Audi Q7 Tuning

"Thanks for reading my Q7 tuning guide."

The Q7 is the large fun SUV from Audi, that still manages to tick the fun to drive box, whilst retaining it's practicality.

If you've got a big heavy car that you want to move quickly your only option is to fit a large powerful engine, and thankfully that is exactly what Audi have done.

Engine tuning mods.

All engines respond well to mapping and performance upgrades. We wouldn't want to spoil the Q7 with the wrong mods so lets take a look at the best mods for the Q7.

The Q7 is a good tuning project to play with. Think carefully and research Q7 tuning to save yourself making the usual expensive errors we typically .

Top end bhp should be your overall aim with a nice fat wide peak torque band.

Sadly with smaller engine sizes you are wasting your time spending money on modifications, so if this applies to you get yourself an engine swap then apply the following mods.

These mods uprated modifications are usually carried out by our members, decide how far you wish to go in your tuning project before you begin.

Getting the right motorsport parts for your planned usage of the car is a time and money saver. Stage 3 competition upgrades just don't work well on the road making the car difficult to drive.

Please watch TorqueCars Video tutorial on car tuning. And be sure to subscribe and support our new channel.

Stages of Tune

Stage 1 mods: Panel air filter, Suspension upgrade (drop 30-40mm), Alloy wheels, Remap, Sports exhaust, Lighter flywheel.

Stage 2 mods: Power/Sport clutch, fuel pump upgrades, Fast road cam, high flow fuel injector, Ported and polished head.

Stage 3 mods: Internal engine upgrades (pistons/head/valves), Engine balancing, Sports gearbox, Adding or upgrading forced induction (turbo/supercharger), Competition cam.

Your aims when tuning should be a flat and wide torque output. You don't want all the torque to be at the top end unless you are creating a motor sport car.

The whole point of our guides is to give a brief overview of modifying modifications and point you in the right direction, our forum is the place to go for detailed advice and tips on your modified car project, the best modified parts and all aspects of modding cars.One of the best mechanical upgrades you can do on your NASP engine is to fit a fast road camshaft .

The exhaust and intake flow play a large part in your cars power band, but be careful here, getting this wrong can upset the idle and make the car difficult to drive in traffic. You'd need to follow a camshaft upgrade with other mods and finish with a reflashed ECU to fully release the power gain.

When pushing up the power you will need to pay attention to to the fuelling. More power needs more fuel.

If you find you suffer from flat spots and surges after your performance modifications you should check the fuelling and try a higher octane fuel as well. Upgrading the injectors is another beneficial modification and will deliver sufficient fuel.

If you've uprated your fuelling with bigger injectors you will also need to get a bigger fuel pump to supply it.

The choices on offer when the Q7 first launched were

• 3.6 FSI 2008–2009 3,597 cc  VR6 FSI 280 PS (276 hp) at 6,200, 36.7 kg⋅m (360 Nm; 265 lbft) at 2,500–5,000
• 4.2 FSI 2008–2009 4,163 cc V8 FSI 350 PS (345 hp) at 6,800, 440Nm(325 lbft) at 3,500
• 3.0 TDI 2005–2007 2,967 cc  V6 turbo 233 PS (230 hp) at 4,000, 500Nm(369 lbft) at 1,750–2,750
• 3.0 TDI 2007–2009 2,967 cc  V6 turbo 240 PS  (237 hp) at 4,000–4,400, 550Nm(406 lbft) at 2,000–2,250
• 3.0 TDI clean diesel 2009– 2,967 cc  V6 turbo 240 PS (237 hp) at 4,000–4,400, 550Nm(406 lbft) at 2,000–2,250
• 4.2 TDI 2007–2009 4,134 cc  V8 turbo 326 PS (322 hp) at 3,750, 760Nm(561 lbft) at 1,800–2,500
• 6.0 TDI 2008– 5,934 cc V12 twin turbo 500 PS (493 hp) at 3,750, 1,000Nm(738 lbft) at 1,750–3,250

Engines offered for the Facelift in 2010

Petrol engines

• 3.0L V6 T FSI 272 PS (200 kW; 268 hp) at 4,750–6,500, 400 Nm (295 lbft) at 2,150–4,780
• 3.0L V6 T FSI (S-Line version)  333 PS (245 kW; 328 hp) at 5,500–6,500, 440 Nm (325 lbft) at 2,900–5,300
• 3.6L VR6 FSI 280 PS (206 kW; 276 hp) at 6,200, 360 Nm (266 lbft) at 2,500–5,000
• 4.2L V8 FSI 350 PS (257 kW; 345 hp) at 6,800, 440 Nm (325 lbft) at 3,500

Diesel Engines

• 3.0L V6 TDI 2,967 cc 240 PS (177 kW; 237 hp) at 4,000–4,400, 550 Nm (406 lbft) at 2,000–2,250
• 4.2L V8 TDI 340 PS (250 kW; 335 hp) at 4,000, 760 Nm (561 lbft) at 1,750–3,000
• 6.0L V12 TDI 500 PS (368 kW; 493 hp) at 3,750, 1,000 Nm (738 lbft) at 1,750–3,250

Then in 2015 the engine options were updated to meet new emissions regulations and standards.

