Written by Keith Adams Published: 26 January 2024 Updated: 19 April 2024

Want an SUV that combines calm, comfort, toughness, interior space and a hint of premium? The obvious answer for many might be a Range Rover or Range Rover Sport, but Audi has other ideas. We’re running an Audi Q8 TDI for six months to see if its flagship SUV makes the perfect luxury mile muncher.

Reports by Keith Adams.

Update 1: Welcome

Introducing the Audi Q8 SUV 50 TDI Launch Edition Tiptronic

Welcome to the extended long-term review of the Audi Q8, the recently-facelifted version of the range-topping SUV from Ingolstadt. Originally launched in 2018, it was based upon the Q7 SUV, but shared many luxury features, including the dashboard and infotainment set-up from the A8 saloon – a long-time Parkers favourite.

The facelift brings some minor changes (notably better headlights), but the recipe remains unchanged. So, in many ways, the Q8 could be the perfect car for me. It combines the luxury and space of a limousine, but the ruggedness I need living out in the sticks, as I do. You’ll already know this if you’ve arrived here via the main review, but I hope that by the end of this extended review, you’ll get a taste of what a Q8 is like to live with.

As you can see from the accompanying pictures, it’s arrived in the middle of winter and on the bounce from a number of pretty disrupting storms. During the first few weeks of ownership, we’ve encountered gales, floods, snow and ice – and the Q8’s imperiously shrugged it all off, despite my initial misgivings about its monster 22-inch wheels and liquorice-thin tyres.

Check out the Audi Q8 specs page on Parkers for the entire range – especially worth bearing in mind when it comes to pricing up your car.

What you get with a Q8 Launch Edition

First thing’s first, the Lauch Edition is no longer listed on the Audi website, so to all intents and purposes we’re reviewing this as an optioned-up Q8 S Line. Visually, it looks most like a Black Edition model, so it loses the chrome exterior trim of that model and comes in a most fetching shade of Ascari Blue that brings back memories of the glorious RS2 Avant.

In terms of additional equipment over the Q8 S Line, you get the following for a £10,500 premium:

• Branded premium sound system
• Keyless go
• Heated front and rear seats
• Adaptive LED headlights
• Head-up display
• City Assist Pack, with Parking Assist
• 22-inch alloys, OLED rear lights, black trim package

That’s just the extras you get over an S Line, and a far from complete one. It’s probably easier to talk about what the Q8 Launch Edition doesn’t have in terms of equipment. For me, the main thing it’s missing is adaptive cruise control and soft closing doors. Other than that, it seems pretty complete to me.

In terms of use, it’s going to work for a living. I live 200 miles from the office and I’m regularly there, so need a relaxed and reasonably economical car doesn’t shakes off the hustle and bustle of the UK motorway network. Now I live in a farmhouse at the end of a long, steep and bumpy track, and the roads up there are narrow, rough and tricky. So, an SUV suits perfectly. Especially considering the foul weather 2023 and ’24 has brought us so far. It’s going to work for its living.

Finally, I plumped for diesel because I appreciate the long range that comes with it. That it comes with the muscular 3.0-litre V6 with 286hp means that it’ll be ticking over on my long journeys. Perfect. I do wonder if it’ll be the last new diesel I run, and whether we’ll miss them when they’re gone.

Early impressions are positive. I was expecting boaty handling, but have been pleasantly surprised by its responsive handling, low-roll cornering and decent ride quality when it’s in Comfort mode. Over the coming months and thousands of miles, I’ll get deep under the skin of the Audi Q8 and regularly ply Britain’s and Europe’s motorways to see if this big diesel car proves to be as good as I hope it will.

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Update 2: Performance, handling and economy

How well does it drive, and how is it handling a tough winter?

Long story short, it’s quiet, refined, and a brilliant motorway cruiser. Fuel consumption is okay, but the diesel range is excellent.

