Audi Q7: Playing Santa Claus in Audi's big-but-agile performance SUV

Strange title for an article in February, huh? Don't blame us, it's coming from guys from South Africa who already had their first adventure by experiencing the snow at the test drive circuit.

Let's start with the obvious: the Audi Q7 is big. Any seven-seater luxury SUV aimed primarily at the US market is going to be big. It's 5086mm long (136mm longer than a Range Rover), 1983mm wide and 1737mm high.

But it's so neatly proportioned you don't realise just how big it is until you park it next to a "normal" car. The bonnet and front fenders taper quite sharply to the signature "single-frame" Audi grille – in this case nearly vertical – that dominates the front of the vehicle.

I arrived in Munich for the world launch on Saturday in beautiful, crisp early spring weather. The next day, the Q7 waiting to be driven, it was snowing – and it didn't stop for the whole launch drive.

"Great," said the Audi launch team, "now you can experience the car in the conditions it was designed for."

"Fine," I said, "very reassuring."

Audi says the Q7's cabin is the biggest in its class; for sure it's spacious and beautifully laid out, starting with a broad sweep of fascia – very plain, no fancy curves, punctuated by a low-arched binnacle with teardrop-shaped gauges for speed and revs, data display and warning icons between them.

The power-assisted rack-and-pinion steering is the Q7's best feature; it's light at low speed but firms up on a freeway to hold itself rock-steady at high speed. It's sharp and responsive through slower curves, enabling the 2.25-ton Q7 to react surprisingly quickly, but always superbly accurate.

Related news: GermanCarBlog, Audi Q7

Source: Motoring

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