In our recent news story on the upcoming new Audi Q7, the first all-new Q7 in almost a decade, we referred to the amazing new technology the big German crossover contains. This comes as no surprise because the unusual German slogan ‘Vorsprung durch Technik’ which translates approximately into English as ‘Advancement through Technology’.
New Q7 takes technology to new heights, particularly in safety. This is important as too many drivers aren’t really driving their cars these days; rather they see themselves as being in a mobile office, or are joining in gossip on their mobile phone, or worst of all see their car not as a car, but as a ‘mobile communication device’.
Horrifying, isn’t it?
Rather than trying to make people come to their senses Audi is doing everything it can to save bad drivers from themselves. Let’s look at some of the major new safety features in detail. Note that these items are over and above safety items that are becoming quite common in many cars, such as lane departure warning, automatic emergency braking and blind-spot assist and more. Naturally, the big Audi Q7 already has these features.
Door Opening Warning
A fellow motoring journalist almost died in a crash last year. He was riding his pushbike past a line of parked cars when a driver suddenly opened his door; sadly, not an unusual situation. The doctor told my colleague if the top corner of the door had hit his chest just a few centimetres from where it did the event would have been a fatality.
So the Audi Q7 uses its cameras to look for things approaching from behind and flashes a warning if it senses the door is about to be opened. Cleverly, this works on all four doors, not just the driver’s. It remains in operation for three minutes after the ignition is switched off.
Traffic Jam Assist
The big Audi can drive itself at speeds up to 65 km/h in traffic jams. Providing the Q7 is on a good road with clear lane markings it can steer itself and follow the vehicle in front, accelerating, slowing and stopping as need be. The driver can take some attention off the road and is warned if the Traffic Jam Assist system reaches its system limits; such as when the jam is easing or there are tight bends in the road. Should the Q7 sense the driver is not paying attention to the warnings it will bring the vehicle to a complete, safe stop.
Collision Avoidance Assist
Audi Collision Avoidance Assist helps the driver if they have had to swerve to avoid a crash. The Q7 uses its video camera and radar sensor data to instantaneously compute a suitable track to follow after the initial swerve to miss the first obstacle. Once the driver begins steering, the system intervenes in the power steering with torque in order to guide the vehicle around the obstacle.
Turn Assist
Ever found you’re preparing to turn right after something like a large truck has passed in front of you? You think it’s safe to do so, but a small car is out of sight behind the truck. Audi’s Turn Assist system can see the small car before it’s visible to the driver and will bring the Q7 to a quick stop. This system is enabled at speeds of between two and ten km/h, but only if the driver has the right-hand blinker on.
Trailer Maneuver Assist – Finally, a safety feature that won’t necessarily save lives – but may well save marriages! Over the years we’ve witnessed more than one retired couple wrestling with the problem of reversing their just acquired giant caravan into a tight parking spot in a van park. He at the wheel of a huge diesel 4WD, she at the back of the rig trying to guide things into place. Miscommunication and unkind language are par for the course.
The Audi Q7 can do it for you. Not quite autonomously, but it does steer itself and the caravan when reversing. You don’t use the normal steering wheel to achieve this; instead you turn the control wheel for the Audi MMI infotainment system. The driver uses the MMI screen to indicate where they want the trailer to go, then the Q7 takes over the steering (but not acceleration or braking).
Fascinatingly, once you’ve followed the onscreen instructions you actually get the feeling that the caravan or trailer is guiding itself into position and pulling your 4WD into place behind it. Weird – but wonderful.
Unfortunately, for technical and legal reasons Trailer Maneuver Assist can’t be used in Australia yet. Hopefully, our local authorities and the Audi engineers in Germany can solve this problem asap.
