We (Audiworld) were invited to see it...but not to take pics....or drive it...Damn. Lets see what Matt has to say in a few days. :-)

Just a few questions if possible:

How close is the interior to the the Pikes Peak concept?

Does it have a 'driver oriented' dashboard like the new A6?

Just kidding. I got to get a very, very, very, good look at the Q7 last night. As Steve mentioned, no photos were allowed and we were not allowed to drive it. Other than that, we were able to look at everything else with the car. It was basically a finished model (no cammo), but you could tell that many of the parts are not quite production ready.

Overall exterior design impressions: C6 A6 Avant on steriods, which is not a bad thing. It looks longer and sleeker than the Touareg and Cayanne - Audi was really going for more of an sporty look rather than a SUV boxy look.

Audi is readily admiting that it's not a "true" SUV - for lack of better term it is crossover. It will not be a rough-and-tough off-road vehicle like the Touareg. The all-wheel drive will basically be the same quattro system in the other models - sounds like it will not have locking differentials, etc. However, they do say that it will have decent off-road capabilites.

Interior: Typical understated Audi enterior with excellent ergonomics and build quality. Very little clutter on the dash & center console. Had MMI in it. Has a center CD slot for the navigation - 6 disc changer is below the center armrest.

Back seats offer plenty of leg room. Seperate climate control for the rear passengers (not sure if thats a standard feature or not).

Third row seat is tight, but OK for smaller people. The middle row can be moved foward to give third row more leg room. Third row folds flat into the trunk area. Middle row also can fold flat.

Audi is expecting first year sales in North America to be about 15K units - they think the future potential is around 50k per year although that may be a number of years down the road.

That's enough for now. I'll be doing a detailed report in the next couple of days and will be appearing on AudiWorld shortly after.

<ul><li><a href="http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/Features/articleId=104941?tid=edmunds.h..insideline.promo.3 .*">http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/Features/articleId=104941?tid=edmunds.h..insideline.promo.3 .*</a</li></ul>

almost 6" of space from the front of the engine to the radiator. While I was looking at the engine compartment, Johan De Nysschen specifically pointed out to me that there was plenty of room for "a longer engine" in the engine bay. While I did not specifically hear from him that it would be a V10, it was being discussed by others in the room.

with some minor differences. But, go take a look at the dash layout of the new A6 and you'll have a pretty good idea of what the Q7s looks like.

Look for more information on AudiWorld shortly.