Audi Q7: Driving impressions!

The guys over at Dubspeed Driven took the Audi Q7 out for a spin.

It’s hard not to be struck by the design of the Q7. It is wide - very wide - and hunkered down on its twenty-inch split-spoke wheels, which seemingly roll into the sidewalls of the tires. The tail lamps and lift gate are faired into the sides of the body to eliminate visible seams from the rear of the car. A slickly integrated rear deflector keeps dirt and snow from accumulating on the rear window. Discreet LED turn signals trace the lower half of the side-view mirrors and the lower fascias. The headlamps are canted inwards towards the waterfall grille, and its face is set in a perpetual, menacing scowl. As Keith Bradsher notes in his book High and Mighty, great pains are taken to give SUVs evocative styling which projects aggression. While GMC recently misstepped with its smiling-bucktooth grille on the new Tahoe, the Audi Q7 gives the distinct impression that it is about to go for the throat. Yes, the Q7 is still a traditional passenger-compartment box stuck to a hood-and-fenders box, but as two-box designs go, it is inscrutably clever.

There are few things that make an automotive journalist’s reprobate heart pump maliciously more than being handed the keys to someone else’s new vehicle to abuse, but the key to the Q7 is handed to me with a caveat. Stick it in your pocket, I am told, and get in the car. The Q7 will detect the key when it is in its perimeter, and unlock the doors when the handles are touched. Once in the car, pressing the “Start Engine” button will bring up the dash lights and turn on the navigation system, then fire the engine up in a smooth ballet of technology.