GT.R

iTrader: (2)

Audi is - to use a sport analogy - ‘in the zone’ at present. And the analogy’s very appropriate, considering some of the company’s recent motorsport successes and fantastic high-performance road cars.

When the R8 took Le Mans by storm in 2000, its FSI engine technology soon filtered down into Audi’s road cars. So it was a safe bet that its successor, the pioneering diesel R10, would be similarly influential. Nevertheless, we were a little surprised to hear that, less than three months after the R10 made a winning debut in France, the power crazed engineers at Audi have managed to squeeze a barely diluted diesel unit into the Q7 SUV.

Scoffing at Range Rover’s new TDV8 Sport, Audi’s Q7 V12 TDI will soon become the most powerful diesel road car ever. With almost 500bhp and a colossal 740lb.ft of torque, the six-litre brute will, in fact, be amongst the most powerful road cars full-stop.

Performance figures will be up there with the class-leading Porsche Cayenne Turbo: 0-62mph in 5.5 seconds, compared with 5.2 seconds for the Cayenne, and top speed is limited to 155mph. As imagined, the big Audi plays its trump card on fuel economy; it can return an almost respectable 20.1mpg on the Combined Cycle, compared with just 15.7mpg from the prodigal Porsche.

Such performance and relative efficiency is aided by a new Bosch common rail injection system, capable of a massive 2000bar of pressure. New-fangled Piezo injectors - also fitted to the Range Rover Sport - will give an uncharacteristic, but much improved, diesel soundtrack.

As you may expect styling goes from family 4x4 to swanky SUV. Vast alloys give virtual monster truck poise and a gleaming single-frame grille evokes the tradition of other hot Audis, like the S6 and S8.