Audi Q8 long term review, 6,500km report – Introduction

Last report: The much less you attempt to outline the Q8, the extra sense it makes.

Audi isn’t any stranger to odd naming selections. It changed its engine displacement badge with an arbitrary ‘efficiency’ quantity; ‘e-tron’ (except for its that means in French) was first a mannequin, then a suffix, and now a sub-brand; and do you know its CNG vehicles are badged g-tron? Most not too long ago, in 2023, the model made the daring choice to assign odd numbers to all its ICE mannequin names and even numbers to all EVs, turning a long time of legacy on its head. It was so complicated to clients that the model reneged in 2025 and is again to numbering vehicles based mostly on their measurement. However even earlier than this double U-turn, one mannequin by no means fairly sat proper on the dimensions, and that’s the Q8.

8 is the most important quantity within the Audi mannequin vary, however the Q8 is just not the most important SUV. It additionally implies a relation to the A8, however the Q8 affords nowhere close to that sort of chauffeur-driven expertise. Most confoundingly, it shares its title with the Q8 e-tron, an EV that’s noticeably smaller. Some argue that it earns its 8 as a result of it’s a sporty, fashionable coupé-SUV positioned above the Q7 – however then, its title would come with ‘Sportback’, which it doesn’t.

Appears to be like menacing and glossy with out going excessive.

Having spent a while with our long-term Q8, I’ve realised it’s best not to consider any of that an excessive amount of as a result of it detracts from the truth that that is an honest-to-goodness nice luxurious SUV. For one – and going again to that ‘Sportback’ level – although it appears somewhat sleeker than most large 5-seat SUVs, it sacrifices no house or practicality to the design. You’d have seen Santa Sergius load it up with Christmas items (Autocar India, January 2025), and I, too, managed a few airport runs in my time with the Q8. The boot can maintain much more than its 605-litre score or the dipping roofline would have you ever consider, and the rear seat is extensive and spacious. I as soon as carried a full complement of passengers, and so they truly marvelled at how they weren’t making contact with each other.

605-litre boot is extra spacious than it appears on the skin.

The Q8 is a part of the outgoing era of massive Audis, and with it’s going to go a definite inside format that was began with the present Q7 a decade in the past. It’s not with out its flaws, just like the dashboard and centre console made completely of gloss-black plastic and screens, which magnetize a layer of mud each time I open the home windows even for a short time. However again then, it efficiently modernised the Audi inside whereas holding it stylish and expensive-looking, and that holds true even at this time, extra so now that we’ve seen what’s coming subsequent. It’s the same story with the digital dials that, although easy, are extremely clear and simple to learn on the transfer.

Among the many final Audis to make use of this cabin format. Not with out flaws, however oh so stylish.

It’s an enormous automobile, for higher or worse. I completely love lording over visitors on the way in which to work each day, however navigating the tiny streets in my neighbourhood and parking in my small driveway is tedious, to say the least. At my typical crawling speeds, it’s not shocking {that a} 2.1-tonne SUV with a turbo-petrol V6 isn’t going to be environment friendly, however 5.4kpl is low by any measure. And whereas Sergius loved the journey high quality on his freeway drive to Goa, on the town, the suspension feels agency (and the steering heavy); air suspension is a characteristic they need to not have deleted.

Struggled to succeed in even 6kpl on the every day commute.

Then there’s Sakhir Gold: a color that doesn’t even barely resemble gold however isn’t any much less alluring for it (one other complicated Audi naming selection, I suppose). I really like the paint shade and am glad they provide it amidst the greys, blacks and silvers typical of German luxurious vehicles. You may even get it on the Q7 now, and it by no means fails to awaken a comment from anybody who steps into the SUV. In truth, in my expertise, whoever does expertise the Q8 has solely good issues to say about it. It’s solely these of us who’ve been attempting to wrap our heads round its positioning who by no means fairly bought it. With the facelift and worth revision, it’s now higher positioned towards the likes of the BMW X5 and Mercedes GLE, and for my part, it appears higher than both of them.

By the point you learn this, it’s going to have left the fleet and been changed by a Q7, and for a lot of within the crew, that will probably be an improve. For one, it’s bought much more house and, crucially, smaller wheels and air suspension, which ought to permit it to journey higher. However its color? Samurai Gray. Boo!