Audi Planning a Driver's Crossover With Lively Rear End
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?
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]
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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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!
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.