SQ7

STORY

The SQ7 arrived in March 2016 as the first S model in the Q7 range, and its 4.0 V8 TDI carried a world first: an electric powered compressor fed by a dedicated 48-volt subsystem, filling in boost before the two exhaust-driven turbochargers could. Audi quoted 320 kW (435 PS) and 900 Nm and called it the most powerful diesel SUV on the market. That diesel never reached the United States; when the SQ7 went on sale there for the 2020 model year it used a 4.0 TFSI petrol V8 rated at 500 hp. On 15 July 2020 Audi announced the TFSI for the rest of the world too, 373 kW (507 PS) and 770 Nm with European deliveries from that autumn, saying it was answering a worldwide move to petrol engines in fast SUVs. The 4M line ran until 2026, and a second SQ7, revealed in June 2026 on the third-generation Q7, again uses a twin-turbo V8, now 591 hp.