3 Days In A New Q8...How Does It Compare To The Q7?
 

Went on a full 3 day test of a new Q8 (prestige no lux)...also spent more time in another pstg Q8 with lux and non Yr-1 22's.

As many of you know we are trying to decide if taking the 19 Q7 we ordered (near every option sans B&O) or foregoing it and going with a new loaded Q8 which is near the same price +/-$5k.

FYI non-year one Q8's are NOT selling all that well in our tri-county area...I was told this evening at another Audi dealership which is the "second largest Audi dealership in the world" (North Miami Beach FL) and also told "4-5 out of 10 people that come in to buy the Q8 end up buying a Q7". I think the Q8's MSRP stuff will only hold for Yr-1 Q8's, and that should fade by spring.
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Here are the positives and negatives of each vehicle compared to one another (I will cross post on Q8 forum). I tried not to be subjective, and objective as possible.

Q8 Positives

• Exterior..the Q8 has it on the current Q7 period...although when both equipped with the 22's it's not as clear cut but the 8 wins.
• Power...the Q8's new engine with 40+ more lb ft of trq helps this thing get up and go...those saying there is significant lag and it's slow have not spent enough time driving one of these...I don't care what the #'s say, the Q8 is/feels significantly faster than the Q7 period.
• Ride...even on 22's the Q8 rides very smoothly and comfortably (I will drive the 19 Q7 with 22's we ordered on Sat and compare).
• Handling...it drives more like a large GT car than an suv...nice.
• Resale...at least for Yr-1's it is better
• Electric side window shades...a nice touch and the motors emit a very high quality smooth sound.
• Dual pane glass in lux is a very nice
• Touch screens look very nice at night
• New navi with sat view is very nice...the Q8 we were driving got the same map update notification as our Q7.

Q8 Negatives

• Frame-less window...the seals are noisy as hell, unless you get the lux package w/the thicker glass which does not move around as much inside the seals and is much less noisy...if you want a quiet cabin do not get a Q8 unless it has lux.
• Engine sound...inside the cabin it sounds like a chevy 6 or dare I say a four...it does not have the refined hum of the Audi supercharged engine, BMW inline 6 etc.
• Exhaust sound (standing behind vehicle at idle)...horrible, sounds worse than hearing it in the cabin again almost 4 banger sounding...yuck
• Fake exhaust outlets...looks sooo fake up close
• The touch screens simply do not have the ergonomics of the Q7...period...and they do get dirty but if you keep your hands clean like we do, it's not so bad.
• The sun screen for the pano roof is now solid with 0 light/ventilation penetration.
• The grain of the leather dash is very smooth but the plastic door panel tops are a deeper grained plastic and does not match at all.
• DAS still has the same issues as the previous version
• When closing the rear doors (windows closed) there is a flapping sound while standing outside the vehicle..not as solid as the Q7 (more frame-less stuff)
• Vibrations...we have now driven 5 Q8's...3/5 vibrated intermittently noticeable in either the seat, gear selector or console...imho, this may be due to faulty a/c compressors or improperly balanced cooling fan blades) as it appears to be more prevalent when AC is on...so far hit or miss depending on what Q8 you get....test drive thoroughly before choosing one.
• Engine detail Audi is renown for is gone...no more beautiful metallic silver valve covers, red coil packs. wires etc etc.
• Side window shades must first be lowered, before lowering windows.
• Doesn't feel as well put together as the Q7..it does not feel like a +/- $90,000.00 vehicle (sorry, it just doesn't)....cost cutting is evident.

Side note...saw the new Urus today...it even makes the new Q8 look dated and frumpy (albeit at significant cost)...superb effort by Lamborghini (see pics taken on way to dealership)
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.aud...0d8cf56b2f.jpg
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.aud...10de7f0ed3.jpg

I was told people are finding much better value in the Q7...be glad you got a YR-1, as at least for now they are holding up very well being in strong demand.

a lot of Negatives ???
 

Makes me sick to hear all this as I'm picking up ,my q8 this afternoon. with year 1 pkg but no lux pkg. I did not hear this on on my test drive. where did you find a dealer to let you test drive for three days??

I'm sick over this. I want to cancel the deal but they have my S6 in service for the pod issue and the deal is done all paperwork signed.

I can't believe this I'm giving up a 2016 S6 for a piece of crap.

That makes me feel some what better but I am hearing a lot of no so great things about the Q8 PLUS they act like their doing you a big favor by giving me 4% off MSRP. I could have purchased a leftover or 2109 Q7 with many rebates. I hope I didn't just make a BIG mistake.

agreed jrjunior31 ; if you are buying the car for looks year one and if you have the patience to wait which I didn't the adaptive chassis are good choices; for me the heads up is also an essential and so I went for the prestige