2012 AUDI Q7 ECU

to reduce the risk of injury when the vehi­
cle is not be ing used.
- After closing the rear lid, always make
sure that it is properly closed and locked.
- Never leave your vehicle unattended es­
pecially with the rear lid left open . A
child could crawl into the vehicle through
the luggage compartment and close the
rear lid becoming trapped and unable to
get out . Be ing trapped in a vehicle can
lead to serious persona l injury .
- Never let children play in or around the vehicle .
- Never let passe ngers r ide in the luggage
compartment . Ve hicle occupants must
always be properly restrained in one of
the vehicle's seating positions.
(D Tips
- Air c irculation helps to reduce window
fogging . Sta le air escapes to the outside
th rough vents in the trim pane l. Be su re
to keep these slots free and open .
-The t ire pressure must correspond to the
load. The t ire pressur e is shown o n the
tire p ress ure label. The tire pressure la­
bel is loc ated on the d river's s ide B-pi ll a r.
The t ire pressure label lists the recom­
mended cold ti re inflat ion pressu res for
the vehicle at its maximum capacity
weig ht and the tires that were on you r
vehicle at the time it was man ufactured .
For recommended t ire pressures fo r nor­
mal load conditions, please see chap ter
c:> page278 .
Tie-downs
The luggage compartment is equipped with
four tie-downs to secure luggage and other
items .
Use the tie-downs to secure your cargo prop­
erly
c:> page 166, Loading the luggage com ­
partment.
In a coll is ion, the l aws of phys ics mean that
even smalle r items that are loose in the vehi­
cle will become heavy missiles that can cause
Dr iving S afel y 167
serious injury. Items in the ve hicle possess en ­
ergy which vary with vehicle speed and th e
weight o f the item . Vehicle speed is the most
s ignificant factor.
Fo r example, in a fronta l collision at a speed
of 30 mph (48 km/h), the forces acting on a
10 -lb (4.5 kg) object are about 20 t imes the
no rmal weight of the item. This means t hat
the weigh t of the item would sudden ly be
about 200 lbs. (90 kg) . You can imag ine the
i njur ies that a 200 lbs . (90 kg) item fly ing
fr eely th ro ugh the passenger compar tme nt
c ould cause in a co lli sion like this.
A WARNING
We ak, dam aged or imprope r str aps used
to secure items to tie -downs can fail dur­
ing hard braking or in a collision and cause
serio us personal injury .
-Always use s uita ble mount ing stra ps and
properly secu re items to the tie-downs in
the l uggage compa rtme nt to he lp pre­
vent items from shift ing or f ly ing fo r­
ward as dangerous missiles .
-When the rea r seat backrest is folded
down, a lways use suitable mounting
straps and properly secure items to the
tie-downs in the luggage compartment
to hel p prevent items from fly ing for­
ward as da ngerous missiles into the pas­
s enger compartment .
- Never attach a chi ld safety seat te th er
s trap to a t ie- down .
Reporting Safety
Defects
Applicable to U.S.A.
If you b elieve that your v ehi cle
has a d efe ct whi ch could cause
a crash or could cause injury or
d eath, you should imm ediately
inform the National Highway
Tr affic Safet y Admini stration ..,.
•
•

forces on the body more "tolerable" and less likely to cause injury.
Although these examples are based on a fron­
tal collision , safety belts can also substantial­
ly reduce the risk of injury in other kinds of
crashes. So, whether you're on a long trip or
just going to the corner store, always buckle
up and make sure others do, too. Accident sta­
tistics show that vehicle occupants properly
wearing safety belts have a lower risk of being
injured and a much better chance of surviving
an accident . Properly using safety belts also
greatly increases the ability of the supplemen­
tal airbags to do their job in a collision. For
this reason, wearing a safety belt is legally re­
quired in most countries including much of
the United States and Canada.
