Audi's Q8 knows its strength—and flaunts them with a vengeance
I’ve always liked Audis. Not all of them, of course; but, in general, I have a deep respect for the brand. There’s passion there. There’s depth. And most of all, there’s pride. Arguably even more so than its more established compatriots—probably due to the fact that they have always felt they had more to prove, perhaps.
While other designers usually crave validation, the Q8 refuses to crowdsource its appearance and chooses to
make its own brief but powerful statement. And it has the haters hopping mad. While most bold and daring designs are a love-it-or-loathe-it affair, the Q8 presents itself as an ultimatum: you either concede and accept that Audi is now driving the conversation in this space by finally defining what a luxury crossover should be, or look like a fool trying to deny it.
That, in itself, is a large part of its appeal. It doesn’t pander. It doesn’t need your approval to know its beautiful, daring, and audacious. It just knows and that is that kind of confidence that pulls you in by the nose hairs—plus it is highly contagious. In fact, just barely a minute into my drive, I started getting comfortable with the stares—something I normally hide from— because unlike those moments when you feel you’re driving a generic status symbol, with this Q8, you become part of the statement, not the cliché.
What makes it even more impressive is this is not due to novelty because the Q8 is no longer new. It was mid 2016 when Audi broke the news that it would be unveiling an all-new SUV in the form of the Q8. Teaser shots and a concept vehicle shown at motor shows like the North American Auto Show in Detroit gave us an idea of what the Q8 would look like and many thought it would remain just that—a concept. Or if and when it did finally reach production, we would see a heavily diluted version that would appeal to a much larger base.
Instead, what we got was a pissed off crossover with an axe to grind with other premium coupe-SUVs such as the BMW X6 and Mercedes-Benz GLE Coupe.
Dubbed as the top-tier model in the growing Q family, the new Q8 shows off new styling cues such as the larger Singleframe grille (first seen on the latest-gen A8), sleek HD LED headlamps, a sloping roofline, large C-pillars, and LED taillights flanking a thin LED light bar. It’s an SUV wrapped in a sleek five-door coupe.
While the roof may be sleeker than most SUVs in the range, the cabin is actually quite generous in terms of space. The cargo hold, for instance, is pegged at 605L with the seats up. Fold those rear chairs and you get 1,755L to play with. Of course, the requisite power tailgate is part of the package, along with an optional motorised parcel shelf.
