I got my "Black Pearl" - a 2007 Audi Q7 4.2 (non-premium) with Technology and Entertainment
packages in Jan 2007.

Black Pearl (BP) is a replacement for a 1994 Acura Legend GS 6-speed "Blackbird" that
I had for 14 years and a 150K miles.

I wanted a vehicle that was safe, handled well, and elegantly put together. I test
drove 2 vehicles - the Audi as well as the Acura MDX. I waited 2 years for the redesigned
MDX, but after test driving both, I decided to go with the Audi.

Now 10000 miles and 16 months later..............

Exterior:
Audi's styling is classy. But with each passing day, it "grows" on you and seems to look
even better. Recently, while standing about 20 feet in front of the Black Pearl, I convinced
myself that it is one of the best looking SUVs around. It is also one of the few
that look good from any angle. It conveys a strong presence without the
muscular bravado of other large SUVs. And for a vehicle of its size, it has an amazingly
low co-efficient of drag.

Interior:
While lacking the space-age console of some newer cars, the interior is typical Audi sharp.
It is elegant, soft and far superior to the sterile and stiff insides of a BMW or a Mercedes. The lighting in the dashboard gauges are plain - the console's red glow of
the console or a butane blue would have been a better choice.

With pockets everywhere, storage space is more than adequate. The large glove box is big
enough to hold letter-size paper and I use it exactly for that purpose. And how many of
you know that it can serve as a cooler or a hot box? Each door has a receptacle to
hold a water bottle or a large soda cup.

While the rear windows are tinted, the sunshades for the rear passengers are invaluable
since I have a toddler.

Black Pearl comes with a smart key - I am not sure if this is standard on every model.
In any case, I have gotten used to leaving the key in my pocket and having the headlights
and wipers on light/rain sensing modes. Occasionally, though, the rain sensors take time
to come on. The key itself folds into the side of the smart key fob and flips open at
the touch of a button. One minor peeve - I usually keep the key in a pant pocket and the
key release button gets pressed accidentally, the key opens out and stays in the locked position. The fob and the key together is about 4 inches long which can tear pant
pockets if you are not careful.

The seats are adequate, but lacking the plushness of a high-end Lexus or Mercedes.
The seating areas are wide. This allows a car seat to be placed either in the ends or
the middle while allowing comfortable seating for 2 more adults in either configuration.

The third row has 2 seat belts, but seems almost wide enough to seat 3 kids. The leg
room for the third row makes it actually usable. This was also an important
consideration over the MDX whose third row leg space is minimal.


Driving:
Black Pearl handles like a sports sedan. It handles better than my 6-speed Legend GS as
well as an Acura TL-S which is saying something. A clover leaf freeway onramp that
I use regularly provides atleast 1 specific data point for this comparison.
The Q7 is able to corner faster than either of the sport sedans both of which, like
the Q7, have traction control. The comparison is also far superior to 2 other SUVs I
had a chance to drive recently - a GMC Yukon and a Toyota Sequoia. In fairness, these
were about 3 years old and perhaps they too might have improved.

Some owners had complained of a "hesitation" during early acceleration. I have very
rarely felt this and this is a non-issue for me.

The braking is not as sharp as I would like. Admittedly, this vehicle is heavy and
the disc brakes seem massive. But the braking distance is longer than I would like
and this is one area where the Q7 performs below the sports sedans. Over the past year,
I have had to brake urgently on a couple of occasions. On both occasions, I felt the
ABS kick in and the Black Pearl slowed down while stubbornly remaining on a straight line.

The 350 horses delivered by 4.2l engine has enough oomph that I have used the Sport
mode sparingly. But when engaged, the engine's normal purr becomes a throaty growl and
there is a little more pep as shifting higher is deferred at each speed.
I would have much preferred a "Coast" mode which at freeway speeds would engage a
higher gear and reduce the rpm yielding greated mileage.

The bluetooth integration is perfect and works just as you would expect. It cuts
off audio for an incoming call and resumes at the end of the call. As you enter/exit
the car during a phone call, the system works just as you would expect.
I did have 2 minor issues with the Bluetooth package:
a) The Caller ID sometimes has a "off-by-one" error.
b) I wish that you could disable the blue-tooth interface on a call-by-call basis if
you wanted privacy for a particular call. However, with the new California rule requiring
hands-free cell phone operation while driving, this may be moot.

The rear view camera and the guide lines are perfect. The image of the rear bumper
is also very useful. Do you know that there are 2 parking modes - one for parallel parking
and the other for regular? Unfortunately, if you turned on the radio/CD, it turns off
the rearview camera even when you are in reverse.

Complaints (versus design issues):
1) The fuel door does not shut properly. But bending the door retainer hinge a little
seemed to make it work. For such an expensive car, that is a poor design.

2) If the fuel cover is not closed correctly, the engine check light comes on. I always "click" the fuel cover shut at least 3 times. Even so, I got the engine
light to turn on a couple of times. Again, this seems a poor design.

3) Sometimes, the MMI does not boot. Or the rear view camera does not turn on. Or
the blue tooth does not connect. All these were resolved once I turned the vehicle OFF
and restarted.

4) I wish the tailgate could be closed using the key fob. I am told this inability is
because of liability issues. But a reversing feature (like in home garage doors) should
be able to address this.

5) The fuel gauge (like in other cars) is non-linear. It comes down slowly at first and
then suddenly goes down a lot faster. Same with the digital readout.

6) I wish the GPS map would let you move the map focus. This is especially useful if
you want to get a magnified view of your destination even when you are at the start point.

Design Issues:

1) Mileage is horrible. Though I drive at high speeds, I do not accelerate hard.
But the mileage is rarely better than 14 mpg in mostly highway driving. You would
think that a recent design with such good aerodynamics will do better. I keep a gas
log. At the last gas fill, I had driven 9945 miles having used 660.39 gallons. At that
time, the electronic gauge estimated 10 miles left. So, 9955 miles in 660.39 gallons
yields exactly 15 mpg - not stellar by today's standards.

2) The head rests are not very adjustable - they can be raised and lowered, but do not
flex forward and back. For a car with so much flexibility in everything else, I find
this disappointing.

3) The 2nd row seats do not fold flat. Again, you would think that a vehicle in this
generation would have this feature.

4) The luggage privacy bar is not foldable and cannot be stored in the vehicle if removed.
For a car that prides itself on engineering, this is a glaring bug.

5) No overhead DVD entertainment system.

6) The MMI is not always intuitive. But once you are familiar with the basics, it works
out OK.

7) The button to fold the side mirrors needs to be pushed down and turned. I feel it
will give way soon. They should have put a simple **** there.

8) The cruise control control is positioned so close to the turn indicator control(which
also controls hi-beam) that I have mistakenly used that a couple of times.

9) Some controls are non-intuitive. E.g., the console display modes can be changed
(to display one of the following info - fuel consumption, GPS map etc. ) using the
windshield wiper stick. This *is* strange.


Summary:
During the first ten thousand miles, the car has not shown any problems. The only
issue was the fuel cap which, probably having not been turned completely shut, caused
the engine light to come on. Performance has been exceptional. The interior and
exterior are still pristine. My first Audi after 3 Honda/Acura models has been extremely
well behaved thus far.

Verdict: 5 Stars.