The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
On the road in Audi’s new Q car
Just when you thought Audi couldn’t stretch its range any further, along comes the Q8, an answer to a question no one really was asking.
Like spilt water spreading to fill every crevice, Audi is working its way towards critical mass by taking a rolling pin to its line-up and spreading it wafer-thin.
The German firm says the Q8 is a car for buyers who want the elegance of a luxury coupe and the convenience of a large SUV – but quite how many of those buyers exist remains to be seen.
Based on the firm’s range-topping Q7 SUV, the Q8 is shorter both in height and length, but wider, and debuts the new “face of the Q family” with a bold and imposing grille.
It will cost from around £65,000 and just one engine will be available at launch, a 3.0-litre diesel with 286bhp that can propel the Q8 to 60mph in 6.3 seconds and on to a top speed of 144mph.
Fuel economy and emissions have yet to be revealed. A less powerful 3.0-litre diesel and a 3.0-litre petrol will join the range later this year.
A mild hybrid system (MHEV) uses a large battery to increase the amount of time the engine can use its start-stop system, and even allows it to coast at speeds between 34-99mph.
Our test route was thousands
Haptic feedback makes it feel like you’re pressing a real button
metres above sea level in the Atacama mountains in Chile, where we struggled to breathe, and so too did the Audi engines.
That said, despite some wheezing, the high-powered 3.0-litre diesel model we tested performed well.
Inside, the smart twin-screen set-up first seen on the A8 has been implemented.
It splits heating and car controls to the lower display and entertainment to the top.
It’s minutely adjustable and a real joy to use. Haptic feedback, that makes it feel like you’re pressing a physical button rather than a touchscreen, makes it easy to work with on the move, and the controls are intuitive.
Especially clever is the latest natural language voice control, which lets you say things like, “I’m hungry”, or, “I need fuel”, and the system will pull up nearby restaurants or petrol stations.
The dash swoops around the driver and passenger in coupe-car style and the multi-adjustable seats are very comfy.
Unless you’re in the market for a large coupe SUV, chances are something like the Q8 won’t appeal. However, Audi has done a great job of making a sloping roofed off-roader look handsome.
It’s far more attractive than the awkward BMW X6 and that’s likely to ultimately win it attention.