2025 Audi Q5 Road Test and Review

2025 Audi Q5 Prestige ・ Photo by Brady Holt

When a car enters a new generation, it can be an opportunity for reinvention – solving old problems or adopting a new style or attitude. Other times, a carmaker’s chief objective is Hippocratic: do no harm. 

That’s the case of the redesigned 2025 Audi Q5, a globally successful compact luxury crossover. This SUV looks about the same as before, drives about the same as before, and has just about the same engines as before. It doesn’t charge boldly into the future. But nor does it do so heedlessly. And some fresh improvements help keep the Q5 competitive against a variety of strong competitors. At the same time, a couple of missteps might turn off loyal Q5 owners. 

For this review, we just spent a week testing the redesigned Q5 Prestige with a 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine. Keep reading as we explore its pros and cons so you can see if it’s the right small luxury SUV for you. 

The 2025 Q5 starts at $52,200, and our test car cost $63,290 with options and the mandatory $1,295 destination charge. 

Evolutionary Exterior

In an era where many luxury SUVs look radical or aggressive, the redesigned 2025 Audi Q5 could have come out a generation ago. It takes the familiar model sold since 2018 and rounds off a few edges. The headlights became slimmer, the grille became wider, and the less angular taillights now meet in a lightbar. 

To us, these changes are an improvement. It’s as if Audi took the past seven years to continue honing the 2018 model, and it finally has everything just right. But it’s a conservative, unremarkable design. It’s not the luxury SUV you’d buy to say, “Check out my flashy new ride.” It’s one that’s clearly a luxury car, but not obviously the latest and greatest. 

For a bit more pizzazz, Audi continues to offer the five-door Q5 Sportback. This is an “SUV coupe,” meaning it has a sportier-looking roofline than the standard boxier Q5 like our test vehicle. You have to really love how the Sportback looks, though; objectively, it has less room and costs more. 

2025 Audi Q5 Prestige ・ Photo by Brady Holt

Screens and More Screens

Inside, the redesigned Q5 has changed more dramatically. The old Q5 almost had the dashboard of an Audi from 20 years ago, just with a 10.1-inch touchscreen stuck on the top. In the new generation, the screens are not only bigger, but they have become the dash’s primary styling element. 

As on many cars today, a single curved panel spans two-thirds of the dashboard to contain both an 11.9-inch digital gauge cluster and a 14.5-inch central touchscreen. Plus, the top Prestige model like our test vehicle adds a wide, low 10.9-inch touchscreen for the front passenger. This final touch in particular strikes some folks as digital overload. But it’s not in the driver’s easy line of sight, and our passenger loved setting up the GPS directions on her own screen – with no requirement to wait until the car is parked. Audi calls its new set of screens a “digital stage.” 

The Q5’s interior could still improve. Audi doesn’t divide its big screen as cleverly as BMW or Cadillac. And replacing buttons and knobs with touch-sensitive controls and touchscreen menus has two downsides: they’re more distracting to use, and they take away a chance for the Q5 to showcase Audi’s classic tactile feel. Still, the new dashboard helps the Q5 fit into the current decade of luxury SUVs.

2025 Audi Q5 Prestige ・ Photo by Brady Holt

Competitive Space

As before, the Q5 isn’t the roomiest compact crossover, but it’s roomy enough. Two adults will fit comfortably in the front seats. Heated front seats are standard, while a heated steering wheel and ventilated front seats are widely available as upgrades. Two more adults can fit in the backseat without being too cramped. The rear seat is well shaped and comfortable, just with no surplus of knee space. A center-rear passenger would contend with an especially large central hump on the floor. The smaller Audi Q3 has just as much rear legroom. Both the Q3 and Q5 have fore-aft-adjustable rear seats, meaning you can either slide the seat forward to maximize cargo room or back to get the most rear legroom. But you wouldn't confuse it for a limo even all the way back.

Similarly, the Q5’s cargo capacity is enough to be useful but not incredible for this size of car. By the numbers, Audi provides 27.6 cubic feet behind the rear seat and 56.9 cubic feet with the rear seat folded. That’s up a couple cubic feet from last year, but it’s not as much space as a BMW X3. The handles to fold the rear seats also needed an unusually mighty yank, and the seats then needed an extra push to go all the way down. The Sportback gives up some space versus the standard Q5, too. A 4,400-pound towing capacity is respectable for a compact SUV. 

