What It Is
Though the long-serving, first-generation Audi Q7 never offered a superior variant to try and do battle with the BMW M or Mercedes-Benz AMG utes, the new Q7 can show no such restraint. Audi can take the formula with success applied to the Q5, with the SQ5, and adapt it to the Q7, making the SQ7, the last word version of its three-row SUV.
Why It Matters
Very much like we frequently mock their inherent silliness, high-performance SUVs are a growing class. See for instance the new vary Rover Sport svr, the numerous high-zoot versions of the Porsche Cayenne, to not mention recent iterations of the BMW X5 M and X6 M, and their Mercedes-AMG doppelgängers, the GLE63 and GLE63 S coupe. There are superior SUVs within the works from Bentley (Bentayga), Maserati (Levante), and—probably—Lamborghini (Urus). provision this growth is that the undeniable fact that these machines are each extremely visible and extremely profitable. Given all that, an Audi giving was inevitable.
Platform
The second-generation Q7 is that the 1st model to be engineered victimization the new iteration of the VW Group’s MLB modular-longitudinal design, which can conjointly underpin future VW Touareg and Porsche Cayenne. The SQ7 naturally uses this platform additionally, and, ought to it prove true, its claimed weight savings of some 700 pounds compared to its forerunner is especially excellent news for a superior model just like the SQ7.
Powertrain
Audi has nonetheless to detail the powertrain of this uplevel giving, however rumors swirl that VW cluster and Audi R&D chief Ulrich Hackenberg has copped to a unambiguously boosted mega-diesel for the SQ7: a V-8 TDI bolstered by an electrical compressor, calculable to form 450 H.P. and 600 lb-ft of torsion. the electrical compressor together with turbocharging creates faster throttle response; the school was previewed by the RS5 TDI construct. The draw back is that it needs a separate, 48-volt power offer, adding value and complexness. doubtless, Audi conjointly may provide a version of its gasoline-powered four.0-liter twin-turbo V-8 as seen within the RS7, wherever it’s sensible for 560 ponies. Either would supply a major performance boost over the quality Q7’s high engine, a 333-hp 3.0-liter supercharged V-6.
Estimated Arrival and Price
The regular Q7 is simply currently get in Europe, and is due here later this year as a 2016 model. The SQ7 seemingly can debut in Europe before the tip of this year; however long it takes to achieve our shores is anybody’s guess, however this stuff seldom move quickly with Audi. Figure the SQ7 is a minimum of a year away for us. valuation is equally laborious to predict, however with the BMW and Mercedes offerings nudging up against $100K, we tend to expect the SQ7 to play within the same neighborhood.
