2012 Audi Q7

[OVERKILL]

I had one of these for a bit this afternoon. My boss's wife picked it up about a month ago to replace her 2011 Chrysler Town and Country, which had experienced three transmission failures and was then, at that point, beginning to experience "electrical hauntings" where the horn would honk faintly and the wipers would twitch on the windshield.... seemingly at random!!

I was at their house today and she tossed me the keys and said to take it for a bit to see what I thought. So of course I did

Vehicle was very nice. They have the 333HP version, and it has plenty of get-up and go. Acceleration was brisk, the shifts were firm, though the shift out of first gear is almost instant; first is VERY short, and I found this a bit of a weird experience.

It has the paddle shifters on the wheel for manual mode, and it works as one would expect.

I was not a fan of the stereo controls on the wheel. It is somewhat time consuming to get to where you want to be using the scroll wheel/click combo and I could see this causing driver distraction trying to find a song or station.

The seats and wheel were very nice. Though I will say that IMHO BMW uses nicer materials in these departments.

In that vein, they had cross-shopped it with a BMW but found it too "techie", and so went with the Audi.

The gauges are bright and easy to read. But not distracting. The fit and finish inside was excellent, and there were no squeaks or rattles.

The handling was good as well and even with the wide tires, it did not seem to follow ruts in the road.

All-in-all it was a pleasure to drive

 

[JHZR2]

Too bad it wasn't the diesel.

I can't imagine that any euro high end vehicle like that off the lot will be any more/less techie... Interesting.

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Too bad it wasn't the diesel.

I can't imagine that any euro high end vehicle like that off the lot will be any more/less techie... Interesting.


Yeah, apparently the X5 was too complicated for his and her taste. Different strokes.

BTW, the brakes took some getting used to. They have to be electric, as there is ZERO pedal feel.

 

[rpn453]

Originally Posted By: OVERK1LL
BTW, the brakes took some getting used to. They have to be electric, as there is ZERO pedal feel.


I wonder if they are. Do they require much force? I neglected to mention it on my S4 thread, but the brakes on that thing are very touchy. It feels like you could lock them up if you reached down and pushed them with your fingertips. They seem okay under intentional hard braking, but I initially find them hard to modulate under light braking. You get used to it. I'd rather they turned down the boost a bit though.

The main thing I don't like about those brakes is that, with the cruise control on, they activate to slow you back down when the car begins accelerating on a downhill grade or if you let off the throttle during a pass.

 

[dparm]

The 6.0L V12 diesel is friggin amazing. DO WANT.

My dealer has them as courtesy shuttles. They're definitely a very nice vehicle though I think the interior is starting to lag behind Audi's current offerings.

 

[hattaresguy]

Meh, never really cared for those trucks.

IMHO if your going to spend big coin on an SUV at least get one that serves in NATO or UN guise somewhere.

IE a Land Cruiser(or Lexus version), Range Rover, or G wagon.

Can't think of a better way to spend $70k-$110k on a truck. OTOH they really are the Swiss Army knife of vehicles. Anyone looks perfect in all situations, from camping, to mudding, to A list party.

 

[01rangerxl]

I think the Q7 is a little below that price bracket, but it's not too far from it.

It's nicer looking than a lot of crossover stuff, but looks pretty run of the mill to be an Audi.

 

[Mr Nice]

It looks like an upscale VW.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Same platform as Touareg and Cayenne.

 

[OVERKILL]

They had a Touareg prior to the Town and Country. There was also a Cayenne in there for a brief period of time, as well an SRT-8 Grand Cherokee that they were looking at prior to the Touareg.

 

[97tbird]

Looks like a bit of overkill to me

 

[Tim]

I have had 3 Land Cruisers over the years.

My '12 Touareg TDI is a much nicer road vehicle, though not as capable off road. It is getting 30mpg despite not being broken-in yet, which in today's world, is a deal-changer.