seconds. At Aspen altitudes, the SQ5 (and regular Q5, in fact) still punched itself off the line with surprising aggression, but actual acceleration past the first 10 feet felt tamer than it presumably would be at sea level. 

Calm it down with the SQ5’s strong, easy-to-modulate brakes, guide it into a bend, and it feels a whole lot like the base Q5, albeit a bit more buttoned down. Balance and pleasurable, everyday performance is the name of the game here—Audi’s mid-sport crossover doesn’t quite sprint or handle quite as aggressively as the competing BMW X3 M50, but its friendlier vibe is honestly preferred for a commuter-first, speed machine-second kind of car. And if you ask me, I can’t imagine it lags behind that Bimmer too much on the stopwatch. 

For the adventurous Audi drivers, the new Q5 and SQ5 can tow up to 4,400 pounds and support 110 pounds on its roof with the standard suspension or 165 pounds with the air setup.

The Early Verdict

The 2025 Audi Q5 is a perfectly nice luxury crossover. Its touch-heavy interior will take some getting used to if you’re coming from something older or more mainstream, but it’s actually not egregious for this era and segment. As a car, it remains a practical and pleasant thing that drives quite well and comfortably.

It scoots with confidence, goes where you point it, and the ride is never jarring, even on the roughest of surfaces that owners will reasonably encounter. That adaptable, palatable, luxurious vibe remains even if you spring for the SQ5, which adds that extra bit of performance and solidity with little to no sacrifices in livability. It doesn’t quite rip like an X3, but it’s arguably the better daily, with a more relaxed vibe, a more luxurious interior, and comparable real-world pace.

Within its segment, it strikes a smart balance between sport and comfort. If you’re in the market for this sort of thing and appreciate a good all-rounder, put the new Q5 at the top of your shopping list.