Looks | Looks Inside | Practicality | Ride and Handling | Performance
Running Costs | Reliability | Safety | Equipment | X-Factor

1. Looks

The Audi Q7 is a big beast, and it's typically Audi design does little to hide its girth. It sports Audi’s trademark grille up front, and on this it's surely bigger than any other Audi grille before it. A lower front bumper with fog lamps stretches the Q7’s face downwards, in a similar way to that of the Porsche Cayenne, albeit with far better results. The rear wears Audi’s latest-look lights, which both encase a pair of hollow rectangular light units, which beam bright when the tail or brake lights are activated. It also has a pair of sporty exhausts; one on each side.

Models come with 18 or 20-inch wheels as standard, depending on specification.

8/10

2. Looks inside

It's an Audi, so there are few surprises as to how the cabin looks. There are plenty of sober grey tactile plastics, which are pleasant to the touch, and a smattering of silver trimmings. Some models feature wood inserts too. A colour screen is the focal point of the dash, and is controlled by Audi’s MMI (Multi Media Interface), which is similar in concept, but better in execution than BMW’s iDrive. It has a number of shortcut keys arranged around a rotary dial which is used to cycle through menus. It's easy to get a good driving position though a fully-adjustable drivers’ seat and steering wheel.

9/10

3. Practicality

For such a big car, it should come as little surprise that there’s plenty of space in the cabin. The boot contains an extra two seats to turn the Audi Q7 into a spacious seven seat people carrier. The second row of seats fold forward easily, allowing access to the rearmost seats. It's not quite as easy to get into the third row however, due to the car’s ride height.

Boot space varies from 330-litres when all seven seats are in place to 775-litres with the rears folded. Drop the second row seats as well, and it offers more than 2,000-litres of room. There’s additional under-floor storage too. The biggest barrier to ultimate practicality is the Audi Q7’s size. At almost two metres wide and more than five metres long, if fills the average-sized parking space with little room for the car’s occupants - or those in adjacent vehicle to get in or out. Its audible and visual parking aid is very useful, as it’s the car’s excellent visibility and huge wing mirrors. Its height is another issue; at more than 1.7 metres, careful selection of multi-story car parks is essential.

8/10

4. Ride and handling

The Audi Q7 is among the best in its class for ride comfort and handling. Only the BMW X6 clearly betters it, but that car is designed solely for on-road driving. The steering is direct and accurate, offering levels of feedback rare in this class of car. Often the on-road dynamics are compromised by the need for vaguer steering for off-road use, but not so here. The 3.0 TDI we tested was also very well refined.

The ride is smooth, but there’s not much bodyroll through bends (another rarity in cars of this size). All models are available with adjustable air suspension, which allows the driver to alter suspension firmness or ride height via the car’s MMI system.

Again, the car’s girth compromises absolute driver enjoyment, with it being too big to hustle along country lanes. Its far better suited to fast sweeping A-roads and motorways.

9/10

Check out this video of the Audi Q7 taking part in a stunt in the hit movie "Iron Man".

5. Performance

We tested the entry-level Audi Q7 3.0 TDI, which is the most popular model in the range. The 236bhp engine produces a thumping 406lb/ft of pulling power, which allows the Q7 to hit 62mph in 8.5 seconds, before reaching 134mph. Even though it’s the smallest engine, it offers all the pace you really need in a big SUV. The 4.2-litre TDI covers 0-62mph in just 6.4 seconds before delivering a 146mph v-max; making it a shockingly fast car. But top performance honours go to the 6.0 TDI, which develops a massive 493bhp and 738lb/ft of pulling power, which is good for a Porsche Boxster-rivalling 5.4 seconds and a 155mph top speed.

Petrol options comprise a 3.6-litre, which matches the 3.0 TDI for acceleration, but will run on to a higher 143mph top speed. A 4.2 petrol covers 0-62mph in 7.4 seconds before hitting 154mph.

All models are available with Audi’s slick semi-automatic gearbox, which offers fast gear changes and can be operated in fully automatic or semi-auto mode via the gear shifter or steering wheel-mounted paddles.

10/10

6. Running costs

Full sized SUV are rarely cheap to run, and no model barring the 3.0 TDI returns more than 25mpg (the 3.0 TDI will cover almost 29mpg). Naturally the petrol models mpg figures are in the very low 20s, but amazingly the 6.0 TDI can return around 25mpg. All models fall into tax band G, which currently costs £400 a year, and insurance groups between 16 and 18 will be reasonably expensive too. New prices range from around £40,000 to a massive £96,000, but used values are among the strongest in it class and when taking equipment levels into account, the slightly dearer Q7 looks like reasonable value against the BMW X5.

7/10

7. Reliability

Like pretty much every car Audi has made in the last few years, the Audi Q7 feels solid. It’s a complex machine, but Audi has been building tough four wheel-drive systems since the 1980s.

9/10

8. Safety

The Audi Q7 missed out on a full five star rating in the EuroNCAP crash test programme by one star, but has a comprehensive level of safety kit. Driver, passenger front side, full-length curtain and side head airbags for the middle row occupants are standard on all models. ABS with electronic brakeforce distribution, electronic stability programme, with special functions when driven on or off-road, as well as a trailer stabilisation system for safer towing also features across the range.

8/10

9. Equipment

For a £40,000-plus car, it's unusual to see leather upholstery missing from the standard equipment list for all models, and sat-nav isn’t standard on any of the three trims, rather part of the £2,500 Technology Pack. Standard kit on the basic model includes 18-inch alloys, adaptive air suspension, climate control, MMI with eight speakers and a monochrome screen, acoustic parking sensors, four 12-volt electrical sockets, cruise control and trip computer.

For an additional £2,500, the SE model adds leather and alcantara upholstery, electrically operated and heated front seats, ambient interior lighting, different 18-inch alloys and chrome exterior trims.

Another £900 gets the range-topping S-Line model, which also receives 20-inch alloys, front sport seats, nappa leather and alcantara upholstery, extra metallic trims, S-Line badging and headlamp washers.

7/10

10. X-Factor

Audi is the car maker of the moment, and seems to do no wrong. And when those four rings are on car which oozes ability, it reinforces Audi’s reputation as a manufacturer to be reckoned with

9/10

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