This week we have the Audi Q7 Technik Tiptronic with S-line with an MSRP $76650 CDN assembled at the Volkswagen Bratislava Plant in the Slovak Republic.
Fun Factor: 6
Can it Family: 9
Fuel-Friendly: 7
HWY-warrior: 8
Karaoke Friendly: 2
Baby friendly: 9
City Cruising: 4
Audi’s biggest offering currently is the Q7, our car was equipped with a supercharged V6 with 333hp and 325 lb-ft of torque giving you an acceleration of 0-100km/h in 5.7 seconds. In our tests the best we’ve achieved was 7.2 seconds with winter tires and 7 passengers, the transmission can feel laggy with heavy acceleration, Audi is also guilty of using TFSI on what should be called SFSI since the Q7 isn't turbocharged and actually has a supercharger. Currently, the closest competitors to the Q7, are the Mercedes GLE, Volvo XC90 and Land Rover Sport in the trophy wife SUV class. We haven't included the X5 as the 3rd doesn't come standard with a 3rd row and is client specific. What we find mind-blowing is that Audi is letting its competition eat into its market share since it’s not offering a plugin hybrid nor a real performance variant in North America. Some would say that Audi does offer performance Variant such as the Porsche Cayenne, Lamborghini Urus and even the Bentley Bentayga, that are all based on the same platform. Europe does get a Diesel SQ7 and Hybrid Q7.
If we talk about the direct competition of the Q7 it will start showing certain short fallings, don’t get us wrong the Q7 does everything well however it doesn’t excel in any field, it’s not as fun to drive as the Land Rover, it’s not as luxurious as the XC90, it doesn’t sound as good as the GLE. The Q7 does everything well. We would just like it to do better with its price tag.
As for the fun factor, the Q7 will not wow in any way on a beautiful and sunny day. That changes when you’re stuck in a snowstorm or extreme weather, you can look down on others while they struggle on the road and the Q7 stays planted. Jokes aside, we’ve attempted to drive across a fully snowed-in field and the Q7 never once struggled something the GLE or the XC90 would have had trouble with going off-road.
Can it Family? Yes, it has comfortable seating for 5 and 2 of Santa’s elves in the 3rd row, actually 2 smaller kids. Access into the 3rd is less than ideal. First, the height of car doesn’t make it easy to access the second row added to that you have the curvature of the rear wheel exactly where you’re supposed to enter to gain access into the back. Again the last row is for kids that don’t mind doing acrobatics from time to time. The middle row is very comfortable. You can enjoy heated seats, dual temperature adjustment this might be one of the rare SUV's where everyone in the 2nd row will enjoy being chauffeur around. As for the front seats you’ll be pampered with cooled and heated seat and also adjustment till there is no tomorrow even the steering wheel is electronically adjusted. As an option you can even have massaging seats.
The Q7 had an average of 8.8L per 100km on the HWY as for the city, with dynamic driving we got close to 15.6L per 100km, we average 11.2L per 100km, when purchasing the Q7, you’ll have to keep in mind that the lowest octane of fuel it takes is 91 premium fuel. The lowest consumption we’ve achieved was 7.9L per 100km while driving 100km/h on cruise control for a distance of 100km.
The virtual cockpit is easy to use and looks stunning. It has everything you need, in our opinion, the middle screen looks outdated and even has a different resolution quality. The placement of the center screen should be moved as it disrupts the beautifully crafted interior.
Now Audi let’s talk for a moment about the Bose audio system in the Q7, it sounds horrible. It lacks refinement. The base is absent even when you’ve selected the highest level and when it does give you a glimpse of an opportunity to play the base, it will sound artificial. You’ll start hating your favorite tunes as they’ve become unrecognizable. It’s as if Bose only left us with the midrange only and cut away the rest.
The ISOFIX ports are hidden behind a small cushion and can easily be accessed, the idea of the little cushion is fantastic until you lose it and need to buy a replacement at Audi. We’ve installed 3 child seats in the 2nd row and we found that this is the best options if you don’t want to bring your kids friends with you on the drive back from daycare/school/University . We’ve found that putting a car seat in the middle seat will block the side seats to be folded to gain access to the 3rd row.
As for the city driving, we’ve enjoyed using the 360 cameras, and even a front camera for parking make it easy to get into tighter parking spots. Driving into narrow road can sometimes add difficulty due to the size of the car especially cornering at intersections.
Things we’ve liked about the Q7, comfortable seating position, Virtual cockpit, cargo room with 5 passengers, interior styling and build quality.
Things we’ve hated about the Q7, sensors peeping when obstructed by snow or heavy rain starts peeping like crazy at a red light, access to the 3rd row, premium 91 fuel only, cargo divider when using 3rd row nowhere to store and takes lots of cargo space.
