Audi Sq8 E-Tron vs Isuzu NLR

What's the difference?

There’s not doubt large, luxury SUVs like the SQ8 have a lot to gain from electrification in terms of refinement, performance and running costs. The flip-side is the extra mass of the batteries and other electrical gear but, in this case at least, there might be a silver lining there in the way the hulking SUV manages to force the air suspension into agreeable submission.

For our money, the station-wagon variant is the one to buy. It’s cheaper to begin with and with its greater luggage capacity, it simply makes more sense. Which is not to say the Sportback version is compromised in luxury, safety or performance terms, but if practicality doesn’t figure highly in any purchasing decision involving an SUV, then we sense a great disturbance in the force.

Regardless of what’s powering the SQ8, the driving experience is vintage Audi and that’s a good thing, and even that massive kerb mass can’t blunt the sort of chassis dynamics and feedback we’ve come to expect from the brand.

Some buyers will possibly baulk at the projected range and the Audi’s appetite for electrons, but when lined up side-by-side with its major competition, the SQ8 is every chance to emerge as the one to buy. We’ll need a proper comparison for that, of course, but the Audi should be on any short-list of big, deluxe, electric SUVs.

Note: CarsGuide attended this event as a guest of the manufacturer, with accommodation and meals provided.

Work out the weight of all the tools, equipment, materials, crew and (if applicable) trailer that you need to haul around each day and measure it against this truck’s formidable GVM and GCM ratings. When combined with its compact dimensions, robust design and build quality, solid warranty and ready-to-work pricing, you may find it’s hard to beat if you’re prepared to think outside the square on what a single cab-chassis ute can look like.

Stylistically, the big news is that the SQ8 is the second model to take up Audi’s latest exterior design language. That includes the two-dimensional Audi grille logo as well as a 'singleframe' (Audi’s own word) light bar that links the matrix headlights.

The SQ8 also gets Audi’s Sport Package as part of the price of admission, and that includes black roof rails and other touches.

Of more technical interest is the way the front of the car has been designed to aid air flow around the front wheels. Controllable flaps in the front fascia as well as underbody winglets keep the air flowing around the wheels without contributing to excess aerodynamic drag at speed.

In an engineering sense, the big news is the adoption of a three-motor layout. While some manufacturers are yet to see the value in this, having a motor on each of the rear wheels means there’s no longer a need for a rear differential.

This vehicle looks compact in comparison to a one-tonne ute - and the tape measure confirms it. Compared to a Ranger 4x4 dual cab ute for example, its 5020mm overall length is a surprising 339mm shorter, its 2490mm wheelbase is 730mm less and its 1855mm width is line-ball.

The Isuzu’s 2172mm height is 357mm taller, which could present a challenge if access to underground or multi-storey carparks is required. However, its remarkably small 8.7-metre turning circle is a whole 4.0 metres tighter than the Ranger, so it's highly maneuverable.

Built on a heavy-duty steel ladder-frame chassis, it has independent wishbone/coil spring front suspension, a leaf-spring live rear axle, power-assisted rack and pinion steering and four-wheel disc brakes. It also runs a 24-volt electrical system with twin batteries.

The single cab provides fabric-trimmed seating for up to three (driver bucket, passenger bench) but our test vehicle was fitted with seat covers from the Isuzu accessories range. With torsion bar assistance, the cab can be easily tilted forward to rest at a 45-degree angle and provide full access to the engine.

The service body, which is a blend of lightweight aluminium and steel, has a tough powder-coated finish. It comprises a large main storage compartment with big gull-wing doors on each side, plus a compact rear tray with checker-plate floor, drop-sides and load anchorage points. There are also rear underbody storage boxes on each side, plus sturdy body-mounted roof racks, safety yellow non-slip steps and sturdy grab handles front and rear.

There’s absolutely no question Audi knows a thing or two about cabin layouts and ergonomics. Like other contemporary Audis, this one features the fully customisable Virtual Cockpit with a huge range of possible displays and layouts. And again, as usual, it all works seamlessly and efficiently.

