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Q7

AUDI’S LUXURY SUV

featuring the landscapes of WADI AMDAH

photographed by HERBERT FERNANDES

“The question you have to ask yourself is
if you are willing to dirty your Audi enough
to really enjoy its full potential�br>
POSITIONING
What an Audi Q7 is

Even for people who’ve never driven one, the Audi brand has become synonymous with luxury and performance. The problem lies in the fact that this sort of positioning has been tried very successfully by other German brands too, and while there are just a handful at this end of the spectrum, they do sometimes crowd each other out. But Audi is pegging itself midway within that top bracket, and Audi in Oman, after a bit of a reshuffle, has spent the last half-year getting its message out, and staking its claim to what it believes is a vacant spot.
International target groups typically involve above-average earning households whose adult members are somewhere in their 40s. Such potential customers are looking for design, comfort and safety, and most households already own at least one if not two other vehicles. They’ve met their basic needs a long time ago. They’re looking for something more.

ROAD
Performance and SUVs

Let’s face it: most people who spend up to RO30,000 don’t usually muck around over loose terrain. What they want from an Audi is street performance and presence, which means getting as much speed in as good looking a package. The 4.2-litre V8 top end model we drove can go faster than you need to, though will get from zero to 100kmph in as many as 7.4 seconds. Torque peaks at 440Nm at 3,500rpm and you have a six-speed tiptronic to take you all the way to 248kmph. An SUV, however, cannot bend the rules of physics, which means you will never get the performance that you would from a corresponding sedan, even if that sedan were an Audi. Performance is extremely refined.

OFF-ROAD
Air suspension, gearing

Don’t buy this Audi if you aren’t going to take it off-road, and if all you want is something that looks great and sticks you high above the pedestrians. The Q7 is actually quite good on dirt tracks: it was rock steady over loose gravel and its automatic kicked in deep enough to get us up the mountains above Wadi Amdah, north of Wadi Tayyin. Most people are wary of such transmissions when thinking of hill descents, but all you have to do is slip the tiptronic and, when you’re down to first, you’ll have enough control going downhill. Audi has gone a step further, though, offering its ‘hill descent assist,�which maintains a constant speed in off-road mode by maintaining its brake application.

But the real star is the air suspension, which lifts the car to varying heights depending on which mode you select, all the way from ‘Dynamic,�for sporty road performance, to ‘Lift,�the highest setting. We drove on ‘Off Road,�the second highest, and never scraped a millimetre through a wadi and over a mountain. Other goodies include Audi’s much touted Quattro technology, and its electronic stability programme.

What you need to do is change the tyres. Given that most customers will be dreaming of burning rubber on tarmac, Audi has clad the Q7 in some very thin and very street-smart tyres. Thick, knobby rubber will really befit the car �at the cost of some road performance, of course.

DESIGN, STYLE
Intuitive and beautiful

Interior dynamics and instrument positioning are fantastic. You can’t find fault with anything here: just jump in and drive and everything else will flow. Navigating the screen in the centre �for everything from climate control to how high your car should sit on a cushion of air �is childishly simple. And some of the trimmings are undeniably lush. Everything is wrapped in leather. We loved the little touches, like the double layer of sunshades and the little square of light that pulses on your side of the side mirror, reminding you that the outside indicator is blinking. Intelligence is everywhere.

Outside, the front grill is the show stealer �a magnificent, upper class sweep that is as original, and gorgeous, as you can get today. The rest of the car will remind you of the Volkswagen Touareg and the Porsche Cayenne �a natural mix-up considering all three are built on the same platform in the same factory.

RECOMMENDATION
Value for money

Even though the Q7 decked out in full regalia starts knocking on the 30 grand door, it might be surprising value for money: it packs more features within its class when compared to names that are pegged above it, while enjoying more brand value than those just below. This positioning is evident even when looking at its closest cousins, built right alongside it.

The verdict? It’s complicated if you’re not sure what you want. The Q7 is a beautiful SUV that is better off-road than you’d think. With the right wheels it can handle most terrain in Oman, and will do so while keeping you a lot more comfortable than more utilitarian 4WDs. The question you have to ask yourself is if you are willing to dirty your Audi enough to really enjoy its full potential. If not then you should look at their very tempting line of sedans. But if you have the money and the spine, then go all out and get the Q7 �you deserve it.