LIKES
- Tasteful style
- Swims in safety tech
- Excellent ride/handling balance
- Awash in digital displays
- Scorching SQ7 model
DISLIKES
- Third-row seat’s small…
- ...and access should be easier
- V-6, V-8 models stretch prices to the limit
- No service calls included
BUYING TIP
The 2022 Audi Q7 puts seven seats into the family-wagon fast lane.
What kind of vehicle is the 2022 Audi Q7? What does it compare to?
The Q7 crossover SUV wraps Audi style around a seven-seat body and a cutting-edge cabin. It’s a rival for the BMW X7, Benz GLS, and Volvo XC90.
Is the 2022 Audi Q7 a good SUV?
It’s spacious, user-friendly, fleet on its feet, and sure to look good in a decade. We give it a TCC Rating of 7.0 out of 10.
What’s new for the 2022 Audi Q7?
Other than some minor equipment tweaks, not a lot. That’s fine; in its current form the Q7’s a multi-talented three-row luxury-SUV with few glaring flaws. It’s pretty, for one: the timeless lines that frame its grille and headlights, and trail down the tapered body, seem drawn to outlast the flourishes that can date shapes quickly. The cabin’s low-key in its shapes, high-intensity in its pixel count and advanced function.
With seats for up to four big and three more small passengers, the seven-seat Q7 has its priorities right. The front chairs have lots of adjustment and lots of padding, while head and leg room give second-row passengers the ritzy treatment the Audi badge implies. Middle-seat and third-row passengers will need to be small and nimble to get into the Q7’s least accessible seats; most drivers will fold the third-row seat away for about 35 cubic feet of cargo space.
The Q7 comes with automatic emergency braking, blind-spot monitors, active lane control, and automatic high beams. Crash-test scores are good, but there’s a catch. Read on.
How much does the 2022 Audi Q7 cost?
The base Q7 45 Premium costs $56,895, and comes with power features, leather upholstery, a panoramic sunroof, 19-inch wheels, and a three-screen interior, complete with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. Show no restraint and Audi will send you home in a $96,595 SQ7 Prestige with softer leather, premium audio and an adaptive air suspension. Nice.
Where is the 2022 Audi Q7 made?
In Slovakia.
Styling
The Q7 will be in style for years to come.
Is the Audi Q7 a good-looking car?
Unassuming but handsome, the Q7’s sure to carry off its look for many years. It’s a 7 here, with a point each for the exterior and interior.
The Q7’s wagon body received a minor makeover in 2020, which brought new LED lights front and rear, a crisper grille outline, and bigger 19-inch wheels. It pulls off a lithe look despite its massive stance. Maybe it’s the vertical grille slats or the low bumper, or the careful taper of the rear end; whatever choices were made to minimize its size and maximize its appeal, Audi chose correctly.
Performance
Pretty, powerful, and plush, the Q7 nails the family-car trifecta.
Is the Audi Q7 4WD?
Every Q7 comes with all-wheel drive.
How fast is the Audi Q7?
For efficiency’s sake, Audi offers a 248-hp 2.0-liter turbo-4 in the Q7, but only in lesser trims. Still fitted with standard all-wheel drive, the Q7 45 is no slouch; it can run and gun from 0-60 mph in 6.9 seconds, by Audi’s watch. Top speed’s set at 130 mph. We’d be fine with it if the 335-hp 3.0-liter turbo-6 didn’t exist. With 369 lb-ft of torque, it speeds to 60 in 5.7 seconds and doesn’t use much more fuel in doing so. There’s some turbo lag, which Audi’s 8-speed automatic overcomes with shift paddles and sport-mode programming that keep the engine in the right part of the rev band. From a launch it skips a beat, but on highway passes the turbo-6 Q7 skips a few. It’s all the more impressive given the SUV’s hefty curb weight of 4,791 to 5,291 lb. We think it’s the best balance of power and value; it’s standard on Prestige-trim Q7s.
