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IF YOU’RE IN the fortunate position of finding that a BMW X6 or Range Rover Sport doesn’t quite float your boat, then there is good news – the Audi Q8 is set to arrive later this year.
Just when you thought Audi couldn’t possibly fill any more niches, along comes a new flagship SUV. Unlike the Q7, this one will only feature five seats, and it’s a sportier model though barely any less practical. On top of that, it comes loaded with the latest tech including a mild hybrid system.
Unlike the X6, or indeed the Mercedes-Benz GLE Coupe, the Q8 doesn’t get a coupe-like roofline. It does slope down, but it retains plenty of headroom in the back. The grille design is more in-your-face, especially with a contrasting colour surround.
What isn’t as clear from the images of the car is how big it is. Compare it to the Q7, and you’ll see that it is lower and shorter but gets a wider track. Few SUVs make 21-inch wheels look so normal.
True Audi aficionados will spot the multiple nods to the original Ur-quattro, such as the blistered wheel arches and rear lights that are inset into a black panel spanning the bootlid.
Behind that lies a generous 605 litres of boot space, and if you need to fold down the rear seats, this swells to 1,755 litres. For those seated in the rear, neither head nor legroom is in short supply, and there’s the option of a panoramic glass roof.
Up front, it is Audi at its very best, with a dashboard that sees button count fall to the bare minimum and high definition touchscreens being the order of the day. Facing the driver is the now-familiar 12.3-inch Virtual Cockpit display, and this gets some minor graphical tweaks in the Q8. Buyers can add a larger head-up display that projects onto the windscreen.
Almost all of the in-car infotainment and settings are controlled via a 10.1- and 8.6-inch screen in the centre console, with haptic feedback helping you feel your way around without taking your eyes off the road. Flash as it might all look at first glance, the fit and finish throughout the interior appears to be among the best in the segment.
But looks aren’t everything, so what better way to put the Q8 through its paces than with an extended drive through the Atacama Desert. Normally one of the driest places on the planet, my time there saw snow and heavy rain, so ideal conditions for trying the quattro all-wheel drive transmission.
You do feel the weight of the Q8 if you start throwing it into corners but the car grips the road with ease, helped in the tighter corners by the optional rear-wheel steering. This feature can reduce turn circle by up to a metre, useful if you’re frequently in multi-storey car parks.
The air-suspension can lower the car at higher speeds, improving both airflow and centre of gravity. It’s often been easy to criticise Audi for not putting enough steering feel in its vehicles, but this is one area the Q8 does well.
Ample performance levels are provided by the turbocharged 3.0-litre six-cylinder diesel, producing 286hp and a punchy 600Nm of torque to give it plenty of shove out of the corners. That, in turn, gets some help from a mild-hybrid system. The latter doesn’t power the car directly; instead a battery in the rear enables the engine to switch off for up to 40 seconds at a time (usually when coasting on a motorway) – like a start-stop system on the move.
It all happens with remarkable seamlessness, in many cases, you’ll only notice by glancing at the digital tachometer sitting at 0rpm.
When it arrives on sale later this year, the Audi Q8 isn’t likely to be cheap. Official prices are still being hammered out, but expect it to surpass the Q7. It is also expected to forgo the base model; instead the range will start with the S line version.
The Q8 looks, feels and performs every bit like the range-topping model it professes to be. Crucially, it beats its main rivals in almost every way and being the newest kid on the block should see it earn its place on prospective buyers’ shopping lists.
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The health service isn’t “overlooked”. It’s just terribly ran and inefficient.
@Seán Ó hAnnracháin: Agree the Irish Health Service consumes 11% of our GDP v 9% average for other EU countries. Transparency needed on unit production. How many total manhours per procedure (direct and all indirect) v international benchmarks? Please publish.
- 2 Tier Irish Health System is obscene.
- Belfast buses from West Cork for cataract operations.
Tidal wave of health and mental issue s will follow.
The worse is yet to come.
‘Overlooked’ as in intentionally underfunded to scare people into the arrms of private health insurance companies.
“That’s the standard technique of privatization: defund, make sure things don’t work, people get angry, you hand it over to private capital” – Noam Chomsky
@The Risen: Funding has increased by 1/5 over the past 5 years, so the HSE is definitely not being “underunded”, but epically mis-managed. But don’t let facts get in the way of your little rants.
@The Risen: it’s a thought but I don’t really think so there are a lot off buffoons in charge
@The Risen: nothing underfunded about our health service… It’s run by a bunch of interest groups who are more concerned with their share rather than the health of the nation. Top heavy management that wasn’t thinned out in the move from Health Boards to the HSE maintains the lack of value and continuing inefficiency of any investment. Hospitals owned or managed by “patrons” despite being funded and developed by the state limit the mobility and efficiency of trained staff. Working practices designed to ensure as much staff as possible are paid at higher levels and a ridiculous consultant contract all contribute to ensure that any individual procedure actually costs more than the equivalent in a private setting, any of the double jobbing consultants will confirm this.
@The Risen: You say this because the HSE SHOULD BE a leftists’ wet dream – a big public sector (union dominated) organisation running our health system for the benefit of the public. But it’s a disaster. But that’s ok, because just blame the mean Gov or those evil capitalists. Hate to burst your bubble, but the HSE is the way it is because it is dominated by public sector vested interests (i.e Unions). There is no real accountability. There is no desire from within for change and any significant change is fought tooth nail because the status quo suits the special interests (i.e PS unions)- they’ve carved it out this way. At least if you’re paying for a service, the provider has an interest in providing you a good service. The HSE bureaucrat has no such interest, they are paid regardless.
All future governments will tie up the banking crisis borrowings with loans from Covid and will blame “Covid” for everything for years to come.
What health service as its near impossible to even see a GP these days
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