Project Q7 offroad: Introduction

Where to begin, how did we get here, where are we going? 

It all started with our 2018 Q5, beginning the first few years of its life with us as a standard mall-rated Q5. But the adventures and road trips ramped up and next thing you know, we were bombing down fire roads, crossing creeks and slipping down some tight rocky back roads for some of the best camp spots we’d ever experienced. We’d discovered the art of overlanding in an Audi and it was spectacular.

[by: Ryan Ponto]

Fast forward a few years and two golden retrievers, Finn and Tucker, joined our lives. Tenting just wasn’t cutting it anymore. We spent two years researching and exploring different lightweight trailers. My wife, Melissa, stumbled across the Airstream Basecamp X with 2,700lb dry weight, 3-inch factory lift, all-terrain tires and a whopping 97 square feet. We picked one up, dubbing it “The Tin Palace” and it was the perfect match for our Q5 – well within its capabilities.

The adventuring snowballed. Our Q5 “Adventure Q” received H&R lift springs, Falken Wildpeak tires and some Rok Block mud flaps. We rocked the Q5 and Tin Palace around for the last two years, racking up a little over 150 days and 30,000 km of adventures travelling all over Western Canada. The Q5 never skipped a beat once through all of the trips in and out of the Rockies. There were still more plans left on the table for the Q5, but Melissa has her own ideas too… inspiring a few text messages with Jason Leung at Audi North Edmonton. Melissa had her eyes set on a replacement for the Q5. Enter this 2022 Q7. 

We went back and forth on the Q7s Audi North had in stock. Given the current shortage of vehicles everywhere, inventory was slim. However,  Jason found us a Komfort line Q7, though with one added a touch; it included the newly released Canadian market Vorsprung Package. This takes a regular run-of-the-mill base Q7, adds the S-line trim (in Canada this means the SQ7 bumper as well), Black Optics inside and out, 21-inch wheels and dynamic lighting package. 

One day later, Jason had us coming in for a test drive. To be honest, this was mainly for Melissa to see the color since she wasn’t super keen on a grey… but once she saw the Q7 in Daytona Grey with Black Optics trim, she was instantly sold. We still took it for the test drive of course, just to be sure. Both of us surprised at how well the Q7 handled; very similar to our Q5 even with its larger footprint, much in thanks to the 3.0-liter turbocharged V6 providing a bump in power over our Q5’s 2.0-liter. A couple days later we dropped off our old Q5 having just passed 100,000 km and picked up our new Q7. 

Admittedly, I may have been planning the Q7’s future before the papers were even signed. I’ve already been in discussions with the fine folks over at Black Rhino looking at wheel options, tire sizing discussions with an SQ7-owning friend, seeing what was available for lift springs or kits and seemingly endless possibilities. The true excitement of starting a new project vehicle.

Stay tuned for more to come.