2013 AUDI Q7 Owner´s Manual

the system will not be impaired and that dis ­
carded components do not cause injury or pollute the environment.
A WARNING
Improper care, servicing and repair proce­
dures can increase the risk of personal in­
jury and death by preventing a safety belt
pretens ioner from act ivat ing when needed
or act ivat ing it unexpectedly:
- The be lt pretensioner system can be acti­
vated only once . If belt pretens ioners
have been act ivated, the system must be
replaced.
- Never repa ir, adjust, or change any parts
of the safety belt sys tem.
- Safety belt systems includ ing safety be lt
pretensione rs cannot be repaired. Spe­
c ial p rocedu res are required for removal,
ins tallation and disposal of this system.
- For any wor k on the safety belt sys tem,
we st rongly recommend that you see
yo ur authorized Aud i dealer or qualified
technician who has an A udi approved re­
pair manual, t raining and specia l equip­
ment necessary .
@ For the sake of the environment
Undeployed airbag modu les and preten­
sioners might be classified as Perchlorate
Material -specia l hand ling may apply, see
www.dtsc.ca.gov/hazardo uswaste/per­
chlorate. When the vehicle or parts of the
restraint system including airbag modules
safety belts w ith pretens ioners are scrap­
ped, all applicable laws and regulat ions
must be observed . You r autho rized Aud i
dea le r i s familiar w ith these requirements
and we recommend that you have your
dea le r perform this serv ice for you.
Sa fety belts 183
•
•

184 Airbag sys tem
Airbag system
Important things to know
Importance of wearing safety belts and
sitting properly
Airbags are only supplemental restraints. For
airbags to do their job , occupants must al­
ways properly wear their safety belts and be
in a proper seating position.
F or your safety and the safety of your passen­
gers, before driving off, a lways:
• Adjust the dr iver's seat and steering wheel
properly ¢
page 166,
• Adjust the front passenger's seat properly
r=;page 72 ,
• Wear safety be lts properly
r=; page 178,
• Always properly use the proper child re-
stra int to protect children¢
page 205.
In a collision, airbags must inflate within the
blink of an eye and with considerable force .
The supplementa l airbags can cause injuries if
the dr iver or the front seat passenger is not
seated properly . Therefore in order to he lp the
a irbag to do its job, it is important, both as a
d river and as a passenge r to sit properly at all
times.
By keeping room between your body and the
steering wheel and the front of the passenger
compartment, the airbag ca n inflate fully and
comp letely and provide supp lemental p rotec­
tion in ce rtain frontal collisions¢
page 166,
Proper occupant seating positions .
For detai ls
on the operat ion of the seat adjustment con­
trols ¢
page 72.
I t's especially important that children a re
properly restrained ¢
page 205.
There is a lot that the driver and the passen­
gers can and must do to help the individua l
safety features ins talled in your A udi work to­
gether as a system.
Prope r seat ing pos ition is important so that
the front airbag on the driver s ide can do i ts
job. If yo u have a physical impa irment or con- dition that prevents you from sitting properly
on the driver seat with the safety belt properly
fastened and reaching the peda ls , or if you
have concerns with regard to the function or
operation of the Advanced Airbag System,
please contact your author ized Audi dealer or
qualified workshop, or call Audi Customer Re­
lations at 1-800-822-2834 for poss ible modi­
fica tions to your ve hicle.
When the airbag system deploys, a gas gener ­
ator will f il l the a irbags, break open t he pad­
ded cove rs, and i nflate between the steer ing
whee l and the dr iver and between the instru­
ment pane l and the front passenger. The a ir­
bags will deflate immediately after dep loy­
ment so tha t the front occupants can see
t h ro ugh the windshie ld again witho ut inter­
ruption .
All of th is takes p lace in the b link o f an eye, so
fast that many peop le don't even realize tha t
the airbags have dep loyed. The airbags a lso
inflate with a great dea l of force and nothing
shou ld be in their way when they deploy.
Front a irbags in combination with properly
wor n safety belts slow down and lim it the oc ­
cupant's forward movement . T ogether they
help to prevent the drive r and front seat pas­
senger from hitting pa rts of the inside o f th e
vehicle while reducing the forces acting on the
occupant dur ing the crash . In this way they
help to reduce the risk of injury to the head
and upper body in the crash. A irbags do not
protect the arms or the lower parts of the
body.
Both front airbags wi ll not inflate in all fronta l
collisions . The t riggering of the airbag system
depends on the vehicle dece lerat ion rate
ca used by the co llision and registered by the
electron ic control unit. If th is rate is below
the reference value programmed into the con ­
t rol unit , the airbags will not be trigge red,
even though the car may be badly damaged as
a res ult of the co llision . Ve hicl e damage, re­
pair costs o r even the lack of ve hicle damage
is not necessari ly an indication of whe ther an
airbag shou ld inflate or not .
IJll-