For top boost, the SQ7 stuffs a 500-hp 4.0-liter twin-turbo V-8 with 568 lb-ft of torque under the same hood. Scalding-quick, it’ll pounce on 60 mph in 4.3 seconds, and hurtle to a top speed of 155 mph.
Even without the available adaptive air suspension, the Q7’s road manners throw off neutral gestures like the UN’s catering team. It corners in measured, flat responses, steering with weight (if not so much feedback), and uses its variable all-wheel-drive system to deliver torque to the grippy wheels. It’s fluent in corners, and with the air suspension (and big 19-inch wheels), fluid and calm at triple-digit speeds. Which is just what family-car drivers seek? We thought so.
Comfort & Quality
The Q7’s in a family way.
Five-person families get an enthusiastic welcome in the Q7. Audi fits it with swell seats in the first two rows, and makes the kid-sized third row easy to fold away. We give it a 9 for comfort, missing only the point we award for truly extravagant finishes.
It’s no minivan, but the Q7 acquits itself just fine as a device of mass transportation. The front passengers have it best, with heated and leather-upholstered seats that power into all sorts of great driving positions. Audi wraps the dash in front of them in wood and metallic trim, and offers softer leather and cooling to up the ante.
Row two has a three-piece split seatback, which lets those passengers recline for better comfort. Three adults across will be friendlier before a trip than after, but with about 39 inches of leg room and plenty of head room, taller people fit fine in the middle outboard seats.
Safety
The Q7’s crash-test scores are incomplete.
Is the Audi Q7 a safe car?
Yes, but the IIHS says its headlights are “Poor,” so the Q7 no longer earns the Top Safety Pick+ award it’s held in the past. The NHTSA hasn’t given it recent ratings, either. It earns a point here for standard automatic emergency braking and one for its advanced safety options, for a score of 7.
This year the Q7 gains standard rear side airbags, as well as active lane control with traffic jam assist. They join blind-spot monitors with rear cross-traffic alert, a driver-attention monitor, and automatic high beams. On the options list, the Q7 offers adaptive cruise control, a surround-view camera system, and traffic sign recognition.
Features
The Q7 leads the infotainment class, and falls behind in warranty.
Audi fits the Q7 with wide-screen infotainment, along with other sumptuous luxury features. It’s costly compared with some luxurious three-row SUVs, and its 4-year/50,000-mile warranty lacks the free service provided by rivals. It’s an 8 here.
Which Audi Q7 should I buy?
Audi sells the Q7 in three trim levels: Premium, Premium Plus, and Prestige trims. We’d take the base $56,895 Q7 45 Premium, which comes with an immersive 12.3-inch digital gauge cluster and 10.1-inch infotainment touchscreen, as well as an 8.6-inch touchscreen that governs the climate controls. It’s a quick study, easily understood system save for the toggling between favorites and other infotainment modes. It also comes with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto—along with the Q7’s assortment of power features, leather upholstery, power heated front seats, power-fold third-row seats, 19-inch wheels, panoramic sunroof, and power tailgate.
How much is a fully loaded Audi Q7?
The $96,595 SQ7 Prestige pushes lots of buttons, and limits. The top-line Q7 comes with softer leather, an adaptive air suspension, premium audio and the most powerful powertrain.
Fuel Economy
The mild-hybrid Q7 still posts middling gas mileage.
Is the Audi Q7 good on gas?
Not really. We give it a score of 3 here for the most common version. That’s the turbo-6 Q7, which the EPA rates at 17 mpg city, 21 highway, 18 combined, on premium fuel. Its mild-hybrid system helps in-town efficiency. For better economy, take the turbo-4, rated at 19/23/21 mpg. And if you’re profligate with money and fuel and power—the hallmarks of late-stage capitalism—the SQ7 checks all the excess boxes at 15/21/17 mpg.
0 comments:
Post a Comment