2024 Audi SQ8 Review: V8 Star Sounds Like A Future Classic

For all that electric vehicles charm with their smooth, near-silent running, and their waves of instant torque, it only takes thumbing the Start/Stop button in the Audi SQ8 to understand the lingering appeal of a big gas engine. Amid the burble of the 4.0-liter V8, sensible thoughts of things like fuel economy evaporate.

On paper, certainly, you could question the point of the SQ8. Audi's feistier version of the Q8 SUV makes sense in isolation, but then you remember that the SQ7 also exists. It has the same V8 gas engine, tuned for the same horsepower and torque, plus a third row of seats. However, it starts almost $7,000 less than the $96,600 (plus $1,195 destination) of this 2024 SQ8 (which Audi says is effectively the same as a 2025 model year example, bar a $1,000 price increase).

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It's testament to the strength of the SUV segment, then — and to the stylish allure of the Q8 family specifically — that Audi manages to carve out spaces for both models. Yes, they might share a platform and an engine, but a combination of styling decisions, equipment, and cunning market positioning leaves the SQ8 feeling like far more than simply a family SUV playing luxury dress-up.

It's not a small SUV, though the steep rake of the rear glass leaves the SQ8 looking more compact than its actual footprint. Audi's Ascari Blue paint ($595) only looks more bold against the SQ8's matte silver grille surround, vent trim, side mirror caps, and other detailing. I'm a fan of the 22-inch bi-color wheels, too — standard fit, no less — which strike a simplified stance compared to the fiddly multispokes popular elsewhere in the segment.

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The HD Matrix-design LED headlamps with laser-light, plus the OLED taillights, are not only part of the $7,000 Prestige package (that also includes dual-pane acoustic side glass and power soft-close doors) but a reminder that the U.S. still misses out on the fancier adaptive lighting that drivers elsewhere in the world have enjoyed for some time, now. A power tailgate is standard.

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There's a practicality sacrifice, of course, for the Audi's roofline. The SQ8 falls short of the maximum trunk space that an SQ7 offers — there's 30.5 cu-ft with the rear seats up, expanding to 60.7 cu-ft with them down — and there's no third row of seats. Second row headroom is reduced by less than an inch, however.

Inside, things are familiar. Audi lifts its sportier SUV with carbon twill dashboard inlays and metal trim, and it's all sturdy and feels high-quality, but there's no huge step from other high-end models from the automaker. Rotor Gray leather sport seats with diamond quilting are standard, heated and with a matching heated steering wheel. They're comfortable, if somewhat sober; even Audi's "red" hide is pretty subdued. Ventilation for the front seats, and heating for the rear, come in that Prestige package, along with a head-up display.

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Bang & Olufsen audio, quad-zone climate control, a panoramic sunroof, wireless phone charging, and Audi's MMI Navigation plus infotainment system — spread over dual touchscreens with weird haptic feedback that demands a firmer press than you expect, and paired with the virtual cockpit driver display — are standard. 

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So, too, are front and rear parking sensors and a 360-degree camera, along with safety features like blind spot and rear cross-traffic warnings, forward collision warnings and avoidance assistance, and lane-departure warnings. The Prestige package adds Remote Park Assist Plus — allowing you to navigate the SQ8 in and out of parking spaces from your phone, outside of the SUV — and Intersection Assist.

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Audi's extras didn't stop there, though. $5,000 upgrades the audio to Bang & Olufsen's Advanced 3D version; $4,350 gets the Luxury package, most notably adding front seat massage and spreading the leather trim across the dashboard, upper doors, and armrests. I can see the appeal of both, though a little more gimmicky is the $2,500 Night Vision Assistant. After all, if you tap the SQ8's most obvious party tricks, you'll want to keep your eyes on the road, not the dashboard display.

Getting things going is a 4.0-liter V8 gas engine, with a more-than-healthy 500 horsepower and 568 lb-ft of torque. Routed through an eight-speed Tiptronic automatic transmission to standard Quattro all-wheel drive, it's sufficient for a 4.0 second 0-60 mph time, Audi says (and I suspect they're being conservative).

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That's not enough to make it the fastest Q8 variant, mind. Though a second and a half swifter than the regular Q8 (which has, admittedly, a mere 335 horses to play with), the RS Q8 coaxes 591 hp out of its version of the V8. That's a nice uptick (and you pay $125,800 plus destination for the privilege) but it only trims three-tenths of a second from that 0-60 time.

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The SQ8 is no slouch, then, surging forward in Dynamic mode with eagerness and a charmingly throaty snarl. Standard all-wheel steering and sport adaptive air suspension help further shrink any sense of bulk, not to mention offering a welcome spread of ride comfort and ride height. Hard to imagine many tapping the "allroad" option and roaming the wilds in their sporty Audi, but the SQ8's maximum 8.3-inches of ground clearance suggests it's your willingness to risk the nice wheels, more than the SUV's specs, which might hold you back.

The S sport package — adding a further $6,000 to your grand total, which in the case of this particular 2024 SQ8 landed at a hefty $123,990 including destination — isn't cheap, but I'd sacrifice the fancier audio system and night vision to pay for it. In addition to red-painted brake calipers, it incudes active roll stabilization and a sport rear differential. The former improves handling by selectively splitting or locking the axle stabilizers, cutting the body roll you'd usually expect to see in the corners. Instead, the Audi sails around turns with a serene poise.

As for the sport rear differential, that allows the SQ8 to shift torque between the left and right wheels. In the corners, it can route more power to the outside wheel — improving traction and helping avoid understeer — or to the inside wheel to combat oversteer.

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They're not systems unique to the SQ8 — or to Audi in general — but there's a reason they've become popular tech on SUVs with sporting pretensions. By their nature, taller and heavier vehicles aren't generally happiest when changing direction, particularly when being pushed hard. Features like active roll stabilization won't turn the SQ8 into a traditional sports car, which have the laws of physics in their corner, but they'll make a tangible difference to most drivers pushing hard on public roads.

Is the sports car going to be more fun, overall? Certainly, but that's no great consolation when you need to transport the whole family plus luggage. There's a reason, after all, why SUVs are so popular: the Q8 — and the SQ8 atop that — garnishes that practicality with the sort of high-end cabin comforts that traditionally you'd have looked to an A6 or A8 sedan for. An R8 would be more fun on the track, but even Audi's notoriously daily-driver-friendly coupe lacked the all-rounder talents the SQ8 delivers in spades.

The truth of the matter is that the shape of modern performance and luxury have changed. A 6,000 pound SUV that charms with its pace and soundtrack, flatters with its still-comfortable ride, and can — if you're reasonably sensible — hit 21 mpg on the highway (or a thirstier 15 mpg in the city, for a total of 17 mpg combined) may not please purists, but as a reflection of the market you can't really argue.

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A little more design drama in the cabin wouldn't go amiss, and some extra snorts and bellows from the exhausts would help assuage guilt at spending six-figures on a V8 engine. More fundamental peril no longer waits in the wings, meanwhile, but instead stalks across the dealership forecourt: an SQ8 e-tron is cheaper, very nearly as fast, and does fascinating things with its trio of electric motors. For the SQ8 the writing may be on the wall, then, but perhaps for the sake of eight cylinders we can ignore it a little longer.