drcyrus3d

For those of you in the US: http://www.carlemon.com/

Pick the state that you are in and read along.

scotskier

Nope, 2011 is the same. I have the 2011 S 33 with 21s and air suspension and it has done this from new. Does the same with 18 inch or 19 inch winter tires as well. Has spent alot of time at the dealers for this issue but never resolved. Audi USA did come up with some revised settings after my first couple of visits and eventually they changed out the OEM Dunlops for Michelins but all to no avail. It still pulls a little bit to the right which becomes old quickly on a long freeway trip. It is the single most irritating feature of the car. Some further tweaks to alignment have improved it and teh smaller wheels are also not so pronounced but it is still there and I am always aware of it. It is related to overall alignment and chassis set up as originally it turned in great to teh right but you had to drag it in to the left. Latest tweaks have significantly reduced this fortunately but the pull remains. Seems to be common across them although i do not recall the issue occurring on my 2009 3.6

gtab55

My parents own a 2008 Mercedes GL 320 CDI and that vehicle has had alignment issues from day one. They are considering buying a Q7 but from hearing about this I don't think they will want to.

audi2012q7

I have a 2012 S line w/ 21 inch wheels and it too has had tendency to drift right since day one. I have had it in the Audi shop on several occasions and frustation continues after supposedly aligned "within" specs but that it did not improve. Was told by Service Tech that it was "crown" of the road that is causing this tendency. Makes no sense. What's also frustraing is they act as the car is suppose to drive this way and dismiss your experience as this is something they've never heard of. Finally dealing with Service Mgr. They have also put 20 inch rims / tires on it and it did improve slighly but tendency still existed. They just put 4 new Michelin's on my 21's and I will be testing in the next few weeks. We're see...

drcyrus3d

@scotskier I would be very interested in seeing the software versions on your car vs another 2011 Q7 S that does not have this problem. If the software version is the same then you have to look into the AWD.
One more thing, can you precisely measure the thread on each of your tires? If you get more wear on one side it's clear there is something wrong with the AWD or the weight distribution.

@audi2012q7 I understand the road may be messed up and "the crown" will make your car to steer more to one side. But that will not go one for 10 miles, only if the terrain is the same and the road was poured in the same day, or under the same weather conditions.
Mine pulls to the right on a specific block of highway (around a mile), I can tell tell you exactly where it starts (cause i can see where the repaved road starts and ends ) pulling and where it ends.

Please continue to add to this forum, I am curious to see what the outcome is.

I have a 2011 Q7 with 18" Pirelli Scorpion Zero Assimetrico 255/55 XL.

scotskier

drcyrus. I am pretty sure this is NOT a software issue, it is a bit more basic old-fashioned chassis set up. Apart from the pull to the right it also didnt turn in well to the left but perfectly to the right. Latest tweaks have got rid of most of this, even though the drift is still there. Having built and set-up race/rally cars in the past I am pretty sensitive to things like this. On the Q7 it feels like the car has been set up for clockwise ovals. When they first started investigating it last year Audi came up with some revised chassis settings based upon their findings with my vehicle. I have also gone through the printout from the alignment and there is nothing that raises any red flags. Even when they switched out the tires for a new set of michelins It was still present. I also drove the sales directors Q7 which was exactly the same spec except for steel springs and it is exactly the same.

It appears to me that it is an inherent chassis characteristic which becomes more pronounced as you go to larger wheels. Hence the loudest complaints have come from those with 21s. They look real good but in reality the truck is probably over-tired with 21s. If you look at the Cayenne, standard is 18 with 19 and 20 being options.

gtab55

I don't mean to hijack this thread being having parents with a Benz, but they just purchased pirelli tires and as I stated earlier are having pulling and alignment issues. You said your vehicle pulls on a certain stretch, which is understandable, but what about elsewhere, especially with the pirelli tires and their wear/traction? My parents are worried about the Benz's pirellis with the whole alignment.

pchansen

I have a 2007 with 20" wheels and 86,000 miles. It has always pulled slightly to the right as people have been saying. It is a chassis setup issue. Liability will not let dealers "bias" the alignment to compensate for the pull. Honestly, my pull is not that bad and my tires wear evenly but it is still there. I have thought about bringing my Q7 to a performance tire shop and see if I can't get them to do a custom alignment.

newmoon

I fear taking it to a specialist alignment shop that really knows what they are doing may be the only solution if Audi is unwilling or too incompetent to fix it. It will cost around $100-$150. Perhaps you guys can send the bill to Audi...

Also, I'm not sure about the Q7 suspension setup, but usually there are some specs that cannot be adjusted by simply turning a bolt like camber, caster and steering axis inclination. Standard alignment techs, perhaps including your dealer, will probably not touch these because sometimes you need to unbolt the entire subframe, shift it in the right direction and retighten it, which is too much work for them.

gtab55

Any updates?