DubaiQ7

Well I have a crowd watching me dig into the soft sand at the beach this weekend.. its was embarassing.. all the Jap 4x4 were driving by looking with a smirk of a smile.. but the Audi pride took over and I was sure it would pull thru even with the 295-35/21"s.. I had the Q in off road ESP and with the lift mode on I could feel the floor touching the sand! I got out and let the air out of the tires to about 15psi and she pulled thru.. I know the 21's are not meant for the beach or off roading but I could not help it with all the other 4x4's out there!!

Joe-2008-S-Line

They offer all-season tires with the 20's and not with the 21's. Honestly, your 21" wheels on the beach will perform no better than driving a Corvette in the sand. But, I am sure it looks pretty sweet.

We will not be doing any off-roading in ours. It was basically a gift to my wife for driving a loser-cruiser minivan for the last 6 years. She is the bomb of the car pool mom's now!

Paul3.2A4avant

We had ours on the beach all summer and you have to be very careful where you go. Stay on packed ruts, no uphills and no deep sand. We got ours stuck with the stock 20's. Lots of digging and pushing got it out. 18" Grabber AT2 tires did better. Funny, we were torn between the LR3 and Q7 when buying. No contest on the road. Q7 handles so much better, is quicker, far more agile, and has a higher quality interior. We'll probably get the Q7 back on the road where it belongs and get a third vehicle for the beach. Maybe a Nissan Xterra or even a used LR3. The LR3s depreciate quickly and are pretty reasonable used.

Sarge

I had pulled off the road driving down from Snowbird to take a couple photos and got the LR3 'stuck' - had to be towed by the Sherriff to get it off the shoulder and on to the road.

The low range did not lock the front differential, and I don't think even the rear had LSD - just 'brake assist' slip control. That coupled with lousy a/s tires and I could not back the car up to get out (ahead of me was a snowbank and the crown/slope of the road was causing the car to slide further sideways off the road.

It was the most retarded form of 'stuck' I've ever seen. No ground clearance issues, just slope, ice/snow, and lousy tires and drivetrain. Maybe something was broken on the car, but I had a front and rear wheel free-spinning while the others did not turn - i.e. open diff's front and rear. I was in 4 low, with the software in 'mud/offroad' mode and could not find any further buttons to push to lock diffs, etc. Maybe it's an option?

I laugh every time I see one of those cars now. 'off road vehicle' my ****...

FWIW, I have driven quattros in the snow all my life, have driven Jeep trails (have a Wrangler), etc, and have plenty of knowledge/experience of 'what not to do'. The key to not getting stuck is good tires, locking differentials, and experience. Mostly experience.

Does the Q7 have a locking rear or center diff option? I know the Cayenne does, maybe the Treg too, but Q7? Aftermarket?