2012 AUDI Q7 sensor

System limitations
General information
Applies to vehicles: with adaptive cruise control
The radar sensor has limits that the driver
must know to be able to use ACC properly.
The adaptive cruise control works within lim­
its that are also related to radar sensor range
and s ight distance . In some situations ACC
may react unusually or late from the driver's
point of v iew. Therefore, a lways be attent ive
to what is happening around you and always be ready to intervene, if necessary:
- when driving around curves ¢page 125
- when vehicles up front are not in line with
you r vehicle ¢ page 125
- when other vehicles are changing lanes
¢ page 126
- when other vehicles are difficult to detect
¢ page 126
- when vehicles up ahead are not moving or
obstacles are in your travel lane ¢page 126
A WARNING
The radar sensor's function and ra nge can
be reduced by rain , snow and heavy spray.
Moving veh icles up ahead may not be
prompt ly detected or may not be detected
at all.
- Always pay ca reful attention to the traf­
fic s ituation and be ready to intervene
and be rea dy to take comp lete cont rol
whenever necessary.
When driving around curves
Applies to vehicles: with adaptive cruise co ntrol
Fig. 1 39 Vehicle enter ing a cu rve
Ad apti ve crui se control 125
Fig. 140 Vehicle leaving a curve
Entering a curve
When enter ing a curve, the adaptive cruise
control may react to a vehicle in the next lane
and apply the brakes in your vehicle
¢ fig. 139. The braking action ca n be over rid­
den by depressing the ac ce lera tor pedal.
Leaving a curv e
At the end of very long curves, ACC's predic­
tive lane reading can cause ACC to react to an­
other vehicle in the next lane and apply the
brakes on your vehicle~ fig . 140. The braking
action can be overr idden by depressing the ac­
ce le rator pedal.
Vehicles offset to one side
App lies to vehicles: with adaptive cruise control
Fig. 141 Vehicle traveling ah ead outside the detect ion
r ange of the radar sensor
Vehicles moving up ahead but offset in the
lane ca nnot be detected by ACC until they are
in sensor range.

126 Adaptive cruise control
Lane changes by other vehicles
Applies to vehicles: with adaptive cruise control
Fig. 142 A vehicle changes la nes
Vehicles that cut into your lane a short dis­
tance in front of you cannot be detected by
ACC until they are in sensor range .
Vehicles that are difficult to detect
Applies to vehicles: with adaptive cruise control
Fig . 143 Two-wheeled vehicle driving ahead
Some vehicles moving up ahead in your lane
of travel are difficult to detect, for example
two-wheeled vehicles, vehicles with high
ground clearance, loads sticking out the back.
Vehicles like this are often detected late or in
some situations not at all .
Stationary vehicles
Applies to vehicles: with adaptive cruise contro l
Fig. 144 Tu rnin g and s tat ionary ve hicle
Fig. 145 Sheer ing out and stat ionary veh icle
If a vehicle that has been detected by ACC ex­
its the highway or sheers out into the neigh­
boring travel lane, and there is a stationary
vehicle ahead of that vehicle, ACC w ill not de­
tect or react to that stationary vehicle
¢fig . 144 and ¢ fig. 145 .
Audi braking guard
Description
Applies to vehicles: with adaptive cruise control
Audi braking guard warns you of a possible
collision with a moving vehicle up ahead.
Fig . 146 D isplay in the instrument cluste r

