Audi SQ5 gets 354bhp petrol V6

Behold, Internet, it's the new Audi SQ5! Except of course, you've already seen it, right? Well, sort of.

Last year, Top Gear drove an Audi SQ5, which became the first ever diesel-powered ‘S' model Audi in history. We felt special that such an honour - that being the coming of the diesel apocalypse - was heaped on our wind-swept isle.

But it seems Audi has left its revolutionary cap at home for the other bits of the globe. It has built an SQ5 for America, Canada, China, Russia, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, South Africa, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Chile and even the Ukraine, and has fitted it with a supercharged petrol V6 engine. Petrol! How quaint!

Showcased at next week's Detroit motor show, the petrol Audi SQ5 will get a 3.0-litre V6 producing some 354bhp and 346lb ft of torque, sufficient to haul its rather considerable bulk from 0-62mph in 5.3s, before hitting a limited top speed of 155mph.

And it's this we Europeans and Brits can now sit back and giggle at: our diesel Audi SQ5 posts the same benchmark sprint in 5.1s, and produces nearly 480lb ft of torque. Take that, Rest Of The World. Bitter? Us?

Underneath the rest remains the same: eight-speed auto mated to permanent four-wheel-drive with torque vectoring, lowered sports suspension, huge wheels, an interior milled from unobtanium and a leviathan build quality. Many will want one. Some will probably buy one.

But, discerning reader of TopGear.com, which would you choose? The forward-thinking, superbly engineered diesel SQ5? It's got that magnificent 3.0-litre biturbo engine, don't forget. Or would you plump for the 354bhp petrol?