[Autohome professional evaluation] When it comes to mid-term model changes, I have also driven and tested a lot. The core idea of talking about these models is to "find differences", where the appearance has changed, whether the configuration has increased, whether the power has improved, etc. But today this car can be said to have changed everywhere, like a rebirth, it is the new Audi Q7.
However, in our off-road tests, the Q7 encountered problems during low-speed climbing, as evidenced by holding the throttle and slowly refueling in a 42-degree ramp. During creeping, there would be loss of power, vehicle slippage, or flameout, as detailed on page 6.
The model tested this time is the Audi Q7 2020 55 TFSI quattro S line premium model, and the specific price and configuration will be announced on May 7. Therefore, in terms of vehicle configuration, we will evaluate it in combination with the previously listed Exclusive Edition.
Appearance part
The new Q7 has changed the flat and lack of imposing style of the current model in terms of appearance design, becoming more lively and delicate. In the front face, you can see some matte silver and gun gray trim embellishments, which enrich the details without showing messy.
The redesigned headlamp also enhances the appearance a lot. It can be said that its internal structure has exceeded the requirements of the function itself and is more optimized in the direction of aesthetics.
Due to the new style trim, the new Q7 has undergone a slight change in size, but this is not enough to affect the riding space in the car. The test drive car is equipped with huge 21-inch wheels, which makes the side of the body look very full and the lower plate is stocky. However, the flat ratio of 40 is still a bit thin for an SUV. The overseas version of the Q7 even offers 22-inch wheels to choose from, which can be said to be exaggerated.
When you come to the rear of the car, you can see that the style of the taillights echoes the headlights, and the interior is more delicate. At the same time, the outline of the shell lines has also removed the horizontal and vertical style of the current Q7, making it more lively. The details of the lower surrounding decorative parts are also rich.
Not surprisingly, the "fake exhaust port" also appeared in the new Audi Q7. So far, this design has been quite controversial. The manufacturer’s insistence at the beginning of the design must have its reasons, but I can hear many voices around me that do not appreciate this design.
Interior design
The changes in the interior are equally pleasing, and the interior design style has evolved a generation forward as if across the ages. Elements everywhere are Audi’s most popular features, except for the steering wheel that has not been replaced.
The improvements in the new car’s configuration are also obvious. For example, we found steering wheel heating and electric adjustment functions in this high-end test drive car, which were not standard on the previous generation of Audi Q7, and even in the 2018 model, they are only available as options. On the 2020 Exclusive Edition, which has released specific specifications, they are standard.
The 12.3-inch full LCD meter needs no further introduction. It has already been mentioned in several Audi cars evaluated before that this is one of the LCD meters with the best balance of practicality, aesthetics and technology. Continuing to talk about the configuration, the test car appeared night vision assistance system and high-end Bang & Olufsen audio, which has 23 speakers and a total power of 1920W (data from overseas official websites). According to currently known information, these are also standard on the Supreme Exclusive Edition.
The multimedia car has been updated to a full-touch MMI system, and features such as the tablet’s support for overwriting and high recognition rate are the highlights mentioned before. Here, CarPlay is emphasized. The Audi Q7 car supports both wireless and wired CarPlay. In contrast, wired CarPlay is more comfortable in the process of connecting and disconnecting, and can charge the mobile phone by the way. Wireless CarPlay ensures that the mobile phone can be used more flexibly, covering more usage scenarios.
In terms of interior materials, the new model also has optimization for the Chinese market. For example, it uses this matte wood trim in all models, which is very good in terms of texture. As for which is better than the aluminum trim, your mileage may vary. In addition, on high-end models, Audi Q7 will also provide an extended leather bag, which will add a lot of leather bag materials to the car, making it more luxurious.
ride space
The new Q7 models are all designed with three rows of seats, which is uncommon among direct competitors at the same level. Therefore, we will also consider the space and comfort of the third row in the space experience.
The front row of the Audi Q7 is satisfactory, with spacious space, reasonable pedal and steering wheel positions, the driver can get a very stretched sitting position, and the field of view is also very open. The seat material is Napa leather, which is superior in texture and gives a great ride experience.
The second row of the Audi Q7 has three separate seats, each of which can be angled and slid back and forth. This setting is good for "comfort per capita" when the second row is full of three people, but it is more awkward when it is only two people, and the experience will feel that the seat is more outward and the seat cushion is narrow. The seat filling is moderately soft and hard, and the support is good.
The Audi Q7’s ease of entry into the third row should be praised. Its second-row seats can be folded forward on both sides, and there are hydraulic struts under the seats for easy and labor-saving operation. The third-row seats can then be electrically raised by pressing the button, which is also available on both sides.
After the experiencer sits in the third row, he needs to push the second row of seats to the front (at this time, the second row of legs has four fingers left) to have a more decent space, but it is still not sufficient. The seat itself is comfortable, and the seat cushion has relatively good support for the thighs, so it will not be tired for short and medium rides.
