Since the release of the Q7 last year it has received praise as a spacious, value package, and with its Coupe like lines, garnered positives in the aesthetics department. Audi’s first attempt at a full size SUV was a good one, which is not all that surprising when you look at the quality Audi are producing and the twenty-odd years of quattro experience. Extra depth has now been added to the range in the form of a 3.6-litre FSI petrol motor.

Introduced as an entry level model starting out at R527 000, the Q7 3.6 FSI quattro tiptronic makes use of Audi’s new-generation, six-cylinder engine and FSI direct injection, which together combine to offer a decent whack of performance while also treading relatively lightly on the fuel bill.

With 206kW at 6200rpm and torque of 360Nm between 2500 and 5000 rpm on tap, the Q7 3.6 performs admirably with the 0-100km/h sprint claimed to in 8,5 seconds at the coast, while fuel consumption figures average out at 12.7l/100km.

With surreal landscapes and a range of conditions, the area around Augrabies in the Northern Cape provided a backdrop to put both the on-road and off-road capabilities of the latest Q7 and those of the Q7 3.0 TDI and the 4.2 FSI V8 to test. Decent tar roads gave way to rutted 4x4 trails, dry river beds and some fine powder sand dunes.

With the optional adaptive air suspension fitted on our vehicle, the Q7 came into its own. Three different settings, ranging from sporty to comfort, can be selected via the Multi Media Interface operating system which then controls the air-spring and damping characteristics at the compression and rebound stage. With the suspension set to sport, the tar roads bordering the Orange River were swallowed up as the twists and turns were nullified by a confident package. Although the center of gravity is higher than a saloon, the feeling is more car-like than leaning SUV-like.

From there we went off-road and negotiated some narrow 4x4 paths. Set to off-road mode, 25mm higher than normal mode, and in full lift mode, a further 35mm, the Q7 ground clearance measured in at 240mm and was enough to clamber over the harsh terrain with damage only done when some of our party misjudged the width of their Q7 and took the trim panels off the left hand doors.

With the vehicles still set up for serious off-road action we took the opportunity to tackle some fine sand dunes on the banks of the mighty Orange. ABS, EBD and hydraulic brake assist, the traction control system ASR and the electronic differential lock are all controlled with the latest ESP system but to tackle the dunes this is turned off. By keeping the revs constant and the momentum up, the big SUV conquered the tricky section.

These luxuious SUVs might have looked out of place in the Kalahari but all three of the models impressed when it came to getting dirty.