SlashGear

If you have a hard time understanding why people would want a high-performance SUV, I’ll try to explain it to you. Sometimes performance car fans needed vehicle that will tow something along the lines of the boat, a racecar, or haul a bunch of people around. This is the perfect target market for hotrodded factory SUVs such as the 2014 Audi SQ5.

Audi unveiled the SQ5 at the Detroit auto show and it’s a rather impressive vehicle. The outside is rather subdued, but it certainly attractive and it has very impressive performance for a big and heavy SUV. A diesel version of this SUV exists already in Europe, but this version is aimed at the American market swapping the diesel engine for supercharged V6.

The V-6 engine displaces 3.0-liters and is mated with an eight-speed automatic transmission. The engine produces 354 hp and 347 pound-feet of torque. Despite the bulk of the SUV, the engine can push the SUV to 60 mph in only 5.3 seconds according to Audi.

Audi has been offering a similar SUV in the United States called the Q5 and it has been a sales success. I would expect the more potent SQ5 to be a success with affluent owners looking for sporty SUV packing impressive performance.

[via Edmunds]