The Goodwood Test: Audi SQ7

Heritage

Hmm, not much. This is the latest in the vanguard of pumped-up, hot-SUVs, following in the recent footsteps of the Range Rover SVR, Porsche Cayenne Turbo, Mercedes GLS63 AMG and Bentley Bentayga.

The standard Audi Q7 entered the market in 2006; it took a little longer than its competitors, which was somewhat surprising at the time, given its history with the Quattro four-wheel drive. The second generation arrived recently, offering an E-tron hybrid version alongside the normal diesel engines. And then the SQ7 roared into town. Possibly the fastest seven-seater on sale today (until the Bentayga seven-seater arrives), it really is an astonishing lump of kit.

Design

The second-generation Q7 has far sharper company looks than its predecessor, with creased tail-lights and narrow, angular headlights. It’s still a truly massive car - long, wide and high - but looks less like a beached whale now, and is positively handsome with the electric (Sepang) blue paint job and silver wing mirrors.

Inside, the SQ7 demonstrates Audi’s commitment to subtle opulence astonishingly well. There’s leather, chrome, tight stitching, expensive-feeling plastics and not a garish colour, pattern or line in sight. 

Naturally, for an SUV costing upwards of £70,000 (our test car was £95,160), all bells and whistles are present. We’d strongly recommend the advanced parking pack, with reversing camera - leave your parking pride at the door, for this is a big car. The head-up display, panoramic glass sunroof, and Bose 3D Sound system are indisputably worthwhile options, and we rather loved the red painted brake calipers with S logo - if you’re going to go big, go truly large.

There’s room for seven adults plus a little bit of luggage, although the Volvo XC90 feels more spacious.

Performance

Absolutely astonishing. Yes, it weighs 2.3 tonnes, but it also has a biturbo, 4.0-litre V8 diesel engine that was co-developed with Bentley for the Bentayga. In the SQ7 it develops 432bhp and 664b ft of torque - that’s enough to shift this all-wheel-drive brick to 62mph in just 4.9 seconds via an eight-speed auto transmission.

It also shares the VW Group’s new 48v electric system with the Bentayga. This allows a compressor to eliminate turbo lag before the first of two sequential turbos spools up, but it also means there is virtually no lateral roll through the corners, which is a mite unsettling at first. Handy on a circuit, no doubt (and we did test it out on an American track in the Bentayga, which was one of the weirdest experiences ever), but not so much on the road, for who truly gets lairy on a hairpin bend in a seven-seater? Still, if you screw your courage to the sticking point in a corner, you’ll be strangely rewarded.

Passion

It’s a strange one. All of Audi’s dynamic knowhow is poured into a car where it has no right to exist. Proper petrolheads should probably hate this car, for being a cynical marketing exercise in shifting expensive metal, but the engineering prowess is overwhelming. You can’t fault it as a performance SUV if that’s your bag, and certainly, it’s the most fun you can get if a seven-seater is what you require. We’ll admit we liked it quite a lot.

Price as tested: £95,160