In many ways, the Golf R is half as much vehicle as the Audi SQ7. It has half as many cylinders, is substantially smaller, and, in the U.K., costs half as much.
Whereas the Golf R‘s turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine makes 315 hp (320 PS/235 kW), the SQ7’s 4.0-liter V8 makes 500 hp (507 PS/373 kW). In the SQ7, though, that engine has to lug around quite a bit of extra weight.
Whereas CarWow quotes the weight of the SQ7 at 2,250 kg (4,960 lbs), the Golf R weighs in at 1,550 kg (3,417 lbs). Speaking of pounds (sterling, in this case), the Golf R rings in £40,025 ($54,942 USD) while the SQ7 costs a hefty £80,045 ($109,877 USD).
Read Also: Watch Pro Drifter Tanner Foust Slide The New 2022 Golf R Around Willow Springs
So what does that all mean on the dragstrip? Although the Golf R looks beaten in the first race, the SQ7 turns out to have jumped the start. In the two following races, the Golf R wins cleanly even though it has finished the quarter-mile faster in other CarWow videos.
But that’s not the only surprise of the video. Although, predictably, the SQ7’s extra power help it ease past the Golf R in the rolling race, it’s the brake test that Audi really surprises us. Despite its extra heft and size, it only just gets beaten out by the much smaller and lighter Volkswagen. All of which, I would say, reflects remarkably well on the big Audi.