Sorry for ignoring this thread over the weekend...hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving.
So driving impressions: It's cliche to say this, but I didn't think you could get excellence like this. You always talk about a car being "worth the money" and then there's this car. I even hesitate to chalk it up to the cost, because again, a lot of the goodness is baked into the basic platform. I said this with my Golf R and I will say it again here: I don't know how Audi makes their money on this thing. I am kind of envious of the people who buy the basic Q7....that's where the real magic is happening.
The engineering, thoughtful touches, and sheer THOUGHT that went into this car is unbelievable. First off, the ride and handling. My initial impressions stand up - this drives and handles like a super-Golf R, but throw it in comfort mode and the ride is pillow-soft. Turn in and braking is quite good for normal driving - I am not pushing it hard because I need to give it a gentle breakin for the first 1000 miles.
Going easy on it is not hard to do, because the well of power and torque is seemingly limitless. I do not use more than 1/4 throttle for every daily driving task, including passing cars on 2 lane roads. And starting it up in the morning is one of life's simpler pleasures.....the initial fire-off shakes the entire house. There's no sneaking out of the driveway in this car - my entire neighborhood hears this thing when you start it up.
The interior is a joy. There is genuine leather on the dash and the rest of the touchpoints feel expensive.
Complaints? Yeah, I have 2. The only real complaint I have with the fit and finish is the steering wheel buttons. They make a CLACK-CLACK sound when you push them that sounds a little thin and cheap for the car. The other "complaint" I have (and it's more an observation) is that the technology on this car is borderline-overwhelming. We have had the car a week now and we're still learning how to use it. I am in the tech field so it doesn't bother me so much - setting up user profiles, syncing the individual settings to those profiles, keying the car to the MyAudi app on our phones - it all works PRETTY well, but there are times where it is not intuitive. Small tasks like changing the stereo sound settings require you to pull over, and hunt and peck for the sub-menu you need in the infotainment. I haven't even gotten to the voice-activated MyAudi assistant - every time I ask it something it doesn't pull up what I want, so let's chalk that one up to user error.
Fletcher Jones has been first class to work with as well. I had to run the car in for service to correct a minor issue that delivery missed, and we got to see the Service Department in action. Super-high tech, everyone was using tablets, and I got real-time email push notifications when the car was ready to be picked up. Again, something I would expect from a car dealership but up to now, have not seen.
I also did a polish and ceramic coating on the car since we had a few nice days, so here's some new pics.
First up, if you have never gotten up close and personal with Daytona Gray Pearl....you're missing out:
Here's some more shots:
Yesterday we took a trip out to Dixon, IL. My son is really into American history right now and is learning all about past Presidents, and is currently reading a children's book on Ronald Reagan. To surprise him, we jumped in the car on a whim and drove out to Dixon to see Reagan's boyhood home, as well as the park he lifeguarded at along the Rock River when he was a boy. I grabbed this shot near the snack shelter Reagan tended when he worked there.
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