Long-term test: 2021 Audi SQ5 road trip edition

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A chrome wall of Ford F-250 grille rolled straight towards me. It leered at me through the widnshield of the 2021 Audi SQ5 and then stopped, just inches away. The Audi’s pre-collision warning sensors were going nuts. The big Ford rolled back, retreating. It paused for a moment, and then rolled towards me again. I would explain, here, that I was on a road trip, if I was on a road and not the pitching decks of the Pelee Islander ferry as it was being rocked side to side by three-meter waves. The Pelee Islander is very old for a ferry. She was built in 1960, some 61 years before my white Audi was stamped into life in Mexico. And apparently not everyone on board her remembered to set their parking brakes.

Despite the repeated advances (and retreats) the F-250 never once touched the Audi. After a 90-minute ride and a rather eventful docking and disembarking due to the waves, I arrived at my destination. At 42 square kilometres, Pelee Island is the largest island in Lake Erie, and the southernmost inhabited point of Canada. Middle Island is a tiny speck located south of Pelee Island, but no one has lived on it since the lighthouse there was automated in 1923.

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Measuring a little over 12 km from tip to tip, it would be possible to explore Pelee Island with a bicycle in a day. But given that I had to line up for the return ferry the same day, I decided the SQ5 was a better exploration partner. Compared to the 600-hp super-SUVs that surround us, the SQ5 doesn’t seem particularly muscle-bound, but with its long gearing and 350-hp V6, it feels like it could clear the whole island in a single 15-second sprint. It wouldn’t of course, but it will reach 100 km/h in just 5.0 seconds.

The roads on Pelee Island are a mix of paved and gravel. None of them are very wide and all of them are very straight. Speed limits are best left to your own judgement. The island has one police car, and odds of seeing it are fairly low. I found myself limiting my speed not for risk of encountering the constabulary but out of sympathy for the abundant local wildlife. Small swallows flit out of the tall grass at headlight height as you roll along. Squirrels and chipmunks scamper across the road as if they have never seen a car before. In order for the prolonged survival of all involved, I mostly kept below the speed limit.

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The SQ5 has many luxury features inside. It boasts heated seats, dual-zone climate control, adaptive cruise, and a wonderful Bang & Olufsen stereo. And among all that my favourite part about the SQ5 while I was on the island was that the many black flies could not penetrate its window glass, though they did try.

Locals later tell me that the flies let themselves get blown about by the wind until they reach the end of the island and then, reluctant to fly out over water, they clump there until the wind changes direction. I had the misfortune to be on that side of the island. I wore layers of bug spray, long pants, and a jacket and they still covered every inch of my body that they could land on within five minutes. The island is also an important stopover for birds flying across Lake Erie, and because of that, Pelee Island is a wonderful place for bird spotting. But also because of that, the entire island faintly (and in some areas strongly) smells of bird poop. Again, on the lee side of the island where I was, this was rather pungent, and, when combined with the rolling ferry and the black flies, made me think that my girlfriend was very smart not to come along with me on this trip.

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But then again she also missed out on the charms of Pelee Island. Sitting behind a fence on a dirt road stands the ruins of Vin Villa winery, the first commercial winery in Canada. Vin Villa still operates today, though out of a different building. Located on the end of the northeast tip of the island is Pelee Island Lighthouse. Built in 1833, it is one of the province’s oldest, and though it was abandoned in 1909, it was restored in 2000 and today is a popular Pelee Island attraction.

There’s something simple and exciting about driving around on a small island. You almost expect the dirt underneath you to sway like a boat because the water feels so close at all times. The SQ5 was a steadfast travel companion. It coddled me in comfort during my rocking ferry ride, it bounded across the island with ease, and it traversed hundreds of kilometres of Ontario’s dreaded 401 to get me to and from the Port of Leamington. My weekend with the SQ5 showed me that it’s a vehicle that really is up for anything. —Clayton Seams

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Meanwhile, several weeks later, it was my turn to test the Audi SQ5’s long-distance road manners, but with a significantly different cargo. I packed up my family of four and all our camping paraphernalia, which necessitated the purchase of a roof bag. With coolers, stove, tents, tarps, sleeping bags, pillows, beachwear, and everything else on our trusty packing list. Our direction was east, through Toronto on the 401 and straight to Belleville, where we headed north through Tweed and Cloyne with only a quick stop for gas so we could get our site at the Hardwood Hills campgrounds of Bon Echo Provincial Park to set up early and enjoy an afternoon swim before dinner.

The SQ5 obliged by cruising smoothly at my preferred speeds, but that big hulking roof bag meant that our fuel consumption was far in excess of what Clayton managed. After his trip, Clayton noted to me that he was very impressed and managed to cruise along at less than 8.0 L/100 km for long stretches of his cruise, but that was without the cross bars or roof rack. With that horrible aerodynamic drag, the best I managed was 10.5, and that included long stretches under 100 km/h on the smaller highways heading north to offset my high speeds on the 401.

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On the flip side, with four humans and all their cargo aboard, the SQ5 was wonderfully suited to this kind of trip. As mentioned in my intro video, I was a little concerned and baffled about the fairly tall ride height and no air suspension to lower it for better handling. But on the mix of winding country roads up to Bon Echo and gravel roads leading back to the beaches and the Abes & Essens hiking trail that was the highlight of our trip, the SQ5 proved that it had enough ground clearance for peace of mind navigating the odd monster pothole or ruts, but still felt composed when playing the occasional rally driver or just diving into a corner on pavement.

After a few days enjoying the spoils of nature and the deprivation of living in a tent, we headed back to the GTA, taking the slow roads through Madoc, Marmora, and Peterborough, but lingering at the beach meant we were too late to make it to the legendary Doo Doo’s bakery before closing time, so that bucket-list butter tart will have to wait for our next trip out that way. Nonetheless, for the entire trip we appreciated the variety of cabin storage for water bottles, iPhones, snacks, books and other items that helped the hours fly by in the comfort of the leather lined seats. I did dearly wish for ventilated seats in our Ontario summer heat, which are a notable absence on a $75,000 luxury vehicle, but the seats themselves kept all our backs and bottoms happy, and DJ Mom kept all our ears happy picking favourites on Spotify as it streamed via Apple Carplay.

The SQ5 doesn’t seem to leap off the page when you read the specs and feature lists, but for some reason my daughter is a huge fan and now is insisting we take this for our next summer adventure to a cottage in Tobermory, or just buy one. It was an interesting endorsement from a daughter normally loyal to much more spacious minivans.

Check back soon for our comparison between the Genesis GV70 and SQ5, where we will dive into the luxury and sporting experience offered by the SQ5 and its newest challenger. —Jonathan Yarkony