2026 Audi SQ8 Short Review: What We Liked & What Needs To Improve

In a world where performance SUVs are becoming louder, sharper and increasingly dramatic, the SQ8 feels refreshingly mature. It delivers proper V8 performance without screaming about it every five minutes. And in doing so, it carves itself a very unique space between the regular Q8 and the absolutely bonkers RSQ8.

The result? An SUV that feels just as comfortable doing school runs and airport duties as it does flattening an empty expressway at illegal speeds.

Audi SQ8 Looks

The SQ8’s design follows the same philosophy as its personality: understated, but unmistakably expensive if you know what you’re looking at.

At first glance, most people will simply see it as another Q8. But spend a little more time around it, and the details start standing out. The silver-finished grille, sharper bumpers, larger air dams, and quad-exhaust setup add enough aggression without tipping into full RS territory.

What works especially well is that Audi hasn’t overdone anything here. There’s restraint in the design, and that gives the SQ8 proper sleeper-car appeal. Even the optional 22-inch alloy wheels don’t look flashy for the sake of it.

The OLED taillights and connected rear lighting setup look clean and modern, too, although thankfully Audi hasn’t gone down the route of turning the rear into one giant LED strip.

Overall, the SQ8 has the kind of styling that’ll age gracefully. It turns heads, but quietly.

Audi SQ8 Space And Quality

Step inside and the SQ8 instantly feels solid, plush and properly premium in that typical Audi way. Shut the frameless doors, and there’s this vault-like heaviness to everything that immediately makes the car feel expensive.

The flat-bottom steering wheel, sporty seats, metallic inserts and contrast upholstery do enough to separate it from the standard Q8, while still keeping the cabin classy rather than loud. Ooh, and special mention to Alcantara-finished interior bits.

Space levels are excellent, too. The front seats are where the SQ8 really starts feeling special. The sports seats hug you beautifully without becoming overly aggressive, and the sheer range of adjustment (10-way electrically adjustable) means even exceptionally tall users will have no trouble getting comfortable. The seating position itself feels low and cocooned for an SUV, almost sports-car-like, and combined with the high centre console and broad dashboard, it gives the SQ8 a very cockpit-like driving environment. You genuinely feel tucked into the car rather than perched on top of it.

Unlike many coupe-SUVs that sacrifice practicality for design, the SQ8 still manages to offer genuinely usable space at the back. The seats themselves are wide, supportive and nicely reclined, while the adjustable backrest angle further improves long-distance comfort. There’s plenty of knee room and under-thigh support for taller occupants, too, and despite the sloping roofline, headroom remains surprisingly accommodating unless you’re exceptionally tall. It works beautifully as a four-seater grand tourer (not a 5-seater, since the transmission tunnel does eat up real estate).

What also stands out is refinement. The cabin remains impressively insulated from the outside world, and there’s this solid, vault-like feeling to the way everything shuts and operates that instantly reminds you this is an Audi. Quality levels are properly premium too, especially around the areas you interact with most regularly. The leather upholstery, metallic trim elements and switchgear all feel expensive to touch.

That said, the cabin does show its age in places. Some materials lower down don’t feel as special as you’d expect at this price point, and visually, rivals like the Porsche Cayenne Coupe GTS simply feel more modern inside.

Audi SQ8 Tech

The Audi SQ8 comes loaded with features and still manages to feel properly luxurious, even if some of the tech now feels a step behind newer rivals. You get Audi’s 12.3-inch Virtual Cockpit, a 10.1-inch touchscreen infotainment system and a secondary 8.6-inch display for climate controls, along with goodies like massage, heated and ventilated front seats, a 17-speaker Bang & Olufsen sound system, four-zone climate control, panoramic sunroof, matrix LED headlamps, ambient lighting, a head-up display and a crisp 360-degree camera setup.

The screens themselves work smoothly enough, and the Virtual Cockpit still looks sporty and informative, especially with the SQ-specific layouts. But the graphics and overall user interface do feel slightly dated now when compared to what rivals from Porsche or Mercedes-Benz offer at this price point.

What’s harder to ignore, though, is the lack of wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. In a luxury SUV that costs close to Rs 1.8 crore, needing to plug in a cable or rely on an aftermarket dongle just doesn't feel right and it makes the infotainment system feel outdated.

Audi SQ8 Boot

The Audi SQ8’s boot is quite usable for something that prioritises performance as heavily as it does. 605 litres of boot space means that there’s enough space to comfortably swallow multiple large suitcases along with a few cabin bags, making it properly practical for long-distance road trips or airport runs. The wide opening and generous depth make loading luggage effortless, too, while the 40:20:40 split rear seats add further flexibility when you need to carry longer items.