The head-up display is amazingly clear and the twin touchscreens divide the car’s tasks logically. Yes, there’s a lot going on, but compare the way the Audi applies logic to the menu strategy to the scatter-gun approach of many others, and you can see that plenty of thought has gone into this stuff.

Also, it goes without saying, of course, that there are multiple charging points as well as plenty of connectivity with good wireless connections available. That includes wireless phone changing.

The front seats are sporty but not too firm, even if they do give you a bit of a squeeze thanks to high bolsters and lots of contouring. The rear seat is likewise firm initially and is really best for two backsides thanks to the sculpting of the rear bench.

That said, it will accept a centre passenger, but that seat will be the last one occupied. Rear legroom – important in a car like this - is good, there’s enough room for your feet under the front seats and headroom, even in the allegedly racier looking Sportback, is ample if not huge.

The panoramic sunroof means there’s plenty of light to counter the dark interior colours, and the only real surprise is the amount of hard plastic on the upper part of the door trims, just below the glass. Given the acres of much plusher trim farther down the door, this seems a bit odd.

The other comment we’d make is that the SUV body simply makes more sense in terms of load carrying (569 litres plays 528) and makes more of the SUV’s claim to practicality.

The Sportback is also a bit of an acquired taste and while it’s not the first SUV-coupe mash-up we’ve seen, to many eyes, the combination never looks right. Coupe on stilts? Surely, not for everyone.

On that subject of practicality, the SQ8 bucks the trend in EVs by being able to tow up to 1800kg with a braked trailer. The factory towing pack is a $2180 option.

With a hefty 2825kg tare weight and 4500kg GVM, the Isuzu has a big 1675kg payload rating. It’s also rated to tow up to 4000kg of braked trailer and with its sizeable 8000kg GCM, it can legally tow that weight with a 500kg reduction in payload. Or you can cap the towing weight at 3500kg and keep the full payload. Either way, these are substantial GVM and GCM ratings for any number of working roles.

In terms of cabin storage, there’s no glove box but both doors have narrow storage bins and there are overhead shelves with restraint netting to keep loose items in check. There’s also a pop-out dual bottle/cup holder in the centre dash along with two small storage nooks, but more places to store things would be welcome in this space.

Our test vehicle, to use its full model name, is the NLR 45-150 SWB AMT Servicepack X. It’s the most compact model in the N-Series range and as a result is similar (and in some cases much smaller) in key dimensions to a one-tonne ute. It only comes in one specification with 3.0-litre turbo-diesel, six-speed automated manual transmission (we’ll get to that) and dual-rear wheels, for a list price of $87,789.

In addition to its service body, this hard-worker comes standard with half a dozen 16-inch steel wheels, 195/75R16C Michelin tyres and a full-size spare. The single cab is well-equipped with useful features like keyless entry with central locking of cab and service body, big door mirrors with power adjustment, heating and lower wide-angle view, driver’s bucket seat with mechanical suspension and weight adjustment up to 130kg, two-way adjustable steering column, cruise control and bright LED interior lighting. Also standard is a 4000kg-rated tow-bar, reversing camera, loud reversing alarm and door-mounted cornering lamps.

There’s also an infotainment system with smallish 6.2-inch control screen and DAB+ radio. Even though there’s no Apple CarPlay or Android Auto, it has multiple connectivity including internet radio via smartphone, external camera inputs, navigation, reversing sensors and tyre pressure monitoring. The driver also gets a multi-information display and there’s plenty of the latest safety tech headlined by AEB.

While many electric all-wheel-drive vehicles use a motor on each axle, the Audi electric 'Quattro' system here arguably goes one better with a total of three motors.

The front axle features the traditional single motor while the rear axle has two; effectively a motor on each rear wheel.

When they all chime in, they bestow the e-tron with a maximum of 370kW of power and an astonishing 973Nm of torque; more than enough to get the 2.6-tonne e-tron moving.

