New Audi Q7 First Look Review

The Q7, unarguably, is the most popular model from Audi India’s line-up. It’s no surprise that the luxury SUV is still sold in decent numbers despite being the oldest car in its class. Now, however, Audi India is preparing to launch an all-new generation of the Q7, a car that was unveiled globally late last year.

While this new Q7 may look all too familiar to some, the car is now a whopping 325kg lighter and roughly 26 per cent more efficient than the old model. The Q7 now weighs 1995kg and has managed to pull off this task thanks to an all-new chassis that is lighter than before.

Coming back to the design, the new Q7’s front-end design reflects Audi’s new design philosophy which now sees its cars moving away from rounded edges to sharper features. The side profile, meanwhile, has been retained from the outgoing model but the roofline has a sharper rake at the rear end and it appears that the whole roof has also been lowered slightly. Round off the upgrades, the tail pipes have been changed and thanks to the new design philosophy they are now flatter and rectangular in shape.

The interior of the outgoing model is a clear giveaway of the car’s age, with its old-fashioned layout for the dashboard and lack of features. Audi though has fixed this with the highly advanced and striking looking cabin of the new Q7. Everything right from the steering wheel, the digital instrument panel and the centre console is new. Meanwhile, the display integrated into the dashboard in the old car has made way for a far more advanced unit that now sits on top of the dashboard.

Globally, the new Q7 is being offered in both petrol and diesel engine options. The top-selling 3-litre TDI is available in two different tunes with the lower-spec models producing 218bhp and 500Nm of torque while the higher-spec models developing 272bhp and 600Nm. For the Indian market, we expect Audi India to launch the new Q7 with the 272bhp, 3-litre TDI unit. The engine will be mated to an 8-speed automatic and Audi’s famed quattro all-wheel drive system as standard.

The old Q7 arrived globally in 2006 and expectedly, feels a lot dated thanks to the advent of newer and more advanced rivals from BMW and Mercedes-Benz. Naturally, this comprehensive makeover was due and Audi India is now hard at work readying the new Q7 for an official launch in the next couple of months. The SUV is expected to be priced significantly higher than the outgoing model and will compete with the BMW X5, Mercedes-Benz GL and the Porsche Cayenne.