What also helps is that despite the SQ8’s sporty coupe-like roofline, Audi hasn’t compromised luggage usability nearly as much as some rivals tend to. It still manages to feel like a luxury SUV you could genuinely use every single day, not just a fast weekend toy.

Audi SQ8 Drive And Ride

This is where the SQ8 absolutely comes alive and remains the Audi SQ8’s biggest party trick. The SQ8 somehow manages to blend two completely opposite personalities into one very cohesive package. It feels properly comfortable, refined and easygoing when you want it to, but the moment you start pushing harder, it suddenly shrinks around you and starts behaving like something far smaller and lighter than its 2.2-tonne weight would suggest.

What stands out immediately is the ride quality. Even on the optional 22-inch wheels, the air suspension does a remarkable job of smoothing out bad roads and sharp level changes without making the SUV feel floaty. Broken patches, expansion joints and uneven surfaces don’t unsettle the SQ8 easily at all. It simply absorbs most imperfections with this expensive-feeling calmness that suits its grand tourer nature beautifully.

But the bigger surprise is how well it handles.

The rear-wheel steering, Quattro all-wheel-drive system and adaptive air suspension work brilliantly together to disguise the SQ8’s size. You can genuinely push this SUV much harder into corners than you initially expect, and the grip levels feel enormous. Body roll is impressively controlled too, and the SQ8 always feels planted and confidence-inspiring, even at very high speeds. It never feels nervous or intimidating, which is honestly what makes it so fast in the real world.

The 4-litre twin-turbo V8 is honestly the heart and soul of this SUV. Producing 500 PS and 770 Nm, it feels properly special in an era where big-capacity engines are slowly disappearing.

The refinement levels are excellent in Comfort mode, where the SQ8 settles into a relaxed luxury cruiser personality. The cabin stays whisper quiet, the gearbox fades into the background, and the engine barely feels stressed, no matter what speed you’re travelling at.

What’s especially impressive is how dual-natured the SQ8 feels. In Comfort mode, it settles down into this calm, refined luxury SUV that isolates you beautifully from the outside world. The air suspension handles bad roads remarkably well, and despite the massive wheels, ride quality stays impressively composed.

But switch into Dynamic mode, and suddenly the SQ8 feels awake. The exhaust note deepens noticeably, throttle responses sharpen up, and the SQ8 starts lunging forward with serious aggression.

Some observations:

• The mid-range punch is immense. Overtakes happen effortlessly, and the SQ8 builds speed with shocking ease.

• Despite the twin-turbo setup, low-end responsiveness is quite strong, although there is still a slight moment of hesitation before the full torque wave arrives if you suddenly floor it.

• The 8-speed automatic gearbox feels smooth and refined during regular driving, but reacts quickly enough when you start driving aggressively.

• Paddle-shifter responses are good, although not razor-sharp sports-car quick like a Porsche PDK.

• The V8 soundtrack remains mature rather than theatrical. It growls deeply under hard acceleration.

• Rear-wheel steering massively improves manoeuvrability in the city too, making the SQ8 feel easier to place than something this large should.

It’s properly fast too. The 0-100 kmph sprint happens in just over 4 seconds, and the way it builds speed feels addictive without becoming intimidating.

What’s refreshing, though, is that the SQ8 never feels dramatic for the sake of it. Unlike the RSQ8, this is performance delivered with maturity.

Audi SQ8 Safety

The Audi SQ8 comes equipped with a fairly comprehensive safety package, including eight airbags, ABS with EBD, Electronic Stability Control, TPMS, a 360-degree camera, Park Assist and Lane Keep Assist. The camera quality is crisp, the parking aids work well for something this large, and overall, the SQ8 never feels intimidating to manoeuvre despite its size.

That said, for a flagship luxury performance SUV sitting close to the Rs 1.8 crore mark, the ADAS suite does feel disappointingly limited. Beyond lane assist, there isn’t much in terms of advanced driver assistance tech, especially when rivals offer more comprehensive systems including adaptive cruise control, blind-spot monitoring and autonomous emergency braking. At this price point, buyers would reasonably expect a more complete safety-tech package.

To Summarise

The Audi SQ8 feels like the sweet spot in Audi’s performance SUV lineup.

It has enough power to properly entertain, enough comfort to be used every single day and enough subtlety to avoid becoming exhausting to live with. It’s quick without being shouty, luxurious without being flashy and practical without feeling boring.

Sure, the cabin tech is starting to age, and the missing wireless connectivity feels hard to ignore at this price. But once you get behind the wheel and experience that V8 combined with the SQ8’s effortless everyday usability, most of those complaints start fading into the background.

Essentially, the SQ8 is for someone who loves performance deeply, but doesn’t feel the need to announce it to the whole world every time they drive by.

What are your thoughts on the SQ8? Let us know in the comments below!