The Audi braking guard is active from a speed
of approx. 20 mph (30 km/h) and works with­
in the system limits
¢ page 125 even when
the adaptive cruise contro l is deact ivated.
A radar senso r is bui lt into the front of the ve­
hicle
¢ page 114, fig. 127. The system is in­
tended to measure the distance to reflect ive
surfaces. If a measurement is not possible,
the system does not respond .
When the measurement has been taken, the
system can recognize a poss ibly hazardous sit ­
uation, for example, when a vehicle up ahead
in your lane of travel suddenly brakes or when
your ow n ve hicle is moving at high speed to­
wards a much s lowe r vehicle up ahead . As
soon as the system senses that a possible co l­
l ision with the vehicle up ahead can only be
avoided by immediate full brake appl ication or
by an avoidance maneuver, a warning appears .
The system has a defau lt response time to be
ab le to sig na l befo re a col lision occu rs. This
system response time is a utomat ica lly re­
d uced if you acce lerate actively, for example
to join a highway. Braking, transverse acce ler­
ation and the steering ang le can lead to a re­
duced system response time. The warning is
deactivated if you begin to overtake with full
acceleration.
The system can make yo u aware of two differ­
ent hazardo us situations:
Distance
The distance warn ing is g iven if the sys tem
calc ulates that the re is not enough d istance
to the vehicle up ahead a period of more than 5 seconds. If the distance is less than 30 feet
(9 meters) at SO mph (80 km/h), for example,
an optical d isplay comes on in the instrument
cluster
c> fig . 146.
If the vehicle ahead brakes sharply, A udi brak­
ing guard cannot help you to avoid a co llision,
even in the case of an immediate response.
Take immediate act ion to avoid the collision
and increase the distance to the vehicle up
ahead .
Adapti ve crui se control 127
Speed
If there is a much slowe r vehicle mov ing up
ahead in your lane, or if the vehicle ahead brakes sharply, the Audi brak ing guard calcu­
lates the point from which a collision can only
be avoided by f ull braking or by an avo idance
maneuver . If a warning does sound, a possible
collision with the veh icle in front can only be
avo ided through an evas ive maneuver or by
braking.
The warning is given in two stages:
- Pre-warnin g: A visua l display appears in the
instrument cluster and a warning tone
sounds.
- Acute w arning : If you do not respond to the
pre-warning, the second stage warning is
given. A quick brake application helps to di­
rect your attention to the road and traffic
situat ion.
Under heavy braking, the brake assistant
i=> page 114 also helps you benefit from maxi­
mum brak ing eff ic iency.
_& WARNING
Inattention can cause collisions, other ac­
cidents and ser ious personal inju ries.
- Always pay close attent ion to the traffic,
even when the Audi braking guard is
sw itched on. The Audi braking guard pro­
vides a wa rning but does not brake the
car for you. You must app ly the brakes
yourse lf!
- Always keep the safe and lega l distance
between yo ur vehicle and vehicles up
ahead.
- Aud i brak ing g uard wor ks within lim its
and will no t respond outside the system
limits, fo r example when approach ing a
stopped vehicle or stationary obstacle (end of a traffic jam or vehicle that has
broken down in traffic).
- Always remember that the radar sensor
for the Audi braking guard works within
defined detect ion and range limits that
may prevent the proper detection of oth­
er vehicles .

128 Adapti ve crui se co ntrol
-The radar sensor's function and range
can be reduced by rain, snow and heavy
spray. Moving vehicles up ahead may not be promptly detected or may not be de­
tected at all.
- Always pay careful attention to the traf­
fic s ituation and be ready to intervene
and be ready to take complete control
whenever necessary.
- Reflective surfaces includ ing crash barri­
ers or tunnel entrances may impair the
function of the radar sensor.
Settings in the MMI
Applies to vehicles: with adaptive cruise control
T he settings of the Audi braking guard are
performed in the MMI.
._ Select : Funct ion button ICARI > Control but­
ton Systems * > Audi brak ing guard . Or
._ Select : Funct ion button
ICARI > Control but ­
ton Car system s* > Driver as sist> Audi
braking guard .
- System -the Audi braking guard system can
be switched
On and Off .
-Earl y warning - the acoustic warning and
the messages can be switched
On and Off .
(D) Tips
When handing over the keys to another pe rson, the prev ious settings are adopted
if the Audi braking guard is act ivated
~ page 43.
Driver's information in the instrument
cluster display
Applies to vehicles: with adaptive cruise co ntrol
braking gua rd activated
This message appears whe n the Audi braking
guard applies the b rakes during a second
stage (acute) warning .
braking gua rd off
This message appears whe n the system has
been deact ivated v ia the MMI. This message also appears briefly at each beginning of a trip
if the system is switched off.
T his message a lso appears when the system is
not availab le because of a ma lf u nct ion or if
E SC is switched to the Off road
mode ~
page 219. The system can no longer
warn of an impending coll is ion .

