Item: Audi SQ8
Rating: 4
Author: What Car? Team

Alfa Romeo Stelvio Quadrifoglio

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Audi SQ8

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Introduction

Performance & drive

Interior

Passenger & boot space

Costs & verdict

If you’re already considering a high-spec <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/audi/q8/4x4/review/n17559">Audi Q8</a>, the SQ8’s price premium actually looks fairly slim – although the similarly fast <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/bmw/x6/4x4/review/n17306">BMW X6 M50i </a>is a bit cheaper. The <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/mercedes-benz/gle-coupe/4x4/review/n17279">Mercedes GLE Coupé</a> AMG 53&nbsp;is about the same price as the SQ8, while the <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/porsche/cayenne/coupe/review/n19924/">Porsche Cayenne Coupé</a> GTS is quite a chunk of change more. 

PCP finance payments won’t be cheap because of its high list price, but they’re relatively competitive because of the SQ8’s excellent resale values. It’s predicted to hold on to a higher percentage of its list price than the X6 M50i and GLE Coupé AMG 53, and even beats the Cayenne Coupé GTS for <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/advice/buying/depreciation-what-is-it-and-how-do-i-avoid-it/n1122">depreciation</a>. 

Fuel consumption is heavy, despite the engine’s ability to shut down four of its eight cylinders on a light throttle. Officially it averages just over 20mpg, and you’ll just about achieve that driving it gently. When you drive it hard, it’ll drink a tank of fuel quickly. 

If you’re a company car driver and want this kind of performance, we’d advise looking at the Cayenne Coupé Turbo S E-Hybrid. It’s&nbsp;a plug-in hybrid, and that really lowers the percentage of company car tax you’ll pay compared with the SQ8, which sits in the top benefit-in-kind <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/advice/owning/company-car-tax-bands/n1255">(BIK)</a> tax band. There are plug-in hybrid versions of the regular Q8, though.&nbsp;

Every SQ8 comes well equipped. The entry-level trim has 22in alloy wheels, privacy glass, power-folding door mirrors, leather seats (heated in the front), two-zone climate control, ambient interior lighting and cruise control, which is on top of the parking aids and infotainment features we’ve already covered. That’s a better kit count than you’ll get with the Cayenne Coupé GTS. 

Vorsprung trim is quite a price jump but it’s still worth considering because you’ll want for nothing. It brings additional tech, such as the active anti-roll bars and Bang &amp; Olufsen premium stereo we’ve mentioned, along with power-closing doors, keyless entry, a panoramic sunroof, a heated steering wheel, heated rear seats, a head-up display, electric rear sun blinds and adaptive cruise control. &nbsp;

In our 2020 What Car? <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/news/2020-what-car-reliability-survey-brands/n20069">Reliability Survey</a>, Audi came 22nd out of 31 manufacturers surveyed. That was a tie with Porsche, but some way behind BMW in ninth. Mercedes finished even lower in 26th place. If you’re considering the <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/land-rover/range-rover-velar/estate/review">Range Rover Velar</a> or <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/land-rover/range-rover-sport/4x4/review/n74">Range Rover Sport</a>, you might want to note that Land Rover finished last.

<a href="https://www.whatcar.com/news/euro-ncap-safety-ratings-2019-%E2%80%93-how-safe-is-your-car/n17044">Euro NCAP</a> awarded the Q8 a five-star safety rating. It does a fantastic job of keeping rear-seat child occupants safe in a frontal accident, but the Porsche Cayenne does a fractionally better job of protecting front passengers from chest injury in the same type of crash.

To help you avoid an accident in the first place, the SQ8 comes with active safety equipment including low-speed automatic emergency braking <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/news/what-is-aeb-and-how-does-it-work/n3283">(AEB)</a>, which alerts you to potential frontal collisions with cars and pedestrians, and applies the brakes if necessary. 

The Vorsprung trim adds heaps more safety kit, including high-speed AEB, blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert and traffic sign recognition.

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From the moment you thumb the Audi SQ8's starter button and hear its characterful&nbsp;twin-turbocharged&nbsp;V8 petrol engine rumble into life, you know you’re in for some fun. Not surprising, really – it’s a detuned version of the engine in the <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/porsche/cayenne/coupe/review/n19924/">Porsche Cayenne Coupé</a> Turbo and <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/lamborghini/urus/estate/review/n17868">Lamborghini Urus</a>. 

