Audi Q7,luxury SUV perfection

There was nothing remotely luxurious about sport-utility vehicles when they first appeared in America a generation ago.

They were outdoorsy machines designed for people who would break a station wagon and needed something less bare-bones than a surplus Jeep or a serious expedition vehicle from Toyota or Land Rover. Open-air-loving clans took to them and turned Jeep Wagoneers and Ford Broncos into icons. But in the posher suburbs, big sedans still ruled the roads — Mercedes, Lexus, BMW, Cadillac, and Lincoln.
Three rows, long-distance comfort and panache are all required traits in this class, but the Q7 adds a fourth: agility. The potent and snarling 333-hp 3.0-liter supercharged V-6 drives all four wheels through an eight-speed automatic while the available four-wheel steering and adaptive air suspension help the Q7 remain composed. A high-quality interior spares no details and features the latest in high-tech infotainment, including the optional Virtual Cockpit 12.3-inch driver-facing cluster.

Then in the late ’90s, Lincoln had a brilliant insight: Let’s upscale the SUV. The Ford Expedition became the Lincoln Navigator. Cadillac turned the Chevy Suburban into the Escalade. Sales and profits followed, and soon all luxury brands needed a large-and-in-charge SUV.

Audi got to the party with the Q7 in 2005, which in retrospect was not great timing, as gas prices in the US were beginning to rise at that time. US sales peaked at 20,000 in 2007, and then plunged to 8,000 in 2010. But sales have steadily recovered amid the SUV revival in the US, and Audi unveiled the second-generation Q7 in 2015.

Audi lent us a 2017 $69,000 Q7, and we drove it in one of its natural environments, suburban New Jersey, for a week. Here’s what we thought.