An anachronism, that’s what the launch of a £96,295 on-roader feels like. There surely couldn’t be a more inappropriate time for such an event. It doesn’t even matter that this one’s 6-litre, twin-turbo V12 is a diesel capable of 25mpg.

It is the engine that was in the R8 diesel concept that we drove out in Miami earlier this year (evo 118), except here it is bristling with the full 737lb ft (1000Nm) of torque and 493bhp. Those are absurd numbers for any car, let alone a 2605kg Q7.

Although it doesn’t wear an S or RS badge and is built on the same production line as all ‘normal’ Q7s, this one is in fact the work of quattro GmbH. The engine is, of course, being linked to the Le Mans-winning R10’s 5.5-litre power plant, with technology now allowing pressure in the piezo common rail fuel injection system to reach a scarcely believable 2000bar. This Q7 also has a ZF automatic gearbox (the only Q7 so equipped) in order to cope with the huge forces, but amazingly the massive torque hasn’t been limited in any of the lower gears.

As a result this behemoth squeezes you back into your seat and reaches 62mph in 5.5sec. Being a diesel it snaps through the brief rev-ranges of the first two gears annoyingly quickly, so until you reach third gear you seem to spend almost as much time changing gear as accelerating, but once into its stride the V12 TDI is mighty, its 21-inch wheels crushing everything in their path. In the corners it still feels huge and slightly soft, even with the air suspension set to ‘Dynamic’, but it steers surprisingly accurately, and if you’re ever worried about it getting too unwieldy then you can simply call on the standard ceramic brakes (420mm front, 370mm rear).

The noise it makes is not musical, but it is complex and it does speak of big forces and multiple cylinders. Audi is actually worried that it’s going to be too loud for its customers. Fun as it is, I’d be more worried that there aren’t going to be any customers.