Audi Q8 Review 2024

The Audi Q8 is essentially a Q7 where style has been prioritised over outright space. Whether you love or hate the looks, you also get a sportier driving experience (with plenty of comfort still present) and although there's no seven-seat option there's loads of room for five adults. Our Audi Q8 review sees if it has what it takes to brush aside rivals from BMW, Mercedes, Land Rover and Porsche. 

There’s a very good reason why SUVs are so popular these days. They give family car buyers the space and practicality they need, but with all the style and luxury they desire. However, not everyone needs the versatility of a seven-seater, so the Audi Q8 is designed to dial down the former, and double-down on the latter.

If you do need seven seats, then check out our Audi Q7 review. The five-seater Q8, meanwhile, has a slinkier, less-boxy design to make it more elegant and more desirable, desirability that’s topped off by the aspirational Audi badge.

There are plenty of other Audi trademarks that are present-and-correct, too, not least, the impeccable build quality.

Every surface you look at or touch is a treat for the eyes or the fingertips, so this feels like a very classy product indeed, good enough to have the beating of rivals such as the Range Rover Velar and Mercedes-Benz GLE Coupe, and on a par with the BMW X6 and Porsche Cayenne Coupe. 

Yes, this is a very expensive car, but jaw-dropping quality like this helps justify the price tag. So does the stack of luxury and safety equipment you get as standard, the latter of which helps the Q8 achieve that all-important five-star rating from Euro NCAP.

On the road, the Audi Q8 is very relaxed and quiet, with fabulous rolling refinement and a diesel engine (we haven’t tried the petrol offering yet) that is smooth, subdued and effortlessly powerful. Granted, the ride isn’t as cosseting as the softest luxury SUVs, but it’ll keep you comfortable most of the time, and you get impressively sharp handling for such a big car as a payoff.

And practicality? Well, it may only have five seats, but they’re all just as roomy as the equivalent seats in the Q7, so this is a very spacious, very comfortable car. A big boot also helps it perform family duties impressively well.

Downsides? Well, the infotainment system could be a bit more user-friendly and, like we said earlier, it’s pretty pricey. The slightly dim-witted gearbox lets the sporty side down a bit, too. But otherwise, the Q8 is a very good all-rounder that’s perfectly suited to the buyers it’s aimed at. If that’s you, then you’ll love it. 

The Audi Q8's standard-fit air suspension allows you to alter the stiffness depending on your drive mode, or set up an individual mode if you'd rather mix the Comfort suspension with the Sport steering weight, for example.

In Comfort mode, the ride still has quite a firm edge for a luxury SUV - you can partly thank the standard 21 or 22-inch wheels for that - so you won’t be wafting along like you do in a Q7. However, the ride is still forgiving enough to keep life comfortable on all but the worst surfaces, and at all speeds.

The ride gets appreciably firmer in the sportiest setting, and it might prove a bit too much for some drivers. The payoff for that extra firmness is tighter body control through the bends, but to be honest, it’s still pretty tight in Comfort mode, making the Q8 feel impressively nimble for a big SUV.

It never completely shakes off its two-tonne mass, but the standard four-wheel drive gives the car huge grip and traction, and all its responses are consistent and predictable. Vorsprung versions also get four-wheel steering as standard, which makes low-speed manoeuvres considerably easier. 

The Audi SQ8 has a slightly stiffer setup, which combines with the four-wheel steering to make it remarkably agile on the road without compromising comfort too much. 

Only two engines are available in the Audi Q8, one of which we’ve not yet had the opportunity to try. That’s a 340PS 3.0-litre V6 petrol, known as the 55 TFSI. The one we have tried is the 50 TDI, a 3.0-litre V6 diesel with 286PS.

It delivers really strong pull from low revs, so the car builds speed in an easy, relaxed manner. Press the pedal harder, and it delivers a turn of pace that’s strong enough to see off many hot hatches.

Annoyingly, though, the eight-speed automatic gearbox gets in the way a bit. Under normal circumstances, it swaps cogs smoothly and cleanly, but when you ask for a sudden burst of acceleration - either when pulling away or picking up speed on the move - the gearbox has to consider its options for a second or two before deciding which gear it wants to give you. That results in a frustrating pause before anything happens.

The SQ8's twin-turbo V8 offers pretty monstrous straight-line performance for something of this size and weight. It begs the question as to why anyone would think the RSQ8 was necessary. 

The Audi Q8 has already been smashed to bits by the good people of Euro NCAP, and the car achieved the highest five-star rating. That should provide plenty of peace-of-mind. All versions get all the usual airbags and electronic aids to maximise traction and stability, and they also get automatic emergency braking, lane departure warning and clever Matrix Beam LED headlights.

Go for the Vorsprung range-topper, and you’ll also get a head-up display, cross traffic alert at both the front and rear of the car (this stops you pulling out in front of oncoming traffic) and a semi-autonomous adaptive cruise control system. Further autonomous features can be found on the options list, along with a wide variety of other stuff.

You’d expect the Q8 to put in a very similar performance here to the Q7 with which it shares most of its mechanicals, but it actually does rather better. While the most powerful Q7s can pull up to 3,500kg, most of them are limited to a capacity of 1,800kg. With the Q8, meanwhile, all versions can legally tug the larger 3,500kg amount.

Unlike many large SUVs - including the Q7 it’s based on - the Audi Q8 is offered with no more than five seats. The front seats have loads of space, and because the Q8 has exactly the same wheelbase measurement as the Q7, there’s just as much rear legroom, which will be plenty for even the gangliest of passengers.

