Audi’s new SUV will have you in a spin

The Audi SQ7 TDI: diesel engine and three turbines. – AFP/Relaxnews pic, March 4, 2016.German carmaker Audi on Thursday in Geneva took the wraps off the Q7S, a new flagship seven-seat sporty SUV with a diesel engine and three turbines.

With the exception of Le Mans, turbodiesels and true sporting performance don't necessarily go together. But this car is the world's first to use an electric compressor alongside two conventional turbochargers so that it is always ready to preform.

Which in the case of this particular car, despite its huge size, means a 0-100kph time of just 4.7 seconds and an electronically governed top speed of 250kph.

And this is all from a 4-litre V8 diesel that can also return 7.4l/100km on the combined cycle.

To put this into some type of perspective, on the Mercedes stand is the new C 43 4Matic Coupe. It's meant to be an out-and-out sports car with a V6 gas engine, yet it has the same 4.7-second acceleration time and the same 250kph top speed and consumes 8l/100km of fuel achieving it.

"The SQ7 TDI with a V8 TDI engine achieves the consumption figures of a six-cylinder," said Audi board member Dr Stefan Knirsch.

"The new technology solution of the electric powered compressor in the SQ7 TDI is a world first in the competitive environment."

What makes the car so revolutionary is that it offers the same free horsepower and therefore economy of turbocharging but without the huge gaps in performance – ie. turbo lag a problem amplified by the low revolutions of a diesel engine – while exhaust gases spin turbines and that air is forced back into the engine.

Instead, an electric motor spins a turbine from idle so that the car is always on boost. As gases build the first of the two traditional turbos comes on line and as the accelerator drops further the second spools too. At the same time the valve timing also changes for even more forward momentum.

And so that all of this power doesn't make the huge SUV rock from side to side and roll in the corners, it has another electric motor that forcibly stabilises the body in the bends. It's a system that's lighter, faster and more environmentally friendly than using hydraulics, according to Audi.

And to make sure that the car grips the highway or a mountain pass with equal confidence, the SQ7 comes as standard with Quattro all-wheel drive and with four-wheel steering. – AFP/Relaxnews, March 4, 2016.