Although your Audi is equipped with airbags ,
you still have to wear the safety belts provid­
ed. Front airbags, for example, are activated
only in some frontal collisions. The front air­
bags are not activated in all frontal collisions,
in side and rear collisions, in roll overs or in
cases where there is not enough deceleration
through impact to the front of the vehicle .
The same goes for the other airbag systems in
your Audi. So, always wear your safety belt
and make sure everybody in your vehicle is
properly restrained!
Important safety instructions about
safety belts
Safety belts must always be correctly posi­
tioned across the strongest bones of your
body.
.,. Always wear safety belts as illustrated and
described in this chapter.
.,. Make sure that your safety belts are always
ready for use and are not damaged.
A WARNING
Not wearing safety belts or wearing them
improperly increases the risk of serious
personal injury and death. Safety belts can
work only when used correctly .
Safety belts 173
-Always fasten your safety belts correctly
before driving off and make sure all pas­
sengers are correctly restrained.
- For maximum protection, safety belts
must always be positioned properly on
the body .
- Never strap more than one person, in­ cluding small children, into any belt .
- Never place a safety belt over a child sit­
ting on your lap.
- Always keep feet in the footwell in front
of the seat while the vehicle is being driv­
en.
- Never let any person ride with their feet
on the instrument panel or sticking out
the window or on the seat.
- Never remove a safety belt while the ve­ hicle is moving. Doing so will increase
your risk of being injured or killed .
- Never wear belts twisted.
- Never wear belts over rigid or breakable
objects in or on your clothing, such as
eye glasses, pens, keys, etc., as these
may cause injury.
- Never allow safety belts to become dam­ aged by being caught in door or seat
hardware .
- Do not wear the shoulder part of the belt
under your arm or otherwise out of posi­
tion .
- Several layers of heavy clothing may in­
terfere with correct positioning of belts
and reduce the overall effectiveness of
the system .
- Always keep belt buckles free of anything
that may prevent the buckle from latch­
ing securely .
- Never use comfort clips or devices that
create slack in the shoulder belt. Howev­
er, special clips may be required for the
proper use of some child restraint sys­
tems .
- Torn or frayed safety belts can tear, and
damaged belt hardware can break in an
accident. Inspect belts regularly. If web-
bing, bindings, buckles, or retractors are .,..
L,_ _______________ _J
•
•

17 4 S afet y belt s
damaged, have belts replaced by an au­
thorized Aud i dealer or qualified
workshop.
- Safety belts that have been worn and
loaded in an accident must be replaced
with the correct rep lacement safety be lt
by an authorized Audi dea le r. Replace­
ment may be necessary even if damage
c anno t be clear ly seen. Anchorages that
we re loaded m ust also be inspected.
- Never remove, modify, disass emble, or
t ry to repa ir t he safety be lts yourself.
- Always keep the belts clean . Dirty belts
may not wo rk p roperly and can impa ir
the funct io n of t he in ertia ree l
¢ page 248, Safety bel ts.
Safety belts
Fastening safety belts
Seat first -everybody buckle up!
Fig. 191 Belt buckle and to ngue o n th e dr iver 's seat
To provide maximum protection, safety belts
must always be posit ioned correctly on the
wearer 's body .
.. Adjust the front seat and head restra int
properly¢
page 71, General recommenda­
tions .
.. Make sure the seatback of the rear seat
b ench is in a n upright pos ition and securely
l atched in p lace before using the belt ¢&_ .
.. Hold the be lt by the tongue and pull it
evenly across the chest and pe lvis ¢
.&,.
.. Insert the tongue into the correct buckle of
your seat until you hea r it latc h securely
¢ fig . 191.
.. Pull on the belt to ma ke sure that it is se-
curely latched in the buck le .
Automatic safety belt retractors
Eve ry safety belt is equipped with an automat­
i c be lt r etractor on t he shou lde r belt. This fea­
tu re loc ks the belt when t he be lt is pulled out
fast, during hard braking and in an accident .
