Audi Q7 V12 TDI Car Review

Facts At A Glance
Car: Audi Q7 V12 TDI
Prices: £94,850 – on the road
Insurance Group: 20
Emissions: 325g/km [est]
Performance: 0-60mph 5.2s / Max Speed 155mph (electronically limited)
Fuel Consumption: (combined) 25mpg
Safety: twin front airbags, side airbags, seatbelt pretensioners, ESP, ABS, EBD, ASR.
Dimensions: Length/Width/Height 5086/1983/1737mm

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Our Rating: 7.9 / 10

With the mighty Q7 V12 TDI, Audi finally consigns ‘less is more’ to the round file. Andy Enright reports

With 500bhp and 1000Nm of torque, the Audi Q7 V12 TDI, is by most rational measures, almost pornographically over-endowed. While some will see it as a grotesque manifestation of all that is wrong with modern car manufacture, those who have driven it will tend to disagree. There’s something illicitly addictive about this much power.

Many thought a high water mark had been reached with powerful SUV diesel engines when Volkswagen launched the 5.0-litre V10 Touareg, powered by a 313bhp unit. This reigned supreme for some time but was eventually swamped by Audi’s 322bhp powerplant fitted to the Q7 4.2TDI that has since been upgraded to 335bhp. At the 2008 Geneva Show, the wraps came off a Q7 that blew both out of the water with a veritable tsunami of power. Packing fully 495bhp and a monstrous 1000Nm of torque, the Q7 V12 TDI is a vehicle that borders on the caricature.

In time, no doubt, this engine will be just a footnote in history. For the time being at least, this looks to be the Bob Beamon leap, the Michael Johnson 200m of big 4x4 diesels. In other words, I can’t see it relinquishing its title any time soon. BMW and Mercedes must be wondering what has just hit them.

The figures for the Q7 V12 TDI make jaw-dropping reading. Despite weighing more than some tectonic plates, it’ll get to 60mph from standstill in 5.2 seconds. That’s as quick as a Porsche 911. It will also effortlessly butt into its 155mph electronic speed limiter. Even with its enormous frontal area, mere wind resistance does little to dent the impact of 1000 newton metres of torque. Let’s put that figure into perspective. Not with sports cars that are all power and no torque; no, let’s think about the raw muscle an engine can generate. How about with the top of the line supercharged Range Rover V8? That manages a mere 625Nm. Now are you getting the picture?

The best part about this engine is that the vast reserves of torque allow it to run at low engine speeds while still generating all that muscle. In fact, you need barely exceed tickover as peak torque is available anywhere between 1,750 and 3,000rpm. In order to cope with this much weight and this much power, the Q7 V12 TDI needs massive brakes and nestling behind the 20-inch alloys are carbon ceramic discs, largely resistant to heat fade and corrosion, which have an operat

As good as the Q7 is on longer runs, get it in town or in tighter country lanes and you’ll soon appreciate that it’s a sizeable thing. You’ll probably look at two or three parking spaces before finding one that the big Audi will fit into and that gets tiresome quickly. It runs on a stretched version of the Volkswagen Touareg chassis and features a seven seat configuration, making it ideal for bigger families. If you can get away from the rugged mud plugging mentality and instead think of it as a multi-purpose estate car on growth hormone, you’ll bond with the Q7 a whole lot quicker. Even its styling seems to distance it from off-roaders.

The latest models display the results of a mild facelift with the key changes being more shapely bumpers incorporating under-body protectors and LED rear light clusters. Inside, the instrument cluster and the controls have been redesigned and nudged up market. The coupe-like dipping roofline isn’t standard 4x4 fare, nor are the resolutely horizontal shoulders. Audi even offer contrasting body colours in a bid to emphasise the car’s shapely profile. Audi claim 28 seating and loading configurations are available in the Q7 and the seats in the second row are adjustable for fore/aft movement. This allows Audi to not only lay claim to the most generous second row legroom in the class but also – with the second row slid forward and the rear folded – to also pinch first prize for luggage capacity, a huge 775 litres.

Verano leather wraps most of the Q7 V12 TDI’s cabin, covering the seven electrically adjustable sports seats to the centre and door armrests. This is complemented by carbon fibre inlays, aluminium air vents and stainless steel pedals. The exterior gets 20-inch ten-spoke alloy wheels, wider wheel arches, a chromeplated grille, big bore exhausts and LED daylight running lights. If this all sounds a little extrovert for your tastes, there are always less overt Q7 models to choose from. The V12 TDI revels in its own outlandishnes