Larger Q7 Derived from VW Touareg and Porsche Cayenne Architecture
If you were at last year's Detroit auto show you may have seen Audi's first SUV in concept form debut amid a Technicolor lightshow of LEDs, dubbed the Pikes Peak in commemoration of the brands success hill climbing the Colorado mountain road. It was a spectacular sight, almost upstaging the new sport utility.
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| The Volkswagen Pikes Peak SUV concept debuted at last year's Detroit auto show. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, Canadian Auto Press) |
The Volkswagen-owned brand unveiled the real McCoy in Paris yesterday, and in doing so gave the vehicle a new name, the Q7. The new Q designation is new to Audi, signifying a larger, bolder "quattro", the brand name Audi uses for all-wheel drive which is always written in lower case.
"The letter Q denotes a new type family within our company, alongside A, S and RS," commented Martin Winterkorn, chairman of the Audi AG board of management. The 7 not only denotes passenger volume, as the new SUV will be the first 7-occupant vehicle sold under the quad-ringed brand, but also indicates its position in between the A6 and A8 sedans.
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| The Q7 will feature Audi's 40-valve, dual-overhead cam, 4.2-liter V8 engine. (Photo: Audi Canada) |
Being that the Q7 is to be based on the same overall architecture as the Volkswagen Touareg and Porsche Cayenne, both 5-passenger SUVs, it begs speculation that 7-passenger versions of these vehicles may be forthcoming.
Like the Volkswagen, the Q7 will feature Audi's 40-valve, dual-overhead cam, 4.2-liter V8 engine, which in the Touareg is tuned to deliver 310 horsepower and 302 lb-ft of torque. It only makes sense that the engine's performance will increase in Audi trim, possibly similar to that in the A6 sedan, which in 2005 specification produces 335 horsepower and 311 lb-ft of torque.