Test drive Audi Q7 – test drive
How the Audi Q7 is similar to the Bentley Bentayga and the Lamborghini Urus, how to choose the right trim and why the Q7 never became a class leader
I already know a lot about the colors of Audi: I can easily distinguish Scuba blue from Navarra blue, and I also know how the s line package of 2017 differs from the same, but 2018. One and a half month with Audi Q7 became the best in the last few years. This crossover is so good that I immediately wanted to buy an Audi myself. At least someday.
The most striking thing about the Q7 is its amazing sense of lightness. The five-meter crossover weighs more than 2 tons, but on the go it feels one and a half to two times more compact and lighter. Even the personal X1 with excellent directional stability, about the same dynamics, but two classes less after the Q7 drives somehow wrong.
It's all about the super-advanced MLB platform. Lamborghini Urus, Bentley Bentayga and Porsche Cayenne were built on it. There is a lot of aluminum in the design - including thanks to it, the Q7 dropped about 300 kg compared to the previous generation. Moreover, the lightness is noticeable not only on paper: at city speeds, Audi seems to be a continuation of you, subtly prescribing not always adequate trajectories.
The very balance between comfort and handling, which has long become a journalistic cliché, Audi does not seem to notice. The Germans simply took and packed three cars into one body: too family-friendly, impudently fast and obscenely comfortable. Drive Select - a proprietary Audi system - allows you to fine-tune the engine, gearbox, suspension and gas pedal so that the Q7 follows the mood very accurately. If you don't have time to dig into the menus, you can simply turn on the Auto mode and the machine will do everything by itself.
A separate story is the Bang and Olufsen speaker system. It sounds even better than the 6bhp 333-liter VXNUMX TFSI. with. Moreover, you can experiment with the settings in any way, but the effect on the output will be equally amazing.
For me, the Audi Q7 has become an almost perfect car: it has great dynamics, prohibitive smoothness, as well as a giant trunk and a bunch of useful options. In the end, it looks great - even against the background of the latest BMW X5 and Mercedes GLE, which just changed generations. But there is one problem: the Q7, like the whole VAG, is not too liquid on the secondary. And this seems to be the only reason why Q7, at least in Russia, can never become the leader of its class.
I had to literally beg Roma to exchange cars with me for at least a few days. Two days passed, and now I painfully did not want to pass Audi to someone next. And after all, I could not single out any one reason why I liked the Q7 so much. Mystic.
Dynamics? Well yes, 6,1 seconds. acceleration to 100 km / h for a two-ton car is cool, but, you see, it happens faster. Appearance? Of course, all new Audi is a work of art, but on my list of preferences for looks, Porsche or Range Rover still come first.
Could it be handling? Quattro, is that all? Warmer yet, the Q7 shares a platform with the Cayenne, which for me is the benchmark for how a sports SUV should drive. Moreover, the character of Q7 changes faster than the mood of the most capricious woman in the world. It is enough to press a button, and here it is - soft and obedient, impudent or not yet determined with the character, it seems that it is athletic, but it seems that it is not very good.
I can write the trajectories in a delicate way, but why should I do it in the city? We most often travel from work to home and back - all this through traffic jams. And the time spent behind the wheel is yours - you can think about something of your own, distract yourself.
Here is the sound - yes. On the contrary, it immerses you in the very atmosphere of reflection, so that this moment in the car is extremely important. The Q7 has advanced acoustics, and this system is very good, but, of course, not it - the very fifth element that makes you become attached to the car in a matter of hours. Rather, it is a story about a complex of reasons. It's just that this Audi is good (but not perfect) in everything.
More than three years have passed since I first got behind the wheel of the second generation Audi Q7. Then the car impressed me greatly with the almost perfect settings of the driver's assistants. I remember I couldn't get enough of the adaptive cruise control and the system that recognizes road markings and keeps the car in the lane. After all, she not only allowed the Q7 to stay on course, but also steered independently in small steep turns.
It would seem that nothing has passed at all, but now all this functionality seems so mundane that it even starts to annoy a little with its imperfection. It was then, three years ago, as a boy, I rejoiced at his ability to steer in gentle arcs on the track, and now I lament that the Q7 still cannot independently fit into 90-degree turns. After all, this way I would answer letters in the mail much faster, and at the same time, maybe I could have time to go over the main news in the telegram channels.
Moreover, the character of Audi only does what sets you in a relaxed mood. The Q7 is pretty darn smooth on the go: even on those huge 22-inch rims with low-profile tires. And it also has such a soundproofing that it cuts off almost all external sounds except, perhaps, the low rumble of the 333-strong "six". It seems that the interior designers from Audi could have drowned it out. But still, they left it so that the driver and passengers did not go crazy with the absolute silence in the cabin.
At the same time, the Q7 can drive and fervently. And it's not just six seconds to "hundred", but also in the ability to stay on course in turns and on a straight line. However, almost any Audi is fast and easy to drive.
