Mike Gatting
04-08-2011, 09:41 PM
This new pertrol Q7 IS more econom ical, more modest than the V8 version it replaces.
Ot a tough task: that car was to modesty and economy what Vin Diesel is to understatement and head hair. By the standards of Planet Normal, though, this Q7 *powered by the 3.0-1itre supercharged V6 from the 54, instead of that gluttonous, naturally aspirated 4.2-litre V8 *is decidedly immodest and uneconomical. It still makes everything else on the road, shon of a big-rig truck, look like a Corgi model. And, unless an oil well has recently sprung up in your back garden, it will still provoke a pained wince every time you refuel. Which will be often. The V6 may boast a less prodigious thirst.
Tips the scales at nearly two-and-a-half tonnes, but man, can it move than the old V8 - a car in which recording anything over 5.3kpl required the self-restraint of a Buddhist monk - bm indulge, even fleetingly, in a spot of what the brochures refer to as 'enthusiastic driving', and you'll be visiting your local service station very regularly.Though Audi quotes a combined economy of9.3kpl, we struggled to coax the Q7 to anything more than 7. Maybe that's not surprising, given the sheer size of the thing. This Q7 tips the scales at nearly two-and-a-half tonnes. What's more surprising is the pace at which it shifts.
This is a really rapid car. With 328bhp and 440N m available, it'll crunch 96kph in under seven seconds - a full half-second quicker than the old V8 - while hiding its heft in a man ner that'd make Gok Wan proud. The Q7 tackles corners with the poise and precision of a fat smaller, lighter car. The new eight-speed auto*now standard on all Q7s - is a beauty, capable of both inconspicuous shifting or, should the mood take you, rapid-fire flicking between ratios as that fuel gauge drags you ever deeper into financial ruination. You know what we're going to say here. Get the diesel version. If you're planning on using your SUV for long-distance trips, or towing, or basically any real-world driving, obliterate this petrol version from your mental shortlist, and opt instead for the lovely V6 diesel - an engine that can at least.
contemplate the possibility of cresting 10.6kpl. Instead, think of this top-spec Q7 as a big luxury limo - a taller, brasher rival for a Merc S-Class or Jag XJ - and it begins to make some son of warped sense. If you can live with its fundamental disregard for fuel economy - and, indeed, the feelings of fellow road users - this is a serious bit of kit. Fast, stable, huge and packed with lashings of tech, this Q7 is a car with an impressive breadth of abilities. Modesty and economy are not among them.
Ot a tough task: that car was to modesty and economy what Vin Diesel is to understatement and head hair. By the standards of Planet Normal, though, this Q7 *powered by the 3.0-1itre supercharged V6 from the 54, instead of that gluttonous, naturally aspirated 4.2-litre V8 *is decidedly immodest and uneconomical. It still makes everything else on the road, shon of a big-rig truck, look like a Corgi model. And, unless an oil well has recently sprung up in your back garden, it will still provoke a pained wince every time you refuel. Which will be often. The V6 may boast a less prodigious thirst.
Tips the scales at nearly two-and-a-half tonnes, but man, can it move than the old V8 - a car in which recording anything over 5.3kpl required the self-restraint of a Buddhist monk - bm indulge, even fleetingly, in a spot of what the brochures refer to as 'enthusiastic driving', and you'll be visiting your local service station very regularly.Though Audi quotes a combined economy of9.3kpl, we struggled to coax the Q7 to anything more than 7. Maybe that's not surprising, given the sheer size of the thing. This Q7 tips the scales at nearly two-and-a-half tonnes. What's more surprising is the pace at which it shifts.
This is a really rapid car. With 328bhp and 440N m available, it'll crunch 96kph in under seven seconds - a full half-second quicker than the old V8 - while hiding its heft in a man ner that'd make Gok Wan proud. The Q7 tackles corners with the poise and precision of a fat smaller, lighter car. The new eight-speed auto*now standard on all Q7s - is a beauty, capable of both inconspicuous shifting or, should the mood take you, rapid-fire flicking between ratios as that fuel gauge drags you ever deeper into financial ruination. You know what we're going to say here. Get the diesel version. If you're planning on using your SUV for long-distance trips, or towing, or basically any real-world driving, obliterate this petrol version from your mental shortlist, and opt instead for the lovely V6 diesel - an engine that can at least.
contemplate the possibility of cresting 10.6kpl. Instead, think of this top-spec Q7 as a big luxury limo - a taller, brasher rival for a Merc S-Class or Jag XJ - and it begins to make some son of warped sense. If you can live with its fundamental disregard for fuel economy - and, indeed, the feelings of fellow road users - this is a serious bit of kit. Fast, stable, huge and packed with lashings of tech, this Q7 is a car with an impressive breadth of abilities. Modesty and economy are not among them.