NY International Auto Show TODAY

[kirklake13]

Had the extreme pleasure of crawling around a lava grey 4.2 and a quartz grey 3.6 today. Spent about two hours probing, looking and trying different things.

Got to see both the six and seven seat configurations too.

Will update later with more pics and my take on this beautiful vehicle.

I just have to say, it is more striking in person than in any photos I have seen.

Enjoy these...more to come!

[alex911s]

[kirklake13]

More to come tonight.

[kirklake13]

Here's the rest of what I took at the show yesterday.

My impressions (which I will probably expand upon in the future) include:

Third pic shows my son sitting in the third row seat, he's 13 and average size for his age. With the second row moved about half way up on it's track, he had plenty of room. It's a little tight getting into the third row, (for me, not for him) but the entry space is all a matter of how far up on the track the second row is and how far back the front seat is. I was pleasantly surprised with the space in this row.

Could not find the button to reveal the hitch, salespeople were stymied by my request.

The engine compartment of both vehicles is well laid out. Plenty of room to work and very neat.

The last pic shows a "soft" windscreen which pops up when roof is open. All the "interior" suncreens below the glass roof panels are fabric. Could be a problem with kids pushing on them and creating slack. The screens at the show were well worn.

Plenty of room in the rear, particularly with the third seat folded.

Automatic opening/closing hatch is cool. Yet I think an audible warning should be added as there was no warning to anyone standing under it when someone pushed the close button in the driver's seat. Several people "jumped" while I was there.

Could not find the spare tire compartment.

Glove box opens with a button located in the center of the dash.

Plastic lenses over headlights, thought these were supposed to be glass?

Interior fit & finish was exceptional. Doors tight and trimed.

MMI was working in a limited fashion. Looks great.

Rear view is good from the drivers seat, much better than the GL which is so much larger.

Button in rear storage area to raise or lower Q7 for loading. Neat. (Air Suspension required)

So many bottle holders! Wait till you see the size of the bottle holders in the doors!

Biggest concern, and surprise, for me was the middle seat in the middle row. This row is definately not for three adults. If it wasn't that I need the potential for seven, I would definately wait for the six seater. (At least the center console in that configuration is useful.)

There are no headset jacks in the second or third rows. My kids were bummed out, oh well, they'll have to bring there PSP's or MP3's. Now I'll get to listen to my Sirius stations.

I'm sure I'll think of other items to discuss.

Feel free to ask me questions, which I might have answers to.

I think I'll be changing my exterior color to phantom black (from bahia beige) I'll be keeping the expresso interior. That reminds me, the interiors of the show cars were grey and beige. the leathers are very light in color and with all the show traffic they really showed the dirt. It makes me glad I'm getting the darker leather.

Hope that sharing this helps some of you get a better understanding of the Q7.

Can't wait to drive it. That's my next adventure on 4/30 on Long Island. I'll be attending the Streets of Tomorrow event. Maybe I'll meet some of you there!!

[Paul3.2A4avant]

[FineProperty]

[Krokas]

Thanks for the write-up and the pics!

Regarding the spare tire.. you did not find it b/c it does not exist with the 20 inch and up wheels I believe. (not sure about the 19s)

I agree with you on the second row, I think it is the one area they could have done a better job with (other than having leds in the front and back :-)).

Phantom / espresso sounds like a great combo. I opted for dark interior for similar reasons esp. as this is an SUV.

Otherwise I would have gone with light grey . I had artic silver on my S4 a few years back with black exterior and it looked amazing.

[kirklake13]

Are you saying there is no spare tire in this car if it comes with 20', not even a donut?

[Krokas]

nope, not even that; just a kit (similar to what you get in the M3).

[peegee]

At last someone actually sitting in the 3rd row.

Cant wait our local dealer has one now and we're letting our kids loose on it tomorrow afternoon - yeehah.

On the issue of the 20" rim - two things.

1) audi uk have made the 20" rims a 1600 gb pound option!!! If I we're to ever have problems in the car then we'd likely be fully of people and luggage - Frankly I have no idea where I'd put a tyre that size in the cabin!!!

AND Given the huge uplift (compared to the USA option price for 20" option) I'm hardly going to leave 400 gb pounds worth of wheel and tyre at side of road!!!

2) the audi's come with recover option - normally aa or rac in uk - so if the gunge and pump didnt work (for unrecoverable punctures) then I'd call the recover guys to get me to a garage or home on lowloader. If the tyre puncture was in main tread of tyre I'd call recovery right away and get tyre fixed later.

Last thing I need to be doing is juggling 3 to 5 passengers and luggage on a jack and asking them to hold onto a dirty 20" rim with a useless tyre attached LOTS OF LAUGHS ON THAT ONE.