SPIED: Audi SQ5 About To Get Way More Stylish

The 2024 Audi SQ5 has been spied in Europe wearing its production headlight clusters, which will now have a smaller daytime running light element, creating a sleeker, sharper look. But not everything is edgier, as the bumpers reveal that the main lower grille and lower side grilles will become more rounded.

In addition, the signature Singleframe grille will get smoother angles at the bottom, sharper angles on top, and new mesh everywhere. The mirror housings have been reshaped too, and at the rear, the taillights will get a similar treatment to the headlights. The rear bumper has also been massaged, and the exhaust tips appear to no longer be fake.

In terms of what we can expect under the skin, no new information has come out of Ingolstadt, but we are expecting as much as 370 horsepower from a mild-hybrid system, which could incorporate either the existing V6 engine or a smaller four-cylinder. The current 2023 model generates 349 hp from a turbocharged 3.0-liter V6. What we do know is that Audi is planning to abandon combustion-powered vehicles in the not-too-distant future, so this may well be the last time that the Audi Q5 or its hotter SQ5 sibling still offer a powertrain that does not run solely on electricity.

Transmission duties are expected to be handled by a dual-clutch automatic, based on the sounds captured of the SQ5 testing on the Nurburgring, and power will, as usual, go to all four wheels here. Inside, a pair of screens will dominate the dashboard. Worryingly, it has been reported that these screens do not feature physical controls for accessing climate functions. Hopefully, Audi isn't making the same mistake Volkswagen did of replacing regular buttons with touch-capacitive items that are difficult to use accurately without looking directly at them. After much outcry, VW finally promised to fix its blunder on future models, but a lot of damage has already been done. If Audi makes the same bad call, we'll be very surprised.

We should know more by the end of the year, as the regular Q5 should arrive by then. The SQ5 is expected to land in 2024.