Audi’s SQ7 takes on Summernats

Three things you do not take to Summernats, the annual car festival in our nation’s capital: your girlfriend, political correctness or any vehicle other than a V8 muscle car.

At least, that has been the sentiment in years gone by; Summernats today, it must be said, is much more welcoming to outside visitors. Rotaries included.

Even so, the golden trifecta reverberates in my mind as I perform the automotive equivalent of throwing a red rag at a bull on the first weekend in January.

motoring.com.au attended Summernats in a vehicle that would ordinarily be considered sacrilege to the thousands of spectators watching from the grandstands: a diesel-powered, seven-seat luxury SUV.

Rather than upset the establishment, we are merely here to beat it, with the help of Audi’s new SQ7 performance SUV.

After the smoke cleared from a Holden HQ ute that didn’t need its rear tyres anymore, it is time to amble up to the Christmas tree lights for our turn in the festival’s hotly-contested Go-to-Whoa event.

The punters — sunburnt, covered in black tyre residue and wearing oversized novelty sombreros — are not happy.

“What’s this Audi piece of sh*t,” one yells from the grandstand, encouraging several others to join him.

The SQ7, with its full 320kW/900Nm outputs, seems to be up to the task.

The aim of the Go-to-Whoa event is simple. When the light turns green, get to the other end of a circa 100-metre strip as quickly as possible, stopping the front wheels between two white lines positioned about one metre apart to record your time. Fastest car wins.

You’d be fair to discount a 2.3-tonne SUV as being competitive against a field of high-powered petrol V8s. But then this isn’t any seven-seat diesel SUV -- it’s the world’s fastest.

Released in Australia last month, Audi’s new SQ7 takes diesel performance to another level, employing an electrically-powered compressor 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 $153,616 (plus on-road costs) luxe barge also features an optional electromechanical active roll stabilisation system that is part of a $13,500 Dynamic package which also includes four-wheel steering and a sport differential.

Drawing power from the same 48-volt electrical system that powers the electrically-powered compressor, 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.

Not that I’m encountering any corners in this next exercise.

With the final words of wisdom from track manager, Jesse – “Well, I can’t say I’ve seen anything like this line up before, but good luck” – it is time to see what the SQ7 has got.

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.

However, the EPC isn’t completely foolproof in the case of this exercise, delaying the big SQ7 momentarily before it winds on boost – a reflection perhaps more on the transmission than the high-tech engine.

Even so, with all-wheel drive grip doing its part, the SQ7 pulls away emphatically, the rear squatting slightly under the power of the 4.0-litre V8 diesel. Officially, zero to 100km/h takes 4.9 seconds.

Once the full surfeit of torque is on tap – some 900Nm – the SQ7 pulls hard, its eight-speed automatic stringing the drivetrain together seamlessly.

Then comes the tough part: arresting all that speed (and weight) in time for the two white lines. Brake too early and you come up short, brake too late and you overshoot the mark and look like a bull at a gate.

In our first run, it is a case of the former, pulling up centimetres short of the first line. The second run, however, proves fruitful, the Audi pulling to a stop in a time of 8.38 seconds. That’s enough to position us among the day’s fastest.

“Not a bad time at all,” enthuses track commentator Jason. “Not everyone here would approve of the Audi, but the fact it has a V8 wins it brownie points.”

The SQ7’s performance is made all the more impressive when you consider it has all the functions and features of a $150,000 luxury car.

In stifling Canberra, where the mercury reaches 30 degrees, the car’s four-zone climate-control, supple ride and immaculate interior makes the day a breeze.

We make our way back to the main entrance, provoking plenty of quizzed looks along the way. The banter, it turns out, is mostly in good fun.

“We’d probably hang shit on you from over the fence but as long as you’re having fun that’s what it’s all about,” says Matt, an Adelaide-based enthusiast contesting the burnout event.

The Summernats crowd might not be totally embracing of the SQ7, but in reality there are few cars that can mix luxury, performance and refinement in this way. A golden trifecta of its very own.

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