Overview

Well, these are two pretty similar cars we have here! It's only details that could potentially make the difference. Considering they both belong to the suv segment and utilize the same 5-door suv body style and the 4 x 4 wheel drive system, it all comes up to the specific petrol engine choice they offer. The first one has a Porsche-engineered powertrain under the hood, a 8-cylinder, 32-valves 400hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 8-cylinder, 32-valves 350hp engine designed by Volkswagen.

Safety

The fact that the Audi got tested by the European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP), while the other contender didn't, offers a slight advantage, as the 4-star rating is better than none. Still, apart from the official crash test results there are other things we need to be aware of. Both vehicles belong to the suv segment, which is generally a very good thing safety-wise, but it doesn't do much to help us decide between the two. On the other hand, when it comes to weight, a factor that most people underestimate, Audi Q7 offers a marginal difference of 8% more metal.

Reliability

I don't like generalizing things when it comes to reliability, although it does seem that Audi does have a slight advantage, at least on all of the models level. These are the results of an independent reasearch, while our visitors describe reliability of Porsche with an average rating of 4.0, and models under the Audi badge with 4.2 out of 5. Independent research findings rank Cayenne as average reliability-wise, and Q7 50% below the first one. We should definitely mention that owners of cars with the same powertrain as Cayenne rank it on average as 3.0, while the one under the competitor's bonnet gets 4.9 out of 5.

Performance & Fuel economy

Porsche is undoubtly more agile, reaching 100km/h in 1.5 seconds less than its competitor. In addition to that it accelerates all the way to 258 kilometers per hour, 14km/h more than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy an obvious choice would be Cayenne, averaging around 10.5 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (27 mpg), in combined cycle. That's 21% difference compared to Audi Q7!

Verdict

Audi is apparently more reliable, not too much, but just enough. The most important thing when deciding between any two vehicles should always be safety, both passive and active. In my opinion, everything taken into account, Audi Q7 beats the other contender by far, making it the best choice without even considering other things. From there things take a different direction, with Porsche outracing its opponent in any situation possible, making it better choice for boy racers. To make things even better, it consumps less fuel! It's not difficult to say then that if I'd need to make a choice, it would definitely be the Porsche. In any case that's my personal view, built upon all the data available to me. What should decide here though is the way you feel about the two vehicles, and I hope you'll find my guidelines useful in the process. Also, you could use the oportunity to find out which car, everything taken into account, would be the perfect choice for you in the eyes of the virtual adviser™, among thousands of similar, yet so different vehicles.