* I tested a $76,000 Audi Q7 55 TFSI from the 2020 model year — an updated version of the second-generation of this popular luxury SUV.
* In the premium, three-row SUV realm, the Q7 has always been considered an excellent choice, and the 2020 model year is no exception.
* The major change is a new engine: a supercharged V6 has been swapped for a turbocharged V6 that's more powerful.
* The 2020 Audi Q7 continues the carmaker's tradition of serving the family luxury market.
* Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
In the mid-size luxury SUV market, the two-row contestants compete more fiercely than their three-row counterparts. But for families, all transportation tends toward three-row capabilities. Once you're hauling two or three kids — plus all their gear, plus their friends, plus their friends' gear — that extra row becomes necessary.
So you can go minivan, move up to a full-size SUV, or continue with mid-size vehicles, but add a third row and two more seats. If you've been a luxury customer, your needs are currently well-served: Mercedes, BMW, Lexus, and Volvo, among others, are selling utes that can accommodate seven passengers.
Audi's Q7 has been in the game for a good while. In my book, this ute sets the standard. And it needs to, as its relatively high price tag provides a boost to Audi's revenue and profits. The latter has slid below 10% annually, and Audi wants to get back above that as soon as possible.
Given all that, I was rather interested in seeing what the refreshed second-generation of the SUV was like. Had it kept pace? And could it get the job done for Audi moving forward?
Read on to find out:
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My 2020 Audi Q7 55 TFSI test SUV arrived wearing a suave "Orca Black Metallic" paint job. The as-tested price was $76,040, but the base price was $60,800. (The cheapest Q7 is $54,800.)
The Q7 has been in the Audi lineup since 2005, pioneering the luxury, three-row SUV market. The second generation of the vehicle landed in 2015 and was refreshed in 2019.
The Q7 is Audi's largest SUV. It actually resides above the sporty Q8 in the brand's lineup, as well as the compact Q3 and mid-size, two-row Q5.
I tested the Q7 in 2016 and called it "luxury SUV perfection."
Read the review.
The Q7 has long been regarded as a sharply-designed SUV, and for the refresh, Audi didn't mess with success.
The "matrix" design LED headlights were part of a $10,400 "Prestige" package. Audi can take credit for creating an innovative daytime running-light idea, and these headlamps can easily pierce through the darkness.
My tester came with a set of 21-inch, 10-spoke wheels, included with a $1,750 exterior kit.
The back end of SUVs tends to be a weak point — there's no way to make an up-swinging barn door look good.
But the Q7 at least offers a smooth and sculptural interpretation. The elegant arrangement of the tail lights certainly helps.
Three-row SUVs can carry an additional two passengers, but a third row cuts into cargo capacity. You have a mere 14 cubic feet to work with.
However, if you drop the third row, that increases to 36 cubic feet. And if you lower the second and third rows, you have a cavernous 70 cubic feet.
My Audi Q7 55 TFSI had a 3.0-liter, turbocharged V6 engine under the hood. It makes 335 horsepower, with 369 pound-feet of torque. It also adds a modest mild-hybrid system that has a negligible impact on performance.
The power is sent to Audi's legendary Quattro all-wheel-drive system through a clean-shifting eight-speed automatic transmission. Fuel economy is fair: 17 mpg city/21 highway/18 combined.
The black interior on my Q7 was very, very Audi. The minimalism was palpable — a sharp contrast with Mercedes' blingy approach, and with BMW's driver-focused cabin layout.
A secondary touchscreen in the center stack enables climate control and also manages the heated and cooled front seats. Beautiful, but in practice, a bit tricky to use.
The second row is as restrained as the front seats, with pretty good legroom.
The second row has its own touchscreen-based set of dual-climate controls,
The seats are also easy to drop, to provide access to the third row. About the third row: the space is inadequate for anyone except smaller adults and pre-teen children.
The Q7 driver is a lucky human, perched at the center of a high-tech, digital nerve center.
The leather-wrapped, multifunction steering wheel is what one expects on an SUV of this caliber, but the Q7's layout is exceptionally user-friendly.
The Audi MMI infotainment system has an optional feature called "Virtual Cockpit" that allows the driver to customize the digital instrument cluster. I like to fill the screen with the navigation map.
The MMI system is superb — crisply rendered on a large touchscreen. It's responsive, but it does involve some sub-menus that you have to acquaint yourself with. It does everything well, from Bluetooth pairing to USB connectivity to GPS navigation. Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are available, if you prefer your smartphone's OS.
Wireless charging is also in the house. Like heated/cooled seats and heated steering wheels, this has become a must-have feature for me on luxury vehicles.
In the luxury market, the Audi Q7 truly sets a standard for how to do a three-row SUV. That's why the vehicle is so popular among families, selling 35,000 units in 2019.
By the way, the dual-pane moonroof is welcome in a black SUV with an all-black interior.
So what's the verdict?
When I last tested the Q7, I found it to be utterly and completely compelling.
"Audi has really done a fine job of pleasing everyone with its premium SUV lineup," I wrote. "The luxury is there, the comfort is there, the roominess and versatility are there, the power and handling are there, the infotainment and ergonomics are there, and then there's an intangible Audi thing, which has always made these SUVs winners in the suburbs of New York, Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, and Los Angeles."
Nothing has changed since 2016, except that Audi has sold tens of thousands more Q7s to happy customers. The 2020 iteration is in no way a letdown. The big difference between the pre-refreshed Q7 I tested four years ago and this newbie is the turbocharged V6, which replaces a supercharged six. All things being equal, I favor supers to turbos for larger displacement vehicles, so missed some of the old Q7's surging power. But the turbo six is punchier, and there's more torque. So, improvements.
As far as I could tell, the 0-60 mph time is about the same, a scooch under six seconds — pretty fast for a vehicle this large. The Q7's handling is also superb. I'd say it's nearly car-like, except that Audi's cars handled with dazzling verve. So I'll qualify and say that for a 5,000-pound ute, the Q7 manages some magic. In my testing, I alternated between the Comfort and Dynamic drive modes, and while Dynamic adds oomph to the throttle and tightens up the steering, Comfort is plenty sporty. This is a great benefit of all Audis — they feel spirited even when they aren't supposed to.
I didn't tow anything with the Q7, but the rating is fantastic at almost 8,000 pounds. Unfortunately, my week of testing didn't coincide with a family trip, so I couldn't sample the real-world capacity and comfort of this SUV. But it should be excellent for most owners, for both mundane weekday/weekend errand duty and shopping, as well as summer road trips.
The bottom line here is that Audi updated with Q7 without altering much beyond the drivetrain, which is arguably now better. That means this three-row, seven-passenger hauler remains among the top tier of luxury utes.
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