Audi Q7 gets a green makeover

It's midlife facelift time for Audi's Q7 4x4, and true to the facelift blueprint the German maker has made the brutish SUV a little more environmentally friendly and slightly better looking.

Let's start with the green bit. There are now two 3.0-litre TDI engines to choose from: a standard version and a 'clean diesel' one, which benefits from an 'AdBlue' additive to eliminate harmful nitrous oxide emissions, making it so clean it qualifies for the EU6 emissions standard not due to come into force until 2014. It also gets a brake energy recapture system that stores braking energy to reduce load on the battery, thus reducing engine load, and in turn lowering CO₂ emissions by up to 5g/km, Audi claims. It adds up to the most fuel efficient Q7 yet, with 37.1mpg on the combined cycle.

Other engines in the range are cleaned up too, including the 4.2-litre V8 TDI, which can now muster 28.5 miles from a gallon of derv. The 3.6-litre petrol unit achieves 22.2mpg. The mighty V12 TDI is still available, of course (and will still cost well into six figures with a couple of options boxes ticked), but even it trumps the V6 petrol for economy, with 25mpg.

Visually, things get the mildest of re-works. There's a new grille, which has vertical chrome slats against a black backdrop, and a shiny new set of LED daytime running lights. Active headlights are now available, as are carbon ceramic brakes and a fancy new satnav system that stores everything in a hard drive (rather than a standard DVD-based system) and shows landmarks in 3D.

Prices start at £38,575 and trim levels remain the same, with SE and S-Line packs available across the range. And if you're wondering, the premium for the cleaner diesel engine over the standard 3.0-litre TDI is £1,500. What price a clear conscience, though?

Mark Nichol