Audi Q7 review: a genuinely capable three-row SUV that plays it too safe styling-wise
motorssouq Editorial Team
Buy the Q7 for the third row that genuinely fits adults on short trips, the quattro-plus-V6 combination that tows and overtakes without drama, and a cabin that seats seven without feeling like a compromise. Accept that it will not turn heads the way an X5 does, and that the smaller Q5 does 90 percent of the daily job for meaningfully less money if you rarely need the extra two seats.
Pros
- Third row genuinely fits adults, not just children
- 3.0-litre V6 quattro combination tows and overtakes with ease
- Understated styling suits buyers who do not want an image statement
- Solid, unsurprising running costs for the segment
Cons
- Boot space shrinks significantly with all seven seats up
- Styling is understated to the point of being forgettable
- Resale trails the BMW X5
- Turning circle and width are a tax in older Manama car parks
The Q7's design brief has always been understated rather than dramatic, and the facelift leaned further into that: a bigger single-frame grille and sharper lights are the visible changes, everything else is evolution. It is not a car that photographs as excitingly as an X5, and in a country where a lot of SUV buying is genuinely about the school run and the airport rather than an image statement, that restraint has an audience.
The third row is real
Unlike some three-row SUVs where the rearmost seats are an emergency-use afterthought, the Q7's third row genuinely fits adults for a causeway run to Saudi, not just children on a school pickup. Folding it flat opens a properly useful cargo bay, though with all seven seats up, boot space shrinks to a genuinely small number worth checking before you commit to a family that already owns a lot of luggage.
The 3.0-litre V6 and quattro combination is the sweet spot in the range: enough torque low in the rev range to tow a boat trailer or a jet-ski without strain, refined enough at highway speed that a full car of passengers barely notices the difference from an empty one.
Running costs
Fuel consumption around 10 L/100 km in real mixed driving is honest for the size and weight, and Bahrain's fuel prices keep that from being a genuine budget concern. Servicing at Audi's local network costs what you would expect from a German luxury SUV this size — plan for it rather than be surprised by it — and resale, while behind the X5, is solid enough that the Q7 is not a car anyone regrets buying.