When you put your foot down, in any gear, it sounds deep and resonant. Once the turbos kick in (at around 2000rpm), the engine’s mighty forward thrust is like&nbsp;surfing a tsunami of power and shove. The 0-62mph time says it all: 4.1sec. Yes, that is correct. It’s really, really quick. So fast that you have to wonder why you’d need the even more powerful <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/audi/rs-q8/4x4/review/n20663">Audi RS Q8</a>. 

The eight-speed automatic gearbox doesn’t hesitate when you put your foot down, or when you pull for a manual gear change using the steering wheel paddles. If you leave it in Drive, tickle the throttle gently and let it decide when to swap cogs, it’s guaranteed to be in the right gear, shifting&nbsp;ultra-smoothly&nbsp;and keeping the engine’s tone barely perceptible. Yes, this car does relaxing&nbsp;too. 

Indeed, at a steady 70mph there are few cars this quiet. The SQ8 gives off a bit of background rumble from its fat tyres and the faintest flutter of wind noise from around its door mirrors. We’re talking light noise, though, so it's absolutely brilliant for peace and quiet on any long-distance trip.

'Relaxing'&nbsp;also sums up its gentle ride. Although the SQ8's&nbsp;massive&nbsp;22in alloy wheels should, in theory, make the ride terrible, it isn’t. This <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/news/best-sports-suvs-2019/n20200">sports SUV</a> will waft away your daily commute with aplomb. The air suspension is tuned with a sporty bias but it still does a great job of calming rippled motorways, and only the roughest Tarmac in town causes the occasional jolt. 

You might think that as it rides well, it must be a bit of a boat in the corners. Well, it isn't. The SQ8 is a nimble thing thanks to its standard rear-wheel steering, which adds agility at slow speed and stability at high speed. It’s very able round bends because it has massive tyres with lots of grip, quattro four-wheel drive and, if you pop the suspension into Sport mode, it’s stiff enough not to lean like an ailing ship. 

The range-topping Vorsprung model is even better. That’s the one with the trick suspension we mentioned in the intro: the electromechanical active roll stabilisation (or eAWS). Essentially, it has clever active anti-roll bars that actively prop up the SQ8 in corners to limit its body lean without compromising ride quality over bumps.

It’s far more nimble than most similarly-sized rivals, including the <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/bmw/x6/4x4/review/n17306">BMW X6</a> M50i and <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/mercedes-benz/gle-coupe/4x4/review/n17279">Mercedes GLE Coupé</a> AMG 53. The <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/porsche/cayenne/coupe/review/n19924/">Porsche Cayenne Coupé</a> GTS is more engaging&nbsp;because of its&nbsp;more playful, rear-biased balance. The <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/alfa-romeo/stelvio/estate/review/n18177">Alfa Romeo Stelvio Quadrifoglio</a> is another <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/best/best-sports-suvs-2021/n20200">sports SUV</a> that just pips the SQ8 for driver excitement, but that’s a lot smaller inside.

Fuel 

Gearbox

0-62 MPH

This wonderfully smooth and sonorous 500bhp 4.0-litre V8 petrol engine is capable of thrusting the near-two-and-half-tonne SQ8 from 0-62mph in just 4.1 seconds. It also has a number of efficiency-boosting features up its sleeve, such as the ‘cylinder on demand' system that can shut down half of the engine’s cylinders when possible to reduce fuel consumption. You're still unlikely to see much more than 20mpg, though.

http://example.com

SQ8 Quattro

sq8-tfsi-quattro-black-edition

If you’re really wealthy, the chances are your life is somewhat different from the norm. Rather than taking a budget flight abroad, you might travel business class to your&nbsp;summer home. You don’t go to a book club, but a private members club. And rather than renting a jetski, you prefer to participate in the obscure sport of yacht jousting. But what do you do when it comes to picking a performance SUV? Could the Audi SQ8 be the answer?

This is the performance-oriented version of the <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/audi/q8/4x4/review/n17559">Audi Q8</a>, which in turn is a sleeker, coupé-inspired take on&nbsp;the <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/audi/q7/4x4/review/n87">Audi Q7</a>. The SQ8 is also one of the most powerful and expensive <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/make/audi">Audi</a> SUVs you can buy.

Behind its gaping front grille lies a 500bhp, 4.0-litre turbocharged V8 petrol engine capable of making this&nbsp;near two-and-a-half tonne mobile mountain accelerate quicker than an <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/aston-martin/dbx/estate/review/n21787">Aston Martin DBX</a>.