What’s more, the rear chairs slide back and forth, allowing you to dedicate the space available to legroom or luggage, depending on your needs. And, while many slinky, coupe-like SUVs suffer with limited rear headroom due to their swoopy lines, the Q8 suffers no such affliction - even six footers won't have their heads contacting the roofline. 

The Audi Q7's boot capacity is 605 litres even with those rear seats slid back to benefit legroom. It increases to 680 litres with them forwards. While that's about 90 litres smaller than the maximum space in a Q7, it does compare well with rivals such as the BMW X6 and Mercedes GLE Coupe and even beats some estate cars.

The rear seats fold down in a 40-20-40 split with handy boot-mounted levers. They leave you with a slightly sloped load area because the backrests lie at an angle, but there are no awkward steps and no irritating load lip.

The Audi Q8's exterior dimensions make it 4,986mm long, 1,705mm tall and 1,995mm wide. It's hardly a small car, then, and it's 27mm wider than the already pretty bulky Q7. It is 77mm shorter and 35mm lower, however. 

Granite-hewn quality is an Audi trademark, and you’d expect the firm’s most luxurious SUV to be the showcase for its impressive skills in this area.

Even with expectations so high, the Audi Q8 still manages to dazzle. Every single surface encountered by your eyes or fingertips is a joy for both senses, which immediately gives those inside the impression that they’re travelling first-class.

Make the effort to delve deep into the lower reaches of the cabin in search of hidden away panels that don’t quite measure up, and you’ll quickly realise that you’re wasting your time. The flawless way everything is assembled gives an even more high-grade feel, with barely perceptible panel gaps and not even the merest hint of a creak or a flex.

The Audi Q8’s centre console has two screens. The 8.6-inch one on the bottom handles the air-conditioning system, while the top one - measuring 10.1 inches - takes care of pretty much everything else. It all looks great and delivers a really high-tech feel to the cabin.

The graphics are sharp and the responses are quick, so there aren’t any annoying pauses. However, the sheer amount of functions to find your way through can be rather bamboozling, and like with any touchscreen, it’s more distracting to use on the move than traditional knobs and buttons, because you have to concentrate so hard on hitting exactly the right part of the screen. 

That vast array of functionality includes navigation, DAB radio, Apple Carplay/Android Auto and wireless phone charging. Upgrade to the Vorsprung model, meanwhile, and you also get an upgraded Bang & Olufsen 3D sound system with 17 speakers and 730 watts of power.

Of course, this being an Audi you also get the Virtual Cockpit digital instrument display. Even a few years on it's pretty much the best in the business, with an easy to read layout, plenty of customisation and very smart Google Maps integration. 

At the time of writing, the cheapest Audi Q8 is the S line 55 TFSI version, which will cost you around £71,000 on-the-road, while the most expensive regular version - the Vorsprung 50 TDI - will set you back £84,000.

Step up to the Audi SQ8, with its twin-turbo V8, and you're looking at between £87,000 and £110,000, while the flagship Audi RSQ8 is between £110,000 and £128,000. Gulp. 

Comparing prices directly with those of rivals is a little difficult because, although they’re all five-seat luxury SUVs, there are some fundamental differences across the board in terms of size, equipment levels, power and various other things.

However, due to how well each car holds onto its value, used car prices for the Q8 haven't reached a bargain stage. Prices start at around £44,000 for a 2019 50 TDI S Line with 60,000 miles on the clock, and the overwhelming majority of those for sale are diesels. 

The solid resale values should also provide a decent amount of protection for your initial investment, meaning you’ll get a decent proportion of it back when the time comes to sell the car on. Happily, these strong residual values also help keep monthly payments down for finance customers.

The official laboratory economy figures aren’t too far away from those of rivals, so the Q8 is competitive, but this is still a big, heavy and powerful car. 

The cheapest engine, the 55 TFSI 3.0-litre petrol, will officially do up to 26.6mpg combined. The 55 TDI 3.0-litre diesel manages 34mpg combined (making it the one to go for in our books) while the Audi SQ8 and RSQ8 manages 22.8 and 21.2mpg combined. 

Use the prodigious performance on offer on a regular basis, and your returns will tumble even from that. This won’t be a cheap car to run, then, whichever version you choose, but then again, you probably wouldn’t expect it to be.

It’s no surprise that the Q8 will also be very expensive to insure. Most versions sit in group 50, the priciest group there is, but perhaps the biggest surprise is that some versions actually make it down as low as group 47.

There's also a big sting in the wallet with the first year VED (road tax) rate due to the high C02 emissions. Even the diesel will set you back £1,420 in the first year, with the petrols all over £2,000. At least it falls to a flat £165 every year after that, although you'll still have five years of the premium car tax to worry about. 

You might find it slightly worrying that Audi finished in the lower third of the latest Honest John Satisfaction Index. Like every Audi, the Q7 has an unlimited-mileage warranty for two years, with a third year of cover capped at 60,000 miles.

Audi’s flagship SUV needs to come with enough creature comforts to make its occupants feel spoiled, and the Q8 doesn’t disappoint.

The entry-level Audi Q8 S Line comes with two-zone climate control, air suspension, leather upholstery, heated front seats, cruise control, LED ambient lighting, keyless go, privacy class and a powered tailgate, not to mention all the infotainment and safety gear we mentioned earlier.

The mid-spec Audi Q8 Black Edition focuses on styling upgrades with special 22-inch wheels, a black exterior styling pack removing most of the chrome and polished grey oak interior trim. You also get four-zone climate control and a flat-bottomed sports steering wheel. 

Upgrade to the top-level Audi Q8 Vorsprung, meanwhile, and you’ll get power-closing doors, all-wheel steering, a panoramic sunroof, a Bang & Olufsen sound system, ventilated front seats with a massage function, heated rear seats and the extended leather pack, amongst other items.