Audi Q8 Review

The Review

General Review SUV-Coupes Audi Q8 Q8 - (2019) 50 TDI V6 (286 Hp) quattro Tiptronic MHEV

Although not quite as big as the Q7, the Q8 manages to feel big, tall, bulky but surprisingly fun

Summary

A few months back, I had an opportunity to drive the Q8 50 as a courtesy car, when the SQ7 I purchased decided it didn't want to stop (that's a story for another day).The Q8 is a big, in your face and angry looking car. But I really took a liking to it. It is pretty much the same car as the Q7 in floor plan, but somehow manages to seem bigger and bulkier. I admit that it carried that bulk pretty well, but this was not an SQ model, so there were some limitations around its performance.

Practicality and Comfort

Make no mistake, this car is big! For what I feel is mainly a four seater, the car is wide and long. To be fair, you don't feel the size when driving normally, because its pretty stable on the road. The boot is big and easily fits everything a family needs for an average day or weekend away. Comfort wise, its good, has all of the comforts that you would expect. Heated and memory seats, which are very adjustable, a very nice gear stick for resting your palms when using the touch pad which was pretty cool. I am around 5.10 and my partner a few inches shorter and we were both able to find comfortable driving positions. Space in the back in good with plenty of leg and head space. But the back in narrow. Given the Q7 we had, was a true TRUE 5 seater, it wasn't great to see the same size car struggle to fit the same. Overall no major gripes here

Performance and Handling

I was surprised with the performance and handling of this car for its size and weight. As well as being big, it’s a heavy car! But as mentioned before, on the road I didn’t really feel it. Pick up was good for a TDI and the gear shifts were good enough to keep me moving at pace! Being a courtesy car , of course I drove sensibly and considerately. However, I also know that the car stayed relatively balanced around corners at pace too. It’s not an SQ car and don’t expect it to drive like one, even though it was the higher end 50 model. But take it for what it is and you will be in a good place as a day to day drive!

Reliability and Running Costs

This is not an area where I would have expected to be giving an Audi a 7, out of 10! I have a 2008 TTS and had a 2014 SQ5, both little issues. The latest Q models have not been very good in my experience. We sent one SQ7 back because of brake issues, one Q7 went back for a product recall, and then the Q8 went back because of an engine management fault related to the central locking apparently! So I’m not sure what’s going on in Audi at the moment and I see loads of Q7s on the road, so maybe we just had a bad bunch! But I can’t score this any higher until I see the good bunch :)

Looks and Style

The Q8 looks hot! Big and mean looking with the new style grill especially. Our car was grey which actually works well on that car. Not quite as well as in black though. Audi have made the car very chunky which helps hide its size a bit as the proportions ‘seem’ similar to what you would see on a smaller car like the Q3. With a nice set of alloys and the right suspension setting, this car looks ‘the business’ as they say.

Features

Plenty of toys to keeps the average techno junky happy. This car had all the basics, with the new dual screen (one is a touch pad), digital dash, cameras, lane assistance, braking assistance, memory packs, more sensors than buttons and very light steering. Not heads up display like on the SQ7, but still enough inside and out.

Would I recommend it? MAYBE

While it was working, this was a great car. Let down but what seemed to be a rushed job on the electronics across the new Q cars I have driven.