First Drive: 2011 Audi Q7 downsizes with an upside
Filed under: SUV, Crossover, Audi, First Drive, Luxury
If there’s to be a singular automotive theme guiding us into this second decade of the 21st century, it’s downsizing. If not in dimensions, then in displacement. Automakers, forced to adhere to higher government-mandated fuel economy standards and lower CO2 emissions, are beginning to collectively reduce engine size while attempting to maintain the thrust consumers demand.
The newest posterchild for this movement comes in an unlikely wrapper: the 2011 Audi Q7. Packing the same supercharged 3.0-liter V6 found in the S4 sports sedan, Audi bids adieu (or is that Auf Wiedersehen?) to the 3.6-liter V6 and 4.2-liter V8 for the 2011 model year and brings with it the 2011 A8′s eight-speed automatic transmission. We tackled the congested highways and byways in and around Ingolstadt to see if the revised Q7 has the goods to placate both bureaucrats and buyers, while taking a deeper look into Audi’s new powertrain strategy. Click through to the jump to see if we can make sense of it all.
Gallery: First Drive: 2011 Audi Q7
Photos by Damon Lavrinc / Copyright (C)2010 Weblogs, Inc.
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First Drive: 2011 Audi Q7 downsizes with an upside originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 27 May 2010 14:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Q7 was too big for my wifes tastes, I talked her into driving the Q5 and for her needs, it beat out the BMW M3, Acura RDX and Mercedes GLK we drove the days before. Q5 is great, bit larger then Honda CRV and feels it, but just drove ours from Florida to NY in all sorts of weather. Some controls take getting used to. My biggest complaint is the gas and brake pedal are a bit too close, and the front seating feel a bit tight, although I am used to my Tahoe, which in comparison is huge next to the Q5.