First drives are usually sanitary affairs. You turn up, get driven to a nice hotel, the company wines and dines you while talking about how great their new vehicle is, and then you take it around a pretty safe pre-determined loop while giving a rough appraisement of its handling and comfort features.
Recently, Audi brought me out to Utah to take a look at the 2027 Q9 and SQ9. But my flight was canceled because United Airlines is absolutely useless. As a result, I arrived a day late and got more seat time with Audi’s new SUV than I’ve had with anything else on a first drive program. What’s more, Audi laid out some pretty interesting routes involving mountain roads, a beautiful national park, and surprisingly challenging backroads.
What no one accounted for was the weather, and I actually encountered snow on the Cedar Mountain corridor. The road was dusted and icy, visibility was near zero, and I actually got to see how a vehicle performs in a genuinely difficult situation.
Here’s everything I learned about Audi’s new flagship.
Nothing says “made for the American market” like a V8 option
Like many European manufacturers, Audi has come to the conclusion that the American market is very much its own thing. There are driving demands, and customer tastes, that don’t apply to the rest of the world, and some adaptations have to be made for a vehicle to do well over here.
Overall, the Q9 feels very much “America first” in many ways. The German company is releasing it in the US first, has made the vehicle bigger than it was before, bumped the luxury elements up to the next level, and given customers the option of a hefty V8 under the hood.
While a far from insubstantial 2.9-liter V6 powers the standard Q9, providing 429 horsepower and 442 lb-ft of torque, the premium option is packing a 4-liter V8 with a healthy 591 horsepower and 590 lb-ft of torque.
Yes, the V8 was technically invented by the French, but it’s the most American engine configuration. And it feels right at home under the hood of this German SUV.
The Audi Q9 and SQ9 make you a more considerate driver
I’m sure we’ve all been there. We’re driving along minding our own business then a four letter word in a truck or something starts tailgating us with their high beams on. The Audi Q9 isn’t a particularly small vehicle, so it does offer a little protection from this. It also reduces your chances of being “that guy” to zero. So you can benefit from a well lit road safe in the knowledge that a good number of other road users don’t think you should be subjected to treatment that I’ve been told I’m not allowed to detail on this website.
This all comes courtesy of Audi’s “Digital Matrix LED” system which crafts your vehicle’s beams through a combination of 25,600 micro LEDs which Audi claims are “thinner than a human hair.” The camera providing the data also sits pretty high up on the vehicle, which means it has a better view than the person driving.
Audi’s smart high beam system lights as much of the road as possible while cutting off the beam at the license plate of the vehicle in front of you. It also shuts off when it spots a vehicle coming the other way. So the road is well illuminated, for you and other road users, while no one is having their retinas burned out. It’s one of those weird vehicle features where everyone benefits from your presence on the road.
The infotainment system makes customization easy
Audi has put plenty of effort into its new infotainment system, with more apparently on its way via over the air updates. A passenger screen is present to keep those riding shotgun amused, but it’s the stunning driver’s display that stands out. Audi’s own system is easy to navigate, and its maps system in particular is superb.
The vehicle supports both Apple Car Play and Android Auto, with both phone-based systems able to run in tandem with Audi’s own in-car infotainment software. So you can use Audi’s maps while playing music and handling calls from Car Play.
The display, along with the vehicle interior, is also highly customizable. You can pick a pre-set display package, or create your own with custom photos. It even adjusts the cabin lighting to match your pick.
Audi has put a lot of effort into the Q9’s sound system too. The “4D” audio moves around the cabin and makes your head feel a bit weird when it shifts through you. Bang and Olufsen have done a great job, and audiophiles have a lot to work with here.
The styling is pretty unique, and may prove divisive
Audi has been bold with its styling choices for the Q9 and SQ9. On the outside, it’s further evidence we’re leaving the “overly rounded blob” era of vehicles behind. It’s aggressive, its lighting adds a lot to the appearance, and it retains a sense of sportiness despite its size.
Personally, I prefer the classic looking “striped” grille on the standard Q9 to the more abstract cube-filled one on the SQ9 and I wish it was an option on the more expensive vehicle. But this is a personal preference and others may feel differently.
Inside, the vehicle abandons classic luxury and instead provides a futuristic take on the high-end SUV. The seats seem ergonomic, and are beautifully shaped. Lighting is well placed around the cabin. I feel like the carbon-fiber like trim offered on the SQ9 fits this aesthetic more than the wood on the standard Q9.
The styling, particularly that of the interior, may prove divisive. There are many that prefer classic wood and leather interiors, and will shy away from this. Though both Mercedes and BMW have also long since abandoned the classic luxury vibe and attempted to carve out a more modern cabin. It’s a brave choice, and something I’m glad Audi had the confidence to do.
In practical terms, the Audi Q9 is larger than ever and beats its direct peers out in third-row comfort. The second row captain’s chairs were incredibly comfortable when I sat in them, and now feature heated seats. The back row has enough room for an adult to ride in a fair degree of comfort, and boasts a few more inches of leg room than both Mercedes and BMW’s equivalent efforts, though it does lag behind some US options like the extended Cadillac Escalade and Jeep Grand Wagoneer.
