2027 Audi Q9's Interior Previews The Flagship Family Hauler The Brand Desperately Needs

Audi has always been missing something vitally important in its lineup: a full-size three-row luxury SUV to take on the likes of the BMW X7, Mercedes-Benz GLS and even the Cadillac Escalade. When you compound the fact that the A8 sedan is dead to the world, it's hard to ignore the gaping hole at the top end of the German automaker's lineup. Well, at long last, it's decided to do something about it in the form of the all-new Audi Q9. The vitally important car is one we've known was coming for some time, but we're just now getting a first look at the new flagship's massive interior.

Not only is the Q9 the latest and greatest of what Audi has to offer when it comes to infotainment, audio and luxury, but it's also a showcase of what its designers and engineers can do when it comes to packaging such a large vehicle. It's also a redo of some of the design and material choice mistakes that were made on earlier versions of this interior design language *cough* Audi A6 E-Tron *cough*. With 22 available speakers, six or seven seats, up to three screens, a trick panoramic roof, auto-open and close doors, more ambient lighting than you'll know what to do with, and storage that'll put a van to shame, the Q9's interior wants to run with the best of the big luxo family haulers.

Full Disclosure: Audi flew me out to Munich, Germany, put me up in a very nice Hilton hotel and fed me all so I could check out the new Q9's interior and a few other things I'm not allowed to tell you about yet.

I can't tell you much of anything about the outside of the 2027 Q9 or its official measurements, but I can tell you that Audi says space is the defining feature of this full-size SUV, and the fact it's actually a bit bigger than the X7 and GLS should give you a bit of an indication of the size of vehicle we're dealing with here.

Because of all that space, the Q9 is available as either a six- or seven-seater. Buyers can choose to either have a bench seat or two captain's chairs in the second row, but no matter what you pick, they're power-adjustable. Of course, the six-seater is a bit more luxury-oriented, with ventilation and big padded armrests, while Audi says all three seats in the second-row bench can be fitted with child seats. Still, whichever configuration is selected, the simple press of a button will slide the seats forward to reveal the third row, which is also power-adjustable as standard. Q9 owners with the captain's chairs can also make use of a center pass-through rather than disturbing whatever's on the second-row seats. I'm 6-foot-1, so I won't say the third row is the roomiest place I've ever been, but it's roughly on par with what you'll find in the X7 — more than good enough for kids and adults on shorter journeys.

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Behind that third row of seats, there's a cargo area with plenty of room for whatever sort of high-class activities you and your family are doing that weekend. Again, I can't go into specifics as to exactly how much room is on offer, but I will say that it's certainly adequate. And, if you do find yourself needing more space, one simple button press is all it takes to drop the rear two rows of seats to make the cargo area truly cavernous. If that room somehow isn't enough, a roof rack is standard.

Just be careful with what you're loading up, though, because there are some truly lovely materials on offer that you could royally screw up. Since this is the company's new flagship, Audi pulled out all the stops when it came to material choices, leathers, trims and colorways. There are a handful of new fabrics and wood trims available, as well as new wool upholstery (which I'm very excited to see in person) and Dinamica microfiber, as well as the usual suspects of leatherette and Nappa leather. New colors include Tamarind Brown and Stone Beige, the latter of which was on the car I checked out, with a rather lovely quilted stitching pattern.

Up front, the driver and passenger can be treated to incredibly premium-feeling Sports Seats Plus, which wouldn't look out of place in an S model... if you catch my drift. They're heated as standard, but can be had with ventilation and a massage function.

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Buyers also have their choice of plenty of different wood, metal and carbon-fiber trim elements, and anti-piano black circle jerkers will be happy to learn that Audi has decided to reduce a lot of its use of the material inside the Q9 in favor of matte and textured materials, in an effort to cut down on dreaded fingerprint marks. We thank Audi designers for their service. It's definitely a step up from what we've seen on the A6 E-Tron and Q6 E-Tron.

Since the Q9 is a family car, Audi built in plenty of storage and phone charging solutions, putting two Qi2.2 magnetic wireless charging pads and a handful of USB-C ports in the center console. Because the shifter has been moved to the steering column, Audi was able to make the cupholders bigger as well, and massive Stanley cups can fit in them now, something the company made sure to highlight no fewer than 9,000 times during our 48 hours on the ground in Munich.

Before you can access these interior goodies, you've got to open the doors. Following the trend of most luxo-barges on sale today, the Q9 comes with electrically powered doors — a first for Audi — and they can be opened and closed in a whole slew of ways. The keyfob, MyAudi App and infotainment system all control the doors' open and closing function. The driver's door also swings closed when you hit the brake pedal or buckle your seatbelt. Of course, there's also a button on the interior that'll swing it open or close for you, and on the outside, there's a rather conventional-looking handle to take up the duty. Don't worry about the doors knocking into things, either. They've got radar sensors built in that'll be able to detect obstacles like trees, road signs and even oncoming traffic.

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Once inside, you'll notice a dashboard that's rather similar to other Audis we've seen go on sale in recent years, just a bit nicer. As I mentioned, Audi's designers took the time to refine some design materials choices, and they even added back a few hard buttons and knobs on the center console and squircle steering wheel for those of us who like easy-to-use controls.

Still, you'll have undoubtedly noticed the three screens that dominate the Q9's dashboard. Audi hasn't released official specs for them yet, but if I were a betting man, I'd say they're the exact same size as what I found on the A5 I tested last year. I can't tell you exact measurements, but I expect there to be over 37 inches worth of screens on the dashboard of the Q9. What I can tell you is that they worked rather well on the A6, but perhaps not as well as Audi's old system, especially when it comes to the gauge cluster. Perhaps it's been improved with the Q9. Time will tell.

To further elevate the interior, Audi fitted a very trick and very large panoramic sunroof measuring nearly 16.2 square feet as standard. One or more of the nine individual segments of glass can turn opaque to keep the sun out. The automaker says the laminated glass reflects infrared light and blocks more than 99.5% of UV radiation, and that means a regular sunshade is no longer necessary.

If you want something even fancier, step up to the illuminated panoramic roof, which features 84 LEDs that will light up in one of 30 colors to match the interior ambient lighting, and that lighting is something Audi is taking very seriously in the Q9. Full and atmospheric illumination is standard for the front doors and available as an option for the rears. It's also standard on the dashboard, and there's also that strange new Dynamic Interaction Light that runs along the base of the windshield, which Audi is such a fan of these days. Hell, the damn thing even has ambient lighting on the first and second row captain's chairs.

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The lighting ties into the car's Bang & Olufsen premium audio system. Higher-end models even have actuators in the front seats that give a 4D feel to the music you're listening to. I mean, it's a bit of a gimmick, but for the sort of money you're gonna shell out for a Q9, gimmicks are welcome.

Of course, I can't tell you how much money you're going to be shelling out just yet. That's still very much under wraps at the moment, but we're going to be learning plenty more before the wraps are officially pulled off the car in late July. For now, I can tell you that Audi's new flagship looks and feels as premium as its competition does — and it ought to, because there's a lot of work to be done to make up for missed time.