Audi Q7 2016 Review

Audi Q7 (160kW)
Australian Launch Review
South-East Queensland

Australia is a top-10 sales market for the Q7 SUV. No surprise considering the passion we have here for paying lots of money for big, high-rise wagons with a luxury badge on the nose. Credit where it’s due though, after the first-generation’s 10-year run Audi hasn’t just taken the easy option and done a minor rework. This thing is new from the ground up and much better for it. However, this second version of the new Q7 to hit Australian shores is hardly a radical step from the 200kW model that bowed last year, offering a detuned level of performance and equipment for a moderate reduction in cost.

The second-generation Audi Q7 SUV has been rolled out to rapturous approval and big sales, so now it’s time to start fleshing out the model line-up.

First up is this cheaper, lower-powered model, which cuts $7600 off the price, resetting it at $96,300 (plus on-road costs); 40kW off the output of the 3.0-litre turbo-diesel V6 engine, resetting it at 160kW; and 100Nm from the torque rating, resetting that at a ‘mere’ 500Nm.

One of two thoughts might spring to mind here depending on your perspective. Why on earth would anyone pay almost as much for the 160kW version to give up both performance and equipment (we’ll get to those issues in a moment)?

Alternatively, why would anyone need anything more than the base model anyway?

Clearly Audi believes there are going to be people thinking along both lines because it reckons the 160kW is going to boost demand further from the stellar sales level that the 200kW model is already enjoying.

Later in the year Audi will try to boost that sales level even further with the 320kW/900Nm SQ7 that will retail for “no more than $180,000”. Beyond that comes the diesel-electric e-tron. Price is very much a TBA for that one.

But for now let’s focus on this new entry-level Q7, which like the 200kW comes equipped with an eight-speed automatic transmission and quattro permanent all-wheel drive.

Opting for the lesser engine means acceleration from 0-100km/h dips back from a claimed 6.5 sec to 7.3sec. However, claimed fuel consumption remains lineball, improving from 5.9L/100km to 5.8.

You know what? It’s all a bit of hokey really. The 160kW version still feels plenty strong enough no matter what the challenges, especially if you toggle the auto into Sport mode so it holds on to gears a little longer. And the fuel consumption claim is fanciful in the real world. After two solid – but hardly aggressive – days of driving our average ended at 9.7L/100km.

This is not a bad result for a 2135kg SUV (same claimed weight as the 200kW incidentally), but it shows how ridiculously out of touch official drive cycle testing results can be.

Speaking of dieselgate, which we kinda were, this engine is a direct, albeit upgraded, descendant of the Volkswagen Group turbo-diesel V6 that CARB and the EPA are investigating in the USA. Presumably the updates include removing the much discussed ‘defeat device’…

Having said all that, this is a sweet engine that will happily rev smoothly beyond 4000rpm, display no bad manners and very little lag or hesitation. Throw in a 3500kg braked towing capacity (up from 3200kg) and it’s going to make the outer urban horsey people happy, as well as the boaties. Definitely a nice bit of gear.

Speaking of which, what gear does the 160kW miss out on compared to the 200kW?

Well, apart from the obvious power and torque deficits, plonking down $7600 less means you miss out on the 360-degree exterior camera, park assist, full body paint finish and the full-blown 12.3-inch virtual cockpit instrument panel. The 160kW still comes with a lower grade of leather upholstery.

The alloy wheel design is different, but the 19-inch 255/55-series Pirelli Scorpion tyre is the same. The spare is a space saver.

You still do get the full seven seat interior with power folding/rising third row pews, eight airbags including curtain bags that stretch all the way to row three, a suite of driver assistance including rear collision sensing, rear cross-traffic alert and exit warning, a reversing camera with guides, power adjustable front seats with memory, a 7.0-inch information screen in the IP and another retractable 8.0-inch screen on the dash for the sat-nav and DAB+ digital radio.

You also get a new feature that has been commented on widely in various media reviews of the 200kW and definitely translates to the 160kW; this thing rides and handles better than it has a right to.

Sure, with the assistance of the new MLB evo architecture (also used by the new A4) Audi has sheered up to 240kg off the kerb weight – more like 140kg in Australia based on the local specs – but still, this thing is more than 2000kg. Yet its ride and handling balance is poised and its electro-mechanical steering assist correctly weighted in the Drive Select’s comfort mode. Shift it to sport and it gets a bit weighty and artificial.

A little bit of gravel also showed the Q7 to be confident on loose surfaces too. Drive Select also has an off-road mode, but we doubt that’s going to get you too far. The beach house or the snow will do just fine…

This dynamic assessment of the Q7 is based on the passive steel suspension, and a common theme of media reports is that the optional air system improves the ride and handling even further.

Look, there is a slightly gnarly edge to the ride on seriously bad roads, but whether that justifies spending an extra $4950 so you can adjust the behaviour of the suspension is debatable. The same applies to all-wheel steering, which is a $2775 option.

Having mentioned options, let’s just say there’s no shortage of them, offered as both individual items and in packs. A Bang & Olufsen SD sound system will set you back $14,850, matrix beam LED headlights are $5500. An item that should be standard on both Q7s is adaptive cruise control which is wrapped into a $4075 ‘Assistance Package’.

Even without the extras the $96,300 ask for the 160kW Q7 makes it more expensive than its obvious opposition from BMW and Benz, so that’s an inversion of the traditional form. But Audi argues there is a lot of tech wrapped up in this new car – just some of it you pay extra for….

One important thing you do get for the money is lots of useable space. Lots and lots of it, despite the new Q7 being shorter and narrower than its predecessor. Its sprawling room for adults in the first two nicely appointed rows, then it’s kids-only in row three.

Head further back and you’ll find a luggage space that expands from 295 litres to 770, and then all the way to 1955 litres. Fit a mountain bike in there? Heck you could fit a mountain bike race in there!

Neat touches include a 48mm lower load height and a swipe function under the exterior floor to open the tailgate when your hands are full.

From the drivers seat the Q7 is a neat and tactile place to be. It’s odd having a manually adjusted steering column in a vehicle this price and the leather looks a bit vinyl, but it’s not like you feel the interior is under-cooked. It’s just if you know Audis you know how special they can be. So this is good without being special in terms of material and presentation. But seat comfort? Big tick? Storage options? Abundant.

Which all adds up to mean the Q7 160kW is a decent attempt at a large SUV. It is a better vehicle than the equivalent BMW X5 or Mercedes-Benz GLE, both of which feel a generation behind the Audi.

Which leads back to where we started; would you pay the extra money for the 200kW Q7 and its moderate advantages in performance and features?  You would… fine. But plenty of people will be happy with the 160kW.

Either way ‘happy’ is the key word.

2016 Audi Q7 (160kW) pricing and specifications:
Price: $96,300 (plus on-road costs)
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo-diesel
Output: 160kW/500Nm
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Fuel: 5.8L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 150g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety Rating: Five-star ANCAP

Also consider:
BMW X5 xDrive 25d (from $91,200)
Mercedes-Benz GLE 250d (from $86,900)
Volvo XC90 D5 (from $89,950)