LIKES
- Luxurious interior
- Quick SQ7 on the way
- Improved touchscreens
- Standard 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster
DISLIKES
- Touchscreens can be distracting
- Spendy in top trims
- Third row is best for children
- Competitors have caught up
BUYING TIP
The 2020 Audi Q7 is brimming with tech and comfort, a surefire way to stay comfortable in any school parking lot.
Family crossovers like the 2020 Audi Q7 do it all: school runs, errands, commutes, and long hauls. Few family crossover SUVs are as luxurious as the Audi Q7, however.
Updated this year with a tweaked exterior, a more potent V-6, and more interior touchscreens, the Q7 gets a 7.0 TCC Rating thanks to its exceptional interior and features. Fuel economy for a big crossover is predictably poor, although help may be on the way.
This year, the Audi Q7 is available in Premium, Premium Plus, and Prestige trim levels and base versions cost more than $61,000. Every Q7 gets dual touchscreens for infotainment and climate controls, which were borrowed from the related Q8. (In fact, if three rows isn’t a must-have, the Q8 is based on the Q7 and features more stretch-out space, comparatively.)
The Q7 and upcoming SQ7 are a little sharper this year, with sharper headlights and vertical veins in the snout. Under the hood is a 3.0-liter turbo V-6 that makes 335 horsepower mated to an 8-speed automatic and all-wheel drive. It’s plenty for family detail. A 248-hp 2.0-liter turbo-4 appeals to the more fuel-conscious shoppers.
For adventure-seekers, or money-spenders, the SQ7 uses a turbo V-8 for 500 hp and all-wheel drive. Please make sure the lids on the sippy cups are secure first.
All Q7s are gifted with a smooth ride and calm demeanor, made better by an available air suspension that smothers rutted roads.
Behind the third row, the Q7 swallows 14.2 cubic feet of cargo but that space expands to more than 70 cubes with the seats folded forward.
Every Q7 gets standard automatic emergency braking and this year the crossover can slow and stop in its lane if it doesn’t detect any activity from the driver for a short time after repeated warnings.
The Q7 is well-equipped with leather upholstery, three-zone climate control, 19-inch wheels, power-adjustable heated front seats, panoramic sunroof, power-folding third row seats, a folding second-row bench, a 12.3-inch digital instrument display, and a 10.1-inch touchscreen for infotainment and a 8.6-inch touchscreen for vehicle controls.
Top trims add concert-quality sound, more active safety features, open-pore wood and softer leather for more money.
Styling
Conservative but handsome, the Audi Q7 is an exceptionally good looking three-row crossover.
This year Audi stylists gave the three-row a brief touch up, most notably in the headlights and taillights. The grille has been reworked a little too, although we wouldn’t fault anyone for mistaking this year’s Q7 with any other Q7.
That’s not a bad thing. We give this year’s Q7 a 7 for style, same as last year.
The big grille still has a trapezoidal shape, but vertical vanes replace last year’s horizontal ribs. The front bumper has been reshaped a little, notably to accept Audi’s new headlights that, in top trims, illuminate in a brilliant display.
Along the body sides is the same story as last year. It’s sculpted and as sinewy as a 5,000-pound crossover can be, with stamped metal arches and a crisp shape.
Around back, new taillights replace the outgoing version and the liftgate has been slightly restyled with a horizontal chrome strip running the entire width.
The best look of the Q7 is from inside, with a gorgeous layout complemented by standard leather upholstery. Real wood, metal and ambient light bathe passengers in an upscale interior befitting a luxury-car price tag. The dual touchscreen layout that’s new for this year dominates attention, although we’re similarly smitten with the rest of the Q7’s interior.
Performance
More power (and even more power) this year headline the Q7’s changes. The smooth ride is the same, however.
Lumbering like an NBA power forward, the 2020 Audi Q7 moves with deliberate motions and keeps it all together like compression leggings.
Starting from an average score of 5, the Q7 gets points above average for its perky drivetrain and mellow suspension that gets better when equipped with an optional air suspension. It’s a 7 for performance.
A turbocharged V-6 replaces the supercharged V-6 and adds a bump in power but a loss in fuel economy. For the more fuel-conscious, the 248-hp turbo-4 returns from last year but is not available in top Prestige trim. An upcoming SQ7 promises 500 hp from a twin-turbo V-8.