The be lt may a lso lock when you drive up or
down a steep h ill or thro ugh a sharp curve.
D uring normal driving the belt lets you move
freely .
Safety belt pretensioners
The safety belts are equipped with a belt pre­
tensioner that he lps to tighten the safety belt
and remove slack when the pretensioner is ac ­
tivated. The function of the pretensioner is
monitored by a war ning light¢
page 16.
Switchable locking feature
Every safety belt except the one on the d river
seat is equipped with a sw itchab le locking fea­
ture that
must be used when the safety be lt is
used to attach a c hild safety seat. Be sure to
read the important information about this
feature ¢
page 209 .
A WARNING
Improperly posit ioned safety be lts can
cause ser ious injury in an accide nt
¢ page 17 5, Safe ty belt po sition .
-
-Safety b elts offer opt imum p rotect ion
only whe n the sea tbac k is u prigh t an d
be lts ar e pr operly posit ioned on the
body .
- Always ma ke sure that the rear sea t
b a ckrest to wh ich the center rear safety
be lt is at tached is secure ly latched when ­
ever the rear center safety belt is being
used . If the backrest is not secure ly
latched, the passenger w ill move for­
ward with the backrest dur ing sudden
brak ing, in a sudden maneuver and espe­
cially in a c rash.
- Never attach the safety belt to the buck-
le for another seat . Attaching the belt to .,_

the wrong buckle will reduce safety belt
effectiveness and can cause serious per­
sonal injury.
- A passenger who is not properly restrain­
ed can be seriously injured by the safety
belt itself when it moves from the stron­
ger parts of the body into critical areas
like the abdomen .
- Always lock the convertible locking re­
tractor when you are secur ing a child
safety seat in the vehicle
~ page 211 .
Safety belt position
Correct bel t posi tion is the key to getting
maximum protection from safety belts .
Fig. 192 Safety be lt pos it io n
Standard features on your vehicle help you ad­
just the position of the safety belt to match
your body size.
- belt height adjustment for the front seats
and the outer seating positions in the sec­
ond row seating,
- height-adjustable front seats.
A WARNING
Improperly positioned safety belts can
cause serious personal injury in an acci­
dent.
-
- The shoulder belt should lie as close to
the center of the collar bone as possible
and should fit well on the body. Hold the
belt above the latch tongue and pull it
evenly across the chest so that it sits as
low as possible on the pelvis and there is
no pressure on the abdomen . The belt
Safety belts 175
should always fit snugly¢ fig. 192. Pull
on the belt to tighten if necessary.
- The lap belt portion of the safety belt
must be positioned as low as possible
across pelvis and never over the abdo­
men . Make sure the belt lies flat and
snug ¢
fig. 192 . Pull on the belt to tight ­
en if necessary .
- A loose-fitting safety belt can cause seri­
ous injuries by shifting its pos ition on
your body from the strong bones to more
vulnerable, soft tissue and cause serious
injury.
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS and
other important information
¢ page 173.
Pregnant women must also be correctly
restrained
The best way to protect the fetus is to make
sure that expectant mothers always wear
safety belts correctly -throughout the preg­
nancy.
Fig. 193 Safety belt pos ition du ring pregnan cy
To provide max imum protection, safety belts
must always be positioned correctly on the
wearer's body¢
page 175 .
.,. Adjust the front seat and head restraint cor­
rectly ¢
page 71 , General recommenda ­
tions .
.,. Make sure the seatback of the rear seat
bench is in an upright position and securely
latched in place before using the belt.
... Hold the belt by the tongue and pull it
evenly across the chest and pelvis
¢fig. 193, ¢ A.

176 Safety belts
• Insert the tongue into the correct buckle of
your seat until you hear it latch securely
¢page 174, fig. 191.
• Pull on the belt to make sure that it is se­
curely latched in the buckle.
A WARNING
Improperly positioned safety belts can
cause serious personal injury in an acci­
dent.
