Audi Q5 and Q7 V12 TDI

In the latter half of next year Audi’s Q7 off-roader will be joined by the mid-sized Q5. The five-seater off-roader has been co-developed with Porsche and will make extensive use of Audi’s lightweight alloy-intensive engineering skills to keep a tight hold on emissions and consumption. Although the Q5 will have its pick of Audi’s four and six-cylinder petrol and diesel engines, it will initially only be available with a 210bhp version of its 2.0-litre TSFI unit, the familiar 170bhp 2.0-litre TDi and the 230bhp 3.0-litre V6 TDi.

To keep the environmentalists happy, Audi is working flat out on mild and full hybrid options that twin conventional petrol and diesel power with electric propulsion. Looks-wise, the Q5 will be a mix of the brutish Q7 with its bold grille, but with the lighter touches of its Cross Cabriolet concept, shown at this year’s Los Angeles motor show. The production Q5 will bow in at Detroit early next year, arriving here after the summer with prices kicking off around £29,000 mark. And if you can't wait, we've already spied the production car on video.

If big and bad forest-killing off-roaders are your thing, Audi’s V12 TDI Q7 will certainly tick your box. By shoehorning a production version of the same biturbo diesel engine that rocketed Audi to victory in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Audi has created the most powerful production diesel vehicle yet. Conceived to tempt Americans away from huge petrol-powered SUVs, this huge diesel-powered SUV posts some extraordinary power figures – 500bhp and 740lb ft of torque, enough bicep to launch the monster to 60 in 5.5 seconds and onto 180mph if it weren’t fitted with a 155mph limiter. It’s fitted with clean Bluetec technology to cut NOx emissions, too. Don't expect much change out of £75,000 when it arrives here at the end of 2008.