ROAD TEST: Audi Q7 3.0 TDI quattro
By: Willem van de Putte
Johannesburg - I’ll get to nature, cars and perfection a little later, but the first time I saw what the Audi Q7 was capable of (not just as a luxury Sandton mall crawler), my son and I were on a trip to the Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe, with a route that took us to Botswana, a couple of years ago.
We were meeting my brother and his wife for a week at the Kapula Lodge, and one of my brother’s mates and I met up in Francistown, from where we were to drive to Bulawayo to overnight and then on to the game reserve.
My son and I arrived just after sunset and introduced ourselves.
I was rather surprised to see four adults, including a couple from the Netherlands, and three kids - as well as an off-road caravan - parked with the Q7.
When we left for the Plumtree border post, I doubt there was space for another cooler box or toy doll for the youngest daughter, but the Q7 cruised along unhindered, albeit at the same speed as my Land Rover Defender, loaded with rooftop tent, fridge, jerry cans and equipment. As everyone well knows, you may get to 110km/h on a downhill with the wind behind you.
Once we were in the park, the roads looked like they had last seen any form of maintenance on the day that Ian Smith took control of Rhodesia, so it was a slow and bumpy trek, but the older-model Q7 had no trouble completing it.
Since then I’ve been at the wheel of a few of its stablemates, but opening the door and sliding in behind the wheel of the new Q7 is probably akin to meeting the love of your life for the first time.
And as it should go with love, the more time you spend in that space, the better it becomes. It works for me and it definitely works with the Q7.
It’s certainly not cheap, coming in at close to R1 million, so most people who could afford it would be of an older generation, but you’d be mistaken if you thought it wouldn’t appeal to the youngsters.
We have two university students and a matric son who were at home during the time we had the car, and the Q7 not only blew their minds technologically, but the three-litre 183kW turbo diesel’s performance in sport mode on a secluded road had them continually asking for more.
In part this is because at just under two tons it is fairly light for its size.
It is also due to the combination of the quattro centre differential - which distributes power electronically to all four wheels as and when needed by selective torque control - a body that hunkers down by 15mm when moving at speed, brilliant adaptive air suspension and, most of all, an eight-speed tiptronic gearbox designed as a torque-converter transmission that allows gear changes as fluid as you could wish.
There is also a host of other electronic wizardry that would take up much of this review if I were to go into detail.
Inside, there’s nothing wanting. Everything is as you would expect of German engineering and quality, with dials and switches that are easy to get to and comprehend, nooks and crannies to store things, electronic seats and an almost cavernous feel.
The press information says the Q7 has the most spacious interior in the premium SUV market. Even with the third row of seats in use, you get 295 litres of luggage space.
When the second row of seats is folded down, there’s 2075 litres, which we got to use on a Saturday morning to move supplies for my wife’s eventing company. These were for a themed event that needed 75 or so scatter cushions, and we managed to squeeze all of them in, which meant there was a lot more space in the bakkie for the other equipment.
COOL GADGETS
Rounding off the inside was the piece of kit that had the youngsters going gaga - the infotainment and AudiConnect.
It would probably take me months to get to grips with everything, but the three of them spent at least two hours trying out some of the “coolest” gadgets on four wheels.
The MMi navigation plus with MMI touch, as it’s called, includes a DVD drive, two card readers, flash memory, sound system, music interface with two USB ports, Bluetooth interface, smartphone voice control, e-mails from your cellphone that it reads out aloud, and, and, and…
The test drive version had the optional “virtual cockpit”, where analogue instruments are replaced with a full-colour digital 12.3 inch TFT screen that offers a choice of views.
Rear-seat entertainment is also taken care of with a tablet that can use wi-fi. The tablet has an Android operating system that supports near field communication and which can access the internet and so much more that would keep tech geeks occupied for hours.
So what has this got to do with nature, cars and perfection?
If you’re out in the bush - where the Q7 will gladly take you - this Audi is probably the closest thing you’ll get to a perfectly shaped veld flower after a thunderstorm. - Saturday Star
FACTS
Audi Q7 3.0 TDI quattro
Engine: 3-litre, V6 turbodiesel
Gearbox: 8-speed automatic
Power: 183kW @ 3250-4250rpm
Torque: 600Nm @ 1500-3000rpm
0-100km/h (claimed): 6.3 seconds
Top speed (claimed): 234km/h
Price: R961 000
Warranty: 2-year / unlimited km
Maintenance plan: 5-year / 100 000km
AUDI VS ITS RIVALS
Audi Q7 3.0 TDI quattro tiptronic (183kW/600Nm) - R961 000
BMW X5 xDrive30d (190kW/560Nm) - R962 694
Infiniti QX70 3.0d S Black (175kW/550Nm) - R875 000
Mercedes GLE 350d (190kW/620Nm) - R970 053
Porsche Cayenne diesel (180kW/550Nm) - R933 000
Volvo XC90 D5 AWD Momentum (165kW/470Nm) - R870 300