Dhiram Shah reviews the Audi Q7 on his drive between Mumbai and Goa
The Audi Q7 was introduced to the Indian market way back in 2006. Since then the car has carved a marketplace for luxury SUVs in the country. Over the years, except for some minor touch-ups and cosmetic upgrades, the design of the Q7 has stayed the same. This was until the 2016 Audi Q7 was launched in India that is completely redesigned from the inside out. I travelled 1,300km from Mumbai to Goa, and back to find out if it’s easy to forget the old and fall in love with the newer and larger avatar of the SUV.
LOOK AND FEEL
One glance at the second generation Audi Q7 and you immediately notice how big it is. Its profile, though fairly similar to its predecessor, is more chiselled. From the front, it has an aggressive look because of the large chrome grille and the angular headlamps. But overall, combine these elements with the SUV’s tapering roofline, smooth body lines and crisp LED tail lamps and the Audi Q7 exudes an air of poshness.
The real appeal of the new Audi Q7 is to be found in its interiors though. The seven-seater cabin is dressed in leather, wood, Alcantara fabric and aluminium inlays. This simple yet classy design gives the cabin a luxurious feel. The leather-bound seats are soft and spacious – the three-seater second row is especially roomy. Up front, the driver and passenger have ergonomic seats. Moving back through the cabin to the third row, and I’d say these are better suited for kids and small adults. Though situated at the far end, getting in and out of them is relatively easy with the second row seats’ flip and fold design.
The cabin feels even roomier when the panoramic sunroof is slid back to let in natural light; and the ambient lights that come on automatically in the evenings are available in 30 hues, which we can switch between as desired. Amongst its safety features are the rollover bars, crumple zones, and an array of front, side and head curtain airbags. The rollover bars and comfort zones absorb impacts in case of a collision.
TECH FORWARD
The Audi Q7 has 417 litres of cargo space; electrically fold the third row backrests and this space more than doubles to 1,062 litres. I instantly fell in love with the handsfree feature for the tailgate when loading my luggage for the trip to Goa. All I had to do was wave my foot underneath the tailgate and it automatically flipped open. A rather convenient feature when your hands are full. To shut it, I pressed a button on the boot.
The 2016 Audi Q7 is loaded to the teeth with technology. The driver’s instrument panel is a digital, high-resolution 12.3-inch screen. Dubbed the Audi Virtual Cockpit, it is a gorgeous interface that displays everything from traditional gauges to media information, navigation and trip information amongst other features. The biggest advantage of the Audi Virtual Cockpit is that it is highly customisable — traditionally you have the speedometer, rev counter and other details in the background. Make the switch to navigation and the MMI (Multi Media Interface) shrinks the dials on the Audi Virtual Cockpit and the GPS map takes centre-stage. In continuation to this MMI, there is another 8.3-inch colour display that pops up from the centre of the dashboard. The information displayed by the Virtual Cockpit was good enough for me and so I shut the secondary display and it automatically retracted into the dashboard.
For our data-hungry generation, this vehicle is 4G enabled that uses the same technology that allows smartphones to stream videos, and to create a wifi hotspot. This is possible with the LTE (Long Term Evolution) technology that becomes operational on sliding in a SIM card into Audi’s MMI Navigation Plus system. Located in the middle of the dashboard (the earlier mentioned 8.3-inch screen), the MMI can be operated with a rotary controller. The buttons and dials on the leather bound steering let the driver toggle the radio, multimedia, browse phone contacts and make calls all without lifting eyes off the road. It is undoubtedly one of the most intuitive systems in the industry with no lag and prompt responsiveness.
This SUV also has a befitting audio system to match its luxe quotient — a 558-watt Bose audio system, which delivers crystal clear sound from its 19 speakers and a 15-channel amplifier. The only drawback is the voice recognition system, which is far from perfect and no where close to Apple’s Siri. Simple commands are often unrecognised if not misunderstood. After a couple of failed attempts to dictate commands I found it was best to stick to the MMI controller.
DRIVE
The journey from Mumbai to Goa offers all the possible driving conditions one can expect — bumper to bumper city traffic, steep ascent and descent on the ghats, empty flat roads, and of course a six-lane expressway. The Audi Q7 handled it all without me breaking into a sweat; after all what good is an SUV if it does not drive well.
Under its hood is a 3.0-litre V6 diesel-engine (2.0-litre petrol is also available) that churns out 249bhp and 600nM of torque, which is mated to an 8-speed triptronic automatic transmission that effortlessly shifts gears for a smooth ride. Channeling the power to the four wheels is Audi’s proprietary “Quattro all-wheel-drive system” that intelligently channels power to the rear and front wheels for a firm grip of the road, even on challenging terrains like slippery surfaces and gravel.
The new generation of the Audi Q7 has shed a lot of weight; it is 350kg lighter than the outgoing model, thanks to some clever engineering and a generous use of aluminium. This translates to better handling and more accurate steering responses.
For a vehicle of its size, it handles more like a luxury sedan and not an SUV. This is thanks to Audi’s air suspension system, which loosens or hardens the suspension and even adjusts the height of the car according to the driving mode you choose. Select the “Sport” mode and the body is lowered by as much as 1.2 inches. My choice was the “Auto” mode, which picked the ideal suspension, steering, gearbox and engine settings that adapted to my driving habits and road conditions. The “Sport” mode would be ideal for highway driving because of a more responsive engine, and the “Comfort” mode is what you would choose for city traffic because the engine isn’t revving to race.
Overall the car is a breeze to drive, be it the rain-soaked Sahyadris or the chaotic traffic in the by-lanes of Goa. Despite looking for drawbacks, it was hard to find any glaring ones (except for the aforementioned voice command system) on my 1,300km drive.
