The Audi Q9 has been a long time coming. The new large SUV should finally be unveiled soon, but we already have a glimpse into its future. Not content to merely face off with the Cadillac Escalade, Audi wants the full-sizer to give the supercharged Escalade-V a run for its money.While perusing patents and trademarks, CarBuzz found Audi's trademark application for a high-performance version of the upcoming Q9. If you have even a little knowledge about Audi and its performance history, you probably know what the name is. Q9 Will Get An SQ9 Upgrade CarBuzz/ValnetThe Q9 is certainly no secret. The CarBuzz spies have snapped it out testing on multiple occasions, and Audi development boss Geoffrey Bouquot confirmed the vehicle and the name late last year. Late last month, Audi applied for the SQ9 trademark, which likely confirms the SUV will have a quicker and more powerful SQ9 variant. Whether it debuts at the same time or some time later is unknown. And it's always possible Audi is protecting the name, just in case. But our instincts tell us it's real, and it's coming.We don't know much about the upcoming Q9, just that it will be large. The Audi Q7 might share its number with the BMW X7, but Audi's big SUV is nearly 4 inches shorter with similarly less interior space. It's also significantly shorter and smaller than the Cadillac Escalade – around a foot in this case. The auto market has spoken, in saying that if it's not the biggest, it's not the most luxurious. So Audi is going to step up. What Will S Give To This Q? Jared Rosenholtz/CarBuzz/Valnet If you're Audi, Q means SUV, the number refers to the size, and that leading S means Sport. Generally, an S model means a little bit more power than the standard model, along with a firmer suspension, stronger brakes, and more luxury items. RS, the top of the line, takes that to an even higher level, often at the expense of comfort. Though this seems to confirm an SQ9, we don't expect an RS Q9. The Q7 gets an SQ7 but not an RS Q7, while the slightly more stylish (and two-row) Q8 gets both.For an example of the performance increase an SQ9 might get over the standard model, we'll look to the Q7. That big SUV is available with a maximum of 450 horsepower in Q7 60 TFSI e guise, thanks to a 3.0-liter V6 and PHEV system. The SQ7 makes 500 hp from its 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8. The RS Q8 bumps that to 630 hp.A Q9 model will likely have more power than the Q7. The base Q7's 249 hp 2.0-liter four would be a hard sell in an even heavier SUV. Depending on just how big the Q9 is, it could get close to the RS Q8's power output. If Audi really wants to go Escalade-V hunting, it's going to need that kind of punch.We don't know when in 2026 the Q9 will be revealed, but we do know it will be this year. Audi normally reveals both standard and S models at the same time, so that's likely to be the case here, too. With the recent trademark filing, we think it will be soon.Audi's first S was the 1990 S2 Coupe. It was based on the Audi 80, and it spawned the first RS model, the RS2 of 1994. Since then, the badge has appeared on more and more vehicles, and today nearly everything Audi sells offers an S model. RS, though, has been used far more sparingly over the years.Trademark filings do not guarantee the use of such nomenclature in future vehicles and are often used exclusively as a means of protecting intellectual property. Such a filing cannot be construed as confirmation of a production-bound application.Source: German Patent and Trade Mark Office
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