If I were a lawyer standing
before a judge arguing against the ban on diesel cars above 2000cc in Delhi
National Capital Region, the argument would go something like this:
Judge: Why should a rich man travel in a diesel car and pollute the
environment?
Me: My Lord, the Audi Q 7 does not pollute and in fact meets the
government of India laid down strict Bharat Stage IV emission norms. Besides,
there are far more polluting cars that need to be banned. But not the Audi Q7.
And, My Lord, is being rich a
crime? You say as though my client’s richness is a curse to the human race?
Judge: I will have none of it....The ban stays.
Me: In that case, Sir, Greatness Starts, when you don’t stop....
And there is no stopping my client and his car!
So my friends and all those
who drive in Delhi NCR and elsewhere, with the Audi Q7 you feel the essence of
greatness the moment you step into its luxurious interiors and navigate through
the pot holed, terribly built roads of ours. It’s then you realise the mighty
level of comfort this SUV has to offer to its owners and passengers.
The new Audi Q7 sports utility
vehicle was launched in the country early December 2015. The vehicle is powered
by a 45 TDI (3.0 TDI) diesel engine that delivers 249 bhp and 600 Nm of peak torque.
With this new model becoming 325 kgs lighter than its predecessor, it means the
vehicle can accelerate faster, move faster and deliver a better fuel
efficiency, thereby ensuring that its environment friendly too. The car
accelerates from 0 to 100 kmph in 7.1 seconds. Fuel efficiency is improved in
this new vehicle at 14.75 kmpl.
Let me first describe the
exteriors and interiors of this brilliant car for you.
Exteriors
The new Q7 comes with a moulded
single frame grille. It has horizontal struts in aluminium with the Audi rings
on it. The new Audi Q7 has smart Matrix LED headlights featuring double- arrow
graphics and intense wheel arches. The shoulder line emphasises the wheels
while the tailgate extends around the D-pillars and are complemented by new
highlights such as inlay strips at the bottom of the doors with Quattro embossing.
The model/technology name is there on the luggage compartment lid while the quattro
logo is also there on the radiator grille and the dashboard on the passenger
side.
The roof rails give a car
sporty look to the strong and aerodynamically shaped Q7. The exhaust tailpipes
at the rear have a dual-branch design, with rectangular trims, adding to the
smart looks of the vehicle. While the window slot trims are in aluminium, the outer
B and C pillar trims are in gloss black. The car also comes with a panoramic
glass sunroof that has two sections. It has an electrical activation to raise
and open the front glass section.
The Matrix LED headlights are
no ordinary lights because each headlight divides its high beam into 30
individual light- emitting diodes paired with three reflectors. The control
unit, which communicates with the camera on the rear view mirror, can switch
the individual diodes off and on and dim them in 64 stages as needed. The
intelligent cornering light is created by a shift in the light centre position.
With millions of different resultant beam patterns, the Matrix LED headlights
always superbly light up the road, without dazzling other road users, claims
the company. The headlight range is automatically increased when the speed of
the vehicle crosses approximately 110kmph. Sensors control the automatic
lights-on function and the automatic windscreen wiper function, including
coming home/leaving home function. It also controls the delayed
switching-off/automatic switching-on of the main headlights, rear and number
plate lights when parking/opening the vehicle.
Like I mentioned earlier,
electronics at its best!
Overall the car looks quite
appealing with its quality paint finish and the dark grey coloured sections
that warp itself around the car in the form of the front and rear bumper
sections, sill trims and wheel arch trims. The door trim strips have the quattro
embossing and under body protection both in front and rear are in a dull silver
finish. The cast aluminium wheels in 5-spoke star design enhance the looks of
the car.

Interiors
It’s when you step inside the
large vehicle you realise how luxurious and comfortable it is. The cabin is
spacious and the seats are made of high quality cricket leather. The company
claims that the leather is extremely hard wearing and durable, tanned without
the use of chromium. The front seats are electrically adjustable which also
includes a memory function for the driver seat. Whether you like it or not,
sometimes the driver has all the fun! There is electric adjustment of seat
height, fore/aft position, seat and backrest angle as well as electric 4-way
lumbar support. There are also two pre-sets for the electrically adjustable
driver seat, the exterior mirrors and the electric steering wheel adjustment.
The car comes with a leather
steering wheel in 4-spoke design with multifunction plus and shift paddles with
14 multifunction keys for operating the available infotainment features. The steering
wheel can be adjusted for height and reach. The gear selector knob is also in
leather, with the colour coordinated with the selected vehicle interior colour
and to match the dashboard top side
The fully digital 12.3 inch
instrument cluster displays shows multiple information as per the driver
requirement such as vehicle speed/engine speed, map representation, radio/media
information etc. The Audi virtual cockpit is operated via the multifunction steering
wheel. The sound quality in the cabin is amazing because of the Bose 3D Sound
System with 19 loudspeakers including 3D Sound loudspeaker, centre speaker and subwoofer,
15-channel amplifier with a total output of 558 watts. Additional loudspeakers have
been fitted in the A-pillar. All these together create a uniquely authentic 3D
surround experience in the vehicle.
Also, through the Bluetooth interface one can make hands-free calls in
the vehicle using the microphone. Bluetooth audio streaming too is possible
from your mobile phone.
As in the company’s flagship A8
L sedan, the
inlays come in two
parts, with the different materials forming effective contrasts-
Upper inlay in brushed aluminium and lower in walnut terra brown. A newly developed
luxurious four-zone climate control system is standard on the all-new Audi Q7 with the temperature display integrated
in the rotary control.
