Audi SQ7 e-boost 2015
The 2015 Audi Q7 has only just launched internationally but like the smaller SQ5, a performance diesel version is almost a certainty. The Audi SQ7 is likely to be driven by a V8 diesel of 4.2-litre capacity. And why wouldn’t it be since this is the same engine used in the Porsche Cayenne and Volkswagen Touareg. It’s simply one of the best engines around.
But in the Audi SQ7 exists something the others don’t have; electric turbo chargers. This e-boost concept was first demoed on the Audi RS5 TDI-e concept and the goal is to completely erase turbo lag. In fact, e-boost completely redesigns the turbo charger as we know it. Once the engine produces 3000rpm, the electric turbo chargers are bypassed and normal induction resumes.
How much power are we talking? Around 300kW and 900Nm is not unimaginable, placing the Audi SQ7 close to the venerable Audi Q7 V12 TDi. However expect the new one, with four cylinders less, (yes four!) to be far more economical.
Audi’s head of technical development Dr Ulrich Hackenberg said other Q7 variants would be under consideration. “It is possible to have this platform with a reduction gearbox – the VW Touareg will have it, but there is not the demand at present,” Hackenberg said. “But if there is a business case we could always do a small run.”