With both back rows down, the Q9 boasts 87.7 cu. ft. of storage with between 43.8 and 50 cubic feet available behind Row 2 and 19.3cubic feet available behind Row 3.
The SQ9 is very thirsty, and the Q9 isn’t a lot better
Fuel economy is a consideration for many these days, though there’s an argument that if you’re dropping six figures on a vehicle a few extra bucks at the pump won’t concern you much. There’s also an argument that poor fuel economy is a price you pay for performance, and you know what you’re getting into when you pick a vehicle packing a 4-liter V8.
Audi hasn’t released the official EPA-estimated fuel economy figures yet. But I can give you a ballpark figure based on the drive experience. In an urban and suburban environment, the dash display suggests that the SQ9 was operating in the single digit MPG range, with the Q9 not looking much better. Both were claiming to be sub-10 MPG, with the SQ9 claiming as little as 6 MPG a lot of the time. On the highway, things weren’t a lot better with the MPG rating for both getting into the mid-teens.
It is worth noting that I’m going off what the on-board computer was estimating here. And I was driving at altitude in a variety of conditions. The EPA-figures may be vastly different from this. But either way, it’s not going to be the most economical thing on the road and may be closer to a pickup truck than it is to a regular crossover with a hybrid powertrain.
The SQ9’s Performance is a sleeping giant
I heard some big claims about the 2027 Q9’s performance before getting behind the wheel, specifically the SQ9. I’m pleased to say it lived up to those in the end. In terms of raw grunt, the standard Q9 is far from sluggish. In fact I’d say it’s more than enough for most people. Hit the gas and it will push hard from pretty much any speed, which is great when you’re overtaking or merging. It’s also pretty comfortable sitting at 60 to 80 mph if you’re heading along a highway.
The SQ9 very much scratches the performance itch if you need something with a little more punch, though. At first, I was a little disappointed in it. It obviously had power, but the responsiveness was off. In Audi’s standard drive mode, there’s a two or so second delay between you hitting the gas and the vehicle actually moving.
Dynamic mode, Audi’s version of “sport mode,” fixes all of this. As it often does. Tell the vehicle you want performance and the SQ9 will give you performance on tap. Pressing the accelerator is met with a healthy amount of aggression. The vehicle does have a lot of weight, and its center of gravity is a little higher than you want when tearing into corners. But this is all mitigated pretty well by Audi’s driver assistance system, and the always excellent Quattro AWD.
While it wasn’t the first AWD system to crop up in a production vehicle, Quattro arguably made the biggest impact. Audi used it to dominate the World Rally Championship for years (until Lancia borderline cheated them out of a Group B title in what went on to be one of history’s greatest racing sagas). It’s been a mainstay in the company’s better vehicles since then.
There is a strong argument that Audi has the best AWD system on earth. The Q9 and SQ9 do a fantastic job in upholding this idea. While the Q9 is a large and heavy vehicle, I didn’t struggle for grip at any point. This included some time on winding desert roads, and oddly enough it involved a stretch on a snowy mountain pass. The latter was, on paper, pretty hazardous. Losing grip and understeering might see you heading off a literal cliff edge. While it may have been sensible to slow down to a crawl, the SQ9 I was driving absolutely did not need to.
I did turn my music off and concentrate on what the car was doing, ready to pull back if there was any sign of the vehicle struggling. But it ate those snowy roads up just as well as it handled the dry, hot, desert highways. At the risk of sounding dramatic, in a lesser vehicle I may have ended up in serious trouble.
All-wheel steering is also present, which drastically boosts stability when changing lanes on a motorway. It also reduces the vehicle’s turning circle, allowing very tight maneuvers despite the Q9’s overall size.
Audi’s flagship SUV makes a strong case for itself
The Audi Q9 is set to start at $87,800 while the SQ9 is priced from $118,000, which puts both vehicles into the luxury SUV bracket. This is where you get a lot of German luxury. BMW and Mercedes’ higher-end stuff along with its performance departments live here. On the American side, you’re dipping into Cadillac Escalade territory with the SQ9, though the Escalade offers a vastly different driving experience.
Audi’s efforts have every right to reside here. The standard Q9 has all of the makings of a great family car. It’s comfortable, spacious, and offers lots of infotainment options. It also carries the sort of prestige someone dropping close to $90,000 on a vehicle would expect, and very much looks the part.
Similarly, the performance boost offered by the SQ9 justifies the price. I have a long established love affair with the BMW X7 M60i, and the SQ9 is more than a worthy challenger. It does all of the practical things you would want from a performance SUV, and absolutely rips when you need it to.
As a bonus, if you live somewhere a bit perilous. An area that gets bad blizzards, or heavy storms. The Q9 may just edge it. First drives are usually limited and sanitary, I rarely get a chance to test a vehicle in borderline appalling conditions. Obviously, you shouldn’t drive in those conditions unless you absolutely have to. But if I had to, I’d feel a lot better with one of these in the garage.
