Audi Q8 Review & Prices

The Audi Q8 is a sleek and sporty-looking SUV which is very similar to the big and boxy Audi Q7 under the skin. It’s a bit like choosing eggs Benedict over a bacon and egg butty - the basic ingredients are the same, but it’s a more elegant breakfast choice.

As a big coupe SUV, the Q8 is an alternative to cars like the BMW X6 and the Mercedes GLE Coupe. You could also consider a Polestar 4 if you’re after a posh electric car with a similar bodystyle.

It may have been around since 2018, but the Q8 still looks the part. The imposing front grille and muscular flared wheel arches give it real road presence, and it’s not quite as garish as a BMW X6.

Moving inside, there is plenty of space up front to get comfortable behind the wheel, and rear legroom is also generous with two adults in the back, but we found that getting three people across the bench was a squeeze in terms of shoulder space. It’s also not as roomy as the Q7, nor does it have seven seats.

At 605 litres in capacity, the boot is among the biggest among alternatives. It’s 25 litres more than you get in a BMW X6, but the Mercedes GLE Coupe has an extra 50 litres of space. The boot lip is pretty high, so loading heavy furniture or old dogs in could be tricky.

As for the interior quality, it’s excellent throughout. There’s loads of leather on the dashboard and on top of the doors, and even the lower door pockets are soft-touch. The switchgear all feels really solid as well, with each button having a satisfying click.

The dashboard layout does look a bit dated though, especially when compared to the latest BMW X6 or the Porsche Cayenne Coupe. The touchscreen climate controls are also a bit fiddly to use on the move, but at least it’s a separate screen from the infotainment system.

You get a 10.1-inch touchscreen which is pretty easy to use. It doesn’t look spectacular thanks to the dark graphics, and it’s dwarfed by the 14.9-inch screen you get in a BMW X6, but it’s still perfectly adequate.

There are three engines to choose from in the standard Q8. You can have a 3.0-litre V6 petrol engine with 340hp, or there’s a 3.0-litre V6 diesel with 286hp. There's also the 3.0-litre V6 plug-in hybrid with 394hp, and that car will do around 50 miles on electric power alone. If you fancy something a bit spicier, check out the SQ8 and RS Q8. These both use 4.0-litre V8 engines with 507hp and 640hp respectively.

Both the petrol and diesel engines have plenty of power, but the latter does feel a tad agricultural these days. It’s quite grumbly under acceleration, but it is slightly more economical than the petrol. It’ll do up to 35mpg, compared to 27mpg in the petrol car.

To drive, the Q8 is most at-home on the motorway. It’s quiet at speed and smooth over any undulations, but it’s a shame that adaptive cruise control is an optional extra on a car at this price point. It’s also pretty good on a twisty road thanks to the adaptive air suspension, which keeps the car nice and level in the corners. A BMW X6 is more fun to drive though.

The Audi Q8 also feels really wide from behind the wheel, and visibility isn’t great thanks to the small windows. This can make narrow country roads a bit nervewracking, and urban driving is also pretty challenging. You’ll be relying on the surround-view camera when tackling width restrictors.

It may be getting on a bit, but the Audi Q8 is still a great option if you’re looking for a large, stylish and sporty SUV which is still practical. It’s comfortable to drive and well-built, but you might have to spend quite a lot on options to get all the kit you want.

If you’re keen on making the Audi Q8 your next car, you can check out the latest deals available through Carwow to save yourself some cash. You can also see the latest leasing offers, browse our range of used Audi Q8s or check out deals on the rest of the Audi range. Looking to sell your car? You can do that through Carwow as well.

The Q8 is considerably more expensive than a BMW X5, but it’s just a fraction cheaper than the BMW X6, which is its closest alternative. A Mercedes GLE Coupe is a shade less expensive than the Q8, although not by very much in the grand scheme of things. All three have long and ruinous options lists, but don’t forget the Lexus RX — in styling terms, it’s the anthesis of the Audi’s aggressive, overtly-sporty look, but it’s also considerably more affordable, good to drive, and comes in frugal hybrid or plug-in hybrid forms. Standard equipment for the Q8 includes 21-inch alloy wheels, adaptive air suspension, Matrix LED headlights, and heated front sports seats.

The Audi Q8 is comfortable and enjoyable to drive, but the gearbox could be more responsive and it’s bulky around town

In town

The driving position in the Q8 is definitely more SUV than coupé – you sit a little lower than in a Range Rover, but still look down on most cars. Visibility is a bit limited thanks to the narrow windows, which can make it tricky to thread through tight spaces - especially with this car's immense width.