After more than 3,000 miles, it feels like the Q8 is bedding in nicely, despite stormy weather. After a pair of hot-rod long-termers (a Skoda Superb 280 and a Volkswagen Golf R), its 0-62mph in 6.2 seconds might feel disappointing. Especially after the Golf, which was such an agile thing (in R mode). But, no – the Audi’s forte is discrete performance – it just hunkers down, builds momentum and absolutely monsters long journeys. I might just be imagining it, but I reckon it’s also less intimidating to other drivers than a chrome-laden Q7.

As an SUV that is almost five metres long and 2.2m wide, it would be forgiven for lacking body control or handling finesse, but it’s actually pleasingly agile once it’s size and weight are taken into account. I drive a lot of B-roads, and have yet to be disapointed by it. Importantly, all-weather confidence, and its ability to handle snow, ice and flood waters is excellent. It’ll be good to compare is directly with a Range Rover Sport.

The Q8 doesn’t feel rocket quick off the mark, but what it does do is mid-range punch, and confident overtaking. That lofty driving position helps here, too. In the recent snow flurries in the north of England, it tracked true and straight, and never looked close to getting stuck. It’s not quite so effective in deep mud, but I’m going to put that down to the tyre choice – they look more suited to the race track.

And the handling?

You might think that a car that spends much of its time on the M6 and A1 doesn’t need to handle well. But I beg to differ. Yes, its high-speed stability, high gearing, punchy engine and comfortable, suportive seats make it perfectly suited to going in straight lines quickly, but the final few miles of any trip for me are twisting B-roads and I rather like being able to enjoy it.

In short, it doesn’t put a foot wrong on the challenging stuff. Yes, a Porsche Cayenne is sharper and has more steering feel, but the Q8’s more discrete and it’s more than capable enough for me. The steering is precise, if lacking in feel, the brakes are strong and consistent, and the lack of bodyroll and overall levels of grip and poise are more than I expected. Fun, no, but I think flinging around a 2.1-tonne SUV like an MX-5 isn’t exactly responsible these days.

Some of my colleagues will be along shortly to tell me I need a Cayenne Coupe or BMW X6, but I’m more than happy with the relaxed, quietly confident Q8.

And the fuel consumption?

The Q8 arrived on the fleet with less than 1,000 miles on the clock, and we’ve already breezed past 3,000, and it’s fair to say that it’s growing on me. It’s not as if I didn’t like it in the beginning (I’m a sucker for a big Audi), but the more I drive it, the more I like it – despite my general scepticism for SUVs as a breed. Fuel consumption seems to be improving all the time, with an overall of 36.4mpg – which comfortably beats the official figures.

On my 190-mile commute to the office, it makes 38mpg without too much effort, relying on the cruise control system and sticking pretty rigidly to the speed limits. The fuel range of 530 miles certainly makes a refreshing change after years of driving EVs.

I am hoping to get it overseas for a few business trips – this is a car built for an easy drive to the south of France in single shot – and I feel the need to escape the UK weather. Even if the Q8 is shrugging it off.

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Update 3: Comfort

So, 4,000 miles on, how are things going?

Long story short, It’s Audi’s flagship car, but after extended time with the car, it’s hard not to be disappointed by the Q8’s comfort levels.

The miles have been slipping effortlessly by. It helps that he Audi is easy to live with and spends most of its life pounding the motorway where it’s at its absolute best. As you’ll have read above, the Q8’s performance and fuel economy are both on the right side of acceptable considering its bulk, averaging more than 30mpg, and offering the potential of cruising an easy 600 miles on a tankful.

This update’s main focus is the car’s comfort, and what better way to test it than report back on its life almost exclusively spent on our impossibly pockmarked and crumbling motorway infrastructure in the depths of winter? Throw in a selection of B-roads and mountain tracks up north and I’m left with a thoroughly detailed critique of this car in trying conditions. So you don’t need to.

While the firm seats offer excellent sideways support when cornering, I don’t get enough in the lumbar area, so after about 200 miles, my back starts to ache. Road noise isn’t particularly well contained either (probably thanks to those 22-inch wheels), and the suspension is way more jittery that I’d like, and less comfortable than the equivalent A8 saloon.

