Audi SQ7 First Drive Review

It is always great to drive a V8 powered car and it is even better to drive a V8 powered SUV just because it brings along the practicality of a large five or seven seater car along with the added benefits of having enough grunt under your right foot to decimate most peasantry automobiles. And of course, in a country like India, the added benefits of a higher riding car with a ton of power is only obvious since we just do not have the roads a low slung sportscar can enjoy. But this Audi SQ7 is slightly different. For starters, it is a diesel....Yes, a diesel powered and yet S-badged Audi! 

And what an engine it is! A 4.0-litre V8 diesel engine with two conventional turbochargers and an electric turbocharger. So effectively, that makes it triple charged! Pardon us for a moment, but we have to get a little technical here. What Audi has essentially done, is equip the engine with an electrical turbocharger that spins at over 75,000rpm! And to power this, Audi had to equip the SQ7 with a 48-volt electric system as the normal 12-volt battery pack would just not be able to take the loads. And the 48-volt system is powered by a lithium ion battery. So, what exactly does it do? Well, the electric turbocharger essentially forces air directly into the engine from idle to about 1500rpm when the first of the two sequential turbos take over. As you keep revving, eventually both the conventional turbos take over and produce close to 3 bar of boost which is enough to make 435PS of peak power and a staggering 900Nm of peak torque. And all that power and torque propel the Audi SQ7 from 0-100kmph in just over 4.5–seconds and on to a top speed of 250kmph. 

But the smartness doesn’t just end there. If you continue mashing the throttle, the electric turbocharger kicks back in and giving even more performance to the V8. Audi has also applied a very smart technology which uses only one of the two exhaust valves to feed the turbo (which in turn increases pressure to the turbo) and opening up the second valve as and when the second turbo is needed to spool. All in all, the new V8 diesel engine packs a whole bunch of tricks to make the SQ7 a scorcher on the road. And strangely, considering the fact that it is a diesel engine, the engineers at Audi have even managed to give it a great exhaust note. 

So, how does it drive? Well, mash your foot down on the pedal on the right and we were well beyond allowed speeds on the highway of Eastern France before we could say Sacrebleu. And there is just no drama whatsoever. No flashing traction control, no scrambling tyres, etc. just ridiculous levels of grip from the all-wheel-drive Quattro system and quickly flashing numbers on the dashboard that make your jaw drop down and knees go week. Of course, if like us, you were a proper car nut, that is all you would want to do all day.....and we did! 

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Now, as we just mentioned, there is a ton and more of grip in the SQ7 and that is not only because of the massive 285/35 R22 tyres that sit on a set of specially made S-spec lightweight aluminum wheels. Apart from the new generation Quattro all wheel drive, the SQ7 also employs tricks like a torque vectoring centre differential that always make sure to put the power down and a set of electrically adjustable sway bars that keeps this two tonne SUV in check. You also get a unique four wheel steering. And where there is power to go and a dozen computers to make sure you stay on the road, you also need massive brakes that make sure you stop. And the SQ7 has one of the biggest brakes fitted to a road car and as we would have expected from a car this large and powerful, they are carbon ceramic. 

So now that we are done with the technical side of things, lets talk about the changes on the exterior front. When you buy an S-spec Audi, you do not expect it to look a lot different than the standard car. Afterall, the S cars from Audi have always been about under stated performance. The SQ7 though is slightly different. For starters, put it next to a standard Q7 and the new sportier bumpers and the slightly flared wheel arches are obvious. You also get a slighty updated grille (which can also be painted in black) and a set of 22-inch wheels! Around the back, you get a quad exhaust setup that is inset into an enhanced and sportier rear bumper. But it is all about the stance in these cars and the way the SQ7 sits, especially when at its lowest suspension height setting is just perfect. Now, yes, Audi could have gone all mental with the SQ7 and added carbonfibre everywhere but we personally think that the more held-back approach with this car makes it even more desirable. 

Moving to the interior, the SQ7 is pretty much identical to the standard Q7 in terms of design, layout and equipment. What you do get is a set of sporty racing bucket seats up front that can be adjusted in a bunch of different ways to get the absolute best driving position. You also get a lot of carbon fibre trims on the dashboard and the centre console. Now, the car we drove came with a black on black dashboard and got a set of slightly boring grey seats that matched the exterior.

But, if we were to specify a car, we would certainly choose a much sportier color palette like a red-black combination perhaps. What you also get in terms of gadgets are a whole bunch of safety features like lane assist, traffic assist and adaptive cruise control. Now, although these do work well in Europe, they will not be coming to India so there is no point really going on about them.

So, what will the Audi SQ7 go up against? Well, as of today, the big brutish and diesel powered SUV doesn’t really have any competition. And if we were to consider the petrol powered V8 SUVs as competition, they would include the soon to be launched Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT, the Mercedes-Benz GLE63 AMG and the BMW X5M. Of course, since it is lower on power than these, expect process to realistically start at about Rs 1.1 crore to about Rs 1.5 crore when you specify it with options and add-on packages.

So, should you wait for one? Well, if you are an affluent person with a large wallet and have the capability to actually afford one, you will not be disappointed. We are sure that there will be one too many people who will crib to us about how a large sporty SUV has to be petrol and not a petrol, but then, they would be missing out on one of the nicest cars I have driven in a long time. Audi has plans to launch the SUV in the next few months with the SQ7 being available only on order as a completely built or CBU unit. So wait for our in-depth review in India.