Audi Q7

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This is far too easy to drive", I tell my co-pilot as I flick on the cruise control and we whizz through the Australian outback thousands of kilometres from home with only a wild kangaroo or two as company.

Easy it may be but only minutes later I was on the CB radio calling for the technical backup team to come and change my back left-hand tyre after hitting a jagged rock on the Gibb River Road.

For the second year running, Audi successfully staged the Transcontinental Challenge, taking 15 Audi Q7's, including the 3.6-litre and powerful 4.2-litre vehicles, 7000km across the desert from Sydney to the pearling capital of the world Broome. I was on the last stage and apart from the convoy suffering the odd flat due to the extreme road conditions, the cars looked immaculate at the end of journey - a real sign that the Q7 can handle anything put in front of it. Despite being a year old, the Q7 still has the mark of a new model. Its smooth contours are typical of the Audi design. Producing a 4x4 that is appealing to the eye is no easy feat. Compare it to its counterparts and they appear bulky, square and clumsy.

The Q7 oozes grace. Its sleek, sloping roof blends into the bonnet as your eyes roll down the car's side profile, and despite weighing around 2.5 tonnes, defies the laws of gravity when cruising down the tarmac highways at 150km/h on our way to the final destination. Even on the perilous sandy, rocky and wildlife infested Gibb River road it passed the test with flying colours. Quite how its suspension can hold up over corrugated roads was beyond me or my co-pilot.

One great feature of this German 4x4 is its Electronic Stabilisation Programme (ESP) system that automatically grabs holdm of the car when the driver deviates, loses control or skids slightly off-edge onto the smooth sandy edges of the road. ESP is essential for drivers wanting to take a 4x4 to its limits and makes the vehicle easier to control in tough handling situations, reducing the danger of swerving and improving directional stability. In technical terms, ESP identifies the car's intended direction and response, applies the brakes on individual wheels in turn generating one-sided forces that help to keep the car moving in the right direction. The programme uses the anti-lock braking system (ABS), electronic brake-force distribution (EBD), the electronic differential lock (EDL) and the traction control (TCS) system, and is permanently active. This kind of precise built-in technology is typical Audi and one of the reasons why so many Europeans have taken to the brand. It doesn't use the phrase ‘Vorsprung durch Technik' - German for ‘head start through technology' - for nothing.

The interior is equally pleasing. With room for seven people and ample space for luggage (we carried countless bags full of tent and camping equipment as well as luggage and a 15-litre emergency bottle of water with us) the Q7 makes for a great addition to the family. The leather upholstery and design packages with a choice of materials including woods and decorative inlays suit every type of executive. Sitting in the driving seat, however, is the ultimate pleasure and despite being tired from hundreds of clocked up k's on Australia's dirt roads I rarely wanted to swap places with my co-driver, or for that matter, switch on the cruise control and take all the fun out of what has to be one of my smoothest ever drives.

Verdict: Although motoring critics have branded the Q7 as heavy, once you sit in the cabin and drive you'll soon forget every word. It's a pleasure to drive on the flat, sand, dirt, and even through rocky freshwater creeks. Any car that can handle a 7000km battering across some of the toughest terrain on the planet gets my vote.

Price: The 3.6-litre model starts at approx US$62,560; 4.2-litre model at US$80,240.

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