Test drive Audi Q7 2006 - 2009 SUV

Big

A very strong player appeared in the elite club of prestigious crossovers. It differs from its main competitors primarily ... in size.
 



By order of Uncle Sam
Is this thunder more than the Lend-Croizer-100 itself? Until I saw him with my own eyes, I hoped for the best. In vain he hoped. With its five -odd meters in length and almost two in the width of Q7 more than a land cruiser. More Tuareg on the basis of which is built. Even more than the representative Audi-A8.
 

But why? Indeed, in the premium-ambulance class, prestige is determined not by the distance between the bumers. Range, ML and X5 are no less prestigious than Audi. But in their proportions they retained a sense of proportion.
 

Q7 against their background looks like a real hippo. If he was a brutal jeep like Hammer, such sizes at least corresponded to the laws of the genre. But the Q7 is an Avant Pass, which was puffed out by a giant pump, so that it has become like a sumo fighter. And this is an intelligent audi?
 

In fact, everything is explainable. The lion's share of Q7 will be sold in the country of defeated culture America. And even the best representatives of the nation of cowboys at the genetic level retained the instinct of wild rivalry. So the size is of paramount importance for them.
 

The Germans explain the gigantic dimensions with the need to place the third row of seats. A clear excuse. The gallery turned out to be so tight that the instructions had to indicate the maximum growth of its inhabitants 160 cm. Many have much more compact all -terrain vehicles the third row of seats is much more spacious. Therefore, if you buy an already manufactured 7-seater audi, $ 1132 for the gallery can be considered discarded.
 

However, no one forces you to buy Q7 from the warehouse. Unlike the Mercedes Benz and BMW, Audi has retained an individual approach, which is very important for buyers of expensive cars. Its list of pre -equipment allows you to stipulate every little thing up to a variety of wood in the interior decoration. So, buying Q7 from the warehouse is the same as coming to an expensive tailor and taking a ready -made suit.
 

However, regardless of the configuration, the Q7 offers the highest quality assembly quality and the exemplary thoroughness of the study of parts. The salon is worked out flawlessly. Ergonomics, adjusting the panels, the selection of the texture of materials, the clarity of the work of all controls of the nasal mosquito will not undermine.

 
     
When the rear speed is turned on, the MMI display (in this case, it displays the air suspension settings) turns into the rear view screen.
 

This button activates the function of assistance in rebuilding. If a car moves in the next row at close range, light indicators light up on the mirrors


And what is the level of service electronics! What is the only one MMI car settings system is much more logical and convenient to use than the A-Drive in BMW. Or custom -made parking sensors with a rear view camera, which even shows the direction of movement, depending on where the wheels are turned. And such a class Q7 demonstrates in everything. If you think this is the norm for all expensive cars, you are mistaken. This is the norm for Audi.



 
Cross of a hedgehog and boa
To whom the size of Q7 really benefits is the inhabitants of the middle sofa. None of the crossovers offered such a convenience of entry-output and such a spaciousness. And on the floor there are stands for the legs, as in limousines. Possessing a strict passenger appearance and truly royal comfort for passengers, Q7 promises to become the first all -resistant, appropriate as staff.
 

Moreover, the list of custom -made equipment allows you to please any whims of a diet passenger. Instead of a sofa, separate chairs with heating, a 4-zone climate control with a second control unit, sunscreen curtains everything that the soul wishes.
 

The sled nature of Q7 is a constant conflict between the sports ambitions and comfortable settings embedded in it, which cross out all these ambitions. On the one hand, under the hood gambling rumbling (its sound was specially tuned) 350-horsepower V8. A slightly deformed motor from the hot version of the RS4 accelerates almost 2.5-ton colossus not at all childishly. And if necessary, it is able to stretch it out of almost any situation. Moreover, the delicately tuned ESP does not really pull it.
 

In addition, the steering wheel amplifier with variable performance allows you to rotate the steering wheel with a little finger in parking lots, but as it grows, it fills it with juicy reactive effort. There is also an adjustable air suspension, when translating into a sports regime, shock absorbers become tougher, and the body squats 15 mm. And, of course, brakes! Huge disks devour the speed so that the passenger hangs on a seat belt.

 
   
In the lid of a bunk box between the front chairs there are two cup holders and the telephone training base
 

Managing MMI is very convenient. With peripheral buttons, this or that function is selected, and a rotating handle next to the KP lever its configuration
 

For surcharge, a 4-zone climate control is offered with the second control unit for the rear passengers


But the main driver of the Q7 algorithm of the operation of all -wheel drive. In accordance with the new ideology, the Audi Intersose differential Torsen shares the torque between the front and rear axle not equally, as before, but in a proportion of 40:60, as on new sports squads. Compared to the former Kwattro, who rode the face out, Q7 willingly dies in turns and more accurately, stably prescribes the trajectory.
 

