Written by CJ Hubbard Updated: 2 June 2025

Overview

Should you buy one?

The Audi Q5 Sportback is a very safe bet if you’re looking for the high driving position of a traditional SUV but don’t want or need the bulky profile that those kinds of vehicles typically feature. The coupe-esq roofline and muscular styling deliver a sleek appearance, and aside from reducing outright boot-space do very little damage to the Q5 Sportback’s versatility.

This is an easy car to handle, and it comes loaded with tech – most of which is unobtrusive and works well enough. But if you’re a keen driver you may find it lacks the kind intimate involvement you’ll get from key rivals such as the BMW X4 – or even the Porsche Macan, though that is now electric-only. Audi’s famed interior quality feels a touch cheapened here, too, thanks to the extensive use of piano black trim and flimsy touch-sensitive controls.

Still, it feels appropriately set-up for UK roads, comfortably dealing with our troubled tarmac, and while there aren’t many engines to choose from, those available do at least offer a good blend of performance and efficiency. We like it, but we don’t think it’s a gamechanger, and it is weird you have to pay £2,500 more for less machine by opting for the Sportback bodystyle.

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What’s new?

The Q5 Sportback is a relative newcomer in Audi terms, with the first-generation model only joining the line-up in 2021. This second-generation version launched in 2025, and shares the firm’s latest Premium Platform Combustion (PPC) platform with other contemporary Audis including the newest A5 and A6. This structure is a demonstration of Audi’s continued commitment to petrol and diesel even while it is progressing an increasing number of electric vehicle variants.

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The Sportback part of the name indicates a less conventional bodystyle – in this case a coupe-like roofline that looks much sleeker than the conventional Audi Q5 SUV. No longer a fresh idea by any means, Audi has nevertheless delivered a fairly cohesive-looking design here, less jarring than some rivals. The first-gen Q5 Sportback sold better in Europe than the conventional Q5, though in the UK we bought more of the latter.

Might that change this time round? Depends how much boot space means to you. For this is about the only practical metric where the Q5 Sportback noticeably loses out. Passenger room in the rear is very generous here, with no shortage of head- or legroom.

Like all modern Audis, it’s also packed with tech, and comes with only a limited engine line-up at UK launch. The standard versions give you a choice of 2.0-litre petrol or diesel – we’ve most recently been driving the diesel on British roads – with a more powerful 3.0-litre V6 SQ5 Sportback performance variant also offered. All come with Quattro four-wheel drive and an automatic dual-clutch transmission as standard.

Find out more about how we test cars.

What’s it like inside?

The interior of the Q5 Sportback is similar to the regular Q5 and the Audi A6 – which is to say it’s dominated by a pair of screens on the top of the dashboard that are merged together in a single, sweeping panel. In front of the driver is an 11.9-inch digital instrument cluster and to the side of this is the 14.5-inch infotainment display.

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Both feature sharp graphics and a lot of information, which may take a little while to get your head around if you’re coming from an older vehicle. But in our experience so far, we’ve found Audi’s latest infotainment relatively straightforward to master, helped by a series of shortcut icons displayed at the edge nearest the driver.

A head-up display can place the most important road-related info right in your eyeline and an optional third screen is available for the front passenger. Somewhat indulgent, but increasingly common in higher-end vehicles, this does mean your companion can watch a movie on the move – a visual filter mostly prevents this from distracting person in control of the car.

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It’s all very smart, and for the most part the materials and construction are of suitably high quality. However, we’d prefer a few more physical buttons to make interacting with some functions safer on the move. Even when you don’t have to delve into a touchscreen Audi now forces you to interact with slightly cheap-feeling touch-sensitive surfaces rather than things that actually press and click, and these do take some getting used to.

They’ve even infected the oddly squared-off steering wheel, though the resulting volume control and so forth aren’t quite as annoying as similar items in recent Mercedes. The wheel itself is delightfully thin and delicate to use – in contrast to the horribly fat affairs you find in modern BMWs – and there’s plenty of adjustment in the driving position. Last complaint is for the lashings of piano black trim, which is a particular bugbear for many of the staff here at Parkers due to the way it attracts fingerprints.

Audi Q5 Sportback boot space and practicality

Despite the sloping roofline, the Q5 Sportback is practical and spacious for people, and not bad for luggage, either. The quoted 515 litres of basic boot space is only slightly smaller than the 520 litres you get in the regular Q5 SUV; this figure is up to the parcel shelf only, however, so you will get more in the SUV if loading to the roof.

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Highlighting this, with the rear seats folded – they split 40:20:40 for added flexibility – you can cram 1,415 litres of stuff into the Q5 Sportback, versus 1,473 litres in the Q5 SUV. Those figures are loaded to the roof.

Sliding rear seats are also available, allowing you to balance cargo against passenger legroom, should you need to. Four adults will be very comfortable in here, though a fifth will get a raw deal due to the central transmission tunnel and less accommodating seat cushioning. The seats are otherwise firm and supportive, and served us well during a two-hour trip.

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Audi Q5 Sportback engines

You can currently choose from a 2.0-litre TFSI turbo petrol or a 2.0-litre TDI turbodiesel in the main Q5 Sportback range. Both have 204hp and come with 48v mild-hybrid (MHEV) technology, which as well as providing a more sophisticated stop-start experience also includes an electric motor that can move the vehicle on its own – but only at very low speeds, such as when you’re parking.

