BY DANIEL DEGASPERI | 7th Sep 2018
ACCORDING to Oscar Wilde, moderation is a fatal thing and nothing succeeds like excess. He shuffled off this mortal coil over a century ago, though, while nowadays the likes of the Audi SQ7 could appear seemingly determined to prove that nineteenth-century poet and playwright wrong.
This seven-seat large SUV has all the hallmarks of excess, from its enormous footprint on the road to its huge 21-inch wheels, its burly eight cylinders under the bonnet and lashings of leather inside, all with a pricetag to match.
However, Audi has also developed a clever electrical system to take the environmental burden off the 4.0-litre twin-turbo diesel engine, helping to allow the sort of claimed combined-cycle fuel consumption to rival hatchbacks. Yet the SQ7 can also seat seven, and accelerate quickly enough to challenge Australia’s last affordable muscle car, the petrol V8-powered Holden Commodore.
You might even say that being able to seat seven could make it more efficient per passenger than several hatches too. So much for excess, right?