• 2.0 TFSI -2016 1984 252 PS (249 hp; 185 kW) 370 Nm (273 lbf⋅ft)
• 3.0 TFSI -2015 2995 333 PS (328 hp; 245 kW) 440 Nm (325 lbf⋅ft)
  Diesel engines
• 3.0 TDI ultra 2015-2018 2967 218 PS (215 hp; 160 kW) 500 Nm (369 lbf⋅ft)
• 45 TDI -2019 2967 231 PS (228 hp; 170 kW) 500 Nm (369 lbf⋅ft)
• 3.0 TDI 2015-2018 2967 272 PS (268 hp; 200 kW) 600 Nm (443 lbf⋅ft)
• 50 TDI -2019 2967 286 PS (282 hp; 210 kW) 600 Nm (443 lbf⋅ft)
• e-tron 2016-2018 2967 387 PS (382 hp; 285 kW) 700 Nm (516 lbf⋅ft)
• SQ7 TDI -2016 3956 435 PS (429 hp; 320 kW) 900 Nm (664 lbf⋅ft)

Intake and Exhaust Tuning.

Breathing mods are usually next up. Induction kits will only help to boost power if your air intake is struggling! Adding an induction kit to most stock engines will see NO LOW END POWER GAIN AT ALL. If you have heavily modified your engine and it's need for air INCREASES DRAMATICALLY then an induction kit is the answer and will help remove this restriction.

Derestricting the airflow into the engine is a primary goal of tuning so get a better flowing air filter if you find that the car is running lean only if you find the car is running lean. Induction kits can sound great but due to the warm air in the engine bay they will not add noticeable power and often rob you of power.

Do not go with the largest exhaust you can get this will slow the exhaust rate - the best exhausts for power gains are usually between 1.5 to 2.5 inches. It is the shape and material more than the bore size.

Head work including a gas flow and 3 or 5 angle valve job will really help to release the potential of the engine. In nearly all cases of Q7 tuning your clutch will start to slip and this needs to be uprated - read our article on clutches for more information. The best mods we would do for your Q7 are fast road camshaft, remap, induction and exhaust, suspension.

Remaps offer phenomenal power gains on all turbo charged cars. On NASP engines the benefits are doubtful. However a remap on a NASP engine will help unleash the potential if you have done a lot of mods.

We've also seen some tuners experimenting with twincharging conversions and making some seriously high power figures.

The most phenomenal power gains for NASP engines usually involve the addition of forced induction. Turbos are usually harder to add than a supercharger. With a turbo the power curve is related exponentially to the engine speed making it harder to map.

Superchargers will give a boost which is directly proportional to engine speed so is easier to map. To cope with forced induction you will usually need to decrease the engines compression ratio .

Handling/Suspension upgrades

Many Q7 owners uprate the handling of their cars with sports suspension mods as a priority, this will certainly increase your enjoyment of the car.

Good suspension tweaks that usually improve handling for the Q7 include a couple of degrees negative camber and 1-1.5 degrees of toe out on the front wheels.

We suggest that you fit modified suspension and lower the car by 22mm - 40 mm. Larger drops require arch work - especially on models already equipped with motorsport suspension.

Alloy wheel upgrades.

The benefits of alloys include reducing your unsprung weight and more efficient brake cooling.

Pay attention to your choice of tyres (tyres) for your car, a good directional tread pattern tyre can really enhance your cars handling. Large Q7 alloys can decrease performance. If you get big alloys you will be changing your final drive ratio.

Because of this aim to keep the overall rolling diameter of the wheel your OEM settings. In all cases without going bigger than 19 inches - yes we know the lads like running on 21's but it really wrecks the ride and handling in our opinion.There is a more updated version of this Audi Q7 Tuning article on TorqueCars.com.

For more information on Tuning your car please join us in our friendly forum where you can discuss Q7 options in more detail with our Q7 owners. It would also be worth reading our unbiased Audi tuning articles to get a full grasp of the benefits and drawbacks of each modification.

We need your help improving this article, so please send us your feedback in the comments box below and pass on any tips, points or facts we have wrong or have not covered.

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This article is flagged for an update, so please pass on specific tips below that I can include. All articles, and content was written by me, Waynne Smith TorqueCars founder. Some outlines are just too general so I appreciate your feedback and suggestions. This entry was filed under Audi. You can leave a response below or join our forum to discuss this article and car modification in detail with our members.

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