Audi’s super wagon—at least in America, where we’re denied the RS6 Avant—is the all-new 2017 Q7. This seven-passenger SUV is lighter, lower, and generally more wagon-like than the first-generation car. It’s also more expensive: Q7 prices are up 13 percent from 2015 (Audi skipped the 2016 model year), now starting at $55,750 for a base 3.0T Premium.

Audi says it cut 475 pounds from the body, suspension, and other components, which means the Q7 is apparently lean enough for the company’s 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder to come aboard, tuned to 252 horsepower. The 2.0T model won’t arrive until several months after launch, and it likely will be closer to the current base Q7’s $49,225 price. The 3.0 TDI also would have come on stream at the same time, Audi says, but with the VW Group’s diesel emissions scandal and Audi’s TDI stop-sale, that model is in doubt. As for the Q7 e-tron plug-in hybrid, Audi is expected to use the 2.0T for that model in the U.S.; Ingolstadt hasn’t officially approved the e-tron yet, but our contacts at Audi of America expect it here eventually.

Beyond the obvious style overhaul, the 2017 Q7 has power-folding third-row seatbacks, a panoramic moonroof, a new Offroad setting for the Audi Drive Select, and power-folding mirrors as standard. Automatic braking, called Audi pre-sense city, is active at speeds up to 52 mph and detects cars and pedestrians. The supercharged 3.0-liter V-6 is now rated at 333 horsepower and 325 lb-ft of torque (up 53 hp and 30 lb-ft), and adds auto start-stop.

The Premium Plus ($59,750) and Prestige ($65,250) models offer more packages and standalone options, which Audi hasn’t yet priced. A Luxury package wraps the seats—heated, cooled, and massaging up front—with softer Valcona leather, tosses more leather around the cabin, covers the headliner in Alcantara, and includes electric motors to gently latch the doors. Audi also boasts of its “adaptive ambient lighting” that somehow generates 900 color combinations, as well as the LED headlamps, color heads-up display, and a 12.3-inch version of its “virtual cockpit” digital instrument panel from the TT and R8. A 1920-watt Bang & Olufsen stereo (with 23 speakers, each with their own individual amplifier), 21-inch wheels, a kick-swiping liftgate open/close function, and rear-wheel steering are options. Q7 models with air suspension also offer two separate drive modes that can raise the vehicle between one and 2.4 inches.

Android Auto and Apple CarPlay appear, a first on any Audi. Other new telematics functions (some of which can be controlled via a smartphone app) include remote locking/unlocking, stolen car locating, and crash notifications, available through the vehicle’s onboard 4G LTE service. Look for more pricing details to emerge closer to the Q7’s arrival early next year.

(source: caranddriver.com)