Audi Q7 news - Front of the Q - 2009

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Audi has facelifted its monstrous Q7 and, surprise surprise, it still looks like a hulking great hippo-faced beast. Silk purses and all that.

The Q7 gets a redesigned front end with a larger, single-frame grille, a new underbody protector and wider door sills, while spangly new LED strips adorn the rear. It's still going to scare the bejesus out of small children, mind.

More significant are the powertrain revisions: all six Q7 engines now feature KERS-style regenerative braking technology, which converts energy recovered during stopping and coasting into battery power to reduce CO2 emissions by up to 5g/km. Engine tweaks mean economy improvements across the range: the 4.2-litre V8 petrol engine sees consumption drop from 28.5 to 25.5mpg.

Pricing starts at £38,575 for the base-spec 3.0-litre diesel Q7, though you'll pay more than before for the higher-spec ‘S-Line' and ‘SE' variants. And that's before you factor in the cost of the earplugs to isolate you from the abuse of your fellow drivers...