Audi e-tron SUV takes on the Audi Q7 TDI V12

About a decade ago, Audi’s only true performance SUV was the Q7 TDI V12, which was every bit as insane then as it sounds now. It packed a 6.0 liter twin-turbocharged V12 diesel engine that made 500 horsepower and 1,000 Nm (737 lb-ft) of torque. It also had a six-speed automatic transmission and Quattro all-wheel drive. However, it’s a bit of a dinosaur now, using a monster V12 diesel engine, so can Audi’s latest technology take it down? In this new video from Carwow, Mat Watson races the Audi Q7 TDI V12 in an Audi e-tron SUV to find out.

To counter the Audi Q7 TDI V12, the Audi e-tron has two electric motors, one at each axle, making 405 horsepower and 664 Nm (490 lb-ft) of torque. It’s also quite a bit heavier than the Q7. However, it does fight back by having all of that torque from the instant you touch the accelerator. So could its instant power deliver overcome its power and weight disadvantages?

Off the line, after a few attempts, the Audi e-tron was faster, more consistently. It jumped ahead of the Q7 TDI pretty easily and then maintained a lead the Q7 couldn’t catch. So it won two of the three drag races, with the only Q7 win came from a botched start by Watson.

The rolling races were interesting, though. They did two rolling races; one in all comfort settings and another in all sports settings. Yet, the results were the same in both; the Audi e-tron was faster right away, pulling very far ahead, but then ran out of puff at around 120 mph, where the Q7 suddenly took the lead and won. It’s odd that they saw the same results, regardless of settings.

In the braking test, the Audi e-tron actually stopped quite a bit shorter, despite not having performance brakes and weighing quite a bit more. Regenerative braking likely helped a bit and far better tires, with much newer tire technology, likely did as well.

So despite not being a performance SUV, the Audi e-tron actually ended up beating the AudI Q7 V12 TDI for the most part. Sure, on the Autobahn, at speeds above 120 mph, the Q7 would be a bit faster, but the e-tron is faster everywhere else and stops better. So it took the win.