2025 Audi Q8 review: Australian first drive

The Audi Q8 – the company’s first ‘coupe’ SUV – has been in Australian showrooms for six years, so it is time for a midlife upgrade.

The 2025 upgrade adds refreshed styling – a new front end with a restyled grille and air intakes, as well as fresh wheel designs, new paint colours tweaked tail-light graphics and, for the SQ8, a new HD matrix LED headlight option.

It also picks up updated interior technology, and a more powerful plug-in hybrid variant to join carryover petrol and diesel V6 options.

The regular liquid fuel-burning Q8 will take on a more significant position in the range, as the Q8 e-tron electric car – until recently known simply as the e-tron – will exit production imminently.

Do the changes to Audi’s flagship non-S or RS SUV keep it competitive?

Three variants of the regular Q8 are available, beneath the flagship SQ8 performance model: the 50 TDI turbo-diesel V6, 55 TFSI turbo-petrol V6, and 60 TFSI e turbo-petrol V6 plug-in hybrid.

Prices are up by $4515 for the 50 TDI to $143,415, by $3115 for the 55 TFSI to $143,415, and by $1784 to $154,284 for the 60 TFSI e, all before on-road costs.

Newly-standard equipment includes traffic sign recognition and matrix LED headlights.

The Q8’s closest rivals come from other German brands, in the Mercedes-Benz GLE Coupe and BMW X6. Petrol six-cylinder versions of each cost $161,700 and $147,600 respectively, while the X6 xDrive 30d diesel costs $143,600 (no diesel GLE Coupe is available).

Standard equipment in the 50 TDI and 55 TFSI are aligned, with 21-inch alloy wheels, the S Line exterior and interior styling pack, adaptive air suspension, a hands-free power tailgate, and safety features such as adaptive cruise control and lane centring.

Also standard is Valcona leather upholstery, three-zone climate control, heated power-adjustable front seats, a heated steering wheel, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and three interior screens – 12.3-inch instrument, 10.1-inch infotainment and 8.6-inch climate control.

The 60 TFSI e adds red brake calipers, a black exterior styling pack, adaptive sport air suspension, and the various ports and cables needed for its PHEV system, including for connecting to home power outlets and public AC charging stations.

The Audi Q8 is not the newest kid on the luxury SUV block, and its interior has changed little since it launched six years ago, but it has held up well in 2025.

Updates for 2025 are limited to new apps, and a slightly different layout for the infotainment screen, which remains a 10.1-inch unit – alongside a 12.3-inch instrument cluster and 8.6-inch climate-control touchscreen. (More on these in the next section.)

It gets the fundamental elements right – a comfortable and commanding driving position, good perceived build quality, and plenty of soft-touch materials on the doors, dashboard and centre console, although there are scratchier surfaces lower down.

There is also plenty of gloss back plastic, which attracts fingerprints, and will be more prone to scratches.

The standard front seats are comfortable on longer drivers, with plenty of lateral support in tight bends, supple Valcona leather upholstery, and power adjustment and heating as standard. The S sports seats build on those attributes with even more support.

The thin-rimmed steering wheel feels great in the hand too, wrapped in leather and adorned with physical buttons rather than fiddly touch-sensitive controls. The steering column is also power adjustable.

Audi has retained a physical volume dial, as well as traditional hard keys for functions such as the drive modes and parking sensors, but functions such as the air conditioning run through screens.

Amenities include keyless entry and start, a wireless phone charger, a panoramic sunroof with a power sunshade, two USB-C ports, a 12-volt socket, colour ambient lighting, and heated front seats.

The glovebox is big, but storage space elsewhere is limited. The cupholders are small, the centre console box is surprisingly shallow for such a large car, and the door pockets are not generously sized.

The Audi Q8’s roof line does not slope down as far as some other ‘coupe’ SUVs, so there’s still ample head room in the rear seats for my 186cm (6ft 1in) tall frame, plus plenty of knee room behind a similarly tall driver, and some toe room under the front seats.

The rear-seat bench slides forward and backwards, while second-row passengers are given access to their own climate-control zone with rear controls and vents, two USB-C ports, a 12-volt outlet, map pockets, a fold-down armrest with (admittedly tight) cupholders, and small door pockets.

Three top-tether and two ISOFIX anchors are also on hand for family buyers.

Boot space is generous – given it’s a large car with only five seats – Audi quoting 606 litres, slightly more than a BMW X6’s 580L, and enough for multiple suitcases on a road trip. Folding the rear seats in a 40:20:40 split unlocks 1755L in total.

But those numbers apply to the petrol and diesel models only; the PHEV has a significantly smaller boot due to the battery under the floor, at 436L behind the rear seats.

A power tailgate with kick sensor is standard, plus a light, 12-volt socket, bag hooks, a tyre repair kit (rather than a spare wheel), and buttons to lower the air suspension at the rear of the car for easier loading of heavy items or connecting the tow hitch.

