Test drive Audi Q7 2006 - 2009 SUV

Quattro on seven

In Russia, Audi Q7 sales begin. This is not only the first Audi SUV, but also the first car of this brand, capable of taking seven passengers aboard.
 
We’ll make a reservation right away: an additional, third row of seats, like a pair of separate captain’s chairs in the second row, are placed on the Audi Q7 for a surcharge. Everything else (well, or almost all) that the buyer can wish is included in the basic configuration of the new item. We only note that the latest statement is more fair for the Audi Q7 4.2 FSI, for which dealers ask for $ 107,673. Audi Q7 with a three -liter turbodiesel is slightly more modest. In the database, he does not have air suspension, leather seats and a number of other options, but the price is significantly lower: from $ 76,965. And even if you refrind the turbodiesel, similarly to the gasoline version, the price difference will still be about $ 10,000.
 
Despite the unequal forces - 233 liters. With. Against 350, in acceleration to 100 km/h diesel loses to gasoline for less than two seconds: a high torque of 3.0 TDI is affected, developed almost from idle revolutions. True, the turbodiesel is noisy, but this manifests itself mainly at high speeds. The gasoline unit sounds different: even with intensive acceleration, it does not produce unpleasant noise effects, but caresses the driver’s hearing with a thoroughbred timbre. But you have to pay for everything: a weekly listening to a beautiful v8 v8 will cost about the same as a couple of tickets to the opera.
 
The Audi Q7 has a record -low for a car of this class of aerodynamic body resistance and good noise insulation, so even at a speed close to maximum, in the salon of the SUV is quiet enough. By the way, the maximum speed Q7 depends on whether the air suspension is on it or not: at high speeds, pneumatics automatically reduces the clearance, due to which the streamlines of the body improves. The Audi Q7 3.0 TDI with an optional air suspension is capable of developing 216 km/h on an autobahn, and without it - 210. The difference is small, but it is worth considering that when the car is pressed to the road, its center of gravity is reduced, and this positively affects controllability.
 
Pneumatics also allows you to increase the clearance. By climbing the MMI system menu and choosing Offroad, you add another 25 mm to the standard 180-million road clearance. In this mode, it is prescribed to move no faster than 100 km/h, but if you develop a high speed, nothing terrible will happen, just automation will return the standard suspension settings. If you need to overcome some high obstacle, for example a curb, select the Lift mode, and the road clearance increases to the maximum 240 mm. Owners of turbodiesel Q7 with a spring suspension are deprived of such an opportunity: here the road clearance is always 200 mm.
 
Unlike pneumatics, a quattro all -wheel drive is included in the basic package of all Q7 modifications. The torque between the axes shares the self -locking differential Torsen, as on the Audi RS4 of the latest generation. In the usual mode, 40% of the torque falls on the front axle, 60% on the rear (such a distribution is optimal in terms of car controllability). In the case of slipping, the Intersose differential throws the torque to that axis, the wheels of which have the best contact with the road.
 
In difficult road situations, the Audi Q7 driver is provided by the Last generation course stability system with Offroad, ASR anti -operating system and electronic blocking of the EDS differential with a reduction in the GMA unfolding moment. On off -road, electronics helps to overcome steep descents, maintaining constant speed and allowing the driver to concentrate on driving a machine. If when performing the maneuver there is a threat of overturning, the RSP stability system evens out the position of the car, braking the wheels.
 
Among the electronic lotions of Audi Q7 there are also curious systems as adaptive cruise control ACCs and the ASA strip assistant, watching the zones on the side and behind the car (up to 50 meters) at speeds of over 60 km/h. If the driver was prepared to make a maneuver and turned on the turning pointer, and an approaching car appeared in the field of view of the ASA, the system will warn about the danger: a squeak will be heard, and a light signal will break out in the outer rear -view mirror.
 
The eyes of adaptive cruise control are a radar with a range of 180 meters, hidden under a license plate. This system is able to maintain a safe distance to ahead of the car at speeds from 0 to 200 km/h. The ACC first implements a warning function about the threat of a collision: if the car moving in front is too close, the system gives the driver sound and light signals. If this does not follow any reaction, the electronics will provoke short braking in order to shake the gaping driver. True, the ACC radar works at frequencies prohibited in Russia (they are used by the military), so this system cannot be ordered from the officials. The only way to become the owner of the Audi Q7 with an adaptive cruise control is to drive such a car from abroad.
 
+ A spacious interior, excellent dynamics, rich equipment.
- The third row of seats is designed for passengers up to 160 cm tall.
 
Technical characteristics Audi Q7 4.2 FSI (3.0 TDI)
 
Number of places - 5-7
Equipped mass, kg - 2240 (2295)
Complete mass, kg - 2935 (2990)
Dimensions, mm:
- length - 5086
- Width - 1983
- Height - 1697-1772* (1733)
Base, mm - 3002
Trunk volume, l - 775/2035
Maximum speed, km/h - 248 (210)
Acceleration time to 100 km/h, C - 7.4 (9.1)
Control consumption of fuel, l/100 km:
- City cycle - 19.5 (14.6)
- suburb - 10.2 (8.3)
- mixed - 13.6 (10.5)
The volume of the fuel tank, l - 100
Engine:
- Type - Benz., V8 (turbodise., V6)
- working volume, cm3 - 4163 (2967)
- Power, L.S. at MIN -1 - 350 (233)
- Torque, NM at MIN-1- 440/3500 (500/1750-2750)
Transmission - automatic., 6 -t., Quattro all -wheel drive
Tire size - 255/55R18 (235/60R18)
Wheel suspension (front and rear) - independent
Brakes (front and rear) - disk, ventilated
The steering - with adaptive. Strengthened.Servotronic
Price, $ - 107 673 (76 965)
* - for modification with pneumatic suspension.
 
Text: Maxim Fedorov
 

Source: Magazine 5 wheel [04/2006]