It’s the one that started the entire Audi Q range – the mighty Q7. A large, luxurious SUV that was as comfortable as a family or business conveyance as it was travelling where the blacktop ended, the Audi Q7 opened up a new dimension for those needing a large, capable SUV but also wanted the full luxury treatment. Audi Australia’s launch of the Q7 became legendary, with its month long, multi-part press launch program that went from Sydney right through the great interior to emerge on the pristine Cable beach in Broome. A very different vehicle to those more commonly found in the likes of Innaminka, Birdsville and Coober Pedy, the Q7 made the transcontinental crossing without so much as a hiccup and a legend was born.

Now, 20 years later, the third generation Q7 has been unveiled, bringing a strong new design language both inside and out, as well as a raft of new technologies, as well as more powerful and efficient drivetrains. It retains its tremendous versatility, with multiple seating configurations, as well as the ‘go anywhere’ capabilities that have made it such an enormously appealing vehicle for a wide cross section of Audi customers.

“For more than 20 years, the Audi Q7 has represented the perfect premium SUV,” says Audi CEO Gernot Döllner.

“With its new generation, we carry this mission forward. It combines a sporty, powerful design with a highly versatile interior, first-class materials, and a wide range of technologies.”

The exterior of the new Q7 has evolved with a more linear design that sees a larger Singleframe grille and bonnet for even greater road presence and the Q7 gains additional width through muscular emphasis on the wheel arches. Lighting as always plays a significant role with digital daytime running lights and the digital Matrix LED headlights making the Q7 easily recognisable from a distance, while optional third-generation digital OLED rear lights and a continuous light strip, as well as Digital Matrix LED headlights with micro-LED technology provide state-of-the-art lighting as well as adding to that road presence.

The new Q7 also offers Audi’s lane light and orientation light guidance functions even more closely integrated with the vehicle’s assistance systems, while world-first advanced indicators which project the turn signal onto the ground in sync with the dynamic signals at the front and rear. This function is activated automatically when the low beams are on and the turn signal or the hazard lights are activated.

Even the projection light in the doors is a new feature that helps to set the scene, projecting a solid white rhombus onto the ground beneath the driver’s and front passenger’s doors and a dashed rhombus beneath the rear doors, presenting a carpet of light effectively welcoming passengers aboard, where the stunning new interior more than lives up to the lavish welcome.

Clean lines and plenty of space are the most obvious factors once again, with the Q7 available as a five seater as standard, or optionally with six or seven seats. The second-row seats are power-adjustable fore and aft, while the seatbacks fold in a 65/35 split. In the five-seater, the boot area offers up to 806 litres of storage, or up to 2,075 litres with the back seats folded down. In the seven-seater, that figure becomes 722 litres, or up to 1,980 litres with rear seats folded flat.

There are a wide range of colour and material combinations to choose from for the Q7, allowing plenty of room for customisation, including the likes of the optional premium textile package made up of a unique combination of alpaca fibre and leather in natural and stone beige. New inlay options include fine grain ash natural, silk beige, lime structure natural, grey brown and carbon fibre weave with basalt grey accents.

A veritable smorgasbord of USB-C fast chargers throughout the vehicle as well as magnetised charging points for smartphones make the Q7’s beautifully appointed interior as functional as it is comfortable. Regardless of where you sit, comfort and convenience are of paramount importance, but with an abundance of clever touches and storage solutions throughout, including the optional aluminium rail system integrated into the sides of the boot, carrying large volumes of luggage without disrupting passenger comfort is never an issue. Then there is the large panoramic sunroof which further accentuates the spacious feel of the cabin. With its optional switchable transparency and, for the first time, illumination of the glass roof which adapts to the personalised ambient lighting, it is able to change the very complexion of the interior as never before. The roof can be switched from transparent to opaque in nine segments and when the vehicle is parked it automatically turns opaque to prevent prying eyes. A pattern in the glass panels, combined with 78 LEDs, provides for variable lighting in the vehicle interior and the adjustable transparency allows for a quick transition, zone by zone, between a light-filled interior and effective glare protection.