Standard is a 10.1-inch infotainment touchscreen, which is small by class standards – a BMW X6 has a 14.9-inch display – but it has gained a revised home screen for 2025, and works well with simple but clean graphics.

It offers wireless and wired versions of Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, satellite navigation, digital radio, an in-built app store, and real-time data such as weather and fuel prices. Haptic touch feedback is provided when the screen’s native menus are touched, but not in CarPlay and Android Auto.

Both wireless and wired CarPlay worked reliably in our testing in different environments.

Below the 10.1-inch infotainment display is an 8.6-inch touchscreen for the climate controls and other vehicle functions such as toggling the auto stop-start system.

It works well enough, and the buttons on screen are large, but some functions redirect to the upper screen when tapped, rather than changing the content on the lower screen – an odd design choice. A traditional array of physical dials and buttons would be better still.

Ahead of the driver is a 12.3-inch instrument display, which looks sharp and offers multiple views – including a full-screen map – but it could do with more customisation, particularly in terms of how driving data like the speed and RPM are displayed.

A head-up display is standard, and for 2025 can now display driving directions from mapping apps inside Apple CarPlay.

All models get three years of complimentary access to Audi Connect Plus, unlocking services through the myAudi app such as a car finder, remote locking and unlocking, and online roadside assistance.

The Audi Q8 is covered by a five-star safety rating from ANCAP, based on testing conducted by its sister organisation Euro NCAP in 2019 under less stringent protocols than those in force today.

The rating applies only to 50 TDI and 55 TFSI variants, not the PHEV.

It earned category scores of 93 per cent for adult occupant protection, 88 per cent for child occupant protection, 71 per cent for vulnerable road user protection, and 75 per cent for safety assist technology. This score is due to expire after 31 December 2025.

As with other parts of the car, the Q8’s safety suite matches the Audi Q7 – and that’s no bad thing.

All the safety aids are well calibrated, with smooth tuning of the adaptive cruise control and lane-centring assist systems, and lane-keep assist tech that only intervenes when it is strictly necessary, rather than driving its owner to frustration with constant tugs on the wheel.

There are some missing features compared to newer cars in the class. The Q8 won’t change lanes for you on the motorway as a Genesis GV80 Coupe can, the AEB technology isn’t rated to detect cyclists or motorcycles, and there are no direct tyre pressure monitors showing real-time data, only a tyre loss warning that sounds when a puncture is detected.

The Audi Q8 is covered by a five-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty, with five years of free roadside assistance, and on the PHEV, an eight-year/160,000km battery assurance.

Service intervals are set every 12 months or 15,000km, whichever comes first. Pay-as-you-go prices differ depending on whether you cross the time or distance intervals first.

Over five years, for example, maintenance costs $4786 for the 55 TFSI, $5098 for the 50 TDI and $4856 for the 60 TFSI e, while over 75,000km prices are listed as $5703, $5781 and $5621 respectively.

Opt for a five-year pre-paid service plan and Audi will send buyers a bill for $3820, irrespective of engine.

It is dearer than a BMW X6’s $3275 (five years/80,000km), but vastly cheaper than a Mercedes-Benz GLE’s $7585 (five years/125,000km) – all prices applicable to prepaid plans – and no match for a Genesis GV80’s five years of free servicing.

A year of comprehensive insurance coverage with a leading provider for a Q8 55 TFSI is quoted at $3803, compared to $4869 for a BMW X6 xDrive 40i.

We spent the most time behind the wheel of the Q8 55 TFSI – over a mix of city, highway, and country-road conditions – returning indicated fuel consumption of 10.3 litres per 100 kilometres against a claim of 9.2L/100km.

On the media preview drive we tested a Q7 50 TDI – in place of a Q8, as the two are claimed to consume fuel at an identical rate (7.1L/100km) – and returned indicated fuel use of 7.8L/100km, based on a partially-uphill highway cruise and a brief city drive.

By the time we got to the plug-in hybrid at the end of the test day, the plug-in hybrid’s battery had been depleted, and our time behind the wheel was short – so it was difficult to get an accurate gauge on fuel use in a mix of conditions.

But the long-term trip computer – based on 300km of driving by us and other journalists in attendance – listed consumption of 9.1L/100km and 8.0kWh/100km, which is reflective of the vehicle depleting its battery at the start of the drive, and then completing extensive highway and country-road driving where the electric motor can recoup a little energy.

Fuel tank volumes range from 75 to 85 litres, with a further requirement for AdBlue on diesel variants – though it’s something dealers may top up come service time – and premium fuel on the petrol variants.

Carryover petrol and diesel engines means the news behind the wheel of the updated Audi Q8 is the upgraded plug-in hybrid.

Power has climbed from 340kW to 360kW – with unchanged torque of 700Nm – cutting the claimed 0–100km/h acceleration time to 5.0 seconds flat (0.4sec quicker), while boosting driving range by 15km to 74km with a larger 22kWh battery (up from 14.4kWh).

