Audi still pondering Q7 RS
BMW X5 M and Benz ML63 AMG rivaling Q7 RS the subject of heated debate at AudiAudi might have its first high-powered RS-badged SUV ready to roll, but it is still months away from deciding whether it should add a range-topping Q7 RS to its line-up.
With the quattro GmbH hot shop just months away from launching the Q3 RS, its development boss admits it was still in heated debate about the future of its biggest SUV.
Audi has already released its first S-badged diesel - and its first S-badged SUV - in the mid-size SQ5, which is due on sale in Australia in mid-2013, priced from under $100,000.
But if it reaches production, as is widely expected as part of Audi’s ambitious North American growth plans, the Q7 RS could break with tradition by becoming the first RS diesel.
“We have made no decision on the Q7 (RS),” said quattro development head, Stephan Reil. “But I am not sure a turbocharged V8 is the right choice for that sort of car.
“The aero drag is so high at high speed with such a big car that you need a lot of engine at European highway speeds.
“In a gasoline engine, we have fuel consumption numbers that are too high because of that sheer size and drag and frontal area.
“But a diesel? I am not sure they won’t buy a Q7 RS diesel in the US.”
It wouldn’t be the first high-powered quattro-built Q7 though, because the thumping Q7 V12 TDI produced 370kW of power, 1000Nm of torque and ripped to 100km/h in just 4.5 seconds.
“For a fast Q7 we have already done a perfect job in the V12 TDI,” said Mr Reil.
“We are not talking about mass production here. They will have more and more TDIs on the roads in the US.”
While the 6.0-litre thumper doesn’t meet the Euro 6 emissions standard and has been killed off in Europe, Japan and Australia – and never made it to the US – it is still being built for countries like Russia and China.
“We still make the Q7 V12 for markets that don’t have EU5. And it’s still a great engine, but to make it EU6-compliant for a Q7 RS would cost a lot of money for not many sales,” he said.
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