Like pretty much every Volkswagen Group car I’ve driven, the lane assist does have an annoying glitch. It can sometimes assume you’ve taken the motorway sliproad when you’re going straight on, and can randomly try to brake when you’re still in the outside lane as it picks up a random speed sign. I suppose at least it means you never really relax.

As an aside, the overall fuel consumption has increased a little to 34.9mpg over the past month, and there’s no reason that I can see for this as the way I’m using it hasn’t changed. Unlike previous Audis I’ve driven, this one’s firm seating hasn’t eased off over time, and lacks the comfort I was expecting.

And this is the problem with this car. Here we have a supposed range-topping SUV that offers indifferent front-seat comfort, a non-too quiet motorway drive, an unsettled ride quality. Luckily the story is better in the rear, where there’s literally acres of head and legroom, making it an excellent place for back-seat drivers. Overall, though, it’s disappointing really, and an unusual miss from Audi on that score.

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Update 4: Running costs

And, 6,000 miles on, how is the fuel consumption holding up?

Long story short, despite weight more than two tonnes and having effortless performance and surprisingly agile handling, the Q8 has the potential for agreeable fuel economy.

Another update and more miles have slipped easily by in the less-than-perfectly comfortable Audi Q8. Time to focus on the fuel consumption, which is both good and bad, depending on your point of view. On motorways, and with cruise control set to 70mph, the Q8 makes an easy 40mpg if you’re good at anticipating and don’t find yourself in rubbish traffic.

I actually thought that the days of me running a diesel long-termer were a thing of the past. I mean, the last time I looked, DERV cars accounted for just 7% of the UK market, compared with more than 60% at their peak less than 20 years ago. But they still have a place on the UK market – just ask anyone who tows a caravan what they think of electric cars and plug-in hybrids.

So here we are enjoying the potential benefits of a longer range, easier performance and a genuine 35-40mpg potential. And supping from the black pump like it’s 2009 again. It’s certainly not bad news, though. I had a brief run in the SQ8 (above) recently, and although it was significantly faster and sounded better, its 22mpg certainly put things into perspective, even if diesel currently costs 10p per litre more.

Don’t get me wrong. It’s not always this good. New cars editor and resident leadfoot, Alan Taylor-Jones, who ran the car briefly on my behalf found it struggled to beat 25mpg on his urban commute, although I suspect he had to suffer more stop/start traffic than me.

As we’re talking about running costs, I should mention the oil consumption. At 7,600 miles, the oil warning light flashed up and asked me to add a litre. This is quite normal for a Volkswagen Group car, although interestingly, Audi doesn’t see the need to design in a oil can-shaped cubby hole in the boot like Skoda does. Another miss? Or perhaps Ingolstadt thinks its customers are too posh to open the bonnet themselves.

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Update 5: Interior

This should be the Q8’s strongest suit. It is not.

Long story short, the interior is roomy and well made, but the infotainment is flawed and it all feels a little past its prime.

It’s now time to talk about the interior of the Audi Q8. Considering this is where I spend all of time, that’s quite a oversight. Blame it on a busy life, its ability to muller journeys in an unfussed way, and the fact that the more time I spend it, the more I find myself picking holes in it.

I’ve already spent plenty of time talking about the firm seats and the acreage of passenger space in there, so I don’t need to go over old ground again. There’s a great deal to like inside, such as the excellent driving position and quality of the materials used, but countering that are some surprisingly annoying foibles, which do their best to take their shine off the ownership experience.

For one, the doors take quite a slam to close. This is in direct contradiction to the microswitch interior releases, which are lovely to use. This car is clearly designed for soft-closing doors, and it just doesn’t work terribly well without them. Once inside, the central armrest area is woefully lacking in storage, with a cubby that only the smallest phones will fit in, and very little room for anything else.

Secondly, there’s the infotainment. Like the digital display panel, it’s crisp and clear to look at, and responsive enough, but the fonts and displays look dated. A major criticism has to be the haptic controls for the screen, which requires quite a push to get any response out of. You’d think after 8,000 miles I’d be used to this, but I am not, and it’s still as unpleasant to use as it was when the car was first delivered.