- Expectant mothers must always wear the
lap portion of the safety belt as low as
possible across the pelv is and be low the
rounding of the abdomen.
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS and
other important information¢ .&.
in Fas­
tening safety belts on page 174.
Unfastening safety belt s
Unbuckle the safety belt with the red release
button only after the vehicle has stopped.
Fig. 194 Releasing the tongue from the buckle
• Push the red release button on the buckle
¢
fig. 194. The belt tongue will spring out
of the buckle
c:> &_ .
• Let the belt wind up on the retractor as you
guide the belt tongue to its stowed position.
On vehicles with
third row seat* : an unfas­
tened safety belt can be secured in the retain­
ing clip in the luggage compartment side
tr im. In this way, the luggage compartment
cover can be removed without obstruction. Al­
so, the belt tongue height can be adjusted so
that luggage compartment can be loaded
without obstruction with the backrest folded
forward.
A WARNING
-Never unfasten safety belt while the vehi-
cle is mov ing. Do ing so will increase your
risk of being injured or killed.
Adjusting safety belt height
With the aid of the safety belt height adjust­
ment, the three point safety belt strap rout­
ing can be fitted to the shoulder area, accord­
ing to body size.
Fig. 195 Safety belt heigh t adj ustment- loop -around
f ittings
The shoulder belt should lie as close to the
center of the collar bone as possible and
should fit well on the body¢&.
in Safety belt
position on page 175.
• Push
the loop- around fittings up c:> fig. 195
@,or
• squeeze together the CD button, and push
the loop-around fittings down@.
• Pull the be lt to make sure that the upper at­
tachment is properly engaged.
A WARNING
Always read and heed all WARNINGS and
other important information
¢page 173.
(D Tips
With the front seats, the height adjust­
ment of the seat can also be used to adjust
the position of the safety belts.

because of exceptional circumstances, be
properly restrained and as far away from the
airbag as poss ib le . By keep ing room between
the child's body and the front of the passen­
ger compartment, the airbag can inflate com­
p letely and provide supplemental protection
i n certa in frontal collis ions .
A WARNING
Not using a booster seat, us ing the boos­
ter seat imprope rly, i ncorrect ly ins tall ing a
booste r seat or using the vehicle safety
bel t improperly increases the risk of seri­
ous personal injury and death in a collision
or other emergency s ituation. To help re­
duce the risk of ser ious persona l injury
and/or death:
- The shoulder be lt must lie as close to the
center of the child's co llar bone as possi­
ble and must lie flat and snug on the up­
per body. It must never lie across the
throat or neck. The lap belt must lie
across the pelvis and never across the
stoma ch or abdomen. Make su re the bel t
lies flat and snug. P ull on the be lt to
t igh ten i f ne cessary.
- Failure to properly route safety belts
over a ch ild' s body will cause severe inju­
ries in an a cciden t or o ther emergency
situation ¢
page 170.
-The rea r side of the child s afety se at
sho uld be positioned as close as possible
to the back rest on the ve hicle seat. A d­
just or remove the rear seat head re­
straint if it is difficult to install t he child
seat with the head restrai nt in place
¢
page 77. Install the head restra int
agai n immed iate ly once the child sea t is
removed. Driving w ithout head rest raints
o r with head res traints tha t are no t prop­
e rl y adju sted incre ases the risk of ser ious
o r f atal neck injury dramat ica lly.
- Children on the front seat of any car,
even with Advanced A irb ags, can be seri­
o usly inju red or even killed when an a ir­
bag inf lates .
- Never le t a child st and or knee l on any
sea t, for examp le the front seat.
-
Child Sa fet y 209
-Never let a chi ld r ide in the cargo area of
your veh icle.
- Always remember t hat a c hild leaning
forward, sitting sideways or out of posi­
tion in any way d uring an accident can be
struck by a dep loying a irbag. This will re­
sult in ser ious personal inju ry or death .