Storage space
The storage space of the Q7 is not good as a whole. Its front and rear cup holders and armrest boxes are relatively small, and the new car does not have a storage slot for mobile phones in the T-shaped area or the rear armrest. The relatively good thing is that the volume of the front and rear door panels is very large.
trunk
The regular volume of the trunk of the Q7 is very spacious, even if the third row is opened, there can be some depth. One small detail is that the cover curtain on the trunk can be adjusted by the electric slide when the tailgate is opened or closed, which is very user-friendly.
The Audi Q7 scored in the static part, and the storage space was obviously out of score. In other projects, the Audi Q7 performed well and could score 90% of the total score, which is really good.
Power System
The mid-model Q7 is equipped with a new 3.0T turbocharged engine with a 48V light hybrid system and an 8-speed automatic transmission. Combined with the official data, I have listed the main engine parameters of the new/current model in the following table.
Maximum torque (N · m)
Driving experience
The obvious feeling of the new powertrain is that the adjustment style is soft and soothing. Driving in the city is not in a hurry, and the throttle is not moving at all. If you don’t say it, you can’t feel that this is a car with 340 horsepower and breaking 100 in about six seconds. Of course, we judge that this is deliberately done by Audi’s engineers. After all, the power of 3.0T medium and large SUVs is strong one by one, and there is no need to make too aggressive settings for driving.
The 8AT gearbox guarantees absolutely smooth power output during travel, and the zero presence of this work is not only reflected in the soft response of the shift itself or the throttle input, but also thanks to the excellent engine NVH control. In the case of rapid acceleration, the performance of the gearbox is still tepid, and its response is not very fast. Even if you continuously pull the paddle down, it will not inspire any desire.
Of course, any time you step on the accelerator, this car will still cash in all its power reserves. This feeling is very similar to some V8 naturally aspirated executive-class cars in the past, which are smooth and leisurely, but not lacking in confidence at all.
accelerated testing
Audi Q7 in absolute power naturally showed the level of 3.0T should be, starting speed 2700rpm, four-wheel drive system with the help of the vehicle without any hesitation, the final 0-100km/h score of 6.26 seconds, considering the hot testing environment, not bad. Midway acceleration, Audi Q7’s 40-80km/h score and the opponent’s difference, the same is 3.0T, Mercedes-Benz GLE 450 and BMW X5 xDrive 40i are 2.4 seconds, the reason is that the gearbox dragged the hind legs.
fuel consumption test
During the fuel consumption test, we turned on the 22-degree air conditioning and refrigeration, and adopted the economic mode throughout the process. In this mode, the Audi Q7 will activate the flameout function and intervene in a timely manner within 55-160km/h.
After testing, the Audi Q7 traveled 103.2km with a comprehensive fuel consumption of 12.2L/100km. This result is acceptable on such a heavy medium and large SUV, but considering that it uses the latest 3.0T engine + 48V light hybrid system, this performance is just passable. It cannot be ruled out that the 21-inch "big foot" will drag down fuel consumption to a certain extent. In addition, perhaps due to the influence of temperature, even if the air conditioner is set to "ECO" mode, the frequency of vehicle start-stop and flameout taxi intervention will be significantly reduced.
In the power scoring process, the Audi Q7 is relatively average in terms of mid-range acceleration and fuel consumption. The transmission score is mainly reflected in excellent ride comfort, but the response speed is not a strong point.
chassis suspension
The Audi Q7 features front and rear five-bar independent suspension, and the test car is also equipped with air springs with a five-speed height setting, which has some benefits for improving passability, comfort, or lowering the center of gravity.
Driving performance
The steering feel is quite different from what I expected. It will have a certain damping feeling at low speeds, especially in the direction of the spot, and it will not be heavy, but it is completely different from the lightness of most Audis I have driven. This tighter feel is more in line with the setting of a large car, which will make people feel more confident in driving it subjectively.
The changes in the chassis are also obvious. The new car is obviously thicker, and it feels quite advanced and isolated when walking on the flat road. The air suspension itself has excellent vibration filtering performance, which is both flexible and straightforward. But the 285/40 R21 tires are not very thorough in handling small vibrations. On the other hand, the chassis of this car has excellent driving texture and can also give back some road information, but I think this "information" is a bit redundant for this kind of positioning car.
Brake performance
Thanks to the excellent grip of the tires, the braking performance of the Audi Q7 is very good, belonging to the level of the first echelon in the same class. The whole braking process is also very straightforward and controllable, and there is no obvious thermal recession phenomenon in continuous testing in hot temperatures.
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sound insulation performance
The Audi Q7’s noise insulation is equally robust, with no obvious and prominent noise sources at any speed band within any legal speed limit. The NVH handling of the engine during travel is excellent, with the exception of a slightly noticeable noise at idle.
