At 16ft long, Audi’s luxurious new SUV is the pinnacle of Vorsprung Durch Technik
TECH SPEC
Maggie Barry “This is a big car,” murmured my co-driver.
I didn’t quite realise how big he meant until I was standing outside. It wears 22in tyres in the top-of-the-range guise and made me feel quite diminutive.
To be precise, it is 1705mm high, 1995mm wide and a whopping 4986mm long – that’s 5ft 7in, 7ft 7in and 16ft 3in.
Audi’s latest SUV and flagship of the range, the Q8 is indeed a large and very luxurious car.
The boot is huge at 605 litres – that’s before you put the seats down. The front grille is deep and wide, incorporating sensors and cameras that work togetherher to supply the car’s 39 driver assistance systems with enough information for level two autonomy.
A lex Fisk, of Audi , described it as the halo car of the range.
He said: “This is the pinnacle of Vorsprung Durch Technik. The time is right for this car and it is thee answer that satisfies globall demand for luxury SUVs.”
It has a coupe-like rear, a distinctive profile and boldd wheel arches. The rear has a single red LED light stretchingng across, emphasising the width of the car above lovely strobing indicators. Inside, the top- of- the- range model I was driving – the Vorsprung – comes with the f inish you expect from Audi and is virtually buttonless. There is beautiful leatherwork, piano black gloss, a perforated leather gear knob and a leather-clad steering wheel. There are two screens on the central dash, the 10.1in MMI TTouch abov above for infor information, enter entertainment and the sasat nav and the 8.6in below for hheating ventilation and air cocon as well as – and I have seen this work – inputting your destination on the sat nav bby writing on the screen. There Th is also voice control. In fufuture, Q8 drivers will also be aable to download the my Audi Aud app and remotely access acc their car. The Th new Q8 comes with quattro qua drive, of course, but alsoals all-wheel steering and adaptive air suspension, which all make driving a dream.
You f loat along over potholes and puddles as the Q8 does all the work.
Ask for a bit of punch and it rewards you with a leap forward.
Audi claim its turning circle is outstanding and we tested that too when we went the wrong way and had to perform a U- turn at a mini roundabout. No bother at all, even for this big boy.
The top-of-therange comes with all the packages onboard so there is very little to add as an option, except for possibly a tow bar. The laser scanners and internal computers make it one of the safest cars on the road.
All this aside, it is also a mild hybrid with an electric motor kicking in for extra punch when needed and giving you emissionfree driving when coasting between 34 and 99mph.
This is the car that will make all your dreams come true. There is even an S line entry model at £ 65,040.