AUDI SQ7 TDI

AUDI’s SQ7 TDI rumbles with promise of real power and luxury comfort
image © designboom

SUVs have a tradition of being slow and trying very hard to be good at everything – on and off the pavement. but when AUDI approached their first undertaking of the ’SQ7 TDI’ during development, obvious engineering benchmarks were met with no compromises to utility and design. to prove how they did it, the german luxury carmaker gave designboom a set of keys to test drive their latest edition to the ’S’ range, to find out for ourselves how they did it. here’s what we found out.

the AUDI ‘SQ7 TDI’
image © designboom

say goodbye to turbo lag. yup, with help from an electric powered compressor, AUDI managed to eliminate any possible lag when the accelerator is depleted. with that in mind, the twin-turbo charged V8 diesel now produces 435 hp and nearly 700 lb-ft of torque. this allows the ’SQ7 TDI’ to reach 100 km/h in 4.8 seconds and continue up to 250 km/h. but wait there’s more: it consumes on average just 7.2 liters per 100 kilometers, so this doesn’t mean that the SUV is particularly thirsty.

the SUV is 5.07 meter long capable of transporting seven passengers
image © designboom

keeping the AUDI ’SQ7 TDI’ steady through the corners is the electromechanical active roll stabilization. all-wheel steering allows the 5.07 meter long car to be easily maneuvered into parking spaces or around corners. standard ‘quattro’ all-wheel drive is ready for both snowy mountain passes and off-road adventures. no matter how rough the road may be, the air suspension with a continuously variable, electronically controlled damper system ensures that we didn’t notice a thing

electromechanical active roll stabilization keep all four wheels stuck to the pavement

during the drive, we had the choice of 24 assistance systems, which is unmatched in this luxury segment. our favorite is the traffic jam assist that can take over the steering at speeds up to 65 km/h – a sneak peek to the arrival of piloted driving. on top of that, the ’SQ7 TDI’ helps to stay in the lane, brakes in hazardous situations, monitors oncoming traffic when turning left and detects pedestrians and animals in the dark.

twin exhaust system at the rear

inside, passengers and the driver have access to a batch of colored displays that digitize cockpit functionality. a head-up display projects data from the assistance and navigation systems onto the windshield in the driver’s direct field of vision. the pre-installed LTE module lets owners connect their phones and tablets directly to the ‘SQ7 TDI’ and even lock and unlock it or call up where they parked and the status of the car through the ‘MMI’ connect app. orders for the AUDI ’SQ7 TDI’ begin in europe this spring, with a north american debut shortly after.

the inside cockpit layout