An absolutely luxurious beast one can say, the Audi Q7 in India. It was launched in 2006 by Audi and had quite impressed the world with its arresting looks, and now it is India’s turn.

Audi is synonymous with luxury so you can expect all the comforts and luxury features that are expected in cars of this segment. Similarly, the performance of this car is also excellent, with very good performance on long drives as well as during small city rides.

Variants of Audi Q7

The Indian variant of Audi Q7 comes with three engine options – two versions with petrol engines and one diesel engine.

The Audi Q7 offers an elegant 4-wheel drive and its mileage is in line with others in its class.

Design and Interiors

The Audi Q7’s exteriors are as imposing as any other luxury car in the segment. It boasts of a single frame large radiator grille. With a coupe like roofline it is imposing yet sleek with a dynamic appeal of an SUV. Sunroof is available as an optional feature, but you should go for it, as it adds a lot of cachet to the car. The contrasting bumpers add to the sporty look of the car.

Now since it is an Audi, you can be sure of all the luxuries that you can imagine in an SUV of this segment. Spacious interiors, seats adjustable as per passenger comfort and three rows of seat capable of accommodating seven passengers. The seat can be adjusted in 28 different ways!

The cabin has been designed as per driver’s comfort and has a classy look with trim aluminium and wooden interiors. All Audi cars have characteristic Multi-media interface that displays audio information, climate control and other functions of controlling the vehicle. This feature is also present in the Indian model of Audi Q7.

Audi Q7 has all the standard safety features of a luxury car, such as airbags, ABS, etc.

Colours

New Audi Q7 is available in 11 scintillating colours viz. Cobalt Blue Metallic, Deep Black, Lava Grey, Phantom black, Condor Grey Metallic, Sycamore Green, Garnet Red, Quartz Black, Bania Beige Metallic, Ice Silver and Calla White. The diesel model has a price tag of Rs. 52 lakh attached to it while the petrol models are priced in the range of Rs. 55 lakh to Rs. 66 lakhs.

Comparision with other cars

Comparing the Audi Q7 range of cars with its fellows, such as BMW and Benz, is as good as selecting a king among the kings. It can be said, that the close competition for Q7 is the BMW X5 series and Mercedes M class.

Mercedes Benz diesel version ML 320 CDI 4MATIC comes with V6 3.0 liter engine with 172 KW power at 3800 rpm and torque of 520 NM at 1600 -2400 rpm. ML350 4MATIC comes with a 3.5 liter V6 Engine with 200 KW@6000 rpm and torque of 355 Nm @4500 rpm.

BMW X drive 48i petrol engine comes with a 4.8 liter 8 cylinder V8 engine delivers power output of 261 KW @6300 rpm, Torque of 475 NM@3400 rpm.

XDrive 30d diesel version comes with a 3.0 Liter V6 engine delivering power output of 173KW@4000 rpm and a torque of 520 Nm@2000-2750 rpm.

In comparison with power output all the three give almost same power output for given capacity of engine. So the main things to consider would be the body style, features of higher comfort, handling, and user-friendly technical features. But here too, the additional features of each car are more or less the same.

The main advantage of Audi Q7 is its majestic appearance and it is somewhat better priced than the X5 and the ML. The brand Audi also is slowly but surely taking over other brands.

Still, we can say that choosing between these cars is a matter of personal preference, as from an objective point they are all top notch cars!

Conclusion

The Audi Q7 is a big car – in fact, the car is definitely massive. So if you are planning to go to a jam packed show or high density traffic area, just be prepared for bumps and tough maneuvering. Also, parking is a tough job in small parking lots and forget about shoe-box parking.

Nevertheless, Audi Q7 delivers all the promises of luxury that can be packed into one package. It is a complete package of elegance, style, luxury and performance packed with a hefty price tag.

If you are ready to bear the minor discomforts, by all means go for it!

Audi is ready to launch its new SUV Q5 in India on June 05. The brand new SUV was launched in Europe in November 2008. The new Audi Q5 is geared towards brand building and Audi’s plans to expand its product portfolio in India. BMW has already surpassed Mercedes sales figures in the country and Audi is looking at the same market segment with keen eyes. To facilitate its growth in Inda, Audi plans to invest around 30 million Euros in India, till year 2015. Audi already marks its presence in the luxury SUV segment with its model Q7.

The Model

The company has not released any official specifications about the car or made any comment about the expected price range as well but is definitely betting big volumes with this car especially in India and Russia. The car will be imported as a CBU or completely built units in India from Audi’s Ingolstadt facility in Germany.

According to the industry sources, the new Q5 will be a 5-seater SUV which can be safely called as a mini-SUV and is very much in line with its big brother Q7. It has taken the styling cues from Q7 series which remains one of the favourites amongst the car buyers and designers. The basic style still features sportiness clubbed with all the luxuries of any basic premium SUV model.

Q5 definitely has an enormous boot space and with its rear styling like Q7, the Indian SUV surely will be lot roomier at the back. The imposing grille in the front is iconic of any Audi car but the vertical sports bars make the car look extremely classy. The Xenon lamps further lend an aggressive look to the car which seems necessary for any SUV. SUVs cannot have the softer looks of a luxury sedan, can they?

Audi brought as many as four variants of its SUV Q5 in Europe but in India it plans to bring only two variants - a 3.0-liter TDI diesel car and 2.0 liter TFSI petrol car. It will sport a 7 speed manual gearbox which is special because it allows clutch-less manual shifting. Audi’s Quattro 4-wheel system marks its presence in all its models and you can expect the same in Q5 as well. It will have 40:60 front-torque split to give more sporting drive. Q5 has been designed in such a way that it offers good visibility to the driver and even with its compact design; it does not intimidate the driver. You can expect the huge door mirrors to make a lot of wind noise at high driving speeds.

The Price and Other Features

For the mileage and the actual price of the car, the Indian customers will have to wait till the exact launch date. However, since Audi Q5 is expected to rival BMW X3 in India the expected price of the car is between Rs. 45 -50 lakh. Its current Audi Q7 is prices at Rs. 57 lakhs in India and Q5 will be definitely priced below that.