It also has a number of efficiency-boosting features up its sleeve, including&nbsp;the ‘cylinder on demand’ system, which can shut down half the engine’s cylinders to reduce its fuel consumption.&nbsp;The rest of the car is equally tech-laden.

The SQ8 comes with four-wheel steering and sporty, S-specific adaptive air suspension as standard.&nbsp;The top-spec Vorsprung trim even has electromechanical active roll stabilisation (in the brochure it's called eAWS). That sounds horrendously complicated – and it is –&nbsp;but basically it helps the SQ8 to corner flatter and faster.

Returning to our original question,&nbsp;then, is all that enough to make you choose the Audi SQ8 as your next <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/best/best-sports-suvs-2021/n20200">sports SUV</a> over the <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/bmw/x6/4x4/review/n17306">BMW X6</a> M50i, <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/mercedes-benz/gle-coupe/4x4/review/n17279">Mercedes GLE</a> AMG 53 Coupé and <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/porsche/cayenne/coupe/review/n19924/">Porsche Cayenne Coupé</a> GTS?

Read on through this review to find out and, when you’ve decided, check out our free What Car?&nbsp;<a href="https://www.whatcar.com/new-car-deals">New Car Buying</a> service to find out how much we could save you. There are some top <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/make/audi/q8/4x4/deals?trim=sq8">Audi SQ8 deals</a>&nbsp;there, but also great prices on most other makes and models of vehicle, potentially saving you thousands.

There’s an extensive range of adjustment for the steering wheel and the Audi SQ8's Super Sport&nbsp;driver's seat&nbsp;is well-bolstered for&nbsp;good side support. The seat is&nbsp;electrically adjustable and includes&nbsp;four-way lumbar support and an extendable seat cushion. The Vorspung trim includes an electrically adjustable steering column and a massaging function for the front seats. &nbsp;

Digital instruments take the place of conventional analogue dials on a high-definition&nbsp;12.3in screen. It&nbsp;displays a multitude of additional data depending on how you set it up, including sat-nav maps and music playlists.

In the centre of the dashboard is the 10.1in infotainment touchscreen, which is also a&nbsp;good quality display. The software is very responsive and the screen&nbsp;has haptic feedback, although that doesn't mean you can use the icons without taking your eyes off the road. That's one of the main reasons we prefer the&nbsp;physical rotary controller in the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.whatcar.com/bmw/x6/4x4/review/n17306">BMW X6</a>&nbsp;–&nbsp;you can use it to scroll and make selections with greater ease while driving.&nbsp;The SQ8's system is also controlled using natural voice recognition, but that doesn't always work.&nbsp;

The infotainment system is well kitted out.&nbsp;It comes with built-in sat-nav, <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/advice/owning/what-is-apple-carplay/n1193">Apple CarPlay</a>/<a href="https://www.whatcar.com/advice/owning/what-is-android-auto/n1194">Android Auto</a> (you can't have the latter in a <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/porsche/cayenne/coupe/review/n19924">Porsche Cayenne Coupé</a>) and a range of online services. You also get a 10-speaker stereo with 180 watts, or a 17-speaker, 730-watt Bang &amp; Olufsen system if you add the Comfort and Sound Pack (that's standard in the Vorsprung trim).&nbsp;

There's another haptic-feedback 8.4in touchscreen below the infotainment touchscreen. It looks after the&nbsp;climate control settings but it's unnecessarily fiddly to use compared with simple, physical buttons, which many of the SQ8’s rivals have.&nbsp;

All-round visibility is good, despite the car’s sloping roofline. To help you out when reversing into a tight spot, all versions have a&nbsp;rear-view camera and front and rear parking sensors. A&nbsp;360-degree parking camera is available as an option (another item that’s standard on the Vorsprung trim). Matrix&nbsp;LED headlights are included, too, which help to take the stress out of driving at night. They use clever technology so you can leave the main beams on&nbsp;without blinding the drivers in front.&nbsp;

You can’t fault the build quality in the SQ8. Everything is tightly screwed down and the switches operate with slick precision. The top-spec Vorsprung model is even plusher, with extended leather wrapping the dashboard and centre console, generous amounts of carbon fibre and Alcantara suede trim for the roof lining. It’s right up there with the <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/porsche/cayenne/coupe/review/n19924/">Porsche Cayenne Coupé</a> for build quality and beats the <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/mercedes-benz/gle-coupe/4x4/review/n17279">Mercedes GLE Coupé</a>, which looks great inside but has some flimsier bits of trim.

