Volvo XC90 vs. Audi Q7

[XCMike]

Pretty good article from Men's Journal.
http://www.mensjournal.com/gear/cars/three-rows-one-champ-volvo-xc90-vs-audi-q7-20160304

The days of being embarrassed ? or put to sleep ? by the family hauler are over. There's a battle under way to load the three-row crossover with the best tech, style, and performance, and for once the family man is coming out a winner.

Audi has taken a cautious route: The original Q7 came out in 2007, when nearly every luxury maker already had a crossover. It was an instant hit, and the Q7 and its spin-offs, the Q3 and Q5, now make up 40 percent of Audi sales. The next-generation Q7 took a decade to gestate, but it was worth the wait.

We drove the Q7 in high-dollar Dallas, where the aroma wafting from the nougat-brown leather seemed right at home in tony Highland Park. The Q7's front is suitably rich, with a bigger, blingier grille. Its profile, however, reveals a sloped-back roofline that echoes a more pedestrian crossover, and oversize, creased fender flares that wouldn't look out of place on a Subaru. All in all, it's a bit dowdy for an Audi.

But get it on the open road, and the Q7 performs a bit of magic. It drives smaller than the behemoth it is. While careering through Dallas, it was remarkably predictable, due in part to an adaptive air suspension that instantaneously reacts to loads on each corner. And all-wheel steering ? a first for SUVs and crossovers ? made for tighter turning radiuses. The two technologies are part of a $4,000 adaptive-chassis package that performs like an automotive version of Spanx: You don't feel fat at all.

Inside, a digital instrument panel displays maps on a 12.3-inch screen that's combined with a heads-up display so big you'll almost never need to turn your head. But the gadgetry isn't perfect. The gesture control pad (you wave your hand for certain functions) is useless for entering addresses for navigation. And camera-powered lane-keeping assistance ? which turns the wheel for you ? doesn't reduce your workload: The mental effort of steering is replaced by the mental effort of monitoring the self-steering system.

Volvo's 2016 XC90 is also a stellar refresh of a beloved SUV ? and a reboot of the brand. It's the first car built purely from Volvo parts since 2000, with no assistance from Ford. (Volvo was sold to China's Geely in 2010.) Ironically, the XC90 could only get more Swedish if Peter, Bj?rn, and John were driving.

Visually, its clean Nordic lines are apparent: A nearly vertical rear pillar and a flatter roof own the Volvo's 70-inch height. What's refreshing is that, unlike the Q7, the XC90 isn't trying to look like a car. Inside, the hushed interior reveals an equally straightforward aesthetic, where minimal controls are centered around a lag-free touchscreen. Our test model, the R-Design, has macho carbon fiber trim, but the Inscription edition comes with open-pore wood paneling worthy of a Scandinavian-modern ski lodge.

Apart from displaying a level of tastefulness, we've yet to see in interiors at any price, Volvo's plan for world domination includes smaller, smarter engines. The XC90 is powered by a super- and turbocharged four-cylinder. It doesn't save much in fuel economy (22 miles per gallon versus the more powerful Q7's 21) but cuts weight. If you have doubts about a four-cylinder engine in a loaded seven-seater, don't. Though slower than the Q7 on paper, we spent days effortlessly pulling into some of the hairiest merges in New York City ? with plenty of power.

The bottom line: The Audi Q7 delivers impressively Teutonic driving befitting a smaller machine, but the XC90 is a stylish people-hauler that's the total package ? and is nearly $5,000 cheaper, comparably equipped. It might be time to go Swedish.

 

[Bmoe99]

Hi XC Mike
ki
So you say the Volvo is $5,000 cheaper but at what cost? To go through what HLM Gloden has been put through:
http://www.xc90.org/forum/members/470-HLMGolden

No thank you, I was really interested in the XC 90, but ownership seems to come with a very inherent risk of a very poor ownership experience and that's not worth the risk at even a $15,000 savings

Thanks but no thanks, I am going to go with the Q7 and look at CPO ( 1-2 years old)

Bmoe

 

[SRG963]

I have put 44k miles on my 2017 xc90 over 1.5 years, with no issues except the Sensus getting too hot on long trips with direct sunlight.

It was a lot more than $5k over the xc90 for a similar equipped Audi vehicle in my case.

 

[MM2017]

Hi XC Mike
ki
So you say the Volvo is $5,000 cheaper but at what cost? To go through what HLM Gloden has been put through:
http://www.xc90.org/forum/members/470-HLMGolden

No thank you, I was really interested in the XC 90, but ownership seems to come with a very inherent risk of a very poor ownership experience and that's not worth the risk at even a $15,000 savings

Thanks but no thanks, I am going to go with the Q7 and look at CPO ( 1-2 years old)

Bmoe

BMoe, I am also shopping for a new luxury SUV (Coming from a 2004 Mercury Mountaineer V8 with 225k original miles on it) and I checked out the audi Q7- well if you do a quick google search for AUDI Problems or AUDI Q7 Problems, you see a ton of hits...My company also sends out all the recalls for VW/AUDI & Toyota/LEXUS- lets just say we mail a lot of recalls- wayyyy more for VW/Audi though. If you do a Honda search with problems you get hits, same for nissan, lexus, BMW, Mercedes etc etc

The way I see it, is any make/model will have problems, get what you want.

 

[WillyJP]

On the Audi vs Volvo question: we just replaced our 2021 Q5 (bought new)with a 2023 (New, never sold) XC90 B6. This is my wife’s daily driver and she was never happy with the Audi. Partly it was too small and she regretted not going with the Q7 which was a close decision made by her. But she also never got used to the digital interface (“MMI” w touch screen) and came to resent it. (It continually lost her registration & required re-entering her Audi ID to re-connect! The dealer & Audi had no answer!). And she was never comfortable in the seats (it was a Prestige w ventilated sport seats). She’s a high mileage driver (20–24 k mi/yr) and when the Q5 hit 65k mi. she decided she wanted a replacement. She remembered her ‘06 XC70 fondly and when she sat in the new XC90 (Ultimate w perf leather & all the adjustments) she was 90% sold! We’ve only had the car 10 days but have a couple hundred highway miles and were impressed: this car has the air suspension & Polestar mod and on the firmest setting, in Polestar, it’s road handling is equal to the Audi but much quieter and much less harsh over irregular surfaces. Like her Q5 it’s a 2.0 l 4 of course, but with about 60 more hp (and around a 2000 lbs more weight!). Surprisingly though, it feels about as peppy as the Q5 ( so would probably not keep up with the 3.0 l V6 Q7). But it feels very adequate power-wise, as did the lighter Q5. Surprisingly, the XC90 feels just about as agile as the 1 ton lighter Q5. The amazing Volvo tight turning circle gets some of the credit for that. All in all, my wife is very happy with a truly comfortable car for a change, with the extra grandkid room that she was missing. We’ll see how it goes as the miles roll up, which doesn’t take her long!

 

[Bgdv1]

We just bought a 2022 XC90 T6 Inscription CPO for a great price and are very happy with it so far. The Q7 was our other choice but wasn’t finding what we wanted when the XC90 came along. I could park beside a new one and no one could tell the difference in a 2 year old car vs new, yes it is that immaculate.