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This is the Audi Q7 V12 TDI, which Audi has confirmed will go into production.
The twin-turbo V12 engine produces a massive 493bhp and 758lb ft of torque, which will propel the car the 62mph in 5.5sec and on to a limited top speed of 155mph.
Audi have solved the issue of developing a transmission strong enough for the massive levels of torque with a six-speed tiptronic gearbox designed specifically for the V12 diesel engine, which is controlled via steering wheel paddles.
Power is dist...Read the full article

What is the point in this ? A V8 petrol would get 20mpg. Why do I need a diesel to do that ?

I read somewhere BMW had pulled their V8 diesel engine (which was never officially offered in the UK) from their range due to poor sales and MB too were thinking of doing the same with their V8 diesel.

So, I guess the question that comes to mind is, what is it that makes Audi think there is a big enough market for these very large and powerful diesels, which are barely more economical than their petrol equivalents?

A vehicle that weighs over 2.5 tonnes with a high centre of gravity travelling at 155mph is a recipe for carnage.  I really hope I'm not driving the car that one of these crashes into.  Buy an S-Class Merc or an A8 instead for crying out loud.

In the 14th century (and again, to a lesser extent, in the 18th) men took to wearing longer and longer shoes, as a display of how much they could afford to pay for them.

They got so long that they had to curl up the toes in a spiral and attach this with a strap to their thigh, as they had become totally unsuitable for their original purpose - to walk in.

However, the unsuitability of these shoes for purpose did not stop them - if the bastard in a neighbouring castle had got them, then they were going to have them too!

When social anthropologists look back (in a few hundred years) at idiotic manifestations of ego run riot, they will no doubt put these shoes and vehicles like this Audi in the same class of  folly.

At least, now their students will have two good idiotic examples to laugh at. 

 

 

An S-class has a mass of almost 2 tonnes. KE=1/2mv^2 - bottom line is you don't want to be rammed by either.

The Q7 is still ugly and tasteless. I can't see the sort of person who would buy one being someone I would ever, ever want to meet.
 

NiallOswald:

I can't see the sort of person who would buy one being someone I would ever, ever want to meet.

I take it you're joking ? If you're not then this is shocking. You wouldn't want to meet someone because their choice of car offends you that much ?

James Read:

NiallOswald:

I can't see the sort of person who would buy one being someone I would ever, ever want to meet.

I take it you're joking ? If you're not then this is shocking. You wouldn't want to meet someone because their choice of car offends you that much ?

 

I would not want to meet the owner of this or other similar vehicles because of the likelihood that they are drug dealers or members of the East European Mafia... 

 Disgusting.

cimardinius:

I would not want to meet the owner of this or other similar vehicles because of the likelihood that they are drug dealers or members of the East European Mafia... 

Or rappers. I think I'll have chrome spinners on my 30inch wheels.

regardless of engine choice, i quite like the Q7 and also the facelifted X5. 

 

 

James Read:

NiallOswald:

I can't see the sort of person who would buy one being someone I would ever, ever want to meet.

I take it you're joking ? If you're not then this is shocking. You wouldn't want to meet someone because their choice of car offends you that much ?

I'm not entirely serious, but as far as first impressions go, it's not what I'd call positive. Having seen Q7s on the road, their sheer bulk looks utterly ridiculous and the whole thing has an air of 'f-off out of my way, I'm VERY IMPORTANT' to it. I have no desire to meet anyone whose ego allows them to drive such a car without feeling like an idiot.

My experience of drivers of big, luxury 4x4s on the road forms the basis of my opinion.