2013 Audi Q7 TDI: The Drive to Vienna – Review and Report
Traffic was very light and I was able to maintain a cruising speed that ranged from 180 km/h (112 mph) to 220 km/h (137 mph) for the 119 kilometers until I reached Deggendorf, where the A92 ends, and where I turned onto the Autobahn A3 and headed towards Passau.
The Autobahn A3 starts at Germany’s border with the Netherlands and continues past Passau to the Austrian border. With an overall length of 483 miles (778 kilometers), it travels past numerous major cities including Cologne, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Nürnberg, Regensburg, and Wiesbaden.
Traffic as I headed to Austria was light as well and I didn’t have to adjust my cruising speed by much. It took 20 minutes or so to cover the 45.8 kilometers (28.5 miles) to the Austrian border and I was soon back on native soil.
The A3 directly connects with the A8 Innkreis Autobahn, which runs from the German border to the West Autobahn or A1, rough 60 kilometers (37 miles). The West Autobahn was the first Autobahn to be built in Austria. It was built shortly after the Anschluß as a continuation of the Reichsautobahn 26 (the present-day Autobahn A8) and runs from Salzburg to the outskirts of Vienna.
The speed limit is 130 km/h (81 mph) in Austria although many people drive somewhat faster and I averaged about 150 (93).
Once on the West Autobahn, I only had 167 kilometers (104 miles) to go until I reached the city. Once the Autobahn ended at the outskirts, it was a 10-minute drive to my destination, the Palais Hansen Kempinski Vienna hotel.
THE AUDI Q7 TDI
As we have come to expect of Audi, the Q7’s interior was elegant and well executed. High quality materials including extremely comfortable and supportive leather seats abound. The layout of the dash and driver’s area is clean and everything is easy to find.
For 2013, the Q7 received an updated 3.0-liter V-6 that develops 240 horsepower, 15 more than the 2012 model. Torque remains the same at 406 pound-feet. The eight-speed transmission mates nicely to the new engine and shifts effortlessly. The 406 pound-feet of torque are more than sufficient to move this 5700-pound vehicle, even on an Autobahn with no speed limit.
Inside the cabin, even upon cold starts, diesel noise is imperceptible. My only real complaint was that, once underway, the A pillars somewhat reduces visibility but Audi’s blindspot monitoring system more than compensates for this.
The Audi seemed equally at home on stretches of Autobahnen and as well as on winding roads (which we’ll cover in the second part of the drive, which is to Štrbské pleso). Steering and braking were responsive for a vehicle of this size, with decent feedback.