Audi Q7 vs Land Rover Defender
The big test: seven-seat SUVs
Terribly inconvenient, having a family. It makes simple, short trips take a lot of effort and require the logistical execution of a military operation. A bit like the invasion of the European axis on the Soviet Union, but with more strollers. Which brings us neatly to the topic of this test: full size family SUVs. Whole milk, added sugar, extra e-numbers – these are SUVs with dimensions that barely exceed those of a truck.
We have selected a few particularly fine examples for this two-way street: the Audi Q7 and the Land Rover Defender 110. And before you say anything about it: no, the cars in the photos are not direct competitors (the LaRo is a diesel, a D250 SE, and the Audi a 50 TFSI on petrol), but we brought them together to highlight the practicalities, not the performance.
First of all, the Q7. That is the largest and most practical Audi you can buy, with many pleasant features. But although its length of more than five meters may be called generous, it is immediately apparent that it is actually quite low. It rolls through your field of view where the Defender rumbles through it, it’s neater and more subtle, but ultimately duller. It feels like a scale version of, well, any other Audi.
Still practical
But the fact that the Q7 is less startling on the outside doesn’t make it any less useful. It’s a full-fledged seven-seater, the two rear seats fold away under the floor and there’s plenty of room – even if the passengers are taller than six feet. With five seats in use, you have a massive 865 liters of luggage space, which can be expanded to 2,050 liters if you lay all but the two front seats flat.
The rear row of seats is quite upright, but you can easily lose adults on it if you slide the middle row slightly forward (which can be done individually per seat). However, folding and unfolding that row is a tough job. Incidentally, you can attach an Isofix seat to all seats – except the driver’s seat – if you run some shelter or are blessed with sextuplets.
And the Land Rover?
The Defender is similarly spacious, but a lot higher, and in terms of seating you can choose from three in the front (with an extra folding seat) plus three in the middle, or two in the front, three in the middle and two in the back. Unfortunately, you cannot combine the center seat in the front with a third row of seats, so you can’t make it into an eight-seater. The rear seats are also a decent size here, although Land Rover officially calls the Defender a 5+2, probably to keep it out of the waters of the Discovery.
But the Defender 110 remains an aircraft carrier of a car – 916 liters of storage space, expandable to 2,233 liters with the second row of seats down. However, the side-opening tailgate of the Defender offers a less wide loading opening than the traditional folding example of the Audi. To put the payloads of these two into context, a Volvo V90 has 560 liters of space, or 1,526 liters with the bench flat. The Q7 and Defender almost qualify as vans – albeit very cozy vans.
‘Where the Audi Q7 feels like a chic car, the Land Rover Defender comes across as rather unique’
Because yes, there is luxury. As with any modern Audi, you get a battery of HD screens: 10.1 and 8.6 inches, stacked in the middle, plus the excellent 12.3-inch Virtual Cockpit behind the wheel. The quality, accessibility and compatibility are perfectly fine and the images are razor sharp. It’s a multimedia/dashboard system that rivals others rudimentary, with intuitive (albeit a lot of) technology.
Audi is all about the inside
If you were to buy a Q7 just for this interior, we wouldn’t be able to argue with that. Compared to this, the Defender feels bare. You get a wide, flat dashboard with extra handles, a single touchscreen and a counter screen. Plus bare screw heads, rubber-lined pockets and a cavernous network of storage spaces. But where the Q7 feels like a chic car, the Defender is rather unique. The psychology of this interior makes the LaRo appear more robust and better able to survive sticky toddler fingers.
Of course, there are also disadvantages to interiors with so much space, because these are two extremely large cars. The Defender is slightly shorter than the Q7 (5,018 millimeters, including the spare wheel on the back, against 5,063 millimeters for the Audi) and just under two meters wide (only a fraction more corpulent than the Audi). You’ll need the standard parking sensors with both, although the Defender’s angular design makes it a bit easier to place. They are both big heavyweights: the Audi brings about 2.2 tons in the scale, the Defender even more.
The thicker engines
In both cars, the entry-level engine is sufficient, although they only really get going in the middle of the available range – where the most money happens to be spent. For the Audi that means the 45 TDI or the 50 TFSI; at Land Rover the D250 or the P300. Usually the Q7 is faster, more efficient and cheaper (it makes a difference in Belgium, a lot in the Netherlands). Both can easily tow 3,500 kilos.
There is absolutely no denying that the Q7 leaves the Defender gathering dust when it comes to handling. He has to, since he can count the Porsche Cayenne and Bentley Bentayga among his VW blood relatives. The Defender’s D7x architecture also has plenty in common with other JLR products, though the ‘x’ in the name hints at a reinforced aluminum body and extra rigid parts that elevate it to ‘true’ 4×4 status. This is immediately apparent on the road. Where the Audi shrinks and shows more agility in the bends, you have to wait for the Defender to find its way.
The Q7 keeps its body remarkably flat on the stock air suspension where the LaRo tilts like a racing sailboat. The steering of the Audi is better, the brakes are tireless and the suspension comfort is more refined. On the contrary, the Defender is lazy, softer and less urgent in its actions. Whether that is objectionable depends on what exactly you want from your family bus. The Q7 may be more agile and faster, but whether that has anything to do with these types of cars is debatable. The Defender is also not bad and offers something in return: with the Audi you can do quite a bit off-road, but if you often encounter mud, the Land Rover laughs around it in circles.
Power and control, that’s what it’s all about
Let’s face it: people buy big SUVs because a big car gives a sense of power and control. And because they want something that can handle their maximum capacity demands, even if they could manage with a more modest car most days. The strange thing is that the Audi Q7 ticks off a brilliant amount of boxes and still manages to be rather dull.
A large SUV for people who don’t really care what kind of car they have, as long as the usual Audi attributes are on it. The Defender is considerably less versatile, but still possesses a self-assurance and character that make it impossible to resist. The efficiency and ruggedness, the overall machismo and its deployability – it’s all a bit over the top, but it still makes it genuinely attractive. There isn’t a bad car here, but if you want to name a winner, it has to be the Land Rover Defender.
Audi Q7 vs Land Rover Defender: The Verdict
01. Land Rover Defender D250 SE (18/20)
A cumbersome compromise compared to the ruthless Q7, but it’s packed with personality and charm
02. Audi Q7 45 TDI Quattro Pro Line S (16/20)
Objectively the better machine; subjectively soulless. Respectable, but not really desirable
