03-31-2008, 10:32 PM
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| Green Car Advisor (Edmunds): Q7 3.0 TDI Driven
 Quote:
By John O'Dell, Senior Editor
We had an opportunity recently to put a few hundred miles on an Audi Q7 TDI equipped with the company's European diesel -- almost the same system as will be available to U.S. buyers in January – and can happily report that if you've got the bucks and really need something that big, it packs a lot of wallop, is a joy to drive and delivers a pretty consistent 25 mpg.
That's about 66 percent better than the 4.2-liter V8 gasoline version of the big SUV can claim.
No Hybrid
On the sad side, Audi 's U.S. chief has told Automotive News that the company won't be bringing a mass-market hybrid version of its largest crossover to the States because things just won't pencil out with the dollar continuing to shrink against the euro (translation, Audi would have to charge too much in the U.S.).
The hybrid Q7 had been slated to launch here shortly after the diesel model goes on sale.
Johan de Nysschen, head of Audi U.S., said the company likely would sell a small number of the hybrid Q7s to commercial, or fleet, accounts in the U.S. , and hinted that the smaller Q5 crossover might be a better candidate for an eventual mass market U.S. hybrid.
A Satisfying Diesel
On the diesel front, we hauled ourself and a small overnight bag in a Q7 diesel up the center of Florida two weeks ago when we had the chance to take an all-too-short test-drive in the audacious 12-cylinder R8 TDI Le Mans concept at the 12-hour Sebring road race.
As did our colleague Dan Edmunds, who drove the Q7 TDI diesel a few weeks earlier in Canada, we found its 3.0-liter turbocharged direct injection engine provided plenty of power to move the two-and-a-half-ton Q7.
A horde of state troopers stationed along Florida's state route 27 -- apparently in hopes of catching race enthusiasts practicing their moves on the way up to Sebring from Miami -- kept us from pushing the Q7 TDI to its limits. But it climbed from zero to 80 with dispatch and likely would have cruised effortlessly at that speed, or above, all day long had there been a little less law enforcement en route.
The 3.0-liter diesel engine that Audi will use for the U.S. version has a tad less horsepower, 221 versus 233 in the European model, but has more torque at 406 pound-feet versus 369.
It will be 50-state legal, using an "AdBlue" urea injection system to knock down nitrogen oxides (NOx) to comply with the nation's toughest emissions standards, those imposed by the California Air Resources Board.
V12 Diesel Next?
Pricing hasn't been decided, or, if it has, Audi hasn't announced it yet. But expect it to be above the $42,000 base price for the 3.6-liter V6 gasoline model.
If the 3.0-liter diesel version doesn't move you, hang on for a bit – Audi has said that it will stuff a detuned, 500-horsepower version of its 6.0-liter V12 racing diesel into a Q7 that will go on sale in Europe in September. No word on when the V12 will arrive in the U.S., but rest assured, it will.
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