TDI

SUV

According to a recent report, power for this road leviathan will come from a V8diesel engine. Nobody has invested heavily in such a mill for many years, and some manufacturers have even stopped making it. But Audi plans to reinvent the vee-eight diesel using the electric turbocharger technology they pioneered on the RS5 TDI Concept in 2014.Instead of using exhaust gasses to spin the turbo and feed more air into the engine, the e-turbo uses electricity. This means faster response times and, according to Audi, substantial improvements in efficiency. Calling it a turbocharger isn't 100% correct because it's actually a compressor, but marketing I guess that's confusing marketing with engineering.Audi Express reports that Dr. Ulrich Hackenberg confirmed these facts about the SQ7 to them, including that it will debut in 2016. The engine could be an all-new one displacing 4 liters like the RS petrol-burners or 4.2-liters like the existing TDIs used by Audi and Volkswagen. Regardless, the output should be over 400 horsepower, making this a meatier machine than the BMW X5 M50d and probably the fastest diesel in the world.After all, you can't sell a diesel performancein the States. Instead, Audi might do what it did with the SQ5, offering a petrol alternative. The de-turned 450 horsepower 4.0 TFSI used by the S6 and S7 would be great for the job.