As compelling as the V8 sounds (or can sound), it’s important not to get the wrong idea about the kind of performance that’s being delivered here.
While the engine’s capacity for near-instantaneous torque delivery is genuine, its implied potency has not caused the Q7 to mutate into an unbalanced or needlessly frenetic prospect, and nor has it yielded the uncanny and disconcerting shunt of a purely electric drivetrain.
Instead, the combination of V8 diesel engine and eight-speed automatic gearbox is both orthodox and very well resolved.
Despite its latent power, the SQ7 doesn’t feel the least bit constricted at low speeds, while the remarkable amenability available anywhere between a creep and 155mph is so sleekly managed that you grow accustomed to it within moments.
The revelation – which you subsequently work back to long after becoming acclimatised – is just how small your throttle inputs tend to become.
Most large SUVs, handicapped by a combination of kerb weight and turbo lag (even with multi-cylinder engines), want an impertinent stab to get confidently under way or move assertively between speeds.