Audi side assist Lane Change Assistant
Description
App lies to vehicles: with side assist
The side assist helps you when changing
lanes .
AUDT U7
Fig. 147 Rear b umper: Pos it ion of radar sensors (not
v isib le on outside)
Fig . 148 Signal light on the outside mirror -driver 's
s ide
,.._ en ;! ..:, .. (D
Side assist uses radar sensors (not visib le on
outside) ¢
fig. 147 to help the driver check
b lind spots, and see what is happen ing in traf ­
fic beh ind the veh icle
¢ page 130, fig. 150.
Signal lights are bu ilt into both outside m ir­
r ors ¢
fig. 148. The signal light on the left
outside mirror assists when moving over into
the left lane and the signal light on the r igh t
ou tside mirror assists when moving over in to
the right lane .
The s ignal light comes on to tell you that side
assis t has detec ted a vehicle on tha t side and
that t he position of this othe r vehicle should
be taken into account if yo u were to change
lanes . This is called the
informatio nal st age
sign al¢
page 131. The informat ional stage
Aud i side assist 129
signal is designed so that you notice it on ly
when you are looking in the outside mirror.
When yo u activate the turn signal and side as ­
s ist de tects a vehicle in a no table location, the
corresponding signal on the outside mi rror
flashes briefly and brightly several times. This
is the
a lert stage signal ¢ page 131 .
Activating and deactivating
Applies to vehicles: wit h side assist
Fi g. 14 9 Drive r's doo r: Side assist button
Activating
.,. Press the ¢
fig. 149 button. The ind icator
on the b utton lights up.
Deactivating
.,. Press the button again. The indicator light
on the button goes out .
The system works at speeds faster than
19 mph (30 km/h) .
A WARNING
-Imp roper reliance on the side assist sys­
tem can cause collis ions and serio us pe r­
sonal injury:
- Never rely on ly on side assist when
changing lanes.
- Always check rear view mirrors to make
su re that it is safe to change lanes.
- Side assist canno t detect all veh icles un ­
de r all conditions- danger of accident!
- Side assist cannot detect vehicles in time
to a lert you w hen they app roac h from
behind at very hig h speed, or fall drop
back very qu ickly.
~

130 Audi side assist
-The radar sensor's vision can be reduced
or entirely blocked by rain, snow, and
heavy spray . This can result in side assist
not adequately detecting vehicles or, in
some cases, not detecting them at all.
Always keep an eye on the direction you
are traveling and the relevant area
around the vehicle.
- Please note that side assist indicates
there are approaching vehicles, or vehi­ cles in your blind spot, only after your ve­
hicle has reached a driving speed of at
least 19 mph (30 km/h).
- Side assist signal does not work around
tight corners (turning radius less than
328 feet, or 100 m).
- Side assist is no replacement for the driv­
er's full attention. The driver alone is re­
sponsible for lane changes and similar
driving maneuvers. Always keep an eye
on the direction you are traveling and the relevant area around the vehicle.
- To ensure that you do not adversely af­
fect side assist, do not block the area on
the rear bumper where the radar sensors
are located with foreign objects (such as
stickers or bicycle racks).
- Make sure that the signal light on the
outside mirror is not blocked by stickers
or other items.
(Di Tips
- Side assist automatically deactivates if it
detects that the radar sensors are
blocked ¢
page 135. The indicator light
on the button goes out .
- The area on the bumper where the radar
sensors are located must consistently re­
main free of snow, ice, and heavy soiling
so that side assist can function properly.
Follow the additional notes on
¢page 136.
-For vehicles with a factory installed tow­
ing hitch* or a trailer hitch* that was in­
stalled later according to factory specifi­
cations, side assist is automatically deac- tivated
as soon as the electrical connec­
tion to the trailer electrical socket is made
¢ page 135.
-For vehicles with a trailer hitch that was
not installed according to factory specifi­
cations, switch off the side assist when
towing a trailer .
- Additional tinting on the front side win­
dows can make it harder to see and cor­
rectly understand the signal light on the
outside mirror.
- For Declaration of Compliance to United
States FCC and Industry Canada regula­
tions¢
page 322.
Sensor detection area
Applies to vehicles: with side assist
-----··· .... ·--·--
@ / ,
--­
ill b''T -
Fig. 150 Sc hematic illustration: Sensor detectio n area
The detection ¢ fig. 150 of the radar sensor
detection area is made up of:
-
- the approach area (light red area) (D, about
230 feet (70 m) behind the vehicle, and
- the "blind spot" (dark red area) @.
The radar sensors cover the adjacent left and
right lanes. Other lanes are
not covered by the
radar sensors.
(D Tips
Side assist does not measure actual lane
width. The system assumes a fixed lane
width . Detection in the left and right lanes
is based on this assumed lane width.
When driving on narrow roads or when
driving to the left or right of the center of
a travel lane, it is possible that vehicles
will be detected that are
not in the lane

