kkarnage

Sooooo.... a few weeks back I had a slow leak in the right rear tire. The AO 20" Pirellis. Fortunately I spotted it early before it deflated completely, and so was able to have it repaired as opposed to needing to replace the tire. Whilst waiting for the repair, I dug around a bit on these forums and other places reading up on the new Q7 and tires, and discovered something interesting.

I had noticed that, at ~7,500 miles in, the vehicle was far more sensitive to longitudinal road surface variations. Even a simple change in surface type from asphalt to concrete required a small, but noticeable steering correction. This was in contrast to when the tires were now, and I had marveled at how stable and quiet the vehicle was, after the previous gen Q7 I had owned. Especially the quiet: the gen 2 glides. When it's on new tires. In hindsight it was like the frog in the pot on a stove: there was definitely more road noise now that the tires had some miles on them. Compared to the wife's Q5, which I hadn't driven for a while, it was very evident once I'd been back in her car.

Eventually it got too much for me, and I ended up switching to Conti Crosscontact Sport at ~8,500 miles, despite the Pirellis still having a good bit of tread on them. I based my decision on the generally negative reviews of the run-flats (Goodyear also have an AO run-flat in this size), and after weighing the pros and cons of not having those 50 run flat miles available in case of a flat. In the end I got hold of an 18 in wheel and dropped a cheap 255/60 R18 on it, as a full size spare, which lives in my garage whilst I'm using the car for shorter trips where I almost always have cell coverage and can summon help if it happens. For longer trips I'll just drop it in the trunk.

The difference between the Contis and the Pirellis is unbelievable. Granted the Contis are new, and may also degrade as they wear, but we'll see. My Q7 now glides again, silently, and doesn't react at all to the kinds of road surface fluctuations that it was before.

russ0054

Be careful!! I'm led to believe that running a tire that isn't "exactly" the same circumference as the Pirellis is "verboten". If you put that spare on the dash is going to light up and Quattro will likely protest. I hate the RF's too.

Paul3.2A4avant

The lack of a spare tire is the one issue holding me back from ordering a Q7. I use my vehicle for business and get at least one flat per year. Wish I could order a Q7 with a spare tire in place of the useless third row seats like you can in other Q7 markets or like you can on an X5 or Range Rover Sport.

A42B

What size tire did you order? And what model of Conti exactly? I'd like to get away from RF's too

hammer458

I just ordered a '18 Q7 Prestige and will probably order a fifth tire to store in the basement - I to struggled w/o having a spare - My '16 MDX adv does has a donut. But also realize when i take extended trips i could lob it into the back deck -
I 'd rather get 1 miles less mpg and have a spare. Also by the way looked at the the RR Sport - Great first drive impression but coming form 99 % Acura purchases not too comfortable with the realiabilty track record.
as a close friend who has one told me.. " You need own 2 RR sports ... 1 for when the other is in the shop"

timshuwy

Maybe its just a California thing, but I have been driving for 40 years, and I have only used the spare tire once or twice... and that was years ago when I let the tires go bald. Most recently, I have never had a need to change tires.
My 2011 q5 (just traded in) had an empty lightweight spare but the only time I took it out was to check the battery (under the spare).
My new 2018 Q7 has no spare, but does have a bottle of leak stop. Both cars had an air pump to add more air while on the road if necessary.

HALF the time, my wife is driving the car, and there is no way she will change a tire on the road. My thought is that IF we happen to run over something large enough to cause a major blowout, it will need towed.. if we run over a nail (and I am in the car), I can add the leak stop, pump it up, and drive to a tire store. No need to get out at the side of the road to change the tire.