V13T

SYMAWD

It has the mechanical self locking center differential, but it does not have the sport differential.

MoInEd

And I wish it had the sport differential or it was as an option...

V13T

MoInEd

Q7 unfortunately does not have true torque vectoring. Sport differential is supposed to achieve this by adding another clutch to redistribute the torque between rear wheels.

Glisse

The quattro system (any of them) vectors torque between the front and rear axles as needed. The Sport differential acts to reduce understeer by over speeding the outside rear wheel relative to the inside rear wheel, which tucks the nose of the car in. So it is vectoring torque across the rear axel. All Audi's use brake based torque vectoring (so do many other manufacturers) which will apply light braking to inside driven wheels, which puts more torque into the outside driven wheels. Torque vectoring is a very generic term, and there is a lot of it going on in any Audi.

Only the SQ7 (not sold in North America) was available with a Sport differential. The RS Q8 will have a Sport differential as an option (same drivetrain as the Lamborghini Urus), but I doubt they will ever offer it on a Q version. It does add weight to the car, it does create parasitic drag, so Audi in their current manic state of reducing emissions / fuel consumption will want to minimise its use.


Source: Audi Lexicon

MoInEd

Acura SHAW system has true torque vectoring and Porsche offers it as an option on some models and standard on some. It's a noticeably better system. My wife (who isn't into cars) notices the difference of the two on turns (icy roads Q slides a lot more on corners than our older MDX does). I'd rather have that over a lot of gizmos and toys that are added.

Dasaint

Wish sport diff was available in the US.

Still think my spec'd Q handles better.

​https://youtu.be/NYGmKicWMx4

But all opinions but We about to go look and drive a 19 mdx A spec for the lady.

More to this thread this 4m Quattro system is amazing

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arU4ic

My 2011 MDX was all over the place on ice - did better in the snow than the Q though - and the Q7 is also way better offroad than the MDX was. All are just MY opinion obviously and I recognize the underrated effect of tire choice.

Wires

You still get torque vectoring on the Q7, but there will always be limitations on how much side to side you can get from any implementation. The AWD system in BMW is similar, with open front/rear differentials as well..

I have the sport differential and it's pretty amazing when you toss the vehicle into corners. It feels like someone just grabbed and rotated the vehicle and it doesn't understeer. If you're talking about winter and traction, sport differential isn't necessarily your friend here since it will allow you to kick the back end out if you're driving like a dork on slippery roads (did it, done it, presence scolded me ). You guys gain that short turning radius with 4 wheel steering on the Q7 which gives a similar driving benefit to the sport diff on the SQ5. The goal for both is to reduce understeer, and if you want to argue semantics, the sport diff will allow more extreme torque vectoring since you can get almost full power to one drive wheel in a corner (but again, that can be your enemy if you're not experienced).