2015 Audi Q5 TDI

The only giveaway as to which fuel pump America’s best-selling Audi drinks from is the badge on the trunk lid. There’s no smoke or smell, and you can option up a TDI to look just like your neighbor’s SQ5 hot rod. Inside it is the typically appealing Audi story of solidly constructed, pleasingly styled surroundings.

It’s sized really well, packing suitable accommodations for cargo and four humans into a small external footprint. The MMI infotainment interface is still world class as well, and the available sports seats are supportive and comfortable.

Where this Q5 really makes hay is in the way it goes down the road. Powered by the same single turbo, 3.0-liter V6 diesel as Audi (and Porsche and VW offer in various other models), with outputs of 240hp and a staggering 428lb-ft of torque, it hammers away from stop lights after a brief, lung-filling breath and roars to 60mph in only 5.8 seconds, according to independent testing. This places it in the upper echelon of performance-minded crossovers, yet the TDI will also return mid-20s mpg in the city and low-30s on the highway—something almost unobtainable in any other SUV of any power source.

That you can also tow a big boat, smaller horse trailer, snowmobiles or racecar with the Q5 makes it a uniquely compelling combination of pragmatic virtues.

In other dynamic areas the Q5 is quite competitive, with strong brakes, accurate steering and decent body control. Some competitors, such as the BMW X3 and Porsche Macan outhandle it, and it suffers from more road noise than the Lexus or new Lincoln crossovers. But there is still a reassuring sense of solidity to the way it goes about its business, and simply no other SUV runs with such vigor and such real-world frugality.

EPA ratings: 24/31mpg; 27mpg combined

Price as tested: $53,900

Here is what Audi has to say.