It is more manoeuvrable around town if you choose a version with rear-wheel steering — currently standard only on the top-spec Vorsprung model. This turns the rear wheels in the opposite direction to the fronts at low speeds, giving the Q8 a similar turning circle to Audi’s A3 hatchback. It’s a big plus while parking, or if you need to make a three-point turn. Light steering helps too – you can twirl the wheel with your fingertips.

Every Q8 rides on huge alloys which logic suggests would make for a bumpy low-speed ride. But the standard air suspension does a great job of smoothing out the worst lumps in the road.

Even the least powerful Q8 is a very quick car, so it will leap into any gap in traffic, but if your driving life is spent mostly in town, then it’s well worth considering the plug-in hybrid TFSIe version of the Q8, which can go for a claimed 51 miles on electric power on a full charge. Want more zero-emission running than that? It might be worth considering the all-electric Audi Q6 e-tron.

On the motorway

Big miles are a pleasure in the Q8. Whichever engine you pick, you’ll quickly pass dawdling traffic, while the air suspension keeps things controlled but comfortable. The Audi feels super-stable at speed.

The Q8 is available with clever driver aids that make motorway journeys really relaxing, although annoyingly many of these are still on the options list. You get adaptive cruise control as standard in a Toyota Corolla these days, but you have to pay extra for it in the Q8. You need to pay attention to make sure the systems are working properly, but letting the car steer, slow down, and accelerate for you makes life that little bit less stressful.

There’s not much in the way of noise in the cabin at 70mph, and the gearbox changes gears smoothly. So to sum up, if you want to cover a lot of miles at pace in peace and comfort, the Q8 is a near-ideal tool for the job, and the 3.0 V6 TDI is the best engine option for this task.

On a twisty road

Audi’s chassis engineers haven’t found a loophole in the laws of physics, but they have worked hard to disguise the Q8’s size and weight on twisty roads.

The suspension set up is slightly sportier than the closely related Q7’s, so it stays flatter and feels more poised when cornering hard. It's not what you'd call fun though, just immensely competent. A BMW X6 feels even more agile.

For even more potent performance, the SQ8 has 507hp and a 0-62mph time of 4.1 seconds. In the unlikely event that’s still too tardy for you, the RS Q8 ups the ante with 600hp and a 0-62mph sprint of 3.8 seconds.

Every Q8 from the most to the least powerful has four-wheel drive to help put all that power down even when the road is slippery.

There's plenty of space for five people and their bags, but there's no third row of seats like you get in the Q7

There’s lots of room in the front of the Q8. Stretch a basketball player on a rack, and they’ll still have enough head and legroom.

The driving position isn’t quite as armchair-like as a Range Rover’s, but you still sit up nice and high with plenty of support under your thighs. The front seats adjust every which way, so drivers of most shapes and sizes should be comfortable, and the steering wheel also moves over a wide range, both up and down and in and out.

The standard seats are supportive without being too narrow. The high-performance Q8 models have more heavily bolstered seats which grip you more firmly when cornering but may be a little pinchy depending on the driver’s build.

Audi hasn’t skimped on storage space. The glovebox is a healthy size, and the door bins are absolutely huge. A large bottle of water will fit with room to spare. There’s more room under the arm rest, and a small fold-down compartment in the dash with room for a phone – although you can guarantee you’ll forget whatever you put in there as it’s tucked out of sight.

If the Q8’s performance isn’t enough to wake you up each morning, there are twin cupholders beside the gearlever for a large coffee.

Space in the back seats

The most obvious compromise in choosing a Q8 over a Q7 is the loss of the third row of seats. So whereas Audi’s more practical luxury SUV has room for seven, the Q8 is a five-seater.

You might think that the coupé-like sloping roofline would mean headroom also suffers, but there’s actually plenty of space. Legroom is very generous, so rear-seat passengers can stretch out and relax.

That is unless you're carrying three people in the back, because despite how wide this car is there's not much shoulder space. The hump in the floor is also a pain, although the footwells are still big enough to fit everyones feet.

If the middle seat is empty, passengers can fold down an armrest with a pair of cupholders. Big door bins take care of bottles and snacks, and there are map pockets on the backs of the front seats.

