Audi Q8 is a first class SUV with luxury as standard, a glorious V6 engine and clever feature to help prevent accidents

AUDI has big plans to electrify its line-up of luxury cars. But it is not giving up on petrol and diesel either.

Take the big daddy Q8 you see here. The flagship SUV has just had a mid-cycle refresh for 2024, except the glorious V6 under the hood remains untouched. Lovely.

It has a discreetly tweaked grille with bolder air intakes and a new minimalised 2D badge. The matrix headlamps can be customised via four settings.

The rear lights are just as clever.

If a car comes within two metres of a stationary Q8, the lights will flash and glow extra bright to reduce the chance of you getting shunted from behind.

A welcome upgrade for the range sees the adaptive air suspension made standard – comfort is king in the luxury SUV game.

Your engine choices are simple. One petrol engine. One diesel engine. Both 3-litres. Both V6s.

Eight-speed automatic tiptronic gearboxes are standard, as is permanent Quattro four-wheel drive.

There’s a hint of ecological awareness in the 48V mild-hybrid system that saves half a litre of fuel every 62 miles by coasting with the engine off between 34-99mph for up to 40 seconds at a time.

Not sure Q8 drivers are the penny-pinching types, though, with even the most frugal diesel managing only 34mpg.

The cheapest one, again the diesel, will do 0-62mph in a whisker over six seconds with 600Nm of torque – making it feel faster than the pricier petrol version, which is technically faster at 5.6 seconds.

Need it spicier still? You’ll want the updated SQ8, packing a 4-litre V8 that’ll hustle to 62mph in 4.1 seconds. But there’s not much change out of £100k.

Luxury comes as standard in this league and the Q8 interior is first class. Intuitive, twin haptic touch-screens feature front and centre and the “basic” Audi stereo is an absolute belter.

Bulletproof build quality, primo materials, buckets of passenger space at the back and loaded with safety systems. The Q8 is a giant peach to pilot, be driven around in and have parked on your well-manicured driveway.