A GREATER EIGHT? (some text hidden) --NONE--

By Jonathan Crouch

Introductionword count: 51

Large luxury SUV Coupes are generally for people who don't care much about cool, clinical and efficient sense and sensibility. So what would one be like from a brand founded upon just those principles? In this Audi Q8 (not to be confused with the Q8 e-tron EV), we got our answer.

Modelsword count: 20

5dr SUV (50 TDI / 55 TFSI / 55 TFSI e / 60 TFSI e / SQ8 / RS Q8))

Historyword count: 392

The Audi Q8 was one of those coupe-style large SUVs, part of a genre pioneered by BMW a decade ago with their X6 and subsequently copied by Mercedes. Audi's considered solution for fashion-orientated folk browsing in this trendy segment was Q7-based and very Vorsprung durch technic. In this century's second decade, the Volkswagen Group's MLB Evo platform certainly spawned lots of luxury SUVs. First, we had the Audi Q7, then the Bentley Bentayga, the Porsche Cayenne, the Volkswagen Touareg, the Lamborghini Urus. By 2018, we'd come back full circle to a derivative of the Q7, this swoopier Q8. You can see why Audi wanted a slice of the large sector SUV-coupe market. By 2018, BMW had, after all, shifted over half a million X6s since that car had pioneered the genre a decade before. This one rolled off the same Slovakian Bratislava line as the Q7, the Cayenne and the Touareg and shared the same wheelbase and cabin width as its large Audi stablemate. The driveway demeanour though, was very different here, the emphasis on fashion, rather than family. And this was a sporting large SUV - in a way that a more sizeable seven-seat Q7 could never be. Which was important for Audi because the brand needed a car like this to interest buyers looking for a more dynamic alternative in this segment. BMW's X6 and its copycat rival the Mercedes GLE Coupe aimed to attract these people with swept-back styling. Other class contenders hoped the same end could be achieved simply by a general sharpening of drive demeanour - which is what brought us cars in this class like Porsche's Cayenne and the Range Rover Sport. Audi, predictably, claimed the Q8 could satisfy on both counts. Plus it delivered the brand's mild hybrid engine technology, a dose of autonomous driving tech for those wanting it and a rather lovely cabin. Shortly after launch, sporting 4.0-litre V8 petrol SQ8 and RS Q8 variants were added to the range. For a short time prior to the facelift, there were 3.0-litre petrol V6-based 55 TFSI e and 60 TFSI e Plug-in Hybrid variants too. The Q8 was facelifted in Autumn 2023; it's the pre-facelift versions we look at here. It's pointless asking whether we really need this kind of car. People want them. Audi made one. Is it any good? Let's find out.

What You Getword count: 559

With the Q8, you feel that design in the fashionable segment for sportily-styled large luxury SUVs became a little more credible. The models that originated this class of car - the BMW X6 and the subsequent Mercedes GLE Coupe - certainly have street side presence, but they're very obviously merely coupe versions of their conventional large SUV showroom stablemates. In the same way, this Q8 could have been merely a swept-back Q7. Instead, designer Marc Lichte and his team delivered something a little different, a fusion of elegant four-door luxury coupe with large SUV and a car that has very much its own look. As usual though, what's more important is the stuff you can't see, a body based around multi-material Audi Space Frame steel and aluminium construction and bolted to the full-length version of the stiff, strong MLB-Evo chassis that all Volkswagen Group brands of the period used for their large SUVs. At launch, we'd expected that the Q8, as a supposedly sportier offering, would prioritise dynamic agility by featuring the slightly shorter version this platform that Porsche used for its Cayenne. But no: exclusive comfort actually turned out to be a greater priority here. Behind the wheel, there's no 'cockpit'-style feel, as there would be in, say, a rival Porsche Cayenne. Instead, Audi delivered us what it called a 'luxury lounge' based around the up-market cabin structure that by 2018 it was using on all its larger models. You're going to need to like screens because the gloss black-panelled layout incorporates no fewer than three of them, the two you'll notice first powering up as soon as the door is opened and dominating the upper and lower parts of the shiny centre stack. The gently curved upper display deals with the most important radio, media and telephone functions while the lower 8.6-inch monitor is reserved for more comfort-orientated mainly climate-related features. Both screens interact with the 12.3-inch 'Audi Virtual Cockpit' instrument binnacle screen you view through the three-spoke wheel. The rear is accessed via a wide-opening frameless door. Given that the wheelbase of this five-seat model is basically the same as that of its seven-seat Q7 showroom stablemate, you'd think this Q8 would be pretty spacious in the rear. Sure enough, there's ample leg and head room for a couple of six-foot adults to stretch out in real comfort. It's certainly less claustrophobic in the back than it is in a rival BMW X6, thanks to surprisingly generously-sized side windows and a taller roof. As for the boot, well the hatch opens electrically as standard to reveal a 605-litre space. In terms of getting stuff in, you'll be initially put off by the lofty height of this SUV's cargo deck, but help in this regard is at hand courtesy of switches down to the left that can significantly lower the air suspension. Unfortunately, you don't get a 12v socket, nor is there any significant storage space beneath the boot floor, despite Audi's refusal to supply any sort of spare wheel. The silver-finished loading lip trimming plate will easily scratch too. A couple of netted storage areas are provided to the left and there are four chromed tie-down hooks. If you need more room, completely flattening the rear bench frees up 1,755-litres of capacity - which easily beats the capacity of the two rival models we just mentioned.

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