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My VAGtastic voyage continues....Turbo Blue B9 Audi SQ5

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  • My VAGtastic voyage continues....Turbo Blue B9 Audi SQ5

    I have officially moved to a single car household after selling both my 2017 Ford Fiesta ST and 2015 Audi SQ5 about 6-8 weeks ago. Both cars went to new homes in Melbourne. Both my wife and I work from home several days a week, and we just don't need 2x cars at this point in our life - better to put the spare $$ on the mortgage.

    Was in need of a replacement family car but it absolutely had to have some power and be a bit fun/special to keep me satisfied - something to replace the B8 SQ5 basically. I'd had enough of diesel after owing the previous SQ5 for 7 years, especially so as we no longer do the right kind of driving for a diesel (regular 30+ minute longer drives) and I was sick of 'time waster' drives on a nearby motorway every 400km or so just to clean out the DPF, so definitely wanted to get back into a petrol powered vehicle so I didnt have to worry about that stuff.

    Considered the Cupra Formentor/Ateca, BMW X3, Merc GLC43 AMG, VW T-Roc, VW Tiguan R and of course the newer 2017+ B9 version of the Audi SQ5. After looking at a few cars we decided the T-Roc was too small for us, Tiguan R a bit 'cheap' looking inside and quite expensive for what they are, and Cupra's just not convenient as no service centre's in Newcastle. Looked at a few Merc GLC 43 AMG's which I quite liked, but in the end, decided to stick with VAG as im more familiar and comfortable with them and don't really have a reason not to get another.

    With a budget of $50-55k I went off looking on CarSales for B9 SQ5's for sale trying to find something suitable. Weeks passed, months passed.....I was getting disheartened - id say 85% of them are either white, black or grey. I also wanted to find a 2019+ model, as the early cars have weak rocker arms (bad roller bearing design) and if they fail, its about a $10-12k fix. In late 2018 Audi updated the rocker arms with a much better roller bearing design and they are also stronger. The used car market is also very slow, so it was the same cars week after week with very few new cars on offer. White cars are just so common, black cars are impossible to keep clean, the grey is a nice colour but after owning one in that colour for 7 years I wanted something different. After looking for months I only found a handful of cars that were a colour other than white, black or grey, were a 2019+ model, has less than 80,000km and had the various options I wanted. Unfortunately every single one of these cars were either in QLD, VIC or SA - meaning that id have to fly there to inspect/buy, drive home and then within 2 weeks re-register the car in NSW = more $$.

    Then finally I came across a 2020 SQ5, with 75,000km, full Audi service history, with all of the options that I wanted, and in the very rare Turbo Blue colour. It was in southern Sydney. We looked at it, we liked it, we bought it and it's now been in my driveway since early September. It was at the very top of my budget, but had just had a major service about 3 weeks prior and the owner had also added 2 years additional warranty + 2 future services for the cost of $4.5k.

    So here is my new-to-me 'Turbo Blue' 2020 Audi SQ5.
    Attached Files
    Last edited by Lucas_R; 09-10-2025, 01:21 PM.
    B9 Audi SQ5

  • #2
    As always, when buying a 2nd hand car - it's gets a very thorough clean + detail inside and out, as well as checking over everything mechanically to make sure nothing is broken/leaking/worn out etc.

    Starting with a thorough wash..........Scrub a dub dub.

    Also...look closely at the clean engine bay and you might see the 1st mod. Looks very OEM.
    Attached Files
    Last edited by Lucas_R; 10-10-2025, 11:19 AM.
    B9 Audi SQ5

    Comment


    • #3
      That is a great colour. IE intakes are pretty good and, yes, does look OEM ... almost.

      Also, I'd bet that TFSI is much nicer to drive than the TDI too.
      Current: 2023 MY23 T-Roc R Lapiz Blue + Beats Audio + Black pack 2018 MY19 Golf R manual Lapiz Blue + DAP) 2014 Amarok TSI Red (tuned over 200kw + lots of extras) 2013 Up! manual Red 2017 Polo GTI manual Black Previous VWs and some others ...

      Comment


      • #4
        Well done Lucas_R That is certainly one unicorn of a vehicle you managed to find. Turbo blue with black pack, nice. Was it spec'ed with air suspension?
        I know what you mean about the lack of colour with Audi in general. I am about to order a SQ5 but wanted to see what the ultra blue looked like on the new model, trying to find one is almost impossible. And don't get me started about the lack of interior colour, not everyone wants black.

        Flipper Dog
        Now - T-Roc R, Audi Q5
        Past VWs- T-Roc R-Line, Golf 6, 7 and 7.5, Touareg 7L and 7P, Passat B5.5, Polo MK3, Polo MK4 and GTI

        Comment


        • #5
          Originally posted by Sharkie View Post
          That is a great colour. IE intakes are pretty good and, yes, does look OEM ... almost.

          Also, I'd bet that TFSI is much nicer to drive than the TDI too.
          Its certainly a rare colour, it wont be everyone's cup of tea - but I love it. Blue is my favourite colour and I love that it stands out a bit from the sea of endless grey and white cars on the road.

