2017 Audi Q7

If you grew up in a larger family, the thought of moving up to a three-row vehicle likely brings flashbacks to mammoth Ford Country Squire land yachts is you grew up in the ’70s, or the Chrysler minivans or hulking SUVs if you’re a child of the '80s or '90s. But the Q7 isn't that at all; it impresses as attractive inside and out yet definitely conceived with function as much in mind as form.

Inside the Q7, you’ll find a very familiar environment if you’ve sat in any of Audi’s recent sedans. The dashboard is wide and thin, the controls are low and sparing, letting the infotainment system take most of the load. The driver’s instrument panel is a single high-resolution screen, capable of displaying everything from traditional gauges and trip info to full navigation and more.

Throughout the cabin, the Q7’s appointments feel sumptuous and warm, and the look is curvaceous and influenced by modern (or retro-mod) furniture. Lighting plays a part in both the decor and the communication to the driver, with light piping that flashes brightly (or blinks) with various safety and assistance features.

The supercharged V-6 and 8-speed are a great pair for this vehicle, with this engine revving with sport sedan-like authority to the top of the tachometer. In fact, hustling it up (or down) a long series of switchbacks is just about as satisfying as it would be in a wagon of similar proportions—there’s none of the tall, tippy feeling you get in a typical SUV or crossover. In other words, it’s a satisfying driving experience, even for those who like to push a bit harder at times.

The real keys to this friskier driving feel in the Q7 is a body that's hundreds of pounds lighter, an upgraded suspension design (multi-link at all four corners), better, more nuanced chassis tuning—including some technology workarounds that you get with the available adaptive air suspension and four-wheel steering. As such, the Q7 can be much more nimble than you’d expect.

The air suspension might help both high-speed fuel efficiency and driving ease on the trail or in heavy snowfall, as it raises the ride height 2.4 inches in the "Offroad" setting and automatically lowers the height an extra 1.2 inches below normal in high-speed (99-mph-plus) driving. Towing capacity is 7,700 pounds, provided you’ve ordered the towing package, and that capacity is the same whether you have the rear-wheel steering system and air suspension or not.

The Offroad setting is one of five modes of Audi Drive Select, which lets you choose the personality of the Q7 to suit the road. A Comfort mode is the one you might choose for the comfiest ride and most relaxed responses, while Dynamic sharpens the responses for all vehicle systems—engine, transmission, steering, and suspension. With an Individual setting you can change each of those variables to suit, while Auto impressively studies up on all the parameters and intuits the best for each in real time.

Q7 2.0T models, with a 2.0-liter turbocharged inline-4, are expected to join the model lineup later in the model year. The Q7 3.0 TDI models are long gone, the automaker pulled the engine after admitting it cheated emissions tests.

Passengers—whether in the front, second, or third rows—will have no objections to the Q7’s ride quality. Third-row passengers will have to be children, and fairly small ones at that, as there’s just not enough leg room for anyone larger.

The third row is easy to deploy and stow, however, thanks to automatic raising and lowering via buttons in the rear cargo area. Second-row occupants will find plenty of comfort with ample leg room even for 6-footers, as well as reclining seat backs (which also fold flat for more cargo space).

Throughout the cabin, materials are primarily leather and metal, or metallic-finished plastic, all of which offers a substantial, quality feel. Gaps between panels are minimal, stitches and seams are straight, and the overall build feels solid and free of rattles or vibrations. And Audi has topped off this top-notch cabin ambiance with some old-fashioned noise insulation and smart sealing throughout; they’ve managed to pull off such a quiet cabin without the use of active noise cancellation technology.

Packaging has been rejiggered—mostly for the better. in the Q7, with the second and third rows both placed farther back within the cabin and lowered slightly. Through some other dimensional magic, including a somewhat thinner seat design, the Q7 makes some significant gains in passenger space. The lower cargo floor, enabled by better suspension packaging in the new platform, help bump cargo space behind the third row up to 14.8 cubic feet.

There's only one exception: In seat folding, Audi should take a long look at its Japanese and American luxury rivals. You'll find no convenient one-hand operation here, and getting to the real space-maximizing cargo layout requires multiple steps.

It offers a very strong complement of advanced safety features, as well as a highly engineered modern passenger cell and a full set of standard airbags.

It even outdoes some of its luxury-loaded, three-row rivals in offering some truly innovative tech items that might help even save you from yourself—individual tech features, employing a suite of sensors, that will keep you from backing into traffic, help keep you from hitting pedestrians, help you brake for hazards, and keep you at a safe following distance.

Specifically, the ones available in the Q7 that you might not encounter in other luxury vehicles include Turn Assist, a feature that will scan oncoming traffic and actually save you from yourself if you try turn left at what it judges to be an inopportune time, and Vehicle Exit Assist, which is a feature that scans traffic on the left and keeps you from opening the door when a vehicle is approaching (or “dooring” a cyclist).

Among the other advanced safety features offered in the new Q7 include adaptive cruise control, traffic jam assistant, cross-traffic assist, blind-spot monitoring, active lane control, rear-end collision mitigation, parking assist, and night vision.

All versions of the Q7 have all-wheel drive, and they have all the tough, all-weather capability most families would want for the weekend ski trip.

The Q7’s safety smorgasbord is ample. It offers everything from adaptive cruise control and stop-and-go traffic jam assist, to a “predictive efficiency assistant” that reads the terrain (drawing on its navigation data, even when route guidance isn’t being used) to suggest slowing down in advance of sharp turns, low speed limits, or other reasons to lighten up on the throttle and save some fuel.

There’s also a lane-keeping system, collision avoidance, left-turn assist monitoring, as well as a city assistance package that includes low-speed lane-change assistance and blind-spot monitoring, a rear "Pre Sense" collision system which takes proactive measures if it senses an impending rear-end collision, cross-traffic assist, and a new trailer maneuvering assist, which takes the steering control and places it on the MMI knob—much like the system Ford recently announced in the new F-150.

Other high-tech features available in the new Q7 include a parking assistance package, which bundles automatic parallel and perpendicular parking and departure, using surround-view cameras and 12 ultrasonic sensors, which can also be used by the driver for precise views when parking manually.

A night vision option uses long-range infrared cameras to detect objects up to 984 feet away, as well as detecting people and larger animals at distances up to 328 feet, highlighting the people or animals with yellow markings on the display screen.

The Q7 is offered in Premium, Premium Plus, and Prestige models. While surfaces and trims get upgraded on those upper-level models, stepping up to them isn't something you'd do as much for the additional features as for the potential options. For instance, some of the best tech features (like the Adaptive Chassis package and its four-wheel steering and adaptive suspension), and the 23-speaker, 1,920-watt Bang & Olufsen BeoCore sound system, are only available on the Prestige. But option up a Q7 Prestige with those items plus the Luxury Package with its power-closing doors and contour seats, plus a few other extras, and you can end up pushing the price toward $85,000—quite a distance from the $56,000 base price for a Q7 Premium 3.0T. 

Official EPA ratings for the 3.0-liter supercharged V-6, paired with the 8-speed automatic and all-wheel drive are 19 mpg city, 25 highway, 21 combined. The EPA rates the new 2.0-liter turbo-4 at 20/25/22 mpg. It should be noted that both engines require premium gasoline.

That's not segment-leading, in any way, but we've seen some evidence that real-world numbers are impressive. Over around 250 miles of pretty rapid twisty-road driving, over several vehicles, we saw an average around 20 mpg in the 3.0T.