Audi Q7 4.2 FSI - Au-Delicious

This relatively short drive left me with a dropped jaw expression. Not because I've not driven cars faster or better than this one, but because of the sheer immensity this car exudes. Words like big, vast and huge sound puny when being used in reference to this machine. Which one? The Audi Q7.

The one that we were driving had a V8, 4.2-litre, 350bhp petrol engine, and we thought such numbers to be acutally modest owing to the size and weight of this SUV. But boy were we wrong! And I am glad that we were. The ugency with which the petrol engine reacts to the throttle feed is unspeakable of and such a brisk acceleration follows which can bring many a "hot" sedans to shame!

The Audi Q7 covered pitch with a furious roar of that V8 sounding like symphony to my ears. It was like god himself was singing aloud! Blissful. And while I was mesmerized by the music of that motor, my eyes went to the vehicle testing equipement which showed me that we'd covered 100 clicks from a standstill in just under nine seconds. All this - me driving, almost feeling like I was in heaven, and seeing the V-Box for the figures was happening at a good 180 kays an hour. Such was the immaculate stability and handling of this gargantuan "I would fly had I been lighter" machine on wheels. The ride quality was rather disappointing though and you could feel every ant being run over by the extraordinarily wide rubber.

The interior was as decked up as can be expected from a car that stands at the better side of 75 lakh. All the usual safety features are all there, in addition to several others like traction control. The look was typical Audi-ish and had everything placed perfectly to give you that ergonomically balanced feel. All the premium luxury offerings give you numerous options to stay comfortable like power seats, adjustable steering etc etc. Oh, and there is something called MMI which lets you adjust virtually everything in the car from just a touch of button while the options are displayed on a large screen mounted in the middle of the dashboard. Then there are still a lot of adjectives which a lot of people take a lot of years to even get to know of!

The best feature though is the ride height adjustment that the Q7 comes with. This enables the car to be raised in case you are in the mood of some hardcore off-roading and dune-bashing. Although the ride quality is bad, off-roading nature of the car is worthy of an award. This SUV manages to turn every head that points in its direction, over and over again. Such imposing looks, marked by the massive grille, which is also famously called "Bulgarian Beard", lend the Q7 an unmistakable identity and no other car comes close as far as sheer road-presence is concerned.

Car-like handling, sports-car like performance and presence of a massive, mean-looking truck! The Audi Q7 has it all. And then it has pleasing interiors and all the safety features you could think of! A worthy contender then, for the premium SUV segment which is filled with names like Mercedes, Land Rover, Porsche and BMW. Good macine this - very good machine.