next to the lane you are using
¢page 135.
Operation
Applies to vehicles: with side assist
Side assist compares the distance and differ­
ence in speed of detected vehicles with the
speed of your vehicle . Whenever the differ­
ence in speed and d istance is registered as no­
table if you were to change lanes, a signal l ight appea rs on the respective mirror.
The signal can light up if you are passed by a
vehicle or if you are pass ing another vehicle.
If you pass another vehicle s lowly (difference
in speed less than 9 mph, or 15 km/h), the
signal light will come on as soon as the other
vehicle is in your blind spot and is detected by
side assist . When the difference in speed is
g reater, the signal light will not come on.
Informational and alert stage signals
Applies to vehicles: with side assist
Side assist has two signal stages:
- the informational stage signal, and
- the alert stage signal.
Side assist he lps you by using the appropriate
signal stage, depending on whether or not
you have activated the turn signal, and thus have indicated that you are or are not chang­
in g lanes .
Informational stage signal
As long as you have not activated the turn sig­
nal, side assist informs you of detected vehi­
cles that are registered as being in a notable locat ion if you were to change lanes. Whenev­
er the detected vehicle's difference i n speed
and distance is registered by side assist as no­
table, the signal light on the respective m irror
produces muted illuminat ion.
The br ightness of the informat ional stage sig ­
nal is designed not to be as intense, so that it
does not interfere with your view of the road
when yo u are driving and have no intention of
changing lanes. When you look i n the outside
Aud i side assist 131
mirror, you can clearly see the informational
stage signal.
Alert stage signal
When you activate the turn signal, and s ide
ass ist has detected a vehicle in a notable loca­
t ion on that part icular s ide, the signa l light on
this side mirror flashes brightly. The repeated
brief and bright flashing of the alert stage
signal reminds you to carefully check traffic to
the rear in the outside mirror and over your
shoulder, so that you can safely complete the lane change
¢ A in Safety tips on page 136 .
@ Tips
The brightness of the signal light on the
outside mirrors can be adjusted with the
MMI ¢page 134.
Driving situation: Fast approaching
vehicles
Applies to vehicles: with side assist
Fig. 151 Side assist : Fast app roaching vehicles
@ Signal on outside mirror does not light
up
No vehicle was detected by the sensors. The
signal on the outside mirror does not light up
¢ A in Safety tips on page 136. IJJ,,

Lane width
Applies to vehicles: with side assist
-· Fig. 155 Lan es o f a norma l wid th a re in detect ion area
Fig . 156 Narrow lanes: Side ass ist may detect vehicles
two la nes away
Side assist's detection area is designed to cov­
e r l anes of standard w idth to the left and
r ight of your travel lane, depending on wheth­
er you dr ive in the center of your lane or closer
to the edge.
I f you drive in narrow lanes, s ide ass ist's de­
tec tion a rea may a lso incl ude other lanes -es­
pec ia lly if you tend to drive on the edge of
your lane
c:::> fig. 156 . Under these cond it ions,
ve hicles can also be detected that are two
lanes away, and side assist then could switch
between the informat ional and warn ing stage
signals.
When driving in very wide lanes, vehicles in
the adjacent lane may not be detected be ­
cause they are not inside the detection area.
Notes
Messages in instrument cluster display
Applies to vehicles: with side assist
If s ide ass ist t urns off automa tically, the ind i­
cator l igh t on the button wi ll go ou t and you
Aud i side assist 135
will see a message in the instrument cluster
display:
Audi side assist not available: sensors
bloc ked
The side assist sensors are built into the rear
bumper on the left and r ight (not visible on
the outside)
c:::> page 129, fig . 147. To ensure
that you do not adversely affect the way side
ass ist functions, foreign objects (such as stick­
ers or bicycle racks) should not be attached to
the area on the rear bumper where the sen­
sors a re located . If side ass ist functions are
adverse ly affec ted, you w ill see th is message
in the instrument cluster disp lay . Remove any­
th ing t hat may be blocking the sensors.
If no vehicle is detected for a longer per iod of
t ime wh ile dr iv ing, s ide ass ist w ill also switch
off automatically.
Audi s ide as sist cu rrentl y not available
If there is a temporary problem (such as the
vehicle 's battery charge be ing low), side assist
cannot be act ivated temporar ily .
Audi side assis t: sy stem fault
Have the system checked by an author ized Au­
di dealer or qualified workshop.
Audi side assist not availabl e when
towing
The radar sensor's view is limited when tow­
ing a tra iler. For vehicles with a factory instal­
led towing hitch or a trailer hitch that was in­
stalled later according to facto ry specifica­
tions, s ide ass ist is automatically deact ivated
as soon as the ele ctrical connection to the
trailer's e lectrical socke t is made, and this sta­
tus message appears in the instrument clus­
ter display. Deactivation cannot be guaran ­
teed when using a retrofitted towing hitch
that was
not installed according to factory
specifications.