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By
BARRY LAKE
18 September 2006
It has taken a long time, but German car maker Audi finally has
released its luxury SUV, dubbed Q7, as revealed at the Frankfurt Motor
Show in September 2005.
Audi calls it a "Third Generation SUV", noting that
the original off roaders were rugged and reliable and competent in
the rough, but lacked on road demeanour and luxury. The second
generation SUV, according to Audi, was typically comfortable,
luxurious, and well-equipped, but fell short when asked to do it
tough in the bush.
The Q7, they claim, is a vehicle that has all the style and
luxury of the "soft roaders", but also can acquit its
self well in the bush.
To prove the point, the company sent 15 examples of the Q7 on a
7000 kilometre trek through central Australia from Sydney to
Broome, including unsealed roads through Sturt’s Stony Desert
and the Tanami Desert, as well as tackling the last - and biggest
- sand dune of the Simpson Desert.
The 15 vehicles came through with flying colours, having been
driven by a total of 120 drivers along the way (four stages, two
drivers per vehicle per stage).
Initially, the Q7 is available in Australia with a choice of a
171kW 3.0 litre, six cylinder turbo diesel engine, or a 257kW 4.2
litre petrol powered V8. Later a 3.6 litre V6 petrol engine
developing 206kW will be added to the range. All engines are mated
to a six-speed automatic transmission with Tiptronic manual shift
for those who prefer to select their own ratios.
Although Audi has been a bit tardy in getting into the
four-wheel drive SUV market, it should be remembered that this is
the company that pioneered all-wheel drive road cars a quarter of
a century ago with the famous Audi quattro, that had enormous
success in rally competitions. It also has one of the best
handling high performance cars on the market today with its
all-wheel drive RS4 sedan.
The company has built more than two million vehicles with drive
to all four wheels in the last 25 years. So there is no lack of
expertise in this area. Along with its stable mates the RS4 and
the S8, the Q7 has a Torsen, mechanical limited-slip centre
differential which has an initial split of 60 per cent torque to
the rear wheels and 40 per cent to the front.
When the rear wheels lose traction, more torque is
progressively applied to the front wheels via the Torsen mechanism
until, ultimately, they have the lion’s share of the torque and
the vehicle settles into a safe understeer attitude
The top of the range V8s have adaptive air suspension as
standard equipment and this is available as an option on the
diesel versions, which have coil springs and dampers in their
basic guise.
With the adaptive air suspension, ride height can vary between
180 mm and 240 mm, depending on conditions and on the mode
selected by the driver. When in off-road setting, running at
maximum height, the system will lower the ride height once the
vehicle exceeds 100 km/h, to provide a lower centre of gravity.
The Q7, of course has all the latest electronic safety features
such as ABS brakes and electronic stability program (ESP). It also
has dynamic roll stabilisation to reduce body roll in cornering.
Among the options available are a rear-view camera, the best we
have come across, for safe reversing, as well as audible warning
when close to objects; also radar-assisted cruise control that
slows the car when approaching a slower vehicle ahead and can even
brake the car to a halt if necessary.
There is also "side assist" for detecting vehicles in
what would otherwise be a blind spot when driving on road.
On corrugated outback roads, the Q7’s air suspension smoothed
the ride admirably and the rigid body was rattle free. The speed
sensitive power steering, standard on all models, worked well and
was completely free of "rack rattle", which is an
annoying feature of even the highest regarded models from other
German luxury car makers.
The excellent, comfortable seats also insulated the occupants
from the inevitable vibrations that did make their way through to
the chassis from the incessant corrugations.
As a final demonstration of the car’s off-road ability, they
were run back and forth over "Big Red", the last and
largest of the claimed 1100 sand dunes to be negotiated when
crossing the Simpson Desert. Once again, the Audis did it with
ease and style.
Ironically, most Q7 buyers will never experience any of these
qualities. The majority will be used in suburban settings. For
these buyers, there is a long list of luxury and safety features.
Of particular note is that the Q7 is available as a five, six
or seven seater. The six-seat version is almost a non-starter, but
a surprisingly large percentage of those who pre-bought the entire
first shipment have specified seven seats.
There is a long list of optional features, the addition of
which can escalate the price alarmingly. Starting prices are
$85,700 for the 3.0 TDI version and $116,800 for the 4.2 V8. But
most buyers will be adding options that will bump these prices up
considerably.
The 3.6 litre V6, when it arrives, will have a recommended
retail price of $84,900.
© Copyright
Marque Publishing Company
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