- If you must install a booster seat on the
front passenger seat because of excep­
tional ci rcumstances the
PASSENGER
AIR BAG OFF
li ght m ust come o n and
s tay on, w henever the ign ition is switc h­
ed on.
- If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF li ght
does not come on and stay on, pe rform
the c heck s descr ibed¢
page 190, Moni­
toring the Advanced Airbag System .
- Take the chi ld restraint off the fron t pas­
senger sea t and inst all it prope rly at one
of the rear sea t positions if the
PASSEN­
GER AIR BAG OFF
li ght does not stay on
whenever the ignit ion is switched on .
-A lways read an d heed a ll WAR NIN GS
wheneve r using a chi ld restrained in ave ­
hicle is being used
¢ page 170, Safety
belts,
¢ page 179, Airbag system and
¢ page 200, Important things to know.
Installing a child safety
seat
Securing a child safety seat using a
safety belt
Safety belts for the rear seats and the front
passenger con be locked with the convertible locking retractor to properly secure child
safety seats.
The safety belts emergency locking retractors
for the rear seats safety belts and for the
front passenger's seat safety be lt have a co n­
vertib le locking retractor for child rest raints.
T he safety belt must be locked so that be lt
webb ing cannot unreel. The retractor can be
activated to lo ck the safe ty belt and prevent
t h e safety be lt webbing from looseni ng up
during norma l dr iving . A chi ld safety seat can
o nl y be properly installed when the safety belt.,.. •
•

210 Child Saf ety
is locked so that the child and child safety
seat will stay in place .
A lways remember: Even though your veh icle is
equipped w ith an Advanced A irbag system, all
children, especially those 12 years and young­
er, should always ride in the back seat proper­
ly restrained fo r their age and s ize.
.&_ WARNING
Improperly installed child safety seats in­
crease the risk of ser ious personal injury
and death in a collision.
- Always make sure that the safety belt re­
tractor is locked when installing a child
safety seat . An unlocked safety belt re­
tractor cannot hold the child safety seat in place during normal driving or in a
crash .
- Always buck le the child safety seat firmly
in place even if a child is not sitting in it.
A loose ch ild safety seat can fly around
dur ing a sudden stop or in a col lision .
- Always make su re that the rear seat
backrest to which the center rear safety
belt is attached is sec urely latched when­
ever the rear center safety be lt is being
used to sec ure a child restraint.
- If the backrest is not securely latched,
the chi ld and the child restraint will be
thrown forward together with the back­
rest and will strike parts of the veh icle
inter ior. The child can be serious ly in­
jured or killed.
- Never install rear-facing chi ld safety
seats or infant carriers on the front pas­
senger seat . A ch ild will be ser iously in ­
jured and can be k illed when the passen­
ger ai rbag inflates.
- T he inflating a irbag will hit the child
safety seat or infant carri er w ith great
force and w ill smash the ch ild safety sea t
and child against the backrest, center armrest, door or roo f.
- Always install rear-facing child safety
sea ts or infant carriers on the rear seat.
- Forward-fa cing ch ild safety seats or in­
f ant ca rr iers installed on the front pas- senger's seat may interfere with the de­
ployment of the a irbag and cause serious
injury to the child.
- It is safer to install a forward-facing
child safety seat on the rear seat.
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS
whenever using a child restrained in ave­
hicle is being used ¢
page 200. Special
precautions apply when insta lling a child
safety seat on the front passenger seat
¢ page 181, Child restraints on the front
seat -some important things to know .
.&_ WARNING
Always take specia l precautions if you
must install a forw ard or rearward-fa cing
chi ld restraint on the front p assenge r's
seat in exceptional situations:
- W henever a forw ard or rearward-facing
child restraint is installed on the front
passenger seat , the
PASSENGER AIR
BAG OFF
light must come on and stay on
whenever the ignit ion is switched on.
- If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not come on and stay on, perform
the checks described¢
page 190, Moni­
toring the Advanced Airbag System.
