I'm torn. God, I'm torn. I love the way Q7's look when they're lower to the ground, with wide tires and their aggressive, panther-like stance. But I also love the way they look lifted, with big meaty tires, and the capability and practicality that comes with it.

I can't decide for the life of me whether I want to get some H&R lowering springs, or a 2.5" lift kit from EuroWise. Those who have done either of these options, what are your pros and cons?

I have fun with spirited driving, but I'd also love to be able to confidently take on some light/medium off-roading. Air suspension is waaaaaaaaay out of my price range, and nowhere near being reliable enough for me.

 

Light to medium off-roading can be easily be done in a Q7 with just a set of decent AT tires mounted and the ESC turned off...skidplates optional, if you know what you doing. Now if all you wanna do is go beat yourself against big rocks on trails it shouldn't be on, then this is entirely the wrong vehicle for that. The early T-Regs/Cayenne's with their locking diffs and air suspension would do a lot better at that more technical stuff with just the proper tires mounted.

I'm on steel susp, 20" rims, running Cooper Discoverer Road & Trail AT in 265/50R20 ...XL, which drive amazingly well and will get you around town and do the high-highway speeds very comfortably and with great poise. They grip & grab deep snow and will bust you around off-roading too. Now, if you feel like you need M/T mudder tires for extreme off-roading idiocy in this unibody with a control arm suspension, then yeah, you probably will need that lift kit + all the skid plates and rock sliders you can get mounted.

My advice is start with getting a set of AT tires to enable you to confidently use the car in deep snow or offroad conditions. With my prior Pirelli street tires I was always worried about getting into sandy/loamy spots where they would just spin and dig a hole/get me stuck. The Q7 w/ESC off will take you a lot of places you wouldn't think possible on street tires, but get the AT tires and see what confidence feels like. AT doesn't mean you have to give up road manners, turn-in and handling or suffer a noisy, bouncy ride. You just need to get the right set of tires.

Once you got the tires, then decide what you want with the suspension, as that's gonna get expensive whether you start building for BAJA, or just bulletproofing what you got.

Again, you'll be amazed what the right set of tires will do for increasing the Q7's 'sport utility' capability, while still being awesome on the pavement

Have your cake and eat it too! Quiet riding, comfortable, yet still sporty/responsive AT tires. First time ever I've driven in deep snow (20" snow), and between my TDI, Malone Stage 1 tune, and these new AT tires, it was a complete non-issue.

2010 never looked so good!

Dropped width down from 275 to 265 to get a slightly taller sidewall (45 to 50), and you really don't notice it looking at these tires since they got fairly beefy 'sidewall armor', which is tread on the sidewalls for digging and also the protection of tire.

Just mounted the mudflaps; the rear ones got ripped off car when 20" of snow fell in a day, but man was it worth it. These tires are incredible in the snow (3PKMSF rated)...lots of sipes and special features in tread.

Steel susp; stock ride height, OE 20" wheels w/ Cooper Discoverer Road & Trail AT tires mounted. I paid $1200 all-in for these tires, and I'd recommend them to anybody who wants the best of the capability the Q7 has to offer, both on-road and off-road. This is the #1 rated tire in the street/trail AT combo category, and for good reason.

 

I thought about this, and not sure how to respond, so thought I would pass some of my own personal feedback here.

Lift or Lower, but want to do light offroad and be able to sprint. With that combo, I don't know if either would be a good choice but to leave the height you are at and find a good all season, semi rugged tire.

These already sit kinda high, in an awkward sort of a way in my opinion.

So, if you lift, you are not going to be able to sprint around. But you will certainly manage off road capabilities.

If you lower, you can certainly sprint around, but will not be able to necessarily off road. I am very lowered and there are some major divots in the road in Savannah GA when I was down there that cause me to be very concerned and even scraped a little.

I think, decide what you really want. Hard to say. I have done the major lifting in my past, never got to take it off road and it ended up being a pavement princess.

I have also been so low that a speedy bump scared me. 🤭

Myself. I knew this car will never go off road. I wanted this thing to push and hug a turn and just be fun while still hauling the family around.

I went the lowered route with coil overs and full suspension work. I don't regret it. Some people make fun, some people love it. I love it. My kids and fam love it. And it's so much easier to get in and out of. I have fatty tires, spacers on the rear, and it's a blast.

Not sure this helps, but thought I would chime in here and give a perspective.

 

There is only one way to go: up.