Audi's Q7 Variants Keep On Coming
Illawarra Mercury
Saturday September 13, 2008
Audi's Q7 sports utility vehicle is yet to be found wanting for urge in either 3.0-litre diesel or 4.2-litre petrol guise.
So we wonder why anyone would really need the latest Q7 variant announced as production-ready and scheduled for launch here sometime next year. For those who love numbers this latest addition to the family has them in spades. Try a 6.0-litre V12 diesel with turbocharging and high-pressure, common-rail fuel-injection, 368kW (about 50kW more than Holden Special Vehicles' latest 6.0-litre offerings) and 1000Nm of torque. It'll cover 0-100km/h in 5.5 seconds and has a 250km/h electronically-limited top speed. Fuel use? On the official test cycle the biggest Audi averages just 11.3litres/100km, about as much as the average six-cylinder family sedan. At the other end of the scale is Subaru's world first, a 2.0-litre, horizontally-opposed four-cylinder "boxer" diesel which will be revealed at next month's Paris Motor Show beneath the bonnets of the latest Impreza and Forester models. With double overhead camshafts and four valves per cylinder the flat-four oiler makes 108kW at a quite low 3600rpm in the Forester and 110kW (also at 3600rpm) in Impreza. Both variants are good for 350Nm of torque at 2400rpm. The engine is already used in European Legacy (Liberty) and Outback models and Subaru Australia expects to have the Outback diesel here late next year.
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