Driving the Audi Q7 was more than just another review, it could just be the SUV our family buys next, as we own an Audi Q5. A big step however, is the Q7, in terms of what it has to offer, and of course the price, which is a good 500k more.
But the Q7 has just undergone an all-round update – both visually and technically. The large SUV now features the new design of the Q family and offers superb dynamics and excellent comfort, in addition to its superior spaciousness. The updated digital operating interior concept and the full suite of Audi connect services are just some of its new highlights. We tried these out over the period of a few days.
Let’s look at the styling.
The Audi Q7 is a big, powerful looking SUV, It bears the large octagon-shaped Singleframe, with six upright slats providing the structure. The two-part side air inlets have a much more expressive line, just like the sill area that underscores the large SUV’s ground clearance and, in turn, its off-road capabilities. The headlights, optionally in Matrix LED technology, emphasize with their contour and light signature the width of the full-size model.
On the restyled rear, a striking chrome strip creates the visual connection between the flat rear lights with their technical-looking graphics and carries forward the horizontal body line. The Audi Q7 is even more striking in the S line model with enhanced exterior accents: A blade in the front bumper, radiator grille in titanium black with vertical slats in aluminium sliver matte, sportily accentuated underbody protection at the rear along with full paint finish, high gloss package, roof rails in aluminium and 20-inch wheels which come standard. We had a deep blue colour on test, and it garnered it’s fair share of admiring glances.
The Cabin.
On looks, I’ve always considered the Q7 to be an inordinately long vehicle, sort of out of sync. But this is not true on the inside. It lives with itself very nicely inside, with loads of space and comfort. Seats that have luxury leather & stitching, lots of settings for comfort.
The optimized all‑wheel steering allows the rear wheels to turn as much as five degrees in the opposite direction. As such, the Audi Q7 is maneuverable, precise and agile in urban traffic and on hairpin bends. In contrast, the Q7 behaves as a highly comfortable, poised touring SUV with excellent ride comfort on freeways – particularly in conjunction with the optional adaptive air suspension.
It also provides variable ground clearance and prepares the Audi Q7 with its standard quattro drive for terrain off the beaten track. The relevant off-road mode can be selected via the standard Audi drive select dynamic handling system with its seven profiles. The Q7 is a big SUV, and handles well considering, it’s never going to be an A3 in traffic, but it get’s the job done. Depending on the position of the rear seat backs the luggage compartment on the five-seater version offers between 865 and 2,050 litres of capacity – the latter with a flat load area. An electric tailgate is standard including foot-activated gesture control.
Convenient equipment options include four-zone automatic air conditioning (standard), a power-assist function to close the doors quietly and the Bang & Olufsen 3D Premium Sound System.
The drivetrain
There is one diesel engine in the local model range line up. It is coupled to an eight-speed tiptronic and permanent all‑wheel drive. The Audi Q7 45 TDI quattro tiptronic produces 183 kW of power and 600 Nm of torque. It accelerates the large SUV from a standstill to 100 km/h in 6.9 seconds and on to a top speed of 225 km/h.
Plenty of vroom in this baby, and I gave it a good burn out to Magaliesburg, the perennial testing ground for cars in Gauteng.
Connectivity: Audi connect
Connectivity is one of the most important issues today when buying or driving a car. And the Q7 offers great connectivity through it’s Audi Connect- which features: ,The standard MMI navigation plus delivers top-of-the-line connectivity. It features an embedded SIM, a Wi-Fi hotspot, natural voice control and the extensive Audi connect portfolio. The latter ranges from online traffic information, point of interest search, navigation with Google Earth and live weather updates.
The Audi connect functionality also includes Car2X services which consists of standard safety and service features in the event of damage, breakdown or minor accidents. This functionality (through a built-in emergency button in the vehicle’s roof module) allows an emergency safety or service call to an Audi call centre to support in any event. Additional functionality, accessible through the MyAudi application, includes remote functions that network the new Audi Q7 with the driver’s smartphone.
This includes car finder, remote lock/unlocking, speed and theft alerts, to mention a few. The all-digital and standard Audi virtual cockpit Plus – and the optional head-up display – provide an enhanced digitalised cabin environment.
The new Audi Q7 offers a number of different packages, namely the Comfort, Black Styling and S-line interior packages. We drove the latter, and found it very sporty indeed, with all the S-line decals throughout the SUV.
Pricing
The Audi Q7 is now currently available for sale at all Audi Dealerships in South Africa.
The model range is priced as follows:
- Audi Q7 45 TDI quattro tiptronic R 1,328,500
- Audi Q7 45 TDI quattro S line tiptronic R 1,388,500
Both models come standard with the 5 year / 100 000km Audi Freeway plan, inclusive of all taxes.
So, to answer the question that comes begging, would I upgrade to the Q7, from the Q5, or got to the Q8? A very difficult conundrum indeed. Methinks, probably go for the Q7, based on pricing, and what you get.