The Perfect Storm

Road Test: Audi Q8 55 TFSI Quattro

- Micky Baker

As fate would have it, I happened to take the all-new Q8 on an adventure at the same time that the Cape was preparing for one of the worst storms of the year. Back in Cape Town, businesses were sending staff home early, and doors and windows were being sealed shut in anticipation of the violent winds and heavy deluge to come.

Meanwhile, I was charging along the R60 between Worcester and Robertson, enjoying the assured purr of Audi’s unfaltering 3.0-litre V6. In the Q8, Audi’s new flagship SUV, this twin-scroll turbo petrol puts out 250kW and 500Nm, distributing that brute strength to all four wheels via an eight-speed Tiptronic transmission and Audi’s quattro four-wheel-drive system.

That’s not all, though. A clever 48V power source draws energy when braking from a belt alternator-starter, and uses it to charge a lithium-ion battery that feeds back into the drivetrain when coasting, giving the V6 a breather and reigning in the Q8’s substantial thirst by a claimed 0.7 litres every 100km. In Efficiency Mode, the accelerator pedal gives the driver a gentle nudge when the car is ready to coast. The result is a claimed combined fuel consumption of 9.1l/100km, although our runs – admittedly fully loaded – returned a figure closer to 12.

The idea of an SUV-coup crossover still befuddles many ardent car enthusiasts, but Audi has taken its time to produce an X6 and LE Coup rival to complete the unholy trifecta of Teutonic ‘sports activity vehicles’. The result is a poised, powerful and luxurious family car with splashes of racing pedigree scattered throughout its design, both inside and out. There are obvious references to the original ‘Ur-Quattro’, like the conjoined tail lights.