Audi Q7 review - Design
Better to drive and plenty of tech, but still behind rivals
The previous Audi Q7 was a brutal thing, big, brash and wholly menacing in your rear view mirror when following three inches from your bumper. While always refined to drive, its size made it unwieldy in some situations and antisocial in others.
The second-generation model has never been much different. It’s still a large car, but clever design and a slightly lower stance hides some of that size. The grille has over the course of three sub-generations, echoed the latest Audi design trends. In that time we've seen the typical trapezoid pulled this way and that, before settling into the slightly odd shape of this latest facelift, with prominent trim highlights that make it look like it has braces if you opt for the chromed look. None have been quite so bad as the original in terms of being an eyeful in a rear-view mirror.
Multiple facets to the wheel arches and doors have always taken away some visual bulk – to go along with the physical bulk Audi removed from this generation.
It’s worth appreciating, the Q7 is for now a holdout against the trend of split lighting at the front – an LED DRL signature where the traditional ‘eyes’ of the car would be and the main lights recessed into the bumper further down. That’s set to change with the next-generation car, which will adopt a Q6-like Audi corporate schnoz. A shame. It’ll also in all likelihood get a solid rear light instead of two independent units, though prototype shots do suggest the new car will have some design distinction.
