Can the Audi SQ7 Beat a Volkswagen Golf R?

On paper, it might seem odd to compare a car with a 4.0 liter twin-turbocharged V8 with another one that uses a 2.0 liter turbocharged four-cylinder. However, when the former is an Audi SQ7 and the latter is a Volkswagen Golf R, it makes a bit more sense. The Volkswagen Golf R is a bit of an overachiever and the SQ7 is a bit heavy SUV, so it’s a closer matchup than you might think.

In this new drag race video from Carwow, we get to see the two performance VW Group cars go head-to-head, to see which is faster through the quarter-mile.

The Golf R’s 2.0 liter turbo-four makes 320 horsepower and 420 Nm (310 lb-ft) of torque. That’s around the same as the Audi S3, as the two share similar engines. On the flip side, the Audi SQ7 uses its 4.0 liter V8 to make 507 horsepower and 770 Nm (568 lb-ft) of torque. Clearly, the Audi SQ7 is far more powerful but it’s also much, much heavier. So can the Golf R use its weight advantage to beat the more powerful SQ7?

Shockingly, the Golf R was a touch faster off the line, beating the much more powerful SQ7 through the quarter mile. However, the SQ7 does come back to redeem itself in subsequent challenges. What’s interesting, though, is just how fast the little Golf R is. It’s able to genuinely take on an Audi with double the displacement, double the cylinder count, double the turbochargers, and almost double the power. Even more interesting is what happened in the brake test. In fact, it was so interesting that they thought there may have been a user error by one of the drivers and had to repeat the test.

The VW Group 2.0 liter turbo four from the Golf R and Audi S3 is a little monster of an engine that far outperforms its power figures.