Audi Q7 3.0 TDI

[Uberwagon]

I've got one of these beasts (as in size, not speed) for a couple of days and i'm generally surprised.

It is reasonably swift, the gearbox utterly fantastic, I don't notice it doing anything and it hides the dieselness of the engine very well indeed.

The stereo is absoutely awesome, build quality vault like and comfort, cruiseability very good indeed.

It has averaged 30.9mpg on a 100 mile run, plus about 40 miles of stop start London Traffic and i'm really warming to it, which is a bit of a shock to me.

Full report once my time with it is up.

Dave!

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

I'd be interested to hear how you get on. They seem very good value for money once they're second hand - especially the less-blingy derivatives.

 

[500E]

Nice compliment to the 500E if you decided on buying one!

The Q7 is probably the best out of the 4X4 range atm - the Toureg comes close though - especially the V10 TDI one.

 

[Uberwagon]

This is another car from www.classiccarclub.com sadly, like the Bentley the other week it is not mine to own

I am very impressed with it though and it's definitely in line as a family car when the fiance goes mental and agrees to let me impregnate her.

The interior alone is selling it for me at the minute, black on black, black suede with black leather, a very nice place to sit.

Dave!

 

[st4]

I test drove one when it 1st came out and have to say for a £50k vehicle was left with mixed views...

I agreed the gearbox was excellent. The one I drove was an S line and had a flappy paddles to control the autobox, and the gearbox did what it was told when the paddles were used (unlike other auto's Ive driven).

The engine was quiet for a diesel but it didn't really haul the car along with any real verve and I recorded 26mpg. I did the same run in my petrol X5 and got 25mpg. Go figure...in the audi's defence it had done under 1k miles and the BMW was 25k miler.

The car is absolutely huge, really long and very wide and it feels this when manouvering but strangely its not a terribly spacious car inside, and the build quality so so. The air vent surround fell off when I closed the door, the doors didn't have the reassuring heft of the X5's (never sampled a car with heavier doors) and the plastics were not as good as the X5's. Note initially the Q7 only got 4 NCAP stars due to poor welding near the passanger footwell. Doesn't give the impression of a well made car. Audi since modified the welding there, but 4/5 for a car that will be bought for its safety is a poor showing, especially as its a new design.

Mechanically the engines are sound, but VAG auto's can and do fail. The sat nav, MMI etc was easy enough to use...

It was a nice car, but get the impression a Q5, A4/A6 3.0TDi is a better car and I'd choose one of those over a Q7. If you need a full size jeep the toureg and cayenne are nice, as are the X5's and MLs

 

[Mudster]

Is it an S Line or normal?

I ask becasue I really like the look of many Audi models and we got my Sister an A3 S-Line last year....but any S Line I've been in has preposterously hard suspension which entirely ruins the car.

The think is, I just don't like how the SE models look, the S-line body enhancements really make the cars look far nicer.

I'm really quite keen on the Q5 actually because Mrs M (with MS) can get in and out of it easily, but it's just too much money for what it is.

 

[A210AMG]

Looked at these last year with my dad along with All road, Range Rover, ML's (new shape), Etc etc

They are HUGE. Probably more like GL size. In the showroom with the A6 All road they make that look tiny.

I like them and also the fact they are 25K - 30K given the new little Q5's are silly money for a 2.0TDi...

The S line must have at least 20" wheels as they look big even on that. Some cracking deals out there mind. I friend recently bought a VW tourag TDi 3.0 Attitude with rear DVD's etc 24K new !! run out model with the older front grill

 

[KNU7S]

I have tried one and did not think much of it really.

I have a RR TD6 Vouge and have been looking at a new TDV8 Vouge and rate it better than the audi.

The TD6 i have has been remapped and it pulls just as well as the TDV8

I have looked at all the high end 4X4 and i think the RR is the best followed by the VW and the Porsche.

 

[A210AMG]

Funny enough my dad is looking at the RR TDv8 at the moment. Certainly inside its superb.

He said its like an S class only sat higher up.