It has all combined to make an already-quick car even quicker.

The electric motor does a brilliant job filling in any turbo lag from the petrol V6, or hesitation from the gearbox – of which there is plenty – so drivers are met with a near-instant surge of power on hitting the right-most pedal.

The hand-off between electric and petrol power is well calibrated, as is the regenerative braking from the e-motor, and the way performance is dished out in electric mode.

Drivers can choose a conventional mode for the hybrid system, plus a Battery Hold mode that uses the petrol engine to keep the battery at its current charge level – or a Battery Charge setting that, as you might’ve guessed, burns fuel to top up the battery.

The regular Q8s – the 50 TDI and 55 TFSI – are also solid performers on the road, but aren’t quite as good in some areas.

We spent considerable time in the 55 TFSI on the roads Audi selected for the media preview drive, as well Drive’s home turf – plus a shorter drive in the Q7 50 TDI, the Q8’s closely-related sibling under the skin.

The 3.0-litre turbo-petrol V6 feels as quick in reality as its specs suggest, with good mid-range thrust once the turbo has spooled – but buyers will pay the price in fuel consumption, and as far as petrol V6s go, its exhaust note isn’t particularly sonorous.

Audi claims a 5.9-second 0–100km/h time; we returned 5.8 seconds on our satellite timing gear. It’s on pace with a hot hatch, and as quick as a big luxury SUV ever needs to be, in our view.

The 50 TDI diesel is quiet and refined for the type of fuel it runs on, with strong low-down torque and plenty of power in reserve for country-road overtakes.

The non-PHEV models are fitted with 48-volt mild-hybrid technology, allowing the car to coast with the engine switched off for up to 40 seconds between 55 and 160km/h, or provide a 6kW/60Nm boost for up to five seconds under hard acceleration.

Any performance boost is hard to notice, but the way in which it cuts the engine in and out is smooth – and befitting of a luxury-car experience – though it doesn’t work in all drive modes, and it requires the driver to lift off the accelerator pedal completely. Any input will see the petrol engine kick back on.

The strong engines are let down by the eight-speed torque-converter automatic transmission, which shifts quickly and crisply in S mode, but can be slow to respond in D.

It’s most noticeable at low speeds on approach to a junction, when it can take the car’s computers a few seconds after pressing the accelerator for the gearbox to change down and deliver a surge of thrust. Its tendency to move away from a standstill in second gear also blunts off-the-line response.

Adaptive air suspension is standard across the range for a supple ride that irons out all but the worst bumps in the road.

The optional 22-inch wheels do transmit smaller lumps and road imperfections into the cabin, and at high speeds in Comfort mode the rear of the car doesn’t feel quite as planted as it should over road undulations, but these are small chinks in otherwise comfortable armour.

The plug-in hybrid feels its mass over bumps too – 2.4 tonnes is a lot to keep under control – so buyers looking for the supplest Q8 will be best served by a 50 TDI or 55 TFSI on smaller wheels.

Find a winding road and buyers may be surprised by how capable the Q8 can be. Tip it into a bend and the PHEV’s added mass is evident, but there is plenty of grip from the tyres (Continentals with 22-inch wheels), body roll is well managed, and the optional rear-wheel steering lends it a sense of agility.

The light steering feels slightly less natural in cars with rear-wheel steering than those without – with a touch of artificialness just off the centre point – but it’s something first-timers will quickly adapt to, and the system unlocks a much smaller turning circle that makes driving a large car on tight city streets easy.

Impressive brakes and tyres pulled the Q8 55 TFSI up from 100km/h in 36 metres on our timing equipment, which is an excellent result for a car so big and heavy.

Some tyre roar leaks into the cabin on coarse-chip country roads in models with 22-inch wheels and Continental rubber, which we noticed was made worse by the frameless door windows, but it’s otherwise well isolated.

All models in the Audi Q8 range – even the plug-in hybrid – are rated to tow up to 3500kg braked, a job the engines’ strong performance means it can do without too much trouble.

The maximum towball weight is set at 350kg, or 10 per cent of the braked tow ratings, while gross combination masses range from 6330kg to 6460kg.

There’s plenty of life left in the Audi Q8 despite its advancing age.

The design has aged well, the interior is well featured and assembled, there’s plenty of space, it rides and handles with composure, and there’s an engine option for (nearly) every buyer.

If you’re after a large luxury SUV but prioritise sportier looks over a third row of seats, the Audi Q8 should be on your consideration list.

Alex Misoyannis has been writing about cars since 2017, when he started his own website, Redline. He contributed for Drive in 2018, before joining CarAdvice in 2019, becoming a regular contributing journalist within the news team in 2020. Cars have played a central role throughout Alex’s life, from flicking through car magazines at a young age, to growing up around performance vehicles in a car-loving family. Highly Commended - Young Writer of the Year 2024 (Under 30) Rising Star Journalist, 2024 Winner Scoop of The Year - 2024 Winner

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