500c

just thought i'd let you know that this recall does not affect mine (2018 prestige...they checked). thank you

dbull

Well, it was worth a look.

500c

after 6 months of trying everything (i drove 7 other cars w electric steering including 2 other q7's, none of which exhibited this behavior), audi still couldn't confirm that it was a problem let alone fix it. they tried but failed.
we love the q7 so much (drove all the logical alterntives) that we bit the bullet and bought a new '19 (ours was the '18) and took a huge loss. and took a chance, a big chance.

guess what? problem completely solved! no wandering. direct clean responsive feel to the steering! not the best implementation of electric (my porsche's are better,eg), but absolutely acceptable.

so, i wasn't losing my mind. the problem was actually with MY car, and they couldn't fix it.

bottom line, we are poorer, but very happy with our new '19 (with 21" pirelli's at that!)

thanks all, saga over

mhoran89

Not the ending you were most likely looking for in terms of your wallet... but glad it all worked out in the end!

solberg

it's not the car's steering design. And it may not be the tires. It's toe-in, probably... Here's our story. 2017 Prestige 4-wheel steering. When we initially got it, used, CPO, it had the 21-inch Continentals in a Audi original equipment tire model. It tracked just fine. However when we got home from picking it up at the dealer several hundred miles away, we realized that the two rear tires were so badly worn that they weren't safe to use anymore (so much for CPO) so I picked up a set of 19-inch Q7 wheels and OEM tires from another individual. These were also Continentals. Again no problem with tracking. Then over the winter we put on the same 19 inch wheels with blizzaks. No problem with tracking. Then this week I put the 21 in Continentals, the two that still had good tread, on the front and I bought a pair of slightly used Pirellis for the back. Now the car is wandering all over the place with the slightest Road imperfections and is intolerable to drive. What's the difference between now and last summer when we picked he car up with the same continental's on the front? It has been to the dealership twice for services that required removal of the front bumper, recalibration of the driving assistance systems, and alignment. They said the alignment was a necessary part of the bumper removal and recalibration procedure, which just blows my mind. But again, that's the only thing that has changed since last summer when we were driving with those same Continentals in a 21-inch size on the front ( unless anyone thinks that the Pirellis on the back would have any effect on the steering. I don't think the rear wheel steering has that much of an influence that it would cause the car to wander all over the road). Apparently the 19 inch wheels and tires, being a lot narrower, we're not as sensitive to Road imperfections. So we didn't have a problem the entire time the 19 inch wheels and tires were on the car. But neither did we have a problem with the 21s until after these last two service episodes! Wandering is generally caused by insufficient front toe in. I got a rough measurement at the front wheel tread using a tape measure and it appears to have about 1/8 inch of toe in measured that way. This is probably pretty close to what it should have. Perhaps when we originally picked the car up last summer it had more toe in and when they aligned it at the dealership they took out some of that toe-in. Toe-in is easily adjustable by lengthening or shortening the tie rod ends. you have to adjust each one the exact same amount to keep your steering wheel pointed straight. The stealership is 3 hrs away and the last thing I want to do is give them more of my money, so I may just make a slight toe-in increase myself and see what happens. Or take it to my more local alignment shop.

mhoran89

Problem with doing this is you could throw the driver assist features out of whack if the car's computers are assuming you have XYZ measurements with an alignment and you have something else. I have never had any issues with 285/40/20 tires on stock wheels, 275/45/20 a/s tires on stock wheels, or 255/60/18 snow tires on smaller wheels. nor have I ever had the car drift, wander, wear tires abnormally, or anything else. Can you take it to a local alignment shop and tell them you have 4WS and see if they can only "check" the alignment for you and give you a print out? maybe then you go back to your dealer and see if they check the alignment and get the same numbers.

worst case you could go to a specialty alignment shop, something that does high end and/or track alignments. I am sure they could straighten you out.
I have been lucky because I have recently had a full alignment last summer due to a windshield replacement... but still the car is driving just as well as it was before the alignment....