Audi SQ7 and SQ8 2022 Review

The updated 2022 Audi SQ7 is priced from $164,100 plus on-road costs, representing a circa-$1500 price rise over the diesel version it replaces.

Its 2022 Audi SQ8 sibling has copped a similar increase and is slightly more expensive, at $168,800 plus ORCs.

As before, the SQ7 is based on the seven-seat Audi Q7 and the SQ8 on the five-seat coupe-inspired Audi Q8.

Nothing has changed with the look and equipment levels of the 2022 Audi SQ7 and SQ8. Instead, the only change occurs under the bonnet, with a switch from diesel to petrol power (which we’ll get to).

Standard fare includes 22-inch alloy wheels, Matrix LED headlights, ambient interior lighting, quad-zone ventilation, a head-up display, panoramic sunroof, Valcona leather trim, heated front seats, Bang & Olufsen audio and soft-close doors that suck themselves closed automatically.

The SQ8 mostly mimics the SQ7, but there are some key differences. The SQ8 only seats five, for example, versus seven for the SQ7. And it misses out on the roof rails of the SQ7.

There’s all manner of colour and trim options – including a black exterior package – and metallic paint is included in the price.

Buyers can also option the Dynamic pack ($10,900) that includes active stabiliser bars and a Quattro Sport differential.

The Sensory package ($13,300 for SQ7 and $13,900 for SQ8) adds a 23-speaker Bang & Olufsen unit, black headlining, front seat massagers and ventilation, rear outboard heated seats, air ioniser and perfume dispenser, more leather on the dash and electric shades for the side windows.

Buyers can also choose carbon-ceramic brakes for an extra $19,500.

The SQ7 and SQ8 are covered by Audi’s five-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty. Servicing is required every 12 months or 15,000km, and Audi offers a pre-paid service pack for $4100 to cover the first five years and 75,000km.

The 2022 Audi SQ7 comes with a five-star ANCAP crash rating achieved in 2019. That rating is for the diesel-powered TDI model but ANCAP still suggests it’s relevant to the updated model, albeit under now-outdated testing protocols.

Despite the Q8 also achieving a five-star rating, ANCAP specifically excludes the SQ8 from the score, so it’s officially untested.

There are eight airbags in both the SQ7 and SQ8 covering front and side protection for outer occupants.

Both share the same high level of active safety equipment. That includes front and rear autonomous emergency braking (AEB), a 360-degree camera, blind spot warning, rear cross traffic alert, lane keep assistance, driver fatigue monitoring and Exit Assist, which momentarily halts opening of the doors if another vehicle is approaching while parked.

There’s also Pre-Sense Rear, which looks out for rapidly approaching vehicles from behind and tries to alert them by flashing the lights, while simultaneously preparing some aspects of the vehicle for an impact.

Furthermore, the SQ7 and SQ8 can automatically phone for assistance after a crash.

A trio of screens in the 2022 Audi SQ7 and SQ8 sends loads of information to occupants.

It starts with the 12.3-inch Virtual Cockpit, which toggles between two layouts.

The 10.6-inch central upper screen looks after most infotainment features, including the navigation and audio. It also displays the controls for the wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. The 8.6-inch lower screen takes care of ventilation and allows for programmable favourites to be set.

Each of these centre screens has haptic feedback, gently pulsing against your finger as confirmation you’ve pressed a virtual button.

There’s a wireless phone charger in the shallow centre console as well as two USB-C ports. Another pair of USB-C ports in the rear can keep back seat gadgets topped up.

However, there’s no connected smartphone app to keep you informed of vehicle location and allow locking or unlocking when the vehicle is parked.

There’s also no speed sign recognition.

There’s serious pedigree beneath the bonnet of the 2022 Audi SQ7 and SQ8.

Gone is the muscle-flexing diesel V8 with an electric compressor working with two exhaust-driven turbos, and in its place is a petrol engine of the same configuration, complete with a ‘hot V’ (the turbos are nestled in the V of the engine).

Versions of the same engine are used by Volkswagen Group sister brands Bentley, Porsche and Lamborghini – and in the more powerful Audi RS Q8.

It’s worth pointing out where these two fit into the Audi line-up: in the case of the Q7, the SQ7 is the fastest, most powerful engine on offer, pitting it head-to-head with the likes of the BMW X5 M50i and Mercedes-AMG GLE 53.

However, for the Q8 there’s a more potent RS Q8 that sits above the SQ8. The RS Q8 uses the same basic V8 petrol engine, but it’s been tuned to make 441kW and 800Nm.

For the SQ7 and SQ8 there’s slightly less on offer. In these models, it makes 373kW and 770Nm, which are none-too-shabby numbers.

That’s more power than the diesel engine it replaced (320kW) but less torque (900Nm). As a result, there’s less of the low-rev muscle that the diesel did so well.

Instead, it’s more about revs if you want to tap into the 4.1-second 0-100km/h acceleration.

In some ways that suits the sporty nature of the vehicles, but we also miss that seemingly endless oomph that defined the outgoing diesel.

Not that the petrol V8 is lacking in grunt. From 2000rpm the maximum torque is on song and it pulls strongly, thrusting hard all the way to its rev limit.

It’s a mighty engine and one virtually devoid of turbo lag courtesy of the electric compressor that gets the turbos up to pace swiftly.

An eight-speed automatic transmission intelligently shifts ratios, Dynamic mode ensuring slightly more aggressive shifts.

