You’ll Love The Space And Tech, Just Not The Price

For mannequin yr 2027, Audi’s first-ever full-size three-row SUV lastly hits the market. As maybe anticipated, Audi predicts that absolutely 65% of world gross sales will occur on these shores and so designed each the Q9 and SQ9 to cater completely to the American market. Fittingly, then, the worldwide media drive occurred within the beautiful deserts of southwestern Utah, the place extensive open roads make virtually any automobile appear small.

The new SUV’s measurement alone will make headlines, however each the base Q9 and top-spec SQ9 also pack a ton of luxury and tech into one inexpensive—comparatively talking—SUV. And every debuts a spread of firsts for Audi, the bigger Volkswagen AG conglomerate, and even the automotive business as a complete: two new Quattro all-wheel-drive methods, the primary software of Digital Matrix Lights within the United States, and Volkswagen’s first implementation of Level 2+ hands-free driving software program. 

Clearly, this three-row characterize main strikes for Audi whereas leaping headlong into a brand new section. And even when all of the house, luxurious, tech, and efficiency does not come low cost, each the Q9 and SQ9 take all-rounder functionality to a complete new stage.

My day hopping between the 2 began in a Q9 Prestige, absolutely loaded as ordinary for media consumption. Every Q9 comes with a twin-turbocharged 2.9-liter V6 rated for 429 horsepower and 442 lb-ft of torque, which sends energy to all 4 wheels via an eight-speed ZF transmission and that new Quattro system. Effectively, the Q9’s AWD provides 4 springs to the middle Torsen differential to assist keep coupling between the entrance and rear axles even in situations with zero load, which usually causes the principle points with gear-based automated torque-biasing diffs (versus clutch-based engagement).

The little rev-happy V6 makes getting up into enhance good and fast, so even the lower-spec three-row can put out some severe punch. As ordinary, the ZF eight-speed rips off pretty snappy shifts, which play nicely with nimble dealing with and light-weight but exact steering. All as the standard suspension setup of air springs and electronically adjustable shock dampers helps the big 22-inch wheels gobble up impacts, even with no energetic sway bars or hydraulic roll management regardless of a curb weight simply over 5,300 kilos. 

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Audi believes that retaining passive sway bars and permitting a little bit of physique roll really enhances the sensation of a car’s solidity, and due to this fact high quality. In this case, although, I’d argue for the smallest 20-inch wheels and tallest tire sidewalls doable to assist soften simply the previous couple of share factors of shock damping.

Even if the suspension and wheel/tire package deal lean barely towards the sportier facet of the equation, the remainder of the bottom Q9 goes whole-hog on luxurious. I match simply nice within the second row captain’s chairs, at six-foot-one with lengthy limbs behind a six-foot-four passenger within the entrance seat. With the third row of seats up, Audi can boast best-in-class 19.3 cubic ft of cargo quantity, after which with the non-obligatory second-row bench additionally folded down, a fully cavernous inside opens up.

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Critically, although, such a big car by no means drives almost as massive as both the outside design or inside quantity suggests. Rear-axle steering as much as 5 levels made negotiating traces of site visitors and tight turnouts amongst jam-packed vacationers in Zion National Park no drawback, and at increased speeds whereas battling via borderline monsoon storms within the desert, the soundness of all 4 wheels delivering part alongside mountain passes little doubt helped that Quattro system, as nicely.

When the climate cleared up momentarily within the afternoon, I swapped into an SQ9 to get a style of some extra severe energy. In this case, the acquainted twin-turbo 4.0-liter V8 that Volkswagen AG drops into every part from the RS6 Avant to the Lamborghini Urus. In the SQ9, the mill pumps out 591 horsepower and 590 lb-ft of torque, routed via the same eight-speed gearbox however then to one other new Quattro configuration with full-time rear-wheel drive and a clutch-based heart diff that directs torque to the entrance axle when needed.

The rear-biased Quattro fittingly lends the SQ9 a sportier dynamic, reworking this 5,500-pound SUV into an actual ripper. Massive six-piston mounted calipers on 16.5-inch rotors up entrance and single-piston floating calipers on 15-inch discs within the rear haul down that pace with minimal effort. 

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As ordinary, although, the SQ9’s energy supply labored finest as soon as transferring—regardless of my finest efforts to interact launch management just a few instances, I solely achieved minimal yank off the road as traction management intervened regardless of my fidgeting with each accessible button. Not that too many jam-packed three-row household haulers want onerous launches too usually, admittedly.

