The V7 Animal provides 2 power settings: Normal at 25 Air Watts, and Max at 100 Air Watts. The V7 suction rating is very good. Air watts, to put it simply, is a formula that factors in both the airflow and water lift. It represents the strength and airflow volume capacity of the motor. The V7 model offers the same air watts as the V6 model, and just slightly below the 115 air watt V8 model. All in all, V7 suction is excellent so long as you properly clean the filters (see Maintenance section).
The V7 Animal offers 72 inches of water lift, which is a measurement of how much weight the vacuum can lift with the motor. This translates to how well the vacuum can pick up large, heavy debris. Every V7 model, including Motorhead, Animal, Allergy, Fluffy, and Absolute provide the same water lift rating because they all have the same exact motor and design. The airflow rating specifies the amount of air the vacuum cleaner can suck in with no attachments per minute. The V7 Animal can consume 39 CFM (cubic feet per minute), which is a great amount of air within its price class.
Motor
Dyson V7 high efficiency motor
The V7 Animal comes with a small but powerful motor that spins up to 110,000rpm (around 1800 per second!), producing excellent suction and airflow. The V7 motor got a new design from the previous V6 generation motors, featuring 15 small cyclones that produce massive g-forces and optimized to filter out particles about 100 times smaller than the size of a human hair (those cyclones at the top of the vacuum aren't there for cosmetics!). The V7 motor also saw an increase of 75% of power at the brush bar than the previous V6 generation.
In terms of raw power, the V7 Animal motor showed excellent performance and ability to pull both small and large particles.