If you’re expecting an obnoxious bark from the quad exhausts it’d be best to reset your expectations. It’s very clearly a V8, but there’s muted restraint in the soundtrack, even with the sound actuator at its most aggressive setting.

There’s no sugar-coating the fuel consumption of the 2022 Audi SQ7 and SQ8. They’ve gone from being respectable as a diesel to seriously thirsty as a petrol.

The engine shuts down when stationary and there is a cylinder-on-demand system, which can temporarily sideline half the cylinders during gentle driving.

None of which seems to make a notable difference to how much premium unleaded it slurps!

The official fuel figure is 12.1 litres per 100km, which is 59 per cent more than the diesel.

During our occasionally spirited country road drives we never saw it get below the claim, with something north of 15L/100km more typical.

If there’s one consolation, it’s that petrol is currently a lot cheaper than diesel at the bowser.

Still, when you’re spending close to $2 a litre for premium unleaded it makes it an expensive way to cover kilometres.

The switch to petrol propulsion has shed about 120kg from the front-end of the 2022 Audi SQ7 and SQ8 package.

That’s claimed to give it a lighter feel with slicker turning, although at around 2.3 tonnes this is a big SUV with plenty of metal to convince to change direction.

Broad 22-inch low-profile rubber is well up to the task, though. You don’t need many bends to establish it’s a well-sorted SUV. Steering is crisp and there’s piles of confidence-inspiring grip.

We tried an SQ7 running on the regular air suspension system and it’s an accomplished machine.

We also sampled an SQ8 with the optional active stabiliser bars, which utilises the 48V electrical system also in play for the adjustable-height air suspension (it can adjust up to 90mm). It turns an already flat-riding SUV into one that barely deviates from its static position.

There’s serious depth of ability, the car remaining remarkably flat on quick directional changes.

Flowing bends are also tackled with little fuss or indication you’re riding relatively high off the ground.

The trade-off is the ride. Having little air between the wheel and the road means you feel those sharper imperfections, like the ones we’re getting used to from potholed roads.

Four-wheel steering provides up to five degrees of turn on the rear axle, tucking the tail around when negotiating car parks or navigating city streets.

The standard six-piston 400mm brakes are potent, confidently bringing the large SUV to a rapid stop, plus they look snazzy with their red coating.

Optional carbon-ceramic brakes come finished in more mundane silver but have massive 10-piston callipers grabbing 420mm front rotors (they’re the equal-biggest brakes on any production car) to take the stopping power up a notch, although during our drive the benefits weren’t obvious.

It would likely be a different story when driven in anger on a racetrack.

Sure, the 2022 Audi SQ7 and SQ8 both have four-wheel drive (or quattro, as Audi brands them) and they have semi-decent ground clearance.

There are even Offroad and Allroad drive modes to tailor the electronics and raise the body further.

But the SQ7 and SQ8 are not proper off-roaders.

The tyres largely reinforce that. They’re designed for 250km/h top speeds, not Australian Outback rocks and country mud. Plus there’s only a space-saver spare, which will seriously limit you if you get a flat.

So tread carefully…

It’s a mass of modern and upmarket materials in the 2022 Audi SQ7 and SQ8, complete with a liberal application of S badges throughout.

While buyers can choose from a multitude of colour and trim options, the dark hues of our test cars – complete with carbon-fibre highlights, piano black surfaces and matte silver highlights – is a classy combo. The Dinamica suede-like headlining reinforces the impeccable attention to detail.

The SQ7 has excellent headroom in the front and middle rows. The third row is best left to the small and/or flexible, even with the middle row seats slid forward slightly for added knee-room. It can also be raised and lowered electronically for ease of operation.

The SQ8 has less headroom, something more noticeable in the rear, where taller folk may have to stoop to stop from grazing their heads. It also does without frames around the side windows, instead sporting more of a coupe design touch.

In either you get central and side middle-row air vents and controls to tailor the temp for each side of the back half of the cabin.

The SQ7’s boot is a token effort with all seven seats in play, but expands to 617 litres if you limit the number of occupants to five. A 40/20/40-split folding centre row can also slide forwards and back.

The SQ8 has a handy 605 litres of space.

When loading luggage, the adaptive air suspension allows lowering of vehicle from the rear, helping adjust the boot lip height accordingly.

In-cabin storage is generally good, with decent door binnacles and the occasional pocket for other items. But the centre console is quite shallow, limiting its usefulness.

The 2022 Audi SQ7 and SQ8 tick one big box that performance buyers always like ticked: pace. The addition of a petrol V8 outperforms the diesel it replaces.

For those planning on driving it hard, it makes for a brisker and more engaging machine, one that rewards with its immensely capable dynamics.

But that prodigious low-rev torque of the diesel provided the previous SQ7 and SQ8 with a point of differentiation in a market, replete with thoroughly capable – and punchy – petrol engines.

It also had a more palatable thirst than this MY23 petrol model.

So, yes, it’s a step up, but somehow we loved the personality of the diesel that little bit more – if for nothing other than standing out in a German SUV crowd.

2022 Audi SQ7 at a glance:
Price: $164,100 (plus on-road costs)
Available: Now
Engine: 4.0-litre V8 twin-turbo petrol
Output: 373kW/770Nm
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Fuel: 12.1L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 278g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety rating: Five-star (ANCAP 2019)

2022 Audi SQ8 at a glance:
Price: $168,800 (plus on-road costs)
Available: Now
Engine: 4.0-litre V8 twin-turbo petrol
Output: 373kW/770Nm
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Fuel: 12.2L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 279g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety rating: Not tested