SA Road Tests

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This is the home of automobile road tests in South Africa. I drive South African cars, SUVs and LCVs under real-world South African conditions. Most, but not all, the vehicles driven are world cars as well, so what you read here possibly applies to the models you get where you live.

My most recent drive is on the home page. Archived reviews and opinion pieces are in the active menu down the left side. Hover your cursor over a heading or manufacturer's name and follow the drop-down.


Some things old and plenty new in the 2016 Audi Q7 3.0 TDI Quattro

Virtual visual aids

Posted: 7 December 2015

The numbers
Base price: R924 000
Engine: 2967 cc, 90-degree V6, chain driven DOHC, 24 valve turbodiesel
Power: 183 kW at 4200 rpm
Torque: 600 Nm at 2000 rpm
Zero to 100 km/h: 6.9 seconds
Maximum speed: 225 km/h
Real life fuel economy: About 8.5 l / 100 km
Tank: 75 litres
Luggage: 890 to 2075 litres
Warranty: One year / unlimited km
Maintenance: 5 years / 100 000 km

A snippet of useless information for whoever thrives on reflected snob value is that this second generation Audi Q7 shares its build platform, but not its engine, with the new Bentley Bentayga. Makes one feel quite gentrified, what? 

Spontaneous viewer feedback ranged from “neater”, “tidier”, “nicer” and “looks smaller” to “Sexy!” That was from Leilani the farmer's daughter. They’re all quite right in their own ways of course. Audi admits to trimming 37 millimetres off its length, rendering it 15 mm slimmer and to reducing its ground clearance by 50 mm from the previous generation’s 204 mm, so …

If you intend going off-road with this piece of kit, we suggest you spring for the optional adaptive air suspension at R30 500. It raises itself up in two stages; “off-road” adds 25 millimetres while “lift” adds a further 35, to give you 214 mm clearance altogether. That would put it slightly ahead of where it was last year.

Making off-roading more feasible is an update to the car’s Quattro awd system. Under normal driving conditions, the centre differential, designed as a planetary drive, distributes power 40:60 between front and rear axles. Should the wheels of one axle lose grip, it can transfer as much as 70 percent to the front and a maximum of 85 percent to the rear. These values are higher than with the previous model, allowing better defined torque distribution and barely noticeable interplay with control systems.

It not only stands taller when going adventuring, but self-adjusts 25 mm lower at cruising speeds, and can be settled 55 mm down from normal driving level when stopped for loading. Whether that’s cargo or arthritic Aunt Edna is up to you.

Apart from the minimal liposuction mentioned earlier, some clever redesign - including a less in-your-face grille - made this new Q-car look smaller (and neater, tidier, nicer and sexier). Audi trimmed its mass too; 325 kilograms off body, exhaust system, reworked suspension and drive train in fact. Handling obviously improves, helped by the fact that the engine is placed lower in the frame to lower the centre of gravity.

Apart from external cosmetics and weight shedding, the inside came in for review as well, with knee-, shoulder- and head space all more generous than on its predecessor. Our six-foot back seat passenger vouches for that.

Other internal kit includes a new eight-speed Tiptronic torque-converter transmission; electro-mechanical power steering; expanded Drive Select that now includes off-road, all-road, comfort, auto, dynamic and individual modes; touch pad inputs from the centre console and updates to the satnav and music system. One of the toys you might enjoy, in all-road mode, is the readout for tilt and inclination. I haven’t seen that feature since the Nissan Hardbody 4x4 pickups of 1990.

Speaking of visual inputs, apart from the popup tablet on the upper dash, how about the optional Audi Virtual Cockpit? Opinions range from borderline-orgasmic reviews by some American writers to “yet more rubbish to take one’s eyes off the road” –style comments from members of the public. If you want it, it will cost you R8950 - and it’s not a heads-up display.

In your mind, take away the normal analogue instrument panel and replace it with a 12.1” screen. Then, depending on which buttons you push, you can enjoy two different versions of the usual tacho, speedo and driving information display, or your satnav route guide. Naturally, the instruments, if that is what you chose, are Virtual. To make it look natural, the rev-counter is updated 60 times per second - more than three times as fast as conventional movie frames.

The Q7 provided an excellent drive overall, behaving well on dirt roads and smooth and responsive in city driving. Although doubtless a little easier to park and manoeuvre than the previous version, it still feels as big as a small block of flats. I only felt comfortable easing it through my front gate if the mirrors were folded inward, for example.

On the plus side the three-litre diesel is dynamic, whipping the 2345 kg car up to 100 km/h in a sliver under seven seconds and going on to 225 km/h. Lower gears are set for acceleration with the upper pair looking after economical, long-legged cruising; about 1600 rpm at 120 km/h in eighth for example. Unlike most other automatics, sport mode on this one switches directly to manual shifting, rather than via a more vigorous version of Drive.

Because this model is the five-seater, luggage space is enormous; not quite up to Range Rover levels, but extremely adequate. I didn’t keep my notes on the 2010 Q7 4.2 TDI but Audi declares that this one’s loading deck is almost five centimetres lower. Whatever the case, the new car loads at 750 mm (at normal driving level) and the floor, as expected, is flat. Push-button opening and closing is standard, so no grunt work is required for that.

The space is big and rectangular with only the slightest of wheel arch intrusions. Four lashing rings, two lights and a 12-Volt socket are convenient too. Under the floorboard lie tools, music amplifier and an inflatable space saver with pump.

Seat backs split 40:20:40 with the centre one workable independently to provide a load-through hatch. All sections adjust separately for rake, and there is useful space under each chair for extra storage. Missing lunch boxes, hockey sticks and cricket pads could well turn up there.

Lighter, handsomer, quicker and more economical than before, this refreshed Q7 is sure to win new fans – with or without a little buzz from Bentley.

Test car from Audi SA press fleet

We also drove the 2021 update

What We Do

This is a one-man show, which means that every car reviewed is given my personal evaluation and receives my own seat of the pants judgement - no second hand input here.
Every test car goes through real world driving; on city streets littered with potholes, speed bumps and rumble strips, on freeways and if its profile demands, dirt roads as well.

I do my best to include relevant information like real life fuel economy or a close mathematical calculation, boot size or luggage space, whether the space is both usable and accessible, whether life-sized people can use the back seat (where that applies), basic specs of the vehicle and performance figures if they are published. In the case of clearly identified launch reports, fuel figures are of necessity the laboratory numbers provided with the release material. If I ever place an article that doesn't cover most things, it's probably because I have dealt with that vehicle at least once already, so you will be able to find what you want in another report under the same manufacturer's heading in the menu on the left.

Hope you like what you see, because there are no commercial interests at work here. As quite a few readers have found, I answer every serious enquiry from my home email address, with my phone numbers attached, so they can see I do actually exist.

Comments?
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