gestalt77

Hi all,

I am considering getting a camping trailer and towing it with my Q7, so recently doing some research on towing with Q7.

According to Car and Driver's review of Q7, during tow mode 1) lane keeping assist is disabled; 2) automatic emergency braking is disabled; and 3) transmission locked out of access to top two gears (7 and 8 speed). Are all of these three correct??

“Hooking up the trailer’s electrics triggered a tow mode that, most obviously, resulted in the Q7’s eight-speed automatic transmission effectively locking out access to its top two gears—dragging fuel economy down to an indicated 10 to 12 mpg,” Wilson noted. “Tow mode also deactivated the automated-emergency-braking and lane-keeping-assist systems." https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews...wrap-up-review

tw2018

I don't think this is entirely correct. I don't tow frequently but recently drove a u-haul trailer for about 10 hours. I know for sure that the blind spot (side assist) is deactivated, as it uses sensors in the rear bumper and they would be blocked otherwise. In my case, the transmission was using all gears incl. 7 and 8, and I'm pretty sure I still had the lane keeping assist active. However, the u-haul only uses a 4 pin connector. I wonder if hooking up a 7-pin connector with trailer brake actually leads to the three things you mention happening. More frequent/heavy towers will know for sure.

Timcallahan

I think only the q7 with air springs locks out the top 2 gears and disables lane keep assist. Those things worked while I towed with steel springs, a 6500 lb travel trailer over 8500 miles. Then one day while towing along a wavy bit of concrete highway the adaptive cruise, the blind spot monitoring and the ACC all quit. An excellent dealer in Marion, In reset everything in under two hours and under warranty and away we went very happy campers! Sadly same things quit 150 miles later. Home dealer wants $350 to reset this every time it happens now.
It seems higher tongue weights (~700+) and the occasional pitch up when crossing RR track or something similar cause the Audi camera eyes to lose track of the road edges long enough for the computer to error out and quit the Adaptive Cruise system.
I must look into a way to reset this myself as I really miss using those features while towing.

30TFSI

Lane keep assist is NOT disabled. MPG obviously depends on the load but yes, it does go down to early teens. I'm not sure about the automated emergency braking. I wouldn't be worried about that in any case - you want to be in control of your braking while towing. The Q7 is a brilliant towing vehicle - especially if you have the factory tow package and air suspension.

stoyan

You mean something like this?
I have been towing this 3000lbs camper with our 2017 Q7 Prestige with adaptive chassis and 4 wheel steering package and I love it. Have been going through mountain roads and passes over 11,000ft elevation without breaking a sweat. Gone over 15% grade descent on a dirt road as well I don't know if I can ever get a tow vehicle without adjustable air suspension again. Best option in my opinion if you consider towing. Now on your questions.
1) Lane keep assist works just fine, but it's better if you set it to less aggressive setting. You don't want sharp corrections in your steering with a heavy trailer behind you
2)Not sure. I have not have to try it and I keep longer distance in front when towing
3)False, transmission uses all gears
Gas mileage drops to around 15mpg on a flat road going 65mph, but what do you expect? It's like pulling a brick wall behind you.
One thing to add is that you can also use all your settings on your air suspension, if you have that option, including Offroad/lift mode and comes very handy on a rough terrain. I think except Dynamic mode. Oh, and it charges the Lithium 100ah battery in the trailer at around 10amps through the 7-pin connector.
Overall Q7 with Adaptive chassis is an excellent tow vehicle. Very happy camper here.

AlbertQ7

What year is your Q7? Would be helpful to answer your questions. My 2018 acts like the others that have posted here: blind spot monitoring is deactivated, but lane keep, ACC cruise control, and all 8 gears still work. I'm not sure about emergency braking, but since adaptive cruise works, I assume so does emergency braking. However, if you have a 2021, perhaps things are different?

gestalt77

Good to know those work for MY18! Mine is the latest MY17 (Manufactured in May of 2017). Hope it's the same with MY18.

2kwik4u

100% agree with all of these things.
I tow with ACC and Lane Keep Assist activated. Works just fine.
Will definitely use all 8 speeds in the transmission.
No idea on the emergency braking, I've yet to get that close to the back of another vehicle with the trailer attached (or without for that matter) in the 5mo I've owned my Q7.
I pull a "small-ish" 19ft jetboat with mine. Scaled at 3,150lbs this spring at the local CAT scales.

Here's a picture of the Q7 with the boat behind it. Just completed a 1,300mi round trip to the gulf with it. Did great with 3 adults, 2 kids and a dog in the car. Used the boat as somewhat of a "utility trailer" to get all our beach gear and lugage and such down there. Got 13.3mpg on the way down, and 14.5mpg on the way home. Everything worked just like it was supposed to, and was a pretty easy tow overall. I tow this setup a few times a week in the summer. Let me know if you have any questions @gestalt77

Dasaint

like others said my Q7 used all 8 gears while towing, downshifting to 6th gear going up hill.

DJL-1977

My 2019 Q5 does this exact thing towing a travel trailer. ACC will disable and can sometimes take as long as a week (or maybe some number hours of driving time? hard to know) before it will recalibrate itself and re-activate. The most recent time it seemed to trigger when a car cut me off at very short distance on the highway while towing. I didn't wait for ACC to brake the car but did so manually with a lot of horn honking. I expect the ACC deactivated since it could not handle the situation with the heavy trailer?

I have not brought it to the dealer as eventually the ACC has re-activated so I didn't bother. Did you ever find a way to reset this yourself?