- Take the chi ld restraint off the front pas­
senger seat and install it properly at one
of the rear seat positions if the
PASSEN­
GER AIR BAG OFF
light does not s tay on
wheneve r the ignit ion is switched on.
- Imprope r installation of ch ild restra ints
can reduce their effectiveness or even
p revent them from providing any protec­
tion .
- An improperly installed ch ild restra int
can int erfere with the airbag as it de­
p loys and se riously injure o r even k ill the
child.
- Always carefu lly follow the manufact ur­
er's ins tructions p rov ided with t he chi ld
safety sea t or carrier.
- Neve r place add itiona l it ems on the seat
that c an in crease the tot al weight reg is­
tered by the weight-sensing mat and can
cause injury in a crash.
~

212 Child Saf ety
_& WARNING
Using the wrong child restraint or an im ­
properly insta lled child restraint can cause
ser ious persona l injury or death in a crash .
- Always make sure that the safety be lt re-
tractor is locked when installing a child
safety seat. An unlocked safety belt re­
tractor cannot hold the child safety seat in place during normal driving or in a
crash .
- Always buck le the child safety seat firmly
in place even if a child is not s itting in it.
A loose ch ild safety seat can fly around
dur ing a sudden stop or in a crash .
-Always make sure the seat backrest to wh ich the child restraint is installed is in
an upr ight position and securely latched
into p lace and cannot fo ld forwa rd. Oth­
erwise, the seatbac k w ith the child safety
sea t attached to it could fly forward in
the event of an accident or other emer­ gency situation .
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS whenever using a child restrained in ave­
hicle is being used ¢
page 200. Special
precautions apply when installing a ch ild
safety seat on the front passenger seat
¢ page 181, Child restraints on the front
seat -some important things to know .
Deactivating the convertible locking
retractor
The convertible locking retractor for child re­
straints will be deactivated automatically when the belt is wound all the way back into the retractor.
.. Press the red button on the safety be lt
buc kle. The belt tongue wi ll pop out of the
b uck le .
.. Gui de t he safety belt all the way back in to
its s towed posit ion .
A lways le t the safety bel t retract complete ly
in to i ts stowed posit ion. The safety belt can
now be used as an ordinary sa fe ty belt with ­
out the convert ib le lock ing retractor for chi ld
restraints.
-
If the convertib le locking retractor should be
activated inadvertent ly, the safety be lt must
be unfastened and guided complete ly back in­
to its stowed posit ion to deactivate this fea­
ture. If the convert ible locking retractor is not
deact ivated, the safety belt w ill gradually be­
come tighte r and uncomfortable to wear .
_& WARNING
=
Improperly installed ch ild safety seats in-
crease the risk of serious pe rsonal injury
and death in a co llision.
- Never u nfasten the safety belt to deacti­
vate the conve rtible locking retrac to r f or
child res traints while the vehicle is mov ­
ing . You would not be restrained and
could be se riously injured in an accident .
- Always rea d and heed a ll WAR NIN GS
whenever using a chi ld restrained in ave­
hicle is being used¢
page 200 . Special
preca utions apply when insta lling a child
safety seat on the front passenger seat
¢ page 181, Child restraints on the front
seat -some important things to know .
LATCH Lower
anchorages and tethers
for children
Child Restraint System anchors and how
are they related to child safety
T o p rov ide a simple r and more practicable way
to attach the child restraint on the vehicle
seat, Federal regulat ions req uire spec ial lower
anchorages in vehicles and devices on new
child restra ints to attach to the veh icle ancho ­
rages .
The combination of t he tether anchorages and
the lower anchorages is now generally ca lled
the
L ATCH system for " Lower Anchorages and
T ethers for C hildren ."
Forward-facing chi ld restraints man ufactured
after September 1, 1999, are required by U.S.
federa l reg ulations to comply with new child
head movement performance requirements . .,._