Audi Q7

Audi Q7

 For family harmony and fuel economy, may I suggest Audi's Q7 TDI. At $68500, it's a wallet-lightener, but it is a highway cruiser nonpareil.

Audi Q7

Audi Q7

Audi Q7

Audi Q7

Audi Q7

Audi Q7

Audi Q7

Audi Q7

Audi Q7

Audi Q7

Audi Q7

Audi Q7

Audi Q7

Audi Q7

Audi Q7

You’re a snowbird. If you’re an East Coaster, the destination is Florida. If you’re on the Wrong Coast, it’s probably California. Both are more than 2,500 kilometres away, you have the kids to accommodate, not to mention the significant other’s collection of shoes/scuba gear/really ugly sunglasses. In other words, you need room, comfort and, being the son of Depression-era parents, you’d prefer some co-operation in the fuel economy department.

THE SPECS
Type of vehicle All-wheel-drive full-sized SUV
Engine 3.0L DOHC V6 turbodiesel
Power 225 hp @ 3,750 rpm; 406 lb-ft of torque @ 1,750 rpm
Transmission Eight-speed manumatic
Brakes Four-wheel disc with ABS
Tires P265/50R19
Price: base/as tested $68,500/$80,450
Destination charge $1,995
Transport Canada fuel economy L/100 km 12.3 city, 7.7 hwy.
Off the spec sheet, the story gets even better. On my cruise-controlled-to-120-kilometres-an-hour trip from Toronto to Ottawa, the Q7 averaged but 8.2 L/100 km. That’s barely above the Transport Canada rating at a substantially higher speed. As I have said many times, diesels come closer than any other powertrain to matching our government’s normally optimistic ratings. Even throttling up to 130 km/h for the return trip only saw fuel consumption increase to 8.9 L/100 km.