2025 Audi SQ7 TFSI | UK Review

A decade ago the SQ7 was excess personified - time has mellowed it rather nicely

By Matt Bird / Tuesday, 1 July 2025 / Loading comments

The original Audi SQ7 TDI was a genuinely astonishing car. The introduction of mild hybrid technology to a giant turbodiesel worked wonders, vanquishing the lag and ensuring a torrent of torque from no engine speed whatsoever. The only thing more shocking than seeing 664lb ft from 1,000rpm written down was experiencing it, two and however many tonnes of SQ7 surging along like it was being towed by a meteor. For seemingly no effort at all, it delivered absolutely preposterous speed. Plus a good sound. And a pretty compelling seven-seat SUV package.

Furthermore, even though 2016 wasn’t exactly the ideal time to launch a 4.2-litre diesel in a seven-seat SUV, the SQ7 TDI soldiered on until the Mk2 Q7’s mid-life facelift in 2020. There are a baker's dozen of them on PH with 90,000 miles or more, and it’s hard to think of a car better suited to motorway mile munching. That facelift saw the diesel dropped for a more conventional, 507hp petrol V8, which impressed in the SQ8 a few years back. Now the Q7 has been updated again, ‘with a refreshed design and enhanced technology’; no better time to see how the half-forgotten fast Audi stacks up.

Not least because the super SUV sector changes almost weekly. Back when the SQ7 made its transition to petrol power, there wasn’t a 700hp Aston Martin DBX, a 635hp Defender Octa (or Range Rover Sport SV), an 800hp plug-in Urus or BMW XM. There seems little chance of an RS Q7 now - there’s the 640hp Q8 for those that must - there isn’t the magical diesel technology any more, and yet a Vorsprung Q7 remains the best part of £120,000. Has Audi been left behind?

Certainly you’d do well to identify a Q7 subjected to the 2024 facelift against its predecessor. The usual raft of changes were implemented last year, with new designs for grilles, splitters and diffusers, though little properly meaningful. With this generation of Q7 having been on sale for such a long time now, and so many XL SUVs having entered the fray since 2016, the flagship - especially in the grey of our test car, if not the red in the press pics - was borderline unassuming. Just another Q7 among the masses. Which, actually, is absolutely brilliant; this doesn’t attract the ire of fellow motorists like a flashier alternative might. It’s just one more quite big Audi. There’s not even an S badge in the grille…

By the same token, the interior obviously goes without the latest Digital Stage technology, so might not be as immediately impressive to those who jump aboard. This may grate a tad given the asking price, and the familiarity with older, cheaper models. What it can offer as recompense is perhaps the best steering wheel in a car today (thin, round, useful physical buttons), a virtual cockpit that still works better than many others, a great big gear selector that never felt right in an R8 but is ideal here, and a dual touchscreen set up that, if not perfect, seemed to function better than in other installations. You never wanted to punch it, so that feels like progress. And thumbs up for a proper Drive Select switch.

Plus, without wishing to state the obvious, an SQ7 is genuinely mahoosive. Not just big on the outside: there’s more than 600 litres in the boot, which houses the third row of seats (and means there’s still some space with them raised), or 1,890 with just the front two in place. Maybe a traditional, squared-off SUV isn’t the most desirable design these days, but it certainly has its advantages.

It’s seldom this 4.0-litre TFSI V8 is seen in its standard 507hp tune; more often than not it’s boosted via conventional methods to record-breaking spec, or beefed up with batteries to make a mega hybrid. It remains immensely likeable, though again in a fairly restrained way that characterises much of the SQ7 experience. The cold start is fantastic, sure, like a speedboat sinking in a millpond, but generally there’s less bluster than is usually associated with this engine. All helps it blend into the background, see.

That being said, you never forget the source of the SQ7’s power. While it will never haul quite like the diesel, 568lb ft of torque from 2,000rpm is hardly nothing, and the eight-speed auto always feels like a well-matched sidekick for the V8. It knows when to shuffle through the ratios, and also seems perfectly in tune with any more mischievous tendencies; there’s never a jarring upchange when the V8 is at its snarling, rousing, thunderous best. The BMW twin-turbo V8 never sounds this good, and the AMG 4.0-litre is only now available in the GLE 63 S. And that’s £20,000 more. Advantage Audi, surely.

We’re edging towards the nub of the SQ7’s appeal here. While there are options aplenty offering more on paper - more performance, more technology, more prowess - it’s very hard to spend any time in this car and crave much beyond what it’s already offering. The SQ7 is comfortable in its own skin, doesn’t have to try too hard, and that makes it extremely gratifying to rub along with. There’s not the concern of incorporating hybridisation to the powertrain (it does cylinder deactivation, and it’s flawless), nor an obsessive focus on luxury or lap times to compromise the chassis. As a few new cars now send out a multitude of mixed messages about quite what they’re trying to achieve, the SQ7 boasts the cohesion and charm of a car that knows exactly what it is. Sure, a 2.2-tonne, four-litre, four-wheel-drive, eight-cylinder, seven-seater is some way from the ideal of automotive purity, though it is jolly nice to drive.

Plus, handily, a little bit better than before, for those already looking at 2021-on SQ7s from £50k. Last year’s revision saw the introduction of electromechanical active roll stabilisation to Vorsprung spec, or eAWS. One more acronym, one more thing to worry about down the line, yes, but it remains a very useful bit of kit. Probably why it’s seen in so many big cars now, effectively allowing an anti-roll bar to decouple for comfort when needed, then stiffening up using the power of a 48-volt super-capacitor when cornering. It was previously reserved for the equivalent SQ8, and appears to have the biggest benefit now of making a Q7 wearing standard 22-inch wheels supremely comfortable. The car is disturbed by precious little, being plush and isolated like the very best. The perfect accompaniment to an easygoing, affable V8, basically. Plus the eAWS is bundled in with a standard sport differential on the Vorsprung; with four-wheel steer in addition, there’s a dynamic polish to the SQ7 you wouldn’t necessarily credit it with at first glance. While probably not an essential feature, it’ll be hard to imagine going without if the dealer only has a Vorsprung to drive. And you can bet they will.

Beyond steering that’s maybe too light and too eager at low speed, the SQ7’s major controls are nicely done. Nothing feels quite as weighty or as rewarding as a Cayenne nor quite so effortless and calm as a Bentayga, though a middle ground between the two feels like a nice place for an S-badged Audi to be. Not a car to wake up early for, yet suitable and enjoyable for everything the fast family bus will ever need to do.

It seems strange to think that the SQ7 badge arrived as a technological pioneer with its diesel innovation, to now be one of the last bastions of a (relatively) uncomplicated approach to the super SUV. Seven seats means a usability that can’t be found in rivals, from Audi’s own RS6 to the BMW X5, too. It won’t be cheap to run and it certainly isn’t to buy, though that’s really par for the course as far as this kind of car goes. The Audi SQ7 is not the freshest, fastest or cleverest SUV out there - which is probably what makes it such a likeable one.

SPECIFICATION | 2025 AUDI SQ7 VORSPRUNG

Engine: 3,996cc, twin-turbo V8
Transmission: 8-speed automatic, four-wheel drive
Power (hp): 507@5,500rpm
Torque (lb ft): 568@2,000-4,000rpm
0-62mph: 4.1 secs
Top speed: 155mph
Weight: 2,265kg ‘unladen weight’
MPG: 22.8 (WLTP)
CO2: 282g/km (WLTP)
Price: £116,030 (price as standard; price as tested £118,275, comprising Daytona Grey pearl effect paint for £795 and Trailer Assist for £1,450)