2013 AUDI A7 instrument cluster

110 Automatic Transmission
brakes applied ¢ & in Driving the automatic
transmission on page
112.
When the veh icle is stationary or at speeds
be low 1 mph (2 km/h), you must always apply
the footbrake before and while moving the
lever out of N.
D/S -Normal position for driving forward
In the D/S position, the transmiss io n can be
operated e ither in the normal mode Dor in
the sport mode S. To select the sport mode S,
pull the se lector lever back briefly . Pulling the
lever back again will select the normal mode
D. The instrument cluster display shows the
selected driving mode.
In the
normal mode D, the transmission auto­
matica lly selects the suitab le gear ratio. It de­
pends on engine load, vehicle speed and driv­
ing style.
Select the
spo rt mode S for sporty driving.
The vehicle makes fu ll use of the engine's
power. Shifting may become noticeable when
accelerating.
When the vehicle is stationary or at speeds
be low 1 mph (2 km/h), you must always apply
the foot brake before and while moving the lever to D/S out of N.
A WARNING
Read and follow all WARNINGS¢ & in
Driving the automatic transmission on
page
112.
d) Note
-
Coasting downhill with the transmission in
N and the engine not running w ill result in
damage to the automatic transmission
and possibly the catalytic converter.
@ Tips
- Audi drive select: you can adjust the
sporty sh ift characteristics in the
Dy­
namic driving mode.Swill appear in the
i nst rument cluste r d isplay instead of D.
-If you accidentally select N while driv ing,
take your foot off the acce lerator pedal immediately and wait
for the engine to
slow down to idle before selecting D/S.
-If there is a power failure, the selector
lever will not move out of the P position.
The emergency release can be used if
this happens
¢page 115.
Automatic Shift Lock (ASL)
Applies to vehicles : wit h S t ronic/tipt ro ni c
The Automatic Shift Lock safeguards you
against accidentally shifting into a forward or
the reverse gear and causing the vehicle to
move unintentionally.
( )
Fig. 116 Shi ft gate: selector leve r loc k pos it ions and
r e lease button highlighted
The selector lever lock is released as follows:
.,. Tu rn the ignition on.
.,. Step on the brake pedal.
At the same time
press and hold the release button on the
side of the gear selector knob
¢ fig. 116
with your thumb until you have moved the
selector lever to the desired position.
Automatic selector lever lock
The selector lever is locked in the P and N po­
s itions when the ignit ion is tu rned on. You
must press the brake pedal and the re lease
button to select another position . As a re­
minder to the driver, the following warning
appears in the instrument cluster display
when the selector is in P and N:
When stationary apply brake pedal while se­
lecting gear
T he Automatic Shift Lock only functions when
the vehicle is stationary or at speeds be low
1 mph (2 km/h).

_& WARNING
Hill descent control cannot overcome
physical limitations, so it may not be able
to ma intain a constant speed under all
conditions. Always be ready to apply the
brakes.
Manual shift program
Applies to vehicles: with 5 tronic/tiptronic
Using the manual shift program you can
manually select gears .
Fig. 118 Ce nter con sole : s hi fting t he tiptronic ma nua l­
ly using selector lever
Fig. 119 Stee ring wheel: sh ift ing t he tiptron ic manua l­
ly using shi ft buttons•
Gea r selection with selecto r le ver
The t iptron ic mode can be selected either with
the vehicle stationary or on the move.
• Push the selector lever to the right from 0/
S . An M appears in the instrument cluster
display as soon as the transmission has
shifted.
• To upsh ift, p ush the selector leve r fo rward
to the p lus posi tion
0 ~ fig. 118.
• To downshift, push the lever to the minus
position
0 .
Automatic Tra nsmi ssi on 11 3
Gear select ion w ith padd le l evers*
The shift buttons are activated when these­
lector lever is in D/S or the tiptronic manua l
shift program.
• To upshift, touch the button on the r ight
0
~fig. 119.
• To downshift, touch the button on the left
0 .
The transm iss ion automatically shifts up or
down before cr itical engine speed is reached .
The transm iss ion only allows manual sh ifting
when the engine speed is w ith in the pe rmit­
ted range.
a) Tips
- When you shift into the next lower gea r,
the t ransmission will downshift only
w hen there is no possibility of ove r-rev­
ving the engine .
- Whe n the ki ck-down comes on, the
transm ission wi ll shift down to a lower
gear, depending on vehicle and engine
speeds.
- T iptro nic is inoperative when the trans­
mission is in the fai l-safe mode .
