Audi Q7 review
 

Recently rented a Q5 from Silvercar, but they upgraded me to a Q7. They just started renting these apparently. And it was black not silver!

At first, I thought about rejecting it and asking if they had any A4s left-- just seemed too big. But as I'd never driven a Q7 before I thought we'd give it a try.

TL;DR
-Overall, I liked the car way more than I thought I would (or should). Even started speccing one out on line. I think the reality is that if I were in the market for this size of SUV I'd likely prefer the latest X5 and it would probably be cheaper to lease as well. For road trips, this vehicle would be ideal but given that we're still a 1 car family I think its just too big for around town. But, it does have me thinking about getting an Audi S5 sportback again as my next car (given that I loved the overall "Audi-ness" of this car).

The car:
-Based on the options, I believe it was a Q7 2.0T with premium plus. It had the upgraded stereo, 3rd row seating and surround view cameras.

The positives:
-The seats were some of the most comfortable i've ever sat in. Drove 6 hours 1 day and felt no soreness or stiffness.
-The interior design is very attractive.
-the overall quality. From the vault like sound of the doors, to the feel of the various knobs, to the consistent way the buttons feel, you get the sense that nothing has been overlooked. No rattles or thunks even over rough roads. This is the kind of small thing that I think would help endear me to a car after the initial thrill has worn off. Perfect paint and panel gaps.
-The digital cluster. I loved how easy it is to navigate around and change the display modes plus how much information you can get at a glance. Very attractive graphics too.
-I thought a 4 cyl turbo would feel absolutely anemic in a car this big. I don't think I'd ever buy this vehicle with a 4 cyl but it's impressive. I will say that around town I could feel some lag though it was mitigated by keeping it in "Dynamic" mode with the shifter in "S".
-The backseat room. You can easily stretch out as if you're in a limo back there. The third row wasn't terrible.
-Everyone who got in the car was impressed. Friends/family that normally don't notice or care about cars would get in and say "wow this is a really nice car". My wife and son loved riding in it as well.
-Adjustable height seatbelts. This is something BMW has cheaped out on now for a few generations (last seen in e46/39).
-It didn't feel as big to drive as the dimensions suggest.
-The surround/parking cameras are very well done. Makes parking something this big really easy.
-The transmission. Same ZF 8 speed that everyone uses, but Audi's tune of it is smoother than BMWs while still shifting quickly.

Negatives:
-Audis MMI is not as fast or as well laid out as idrive. Granted this car had the now outdated MMI (not the current dual screen version). But compared to idrive 6 (which I have in my x3), this system was worse in most areas. Voice recognition, in particular, was much worse than BMW's. The interface seemed less consistent and it was just less intuitive to navigate around. The system was clearly slower as well- most noticeable when zooming the map in/out. It did have CarPlay, though, so we ended up using that mostly.
-the front heaviness of Audi's platform was noticeable even in moderate turns.
-The looks are just so bland and generic. Because the car is executed so well with excellent paint and panel gaps it kind of works.

thanks for the review, sounds like an Audi:)

I had Q7 2.0 as a loaner car and have test driven the bigger engine too a few years ago . My feelings are similar to yours though I find the mmi very good but that is probably also because we have had a bunch of Audi’s lately and I am very used to them though I do like that our bimmers have the wireless Apple car play.

With that said it is on our short list as a replacement for the MDX which is gone this October which btw creates another problem but I think I already hi-jacked this thread enough :D

Hm, I recall having a slightly different take. I still feel bad for going so far off the rails here, but the Q7 really made me mad.

The Audi Q7 Is Everything Wrong With America

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Ha- forgot about that thread. Yeah, I enjoyed it in the context of a family road trip, but wouldn’t want to own one.

Wait... the base engine in the Q7 is the 2.0 4?

I’ve now seen several X7s around. So big...I don’t understand why anyone would buy something like that over a minivan, unless it has major towing capacity.

With a 2.0 liter engine?

Please . . . .

Because it is not a minivan ... lol we had a Honda Odyssey when my kids were babies and it was great but you just can’t look cool driving a minivan :cool:

Yep. It’s an odd choice in a large family vehicle built for Americans. Not as bad as I thought it would be though.