Reports are surfacing that Audi’s new SQ5 will be powered by a 3.0-liter diesel stuffed with the latest Audi tech, which will likely to give it 365 hp.
That’s 30 more horses than the outgoing SQ5 Plus that currently tops the range.
Audi’s powertrain boss, Oliver Hoffman, tells that the engine could produce up to 390 hp, thanks to technology from the award-winning SQ7. A 48V electric system powering a compressor that helps to deliver power quickly will likely be adopted in the new SQ5.
Turbo lag is limited because no exhaust pressure is needed to move the electric compressor that forces air into the cylinders. Audi claims that power can be delivered in less than 250 milliseconds and from way down low in the rev range.
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Whereas the SQ7 has two traditional, exhaust-driven turbos working alongside an electrically powered compressor, the SQ5 will only have one traditional turbo to work with the electric compressor. Fundamentally, this is the same system that helped earn the SQ7 an Innovator of the Year award from .
The SQ5 will also borrow the SQ7’s active anti-roll bars that help it corner flat, so it can put all that power to the ground. The SQ5 will also get the Audi Valvelift System that increases torque and reduces fuel consumption by varying how far the valves can open.
According to a leaked product schedule from , the SQ5 will debut in April 2017, but there is no word on when, or even if, the SQ5 (especially in diesel form) will make it to North America.
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