Enough, in fact to get the car from rest to 100km/h in a claimed 4.5 seconds and on to an electronically limited top speed of 210km/h.

A single-speed reduction transmission is fitted and drive is constantly sent to all four wheels via an electric version of Audi’s famed Quattro all-wheel-drive layout.

Suspension is by adaptive air springs and there’s adjustable (via the steering wheel paddles) regenerative braking.

Isuzu’s 4JJ1-TCS 3.0-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel is closely related to the 4JJ3-TCX in the current D-Max ute and MU-X wagon. Tuned for hard work and long life, it produces 110kW at 2800rpm and 375Nm across a 1200rpm-wide torque band between 1600-2800rpm. It’s also equipped with a vacuum-controlled exhaust brake which can be switched on or off.

Isuzu’s MYY-6E is a six-speed fully-automated manual transmission, which may sound like a contradiction in terms, However, like the engine, it's designed for a long service life under continuous heavy loads. It uses an electro/hydraulically controlled wet clutch and lock-up torque converter to provide either fully automatic or clutch-less manual shifting. There’s also slow/fast gear engagement control, first gear start (for heavy loads) and normal or economy drive modes.

A handy power take-off (PTO) facility can drive numerous on-site implements, with drive coming from a counter gear on the left-hand side of the transmission case.

Moving this much weight at such velocities and for such distances requires a big battery. In fact, Audi claims the SQ8’s battery, at 114kWh is the biggest in the business.

But, again, it needs to be, especially with the claimed energy consumption of a hefty 28.8kWh per 100km for the SUV version and 28.0kWh per 100km for the slightly slipperier Sportback.

That gives a theoretical range of 417km for the SUV and 430 for the Sportback, both of which are numbers some potential buyers won’t consider sufficient.

But those same people should consider the fact that in a mix of winding country roads and some freeway running, we were able to beat those consumption claims, recording closer to 26 or 27kWh per 100km which, if nothing else, suggests the published range figures might be somewhat closer to reality than the EV (or any other segment of the car industry) market typically gets.

The standard charger runs at 11kW but on a 10-amp household socket, home charging will be limited to 7.2kW, although an optional 22kW charger ($6900) is also available from Audi.

The DC charging is the highlight, however, and the SQ8 can cope with charging speeds of up to 170kWh, meaning it can theoretically get from 10 per cent to 80 per cent charged in about 31 minutes on a commercial charging station with enough grunt.

Average combined fuel consumption figures are not required for commercial vehicles in this weight division. Even so, the dash display was claiming 13.2L/100km at the end of our 295km test which included about one third of that distance hauling a heavy payload. So, based on those figures you could expect a real-world driving range of around 570km from its 75-litre tank.

Almost a thousand Newton-metres (not to mention 370kW) infers some pretty serious performance and so it is.

When you press down on the throttle pedal, there’s an instant and somewhat furious response from the driveline. And just as the Audi’s touchscreens have been calibrated to respond on a human scale, so too have the major driving controls.

That said, while there’s more acceleration on tap than most drivers will ever have experienced, the SQ8 doesn’t move forward with quite the irresistible force the bald numbers might suggest.

And that’s purely down to the thing weighing the wrong side of 2.6 tonnes. Sure, Audi claims 4.5 seconds and that seems fairly believable, but it’s not quite as ballistic as some other current EVs.

Still, that’s hardly its mission in life, anyway. Top speed, in the interests of thermal management, has been limited to an entirely understandable – not to mention adequate - 210km/h.

But one thing all that kerb mass has (arguably) done is make the suspension work properly. Speaking purely personally, until I’d sampled the SQ8 over a variety of bitumen joins, potholes of all sizes and even clattering level-crossings, I was yet to drive a passenger car on air suspension that worked as well as the brochure claimed.

Historically, air suspension has been okay on smooth roads and even sometimes bigger lumps and bumps. But it usually fell short of expectations on small amplitude, high frequency stuff that made the suspension judder and stutter. Not this Audi.