Boot space

Okay, the Q8 isn’t as practical as the Q7, but this is still a very big SUV with a very large boot. You won’t need to travel light with a 605-litre capacity. That compares with 580 litres on a BMW X6 but 655 litres for the Mercedes GLE Coupe. Just remember that the TFSIe plug-in hybrid version loses 100 litres of boot space.

The slope of the rear window means tall items won’t necessarily fit by the tailgate, even with the parcel shelf removed. And while we’re moaning, if you do take the luggage cover out there’s nowhere to store it. One final gripe – there’s no remote release for the seat backs, so you’ll need to walk around to the rear doors to extend the space by dropping the seats.

But really, you’ll need to go some to fill this boot, and there are useful touches like lashing hooks and a 12-volt socket.

The cabin is is solidly built and feels lovely, but the touchscreen climate controls are a faff

Cars like the Q8 sell on looks and style as much as how they drive and how practical they are. It would be a big letdown if the Q8 wasn’t as handsome on the inside as the outside.

It's a pretty stylish cabin, even if the deign is starting to show its age a bit in places. It is incredibly well-built though, with solid switchgear and plenty of soft leather.

Buttons have been kept to a minimum, which means relying on touchscreen menus. This can be a pain if all you want to do is turn up the air con, and you need to wade through a menu to find the controls.

Audi has dodged this bullet by having two touchscreens, one stacked above the other. The bottom one takes care of the climate control and heating, so the controls are always there when you need them. The top one looks after all the other stuff you expect the infotainment system to handle, like satellite navigation, the stereo, and the telephone.

The screens work really well when you’re parked up, and look decent thanks to their crisp resolution. Things aren’t quite so simple when you are moving, as it’s harder to hit a screen than feel for a physical button.

The ‘buttons’ on the displays do click and vibrate when you press them, though, so you know you haven’t tapped a blank space by mistake, but it’s not immediately intuitive.

There’s a third screen ahead of the driver for your digital instruments. You can configure this display to your heart’s content – being able to put a map right in front of you while driving to an unfamiliar destination is especially useful.

It’s the tech that you notice when you first sit in the car, but the quality makes a lasting impression. There’s nothing loose-fitting or cheap looking, with soft-touch plastics and luxurious leather throughout. The premium finish runs deep, as it should at this price point, but you could accuse the Q8’s cabin of being a bit too dark and black at times.

Diesel sales have dropped off dramatically in the past few years, but diesel power still makes some sense for anyone shopping for a big SUV.

The 3.0-litre diesel (TDI) is the smart choice for a Q8 buyer, especially someone who covers a lot of miles. It will return up to 34mpg in official tests with carbon dioxide emissions measured at 217-223g/km.

If you are set on petrol power, there’s another 3.0-litre engine, which is called TFSI. There’s not a huge amount between the two in performance, but the petrol is a lot thirstier, achieving up to 26.6mpg. The car emits 240-248g/km CO2.

In terms of fuel bills and running costs, an electric SUV will be much cheaper than a petrol or diesel Q8. So, if a big Audi appeals but the emissions are offputting, consider the Q8 e-tron instead.

There’s a middle-ground, of course, which is the TFSIe plug-in hybrid model, which has 394hp, a 49-mile electric range, and should get around 35mpg fuel economy on long runs. Official CO2 emissions are just 28g/km.

The Audi Q8 has an excellent safety rating from the experts at Euro NCAP. It scored the maximum five stars, with a score of 93% for adult occupant protection, 87% for child occupant protection, 71% for pedestrian protection and 73% for its safety assistance features. That means the Q8 is among the safest large SUVs you can buy.

It comes with all the airbags and stability systems you’d expect, and can be specified with driver aids to keep the car in lane and sensors to slow the car down if the vehicle ahead slows.

Some say German cars are reliable, but that’s not always backed up by reliability and customer satisfaction surveys. Audi doesn’t fare as well as you might hope, although in fairness some models are more reliable than others.

The Q8 doesn’t appear in many of these studies due to its relatively small numbers, but the closely related Q7 does. Despite being a hugely complex car it doesn’t go wrong all that often, which bodes well for the Q8. Audi's performance in the 2025 Driver Power owner satisfaction survey was only average - finishing 19th out of 31 brands.

Audi provides a three-year, 60,000-mile warranty, which is the minimum you’d expect. Plenty of other brands offer longer cover, although at least the TFSIe plug-in hybrid gets a separate eight-year, 100,000-mile warranty for its battery.