Lower than every week in the past, I drove 4 Audi SUVs in speedy succession: The Q7, Q8, SQ7, and SQ8, all inside a single day. Every of the 4 confirmed a distinct side of Audi’s present identification, however just one confirmed how good issues might actually get for the corporate: The SQ8.
Once I hit my lowest level out on that press journey, the SQ8 was the precise automotive I wanted. My final drive of the day, the one I dreaded most, grew to become the very best expertise of the 4 by a large margin. And, for Audi, it’s not even the very best of the very best.
Full Disclosure: Audi shipped me out to Utah to drive 4 crossovers (and journey one mountain bike) . The Q7, SQ7, Q8, and SQ8 have all been calmly up to date, and between the smaller adjustments and shorter drives these critiques probably gained’t be the 1,600-word epics you’ve come to anticipate from my byline. Audi paid for my transportation, lodging, and meals.
Earlier than the automotive, a little bit of backstory. In case you learn the disclosure paragraphs on automotive critiques, you’ll discover that journalists get flown to all kinds of neat locations with the intention to drive new automobiles. When Audi supplied a visit to Utah for this four-crossover day, I did my regular pre-trip analysis — Googling whether or not it’s secure to be a transsexual in a given space — and determined I needed in, regardless of the state’s dangers. What I didn’t understand, nevertheless, is that I’d missed an essential little bit of threat evaluation.
Utah, it seems, is approach the fuck up within the sky. I’ve lived almost my complete life in low-set areas of the Northeast, mere inches from sea stage, and out of the blue I’d been transported hundreds of ft up into thinning ambiance with sizzling, dry days and chilly nights — I slept poorly, I breathed poorly, and I reacted poorly because the altimeters within the Audi dashes began ticking ever upwards.
By the point I used to be handed the keys to the SQ8, I felt unhealthy. I’d crossed the 9,500-foot mark in altitude earlier within the day — greater than the beginning line of Pikes Peak — and the altitude was really attending to me. I used to be the final of the group, driving the slowest to keep away from nausea, and out of the blue I used to be behind the wheel of essentially the most performance-oriented automobile on the checklist. Nice.
I’d additionally been made acutely conscious, by way of the indicators and flags on the few homes that dotted the drive route, that this was not a spot the place I might pull over to relaxation and breathe. Utah is legally set in opposition to trans individuals, and public opinion in components of the state appears to observe. The SQ8 wanted to get me again to the protection of the resort, and rapidly, with out pushing me over the altitude-induced fringe of puking.
Had the SQ8 as a substitute been one other efficiency coupe-crossover, say a Mercedes AMG GLC 43 Coupe, I’d have thrown up earlier than opening the driving force’s door from the sight of it alone. Had it been a BMW X6 M, the bumpy journey would have had the identical impact after two corners. However within the SQ8, I rapidly realized that I might be okay. I wouldn’t be the quickest, I wouldn’t have the very best apexes, however I wouldn’t succumb to nausea both.
The SQ8 is just not an AMG GLC Coupe or an X6M, and it’s all the higher for it. It’s a calmer, extra sedate automobile, owing to that clean house above it within the lineup — the RSQ8, which has but to obtain the contemporary facelift of the SQ mannequin. The SQ8 doesn’t have to go all-out, it simply must be a very good crossover with some energy.
That energy, within the SQ8, is just not overwhelming. It won’t pin you again in your seat. It’s going to, nevertheless, come on with management, precision, and predictability — three issues that matter way over zero to 60 numbers. The SQ8 claims 500 horsepower and 568 lb-ft of torque, however these numbers will be performed with the ability of a live performance pianist. By no means extra, or much less, energy than you need.
The ZF 8HP transmission, retuned from the bottom Q8, helps right here as nicely. The place the bottom automotive is gradual to shift and requires appreciable prodding earlier than it’ll perceive your intent, the SQ model is far improved. It’s not the near-telepathic response that another producers tune into their ZFs, however it not often surprises with a improper transfer.
With comfortable-yet-planted suspension and a drivetrain that felt in sync with my driving, I used to be capable of cross that 9,500-foot threshold one final time. I used to be capable of wind my approach down by way of Utah’s forests and reserves, gaining oxygen in my lungs with each quantity that ticked down on the altimeter. After a day of Audi crossovers that had felt at odds with me, unsure of their goals, the SQ8’s aim was easy: Get me again to the resort.
The altitude on the SQ8’s sprint stored counting down, and the winding street finally opened as much as beautifully-lit scenic lookout. Remoted from close by residences, it felt secure to lastly pull over for pictures — my final lap round an Audi, digital camera in hand, for the day. The blue-over-gray coloration scheme could not have spoken to me, however the subtlety of the Audi’s look did. It didn’t scream efficiency like its platform-mate Urus, it didn’t scream something in any respect. Only a crossover, like some other, that occurred to have the facility, finesse, and plushness I wanted.
Audi, proper now, is at a clumsy progress interval in its profession. It went all in on EVs, walked that again, and is now attempting to distinguish from its rivals with “tech” whereas providing the identical options a lot of them do — plus $13 wallpapers in your heart console. There isn’t a lot purpose to decide on an Audi over the German competitors, who specialize extra in efficiency or consolation.
However, within the SQ8, Audi has discovered attraction. By its middling advantage — its refusal to do something distinctive — it turns into a standout in a crowd of tryhards. It’s a jack of all trades, however generally that’s precisely what you want — one thing that simply will get the job performed, for a broad definition of “job.” Out of Audi’s top-tier crossover lineup, the SQ8 has the very best gross sales pitch. It’s the crossover for actual individuals.
