Tried to hardwire my Escort radar detector on the new Q7....
 

I am usually pretty good at this as I have done this on all of my other cars. Today I opened up the driver's side fuse box and am surprised to find this:


https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.aud...d01f99c2ae.jpg

There isn't much to tap the power into and for the empty ones, I have no idea what amp they take.

So, I decided to open up the driver's foot well fusebox which has all of fuses originally located on the driver's side fuse box. The main problem is, you can't use the tap-a-fuse because there is absolutely no room. The foot well fuse box is right underneath the foot rest that's secured with a t-30 screw. In other words, the foot rest IS the fuse box cover. What a clever idea.


https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.aud...62176df9c3.jpg

Look at pages 363-365 in your owners manual. You can barely see what the amps should be per row as well as what fuse should go where.

Nope. Page 366 shows the numbers for each fuse but doesn't show ampage for the Driver's side cockpit fusebox.

Look close at the pink strips surrounding the fuses. Don't they show the amps for that section...or did I read that wrong?

AH, sorry I missed the one about the side panel.

The perfect area to get the power from would be the foot rest fuse box, but since there is absolutely no room to attach an add-a-fuse, it's not going to work. The driver's side fuse box has no information on the empty slots (I am thinking about getting power from fuse #4 head-up display since I don't have it). So perhaps those who have the head-up display can let me about which fuse is inserted. If it's more than 10amp, then that probably wouldn't work.

Have you put a volt meter on the empty slots to see if one side has power? If so and you are using a slot for which you don't have the equipment installed (e.g., HUD), you should be able to use any fuse you want. Since there is no equipment there will be no draw on the fuse (other than your Escort), so the fuse value doesn't matter.

Ok, just tested empty slots #1-#4 and they all have 12.3v even with the ignition off. So that's a no go.

Fuse #5 - Audi Music Interface (5amp) is a switched fuse, so it's a good one.
Fuse #6 - Front climate control system controls (10 amps) is also a switched fuse, so that's also a good option.

Have you considered using a Mirrortap to power the radar detector from the rear view mirror? Very easy on my S7. Not sure how it would be for the new Q7.

UPDATE:

I would like to say that after further testing, ALL of the fuses on the driver's side panel are not switched. So I ended up using the Homelink fuse at the foot well fuse box. The mini add-a-fuse fits perfectly and fished the wire through the carpet area to the side panel area.


https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.aud...f371e3362e.jpg


Add-a-fuse is at the Homelink fuse


https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.aud...9e3559123d.jpg


Ground


https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.aud...16b591aee5.jpg


https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.aud...6812541313.jpg


Zip tied all extra wire

That's what I used on my R8 but the mirror base is huge on the new Q7 because it has a camera behind it. I didn't want to mess with it so I did the traditional way. It's working well.