► Audi’s wild V12 TDI tested
► Only car ever fitted with a 12-cylinder diesel
► And 738lb ft of torque… back in 2008!
The Audi Q7 V12 TDI is truly an SUV from a different era. A time before Dieselgate turned the world away from the black pump, before emissions regulations became as paramount, and – most importantly – when car manufacturers had insane budgets for research and development. And the fact this has all happened in less than two decades is all the more remarkable.
The Volkswagen Group in the early noughties was a force to be reckoned with, and had profits like it’s never seen again. With Ferdinand Piech at the helm as chairman, he was an engineer rather than a marketeer, and as a result pushed forward with various projects that wouldn’t even make it a tenth of the way in getting the green light today.
Most notable was his exceptional, loss-making Bugatti Veyron vanity project, but also the Volkswagen Phaeton and some utterly outrageous engines – one of these being Audi’s V12 TDI that made its way into the most unlikely of Audi SUVs.
At a glance
Pros: Incredibly smooth engine, gargantuan torque, Audi build quality at its finest
Cons: Late noughties’ interior hasn’t aged well, hilariously slow Tiptronic, by no means a performance SUV
What is it?
This diesel engine is (very) loosely derived from Audi’s R10 TDI racing car that rewrote Le Mans history, being the only diesel car ever to win to the gruelling race, and on numerous occasions.
The trouble was there was practically no link between the R10 and Audi’s crop of cars at the time. It was decided that it somehow needed to make its way into a production car to make use of the ‘win on Sunday, sell on Monday’ mantra.
Audi’s first aim was to put it in the R8, its then-new supercar that showed the German marque in a completely different light, and with the clearest link to motorsport. Just imagine, a diesel supercar. It surprisingly made it all the way to prototype stages, even being driven by CAR’s Georg Kacher in period, though even Audi’s magic money tree couldn’t get it into production.
But there was, thankfully, a plan B, and that involved fitting it in the unlikely first-generation Q7. The project was confirmed in late 2006 and the first examples would be produced two years later. The result was the ultimate Q car in more ways than one – a highly unassuming family SUV that housed a V12 under its bonnet putting out 738lb ft of torque.
What’s under the bonnet?
The only styling changes between it and a regular Q7 are a chromed grille, wider wheelarches, LED strip running lights and larger-bore exhausts. But take off the V12 badges and nobody would ever have any idea of what lies beneath the bonnet.
It’s a mighty 6.0-litre twin-turbo putting out 493bhp and 738lb ft – figures that sound better in the German way of measuring performance, 500ps and 1000Nm of torque. That latter figure remains insane even by modern standards. But the Q7 V12 TDI is properly heavy, weighing in at 2.6 tonnes and therefore its 5.5-second 0-62mph really doesn’’t look that quick these days. It’s electronically limited to 155mph, though with that lifted I’m pretty sure it could probably climb comfortably beyond that.
Standard-fit ceramic brakes are, again, a ludicrous thing to find on a 15-year-old SUV but it’s probably better for having them given its mass. Adaptive air suspension was also standard, another very modern feature at the time. Get it in its lowest setting and it looks almost like a lowrider.
Fuel economy in the mid teens is what you’ll get in normal driving but 25mpg is possible on a steady motorway run. Combine that with a 100-litre fuel tank – plus the fact you should probably put V-power diesel in it (other brands are available) and it’s a ruinous ownership prospect.
How does it drive?
It’s unsurprisingly all about the torque. That 738lb ft is available from just 1700rpm and the rate of pick up (especially from 30-70mph) is always a surprise. It’s not rapid, and if driven back-to-back with something new like an RSQ8 will feel quite slow, but it’s the sensation of the front of the car lifting as you accelerate combined with an engine note like I’ve never heard before that makes it drive like nothing else.
The engine is buttery smooth, too, and is certainly the smoothest diesel I’ve ever encountered. At idle it’s practically silent and a far cry from the tractor-like rattle of a four-cylinder TDI.
Though it’s tempered by the somewhat agricultural-feeling six-speed Tiptronic as gear changes feel like they can be measures in seconds rather than milliseconds. But this is a car that relishes in-gear acceleration above mashing the throttle and waiting for it to change down.
Trying to rag the Q7 V12 is not a pleasant experience, the overly-weighty, slow steering and roll reminding you instantly that you’re in something as big and heavy as you are. It almost feels disrespectful for doing so, a bit like bad-mouthing an octogenarian. Respect your elders. It’s not quite so comfortable as you might expect, either, with a small and surprising amount of firmness to it.
Such low-profile tyres won’t help and nor is the fact Audi UK’s press example is sitting on quite old tyres – unsurprisingly it’s not a car that comes out of its heritage collection very often – this 2010 example has covered just 25,000 miles.
What’s it like inside?
Audi’s heritage car is in a rather unique specification, being what’s called a Coastline model and designed to replicate a ‘classic luxury yacht’. The main way it does this is with its truly ridiculous teak boot floor, giving it perhaps the most impractical load floor of any SUV, but it’s hard not to love how audacious as it was – and still is.
Though it came with seven seats as standard, the Coastline only comes with four chairs, adding to the luxury, and aided by a brown and cream leather interior. It’s so very 2010 and all the better for it.
It’s also from a time when Audi build quality was at its very best, and before the need to cost cut became so prevalent. A new Q7 feels cheap inside in comparison. Late noughties car-tech has aged like sour milk, and its myriad of buttons is impressively of the time – and, dare I say it, no easier to use than a modern touchscreen.
Before you buy
Buying a used Q7 V12 TDI would be brave indeed but you’d earn massive respect points for doing so. Audi hoped to sell around 40 per year, but it struggled to sell that number combined between 2008 and 2012. Less than half of those are still on the road today. They were slightly more popular on the continent (in places such as Switzerland and Germany unsurprisingly) but getting replacement engine parts will be like finding needles in a haystack.
On the subject of prices, a new Q7 V12 cost almost £100,000 back in 2008 and Audi’s delightfully brown and bespoke heritage car was an eye-watering £155,000 back in 2010. You might not be surprised to know it was a cancelled order when new… Adjusted for today’s inflation, that’s £236,000, around what a top-end Bentley Bentayga would cost.
V12 values today are incredibly hard to know given its rarity, but granted it will cost a lot more than a regular first-generation Q7, which can be picked up for a few thousand pounds these days (again, you’ll still need to be brave). There are 12-cylinders listed on Auto Trader at the time of writing, one for £33,000 and another £43,000, though both have been for sale for some time. You don’t buy a Q7 V12 TDI by accident.
Verdict
You might have scoffed at the use of ‘classic’ in the headline, but the Q7 V12 TDI deserves that branding because it feels and drives like something from a completely different time, and nothing will ever be produced like it again. Audi in 2008 is practically unrecognisable to Audi in 2025, and not necessarily for the better.
By virtue of it being the only diesel V12 ever produced – and still the most powerful diesel road car ever sold in Europe – it’s the ultimate Q car. Think of it as a performance SUV as you’ll be disappointed, but rather an incredibly refined and quick way of covering distance in the most unassuming package. Audi at its very finest.