Audi is a brand that sets the standard for interior quality, and this, combined with its vast and ever-growing model line-up, has helped it become one of the ‘big three’ German prestige car makers, along with BMW and Mercedes-Benz.

The A3 hatchback, A4 executive saloon and Q7 SUV have all won their classes at the What Car? Car of the Year Awards in recent years, while the TT coupé is the most decorated car in the history of the ceremony.

At least some of Audi's success over the past 30 years can be attributed to the growth in sales of vehicles with four-wheel drive; the company arguably led the way in bringing 4x4 technology into the mainstream, with its Quattro coupé in the early 1980s.

Today, most Audis are available with at least the option of four-wheel drive, while the list of SUVs from the brand includes the Q2, Q3, Q5 and Q7.

AUDI

This is all you really need. It has 22in alloy wheels, air suspension, rear-wheel steering, a limited-slip differential, Matrix LED headlights, privacy glass, a powered tailgate, power-folding door mirrors, leather trim, electrically operated and heated front seats, two-zone climate control, ambient interior lighting, front and rear parking sensors, a rear-view camera, cruise control, a 10-speaker stereo with 180 watts, a 12.3in digital instrument screen, a 10.1in infotainment screen, sat-nav and Apple CarPlay/ Android Auto.

Awesome acceleration and impressive handling, but&nbsp;the Porsche Cayenne Coupé is more fun.

The Audi SQ8 is a monstrously large car, and that means there’s lots of space inside. Front passengers have masses of head and leg room, and there’s plenty of space between the two front seats. 

There are also lots of storage spaces dotted around, including large door bins and a roomy glovebox for larger items, as well as trays and lidded cubbies for any smaller paraphernalia. 

While a sloping roofline can do wonders for a car’s looks, it's usually bad news for rear head room. The SQ8’s rear passengers don’t suffer such a fate, though. True, it's not as spacious as its seven-seat sibling&nbsp;the <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/audi/q7/4x4/review/n17281">Audi SQ7</a>, but they won’t feel hemmed in&nbsp;even if they’re tall, and it’ll fit three passengers in the rear pretty easily.

The back-seat leg room is every bit as generous as it is in the SQ7 because the two cars are the same length between their front and rear wheels. You just don’t have the availability of the two fold-out seats in the boot, which the SQ7 has. 

The rear seats still recline and slide backwards and forwards, giving passengers more comfort and allowing you to&nbsp;increase&nbsp;the boot space when required.

Speaking of which, the boot is huge, with a minimum of 605 litres on offer with the rear seats fully back (680 litres with them slid&nbsp;forwards). That’s enough for a couple of sets of golf clubs, or for your family to go on holiday without stressing about what to leave behind. The tailgate is electrically operated.

Despite awesome acceleration and impressive handling, the SQ8 is almost as relaxing to drive as the regular Q8. It also makes a great noise, it's roomy, impressively well equipped, beautifully made and has strong resale values. It's so good it makes us wonder why you’d ever need the range-topping RS Q8. Just bear in mind that the Porsche Cayenne GTS Coupé is even more fun to drive. 

<h2>What we're looking for:</h2><ul><li>Strong performance</li> <li>Precise, feelsome steering</li> <li>Agile, entertaining handling</li> <li>Reasonable ride comfort</li> <li>Smart and practical interior</li></ul>

Needing a&nbsp;practical load-lugger doesn't mean you need to scrimp on power and sporting prowess. In fact, most sporty manufacturers now have dedicated sports SUVs in their line-up with 0-62mph times to rival cars half their size.&nbsp;

Porsche, for example, offers two:&nbsp;the Macan and the Cayenne, both of which offer rapid performance and seriously impressive handling, as well as providing enough space for five people and a boot capable of fitting more than seven carry-on suitcases.&nbsp;

But even&nbsp;manufacturers not usually focused on track times are getting involved in this market. The Volkswagen T-Roc R is one of our favourites, too, with a 0-62mph time of 4.8sec&nbsp;and&nbsp;fuel economy of 31.5mpg. A sports SUV&nbsp;should satisfy anyone who doesn't want to trade speed for space.&nbsp;

Sports SUV

<h2>What we're looking for:</h2><ul><li>Eye-catching looks without sacrificing too much practicality</li> <li>Strong performance in keeping with a sportier brief</li> <li>Running costs that won’t break the bank</li> <li>Classy interior with high-quality materials</li> <li>Pricing that isn’t exorbitant next to that of conventional siblings</li></ul>

Audi SQ8 review

Introduction

What Car? says...