Who says a family hauler has to be boring? This Audi SQ7 is entirely too much fun, namely because it has a raspy and rumbly V-8 engine hidden under its fairly unassuming exterior.
The Q7 is Audi’s already excellent three-row SUV. The SQ7 is the angry version.
This one gives the appearance of sitting low for a sport utility, making it look almost wagon-like. Still, the SQ7’s specialness did not go unnoticed at the Four Seasons in Georgetown, where a valet offered to keep my fancy set of wheels out front. I accepted.
This felt more like a car — dare I even say a sports car — when driving. The performance came with a fuel penalty, with the thirsty motor and my enthusiasm contributing to a reading of about 13 miles per gallon on the dashboard (the EPA says I should have gotten 17 miles per gallon in combined highway and city driving).
The 22-inch wheels and summer tires provided lots of grip, though drivers looking to take full advantage of the all-wheel-drive system will want to invest in some winter rubber, too.
While I swooned over the SUV’s performance, parts of the sleek and cushy interior took some getting used to.
The controls were very screen-centric, with few physical buttons for accomplishing tasks. Audi’s shifter is also a bit tricky, with the driver having to press a button on the shifter handle in order to go into park.
The SQ7 starts at $90,800, before shipping. This one had a $6,100 “prestige package” of niceties, such as power soft closing doors and ventilated and massaging front seats, on top of a $3,700 “luxury package” that added things such as leather on the dash and upper doors. The advanced sound system added an extra umph of extravagantness, but at a price: an additional $4,900.
All told, the one I drove came in at $116,640, after shipping.
To help ease the pain, know the Q7 this model is based on gets top marks in the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s front- and side-crash tests.
Reliability is interesting. Consumer reports puts Audi as the 7th-best brand for predicted reliability, below Mazda and above BMW. At the same time, the J.D. Power 2024 U.S. Vehicle Dependability Study puts Audi second to last, sandwiched between Land Rover and Chrysler.
I don’t know how to square these data points, except to use the exhaust note as the deciding factor, and say to simply go for it, if you have the means.
Happy rumbling.
