Let’s look at nomenclature for a moment: S-U-V or Sport- Utility Vehicle, to give it its full title, is a passenger vehicle with the carrying capacity of a small cargo vehicle, and the capability to venture off-road. So far so good. What happens then, when an SUV loses all its ability to venture off-road proper? Simple, just create a new category – the Crossover SUV. Except that not often does one see anything more than dogs or the laundry being carted around in these usually oversized machines. So what are we left with? Well, a passenger car with a large boot – a station wagon perhaps?
Whatever the case may be, the SUV-esque genre has come a long way since the sector was created in the latter half of the last century, with every maker under the sun, from Daihatsu to Porsche, boasting some sort of SUV-type vehicle in its line-up.
The newest entrant into this increasingly Crossover SUV market is Audi’s Q7, joining the fray much later than its luxury brand rivals – even later than sportscar specialist Porsche.
The Q7 is aimed squarely at the lucrative American market, so it’s no surprise, then, that it boasts less than delicate dimensions. Vital measurements could even make some trucks jealous. The Q7 is over five metres in length – should make parallel parking an interesting prospect – two metres wide and nearly two metres high – making one of the larger passenger vehicles on SA roads today.
Surprisingly though, in any form other than close-up, its bulk isn’t immediately apparent. Sheer size is contained, to some extent, by some clever design work, most notably a shallow glass area, steeply raked front windscreen, and wellproportioned details, like the large wheel size – 20-inchers in the case of our test unit, though you pay R18 300 for these large hoops.
Up front there is a super-sized version of Audi’s now familiar singleframe, drop down grille. A bulging bonnet creates the impression of power, while a sill line that rises towards the rear of the vehicle tries to instil a sense of sportiness to the design, but neither quite helps lessen the sheer size of the thing. The overall impression is a very macho demeanour – when this vehicle is hounding you in your rear view mirror, you will certainly know about it.
If public reaction is anything to go by, then the Audi Q7 is by far and away one of the more striking cars on our roads today, if by no means the least subtle.
Step up into the cabin and one is greeted by the same high quality interior as found in numerous other current generation Audi products. The facia layout, in particular, reminds one of the A6 Avant, which is not a bad thing, but doesn’t do much to differentiate this stand alone model. Among our group, we tend to find that Audi ergonomics are top-class. Controls are laid out in a logical manner and are easy to find, so one never has to go off in search of something. Except that glove-box lid release, which oddly is found in the middle of the facia.
A comment made by more than one tester was the lack of immediately available stowage space for cellphones, wallets and the like, with the centre bin having a lid and the door pockets being a far stretch from the high-up driving position.
All fittings are high quality. A case in point is Audi’s Multi Media Interface (MMI), which is controlled by a knurled aluminium dial that rotates with the precision of a Swiss watch, and sounds like one too. An unfortunate side effect of the steeply raked front windscreen means the midday sun strikes down directly onto the shiny metal surfaces of the centre console. This causes a very distracting reflection for the front seat passengers.
The seats proved very comfortable and won widespread approval. The front pair in particular provide support in the right places. Electric adjustment allowed even the smallest of us to get comfortable quickly before setting off. Rear space, too, is decent, and provides plenty of room for anyone short of 1,9 metres, a handy side effect of a threemetre wheelbase. As optional equipment (for an extra R10 000), the Audi Q7 can be specified with a rearmost set of seats, increasing its capacity to seven. Unfortunately, these seats are not ideal for persons larger than 1,6 metres, so you wouldn’t put anyone larger than your kids in there. Exercise this option and luggage space is impinged upon. When not in use, the rear chairs are stowed in the lie-flat position, acting as the boot floor. If you do decide to carry seven passengers, luggage space drops to a meagre 120 dm3. But folding all the rear seats yields a handy 1 192 dm3 of utility space.
Under the bonnet lies the same 3,0-litre V6 diesel mill that was recently introduced in the Q7’s stablemate, the Volkswagen Touareg. Using a turbocharger and twin intercoolers, maximum torque is similar to the VW – 500 N.m at just 1 750 r/min – though power is up a tad at 171 kW, produced at 4 000.
Five hundred Newton-metres is about what is required to haul around the better part of 2,5 tons, and in this regard the Q7 is not let down. In fact, considering its size and mass, the performance is commendable, the test unit reeling off the 100 km/h dash in under 10 seconds and cruising on to a true speed of 212 km/h. Even at speeds above 180 km/h, the Q7 felt sturdy and planted. On the whole, we were impressed by the engine, which never felt overwhelmed by the large body.
Braking force is tremendous, the Audi Q7 stopping the clocks in less than 2,9 seconds during our multiple 100 km/h to zero brake test routine. Impressive, though we have little doubt that the high performance rubber fitted to this unit played a large part in this regard. Well, that and the monstrous 340 mm front and 315 mm rear ventilated brake discs…
Based on the same 7L platform as the Porsche Cayenne and Touareg, one would expect the Q7 to have on-road manners that are comparable, but this is where the Audi disappoints the most.
Less taut and dynamically capable than the other two (smaller) vehicles, the Audi Q7 felt slightly too soft for some tastes, another characteristic that it is aimed at the US.
Optionally air-sprung (at an added cost of near R20 000) as this unit was, we found it slightly fidgety, especially over sharper road imperfections, a trait that seems to be shared by most air-sprung vehicles we’ve driven. Should one ever venture off-road, this can become annoying. For a vehicle that boasts the urban jungle as its home, we felt that perhaps it should be a tad more dynamically adept.
Steering action is light in tight situations, and weights-up nicely as speed increases, without feeling over-assisted when on the move.
In deference to the SUV moniker that it proudly wears, Audi will no doubt claim that the Quattro drivetrain is key. Then again, that same drivetrain can be found on an A6 Avant, or even the RS4 for that matter. The Electronic Stabilisation Program (ES P) does have an Offroad setting in which slightly more slip is tolerated on loose surfaces, both in terms of acceleration and braking. The air-sprung suspension too, allows for an increase in ground clearance and a fording depth of 535 mm. Though whether a Q7 will ever see conditions rougher than a choked car park is highly debatable.
Test summary
So where does that leave the Audi Q7 in our minds? Markets dictate that manufacturers produce some sort of SUV vehicle, or lose out to competitors in a niche that has seen significant growth in the recent past. And ignoring the biggest new vehicle market in the world, viz the USA, could be construed as business suicide.
While we acknowledge the fact that not all SUVs can venture beyond road’s end, we still prefer one that remains true to the original definition, such as Land Rover’s Discovery, VW Touareg or, better yet, Mercedes’ ML, which is capable both on- and off-road. So we’d prefer either of those ahead of the largest and newest Audi.