Kick-down
Applies to vehicles: wit h S tronic/t iptronic
Kick-down enables maximum acceleration.
When you depress the accelerator peda l be­
yo nd the resistance point, the automatic
transmission downsh ifts i nto a lower gear, de­
pending on veh icle speed and eng ine speed .
The upshift into the next higher gear takes
place once the maximum specified engine
speed is reached .
A WARNING
--Please note t hat the drive wheels can spin
if kick-down is used o n a smooth slippery
road -the re is a risk of skidding .

114 Automatic Transmission
Launch Control Program
Applies to vehicles: with S tro nic
The Launch Control Program provides the
best acceleration possible when starting from
a stop .
Requirement: The engine must be at operat­
ing temperature and the steering wheel must
not be turned .
.. Press the
I~ O FFI button <=> page 198 while
the engine is running. The
II indicator light
illuminates in the instrument cluster and
Stabilization control (ESC): Off Warning!
Reduced stability
appears in the driver in­
formation system display.
.. Move the selector lever to position D/S to
select sport mode (5) or select
Dynamic
mode in Audi drive select<=> page 103.
.. Press the brake pedal strongly with your left
foot and hold it down for at least
1 second.
.. At the same time, press the accelerator
pedal down completely with your right foot
until the engine reaches and maintains a
high RPM.
.. Remove your foot from the brake pedal
within S seconds ¢
Li)..
.&_ WARNING
-Always adapt your driving to the traffic
flow .
- Only use the Launch Control Program
when road and traffic conditions allow it
and other drivers will not be endangered
or annoyed by yo ur driving and the vehi­
cle's acce lerat ion.
- Please note that the driving wheels can
spin and the vehicle can break away
when ESC is sw itched off, espec ially
when the road is slippery.
- Once the vehicle has started moving,
press the
I~ OF F! button br iefly to turn
the ESC on.
- The transmission temperat ure may in­
crease significantly after using the
launch control program. If that happens, the program
may not be available for a
few minutes . It wi ll be available again af­
ter a cool-down period.
- When accelerating using the la unch con­
tro l program, all vehicle parts are subject
to heavy loads. This can resu lt in in­
creased wear .
Transmission malfunction
Applies to vehicles: wit h S tronic/tiptro nic
[O] Transmission: Press brake pedal and se­
lect gear again
Press the brake pedal and select the desired
selector lever position again. You can then continue driving .
[O] Transmission overheating: Please drive
conservatively
The transmission temperature has increased
s ignificantly due to the sporty driving manner .
Drive in a less sporty manner until the tem­
perature returns to the normal range and the
indicator light switches of.
[O] Transmission malfunction: You can con­
tinue driving
T he re is a system mal function in the transmis­
sion . You may continue driving. Drive to your
authorized Audi dea ler or qualified repair fa­
cility soon to have the malfunction corrected.
[O] [O] Transmission malfunction: You can
continue driving with limited functionality
There is a system malfunction in the transmis­
s ion. The transmission is switching to emer­
gency mode. This mode on ly shifts into cer­
tain gears or will no longer shift at all. The en­
gine may sta ll. Drive to your authorized Audi
dealer or qualified repair facility immediately
to have the malfunction corrected.
[O] Iii Transmission malfunction: No reverse
gear. You can continue driving
S tronic® transmission: There is a system mal­
f unct ion in the transmission. The transmis­
sion is switching to emergency mode . This
mode only shifts into certain gears or will no
l onger shift at a ll. The engine may stall. You .,..

140 Safety belts
Safety belts
General notes
Always wear safety belts!
Wearing safety belts correctly saves lives!
This chapter explains why safety belts are nec­
essary, how they work and how to adjust and
wear them correctly .
.. Read all the information that follows and
heed all of the instructions and WARNINGS.
A WARNING
Not wearing safety belts or wearing them
improperly increases the risk of serious
personal injury and death.
- Safety belts are the single most effective
means available to reduce the risk of se­
rious injury and death in automobile acci­
dents. For your protection and that of
your passengers, always correctly wear
safety belts when the vehicle is moving.
- Pregnant women, injured, or physically
impaired persons must also use safety
belts . Like all vehicle occupants, they are
more likely to be seriously injured if they
do not wear safety belts. The best way to
protect a fetus is to protect the mother -
throughout the entire pregnancy.
Number of seats
Your Audi has a total of four seating positions: two in the front and two in the rear. In some
vehicles, there are five seating positions: two in the front and three in the rear. Each seating
position has a safety belt.
A WARNING
Not wearing safety belts or wearing them
improperly increases the risk of serious
personal injury and death.
