A more powerful engine, bigger wheels, stiffer suspension, some body addenda: these are the mechanical ingredients commonly used to differentiate top-of-the-line performance SUVs.
World-first engine technologies and expensive specially engineered electrical architectures – the technical stuff of this SQ7 – are not typically on the menu.
But Audi has gone above and beyond what might have been expected of it in engineering this car, with a legacy in mind that has already benefited the Bentley Bentayga and will go on to the improvement of the next SQ5, the new Porsche Panamera and plenty of others to follow.
Based on the Volkswagen Group’s MLB Evo platform, the SQ7 is directly related to the models above. Like a standard Q7, it features mixed-material monocoque construction, an aluminium body and height-adjustable, adaptively damped air suspension.
And, like a standard Q7, it offers four-wheel steering as an option. But unlike the lesser model, the SQ7 gets a specification that can also include an optional torque-vectoring ‘sport’ rear differential for its quattro four-wheel drive system and the electromechanical active roll cancellation system we first sampled on the Bentayga.