          The TDI was a really good engine, with torque for days and a good amount of power - but I must admit that the TFSI engine is much more exciting to drive - from the cold start sound, to the valved exhaust with a little bit of pops and overrun, to revving it out to 6.5k. Its a very smooth engine, much smoother than the TDI, and it sounds great. The only thing it lacks compared to the TDI is about 150nm of torque (500nm vs 650nm) and some fuel economy. But these EA839 engines are quite detuned from the factory with only 260kw/500nm, and a basic stage 1 flash takes them up to about 330kw and 720nm which im very much looking forward to.
          B9 Audi SQ5

          Comment


          • #6
            Originally posted by Flipper Dog View Post
            Well done Lucas_R That is certainly one unicorn of a vehicle you managed to find. Turbo blue with black pack, nice. Was it spec'ed with air suspension?
            I know what you mean about the lack of colour with Audi in general. I am about to order a SQ5 but wanted to see what the ultra blue looked like on the new model, trying to find one is almost impossible. And don't get me started about the lack of interior colour, not everyone wants black.
            Unfortunately no air suspension. When doing my searches for SQ5's I only found a handful of cars with the air suspension - its a really rare option for Australia for some reason. And in most cases, the car yards selling the car didn't even mention air suspension, it was me who noticed it due to the buttons in the boot area to manually lower the height to load stuff in the boot (which is the only visual giveaway when looking at photos).

            Yes the SQ5 in turbo blue is a very rare combo. Im glad to have found one and hope it will help with resale in the future when the time comes to move it on.

            Couldnt agree more about interior colours - where are the grey or white leather seats? And where is the burgundy or caramel colours. Some variety please!! As for you trying to find an Ultra blue SQ5, its a very very nice colour and you wont be disappointed (actually similarish colour to my Fiesta ST and Lexus IS-F so im probably biased.....can you tell that blue is my favourite colour??).
            B9 Audi SQ5

            Comment


            • #7
              Time for some maintenance. Despite the fact that this car had a major service at Audi only about 3 weeks before I bought it, the front and rear brake pads were almost gone and no way they would have lasted another 15,000km of city driving. The front disks had obviously been changed previously, but the rear disks were badly worn and needed replacing too. The calipers and suspension were filthy and in desperate need of a thorough clean.

              Brembo disks (349mm vented) part # 09.D423.11
              Brembo ceramic pads part # P85165N​
              Attached Files
              Last edited by Lucas_R; 10-10-2025, 01:23 PM.
              B9 Audi SQ5

              Comment


              • #8
                And now the rear brakes....well technically I did the rear brakes first because they were more worn than the fronts. Carista came to the rescue to retract the park brake and put the brakes into service mode.

                Brembo disks (330mm vented) part # 09.B969.11
                Brembo ceramic pads part # P85154N

                Also fitted my 5mm spacers and longer bolts while I had the wheels off to give a small improvement in fitment of the wheels.
                Attached Files
                Last edited by Lucas_R; 10-10-2025, 01:28 PM.
                B9 Audi SQ5

                Comment


                • #9
                  Just in the process of doing the same thing (upgrading from my 14 TDI SQ5 to 19 TFSI —- I am sure the Stage 1 is from 260/500 to 300/600. I’m not sure 700nm is achieved with Stage 1 can someone correct me if I am wrong?

                  My biggest concern is it would drink like a fish, how have you found it Lucas?

                  Love your colour!

                  Andrew
                  Originally posted by Lucas_R View Post

                  Its certainly a rare colour, it wont be everyone's cup of tea - but I love it. Blue is my favourite colour and I love that it stands out a bit from the sea of endless grey and white cars on the road.

                  The TDI was a really good engine, with torque for days and a good amount of power - but I must admit that the TFSI engine is much more exciting to drive - from the cold start sound, to the valved exhaust with a little bit of pops and overrun, to revving it out to 6.5k. Its a very smooth engine, much smoother than the TDI, and it sounds great. The only thing it lacks compared to the TDI is about 150nm of torque (500nm vs 650nm) and some fuel economy. But these EA839 engines are quite detuned from the factory with only 260kw/500nm, and a basic stage 1 flash takes them up to about 330kw and 720nm which im very much looking forward to.
                  -----------------------------------------------------------
                  MY16 MK7 Pure White Golf R

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Originally posted by SilverBug View Post
                    Just in the process of doing the same thing (upgrading from my 14 TDI SQ5 to 19 TFSI —- I am sure the Stage 1 is from 260/500 to 300/600. I’m not sure 700nm is achieved with Stage 1 can someone correct me if I am wrong?

                    My biggest concern is it would drink like a fish, how have you found it Lucas?

                    Love your colour!

                    Andrew
                    Hi Andrew. No tune on my car at this stage - my car is stock apart from an Integrated Engineering intake. Quote below taken from the 034 tune info on the VAGParts webpage. Note I have added the KW figures as only HP numbers were quoted https://www.vagparts.com.au/products...sq5-ecu-tuning

                    Stock: 260KW and 500 Nm
                    Stage 1 98 Octane: 321KW and 768 Nm (+268 Nm from a stage 1!)

                    Its a pretty considerable jump in both power and torque and will definitely be noticeable.

                    As with every car I have tuned previously, with normal everyday driving your fuel consumption will actually improve by about 1L per 100km due to various factors such as the tune running the air:fuel mixtures a bit leaner, and the fact that due to the extra power and torque available, the engine doesn't have to work as hard to move the car around and go up hills etc. But obviously when you are putting the foot down, you will use more fuel.


                    I also have a dyno graph from a local Aussie SQ5 owner running a 034 stage 1 tune with no other modification and being a dyno it is measuring the power being transferred to all 4 wheels, which is always less than the engine figures quoted by the tuning companies - generally 20-30% less on an all wheel drive car.

                    The dyno shows about a 200nm peak increase between about 2,600-3,500rpm where the factory tune has a dip, with the rest of the rev range having an increase of about 100-150nm on average. And for power, an average of about 50kw with a peak of around 70-75kw at around 4,500-5,500rpm. I can send you the dyno graph via PM but dont want to post it here because its not my car.
                    B9 Audi SQ5

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