New Photo Gallery2011 Audi Q7: quattro 500HP 4dr 3.0T Premium

It was after this session of tea, gossip and lots of car talk that my friend took over the driving chores for another round of trashing, er, driving. It was during this session we found out that the hard corners that I did wasn't hard enough as we were able to put the barn into a slightly four wheel drift while blasting through a sweeping corner. Surprisingly the ESP, if it was in operation, was not intrusive at all and the adjustable (at a push of a button) suspension was hard in its sports/dynamic setting but never uncomfortable. Body roll was kept in check and a barn danced like a hippo in a tutu. Bulky yet able to do some ballet. This shows you that Audi can make a barn corner extremely well.

And one more reason why its a poignant drive. The noise from that V8 FSI is superb even though people outside the car may hear more of it than the people driving it. Remember that this is the same engine in the B7 Audi RS4 and it is a marvelous engine. Any engine that can pull a barn with four grown men deserves a worthy mention. I liked driving it even better than a 1.8TFSI A4 which felt very competent but slightly clinical. But even if I had the money to plonk for one, I'd still buy a sports saloon or a coupe. Driving a Q7 is unreal, but what's the point of buying one if you really enjoy driving? There are cars like Mercedes CLS, C63 or the M5 which I'd rather buy. Or if I ever felt like buying a 2250kg car I'd save up and buy a Bentley Continental (which is a far off dream) These are real cars for enthusiastic drivers. Low center of gravity is the main reason. With low CG, means more cornering confidence and faster cornering speeds for me. The high up SUV style driving position isn't something that adds to a driver's confidence levels when he's pushing it. A barn can't handle as well as a proper sorted out car no matter what technology you throw at it due to its height. And with that you know how pointless and poignant the Audi Q7 is.

Audi announced today that the new top-of-the-line Q7 V12 TDI quattro that was introduced in production form at this year’s Geneva Show in March (see here) will finally make its way to dealers towards the end of 2008. Equipped with a massive 6.0-liter V12 diesel engine (the first of its kind to be offered in a passenger vehicle) generating an output of 500 HP and an awe-inspiring maximum torque of 1,000 Nm or 737.56 lb-ft, the, Q7 V12 TDI quattro accelerates from zero to 100 km/h (62mph) in just 5.5 seconds and has an electronically capped top speed of 250 km/h (155mph). -Continued

In terms of fuel consumption the six-liter TDI, which features a completely redeveloped common rail injection system, requires an average of 11.3 lt/100 km or 20.82 US mpg which is less than the gasoline units produced by the competition. For example, BMW’s X5 4.8i that’s equipped with a V8 gasoline unit producing 355HP and goes from 0 to 100km/h in 6.5 sec has an average fuel consumption of 12 lt/100km or 19.6 US mpg.