My family car turns 7 today and there are 7 things I still find awesome about it

Exactly 7 years ago today, I took ownership of my first ever new car. I remember being very apprehensive about getting such an expensive car, even though I had a unique opportunity of getting it at significant discount. I was studying its price list very diligently trying to find the perfect balance of specs, extras and value for money. Turns out, this car has aged exceedingly well and not only do I keep driving my family in it today, but we are immensely enjoying it. Here are 7 outstanding features that I still enjoy after 7 years of ownership of Audi Q7:

• 1. Red color brings joy 🚗
• 2. Virtual cockpit puts a full-size map in front of me 🗺️
• 3. Head-up display lets me focus on the road with most important information on the windshield 🚘
• 4. Active cruise control with lane assist makes the drive effortless 🛞
• 5. Heat/sound insulating glass keeps things quiet and protects the car 🔊
• 6. Matrix LED lights help see at night 💡
• 7. It’s a 7-seater for family and guests 💺
• Honorable mentions: Running boards, manual gear paddles, hidden tow bar and CarPlay.
• Happy 7 and many more of service!

1. Red color brings joy 🚗

Let’s start small. We had to pay extra for the red color but my daughters and wife didn’t want a white, black or grey car. So we chose a dark red color and we still love it. It’s called “Garnet Red Pearl Effect” (code: Z3F).

2. Virtual cockpit puts a full-size map in front of me 🗺️

It’s disappointing to me that many new cars still don’t have that feature, despite having all-digital screens. Even many of the recently introduced electric cars don’t understand how great it is to have a full-screen map in front of you and be able to make the gages smaller.

The only drawback is that my car doesn’t remember this setting between drives so whenever I start it up I have to switch to the map view. However, I’m so happy I have it!

3. Head-up display lets me focus on the road with most important information on the windshield 🚘

Another option that by now should be on any car and it’s not. Even Porsche 911s don’t have it as an option! Me and my wife love it, especially on longer drives. Not only does it display the current speed, but also speed limit, navigation directions and cruise control adjustments.

I only wish it also displayed the gear we’re in when in manual mode (it’s an 8-gear automatic).

4. Active cruise control with lane assist makes the drive effortless 🛞

We use this car mainly for longer drives with family and we do love our road trips. Active cruise control and lane assist systems are very similar to the famous Tesla’s “Autopilot” mode. While not as advanced, they’re very well done and the car steers by itself which works like magic!

The car keeps in lanes very gently and accelerates or slows down to the car in front of us very cautiously. Many new cars don’t have such systems and when they do, very often they’re very harsh and flaky. Audi has nailed it and it’s amazing that this 7-year old car still drives this smoothly automatically.

5. Heat/sound insulating glass keeps things quiet and protects the car 🔊

For longer drives you also appreciate quietness in the car. So I chose the option for thicker glass and it turns out it was soooo worth it! Firstly, our car is as quiet at 80 km/h as at 140 km/h. You don’t have to shout to understand each other at higher speeds.

The added bonus, which I didn’t know about, was that this means you have essentially a double glass with a plexiglass in between, so nobody can break into your car! I know this, because once some thugs tried it and broke the first outside glass but couldn’t break the plexiglass and get in so they just gave up. This is an added security feature!

6. Matrix LED lights help see at night 💡

When I was configuring the car, this option was very expensive and I didn’t want to choose it, but my friend Robert, an automotive expert, talked me into it. He basically told me: If there is any option you must choose, it’s this! - and I’m glad he did.

These special Matrix LED lights let me drive with full long beams all the time at night. They adjust to the environment and turn off only parts of them as not to blind other drivers, but illuminate the rest of the road so I can see everything perfectly. As a family, very often we drive back home late at night, so again, it’s an added security feature and lets us drive at night calmly.

7. It’s a 7-seater for family and guests 💺

We are a family of 5. When we took ownership of the car, my youngest wasn’t even a 1 year old! We knew that we had to have additional seats if we ever intended to travel with someone else. When my parents visit, we love being able to all fit into one car and go on our road trips!

Additional bonus is that this car has 7 independent seats. Especially the second row is great that all 3 seats there can be moved and adjusted independently and have iso-fix for kids everywhere so we could configure our family very flexibly.

Honorable mentions: Running boards, manual gear paddles, hidden tow bar and CarPlay.

Other than these 7 features I’m also happy that I chose running boards which not only help my kids (and parents) climb into this fairly big SUV, but also protect the sides of the car. While I mainly drive in automatic mode, I do appreciate the option to switch to manual gears and change them with paddle shifters next to the steering wheel. This comes handy on mountain roads so you don’t have to burn the breaks so much and can slow the car down by downshifting gears. The hidden tow bar was a good option for installing a bike rack. After all I’m a triathlete so I need to be able to transport my bike.

As an iPhone owner I’m happy it supports (wired) CarPlay which I upgraded to wireless using a dongle.

Lastly, what I really like about this car is that despite being a big SUV, it feels nimble and light when you drive it and despite being a family car, it’s also a good driver’s car.

It’s a joy to dive.

Happy 7 and many more of service!

I’m not a kind of person that changes a car every few years, especially that I work from home so I don’t use a car to commute to an office. However, I’m very happy that after 7 years this car still brings me and my family lots of happiness. It lets us enjoy fun holidays and motivates us to keep coming up with ideas for weekend trips.