Audi Q7 TDI 2011

It’s been since the fall that we last reported on our Audi Q7 TDI. We said then that we were “living large and loving it,” and little has happened in the past four months to harsh our high.

We could be referring to literal height. The adjustable suspension’s ride-height-enhancing off-road setting kept the Q7 from getting stuck during this winter’s so-called snowpocalypse and helped us pull stranded motorists from potential winter tombs. Senior online editor Jared Gall: “While driving home on a road so snow-packed as to be indistinguishable from the fields flanking it, I came upon a passel of stuck Fords. A Ranger, an Escape, and an F-150 were immobilized, so I quickly ran to my house to grab a shovel and a tow strap. By the time I returned, the F-150 had freed itself and was roped to the Escape, but the Ranger was blocking the two-vehicle train’s path. Cranking up the ride height, I plowed through one of the fields to get an angle on the Ranger. The Q7’s belly out of the snow, I tugged the pickup out no problem. Turns out the Ranger's owner is a hairstylist, and I now have a coupon for a free haircut.” The Q7 also impressed the driver of the F-150, who exclaimed, “I can honestly say I’ve been impressed by an Audi!” Gall’s town is as impenetrable a domestic-vehicle stronghold as you’ll find, so that’s extremely high praise.

In addition to its suspension and excellent Quattro all-wheel-drive system, the Audi’s winter rubber deserves some credit for its cold-weather abilities. The Q7 is currently rolling on 20-inch wheels wrapped in Dunlop SP Winter Sport 3Ds in place of the 21-inch Dunlop SP Sport Maxx summer stock. The swap had other benefits beyond improved winter grip, namely, the taming of some serious road noise and an increase in ride comfort, both of which more than offset the new tires’ slight loss of initial bite on turn-in.

The suppler ride has been a boon on long highway trips, a task to which the Q7 is very well suited; “It’s lovely for the wide-open spaces,” said Tony Swan. Some of our treks thus far have included hauls to Virginia to serve as a Lightning Lap support vehicle, to northern Michigan to tow a boat to storage, and to New Jersey for a family visit. Trips like these have ticked our observed fuel-economy up by 1 mpg to 22, which we’ll point out again is pretty good for a two-and-a-half-ton buffalo.

Service Means Having to Say Holy Cow!

None of the gremlins we mentioned in the introduction story has popped up again, but that’s probably because they were too busy plundering our wallet to cause any electrical havoc. The first service stop at 5000 miles was free, but the 15,000 major service rang in just shy of 600 bucks. Sure, it was comprehensive, including a full-vehicle inspection and lube, a cabin-filter replacement, a replenishment of AdBlue urea fluid, and a nine-quart oil-and-filter change, but our long-term 2009 Honda Pilot—another three-row crossover SUV—required $566 to cover all of its services during its 40,000-mile stay. Luckily, we have only one minor checkup and one major service left before the Q7 departs.

Turns Out You Don’t Pee in the Tank

Speaking of urea fluid—and who isn’t these days?—dealing with it is a reality of owning most modern diesels. The solution is injected into the exhaust prior to a reduction catalyst in order to scrub NOx from the emissions, and the Q7’s 6.1-gallon supply is typically restocked at major services, which occur at 15K and every 20,000 miles thereafter. Driving styles, however, can necessitate adding some fluid between visits to the dealer, and on a trip to the east coast, the Q7 warned us that the supply was getting low. We needed to top it off lest the SUV go into complete lockdown—no restarting allowed—in a few hundred miles’ time.

We found a truck stop that carried the appropriate juice, and 2.5 gallons and $14 later, we were back in business. (The dealer charged us $42 for a full tank’s supply at the 15,000-mile mark.) The process was relatively painless. The spout is behind the fuel door, next to the fuel filler, and is removed using the lug wrench from the tool kit. Once the cap is off, you pour in the fluid and retighten the cap; it locks in place with a solid click once you’ve torqued it enough. The inconvenience, besides making the stop itself, was in removing our luggage to access the tool kit below the cargo floor. The only other unexpected expense was the $67 we spent to replace a set of windshield wipers eaten by an obviously famished carwash.

So we’re still enjoying the Audi’s styling, comfort, capability, and to-the-moon-and-back range, but we’re hoping it can earn us more free stuff—we may need to save our pennies for those last couple of services.