There's a measure of humble pie with this new model from Audi, the company that dismissed the late-'90s rash of SUVs as a short-term trend. Cars like Mercedes' M Class, the BMW X5, and, later, the Volvo XC90, sold better than those manufacturers might have dreamed, and now Audi has finally decided to join the race.
Derived from the same platform as the awkward VW Touareg and the grisly Porsche Cayenne, the Q7 also sports a somewhat unusual look. It's a tale of two halves, with a fairly handsome and definitely purposeful front end, but there's a slightly clumsy and disparate look to the rest of the car.
The interior is a delight, though. The plentiful supply of gear includes cruise control that keeps you a given distance away from the car head, and a radar system alerting you to cars on your flanks hovering in blind sports. Space is both abundant and flexible, with a third row of seats that, though a bit tight, does offer more room than a XC90 or Land Rover Discovery. That row can be stowed into the floor to yield very respectable load-lugging ability.
Dynamically, the Q7 is admirably well engineered, offering far more agility than a car of its size should supply by rights, and solid cornering characteristics. Refinement is also excellent, with acceptable road noise and a very settled, comfortable ride, mainly thanks to air suspension, which is a standard feature.
Up front there's the choice between a newly-tweaked 3.0-litre TDI engine, providing improved efficiency, and the fuel-gulping 4.2-litre V8 petrol engine found in the madcap RS4. You'll be on the brink of single-figure mpg returns when pushing the V8 hard, and the lowest emissions reading in the entire range is 225g/km of CO2, so there is no 'green' option here, but the 3.0-litre unit offers at least some kind of compromise. All variants come with a six-speed auto 'box with manual override.
Value-wise, a basic price of more than £40,000 isn't cheap, but there's lots of good kit on offer, including that highly effective air suspension. Just as well, because the options list is eye-watering.
Given the abundance of ugly sisters in its class, the Q7's looks shouldn't detract too much from what is a luxurious, flexible, and capable big SUV.