Q7 takes Drive top honours

Once again demonstrating its superiority in a highly competitive segment, the Audi Q7 has taken the crown for Best Luxury SUV over $80,000 in Drive’s annual Car of the Year awards.

The celebrated awards are considered amongst the most important in the country, with vehicles exhaustively tested and evaluated for performance, safety, appointment, fit and finish and and practicality.

An expert team of judges evaluate hundreds of new vehicles throughout the year, putting them through their paces in road tests and group comparisons to arrive at a short list of vehicles in each class that best perform their intended purpose and demonstrate excellence and innovation.

The best new models are then invited to take part in the annual Drive Car of the Year process, where they are tested against the previous category winner which serves as a benchmark against which to judge the newcomers.

This year, the burgeoning luxury SUV category was split into two separate categories, recognising the significance of this increasingly popular market. Candidates in 2017 then were divided between luxury SUVs under $80,000 and over the $80,000 mark as is the case with Drive’s Car of the Year award category for regular luxury cars.

As the reigning champion in the Luxury SUV class, the Audi Q7 3.0 TDI was again the benchmark against which the opposition was judged, and again, the large SUV’s combination of power, refinement and advanced technology proved too potent for the newcomers.

"Audi's flagship Q7 defended its Best Luxury SUV over $80,000 crown against extremely tough competition in 2017, but it continues to impress Drive's expert judges with its beautifully crafted interior, excellent road manners and its efficient yet refined and punchy turbo diesel powertrain. It's a genuine high-riding, seven-seat limousine.”

Commenting on the prestigious Drive award, Paul Sansom, Audi Australia Managing Director said:

"The Audi Q7 won Drive’s coveted Best Luxury SUV on its debut in 2015, and what is so pleasing for us is that it’s strong design, progressive technology features and top-notch performance, combined with Audi’s commitment to quality, means that the Q7 continues to be the benchmark against which others are judged,” he said.

On its release in 2015, the Q7 represented the most technically advanced vehicle Audi had ever produced, presenting a suite of new technologies, many of which have now found their way into other Audi models. 

That year it arrived on the Australian market just in time to be considered for Drive’s Best Car of the Year awards and of course the rest is now history.

This incarnation of the Q7 has struck a chord since release and continues to do so, with Drive judges this year describing it as ‘defining the modern, large luxury SUV’.

‘Spacious, comfortable, efficient and powerful’. Judges praised the Q7’s 3.0 V6 TDI powerplant with its 600Nm of torque, that provides ‘effortless performance despite its size’.

“The Q7 just ticks all of the boxes you’d expect from a luxury SUV’. With its generous accommodation for five adults, a superbly finished and appointed interior with class-leading finish, infotainment systems ‘in an intuitive and easy to use system’. Add to that a raft of driver assistance systems, all combined in a vehicle that continues to set the standard in the luxury SUV ranks.

‘It really is another deserving win to the Q7’.