Luckily, the voice control is good, and the wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay work seamlessly. Better than that, when you use either of these systems, the infotainment system does work like conventional touchscreen. Which would be good, except that the screen driving the climate contol system is also reliant on you prodding a haptic screen. Arrgh!

Still, these are minor niggles in the grand scheme of things. But enough to have me potentially heading for the local Land Rover dealer. More of that anon.

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Update 6: A key problem

A rookie error on my part leaves us locked out of the Q8

Long story short, don’t lock the keys in the Audi Q8’s boot. However, it does give us chance to test out Audi Assist breakdown cover

I like Audis. Three of the six cars I’ve ever owned have been from the German carmaker, so I was pretty excited to have the keys to our editor’s top-spec Audi Q8 for a couple of weeks while he was trying out other vehicles on the Parkers’ fleet. 

But my love for the Q8 soon turned sour, and entirely of my own doing. So let’s begin story time. One Friday evening while in a rush to get to the gym, I went to the car, opened the boot to get something, went back into the house to change clothes and then when it came to setting off I could not find the key for the life of me.

I searched everywhere I usually put keys and went through the house from top to bottom, before going back outside to see if the car was unlocked. Nope, locked. You can probably see where this is going but I think I was in denial.

‘The keys can’t possibly be in the car, can they?’ I asked myself as I walked back up to the Q8 for the third time, only to peer through the rear window and in the tiny gap between the boot and parcel shelf, there it was in the locked car. I was in absolute disbelief at myself and also surprised that the Audi would lock with the keys inside, albeit right at the very edge of the boot. Of course, the blame lies entirely with me and not the car!

I quickly checked with my colleagues to see if anyone had ever set up and activated the Audi app to work with the car – which would allow it to be unlocked remotely – but alas, no. If you’re wondering why I didn’t just use the spare key, with long-term test cars the manufacturer retains it, so the Q8’s second fob will be in a vault in Milton Keynes somewhere.

Thankfully the car was at home, and not out and about, which would have been more of a nightmare. A call to Audi Assist, operated by the AA, resulted in a technician coming out the next morning to get into the car. I double-checked that this wouldn’t involve any windows being smashed. Thankfully not. 

Instead, a technician could pick the lock with specialist tools by replicating the blade of a key. It was a fairly long-drawn-out process, which is reassuring in some ways to know that the car is sophisticated and secure, with the expert taking around an hour to get into the Q8. 

Thankfully he got there in the end, with the alarm going off as soon as the door was opened (again, reassuring), before clambering into the boot to get the fob. One key retrieved and one undamaged Audi Q8 – a result. It must be said that Audi Assist, from the first call through to the job being carried out, was superb.

The technician told me it’s quite rare to do jobs like this now, I imagine partly because most people aren’t as stupid, and also if you have the car app activated on your smartphone, it would instantly alleviate all of this trouble. If you have a car that allows remote functions like this through an app, I STRONGLY recommend downloading it! 

After this misfortune, I decided I best clean the Q8 as it was looking grubby after lots of hard winter miles. The Ascari Blue paintwork cleaned up very well and looks great with the contrasting black trim and black 22-inch alloy wheels. Much to my surprise the colour is metallic too. I’d only ever seen it filthy so presumed it was a solid finish.

My only other thoughts about the Q8 reflect what’s already been said above. I love the Q8’s looks, engine and its space, but the comfort levels aren’t as impressive as I expected and while the interior quality is superb, both touchscreens are fiddly to use and seem a bit outdated next to rivals now. 

But would I still have a Q8? Yes, without a doubt. It feels very Audi in the way it drives and feels, and to me, that’s a good thing. Just make sure you don’t leave the keys in the boot or it spoils the experience… 

Audi Q8 long-term test: scores on the doors

Model tested: 50 TDI Launch Edition 

Current mileage	8,571
Real-world average fuel economy	33.4mpg
Official combined fuel economy (WLTP figures)	33.0mpg
Parkers ‘MPP’ (Miles Per Pound) calculation	3.9-4.5 mpp
Dates tested by Parkers	November 2023-April 2024