In terms of handling and driving, the Audi Q7 has no obvious shortcomings, but it has shown outstanding performance in driving comfort and braking, and finally scored 85% of the total score, which is worthy of praise.
Four-wheel drive and pulley block testing
The Audi Q7 is still equipped with the quattro OurHours four-wheel drive system with a mechanical center differential. Depending on the driving environment, the front wheels can adjust the power distribution between 15% and 70%, and the rear wheels can adjust the power distribution between 30% and 85%.
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During the pulley block test, the Audi Q7 easily broke through all challenges, continuing the family’s consistently efficient skid limit and power distribution and powerful four-wheel drive escape capabilities.
Field off-road testing
During the off-road test, we turned on the off-road mode of the vehicle. At this time, the suspension will automatically increase by one gear, and you can also increase it by another gear manually. In this mode, the gearbox adopts D gear by default, but the start-stop system will not be automatically turned off. We believe that off-road mode does not require the start-stop system to work. For example, driving on a wading section, start-stop work will bring safety hazards.
Left 11.3m
Right 11.1m
Judging only from the perspective of power and traction, 340 horsepower + effective four-wheel drive power distribution is not too easy to face steep slopes, and the tires did not slip significantly during the whole process. It’s just that the power output is not very linear under large loads, requiring precise control by the driver.
42 degree climb encountered a situation
When climbing a 42-degree slope, the test drive car suddenly lost power, then slipped away, and there was a certain probability that it would stall, which came very suddenly and without warning. After repeated verification, the vehicle climbed a steep slope at a lower speed in the default state, that is, when the start and stop are turned on, this situation will occur, but it will not occur only when the throttle is opened at a large speed. Below is the video.
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The video mainly demonstrates three scenarios:
1. Off-road mode, start and stop are turned on by default, and D block climbs, the vehicle will lose power, then turn off and slide.
2. Off-road mode, manually turn off start and stop, and climb the hill in D block, the vehicle will lose power, but it will not stall and slide.
3. Off-road mode, start and stop are turned on by default, M1 block climbs, the vehicle will lose power, there is a tendency to stall, and the car will slip away.
After that, we contacted the manufacturer to replace the test drive and found that this phenomenon still exists, indicating that it is not a test drive case. In actual off-road, climbing steep slopes requires the driver to stabilize the throttle and continue to refuel slowly, so that the power output can be linear and the vehicle has a stable and continuous traction. In any case, sudden power interruption at this time is very dangerous. For example, in the scene of climbing a long-distance steep slope with low adhesion, the consequences of the vehicle losing power and slipping will be unimaginable.Regarding this issue, we have determined that the Audi Q7 has a safety hazard in off-road, which is a flaw, and will continue to follow up. We also welcome your continued attention.
Seeing that some users have questioned the test method, first of all, the linear output of the throttle should be continuously increased during off-road, which is also the operation method in our test. Direct high-throttle climbing can pass, but it is not advisable in actual off-road, especially in low-adhesion field climbing, the sudden output of power will reduce the fault tolerance rate and increase the risk of accidents. In any case, as a million-level luxury brand product, this situation should not occur.
The steep descent function will be turned on by default after the off-road mode is activated. After our experience, its intervention is very positive. For example, the slope at the basement level can trigger this function. The whole process does not require the driver’s own intervention, and the system handles it naturally enough.
Then, we drove it into the difficult steamed bread bag set by the professional off-road vehicle. Since the ground clearance of the Audi Q7 chassis is not as good as that of the Volkswagen Touareg at the same door after rising to the highest level, it is necessary to choose a good route when passing through here, and the vehicle is stuck in the middle of the steamed bread bags on both sides to pass safely, otherwise the side guards will rub against the ground.
The Butterfly Valley project also passed without a hitch, or was affected by the ground clearance at the bottom edge, but the performance of the 4WD system, tires, and suspension travel was no problem throughout the process. Given that the test drive was equipped with 21-inch rims and thin-wall tires, we gave up the more difficult challenge of continuous undulations, and so far the Audi Q7’s passing ability has fully met expectations.
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The off-road segment score, the Audi Q7 scored very high in all the items related to escape performance, but due to the safety hazards of low-speed climbing, the reliability is not satisfactory. If this problem can be corrected in the future, the overall evaluation in the off-road single event is still very high.
Full text summary
It is not an exaggeration to describe the Audi Q7 with a facelift that is comparable to a replacement. From the inside out, from shallow to deep, it is trying to say goodbye to its past self. The shape is more ingenious, the interior is more trendy, the powertrain is also upgraded with the times, and even the driving experience is very different from the previous Q7 and even the Audi in my impression. In short, this is the new Audi Q7, a facelift that washes the "core" and leathers at one time. (Text/Photo/Photo/Autohome Jiang Yichen, Video/Zhang Chao, Test Assistance/Zhang Ke, Zhou Yuxuan)
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