While the front has a centre
armrest, the rear seats have at the centre armrest with two cup holders. The
rear seats in second row allow individual manual adjustment of fore/aft
position at a ratio of 35: 30:35 as well as the backrest angle. The 2 seats in
the third row include additional double-folding mechanism.
The new Audi Q7 has an
electric luggage compartment with a cover that can be electrically opened and
closed. This can be done via a button on the vehicle key or in the driver door
or by means of the soft-touch button in the luggage compartment lid handle
recess. The lid can be closed via a button on the inside of the luggage
compartment lid, the button in the driver door or the optional convenience key
(long press). The height of the vehicle can be adjusted for comfortable loading
/ unloading of the luggage.
Luggage space inside the car
can be increased by electrically folding third row seats. A massive luggage
space of 1,955 litres can be obtained by folding the second row seats which
splits in the ratio of 35:30:35. But we noticed that the moment you bolt a
spare wheel at the rear portion of the luggage compartment, then it’s not
possible to open up the third row seats. So it’s a choice between a spare wheel
or the third row seats. Knowing the rich who buy the Audi Q7, we know they keep
their families small and trim to enjoy the good things in life!
Speaking of storage, there are
storage compartments in the front and rear door trims for for bottles up to 1
litre, storage nets on the reverse of the front seat backrests, storage compartment
in the centre console, besides the usual glove compartment on the front-passenger
side and two cup holders on the centre console and one 12V socket.
If the headlights of the car
are impressive, so are the interior lighting in LED technology. There are
lights in the front and the rear and one for the optional 3rd row of seats,
including capacitive reading
lights in front, reflected
lighting on centre console, vanity lights, front and rear footwell lighting,
glove compartment light, front and rear entry lights, front and rear inside
door handles, active door warning lights, luggage compartment lights to the
right and left as well as courtesy lighting in the luggage compartment lid for
easy loading and unloading. In addition to this lighting, there is also contour
lighting for dashboard and front and rear door trim, lighting of front and rear
door pockets with capacitive activation (contactless light control) and front
and rear ambient door lighting
Air-conditioning too has a
touch of luxury in the new Audi Q7. The car boasts of a 4-zone deluxe automatic
air conditioning. Everything in the cabin, even the footwell temperature in
front can be adjusted to one’s liking.

Performance
The Audi Q7 is a large vehicle
but the moment you get behind its wheel, it’s like you are driving a car that
is so easy to handle and the massive girth does not intimidate you. This is
primarily because of the massive engineering embedded in its chassis, engine,
gear box and suspension, all weaved together with loads of electronics.
The self-locking centre
differential – the heart of the quattro all-wheel drive system – is integrated
into the housing of the eight-speed tiptronic transmission. The design with centre
differential and front axle drive integrated in the tiptronic transmission is
significantly more compact and
lighter in weight than the predecessor model. One could feel while
driving that the Q7 felt quite nimble even in some of the most off-road
conditions.
Through the Audi Drive
Select one can opt for any one
of these modes: Comfort, Auto, Dynamic, Individual and Off-road. In conjunction with adaptive air suspension
the All-road and lift/off road mode is added.
The all-new Audi Q7 displays the tilt angle of the car when in the all road or lift/off road.
When we drove the vehicle on
some hard off-road terrains, the lift-off mode came quite handy, ensuring that
the underbelly did not rub against the large mounds of mud and stones. The air
suspension made it feel as though we were floating on seated on bales of
cotton.
Thanks to the Quattro
technology, there was permanent distribution of the drive force to all four
wheels. There was nothing much we had to do, except keep our hands on the
steering wheel and our eyes on the uneven roads. Since the rear axle is
variably controlled via a self-locking centre differential, traction to the
wheels was perfect and handling an absolute joy. Later as we drove the car on
smooth roads and purposely took those sharp corners we realised that the wheel-selective
torque controls mean so much to the over stability of the car. The centre
differential distributes the drive force between the axles as needed.
The electronically controlled air suspension including
tilt angle display acts separately on each of the 4 wheels, providing for balanced
handling characteristics. The quick-shifting eight speed tiptronic
transmission, along with the quattro drive, allowed the car to perform superbly
on both the rough and smooth terrains we briefly drove on.
This new Audi Q7 is also
equipped with assistance systems like the auto park assist and 360 degree
surround camera with bird’s eye view. Hold assist stops the vehicle over an
indefinite period of time both in the uphill and downhill gradients. It also
has a tyre pressure monitoring system.
Air pressures and temperatures of the individual tyres are displayed in
the MMI system whilst driving. Cruise control features comes handy at speeds
from about 30 to 250 kmph and above. Ideally, if you have to unhindered road
before you, then with the Audi Q7 you can simply move on....And like the way
Audi says, “Greatness starts when you don’t stop”. Wise words indeed!
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
|
Engine
|
V6 diesel engine with common rail injection
system and turbocharging / 2,967cc with four
valves per cylinder
|
Transmission
|
8-speed Tiptronic automatic transmission
|
Power
|
249bhp @2910 – 4500rpm
|
Torque
|
600Nm @1,500–3,000rpm
|
Fuel
|
Diesel
|
Drive
type
|
quattro permanent all-wheel drive
|
Suspension
|
electronically controlled air suspension
|
Tyres
|
255/55 R 19
|
Unladen
Weight
|
2330 kgs
|
Fuel
Tank Capacity
|
75
Litres
|
Length
x Width x Height
|
5052 x 1968 x 1740mm
|
Fuel
consumption
|
14.75 kmpl
|
Top
speed
|
234kmph
|
Acceleration
|
0–100 kmph in 7.1 seconds
|
Price
(ex-showroom Delhi)
|
Rs 72 lakh
|
