2015 Audi Q7 35 TDi Travelogue Review: The Last Hurrah

With the crew in place, we exited the Mumbai-Pune Expressway and rolled our wheels onto a patch of dual-carriage tarmac that stretches from Khopoli till Nagothane to meet a fairly long neck of a bottle, the NH-17. After stretching its legs briefly on the cemented surface of the expressway, the Q7 felt equally at home and composed, even on B-roads. Our destination for the day being the sleepy, beach town of Dapoli, also famous for being close to the infamous Enron Power Plant, the Q7 was getting us there at electric speeds, blurring power lines, trees, fields and everything besides the road, being propelled by a 3.0-liter, 241 bhp engine. On the contrary, everything inside the cabin seemed like a lazy Sunday afternoon being spent at the coziest place on earth with friends. The big Audi creating a big buffer between the happenings outside and fooling its occupants to believe into thinking that the Sun must be a yellow ball of cheese.

Exiting the NH-17, as we headed towards the sea, taking another B-road that cuts through valleys, runs by the river and twists and turns like someone manually doing the laundry, the Q7 just glided through all the rough patches it encountered and dismissed all undulations with aplomb, allowing the Sunday social meet inside to continue unhindered.As the Sun started to show its ferocity outside, each passenger, except Saeed on the last bench (who still had vents), had the luxury to set the temperature to their desired level and soak-in the views outside.

What amplified the solitude on that lonely stretch of road were some crisp sounding melodies that reached our ears, courtesy the Bose music system that would put many home theatres to shame and some cool H2O which remained that way in the chilled, illuminated glovebox. We also figured that the middle row captain seat’s backrest can only be pushed back till a certain degree, keeping in mind the occupants on the rear bench.

With the 100-liter tank only 40% empty after covering almost 250 odd kms, we finally reached our destination, not even beginning to get tired. However, what tested our worldly skills and will was the hunt for a place we could retire at by the beach. With almost all places packed over the long weekend, we found touts who were ready to charge us a kidney’s worth for a room that had a mattress which belonged to the Roman era and was round in shape. As Brokeback humor made a comeback, we finally managed to find a bare-bones setup which was cozy enough. Much to the surprise of a tout who even tried to make us feel bad, as he felt the vehicle which we were travelling in was in stark contrast to the place we decided to park ourselves at.

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