The SQ7 relies on a twin-turbo 4.0-liter V-8 that makes 500 horsepower and 568 lb-ft. Like the Q7, the SQ7 uses an 8-speed automatic and all-wheel drive but it shifts the family (and their lunches) up to 60 mph in 4.3 seconds.
The standard four-wheel independent suspension in the Q7 coddles every passenger, but an upgradable air suspension is practically glassy—we’d opt for it. Audi’s drive mode selection toggles between auto, comfort, and sporty modes that control throttle sensitivity, shift points, and steering weight. When equipped with the optional air suspension, the drive modes also dictate ride height. We’ve found that Auto is the fuss-free way to travel most days, except in inclement weather when off-road modes can help takeoff and can find traction at lower speeds.
Base Q7s ride on 19-inch wheels that are best for comfort, although 20- and 21-inch wheel combinations are available. Generally speaking: Bigger wheels have a stiffer ride.
Comfort & Quality
We wish we could’ve grown up in the back of something as nice as the 2020 Audi Q7.
Big families won’t have to hand in their luxury cars for team buses when children Nos. 3-5 show up. The Audi Q7 seats up to seven in comfortable confines, although riders in the wayback are better if they’re still working on multiplication tables. The Q7 is a 10 for comfort.
(If you don’t need three rows of seats, the Audi Q8 is a two-row crossover, based on the Q7, but with more interior comfort for up to five.)
The front seats are standard power-adjustable heated seats with the best views of the road ahead. An optional luxury package upgrades those seats to heated and cooled multi-contour seats that massage away the commute ahead shod with softer leathers, but we’ve never griped about the standard seats.
In the third row, the split-folding rear seats accommodate two children—or adults that are acting like children. Leg room is a scant 29.2 inches, and with the third row in place the Q7 holds just 14.2 cubic feet of cargo.
With the third row folded forward, the Q7’s space opens to more than 35 cubic feet of cargo room, and with the second and third rows tumbled forward the crossover can carry nearly 70 cubes of gear—more than our first apartments.
The Q7’s interior is excellent and there are no cheap surfaces we could find. The standard leather upholstery is soft and comfortable, while upgraded Valcona hides are impressive. (Although maybe not ideal for families with younger, spill-prone children.)
Safety
The 2020 Audi Q7 hasn’t been rated by federal or independent crash-test officials.
The 2020 Audi Q7 received "Good" crash-test scores from the IIHS, and the structurally similar 2019 model earned a five-star NHTSA safety rating that is expected to carry over for 2020. That adds a point, as does the standard automatic emergency braking that the IIHS has rated as “Superior” at avoiding forward crashes with pedestrians and vehicles. The 2020 Q7 earns a 7 out of 10 TCC Rating.
New for 2020 is a driver-attention monitor that can slow the Q7 to a stop in its lane and turn on hazard lights if it detects a problem with the driver, such as a medical emergency.
Active safety extras include a surround-view camera system, traffic sign recognition, and turn-assist features that can alert the driver or stop the car if it detects an oncoming vehicle.
Features
Few family living rooms are as nice and spacious as a 2020 Audi Q7.
The 2020 Audi Q7 sports the automaker’s latest information and infotainment hardware, a pair of gee-whiz touchscreens that look great but more on that later.
We give the Q7 points above average for its base features, optional extras, and a big touchscreen—the luxury car trifecta.
Like last year, the Q7 is available in Premium, Premium Plus, and Prestige trims. The 2020 Q7 Premium costs at least $61,795, including destination, and fully loaded versions can cost about $90,000. The SQ7 starts at more than $85,000 and rises from there and is only available in Premium Plus and Prestige trims.
We’d stop there but we admit that many families won’t, especially when the next step up includes an impressive 19-speaker audio system, softer leather, and more available safety features.
The top Prestige trim costs more than $10,000 over the base version but piles on niceties such as 23-speaker audio, a head-up display, surround-view camera system, air suspension, and open-pore wood interior.
Fuel Economy
Most family crossovers like the 2020 Audi Q7 don’t prioritize fuel efficiency.
Audi’s big, three-row crossover is more adept at hauling people—not sipping fuel.
The EPA rates the 2020 Q7 with a turbo-6 at 17 mpg city, 21 highway, 18 combined and requires premium fuel. That’s a 3 on our fuel-economy scale.
The turbo-4 gets the same 19/25/21 mpg as the outgoing supercharged V-6 model. The EPA rates the SQ7 at 15/21/17 mpg.
0 comments:
Post a Comment