- Never strap more than one person, in­
cluding small children, into any belt.
It is
especially dangerous to place a safety
belt over a child sitting on your lap. -
Never let more people ride in the vehicle
than there are safety belts available.
- Be sure everyone riding in the vehicle is
properly restrained with a separate safe­
ty belt or child restraint.
~ Safety belt warning light
Your vehicle has a warning system for the
driver and front seat passenger (on USA mod­
els only) to remind you about the importance
of buckling-up.
Fig. 149 Safety belt warning light in the instrument
cluster -enlarged
Before driving off, always:
.. Fasten your safety belt and make sure you
are wearing it properly.
.. Make sure that your passengers also buckle
up and properly wear their safety belts.
.. Protect children with a child restraint sys-
tem appropriate for the size and age .
The warning light . in the instrument cluster
lights up when the ignition is on as a reminder
to fasten the safety belts. In addition, you will hear a warning tone for a certain period of
time .
Fasten your safety belt and make sure that
your passengers also properly put on their
safety belts.
A WARNING
-- Safety belts are the single most effective
means available to reduce the risk of se­
rious injury and death in automobile acci­
dents. For your protection and that of
your passengers, always correctly wear
safety belts when the vehicle is moving.

152 Airbag sys te m
If the front passenger airbag is turned off, the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes on in
the instrument cluster and stays on.
I f the front passenger airbag deploys, the
F ederal Standard requires the airbag to meet
the " low risk" deployment criteria to reduce
the r isk of injury through interaction with the
a irbag. "Low risk" deployment occurs in those
crashes that take place at lower decelerations
as defined in the electronic control unit
c::> page 162, PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light.
A lways remember, a chi ld seat or infant carri­
er installed on the front seat may be struck
and knocked out of position by the rap idly in ­
flating passenger's a irbag in a frontal colli­
sion . The airbag could greatly reduce the ef­
fectiveness of the ch ild restraint and even se­
rio usly inju re the child during inflat ion.
For this reason, and because the back seat is
the safest place for chi ldren - when properly
restra ined accord ing to their age and size - we
strongly recommend that children always sit in the back seat
c::> page 175, Child Safety .
& WARNING
-
A child in a rearward-facing child seat in ­
stalled on the front passenger seat will be
ser iously injured and can be killed if the
front airbag inflates - even with an Ad­
vanced Airbag System.
- The inflating a irbag will hit the child seat
or infant carrier with great force and w ill
smash the ch ild seat and child against
the backrest, center armrest, door or roof.
- Always install rear-facing child seats on
the rear seat.
- If you must install a rearward facing
child seat on the front passenge r seat
because of except iona l circumstances
and the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not come on and stay on, immedi­
ately install the rear-f acing chi ld seat in a
rear seating position and have the ai rbag
system inspected by your Aud i dealer. -
Forward-facing child seats installed on
the front passenger's seat may interfere
with the deployment of the a irbag and
cause serious persona l injury to the
child.
& WARNING
-If, in except ional circumstances, you must
i nstall a forward-facing child restraint on
the front passenge r's seat:
- Always make sure the forward-facing
seat has been designed and certified by
its manufacture r fo r use on a fron t seat
with a passenger fron t and s ide a irbag.
- Never p ut the fo rward -facing child re­
s tra int up agains t or very near the instru­
men t panel.
- Always move the passenge r seat into its
rearmost pos ition in the seat's fore and
aft ad justment range, as fa r away from
the airbag as possible before installing
the forward-facing ch ild restra int . The
backrest must be ad justed to an upright
position.
- Make sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
li ght comes on and stays on all the
time whenever the ignition is switched on .
& WARNING
-To reduce the risk of serious injury, make
sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light w ill be displayed whenever a child re­
straint is installed on the front passenger
sea t and the ignition is sw itche d on .
- If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does no t stay on, perform the checks de­
scribed
<>page 161, Monitoring the Ad­
vanced Airbag System.
- Ta ke t he chi ld restraint off the front pas­
senger sea t and install it prope rly at one
of the rear seat positions i f the
PASSEN­
GER AIR BAG OFF
light does not stay on.
- Have the airbag system inspected by
your Aud i dea le r i mmediately.

backrest must be adjusted to an upright
posit ion.
- Always make sure that there is nothing
on the front passenger seat that will
cause the capacitive passenger detection
system in the seat to s ignal to the A irbag
System that the seat is occupied by a person when it is not, or to signa l that it
is occupied by som eone who is heavier
than t he pe rson actually s itting on t he
sea t. T he presence of addition al obje cts
cou ld cause the passenger front airbag
to be t urned on when it sho uld be off, or
cou ld cause t he airbag to work in a way
that is different from the way it wou ld
have worked without the object on the
seat.
