Audi SQ7 2016 Review

Audi SQ7
Australian Launch
Snowy Mountains, NSW

The world’s most powerful seven-seat diesel SUV… As niches go, Audi’s new SQ7 is quite the left-field proposition. However, utilising new technology which enables its engine to mitigate turbo lag and its body to resist unwanted roll and pitch, the flagship performance SUV lives up to the hype, reinforcing its brief with polished on-road refinement and safety.

SCIENCE OF SUV
“Curiosity has its own reason for existence.”

It would be fitting to capture Audi’s new SQ7’s performance SUV using any one of Albert Einstein’s myriad theories in science. But it is the late, great physicist’s remarks on plunging into the unknown – simply just because – that probably best sum up the German seven-seater.

Audi’s new physics-defying, mind-bending SUV has landed in Australia and really is an exercise in curiosity. And performance.

The 2330kg SUV can sprint from 0-100km/h in 4.9 seconds before travelling onwards to a governed top speed of 250km/h, keep among some of the world’s finest sports sedans in the corners and yet still execute the luxury SUV brief, with a suite of advanced safety technologies and supreme on-road comfort.

Touted as a rival the BMW X5 M50d and Porsche Cayenne Diesel S, the SQ7 builds on the wildly successful but slightly smaller five-seat SQ5 as the pinnacle of SUV performance at Audi.

DESIRE HAS ITS PRICE
It is priced accordingly; at $153,616 (plus on-road costs), wedging between those offerings from BMW and Porsche and sitting some $50,000 above the current Q7 flagship. But in the face of the similarly minded V12-powered Q7 last offered in Australia in 2012 priced from $257,700, the SQ7 is a relative bargain.

The newcomer debuts three new technologies for the Audi brand – the caveat being that you only get two of them as standard (as outlined in our price and specification story).

First and foremost, its features a revolutionary electric powered compressor (EPC) that forces air through mechanical turbochargers when the engine is in the lower reaches of the rev range, purportedly doing away with traditional turbo lag by reducing the spool-up time.

The EPC is capable of spinning the engine’s compressor wheel up to 70,000rpm in less than a quarter of a second, producing up to 7kW of power. Once the regular exhaust gases are on station the EPC is bypassed and the mechanical turbos take over, working in sequential order.

TALK THE TORQUE
The upshot is that the SQ7’s 4.0-litre twin-turbo diesel V8 can exploit its maximum 900Nm of torque between 1000rpm and 3250rpm, an incredible feat. Its maximum 320kW of power arrives between 3750rpm and 5000rpm, ensuring no typical breathlessness at the upper reaches of the dial.

A quick-witted eight-speed automatic helps the SUV to stay in its sweet spot thanks to razor sharp shifts and a diverse selection of ratios, spinning the engine at a miserly 1350rpm at 100km/h.

Supplying energy to the EPC is the second of Audi’s three firsts: a 48-volt electrical subsystem that features a compact lithium-ion battery in the lower level of the boot storing 0.5kWh of energy and delivering a peak output of up to 13kW. A DC/DC converter supports the connection to the vehicle’s traditional 12-volt electrical system.

The final first for Audi – but only if you option a $13,500 Dynamic package that also includes four-wheel steering and a quattro sport differential with rear axle torque vectoring – is a new electromechanical active roll stabilisation system.

Drawing power from the same 48-volt electrical system, the technology comprises electric motors on the front and rear axle along with a three-stage planetary gearbox.

In ordinary driving the stabilisation system decouples the front and rear stabiliser bars via the electric motors, endowing the vehicle with excellent road comfort characteristics.

In sportier driving, with the right selection engaged, the planetary gearbox twists the bars against each other with up to 1200Nm of torque, keeping the chassis taut and drastically reducing body roll.

The most impressive element of all this tech is that it is surgically accurate yet seemingly benign from the driver’s seat, making swift but unobtrusive interventions.

On the fast and at times tight, winding roads in the Snowy Mountains this week, the SQ7 builds confidence quickly, showing efficacy through fast, flat bends and tight, undulating roads alike.

The big SUV sits incredibly flat and poised through the corners, endowing the driver with an on-road sensation that really shouldn’t be possible from a high-set five-metre bus.

A supercar it is not, but as a vehicle capable of carrying seven, the SQ7 truly does defy perceptions.

The key ingredient is the active roll system, which mitigates excess body roll and assists the vehicle during fast changes in direction. It essentially takes out the sloppiness that would normally burden a performance SUV – especially during quick changes in direction – while also doing away (during our experience) with unwanted understeer traits.

