Suburban Dad: 2007 Audi Q7

Did you ever have a neighbor you waved and smiled at for years, thinking, “What a great guy,” till one day you spent a long time talking to him and realized, “Wow, he’s really annoying.”

So it was for me with the Q7. I first drove it back in May, and came away impressed with the ride quality and seating, among other things. It wasn’t until I got my wife and kids into it that it showed its true colors.

“I hate these seats,” my 13-year-old daughter exclaimed. What bugged her and her 14-year-old brother most were the second-row headrests. They flip forward when you want to lower the seats, but are in a place where they don’t adjust up and down, like typical headrests. Because they didn’t adjust, the kids couldn’t get comfortable in those seats. In addition, getting to the third row was a challenge, as it took me — the adult — a lot of effort to get the second row to pull forward and out of the way. I should note, though, that the seemingly faulty movement could be because this was a fleet car (provided for autowriters), and I can’t fault Audi for what might be the handiwork of a bunch of journalists.

Meanwhile, in a bright note for Audi, my 10-year-old loved the third row, saying “look at all the foot room back here!” He also thought the seats offered enough support. He may well have been the happiest person in the car.

My wife, on the other hand, wasn’t wowed by the exterior. She thought it was too truck-like and complained that the leather seats didn’t feel supple, but “cheap.”

As for me, I thought the ride was still good, with little body roll and not much road or engine noise. For me, the killer was the MMI system, in which it literally took me 10 minutes to find my favorite radio station. I’m sure that for someone who owns one of these the controls become easier to manipulate over time, but I found the system a drag. It’s a shame, really, because it offers some cool functions, like the volume up/down roller on the steering wheel, which offers a little more tactile control over the volume than your usual up/down buttons. The main volume control is positioned to be easily reached by your right arm at rest. But for all of its cool features, there were some I couldn’t figure out.

For example, when you have a list of all FM radio stations, the display will tell you what song is playing on each station. Very cool. But when you build your list of favorites, that same info isn’t displayed. I don’t know about you, but I’d most want to know what’s playing on the stations I listen to regularly.

All in all, the Q7 never had a chance with my family, who normally don’t respond so viscerally to a car.