Instead, creature comforts and tech take heart state. And in a considerably hilarious flip of affairs, Vorsprung durch Technik appeared most successfully in a set of wi-fi smartphone chargers that work—with out exaggeration—higher than some other within the historical past of the car. That is to say, they really work. Just beneath the principle touchscreen sit two little leather-based pads. Rest an iPhone like my 17 there and it stays put, regardless of the tough roads, onerous cornering, or snappy acceleration. No sliding round in any respect, and the telephone began charging shortly each time, whereas cooling capabilities solely introduced the physique as much as medium temps, not toasty to the contact as per ordinary.

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The Q9 and SQ9 inside design affords room for a spacious pair of charging pads as a result of the gearshifter lives on the steering column, with an admittedly uncommon design for choosing park, drive, impartial, and reverse. The same stalk on the opposite facet then controls the flip alerts and windshield wipers; a inflexible arm for each with toggles, knobs, and switches on the tip that in the first place left me considerably discombobulated—particularly the wiper controls on a day with intermittent spurts of significant inclement climate. But I ultimately adjusted to the brand new format and started to understand how a lot the sensation of solidity emphasizes the tactile luxurious and impeccable construct high quality typical of pricey Audis.

Premium supplies all through, from coarsely woven materials to luxurious leathers, wooden trim, and metals, solely additional up the posh ante. Audi clearly hopes to leap again from the sting on piano black plastic, although no automaker apart from maybe Bugatti to date appears prepared to completely abandon the horrific supplies. I nonetheless wished for metallic piano keys a minimum of to play with the local weather controls beneath the crisp OLED touchscreen, quite than the digital alternatives which appear to encourage a set-it-and-forget-it mindset quite than straightforward adjustability.

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The second row of seats additionally will get dual-zone local weather controls, which makes probably the most sense when outfitted with non-obligatory captain’s chairs quite than the bench seat. And a real fifth local weather zone for the third row with controls on the roof helps to make up for an egregiously massive sunroof—once more, the biggest ever on any Audi at 16 sq. ft—with no accessible shade to retract. The nifty electrochromatic tinting with pre-programmed patterns a minimum of helps to forestall an excessive amount of warmth and glare from ruining lengthy stints within the rear passenger rows, however I nonetheless all the time choose a real sunshade or perhaps a slicktop.

Just a few different tech debuts additionally bear mentioning, to various ranges of success. I personally by no means take pleasure in so-called “4D” sound with exciters within the seat, and hope for extra bass from the remainder of the 22 audio system to let all 1,360 watts do extra work for my ears, not my haunches. And the Level 2+ hands-free driving, which makes use of radar and cameras, most likely requires a extra devoted day (or just a few days) for actual testing and a extra strong conclusion. Rural Utah in gnarly climate could deserves some blame for balking, however an extended highway journey and concrete environments each match extra refined variations from different automakers anyhow.

More importantly, the Q9 and SQ9 additionally carry Audi’s spectacular Digital Matrix Lights to the USA for the primary time. I first witnessed this breakthrough in headlight expertise in 2024, and actually spent the final two-plus years questioning when—if ever—American regulators would possibly come to their senses and permit one thing so clearly superior to hit the market. On both the Q9 or SQ9, Matrix lighting employs no fewer than 25,600 micro-LEDs and a high-resolution projector glass ahead of the car, with the flexibility to trace different drivers, site visitors indicators, and something that strikes forward to cut back glare for all concerned.

Out again, OLED taillights present uniform mild distribution no matter viewing angle, and may even mission flip sign graphics onto the bottom for different drivers to catch regardless of doubtlessly blocked viewing angles. Audi spent over a decade attempting to beat authorized hurdles after debuting Matrix lights in Europe again in 2013, and I count on comparable methods to proliferate shortly from different automakers as nicely. (Now if solely an Audi might broadcast for the flip alerts that BMW drivers aren’t utilizing…)

For now, Matrix lighting will solely be accessible on the Q9 and SQ9, however I do not wrestle to think about I’ll begin seeing loads of each round LA within the very close to future. Especially given the aggressive pricing towards three-row opponents from BMW and Mercedes. The base Q9 begins at $87,700 whereas an SQ9 steps as much as $118,000. However, as a result of the SQ9 comes with loads of choices baked in, my Q9 in Prestige Plus spec ramped up considerably to $110,095 whereas the SQ9 I drove “solely” tacked on one other 10 grand or so to “simply” $128,045.

Not low cost, by any means, however given the mix of house, efficiency, all-weather confidence, and tech, each the Q9 and SQ9 begin to look fairly interesting from virtually any perspective. The styling a minimum of stands out as dignified and inoffensive, not that the Nuvolari supercar’s design language would work significantly nicely right here. And if my solely main criticism for the Audi’s newest and best is that it does not significantly stand out instantly as an Audi from a design perspective per se, then it is most likely secure to say Audi nailed the corporate’s first ever full-size three-row proper from the leap.