Really is lovely but I worry about reliability? Hows your v6 been?

 

[jeremytaylor]

2 problems with the Q7:

1. The way it looks
2. The way it drives when there's a school-run mum behind the wheel.

 

[Rory]

Some cracking deals out there mind. I friend recently bought a VW tourag TDi 3.0 Attitude with rear DVD's etc 24K new !! run out model with the older front grill

That seems very good - a business acquaintance bought a yr old pretty loaded (sat nav etc, but not rear screens) 3L auto Touareg for £20K just before Xmas when the bottom really was dropping out of the SUV market. I've browsed recently and same cars would be around £25K now.


On the Q7, have they fixed the issue where it gets through a set of tyres every 7K miles? Apparently it's worth taking the VAG maint contract for the tyres alone!

 

[bigyin1]

Funny enough my dad is looking at the RR TDv8 at the moment. Certainly inside its superb.

He said its like an S class only sat higher up.


Really is lovely but I worry about reliability? Hows your v6 been?

I'd make sure if you're getting a TDV6/8 that you get an extended warranty, I have spoken to quite a few customers who have had their TDV6/8's in the garage longer than on their drive during their time of ownership - could just be bad luck but you never know. Having said that, they are lovely to drive, very luxurious and surprisingly quick (TDV8 that is) even better with a good re-map. Personally i'd go for the Sport model rather than the normal Range Rover but that's just my preference.

Ref the Q7 - my boss used to have one which i've driven on a few occasions and they are very big to drive, really feels big, but inside its not as big as you expect, much like most cars now-a-days too much padding!

 

[Uberwagon]

I've done 500 miles in it now, still 180 miles left in this tank, and it is getting better.
I dropped off missus Dave and picked her up from London yesterday, it has a good amount of shove for town driving, the gearbox nice and quick to change and always in the right gear. I tried the flappy paddles but they were utterly useless, seemingly slower to change than just in drive, sport seemed pointless aswell.
The brakes are only just good enough, lots of inconsistent feel through the pedal and they bite quite hard at low speed, not a problem normally but from a hard stop you have to remove a lot of pedal pressure just before stopping to stop the nodding dog effect.
I played about with suspension more, there is a real difference between the settings. It has Lift, Off Road, Comfort, Automatic, Dynamic. Lift gives quite a big extra boost in height, Off Road is horrible on the road, Comfort is great, I never felt like it needed changing from that apart from the mini roundabouts near Canvey, where it understeers alarmingly in the wet but is fine in the dry. Dynamic was a big improvement in cornering feel, not sure on speed as I wasn't being silly with it. The Automatic setting I didn't really get, it seemed to not really be comfortable or as sharp as dynamic so wasn't selected.
I've REALLY fallen for the interior, big comfy seats which better than the Bentleys, the fantastic stereo still kicks ****, the ambience and cosy feeling at night is especially welcome. The interface for the stereo, suspension, settings etc now comes easily which is good as initially it feels odd, the twirly wheel, a bit like I Drive, seems to turn the wrong way for up and down but otherwise it's all good.
I've seen a couple about on big alloys which look great, but I wouldn't want to spoil the ride, also they would be useless off road, which i'd want to take it.
Out of the Maserati, Bentley and 360 this is the first one i've actually seen as a great car which I could afford to own, the mileage is great, 34mpg on a cruise at 70, 28mpg on a trip through London, enough grunt, great gearbox and loads of interior space, a good 7 seater if you need it etc. Even missus Dave likes it which is a bonus. A bigger diesel would be nice but I don't think i'd use the extra shove as it's not that kind of car, a petrols economy wouldn't be good enough as a 700 mile range on the 3.0tdi version is brilliant.
My one would be black on black, towing pack, Half leather with Alcantara, Air suspension, 3.0 TDi.
A solid 9/10

(Edited to add comments on other similar cars)

The TDV8 Range Rover is bigger than the Q7, I parked up next to one at South Mims and was surprised as I also thought the Q7 was the monster one. I prefer the looks of the Range Rover overall, but the front end of the Q7 is fantastic, really mean looking which I like. The interior of the Q7 is a nicer place to be at night, a car has to b cosseting at night for me to really enjoy the interior, the Range Rover though has a class the Audi doesn't have and is a much better spec. The reliability of the Range Rover worries me though.

