2027 Audi Q9 and SQ9 Reveal Flagship SUV DetailsaudiWelcome to what is supposed to be our First Look at the Audi Q9. But between our sneak peek at the new Q9's interior and our first look at the closely related Q7 and SQ7, you may know most of what we're about to tell you. We do, however, have new details regarding exterior styling, pricing, and a few luxury-oriented items of note—including a new hands-free driving system similar to earlier versions of GM's Super Cruise and Ford's BlueCruise.The Q9 is Audi's new flagship, and it's the company's biggest SUV yet—nearly 17.5 feet long, longer than a Mercedes GLS and nearly as long as a Cadillac Escalade (the regular-size one, not the big-momma ESV). The Q9 shares most of its mechanical bits with the Q7, as well as a great deal of sheetmetal and styling, particularly from the B-pillar forward. Front doors, hood, and fenders are common to the two SUVs, though the Q9 gets a unique grille and bumper. Like the Q7, the Q9 will feature Audi's digital matrix headlights, which allow you to keep your high-beams on without blinding other drivers.audiDifferences start at the rear doors, which are longer for better access. As with the Q7, the Q9's doors offer optional electric opening and closing. You'd expect that to be a door-ding disaster waiting to happen, but the power portals can sense objects in the door's way and stop. The doors also look out for oncoming pedestrians and traffic, reducing the chances of beaning a bicyclist in a way that is quite hilarious in a rom-com but a serious calamity in real life.AdvertisementAdvertisementMoving back, the Q9 has a more squared-off roofline than the Q7, emphasizing its extra passenger space, which is gifted to both the second and third rows. Our biggest complaint about the Q7 was the cramped third-row seat, a problem the Q9 should eliminate, but as we said in our Q9 interior review, it doesn't. A low seat cushion puts adults' knees at eye level, and there's not anywhere near as much legroom as you'd get in, say, a Hyundai Palisade or a Kia Telluride.Rounding out the visual changes is the tailgate, which places the rear license plate on the bumper rather than on the tailgate itself as it is on the Q7. Like the Q7, the Q9 has OLED taillights that can display various patterns, but on the Q9 the panel is curved, the first use of this technology in an Audi. It's a rather cool effect, but U.S. lighting regulations mean they can't work as brake and turn signals, so there's a separate light cluster just below. Like the Q7, the Q9 will project signals onto the pavement for better visibility by cars in other lanes and pedestrians with their faces buried in their cell phones. The four-ring Audi logo on the hatch is illuminated in red, a nice finishing touch.audiMechanically, the Q7 and Q9 are all but identical. The Q9 shares the Q7's 2.9-liter twin-turbo V-6, delivering the same 429 hp and 442 lb-ft to all four wheels. Surprisingly, there is no hybrid option, not even of the mild sort, and we can't imagine fuel economy will be spectacular. That said, Audi knows towing is important to American buyers, and both Q9 and SQ9 will be able to tow up to 7,700 pounds with an optional trailer hitch. The stability control is programmed to detect and correct trailer sway, and an optional trailer backup assist will steer the trailer in reverse, a useful feature offered by several domestic full-size pickups.While air springs are optional on the Q7, they'll come standard on the Q9. The height-adjustable suspension offers 3.5 inches of ride-height travel, with the ability to drop for easy ingress and egress. The Q9 Prestige model will offer four-wheel steering as standard.AdvertisementAdvertisementJust as the Q9 shares its mechanical bits with the Q7, the performance-oriented SQ9 shares much with the SQ7. It will use the same 4.0-liter V-8, with a pair of turbochargers blowing the output up to 591 hp and 590 lb-ft. Other upgrades include a rear-biased Quattro all-wheel-drive system, fender flares, and silver mirror caps and trim. Audi estimates the SQ9 will get to 60 in 3.8 seconds, and we wouldn't be surprised if it does a bit better in MotorTrend testing.The Q9 will be the first vehicle with Audi's new Level 2 hands-free driving system, which allows the driver to take their hands off the wheel on mapped roads. The car monitors the driver, warning them if their attention seems to be waning and, if they don't respond in a timely manner, bringing the car to a stop. The system does automated lane changes, but only if the driver initiates them with a flick of the turn signal stalk.Like GM's Super Cruise and Ford's BlueCruise, Audi's system (which, so far, has no cutesy marketing name) only works on mapped roads. Audi says it has mapped 130,000 miles of U.S. roads, a small fraction of what the domestics offer. GM claims 750,000 miles in the U.S. and Canada, while Ford has 500,000 roads mapped between the two countries. As for advanced tricks like automatically passing slower traffic and returning to the travel lane (like GM Super Cruise) or navigating expressway interchanges (like Tesla FSD), Audi's system can't do those things, but we expect its abilities will expand. Audi's hands-free system will be standard on Q9 Premium Plus and Prestige models as well as the SQ9, and will eventually trickle down to the Q7.Pricing for the 2027 Audi Q9 will start at $89,095. That undercuts the base-model 2026 Mercedes GLS450 4Matic by about $2,500 and the cheapest four-wheel-drive 2026 Cadillac Escalade by nearly $8,000, but of course we haven't started to factor in options, without which no decent luxury SUV will be seen in public. The SQ9, meanwhile, will start at $119,395. Both arrive at dealerships in the fourth quarter of 2026.Photo credit: audiPhoto credit: audiPhoto credit: audiPhoto credit: audiAdvertisementAdvertisementPhoto credit: audiPhoto credit: audiPhoto credit: audiPhoto credit: audiAdvertisementAdvertisementPhoto credit: audiPhoto credit: audiPhoto credit: audiPhoto credit: audiAdvertisementAdvertisementPhoto credit: audiPhoto credit: audiPhoto credit: audiPhoto credit: audiAdvertisementAdvertisementPhoto credit: audi