Suburban Dad: Road Rally

By Suburban Dad

March 5, 2015

Suburban Dad went along with some of the Cars.com editorial staff to a road and track rally up in Elkhart Lake, Wis., last week. I was able to drive a handful of cars and SUVs, and here are my verdicts:

Audi Q7
I’m tempted to get one of these, park it in my driveway and just watch TV from the front seat. The Q7 had one of the plushest, most comfortable leather seats I’ve ever sat in. The Q7, which has an aggressive, expressive face, also has a spunky engine and a smooth ride. It has a spacious cabin, huge storage space behind the second row (which included some heavy-duty tie-downs, a nice feature), and a great-looking black-on-black interior. The Q7 had a power liftgate, but Audi might want to think about those moms who are too short to reach the auto-close button, located on the bottom of the liftgate. When the liftgate is up, you’d have to be 5 foot 6 or better to reach it; my wife, at 4 foot 11, would definitely have some issues.

Hyundai Veracruz

If this is what a minivan-free future looks like, I think I’m OK with it. Big crossovers like this one are showing up all over the place, and I think they’ll hold lots of appeal for suburbanites. There are three rows, and although the third one is certainly meant only for kids, there’s still plenty of room in the second row for adults off to dinner or a movie together. It’s also very easy to get to that third row, so it should be a successful carpooling car. In addition, it’s butch enough for the guys yet has graceful lines that would appeal to their wives. It could be a big winner for the soccer-mom crowd.