We’ve only been able to drive the diesel so far, as the petrol hasn’t yet reached the UK press fleet. With 400Nm of torque (pulling power) and electrical assistance, this zips along reasonably briskly, though being a diesel it does run out of revs rather quickly, so goes best when the seven-speed automatic transmission is left to its own devices.

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You’ll pay for that indulgence with higher fuel bills, though, with the WLTP figures suggesting the petrol will manage 35-40mpg while the diesel should do 44-47mpg – all depending on specification. We’ll do a proper evaluation of real-world fuel economy once we’ve driven the Q5 Sportback for a longer period, but we’d don’t think it will be far off the official numbers, thanks in part to that MHEV system.

The official 7.4-second 0-62mph time feels about right and the 140mph top speed is entirely believable. More importantly, it’s a refined engine that won’t have you reaching for the stereo to drown out any dirge or compensate for any vibration. The petrol is a touch quicker on paper – 0-62mph in 7.2 seconds – and revs higher, so will likely feel a little sportier on the road.

In addition to the 2.0-litre models, there is also an SQ5 Sportback powered by a 367hp 3.0-litre V6 TFSI turbo petrol. This is a much faster option if performance is important to you, with 0-62mph taking 4.5 seconds and an electronically limited top speed of 155mph. Fuel economy is 33-34mpg WLTP. We will add more info on this once we’ve driven it.

What’s it like to drive?

The standard Q5 Sportback driving experience is neat, tidy and generally well controlled. We’ve only driven the diesel in the UK so far, and that with the air suspension fitted. But it’s an impressive reminder of how accomplished a good internal combustion engine car can be – we were able to travel rapidly, and comfortably, without it making too many demands on us.

The steering is light and a little numb feeling, but it’s also precise. So although the Q5 doesn’t have the sharpest of front ends, we found we were quickly confident pointing into tight and fast corners. Body roll is well controlled, with a consistency we’ve started to miss in heavyweight electric cars, and the ride quality – even in firmer and more aggressive suspension settings – does a good job of stopping lumps and bumps from jarring the occupants in the cabin.

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You get a choice of driving modes and a custom setting to mix and match your preferred parameters for the steering, chassis and engine – plus a choice of standard and Sport settings for the transmission that can be easily accessed at any time via the drive-selector switch on the centre console. The differences do a neat job of altering the Sportback’s character just enough to make fiddling with them all worthwhile – we could even feel the car raising itself on the air-suspension when switching to Comfort at a set of traffic lights.

So, this Audi is a perfectly pleasant and adept means of getting about – and quickly, too. What it won’t give you is deep insight into what’s happening between the wheels and the road surface, and it prefers to be calmly hustled rather than outright rushed. There are certainly more involving alternatives – from BMW and Porsche in particular – but we rarely found driving the Q5 a frustrating experience.

What models and trims are available?

The Q5 Sportback comes in three standard specifications: Sport, S Line and Edition 1.

Sport sits on 19-inch alloy wheels, comes with comfort suspension (which we’ve not yet been able to try) and features useful kit including LED lighting all round, adaptive cruise control, acoustic windscreen for improved refinement, electrically operated boot lid, leather upholstery, three-zone climate control and a full infotainment package, with built-in sat-nav as well as Apple Carplay and Android Auto.

A vast amount of safety tech and driver assistance is also standard, including a front centre airbag to stop occupants bashing into each other in an accident, three i-Size child seat mounting points (front passenger and outer rear seats; this is the upgraded version of Isofix), reversing camera, automatic parking, and a suite of crash avoidance systems.

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S Line adds 20-inch alloy wheels, sport suspension, distinctive S styling outside and in, black headlining, aluminium pedal surfaces, a storage and luggage compartment pack, and special ‘projection light’ at the back that uses the rear window to create an additional brake light for extra visibility.

Edition 1 upgrades further to 21-inch alloys, matrix LED headlights for more precise lighting control, bespoke styling elements throughout – including red brake calipers and special seats – and an electrically adjustable driver’s seat. You also get the front passenger display screen, the option to use your phone as the key, and even more safety equipment.

Note that none of these include the air suspension that we’ve been testing as standard; it’s a £1,725 option at the time of writing.

The car we’ve actually been driving is a Launch Edition, which does come with air suspension, as well as an equipment roster that sits between the S Line and the Edition 1. For example, it comes on 20-inch alloys like the S Line but is fitted with the front passenger screen and electrically adjustable driver’s seat of the Edition 1. Not part of the conventional line up, the Launch Edition is a kind of rolling shop window for the Q5 Sportback, and worth seeking out if you can find one.

Anything else I should know

The Volkswagen Group that Audi is part of is experiencing some reliability issues at present, particularly in terms of electronically controlled features. We wouldn’t say this is enough of a problem that you should avoid buying one, but we have seen a lot of test cars with problems across the group – including Audis – and you should prepare yourself for the possibility of unscheduled return trips to the dealer.

These are hiccups that should be swiftly sorted out under warranty. You get an unexceptional three years or 60,000 miles of cover as standard, though you can pay extra to extend this. Service intervals are every 19,000 miles or two years, which may help keep your costs down.

Click through to the next page to see our star ratings for every aspect of this car, and get a recap of what to do and don’t like about the Audi Q5 Sportback.