Audi Q7 6.0 V12 TDI

[Crawford_S2]

Was delayed in barcelona airport recently and there was a Q7 on display. The brakes are moosive and that was just the cooking model. Doner for upgrades me thinks, especially the back.

[niall1]

Now that's sexy! And with a bit of poke to.. 1000Nm Torque!!!!!

[Corey]

I am with you Dan. I love Audi, but I hate that with a passion.

Drive one, then see what your opinion is.

[Azman]

Looks mean for an SUV and sounds like it would be fun from those engine specs.....
Think you would move out of the way if you saw it coming up in the rear view at speed

[dan_b]

Drive one, then see what your opinion is.

My opinion is, I'm afraid, prejudiced and fixed against all these SUV type vehicles and I'm never going to change. They're pointlessly big, flawed by design and produced purely to cash in on the image-driven market.

There was a rather good programme on a few months ago where a clearly rather wealthy couple who lived in Berkshire (rich middle-class middle-England area) had decided that they "needed" an SUV to haul their 2 early teenage children around. They had decided on a Range Rover Sport. The programme makers took them out in the RRS, and of course they loved it.

When asked why they loved it they said all the usual nonense about how much space there is for the kids (wrong, they're tiny inside vs. how much space they take up outside), how safe they are (wrong, they're awful in a crash for passengers and any other road user and pedestrian and they showed plenty of crash evidence to prove it), and how great a drive it was (wrong, they're a bus and they drive like buses no matter how big an engine and large the tyres you give it and they showed how badly they handle both on road and off road).

The programme then put them in a Merc estate. They drove around in the Merc. They said how much better it was to drive, how much more practical it was inside (more space, better boot), more economical, easier to park (the lady of the house failed to park the RRS during the whole programme), safer for occupants and other road users and was also driveable off-road for going to the stables etc etc etc.

The couple said they realised the SUV was a worse car: they agreed it was more dangerous, less practical, more expensive, etc etc etc. But they still ended up buying the Range Rover because even thought it was flawed in all those ways, irrationally they still felt it was a better car. Go figure.

[mcandmar]

You right though, they are oversized, compromised, and far more dangerous that a regular car. Not to mention gas guzzling child killers. A mate wanted to buy an X5 and i lost it with him ...ended up buying an A6 TDi in the end and loves it

[Keeper of The Kitten]

I'm no fan of unnecessary 4x4s...

...but I am not convinced that they are as enormous as people seem to think - I'd say that many other large cars take up just as much space on the road. What tricks the mind is the height of these things, but tall does not equal big in every sense. I'd wager that there are several 4x4s on the road that are actually smaller than our own cars. The standard size Cherokee is tiny when you see one up close, but I'd guess most people would consider it an oversize gas guzzling monster, even if it isn't.

But it is still laughable that people choose 4x4 and then never use them off road, or even for towing trailers.

For the record I think the Q7 is ugly, along with a whole raft of the latest 4x4s. If it is much use as a workhorse I am sure it will be popular with farmers - but frankly I suspect it will be more popular with over-protective parents...

__MDC__

[Sweeper]

Hm , the main reason of buying a large SUV. X5 for example is becouse of the roads it's gonna drive.

Usual new member EU roads are crap , you gonna kill A6 or Mers E class in a matter of month. + to drive a sedan on such roads is getting your a*s*s kicked 100times a day =]

[Skull]

there is nothing wrong with the car. it is grate. the problem is in the people whou buy it, and the big problem is cuz they buy it for the wrong purpoese.

btw: it has 520nm torque on idle

[B16 UGG]

my view

Just saw the v12 Q7 TDI in the local rag ,very impressive I have seen a Q7 in real life I thought it was gorgous what a beast ,I read all the posts in this thread and was amazed at some opinions .if you took the body shell off the S2 and replaced it with a SUV one what would the difference be ,both 4 wheel drive both gas guzzlers both probably pointless ,but one is our beloved "S2" and the other a Chelsea Tractor well I am sorry you got this one wrong .The idea is choice ,just as we chose a stupidly fast car that we continually extole its virtues of what it can beat in races and how it is better than jap kr-p ,it is really impracticle ,in coupe form, and it is only capable of carrying two people and can barely get 25 mpg, others chose large 5 seater SUV`s to take their kids to private school because that is ,for whatever reason what they want and dont forget if the green twa-s get there way the old S2 will be right there in their firing line alongside the SUV`s .Instead of trying to condem other peoples choice of transport we need to stick together and fight our corner and by OUR I mean motorists across the whole spectrum of individual CHOICE

[tom]

Hm , the main reason of buying a large SUV. X5 for example is becouse of the roads it's gonna drive.

Usual new member EU roads are crap , you gonna kill A6 or Mers E class in a matter of month. + to drive a sedan on such roads is getting your a*s*s kicked 100times a day =]

I totally agree, try to drive an S2 on 18" with lowered suspension in Poland, it is really painfull for the car... and the driver. I had Toyota Landcruiser for a weekend, in this car i can drive here very comfortable, with diesel it is not a monster at all, but really good "everywhere" car, so something simmilar will be my next choice for everyday car, maybe A6 Allroad, will see after a test drive. Having such a car on a crappy roads around here is well recommended.