The X5 I just plain don't like, it looks like a poser 4X4, the Q7 you could actually use off road.

I've never driven or been driven in a Cauenne, the mileage issues worry me and a diesel Porsche is a no no. The Touraeg I find very bland to look at but they are a much better value car than the Audi, they are also surprisingly capable off road so i've been told.

If I could have the engine and box of the Audi, the off road capability of the Range Rover Vogue (sports are tacky i'd rather have an D3) plus the interior of the Audi then it would be perfect.

If I wanted to take it Off Roading though then the Range Rover would be the one, i've seen a couple tooling around Tixover and much like the P38, they are amazing machines.

Dave

 

[Uberwagon]

Is it an S Line or normal?

I ask becasue I really like the look of many Audi models and we got my Sister an A3 S-Line last year....but any S Line I've been in has preposterously hard suspension which entirely ruins the car.

The think is, I just don't like how the SE models look, the S-line body enhancements really make the cars look far nicer.

This model has the air suspension, I presume the steel sprung car isn't adjustable?

Like I mentioned in my extended post above this the ride in comfort is very good, in dynamic it's quite jiggly but much better turn in and resistance to roll, 99% of the time comfort is fine.

Dave!

 

[2manydubs]

Q7 is a great car i borrowed one for a day and couldnt fault it ,

 

[Mactech]

My colleague had a 3.0 TDI last year and I did quite a few continental trips in it to European race circuits. His Sportline had the big 21” wheels and his favourite damper setting was Dynamic. This meant that the ride was firm, but not uncomfortable on main roads but really too harsh on the back roads.
It was the elevated ride and effortless cruising in this car which made me look at an ML (that’s a Mercedes!)
Because of the roll control required on these high vehicles I felt air suspension was a prerequisite to get a decent ride quality.
I find my ML320 more that quick enough, will return over 35mpg on a run and is smaller and more refined than the Q7. Must admit the Audi does do good interiors but the ML has a sound system to match the Q7.
I can fully understand how you have had your head turned by this type of vehicle…..even without a V8

 

[The Boss]

love the Q7 - one of my favorite cars at present from the modern breed. Mercedes Benz's new cars have lost their flair!

 

[Uberwagon]

It would be great with a V8, but I can't see the range being as good and these vehicles I see as tools, rather than cars, they just do the job they were designed for incredibly well.

Dave!

 

[richard]

About 6 months ago we replaced our old 7 seat ML wth a new X5 - we needed 7 seats as car is used for car-sharing school runs

Tried lots of things, and here was my view

Merc ML - not enough seats
Merc GL - a tank that was just too big - its over 5M long & frankly resale values are rubbish
XC90 - rubbish turning circle, and just not as high quality feel as the others - also a very old design now
Q7 - nice but just too big. Again over 5M which makes parking a nightmare
X5 - this is what we bought. Nav system / Phone system etc just not as useable or reliable as the merc products. We had to opt for the extra-expensive dynamic suspension and leave the standard size (motorsport) alloys on to get a non bone shaking ride though - which is great as its comfortable in straight line and hardens up nicely when going round corners. X5 (3.0 SD (twin turbo)) is also not in the top emissions group - which gives me an argument with the green brigade that the alternative was 2 cars doing the school run instead of 1 (far worse emissions) and most other 7 seaters are a group higher.

Hope that helps

R

 

[raymont]

Yes the GL is big, but I think it is perceived to be larger than it's foot print because of the height.

It's actually about 8" longer than an E class estate, 10" longer than a Disco D3 and 12" longer than an ML.

The length isn't really a problem in daily use. The width, which is pretty much the same as the ML, becomes a factor before the length.

(I've tried to think of a way of expressing this without inviting too many humourous comments, but......)