Audi Q7
Audi Q7 four-ringed brand’s engineering team began to work on the second-generation Q7 SUV as early as 2009. And even then, the original was already four years old. Shown first as the Pikes Peak concept in January 2003, the production version bowed in 2005.
Big Weight Savings, Still Just Plain Big
Given that success, the second-generation Q7 doesn’t need to convey a false sense of modesty, and it doesn't. The new version is one of the more aggressive-looking SUVs on the road. On paper, it’s a bit smaller than the previous model—and in fact, it has lost a couple of inches. But that is more than offset by its ostentatious new grille and its boxy fenders, which are supposed to allude to Audi's legendary Quattro coupe. The silver decorative trim on the lower flanks fails to cut the visual bulk, and, as before, the Q7 looks best with its optional extralarge 20- or 21-inch wheels.
Q7 is more efficient, and its drinking habits have become far more socially acceptable. The U.S. market gets a 3.0-liter TDI with 272 horsepower, as well as a 3.0-liter supercharged V-6 with 333 horsepower. Both engines have their strong points. Once the diesel has moved beyond its initial turbo lag and reached 1500 rpm or higher, it rides a massive, 443-lb-ft wave of torque. Yet the ZF-sourced eight-speed automatic helps mitigate any low-end dawdling with its adept gear selection. The diesel's soundtrack is muted, and it delivers its power with a subdued growl. Zero to 60 mph comes up in about six seconds, and the European model tops out at 145 mph. Figure on achieving something like 32 mpg on the highway, too.
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The Q7 has taken a big step forward, things are about to get very crowded at the top of the SUV segment, with the upcoming entries from Bentley, Rolls-Royce, and even Mercedes-Maybach. To stay in that highly profitable game—and to retain the owners of the previous V-8 and V-12 TDI versions—Audi will launch a V-8 TDI, a V-8 turbo gasoline engine, and possibly even a W-12 turbo gasoline engine. Before that, however, we’ll see a plug-in-hybrid e-tron model. (Audi hasn’t yet decided whether it will bring Americans the previously detailed 3.0 V-6 diesel e-tron; a gasoline 2.0-liter turbo four is slated for our market sometime in 2016.) The 3.0 TDI and the 3.0 TFSI will come to the U.S. later in 2015 as 2016 models, at prices starting around $50K.