Festival Of Motoring: Eight facts about the new Audi Q8 (2024)

Audi wants a taste of the luxury SUV market that stablemates Porsche, Bentley, and Lamborghini have been enjoying, and the 2019 Q8 is how it plans to get it. Promising to combine cabin accommodations that rival a Cayenne, with levels of technology that could make a Bentayga blush, the Q8 also shoulders the responsibility of ushering in a dramatic new age of Q-series styling.

The Audi Q8 made its local debut at the Festival of Motoring this weekend and we’ve listed eight facts worth marveling over (drool if you must).

The Q7 goes luxe

Audi isn’t short on luxury cars – the 2019 A8 is an excellent example of its particular recipe of comfortable cabins paired with all the high-tech trimmings – and its Q7 SUV isn’t exactly shabby inside. Still, the 2019 Q8 takes the idea (and the abilities) of the Q7 and gives it a more sporting, high-end edge. That’s right: we’re talking about the controversial “four-door coupe.”

Bolder styling, shorter overhangs, and a wider, slightly lower stance single the Q8 out as Audi’s more aggressive, purposeful take on the SUV. If the Q7 is top tier family transportation, the Q8 would like to oust the Range Rover Sport from your garage instead. In the process it’ll take on the the BMW X6 and Mercedes-Benz GLE Coupe.

Even if you’re not in the market for a high-end SUV, the Q8 will have an impact on future crossovers and SUVs at more affordable price points in Audi’s line-up. The bold new design language will gradually trickle down through the range, the automaker has promised, including the new and more three-dimensional grille, and the dramatic rear lighting.

It’s all about refinement

Audi’s latest cabins are masterpieces of technology blended with quality trim, and the Q8 doesn’t stint on either. It borrows the same dual-touchscreen infotainment system as in the A8, putting a larger display at the top for navigation and multimedia, while a second, smaller display underneath handles HVAC, comfort features, and text entry. The broad gear shifter is designed to act as a wrist-rest as you tap and scroll, and the driver instrumentation is all presented digitally using Audi’s Virtual co*ckpit system.

It’s a comprehensive upgrade from what rivals are offering, certainly. Fully connected, the Q8 can display traffic light timing changes in select cities, translate your handwriting into addresses, pull down personalization settings from the cloud, and recognize natural language speech instructions. All surrounded by high-end wood, metal, and leather trim, with plenty of options on the order form to choose different hides and patterns.

Don’t expect a third row

The 2019 Q8 may be based on the same platform as the Q7, but Audi uses that space differently. Most notably, the luxury SUV does away with the third row of seats. Instead it puts its cabin to use with ample space for five and all their combined luggage.

It’s probably a wise decision overall: the more arching roofline would cut into third row headroom, after all. The Q8’s focus is really more on transporting people in luxury, and making sure it has space for their monogrammed bags. Figure on a healthy 21.4 cubic feet of space, in fact, rising to 62 cu-ft with the rear seats folded flat.

It’s a hybrid, but just a mild one

Electrification may be spreading through Audi’s line-up, but not every hybrid is created equal. The 3.0-liter V6 TFSI engine that the US Q8 will launch with has the same mild-hybrid technology as we saw on the 2019 Audi A8. In short, think electric convenience, rather than zero emissions.

It uses a 48 volt system, with an electric starter motor generator, and a li-ion battery. That gives an extra chunk of thrust to get you off the line more rapidly, as well as expanding how the stop/start system can run. European Q8 models, for instance, will be able to cruise at highway speeds with the gas engine completely shut down.

Also in Europe will be diesel Q8 options. They’re not likely to make it to North American shores, mind. At this point, Audi hasn’t said whether the Q8 will follow the Q7’s example and adopt the 2.0-liter TFSI gas engine at some point in the future. That would certainly be more economical, but might not fit the Q8’s luxury positioning.

This is no soft-roader

The four-door coupe space is an odd category. On the one hand, it’s easy to dismiss such cars as merely borrowing the elevated driving position of true off-roadsers, but delivering little more in the way of practicality than a traditional sedan. Audi, however, hasn’t fallen into that trap.

Instead, the 2019 Q8 has some legitimate off-road talents. This isn’t going to be the vehicle to replace your Discovery with for field-plugging, but permanent quattro all-wheel drive standard rear adaptive air suspension, and adjustable handling all mean mud shouldn’t be an insurmountable hurdle. There’s also tech like Trailer Assist on the options list.

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