When Audi's Q7 V12 TDI concept, inspired by the magnificent R10 TDI endurance racer, rolled on to the Detroit Show floor last year, it seemed more like an engineering stunt than a harbinger of a production model. And yet, it's here: The 2009 Q7 V12 TDI. Perhaps "here" is a bit of a misstatement: The top-drawer Q7 is set to arrive in European showrooms during the second half of 2008, at an as-yet unannounced price. Plans for an American-market debut haven't been mentioned. But, hey, anything's possible.
Just like the Q7 concept (and this year's R8 V12 TDI concept), the production Q7 V12 TDI uses a twin-turbocharged 6.0-liter 60-degree diesel V-12 with direct-injection (pictured above right). It produces 500 horsepower and 758 pound-feet of torque, the latter at only 1750 rpm. The engine is potent enough to heft the Q7 to 62 mph in 5.5 seconds, yet frugal enough to return a hair under 20 mpg, city/highway combined. (Okay, taken out of context, 20 mpg isn't much to write home about, but seriously — 500 horsepower and 758 pound-feet of torque!)
As if the production Q7 V12 TDI wasn't enough, Audi too the opportunity to roll out a concept version of the same vehicle. Dubbed the Q7 Coastline (pictured here), it's designed to evoke the lines and trim of a sporting yacht, with a pearlescent white paint job and an alabaster-white interior with nut-brown leather piping and trim pieces of American walnut and dark smoked oak. Even the cargo area is yacht-like, with a load floor made of waxed oak slats. Very yar.
More photos after the break, courtesy of Audi.
