Is the Audi Q9 the poshest Audi yet?
Audi’s new range-topping Q9 is the biggest, plushest thing the four rings have built yet, a seven-seat, tech-crammed luxury SUV squaring up to the Range Rover. Here’s what we know before it lands on UK roads.
Audi has never been shy about going big, but the new Q9 takes things to another level. Audi says it’s the largest car the brand has ever built, a seven-seat flagship SUV that stretches to 5.31 metres and squares up to the BMW X7, the Mercedes GLS and, whisper it, the Range Rover. If the Q7 was Audi’s answer to how much SUV is too much, the Q9 is the follow-up nobody asked for, answered with a cheerful “quite a lot more.”
The pitch is simple enough. You get three rows of seats, a cabin trimmed like a business-class lounge and just about every gadget in the Audi locker, all wrapped in a body designed to make your neighbour’s Range Rover look a little ordinary. For the right buyer, it’ll be catnip.
Audi Q9 design and dimensions
Nobody at Audi has tried to make the Q9 look svelte, and good for them. The nose is all enormous Singleframe grille and thick vertical bars; S line cars get a meaner, more open face. Round the back sits a full-width light bar, an illuminated four-ring badge and what Audi says are its first curved digital OLED tail lights, which can project an indicator graphic onto the tarmac behind you. Wheels go up to 23 inches. It’s a lot of car, and it makes no secret of it.
Audi Q9 interior and technology
Audi calls the Q9 a “mobile living space,” which is marketing speak, but for once it isn’t far off the mark. There are six or seven seats depending on how sociable you’re feeling, the second-row chairs go electric on plusher trims, and every seat slides, reclines and folds at the touch of a button. The doors will even open themselves from your phone, which is either the last word in luxury or one gadget too many, depending on your mood.
Up front sits the now-familiar Audi screen barrage, a 12.3-inch driver’s display, a 14.5-inch central touchscreen running Android Automotive and a 12.3-inch screen for your passenger to play with. It’s all trimmed in Nappa leather, Dinamica microfibre and open-pore wood, under what Audi says is the largest panoramic glass roof it’s ever fitted. If you’d rather your posh Audi SUV ran on electrons, the Q8 e-tron remains the one to have.
Audi Q9 engine and performance
For the UK, the Q9 launches with a 3.0-litre V6 turbodiesel, which in 2026 feels almost charmingly old-school. Audi quotes 295bhp, a hearty 465lb ft of torque, and a 48-volt mild-hybrid system that adds another 24bhp when you lean on it. An electrically powered compressor spools up boost in a claimed 1.2 seconds, which Audi says should stop it feeling caught napping when you put your foot down. Quattro four-wheel drive and an eight-speed automatic are standard, and the whole set-up is designed for serene motorway cruising rather than off-road heroics. Which, given who’s likely to buy one, sounds about right.
How well will the Audi Q9 suit UK roads?
There is, admittedly, the small matter of size. At 2.21 metres across, the Q9 is a fraction wider than the 7ft (2.13-metre) width restrictors dotted around London, and that’s the body alone, before the mirrors. So the odd barriered rat-run or tight multi-storey is best given a wide berth, and it’ll hang a good half-metre out of a standard parking bay.
Let’s not get carried away, though. Vans, buses and articulated lorries thread through the same streets every day, so the idea that a wide SUV simply can’t cope doesn’t really stand up. Audi has fitted rear-wheel steering and adaptive air suspension, which it says tighten the turning circle and take the stress out of tighter spots. We’ll reserve judgement on how that translates to a UK B-road until we’ve had the car ourselves.
Audi Q9 price, specs and UK on-sale date
Audi hasn’t confirmed UK pricing or a firm on-sale date for the Q9. Given where it sits against the BMW X7 and Range Rover, expect a starting price well into six figures once options are added, though treat any number floating around before Audi’s official announcement as a guess rather than gospel. Full specifications are available on Audi’s official Q9 page.