Audi SQ5 Tuning

"Tuning guide to the best Audi SQ5 modifications."

The SQ5 was the first Audi S model vehicle to feature a diesel engine!

The SQ5 is a awesome project car to play with. The key to SQ5 tuning is choosing the right mods - a lot of money can be wasted if you do it wrong.

See our video which covers all the principles of tuning your Audi.

Handling/Suspension upgrades

Improving the handling for most drivers, is rated as a top priority mod in your SQ5 tuning project.

Fully adjustable suspension allows you to fine tune the handling of you SQ5 often benefitting your drive.

We would go to a maximum drop of 23mm - 43 mm. on most models. You risk grounding out if you go lower than this.

Top end power should be your overall aim on the SQ5 with a nice fat peak torque band.

The best power gains come from larger engine sizes. The more you start with the bigger the return on investment so engine swaps are good value mods for small engined cars.

Engine tuning mods.

These mods and tuning upgrades are usually fitted by our members, decide how far you want to go before you begin.

• Petrol: 2,995 cc (2.995 L;) V6 supercharged
  (349 hp) at 5,500–6,500 346.65 lbft at 4,000-4,500
• Diesel: 2,967 cc (2.967 L) V6 twin turbo common rail (CGQB)
  (309 hp) at 3,900–4,500 479.42 lbft at 1,450–2,800

Getting the best uprated parts for your planned usage of the car is a time and money saver. Stage 3 competition upgrades just don't work well on the road and will make the car undrivable.

Please watch our video which covers the 5 principles of tuning your car. Be sure to keep up with our latest YouTube content and subscribe.

Best Engine Mods for your car

1. Engine Tunes - engine tuning/remapping provides the most advantage in terms of cost savings,  aftermarket ECUs, and piggyback ECUs are all alternatives.
2. Fast road cams are one of the most significant mechanical changes, but they must be installed by someone who knows what they're doing and they are not always easy to source but you might find a local firm to regrind a stock camshaft.
3. Intake and Exhaust - Note that on their own these mods will NOT ADD POWER in most cases, but they can help enhance power after other mods by removing the restriction.
4. Upgrades to turbochargers and superchargers - forced induction is the most efficient approach to increase air supply, allowing you to burn more fuel and make more power. It is one of the most costly upgrades but provides the best gains.
5. Head work - The goals of porting and flowing the head are to get air flowing into the engine while removing flow restrictions and turbulence.

Typical stage 1 mods often include: Panel air filter, Alloy wheels, Engine Tunes/Remapping, Lighter flywheel, Suspension upgrade (drop 23mm - 43 mm.), Sports exhaust.

Typical stage 2 mods often include: fuel pump upgrades, Power/Sport clutch, Fast road cam, high flow fuel injector, Ported and polished head.

Typical stage 3 mods often include: Sports gearbox, Engine balancing, Internal engine upgrades (pistons/head/valves), Competition cam, Adding or upgrading forced induction (turbo/supercharger).

You should keep as much low end power as possible and aim to achieve a wide power band across the rev range rather than a narrow top end power spike.

The whole aim of our guides is to give a brief overview of modifying performance parts and point you in the right direction, our forum is where you can ask for more detailed advice and tips on your car tuning project, the best tuning modifications and all aspects of modding cars.A fast road cam will be one of the best NASP power mods you can do with a single part fitted to your engine.

It maximises the intake and exhaust durations and increases the power if done right. Ideally you'd add other mods and finish up with a performance chip. TorqueCars would caution you not to go with a motor sports profile cam as this upsets the engines idling and general town driving characteristics.

When pushing up the power you will need to ramp up to the fuelling. More power needs more fuel.

If you find you have flat spots and power surges after your tuning parts you should check the fuelling and try a higher octane fuel as well. Upgrading the injectors is another beneficial modification and will deliver sufficient fuel.

If you are increasing your fuelling with bigger injectors you will also need to get a bigger fuel pump to supply it.

Intake and Exhaust Tuning.

The next area for modification is the intake and exhaust. Contrary to popular belief there is generally very little if any power gain reached by fitting an induction kit, they only become beneficial and are recommended after you increase the engines power to the point where the standard air intake box cannot cope!

Maximum power gains come from a full induction kit with a cold air feed on heavily tuned engines, this can be sited within an air box but a panel filter should suffice for most applications. TorqueCars suggest you use a panel air filter as these are easy to clean and maintain and generally perform better than paper ones.

Do not go with the widest exhaust you can buy this will slow the exhaust rate - the best for power gains are usually between 1.5 to 2.5 inches. It is the shape and material more than the bore size.

Getting a professionally flowed (ported and polished) head with larger valves can fully maximise your power gains. Your clutch can seriously let you down as the power goes up if it starts to weaken and the standard clutches are only ever good for power gains of up to 45%. Fit a power clutch to avoid power loss through the transmission. The best mods in our opinion for your SQ5 are Remapping or piggy back ecu, fast road cam and air intake and exhaust.

Turbo engines are just pleading to be remapped. You will see big power gains on most modern turbo engined cars including diesels making a tune/remap one of the most cost effective and big modifications for your money.Despite the large cost involved adding forced induction to a NA (naturally aspirated) engine will give large power gains. Turbos are usually harder to add than a supercharger. With a turbo the power curve is related exponentially to the engine speed making it harder to map.

It is easier to map a supercharger because the boost is proportional to engine speed on a linear curve. To cope with forced induction you will usually need to decrease the engine compression ratio .

Alloy wheel upgrades.

Due to the fact that alloy wheels are lighter they improve performance and they can help to cool the brake disks. Don't forget that your choice of rubber greatly affects your cars grip and handling. It is not worth compromising performance with cheap tyres when you can buy directional tread pattern performance tires.Please note that although they can look cool on the SQ5 large alloy wheels will actually decrease your performance. The larger you go the lower your acceleration will be - this to the change in your effective final drive ratio.

Although some people have fitted larger wheels without issues we would restrict ourselves to a 20 inch rim size as the maximum.

If you would like to know more, or just get some friendly advice on Tuning your car please join us in our friendly forum where you can discuss SQ5 options in more detail with our SQ5 owners. It would also be worth reading our unbiased Audi tuning articles to get a full grasp of the benefits and drawbacks of each modification.

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This article is flagged for an update, so please pass on specific tips below that I can include. All articles, and content was written by me, Waynne Smith TorqueCars founder. Some outlines are just too general so I appreciate your feedback and suggestions. This entry was filed under Audi. You can leave a response below or join our forum to discuss this article and car modification in detail with our members.

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