Q7

Make
Audi
Segment
SUV

One of the main moves out of the marketing playbook is the art of softening a blow by introducing displeasing changes gradually. Currently, the automotive community is still able to relish the performance delivery and melodies of the V8 engine, but as downsizing continues to take place, that ability is slowly being stripped. To ease the transition, the V8 is being phased out slowly and will end with a whimper, not a bang. It begins with downsizing and turbocharging and before we know it, cylinders start to disappear.

According to what a source at Audi told Autocar, the company's latest V8 engine is likely to be its last. Given that Volkswagen AG, Audi's parent company, is about to cleanse its dirty diesel image with a bevy of electric cars and plug-in hybrids, building a V8 to succeed the current unit would go against the EV creed. Audi's personal goal is to convert 25%-35% of its fleet to electric power by 2025 and investing in an other V8 would only push it further from that objective. The Audi source elaborated by saying, "It would be very difficult to justify the huge investment in another new V8 because of the cost of developing electric drivetrains and battery packs. You have to ask what is the best use of investment money."

For the time being, Audi will squeeze every ounce of usage out of its new V8, which can be had in both diesel and gas guzzling variants. To make use of the technology, Audi will share the engine with its Volkswagen brothers Bentley and Porsche. Currently, the engine is the power plant that is used in the new Porsche Panamera diesel and Audi SQ7 diesel. Like Volvo's technology, one key feature of the engine is a twin turbocharged system that is fed by an electric blower when engine speeds are low to allow for lag-free acceleration. Unfortunately, this means that the next generation of the Porsche Panamera and Audi R8 will be powered by six-cylinder engines supplemented with forced induction systems and hybrid drivetrains.