Audi’s New Q7 – Prepare to Board Starship Enterprise

Audi’s new Q7 – prepare to board Starship Enterprise

Due to glide onto our streets later this year, Audi’s premium SUV, the all-new and imposing Q7, promises space and grace aplenty, coming with Mild hybrid technology, the digital operating concept and the optional HD Matrix LED headlights including laser light among its highlights.

Exterior design

The 2019 Audi Q7 wears its family face, the large octagon-shaped Singleframe grill, with six upright slats easily identifying it amid the other precious metals out there. The two-part side air inlets and the headlights, optionally in HD Matrix LED technology with Audi laser light, work visually well together. A chrome strip at the rear sits below the rear lights, with the flared rectangular exhausts in each corner.

Sporty on-road, powerful off: the suspension
The Audi Q7 comes with all‑wheel steering, allowing the rear wheels to turn to a max of five degrees in the opposite direction, with the option of electromechanical active roll stabilisation. Adjustable stabilisers reduce the body movements on uneven roads when driving in a straight line. With a sporty driving style, the focus is on optimum roll compensation – negating substantially the tendency of the car to lean into the corner or bend. 

Those venturing off-road can select from the standard Audi drive select dynamic handling system, with its seven profiles. Air suspension comes standard on all Q7 models. The S line model includes the slightly firmer adaptive air suspension sport, which lowers the ride height by 15 millimetres compared with the regular air suspension system.

Mild hybrid technology standard: the drivetrain

All of the engines in the Audi Q7 are coupled to an eight-speed tiptronic and the permanent all‑wheel drive.

A choice of two diesel engines will be available at market launch. Shortly after the market introduction in September a plug-in hybrid model, will join the line-up. The standard mild hybrid technology plays a major part in the efficiency of the engines. In customer operation, this technology can reduce consumption by up to 0.7 litres per 100 kilometres. Its central component, the belt alternator starter (BAS), powers a 48-volt main electrical system in which a compact lithium-ion battery stores the energy. 

During braking, the BAS can recover up to 8 kW of power and feed it back into the battery.If the driver takes their foot off the accelerator at speeds between 55 and 160 km/h the Audi Q7 recuperates energy, rolls in idle or coasts for up to 40 seconds with the engine switched off. The BAS restarts the engine the next time the accelerator is depressed, and does so faster and more gently than a conventional starter. The start‑stop range begins at 22 km/h.

Luxury interior

With seven seats – the 2019 Audi Q7’s new design, has now grown it eleven millimetres to 5,063 millimetres long. It measures 1,970 millimetres wide and 1,741 millimetres (including roof aerial) high.

Storage should not be an issue, with compartments, including a new compartment in the instrument panel, as well as the generous load capacity provide highly functional utility value. Depending on the position of the rear seats the luggage compartment on the five-seater version offers between 865 and 2,050 litres of capacity – the latter with a flat load area. An electric tailgate is standard; foot-activated gesture control is available as an option. 

The cockpit architecture incorporates two large touchscreens. They provide haptic and acoustic feedback when clicking on the touch controls. When off, the top display slots almost invisibly into the large black decorative surface. All elements refer logically to one another, from the flat air vent strip to the wide console on the centre tunnel.

High-end connectivity: Audi connect and assist systems

The MMI navigation plus brings connectivity to a whole new level, featuring LTE Advanced, a Wi-Fi hotspot, natural voice control and the extensive Audi connect portfolio. The latter ranges from traffic information online, navigation with Google Earth, to the hybrid radio.

The all-digital Audi virtual cockpit – and the optional head-up display – provide an individual speed recommendation as well as the remaining time until the next green-light phase if the driver is already waiting at a red light. The system thus contributes to a predictive and efficient driving style and facilitates a steady flow of traffic.