I recently took our 2007 Long-term Audi Q7 to a local European car gathering in Ontario, California, to let some European car enthusiasts poke and prod this SUV for the first time.
Every week, I meet up with a group of friends who are into the Euro car scene where VW, BMW, Audi, and Mini owners come out to hang out and talk car. Normally I show up in my Mini Cooper or some ridiculously large truck, but this week I took our Q7 to the meet to get some honest opinions of it. I took five people on a test drive around the Ontario Mills Mall and let them push all the buttons they could find in the vehicle. Then I asked for their first impressions. Take a look at what they had to say:
Driver: George Ruiz
Location: Alta Loma, California
What do you drive: 2004 Jeep Liberty
"Its [Audi Q7] driving felt clean and the shifting was smooth. I wasn't impressed with the off-the line acceleration, but when the rpms increased, the powerband revealed a very pleasant growl. Handling is firm, but not stiff, and it attacked corners well without any bodyroll."
"The interior is overwhelming at first, but once you get over all the eye-candy and myriad of buttons, you can navigate through the controls easily. The navigation system didn't seem intuitive; maybe with more time I could figure it out its quirks. It was cool that you can pull up your vehicle's VIN Number from the on-board computer"
"The Q7 carries over the luxury pedigree of Audi, it seems to lose a bit of it's musclecar DNA from the S-line. However, it's pleasant to drive and does give you the practicality and compromise of a crossover vehicle"
Driver: Robert
Location: Riverside, California
What do you drive: 2000 Volkswagen Jetta
"Overall I'm fairly impressed with the vehicle as a whole. Middle-seat legroom is fairly spacious depending on the size of the driver and whether there are passengers in the third-row seats. With the seat in the middle of the position range, it was hard to locate the seatbelt buckle by touch. The window switch and ashtray also required me to bury my elbow between the door and seat. I love the full moonroof. Rear- and middle-seat passengers have control of their own section of the moonroof."
"Off the line acceleration leaves much to be desired. Manual shifting via the steering-wheel paddles is a little slow. The exhaust note is very exciting to a car enthusiast, however I see more soccer moms or trophy wives more than enthusiasts driving this."
Driver: Kelly
Location: Alta Loma, California
What do you drive: 2006 MINI Cooper
"Sleek SUV, nice lines, sporty luxurious interior – third-row seating is surprisingly roomy, and nice temp controls for the second row. Sun shades are nice too. Seats are very comfortable."
"Sporty – peppy- handles really well. Nice throttle response. Drives like a sports car, handles surprisingly well for its size. Fun to drive – as much fun as my MINI. It's a nice SUV with the heart of a sports car."
Driver: Dan Moore
Location: Riverside, California
What do you drive: 1999 BMW M3
"Wow, plenty of room in the second- and third-row seats and both are adjustable. It does have the hottest seat heaters ever. The second row moonroof controls are sweet!"
"Where's the torque? Oh yeah, buried under its weight"
"Very flat handling and the steering is too light. It has a Fantastic exhaust note, but will moms care? All in all, it's sure to please moms and dads."
Driver: Sara Callard
Location: Riverside, California
What do you drive: 2007 Volkswagen GTI
"The car is a ton of fun to drive and has a lot of nice features. My only complaint about the car is some of the radio and nav controls are hard to access while driving. The navigation and radio controls are at a weird angle that makes it hard to use without taking your eyes off the road."