Project Q7 1 Day Project for Dubs at the Lake
It's almost Ubiquitous
You see them every day. You probably don't pay attention to them at all. But as Audi's second highest selling model - they are everywhere. Most are forgettable. Great machines, full of technology and options, but aimed at a demographic that has little interest in modification. We thought we could shed some more light on what's possible with this platform. We intentionally kept this project narrow in scope, but we are certainly happy with the results.
Starting from the ground up, we reached out to Rotiform for a set of their 22x10 et20 JDR wheels. To add to that, we chose a set of 285/35 r22 GoodYear Eagle F1 Tires to give this heavy SUV the sure-footed grip it will need with all the extra horsepower in store.
Make it Go Fast.
With the traction component sorted, it was time for us to awaken the hidden horsepower of the 3.0T Supercharged V6. A mild upgrade, perfect for our 1 day timeframe, but at the same time a HUGE difference in overall and top-end power. By replacing the crank drive pulley and supercharger drive pulley in concert with a Stage 2 tune from APR, we can squeeze an extra 148 hp at redline. The addition gives this heavy beast of a vehicle the pep that you wouldn't think possible from such a large car with an otherwise stock engine. Huge torque gains in the mid-range also help shift the car at any rpm in a more rapid fashion than before. An awakening is truly what this is, or maybe a re-birth?
Make It Go Down.
With this extra power and meatier tires, we needed to address the dynamics of a top-heavy SUV, so lowering suspension was a must. Starting with the factory air suspension is usually not a good recipe for getting your SUV low, but luckily we had the help of AK Racing and their ASC suspension control unit. Installed as an intercept, the control unit allows you to set parameters for lowering through drive select (i.e. set a specific height when you select Dynamic, Comfort or All-Road settings for example) or override the factory settings and force a specific ride height at all times. It even comes with a "Show Mode" to max-drop the suspension when the car isn't moving.
The ASC control unit is operated via an app installed on your phone. You can connect and activate the unit whenever the car is running via the control unit's internal wifi signal. With a Drop of up to 80mm front and rear in "Show Mode," it lets the factory suspension "air-out" as much as it can.
ASC Control units are 100% reversible, and even when installed can be disabled for normal air suspension use. Fitments are available for practically all Audi, BMW and Porsche vehicles with a factory supplied air suspension, from the Touareg and Q7 to an Audi S7 or Porsche Panamera. Made in Germany and available in our webstore here.
An upgrade to the Interior.
For the interior, which for this car, has almost every option; we had two points of interest that have sadly been lacking in US Market pre-facelift 4M Audi Q7s. A thicker, flat-bottomed S-Line steering wheel. And since these wheels come in just one color combination (black perforated leather, and silver stitching) we took the extra step to re-stitch the steering wheel with black thread by hand.
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The highest wear item on any interior, after the steering wheel, is the shift knob. That is especially true on the B9/4M chassis Audis, now that it does double duty as a shifter and hand-rest. Matching the Dimpled "Air" Leather of the steering wheel we wrapped this handle in OEM Air Leather to match. Along with a Nougat Brown stitched shift boot, it gives the interior that final touch. Custom wrapped shift handles and matching french seam shift boots are available for B9 (A4/S4, A5/S5, Q5/SQ5) as well as 4M Q7 vehicles (4K and 4M facelift Audi handles coming soon).
Find out more about the build and our trip to Dubs at the Lake 2021 in real life moving pictures, in the video below. Dubs at the Lake is an Audi/VW car show in McHenry Maryland. The two day event was a great chance to test out the changes we made to our Q7.