- Make sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
light comes on and stays on all the
t ime w henever the ignition is switc hed
on.
Advanced Airbag System components
The front passenger seat in your vehicle has a
l ot of very important parts of the Advanced
A irbag System in it. These parts incl ude t he
c a pac itive passenger de te ct ion sys tem, wir­
ing, b racke ts, and more . The cont ro l uni t
monitors the system o n the front passenger
seat when the ign ition is switched on and
turns the airbag indicator light on w hen a
malfunct ion in the one of the system compo­
nents is detected ¢
page 162. Beca use the
fro nt passenge r seat contains important parts
of the Advanced Airbag System, you must
take care to p revent it from bei ng damaged.
D amage to the seat may preven t the Ad ­
vanced A irbag System for the front passenger
seat from doing its job in a crash .
The front Advanced Airbag System
consists of the following:
-Crash sensors in the front of the veh icle tha t
measure ve hicle acceleration/dece le ration
to provide information to the Advanced Air­ bag System about the severity of the crash.
A irbag system 157
- An elect ron ic contro l unit, with integrated
crash sensors fo r front and side impacts .
T he control un it "decides" whether to f ire
the front a irbag s based on the informat ion
received from the crash sensors. The control
unit also "decides" whether the safety belt
prete nsione rs should be act iva ted .
- An Advanced A irbag w it h gas generator and
cont ro l valve for the driver ins ide the steer ­
ing wheel h ub.
- An Advanced A irbag w ith gas generator and
cont ro l valve inside the instrument pa nel for
the front passenger .
- A capacit ive passenger detection system un ­
de rneath the front passenger seat cover .
This system measu res the ele ct rical capac i­
t ance of the perso n in the seat. The informa ­
t ion regis tered is se nt cont inuo usly to the
elec tronic con trol un it to regu late dep loy­
ment of the front Advanced A irbag on the
passenger side.
-An airbag monitoring system an d ind icator
light in the instr ument cluster ¢
page 161.
-A senso r in each front seat registers the dis ­
tance between the respective seat a nd the
steering whee l or instrument panel. The in­
formation registered is sent cont inuo usly to
the electron ic contro l unit to regulate de­
ployment of the front Adva need A irbags .
- The
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF li ght comes
on and stays on in the center of the instr u­
ment panel ¢
fig. 163 and te lls you when
the front Advanced Airbag o n the passenger
side has been turned off .
- A senso r in t he safety belt latch fo r the d riv ­
er and fo r the front seat passenger that
senses whethe r th at safety belt is latched or
no t and tra nsmi ts this informa tion to the
elec tro nic con trol un it.
A WARNING
D amage to the fron t passenger se at can
p revent the front air bag from work ing
p roperly.
- Imp roper repai r or disassembly of the
front passenge r and dr iver seat will pre­
vent the Advanced Airbag System from
functioning properly.
-
•
•

158 Airbag system
-Repairs to the front passenger seat must
be performed by qualified and properly
trained workshop personnel.
- Never remove the front passenger or
driver seat from the vehicle.
- Never remove the upholstery from the
front passenger seat.
- Never disassemble or remove parts from
the seat or disconnect wires from it.
- Never carry sharp objects in your pockets
or put them on the seat. The capacitive
passenger detection mat in the front
passenger seat will not function properly
if it is punctured .
- Never carry things on your lap or carry
objects on the front passenger seat.
Such objects can influence the capaci­
tance registered by the capacitive pas­ senger detection system, so that incor­
rect information is provided to the airbag
control unit.
- Never store items under the front pas­
senger seat. Parts of the Advanced Air­
bag System under the passenger seat
could be damaged, preventing them and
the airbag system from working proper­
ly.
- Never place seat covers or replacement upholstery that have not been specifical­
ly approved by Audi on the front seats.
- Seat covers can prevent the Advanced
Airbag System from recognizing child re­
straints or occupants on the front pas­
senger seat and prevent the side airbag
in the seat backrest from deploying prop­
erly .
- If a seat heater has been retrofitted or
otherwise added to the front passenger
seat, never install any child restraint sys­
tem on this seat.
- Never use cushions, pillows, blankets, or
similar items on the front passenger
seat. The additional layers prevent the
capacitive passenger detection system
from accurately measuring the capaci­
tance of the child safety seat and/or the
person on the seat and thus keep the Ad- vanced Airbag System from working
properly.
