The Audi Q8 Vorsprung: Grand Touring In SUV Form

After six Audis of my own over the years, I am either fiercely loyal to the brand or simply institutionalised. Probably both.

So, when Audi handed me the keys to the new Q8 Vorsprung, a £100,000-plus luxury SUV complete with a panoramic roof the size of a Chelsea flat and enough technology to make NASA blush, I felt quietly smug. This, surely, was going to be excellent.

And it was.

Mostly.

Over several days, I drove the Q8 from London to Sheffield before taking it into the Peak District, swapping Chelsea traffic for winding Derbyshire roads and enough dry-stone walls to make you suddenly very aware of the width of your vehicle.

First impressions? It is enormous.

At just under five metres long, the Q8 has proper road presence in theory, although in typical Audi fashion it manages to look surprisingly understated. Unlike a Range Rover, which announces itself from three postcodes away, the Q8 is more restrained. Handsome, certainly, but not especially dramatic. In dark navy, it slipped almost anonymously between central London, Sheffield residential streets and Peak District car parks without attracting so much as a second glance.

That will appeal enormously to some people. Not everyone wants their six-figure SUV shouting about itself.

The Q8 sits in an interesting space. It is Audi’s flagship SUV, designed for the sort of person who wants space, luxury and presence, but perhaps without the flashiness of a Range Rover or the sharper edge of a Porsche Cayenne. It is a family car, long-distance cruiser and executive transport rolled into one very large package.

Inside, however, Audi does what Audi has always done brilliantly. Everything works.

It feels every inch the premium SUV. The leather is lovely, everything feels solid and expensive, and in true Audi fashion there is a reassuring sense that somebody clever has thought through where everything should go. If you have owned an Audi before, there is an immediate familiarity to it all. Controls sit where you expect them to, visibility is excellent for something this size and, despite being roughly the dimensions of a small county, the Q8 never feels intimidating to manoeuvre thanks to an army of cameras, sensors, alarms and thoughtfully placed mirrors.

Driving out of London, it immediately settled into what feels like its natural habitat, the motorway.

This is where the Q8 shines. It is exceptionally quiet, beautifully refined and genuinely comfortable over long distances. The massage seats deserve particular praise, especially after several hours behind the wheel. Normally, in-car massage functions feel slightly gimmicky, somewhere between mildly irritating and faintly ridiculous. These were genuinely good.

Perhaps the highest praise came from my four-legged passenger. Joining me for part of the trip was a dog who notoriously dislikes car travel and usually spends most of the time panting and looking mildly traumatised. In the Q8, he was noticeably calmer than usual, and improved as the journey went on, which feels like a rather good testament to just how smooth and quiet the ride really is.

The panoramic roof also deserves a mention. On a clear day crossing through the Peaks, it transforms the cabin and makes the already cavernous interior feel even bigger. The boot, meanwhile, is absolutely enormous. Ideal for anyone prone to “just in case” packing, it swallowed an excessive amount of hiking gear without complaint.

Then there is the sound system. Audi’s Bang & Olufsen setup is excellent, but what really surprised me was call quality. Conversations sounded so clear it genuinely felt like the other person was sitting in the passenger seat, rather than battling the usual muffled, robotic “Can you hear me now?” chaos that so often comes with in-car bluetooth calls.

Of course, no luxury SUV is judged solely on how pleasant it is devouring miles on the M1.

The Peak District provided a rather different challenge.

On sweeping roads, the Q8 felt planted and composed, gripping confidently and smoothing out uneven surfaces with very little fuss. Power was never an issue either. The V6 has plenty of shove for motorway joining and overtakes, although the Q8 feels far more interested in effortless progress than pretending to be sporty.

But on tighter, narrower roads through the Dales, its sheer size becomes harder to ignore. When another car suddenly appears around a blind bend on what feels suspiciously like a single-track lane, you become acutely aware that you are driving something very large and quite expensive.

It is also here that I found myself wishing for a little more immediacy. The Q8 occasionally felt slightly laggy on tighter roads, perhaps a consequence of its size more than anything else, but there were moments where it felt happier being driven smoothly than enthusiastically.

Then there were the seats.

This particular model came with Audi’s “Super Sport” seats, trimmed in beautifully finished leather and undoubtedly impressive to look at. Yet for me, they felt oddly at odds with the car itself. In a lower, sportier car they would make complete sense, but in a large luxury SUV I found myself wanting something softer and more relaxed, more armchair than racing simulator.

I also never quite bonded with the infotainment or sat nav system. Perhaps this says more about me than the car, but while Audi technology is undeniably clever, parts of the interface felt unnecessarily complicated. My co-pilot, admittedly, had great fun with it, happily navigating menus and experimenting with settings. But as a solo driver, it felt like the sort of system you need to fully sort out before moving off.

Simple things, like changing drive modes or adjusting the ride height through the adaptive suspension settings, seemed buried a few too many taps deep. In many cars, switching from comfort to dynamic takes seconds. Here, I found myself thinking, “I’ll deal with that when I stop.” I defaulted to Apple CarPlay fairly quickly.

And perhaps that sums up the Q8.

It is extraordinarily capable. Quiet, comfortable, beautifully engineered and exceptionally easy to live with. It devours motorway miles, feels impeccably put together and makes long journeys effortless.

But at over £100,000, I also wanted to feel something.

Audi’s famous “Vorsprung durch Technik” philosophy is alive and well here, perhaps more than ever. The Q8 is deeply impressive, beautifully engineered and exceptionally easy to live with. I just found myself wondering whether, somewhere amongst all the polish and perfection, it had lost a little personality.

That said, I can completely see why someone would love it.

If your priorities are refinement, comfort, practicality and effortless long-distance travel, the Q8 makes an incredibly persuasive case for itself. It is beautifully built, hugely capable and the sort of car that quietly gets on with making life very easy. For motorway miles, family trips, weekends away and simply covering ground in comfort, it is hard to fault.

But if you want your luxury SUV to feel especially characterful or emotionally engaging, you may find yourself wanting a little more.

Would I happily drive one every day? Absolutely. After several days living with it, crossing the country and exploring the Peak District, I came away respecting it enormously. The Q8 may not have completely stolen my heart, but it did make a very convincing case for itself.

Model: Audi Q8 SUV TFSI quattro 340PS Vorsprung tiptronic

Base Price: £108,145

Price as Tested: £110,420

Propulsion: 3.0-Litre, V6 Turbocharged Petrol with 48V Mild Hybrid

Transmission: 8-Speed tiptronic Automatic

Drivetrain: quattro All-Wheel Drive

Output: 340bhp

Torque: 500Nm

0-62 mph: 5.6 Seconds

Top Speed: 155mph

Combined Cycle: 25.7mpg

CO2 Emissions: 250g/km

Kerb Weight: 2,175kg

More info at https://www.audi.co.uk/en/models/q8/q8/