2025 Audi Q5 Prestige ・ Photo by Brady Holt

Quick and Fun to Drive

Last year’s Audi Q5 had a 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine making 261 horsepower and 273 lb-ft of torque. The new generation gets bumped to 268 hp and 295 lb-ft of torque. It’s no major change, but it’s enough to zip the Q5 to 60 mph in a punchy 5.8 seconds. The Q5 is also responsive on twisty roads, with quick reflexes and a composed suspension. Our Prestige test vehicle includes an adaptive air suspension; we didn’t test the standard suspension, but try it out before buying – especially if you’re attached to plus-sized wheels, which typically yield a bumpier ride. The main drawback to the Q5's driving manners is the seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission. It can stumble at low speeds, including when you’re getting moving from a stop. 

Audi also sells a performance version of the Q5 called the SQ5. It has a V6 engine that makes 362 hp and 406 lb-ft of torque, up from last year’s 349 hp and 369 lb-ft. It sounds richer and gets to 60 mph in 4.6 seconds. The SQ5 also has a sport-tuned suspension for even sharper handling. Both the Q5 and SQ5 are available in SUV and Sportback body styles.  

2025 Audi Q5 Prestige ・ Photo by Brady Holt

A Gas Engine With Good Mileage

Every Q5 and SQ5 has a gasoline engine. The previous generation’s plug-in hybrid is no longer available. And Audi’s EV in this segment is the similar-looking Q6 e-tron. 

Fortunately, even though it’s not cutting edge, the Q5’s gasoline engine gets good mileage. In EPA testing, it returns 22 mpg in the city, 30 mpg on the highway, and 25 mpg combined, using premium fuel. Our test vehicle beat this estimate to average 28 mpg in a weeklong test. That’s solid for an SUV that hits 60 mph in less than 6 seconds, though some competitors get even better mileage. The SQ5 gets 19 mpg city, 26 mpg highway, and 22 mpg combined. 

2025 Audi Q5 Prestige ・ Photo by Brady Holt

Priced From $52,200

The 2025 Audi Q5 starts at $52,200, while the SQ5 starts at $64,800. Even the base Premium model comes well-equipped with the big dashboard screens, GPS navigation, a wireless smartphone charger, genuine leather upholstery, a power-adjustable steering column, adaptive cruise control, and all-wheel drive. These amenities cost extra on many competitors. We’d also add the $800 convenience package for a heated steering wheel and a surround-view parking camera, and you can get a panoramic roof for $1,450. 

Other trim levels are the Premium Plus, $56,700, which adds those options along with 19-inch wheels (instead of the standard 18 inches) and a premium Bang & Olufsen sound system, plus the option to get ventilated front seats and rear sunshades for $950. Our test vehicle is the top Prestige, $60,600. It includes those options plus the adaptive air suspension, the passenger-side touchscreen, and heated rear seats. 

2025 Audi Q5 Prestige ・ Photo by Brady Holt

Q5 vs. the Competition

The redesigned Q5 faces some tough competitors. Our favorite is the BMW X3, which is also freshly redesigned. The X3 is roomier and more economical than the Q5, and just as fun to drive, for a similar price. The Audi’s chief advantages are subjective – if you’re attached to the Q5’s exterior or interior styling, or its exclusive passenger-side screen. 

The genteel Mercedes-Benz GLC is another popular option in this segment. It’s comfortable and economical, and its available plug-in hybrid model has an especially long range on a charge. But the Audi has more cargo space. 

The Genesis GV70 is a leader for value. It’s well equipped even below $50,000, yet it’s more overtly luxurious than the Q5 inside and out. That’s great if you love bang for your buck, but some folks will prefer the subtler Audi. The Q5 gets better gas mileage than the Genesis, too. 

We’re also fans of the comfortable, affordable Acura RDX and Lincoln Corsair, plus the classy and economical Volvo XC60. 

Finally, we’d shop the Q5 against the Audi Q3. The Q3 isn't quite as big, opulent, or powerful as the Q5, but it comes closer than you might expect – and for a starting price of just $43,700. 

2025 Mercedes-Benz GLC 350e Hybrid ・ Photo by Brady Holt

Familiar Appeal

The redesigned 2025 Audi Q5 doesn’t break much new ground. It looks similar to its predecessor, has similar power, gets similar gas mileage, and has similar interior space. Yet it improves incrementally in each of those ways while adding a modern new dashboard. If you liked the old Q5, you’ll probably like the new one even more. 

The new Q5’s stumbling transmission and fussy controls are a potential turnoff. And other folks might expect a more dramatic upgrade to compensate for the Audi’s price increases over the years. But overall, the Q5 does a lot well – even in the context of its highly competitive class. 

2025 Audi Q5 Prestige ・ Photo by Brady Holt