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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.
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History
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.
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What you get
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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What to look for
Most owners in our survey seemed happy but there are obviously things you need to look out for. Check the wheels and tyres carefully; the rim sizes are big (the smallest is 21-inches) and will be pricey, as will be the rubber they're shod with. Make sure all the infotainment stuff works as it should; as for software updates, make sure the car you're looking at has had all of those.
As for recall issues, well there was a problem with the casting of the front shock absorber forks for some models made in November and December 2018. Some Q8s built before February 2019 could have a problem where bolts connecting the steering rack and steering shaft and work loose. And Q8s made between September and December 2019 may have a problem where oil may escape from a faulty join in the gearbox oil line. If the car you're looking at is affected by any of this recall issues, make sure it's been back to the dealer. Otherwise, it's just the usual things with an SUV aimed at tarmac. Check the interior for child damage. And insist on a fully stamped-up service history.
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Replacement parts
(approx based on a Q8 50 TDI (2019) - Ex Vat - autopartspro.co.uk) An oil filter costs around £4-£8. A fuel filter is around £2-£27. An air filter is in the £26-£52 bracket. A pollen filter is in the £8-£13 bracket. Front brake pads sit in the £28 bracket for a set; for a rear set, it's around £15-£30. A pair of front brake discs sit in the £124 bracket; for a rear pair, you're looking at around £47-£142. A pollen filter costs in the £12-£25 bracket. And an air filter is in the £24-£79 bracket. A shock absorber is around £26-£70 and an alternator is in the £993-£2,002 bracket. A starter motor is in the £175-£545 bracket.
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On the road
Despite the Q8's sporty looks, Audi configured the handling based very much around a luxury demeanour. That's aided by standard Adaptive air Sport suspension and the refinement of the engines on offer, which are mainly based around the brand's 'Mild Hybrid' technology. This works with a starter motor / generator system and allows the car to coast at both high and low speeds using 48V electrical assistance. Most buyers will choose the unit this car was launched with, the '50 TDI' 286PS diesel powerplant. It's one of Audi's best, creamy smooth, superbly refined and generally torquey, equipped with 600Nm of pulling power. Alternatively, there's a 340PS 3.0-litre petrol engine, badged '55 TFSI'. That same six cylinder petrol engine also provided the basis for two PHEV variants made available for a short period in the life of the pre-facelift Q8 model, the 55 TFSI e with 375bhp and the 60 TFSI e with 456bhp. Both offered an EV range of up to 28 miles from their 17.9kWh batteries. The two sporting Q8 variants both use a 4.0-litre V8, offered in 507PS form in the SQ8 and in 600PS in the RS Q8.
Across the line-up, as usual with the brand's models, a 'Drive Select' driving modes system provides various settings that allow you to influence steering feel, throttle response, ride quality and the shift timings of the standard 8-speed tiptronic auto transmission. Select the 'Dynamic' option and, aided by the extra traction of quattro 4WD, this car can actually be pushed along pretty quickly, should the need arise to do so. But it's still much happier when you're not throwing it about. 'Drive Select' also offers an extra 'allroad' setting that you might choose should you be traversing a slippery or snowy track. This focuses all of the electronic systems for off road use, introduces hill descent control when needed and optimises the four wheel drive torque split. For most potential owners though, what'll be important is this car's capability on the highway rather than in the Highlands. Which is why Audi has ensured that Q8 buyers have access to all the latest elements of its so-called 'Level 3' driving autonomy, which works via an optional 'Traffic Jam Pilot' set-up.
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Overall
You can see why Audi felt it had to build this model, though it's a little hard to understand why it took the brand so long to bring it to market. We'd half-hoped that this delay might have enabled the company to introduce a few radically new elements to the fashionable formula championed by this sort of car. That didn't happen here, but even so, the Q8 did manage to provide buyers seduced by this class-conscious category something just that little bit different.
Exactly what that is can be a little difficult to define. Perhaps the easiest way to express it is to suggest that if you turned up to a business meeting in this contender's two most obvious competitors, the BMW X6 or the Mercedes GLE Coupe, some might dismiss you as a showy extrovert. Arrive in a Q8 and the impact would be a touch more subtle. For some, that distinction will be important, particularly as this Audi is - in its own way - just as stylish and avant garde as its two main Teutonic arch-rivals.
And in summary? Well no SUV you could choose in this sector is going to add up if you judge it from a purely sensible perspective, so in considering this Audi, you're rather beguilingly freed up to purely please yourself. If you're attracted by it, then probably nothing else in this part of the market will do. It's unnecessary, it's uninhibited and it's undeniably appealing - as all of life's most appealing trinkets are. In other words, it's everything that this kind of car should be.
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