Q7 Brake/Rotor Conversion
 

Has anyone one a big brake conversion on the Q7? My thoughts are that since it shares the same platform as the Cayenne, it would be possible to fit Cayenne GTS brakes onto the Q7 for example.


I've done some searching on multiple forums and haven't seen any threads on this. Most of the discussions have been around performance pads, and even fewer on performance rotors. I feel the Q7 is a big lazy on the brakes. I'm on the stock pads and rotors, and they have good initial bite, but after that stopping power isn't great. Perhaps I'm moving to the Q7 from smaller cars, but I'd like to have more stopping power available for emergency situations.


I'm thinking of doing these on my next service interval since I haven't found much info on bigger brakes. Anyone have any experience with these?
StopTech 126.33090/91 350mm Slotted Front Brake Rotors for Audi Q7

which calipers and rotors do the cayenne gts use? Unless something new is offered all Cayenne and Touareg vehicles use the same brake components as the Q7. Q7 has/had a Carbon Ceramic option as does Porsche. If you're referring to that it's nearly 25k to change from standard brakes to CC but much cheaper as the factory option.

i would avoid stoptech. it's for people who want to have a bbk for show (IMO) but you have a brembo set up which is much better than ST.

sometimes size doesn't matter but better fluid, pad composition and or rotors that dissipate heat better make more of a change than anything else.

Usually just a brake fluid flush with a better than factory fluid makes a huge difference. Pick one that has high wet and dry boiling points. Also, I've never felt that a Q7 was lacking braking ability. We aren't tracking these things, and they already have massive rotors and darn good calipers. The other two major components will give the most R.O.I.

agreed. i noticed an improvement with slotted/drilled rotors but have not been able to properly gauge stopping distance because the two times they were tested were with summer and winter tires so to say it was a dramatic change either way wouldn't be too accurate since the tires changed as well.

As others have posted, the Q7 braking system has a good foundation for solid stock performance and potentially great performance with some pad and rotor upgrades (I'd start with pads first). I believe just about every Q7 is spec'd with 6 piston front and 4 piston rear brembo calipers on fairly large sized rotors- it doesn't get a whole lot better than that without spending pretty big $$$.

Friction and heat dissipation in the pad and rotor combination is the name of the game when you already have plenty of clamp. Slotted rotors will help move excess heat off the pad/rotor interface and a higher temp brake pad will maintain friction at above "normal" temps. But there are trade offs, as with some pads you need to heat them up before the braking performance increases and slotted rotors are going to wear a bit faster as well as will the pads used with them, but that's because you are getting more friction and dissipating more heat to get the stopping power you want. Better brake fluid and perhaps stainless lines will help with pedal feel/modulation.

Thanks for the replies!
It looks like the GTS uses 390mm front 358mm rear rotors, but the same 6 piston and 4 piston calipers... Cayenne Turbo uses 10 piston front calipers.


Standard Q7 brakes are 350mm front, 330mm rear.


I'll try different fluids, pads, rotors on the current size first and see how those work.

Fluid first, then pads, then rotors. Keep in mind that if you have winter wheels on 18" rotors, bumping to GTS size rotors (probably uses different caliper brackets with the same calipers to allow the 20mm larger radius, that was pretty typical of Porsche back in the '90's) will more than likely cause an interference with them. But honestly, unless you run an un-braked trailer over 3500lbs, or are running your Q7 on the track or up and down mountains all the time, you don't need bigger rotors with more heat capacity. I ran the 4.2 with a heavy all steel surge-braked car trailer with my A6 on the back of it up and down hills that (almost required 1st gear several times) for ~40 miles with zero issues (the 4.2 has a brake controller, but this trailer didn't have electric brakes like my enclosed car trailer or the horse trailer).

Even if you did all of that stuff, I'd still start with fluid and then pads. I'd also stay away from drilled rotors, potentially even slotted, as they can cause stress cracks and lead to total rotor failure. I've seen people have the issue if they are heavy brake users, including rotors falling off the car from fracturing.

2011 q7 conversion
 

I’m looking to swap out my break system to Porsche Cayenne gts any thoughts on what I should or shouldn’t do

Yes,

Before you spend a dime on what may be useless "upgrades", take the advice given above and max out the potential of the stock Q7 system.

I did look into it but you cant find cheap parts.

The front requires the brackets for the calipers and new rotors, the rear is straight swap. Some VAGCOM calibration is needed to let the system know its dealing with larger brakes. Then you have to find new wheels as the oem will not clear the fronts which are 380mm.

The swap can be done for somewhere north of $2000. Its not worth it IMO.

The turbo models with 450hp came with teh same brakes as ours, so I think the stopping power is plenty and its there on the Q7.