2025 Audi SQ7 Review: V8 SUV Refuses To Age Gracefully

Audi may be aggressively slotting full electrification into as many models as possible right now, but that doesn't mean there's no place for old-school V8 excess in the line-up. The 2025 SQ7 is both one of the largest options in the Audi range, and one of the most powerful, and while certainly expensive (and thirsty) it's hard not to be at least a little beguiled.

There was some consternation, at the launch of the second-generation Q7 in 2015, that the redesigned SUV was too sharp, too angular. Compared to the curves of its predecessor, certainly, it was an acquired taste, though I think the aesthetic has held up nicely. There's a heft to it, a Bauhaus sort of solidity, which remains imposing even ten years on.

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Unlike the regular Q7, with its 19- and 20-inch wheel options, the SQ7 leaps straight to 21-inches as standard. The 22-inch versions here — shod by default in summer rubber, not the standard all-seasons tires — are a $1,500 extra on top of the $90,800 (plus $1,195 destination) starting price.

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While solid white is the only paint finish Audi won't charge you for, there are a couple of handsome blue options, the perennially-popular Daytona Gray pearl, and the Chili Red metallic you see here, each for $595. Audi deserves some credit for not sticking to the usual luxury palette of gray, silver, and silver-gray.

The SQ7's main lure is its 4.0-liter twin-turbocharged V8, responsible for 500 horsepower and 568 lb-ft of torque. It's paired with an 8-speed Tiptronic automatic transmission and Quattro all-wheel drive, with standard rear-wheel steering and adaptive air suspension. For $6,000, the S Sport Package adds active roll stabilization and a sport rear differential.

On a pure power basis, the big Audi has been outclassed. A BMW X7 M60i brings 523 horses to the party; Mercedes-AMG's mild-hybrid GLS 63 SUV offers a frankly ridiculous 603 hp. That said, of the three, the SQ7 holds the straight-line speed crown. Its 4.0 second 0-60 mph time bests the AMG by a tenth of a second, while the laggardly BMW takes a quoted 4.5 seconds.

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You'll pay from $111,900 (plus destination) for that X7, meanwhile, and AMG demands $149,500 (plus destination) for the GLS. Suddenly, the $91k of the Audi seems a lot more reasonable, though if you have someplace to charge it, a Rivian R1S in Dual-Motor Performance form whips them all with its $88,900 (plus destination) sticker, 665 horsepower, and 3.4 second 0-60 run.

The Rivian may have an edge in pace, but it can't compete with how good the Audi sounds. In Comfort mode, the big V8 purrs contentedly, but switch to Dynamic — or just bury your right foot and push the revs up past around the 3k mark — and there's a rasping, barking, gurgling growl that is borderline addictive. Whichever engineers designed the SQ7's engine and exhaust system clearly deserve a bonus, for its giddying blend of aggression and heat.

The Audi feels surprisingly spritely, too. It's certainly not light — its curb weight is nearly 5,300 pounds — but it carries that heft well. Unlike Audi's feistier RS models, there are no RS-specific drive modes here, but Dynamic mode is plenty firm enough. The big SUV corners like a much smaller model, the steering balanced between pleasingly direct and yet not ridiculously weighty. Suffice to say, the potential for controllable fun well exceeds the likely resilience of passengers' stomachs.

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Flip to Comfort mode, meanwhile, and the air springs are reconfigured for cosseting, not curves. Compliant and stately, only the SQ7's outsized rims — and their scant sidewalls — betray the Audi's sporting preferences. Ride quality when ambling is definitely more slushy in a regular Q7, but then you sacrifice the charming duality that this flagship offers.

Inside, Valcona leather in a choice of black, gray, or red are standard, with nicely bolstered sport seats for the first row. The Luxury package ($3,700) adds a Dinamica headliner and extends the leather onto the dashboard, armrests, and upper door panels; $500 for the Audi Sport Crimson Red Stitch package adds red stitching on places like the wheel and door armrests, plus a matching red seatbelt. Nice, but — like the $2,500 for the Night Vision Assistant, which beams a geeky-but-not-especially-useful low-light view to the dashboard display — you can probably sacrifice them without feeling like you're really missing out.

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The $6,100 Prestige package, however, is more comprehensive. It includes soft-close doors; ventilation and massage for the front seats; heated rear seats; a head-up display; remote park-assist plus; dual-pane acoustic side glass; headlight washers; OLED taillights; and Audi's clever (but, in the U.S., feature-limited) HD Matrix-design LED headlamps. The Bang & Olufsen audio system — complete with pop-out tweeters — is $4,900 and sounds great, though that's a big chunk of cash to pay.

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Space in the first and second rows is ample, and — despite the absence of second row captain's chairs — feels generally plush. A mere 29.2 inches of third row legroom, however, means only kids are likely to feel comfortable back there. Cargo space is also far smaller than what BMW and Mercedes' big SUVs offer. The SQ7 has just shy of 14 cu-ft with all seats up, rising to about 35 cu-ft if you power-fold the third row, and just over 68 cu-ft with the second and third rows down. The GLS and X7 offer as much as 17-22 cu-ft more.

In an age of vast, widescreen dashboard displays, the SQ7's controls feel charmingly concise. There are two center touchscreens — the upper handling multimedia, navigation, and vehicle settings; the lower responsible for the quad-zone climate control and drive assistance — plus a fully-digital instrument cluster with a handful of layouts. Audi's infotainment UI feels simplistic, too, compared to the (arguably over-designed) visuals in rival luxury SUVs. Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are standard.

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There's also a physical volume knob, dedicated shortcuts to cycle through the drive modes, and a park-assist button so tactile, I wished there was good reason to press it more often. In fact, the standard all-wheel steer leaves the SQ7 remarkably straightforward to whiz around tight parking lots.

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The general degree of refinement here makes the handful of lapses all the more inexplicable. The SQ7's plastic paddle-shifters underwhelm with each click; the absence of an auto brake-hold option adds a slight burr of annoyance on each urban trip. Turning on the heated steering wheel demands tapping into a sub-menu. Nowhere near enough to sour the Audi experience in any meaningful way — in fact, you could argue these teensy frustrations are evidence of the SUV's otherwise well-rounded nature — but galling nonetheless.

For the most part, though, the three-row Audi's ability to straddle practicality and performance remains compelling even amid newer rivals. With the $750 tow hitch it's rated at up to 7,700 pounds. The EPA-rated 15 mpg for city driving, 21 mpg on the highway, and 17 mpg combined are achievable; though undeniably thirsty, that's still (minutely) better than, say, that mild-hybrid AMG GLS. Though some alternatives, like the BMW, are glitzier or more eye-catching, there's an argument to be made that not everyone wants to wear their expensive SUV purchase on their sleeve.

This lavishly equipped example — with the big wheels, and the Prestige comforts, and the S Sport add-ons — lands at $119,640 including destination. I'm not going to say that's cheap, because it clearly isn't, but by the standards of its segment it's as aggressive as the V8.

There is a required suspension of disbelief, when it comes to these over-powered three-row luxury behemoths. The idea that 500 horsepower is necessary in a family SUV is, frankly, ridiculous. As a measure of success, then, it's how successfully they straddle both worlds that probably decides a final score. The 2025 SQ7 may not be the newest in the category, but its combination of speed, reasonably spacious luxury, and (relative) affordability ensure its perennial appeal.