RUNNINGS
BY HARRY KIRSBAUM I PHOTOGRAPHY BY ANGIE BAAN
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he coolest thing about the 2007 Audi Q7 SUV
is the sunroof. And the ride. And the easy
controls.
And did I mention the sunroof? When you
roll back the curtain, it keeps going and going and going,
and it's more like a glass ceiling.
With a 4.2 liter V-8 DOHC engine with 350 horses,
325 lb.-ft of torque at 6800 rpm and front and rear double
wishbone independent suspension, this SUV — Audi's first
— rides more like a car. A very tall car.
The Q7 has the styling of the Porsche Cayenne without
the price. With a base price of 549,900, the one I drove
was 555,620.
The sunroof was an option well worth an extra $1,850,
but the car comes loaded with standards ordinarily found as
options on other cars, including an 14-speaker, 10-channel
Bose sound system, six-disc CD changer and satellite radio
preparation.
It also features an operating system that gives you control
over just about everything in the car (except your passen-
gers) through an amazingly easy-to-use color screen.
It's roomy and long, has cup-holders everywhere and has
a third row, which means that seven people could possibly
fit in the car, if two of them are 6-year-old gymnasts. The
side-view mirrors are as big as your face, and come in handy
when the third-row seats are up, partially obstructing the
rear view. All the rear seats easily disappear, leaving tons of
storage room.
The Q7 gets 14 mpg in the city and 19 mpg on the
highway, not bad for a vehicle that tops out at 130 mph.
What a ride — what a view. ❑
Special thanks to the Fred Lavery Company in Birmingham for
allowing Cool Runnings to drive the Q7.
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