- Never place or use any electrical device
(such as a laptop, CD player, electronic
games device or power inverter) on the
front passenger seat if the device is con­ nected to the 12-volt socket or the ciga­
rette lighter socket. Such devices can in­
fluence the capacitance registered by the
capacitive passenger detection system,
so that incorrect information is provided
to the airbag control unit.
- If you must use a child restraint on the
front passenger seat and the child re­
straint manufacturer's instructions re­
quire the use of a towel, foam cushion or
something else to properly position the
child restraint, make certain that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes
on and stays on whenever the child re­
straint is installed on the front passen­
ger seat.
- If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not come on and stay on, immedi­
ately install child restraint in a rear seat­
ing position and have the airbag system
inspected by your Audi dealer.
_& WARNING
If the front passenger seat gets wet, dry it
immediately.
- If liquid soaks into the front passenger
seat, this can keep the airbag system
from working properly and may, for in­ stance, deactivate the passenger frontal
airbag. If this happens, the
PASSENGER
AIR BAG OFF
light will come on and stay
on together with the airbag indicator light
fl in the instrument cluster .
- If liquid is pooled on the seat, but has
not soaked in, this may also keep the air­
bag system from working properly and
cause the passenger frontal airbag to be
enabled (turned on), even though there
is a properly installed child restraint sys­
tem on the seat. Wet towels or other wet
things on the seat cushion can have the

196 Intelligent technology
Intelligent technology
Notice about data
recorded by vehicle
control modules
Your vehicle is not equipped with an Event Da­
ta Recorder (EDR), installed by some manu­
facturers fo r the express purpose of capturing
data for retrieval after an accident or crash
event . EDR's are sometimes ca lled "crash re­
corders".
Some state laws restrict the retr ieval or down­
loading of data stored by EDR's that were in­
stalled in a vehicle for the express purpose of
retrieving data after an accident or crash
event without the owner's consent.
A lthough your vehicle is not equipped with an
EDR, it is equipped with a number of electron­
ic control modules for various vehicle systems
such as, for examp le, eng ine function, em is­
sion control, as well as for the airbags and
safety belts.
These electronic contro l modules also record
vehicle-re lated data during normal vehicle op­
eration for diagnostic and repair purposes.
The recording capacity of the electronic con­
trol modules is limited to data (no sound is re­
corded) and only a small amount of data is ac­
tually recorded over a very limited pe riod of
time and stored when a system fault or other
condition is sensed by a control unit. Some of
the data then stored may relate to vehicle
speed, direction, braking as we ll as restraint
system use and performance in the event of a
crash or other condition. Stored data can only
be read and downloaded with special equip­
ment.
Electronic Stabilization
Control (ESC)
Description
ESC helps to improve road holding and vehicle
dynamics to help reduce the probability of
skidd ing and loss of vehicle control. It works
only when the engine is running. ESC detects certain difficult driving situat
ions, including
when the vehicle is beginning to spin (yaw)
out of control and helps you to get the veh icle
back under control by se lectively braking the
wheels, and/or reducing engine power and
providing steering assistance to help hold the
vehicle on the driver's intended course. The in­
dicator light
G) in the instrument cluster
blinks when ESC is taking action to help you
control the vehicle.
ESC has limitations.
It is important to remem­
ber that ESC cannot overcome the laws of
physics. It wi ll not always be able to help out
under all conditions you may come up against.
For example, ESC may not always be able to
help you master situations where there is a
sudden change in the coefficient of friction of
the road surface. When there is a section of
dry road that is suddenly covered with water,
slush or snow, ESC cannot perform the same
way it wou ld on the dry surface . If the vehicle
hydroplanes (rides on a cushion of water in­
stead of the road surface), ESC will not be
able to help you steer the vehicle because con­
tact with the pavement has been interrupted
and the vehicle cannot be braked or steered.
During fast cornering, particularly on winding
roads, ESC cannot always deal as effectively
with difficult driving situations than at lower
speeds. When towing a trailer, ESC is not able
to help you regain control as it would if you
were not tow ing a trailer.
Always adjust your speed and driving style to road, traffic; and weather condit ions. ESC can­
not override the vehicle's physical limits, in­
crease the available traction, or keep a vehicle
on the road if road departure is a result of
drive r inattention. Instead, ESC improves the
poss ibility of keeping the vehicle under con­
trol and on the road during ex treme maneu­
vers by using the driver's steering inputs to
help keep the vehicle going in the intended di­
rection . If you are traveling at a speed that
causes you to run off the road before ESC can
provide any assistance, you may not experi­
ence the benefits of ESC.