Love Cars Pits Mercedes-AMG GLE 63 Against Audi SQ7
It’s hard to deny Audi has been raising its game in the luxury segment, so let’s see how the SQ7 SUV stacks up against the mighty GLE 63.
In this video from the Love Cars’ Youtube channel, founder Paul Woodman is joined by legendary race car driver and certified curmudgeon Tiff Needell. Now, if you haven’t come across Needell before it’s worth knowing a few things about him. He’s so competitive, he once rolled his ride-on lawn mower because he races against himself on the clock to mow his lawn, and he really dislikes diesels. Knowing that, it’s no surprise he wants to dismiss the Audi for having a diesel engine and jump straight in the Mercedes-AMG GLE 63 S.
The diesel engine is about the biggest difference on paper between the cars. Audi actually has previous form with getting performance out of a diesel engine as back in 2006, Audi’s R10 V12 TDI LMP1 racer owned the track against its petrol-powered peers. For the SQ7 though, they use a 4.0-liter twin turbo V8 making a little over 500 horsepower.
The Audi comes in £20,000 ($28,665.62) less than the GLE 63. It may have more torque from the diesel engine, but it doesn’t translate into a better 0-60 mph time. The difference in price translates through the handling as well, something Needell knows a bit about. Also, despite Audi’s current reputation for excellent interiors, Needell also points out that the GLE 63 is “just a nicer place to be.” And when you’re talking about an SUV, no matter how sporty it may be, that really is the most important ingredient.
If you had one car for the rest of your life, you could do worse than an SQ7. The flipside of that is that you could also do better. For an extra 28 grand, that’ll be the GLE 63.