Q7 2020 55 TFSI Sline Q7

[cosmicblue]

So have had the car for a couple of weeks as a loaner (latest model) as my RS has been off the road having been hit whilst parked (get yourself a dashcam that works when the car isn't occupied - saved me ££££).

I'm impressed, nudging 30mpg, decent effortless performance, quiet , great cabin, lovely pano roof and fabulous seats. Not so keen on the touch screen climate controls, hard to use on the move. The Q7 has the standard Audi audio system, there is a sub in the boot and it sounded OK, lacks the warmth and punch of the B&O in the RS but none-the-less - decent. The brakes of the Q7 are formidable, confidence inspiring. With more power i.e. the new SQ7 V8 petrol it would be a fantastic vehicle - like it.

 

[isleaiw]

Nice loaner, from the Audi dealer as a freebie or funded by the insurance co?

 

[cosmicblue]

Funded by the offending driver's insurance company - Merc S class for 2 weeks prior to the Q7

 

[isleaiw]

Funded by the offending driver's insurance company - Merc S class for 2 weeks prior to the Q7

Funded by every other driver through their premium of course, the insurance co wont lose out...
I love the thought of the Q7 TFSI e hybrid but way too big for my needs. I could buy a campervan with a smaller footprint!

 

[cosmicblue]

I'm insured with NFU, the moment they confirmed from the Dashcam video that the other vehicle was insured they passed it to their Legal recovery firm, DAS, who immediately said "don't accept the bodyshop car - we will get you an equivalent prestige vehicle". The Q7 is big - need a step ladder to wash the roof, length-wise its still about a foot shorter than the S Class!

 

[NevMan]

What dashcams do you have in your RSQ3? I had Thinkware in my previous Q5 and then X3 M40i. But will have to buy again for next car on the way. Seems to generally be Thinkware or Blackvue are the main ones. Can’t fault the Thinkware, but probably needed external battery

 

[cosmicblue]

Blackvue 900x 2 channel - used these people: https://www.blackvue.co.uk/ Bought a 256GB MicroSD card for about £33 on Amazon (didn't fall for the waffle on Blackvue web site about reliability - I wasn't born yesterday).

I did research the Dashcam topic extensively back in June and concluded that the hardware isn't the real differentiator but its actually the software. The Blackvue's software is very neat - video (and interior sound- software selectable) is recorded in 1 minute blocks. When you exit the car the Blackvue stays active, saving data at 1 frame a second instead of 30 when in motion), the camera only wakes up if something moves in its field of view. My RS is garaged so if I go out to the garage for tools for example it wakes up and records - the recording is marked, in red, as a Parking Event. The events can be locked so they can't be over-written too. The 900x cameras have a vehicle battery saver device built in and stay active until the battery voltage falls below a pre-determined value. There are battery pack options (expensive) and even a cellular data link option for remote monitoring.

The Blackvue's software is comprehensive so you can turn off stuff like LED indicators for a stealthy installation - not keen on having a window bricked so some toad can steal my dashcam so would rather it wasn't noticeable. The driver that hit my car (and walked over to check his handiwork afterwards) was completely unaware the event had been recorded - I did eventually speak to him, a keen petrol head himself he was absolutely mortified.

When I discovered my car had been hit it was just a case of connecting to the camera (uses local wifi in the camera) scrolling back through the 1min recordings to find the Parking Events, all in glorious 4K pin-sharp video which can be downloaded to phone as a MP4 files. The camera uses H265 video compression so files are relatively small too. My insurer was geared up to receive the video recording and once received they immediately emailed me to say that I was clear of excess and no-claim liability as the vehicle was insured.

The final area that tipped my in favour of the Blackvue was that the mounting hardware is available to buy, so one could trade the car in, take the camera units and leave the rest behind, just buying new mounts and cables for the next vehicle.

 

[NevMan]

Blackvue 900x 2 channel - used these people: https://www.blackvue.co.uk/ Bought a 256GB MicroSD card for about £33 on Amazon (didn't fall for the waffle on Blackvue web site about reliability - I wasn't born yesterday).

I did research the Dashcam topic extensively back in June and concluded that the hardware isn't the real differentiator but its actually the software. The Blackvue's software is very neat - video (and interior sound- software selectable) is recorded in 1 minute blocks. When you exit the car the Blackvue stays active, saving data at 1 frame a second instead of 30 when in motion), the camera only wakes up if something moves in its field of view. My RS is garaged so if I go out to the garage for tools for example it wakes up and records - the recording is marked, in red, as a Parking Event. The events can be locked so they can't be over-written too. The 900x cameras have a vehicle battery saver device built in and stay active until the battery voltage falls below a pre-determined value. There are battery pack options (expensive) and even a cellular data link option for remote monitoring.

The Blackvue's software is comprehensive so you can turn off stuff like LED indicators for a stealthy installation - not keen on having a window bricked so some toad can steal my dashcam so would rather it wasn't noticeable. The driver that hit my car (and walked over to check his handiwork afterwards) was completely unaware the event had been recorded - I did eventually speak to him, a keen petrol head himself he was absolutely mortified.

When I discovered my car had been hit it was just a case of connecting to the camera (uses local wifi in the camera) scrolling back through the 1min recordings to find the Parking Events, all in glorious 4K pin-sharp video which can be downloaded to phone as a MP4 files. The camera uses H265 video compression so files are relatively small too. My insurer was geared up to receive the video recording and once received they immediately emailed me to say that I was clear of excess and no-claim liability as the vehicle was insured.

The final area that tipped my in favour of the Blackvue was that the mounting hardware is available to buy, so one could trade the car in, take the camera units and leave the rest behind, just buying new mounts and cables for the next vehicle.

Thank you very much for the detailed write up and opinion. You are spot on about the software. The Thinkware software isn’t the best, but I also replaced the cables for a couple cars, and having it was useful when I hit a small deer, however still lost my no claim as technically my fault.

Funny enough I was looking at the 900x earlier

 

[cosmicblue]

You are most welcome.