SUPERIOR STILL COMES STANDARD
Even on a separate test vehicle without the $13,500 active roll system fitted (instead relying on the standard air suspension), the SQ7 feels composed and confident, yet it cannot emulate the same level of mid-corner poise. Instead, there is an ever-so-slight squirrely streak from the chassis as it shakes off mid-corner bumps and washouts.

The engine wins full points for versatility. It will happily play commuter with effortless forward surge in daily conveyance, no unwanted jerkiness from the transmission and a respectable fuel total of 8.3L/100km during our extended open road jaunt.

Wind the Drive select dial to ‘Dynamic mode’ and the engine almost takes on an ethereal quality, embracing a deep, menacing soundtrack that provides an accurate portent to its surfeit of performance.

The engine piles on pace without breaking a sweat, accelerating emphatically out of corners and during overtaking manoeuvres. Plant your right foot suddenly and there is no traditional turbo lag to speak of, just the occasional delay as its clinical eight-speeder pedals back to the right ratio. From there it is all guns blazing.

The SQ7’s brakes are equally up to the task of a tight mountain descent, standing up to a good five minutes of non-stop punishment without fade or reduced stopping power.

The 400mm front discs, gripped by six-piston callipers, ought to do the job for most drivers; for those demanding more performance there is also optional carbon ceramic stoppers.

FUSS-FREE STEERING
As with many modern Audis, not everyone will be convinced by the SQ7’s electromechanical steering, which is well-weighted and accurate in Comfort mode but takes on significantly more weighting without the accompanying feedback in Dynamic mode.

Placing the SQ7 on a tight road is a relatively fuss-free exercise; the car hunkers down in corners with excellent outward vision that helps it to shrink around the driver.

Further reinforcing this trait is an optional four-wheel steering package which helps minimise the vehicle’s turning circle to that of a Q3, according to Audi, applying opposite lock on the rear steers at speeds between 5km/h and 15km/h. At higher speeds the rear wheels follow the movement of the front, which improves the steering response and stability.

Away from the corners, the SQ7 will happily facilitate rougher surfaces. The optional 21-inch tyres fitted to most of our test vehicles relay the occasional nibble through the chassis, reflecting the car’s sporty pretensions, but there is never any crashing or jarring of occupants. It’s a similar story on the standard 20-inch shod with Goodyear Eagle F1 rubber.

Road noise is also well suppressed, even on coarse-chip surfaces.

The SQ7 is typically nonchalant in the styling stakes, in spite of the technological fuss. It adheres to Audi’s usual understated appeal, enhanced by more metallic highlights and a roof edge spoiler that is wider and more distinctive than the regular Q7. A rear diffuser houses four tail pipes at the rear.

The same theme transcends the interior, which is resplendent with comfortable leather seats and an array of sophisticated and tactile trimmings. We can’t speak in too much detail about the cabin dimensions, other than the generous proportions for the first and second row. We’ll explore third-row functionality during a more thorough road test.

An 8.3-inch touch-screen operated via a centre rotary dial conveys MMI navigation, Audi Connect with Google services and a Wi-Fi hotspot, and Audi smartphone interface for Android and iOS (bringing Apple CarPlay or Android Auto capability).

Audi’s virtual cockpit display, as seen on the TT and A4, is available as an optional extra, but even the standard system offers clear, easy-to-read instrumentation.

The cabin also features four-zone climate control, a 895-litre boot (235 litres with third row up), rear entertainment screens, wireless phone charging and a 19-speaker Bose sound system.

Elsewhere the SQ7 is said to feature the world’s largest selection of driver assistance systems for this segment. They include autonomous emergency braking, a new traffic jam assist function that steers and brakes the vehicle in slow traffic using radar and camera technology, front and rear parking sensors, a reversing camera and 360-degree camera and rear cross traffic assist.

It may seem like an oddball proposition on the surface, but the truth is Audi’s newest S model is arguably the most relevant and polished performance offering from the German manufacturer yet.

Forget traditional parameters, Audi has just reset SUV performance. Curious?

2017 Audi SQ7 pricing and specifications:
Price: $153,616 (plus on-road costs)
Engine: 4.0-litre V8 twin-turbo diesel
Output: 320kW/900Nm
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Fuel: 7.2L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 190g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety rating: Five-star ANCAP

Also consider:
>> BMW X5 M50d (from $159,455 plus ORCs)
>> Porsche Cayenne Diesel S (from $149,000 plus ORCs)