The Business Exchange Swindon & Wiltshire Edition 38: Aug/Sept 2018 | Page 32

REVVED UP
The Audi SQ7: Crossing Continents
This is the car you need if you want
to cross continents in a single
bound. Nothing else comes close.
“There was just a hint
of hesitation before
the car shot toward
the horizon like the
Millennium Falcon”
The Audi SQ7 SUV is a seven-
seat vehicle that will carry your
entire family and your dog. It is
powered by a V8 twin-turbo engine
that returns thirty-two miles for
gallon or better, depending on
how it is driven. Sounds like the
ideal vehicle doesn’t it? So what
if it’s a diesel? Does it matter? It’s
mighty. Mighty powerful, mighty
comfortable and I love it, mightily.
The Audi SQ7 TDI is the German
brand’s most powerful SUV to date.
The Modern V8 Diesel
The eight-cylinder special
displaces 4.0 litres and it merits
our attention. Alongside twin
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THE BUSINESS EXCHANGE 2018
sequential turbochargers, the
engine uses a special type of
forced induction: an electrically
powered compressor. Not a
turbocharger, nor a supercharger,
it is as described, a compressor,
and it has one purpose – to
eliminate turbo lag. It works, filling
in as the turbos spool up.
I tested this by accelerating
at speed in eighth gear without
using kick-down. There was just
a hint of hesitation before the car
shot toward the horizon like the
Millennium Falcon. Kick-down
first, or use the manual gearbox
option with the paddles, and you’re
going faster than my credit card
balance in my daughters’ hands.
On The Road
The car as featured here, fully
option-loaded, costs £86,000 of our
fluctuating UK Pounds and buyers
should opt for the carbon-ceramic
brakes to counteract the SQ7’s
sheer momentum. Nevertheless,
for such a big beast this SUV
handles very well, the steering
weighting up nicely as the speed
increases. Drivers can choose
comfort settings through the usual
Audi ‘Drive Select’ feature, which
in this case also offers a couple
of off-road or all-road options.
For cruising, Comfort is fine with
the 8-speed automatic gearbox
nestled into standard Drive mode.
Things change when Sport
mode is selected on the gearbox
and Dynamic on the suspension
and steering settings. The engine
emits a proper old-school V8
rumble that is quietly addictive.
This builds as the throttle is floored
and suddenly, amazingly, the driver
will see the digital dial pass the
legal speed limit like a hare past
a tortoise. Astonishing; and it’s all
down to the very special engine.
In fact, the paddles feel pretty
much superfluous. In Sport mode
the gearbox reacts instantly of its
own volition. 429bhp should be
enough for any gearhead and the
shove from 900Nm of torque has
to be felt to be believed. The sprint
to 62mph from rest takes just 4.9
seconds, awesome for a car the
size of Ben Nevis.
@DriveWrite
In The Audi SQ7,
Comfortably
The brilliant Audi Virtual Cockpit
offers navigation on the rising
touchscreen and, if required, on
the dashboard readout AND in the
heads-up display. Highly adjustable
sports seats, with sumptuous
leather upholstery, keep everyone
sitting pretty. As is well-known,
Audi interiors are second to
none and no detail is overlooked.
The dashboard is pleasingly
understated. That’s a good thing.
Honestly, you can’t fault it. In my
opinion it is one of the best cars of
its type on the road today.
Geoff Maxted
DriveWrite.co.uk