Then there is the updated Bang & Olufsen premium sound system with 4D sound which builds on the previous 3D sound system with headrest speakers and adds innovative seat actuators in the front seats. Producing sound you feel and experience as well as listen to, a total of 22 speakers deliver musical enjoyment with up to 1,360 watts, while the interaction light syncs to the rhythm of the track. The seat actuators also generate finely tuned vibrations that sync with the music while the headrest speakers also enable personal phone calls, navigation prompts and surround sound.

Indeed the entire infotainment system is just as impressive and focused on delivering the best user experience. From the MMI panoramic display with its curved design and OLED technology, to the Audi virtual cockpit and the MMI touch display, all systems are intuitive and state-of-the-art. The passenger display with distraction-free dynamic privacy mode, first seen last year in the Q6 e-tron, is now a standard item in the new Q7, while an optional head-up display projects key information such as speed, speed limits, and navigation arrows directly into the driver’s field of view.

The Q7 also gives customers access to the Audi App Store without the need to use a smartphone – with access to apps covering likes of music, gaming, parking weather and news right into the vehicle. There is also the Audi assistant, a self-learning voice assistant which can be used to control numerous vehicle functions and there is also an optional factory-integrated dashcam system records the view through the windscreen, providing documentation in the event of an incident.

At launch in Europe, the new Q7 will be offered with a 3.0-litre V6 diesel engine with two power levels –180kW and 500 Nm of torque and a more powerful 220kW unit with 630Nm of torque. The powertrain also uses MHEV plus technology which employs a belt alternator starter, refined powertrain generator and lithium iron phosphate battery for greater efficiency as well as more responsive engine response. The powertrain generator also enables short periods of partially electric driving, such as when manoeuvring, parking or driving in city traffic, and supports starting off and overtaking with up to 18kW and 370 Nm.

The electric-powered compressor operates across the entire engine speed range and ensures a linear and fast response, impressive mid-range acceleration with even more direct pedal feel.

The powertrain generator already provides electric torque, while the electric-powered compressor builds up the boost pressure of 3.4 bar (absolute) extremely quickly. Together, they deliver a smooth build-up of torque in the drive, much like the feel of an electric drive with similar power.

Of course quattro all-wheel drive is a mainstay of the Q7 driving experience and customers can choose between three available suspension systems. The standard suspension with steel springs provides an even more comfortable ride than its predecessor while adaptive air suspension with electronically controlled damping gives the Q7 a wide range of driving characteristics, from a smooth ride to sporty handling. Adaptive air suspension sport lowers the base model by 30 millimetres, making the Q7 even sportier and both air suspension options automatically balance out the vehicle load, ensuring the car stays level. When the lift function is enabled, geodata is used to adapt to the route. For example, if the route includes a railroad crossing, the Q7 adjusts the suspension accordingly to ensure a smooth crossing. The new exit function makes the adaptive air suspension even more convenient by lowering the Q7 by 62mm in balanced driving mode to make it easier for passengers to get in and out.

Braking too has been optimised to the Q7 with an integrated brake control system and ventilated brake discs made up of lightweight composite brake discs at the front measuring up to 400mm and 350mm on the rear. The six-piston fixed caliper comes standard in grey and are available in red as an option. 

Of course the new Q7 also delivers the very highest standard of safety and driver assistance systems, including a number of systems developed specifically to aid in its often employed role as a tow vehicle. To that end, the likes of trailer manoeuvring assist, trailer stability control and integrated trailer brake control join the extensive list of assistance functions on this new Q7.

Once again the Q7 sets the highest standards in the large luxury SUV category it effectively created all those years ago and presents the very latest in technology and performance with the long list of attributes that have the made the model so successful. The new model’s arrival in Australia was not confirmed at time of writing, but this will be updated along with the exact Australian specification as soon as it is finalised.