However, I do not want to go actively on Q7. In position D, the machine sorts the transmission so smoothly that the 350-horsepower V8 no longer seems brutal. Manual control mode for sports driving is not suitable. He allows unauthorized switching both down and up. Therefore, if you want to spur the box, it is better to use an automatic sports regime. But the main enemy of the sports style of driving air suspension. Even in the speaker position, it allows a significant diagonal buildup of the body, which does not contribute to the subtle sense of the car. Audi keeps you at a distance all the time, stopping any attempts to get closer.

 
  
The third row of seats is very cramped, with uncomfortable access. Suitable only for children
 

Instead of a continuous rear sofa, you can order individual chairs of increased comfort, separated by a multifunctional console
 
   
After pressing this button in the trunk of the feed, squats for the convenience of loading and unloading. Mobile brackets for luggage fixation must be ordered


No, lovers of rustling rubber in corners should definitely not be transplanted to Q7 from their X-Fifth. The credo of this car is comfort and restrained power. Turn the machine into mode D, suspension in comfort and enjoy smooth movement in space with a pleasant margin under the right foot. If you accept such rules of the game, the only insignificant claim to the audi will be the noise from the tires excessively present for a car of this class.
 



A successful compromise
Typically, expensive all -terrain vehicles are either SUVs that are incompetent outside the asphalt or jeeps with complete off -road weapons. Audi designers offered a very successful compromise. They did not equip Q7 with lowering gear and forced locks of differentials with everything that worsens the dynamics, increases the weight and fuel consumption. But the adjustable air suspension was used, capable of increasing road clearance from 180 to 240 mm.
 

And it is right. There, where lowering and blocking is required, the owner of the Q7 will still not climb. Most often, the passage of the SUV is limited to a small clearance and low hanging bumpers that come off in harmless situations.
 

Raising the body to the first off -road level to 210 mm (240 mm can be used for a short time), on the off -road I felt quite confident. A powerful V8, even without a lowering, easily cranked four wheels in a viscous sand. And the EDS system, braking the axlers, imitated a soft blocking of differentials. To turn onto a primer or punch a track with snow to a country house, this is quite enough, and more from the SUV is not required. And if it were not for the knock of the front suspension on the pits, then with comfort in such conditions everything would be fine.
 

And if so, then no matter how ironic about Q7 sizes, they will still buy it. Just a big SUV from Audi waited for too long. Until recently, lovers of German cars in this class only had a choice between X5 and the M-class. However, in recent years, an entire army of Audi fans has formed that will never buy BMW or Mercedes Benz because of their specific image, which became the parables in the tongue.
 

With the exception of its size, Q7 is a real audi. A noble and correct car without any fan, which many manufacturers of expensive cars present as family features of the brand. In addition, he is very good as a prestigious SUV. Perhaps not particularly sports. But the combination of comfort, sled and off -road qualities is optimal.
 

And he is very large!
    
There are few options

Like all German cars, any audi offers a wide range of engines that can satisfy the requests of any buyer. And Q7 will surely continue this tradition. But today, only two engines are available for a 4.2-liter V8 gasoline V8 and a 3-liter 233-horsepower V6 turbodiesel. Diesel modification is significantly cheaper than a gasoline $ 76,965 against $ 107,673. But it is much easier. If, with the help of custom -made equipment, the equipment of the diesel version will fit into the gasoline, the difference in the price between them will be reduced to $ 11,640.
 
BEHIND

The highest quality of interior execution, spacious interior, high sled comfort, good for SUVs SUVs
VS

Sizes behind the facial line, the contradiction between sports ambitions and comfortable settings
 
Audi Q7 4.2 (3.0 TDI)

general information
 
Body (number of places/doors)
Universal (5/5)
 
Equipped mass, kg
2240 (2295)
 
Length x width x height, mm
5086x1983x1772
 
Base, mm
3002
 
Front/back, mm track
1651/1676
 
Acceleration time 0100 km/h, with
7.4 (9.1)
 
Speed, km/h
248 (210)
 
Fuel consumption, l/100 km
10.2/19.5 (8.3/14.6)
 
Trunk volume, l (2/5 seats)
2035/775
 
Fuel tank capacity, l
100
 

Engine


 
Location
Front transversely
 
Design
gasoline, V8 (diesel, V6)
 
Working volume, SMZ
4163 (2967)
 
Power, L.S. at rpm
350/6800 (233/4000)
 
Torque, kgsm at rpm
44.9/3500 (51/1750)
 

Chassis


 
Suspension
Independent, two -leaf, pneumatic, Co stabilizers of the anti -resistance stability
 
Steering
REMENCH with an amplifier
 
Brakes
disk, ventilated
 
Tires
255/55 R18 (235/60 R18)
 

Car
from 0.66 $/km
 
 
Alexander Konov, photo of Maxim Goncharov
 
 

A source: Magazine buy a car [08/2006]