The Audi Q7. Remind me?
Yes, the first Q7 had become an irrelevance. It was nine years old, built on an outdated and heavy platform, was huge outside but cramped inside, and rode like it had concrete springs.
So the new one's got to be better?
Yes. And it is.
What have they done?
Started more or less from scratch. The new Q7 is the first car to use the VW Group's 'MLB Evo' platform components.
It's got aluminium suspension, a body that's largely aluminium too, and a whole lot of other weight-saving in the powertrain, cooling, exhaust, electrics, seats, whatever. Makes you wonder why it was so chunky before, but anyway they have taken more than 300kg out of it. That means it's the lightest big seven-seat SUV.
The least fat among a bunch of very fat things, then.
You mean it's no athlete?
No. It feels big and imposing when you drive off, and heavy as you haul it down from speed, and a bit lumbering in tight bends. It's not that you can't hustle it along. It's actually pretty tidy when you do, at least on the optional £2600 adaptive air suspension pack.
You've got variable torque split for the standard quattro drive, and even optional four-wheel-steer to keep it on course. But the steering is numb and needs a lot of twirling, even with the £1100 4WS box ticked, so we wouldn't tick it.
And critically there's no sharpness or feedback and little fun to be had.
So why's it so much better than before?
Because the old one felt even heavier. A lot. But the main thing is, admirably, Audi hasn't tried too hard to disguise the Q7's nature. It's not pretending to be sporty.
Its character is leisurely and refined, and it feels like a big comfy social means of transport. The ride is pliant, the suspension and tyres quiet. It's a wafter.
So it's slow?
Not slow, just relaxed. The 272bhp diesel V6 is a peach. Very quiet, full of torque and happy to rev. Its performance numbers match a pretty lively hot hatch, even if the feel is very different - it's a rapid gathering of momentum rather than a sudden leap forward.
That's the first engine into the UK, arriving in August. Shortly after is a 218bhp version of the same. It's noisier much of the time, because you have to work it harder and use lower gears.
Is it full of tech?
Indeedy. Audi is making a huge fuss about that. Tick all the 'driver support' boxes and there are times the Q7 will more or less drive itself. In traffic it'll keep its lane and follow the car in front. Same on a motorway, though it beeps at you after 15 seconds or so if you've actually had your hands off the wheel.
This self-steering self-accelerating self-braking stuff comes included with the air-suspension pack, so it's not bad value. Self-parking is available, of course, and self-steering when reversing with a trailer or caravan.
Then there are the safety aids: early-warning and later emergency braking for vehicles or pedestrians or cyclists who stray into your path, autonomous braking if you turn across a junction in front of an oncoming vehicle, warnings if you park and open a door into a passing vehicle, or when you back out into a road when something's coming, et cetera.
There's more. Night vision. Brilliant matrix LED headlights that shine around other cars. An economy aid that encourages you to lift off early when the nav knows there are junctions or speed limits further ahead than you can see.
Then there's the entertainment and information: crowd-pleasing net-connection hardware and removable linked tablets in the rear. Basically, it's a suite of tech that brings the VW Group more or less up to the latest from Mercedes, BMW and Volvo.
Is the Q7 still huge?
Yes, but slightly less so, on the outside. And actually there's more room inside now. It's still a seven-seater. The standard-fit third-row chairs fold electrically, and they're more than tolerable for anyone under about 5ft 6in.
Does it look any better in real life than the photos?
It's boxy and bland, more of a big tall station wagon than a crossover. It has amazingly little road presence.
Prices?
A smidge over £50k for the basic 272bhp SE, and £53,835 for the S-Line pictured. The 218bhp engine will be a couple of thousand less.
Where else will this new platform go?
Well for a start there will be a high-end 'coupe-style' Audi Q8 spun off the Q7. But like the transverse-engined MQB, the longitudinal MLB-Evo is amazingly versatile.
All longitudinal-engined Audis bar the R8 will get it. That means this autumn's A4 - though it has lighter chassis parts, we're told. Then the next A5, A6, A7 and A8 and Q5. More big SUVs: the VW Touareg, Porsche Cayenne and Bentley Bentayga.
The Lambo Urus too if it's confirmed (the Italian Government is offering fiscal incentives for Lambo to build it, as a job creation scheme). And there's the next Bentley Continental and Spur, and VW Phaeton. And probably other stuff I've forgotten. A Ducati or a Scania maybe? Who knows...
No comments:
Post a Comment