Even on the 'Dynamic' setting, the ride never falls beyond plush although you will notice a little more stiffness being dialled into it by the computer.

The best advice is to leave it in the 'Comfort' setting where there’s still lots of roll and pitch control, yet an even higher degree of suppleness that fundamentally refuses to be beaten by a lack of post-Covid road maintenance. And this from a car that rides on 22-inch wheels and tyres.

Perhaps compressed air doesn’t scale in a linear manner, making the addition of a couple of tonnes of sprung mass a positive, rather than a negative.

The other thing Audi has done well to maintain is that almost indefinable corporate steering response.

It’s kind of muted this time around in terms of its ability to talk to you, but there’s still an over-arching Audi-ness to it with an instant pointiness without the frenetic feel often associated with a quick ratio and sticky tyres.

The doors open 90 degrees for easy access and there are decent boot-sized steps plus big handles on the windscreen pillars to help you climb aboard.

It’s a different driving position to a ute, as you sit high above the engine with your feet ahead of the front wheels and hands on a bus-style flat steering wheel. There’s also a big left footrest with lots of open floor around it, so there’s ample space to rest your foot given there’s no clutch pedal.

The suspension seat can be easily adjusted to suit a driver’s weight and works well in providing a more comfortable ride. The seat’s base cushion has no rake adjustment but there is some movement available in the backrest. Large glass areas deliver a commanding view ahead and to the sides while the big door mirrors provide excellent coverage of what’s behind. 

Its harsh ride quality when unladen is to be expected as it’s designed to carry permanent payloads between 1.0 and 1.5 tonnes. You do get thrown around, particularly on poor road surfaces with large bumps and dips. However, it’s no worse than the rodeo ride we’ve experienced in some unladen single-cab chassis utes which don’t have the luxury of a suspension seat.

The cab’s insulation ensures low engine and tyre noise, particularly during highway use where the turbo-diesel requires 2200rpm to maintain 100km/h and 2500rpm at 110km/h. The most noticeable noise at these speeds comes from wind buffeting around the mirrors, roof racks etc but it’s far from intolerable, as conversations can still take place at normal volumes.

Braking (particularly when using the exhaust brake) and steering response are good but the automated manual transmission takes some getting used to, as it shifts gears at about the same leisurely speed you would do manually.

These long pauses between cogs can be frustrating when climbing hills, as you naturally want to downshift quicker to avoid losing momentum, but you can’t do it in either automated or manual modes. Isuzu claims that the duration of these automated shifts can be shortened, but after consulting the owner’s manual to make this adjustment, we didn’t notice much if any difference (or perhaps we just didn’t do it correctly).

The engine has good flexibility and does not respond well to aggressive treatment. A more relaxed approach is best, using low rpm to optimise torque.

There’s no ANCAP rating required for vehicles in this weight class. Even so, it does have numerous passive and active safety features including driver and passenger airbags plus advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) including AEB, forward collision warning, distance warning, lane departure warning, traffic movement warning, cab-tilt warning and more. There’s also a reversing camera, reversing alarm (the loud beep-beep type) and door-mounted cornering lamps.

Audi’s factory warranty is a good, but no longer remarkable five-year/unlimited warranty on most of the SQ8.

The exception is the battery which is covered by a six-year/160,000km warranty. Audi will also come to your home and connect the standard 10-amp charger and there’s an Origin Energy green power offer that comes with it.

Charging is taken care of for the first six years with a Chargefox subscription as well as Audi Connect. You’ll also get six years of free roadside assistance and the first six years of standard servicing are also included.

The SQ8 also makes good on the EV promise of less maintenance with service intervals every two years or 30,000km, whichever comes first.

There's a reassuring standard warranty of six years or 250,000km (unlimited operating hours) whichever occurs first. Includes three years/unlimited km coverage for body equipment, plus six years of 24/7 roadside assistance with unlimited km. Scheduled servicing every 15,000km/12 months whichever occurs first. Choice of servicing packages available.