Since the circums tances will vary considerab ly
between one collision and another , it is not
possible to define a range of veh icle speeds
that will cover every possible k ind and angle
of impact t hat w ill always t rig ger the a irbags .
Important factors include, for example, the
nature (hard or so ft) of the object which the
car h its, the ang le of impact, vehicle speed,
etc. The front airbags will a lso not inflate in
side or rear collisions, or in ro ll-overs .
Alw ays rememb er: Airbags will deploy only
once, and only in certa in kinds of co llisions.
Your safety belts are always there to offe r pro­
tect ion in those s ituations in which airbags
are not supposed to deploy, or when they have
a lready deployed ; for example , when your ve­
hicle strikes or is struck by another vehicle af­
ter the first co llision .
This is just one of the reasons why an a irbag is
a supp lementary restraint and is not a s ubsti ­
tute for a safety belt . The airbag system
works most effectively when used with the
safety belts. Therefore, always properly wear
your safety belts¢
page 175.
A WARNING
Sitting too close to the steer ing whee l or
instrument panel will dec rease the effec­
tiveness of the airbags and will inc rease
the risk of pe rsonal injury in a co llision .
- Never sit closer than 10 inches (2S cm)
to the stee ring wheel or instr ument pan­
el.
- If you cannot sit more than 10 inches
( 2 5 cm) from the steer ing whee l, investi­
ga te whethe r adaptive equipment may
be available to help you reach the pedals
and increase your seating distance from
the steering wheel.
- If you are unrestrained, lean ing forward,
sitting sideways or out of position in any
way, yo ur risk of inj ury is much higher.
- You w ill also receive serio us injuries and
cou ld even be killed if you are up against
the a irbag or too close to it when it in­
flates -even with an Advanced Airbag.
A irbag system 185
-To reduce the risk of injury when an air­
bag inflates, always wear safety belts
properly ¢
page 179, Safety belts.
-Always make certain that ch ild ren age 12
or younger a lways ride in the rear seat. If
children are not properly restrained, they may be severe ly inju red or killed when an
airbag inf lates .
- Never let ch ildren ride unrestra ined or
improperly restrained in the vehicle. Ad­
just the front seats prope rly .
- Never ride with the back rest reclined .
- Always sit as far as possible from the
steer ing whee l or the instrument pane l
¢page 166.
-Always sit upright with your back against
the backrest of your seat .
- Never p lace your feet on the instrument
panel or on the seat. Always keep both
feet on the f loor in front of the seat to
he lp preven t serio us in ju ries to the legs
and h ips if the airbag infla tes.
- Never recline the front passenger 's seat
to transport objects . Items can a lso
move into the area of the s ide a irbag or
the front a irbag du ring bra king or in a
sud den maneuve r. Obje cts near the air ­
bags can become projectiles and cause
in jur y when an airbag inflates.
A WARNING
Airbags that have de ployed in a crash must
be replaced.
- Use on ly orig inal equipment airbags ap­
proved by Aud i an d installed by a trained
technician who has the necessary too ls
and d iagnost ic equipment to properly re­
place any airbag in your vehicle and as­
sure system effectiveness in a crash .
- Never perm it salvaged or recycled air­
bags to be installed in your vehicle . •
•

186 Airbag sys tem
Child restraints on the front seat - some
important things to know
• Be sure to read the impo rtant in forma tion
and heed the WARNINGS for important de­
ta ils about ch ildren and Advanced Airbags
Q page 205.
Even though yo ur vehicle is equipped with an
Advanced Airbag System, make certain that
all children, especially those 12 years and
younger, a lways ride in the back seat properly
restra ined for their age and size. The airbag
on the passenger side makes the front seat a potentially dangerous place for a child to r ide .
The front seat is not the safest place fo r a
ch ild in a fo rward-faci ng ch ild safety seat. It
can be a very da ngerous place for a n infan t or
a child in a rearward -facing seat.
The Advanced Airbag System i n your veh icle
has been cer tified to comply with the require­
men ts of Uni ted States Federa l Mo to r Veh icle
Safety Standard 208 as applicable at the time
your ve hicle was manufact ured.
The Standa rd requires the fron t air bag on t he
passenger side to be turned off ("sup­
p ressed") if a c hild up to about one yea r of
age restrained in one of the rear-facing or for­
ward-facing infant restra ints listed in Federal
Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208 with which
the Advanced A irbag System in your vehicle
was certified has been installed on the front passenger seat . For a listing of the child re­
straints that we re used to certi fy complia nce
with the US Safety Sta ndard
Q page 207.
The PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light in the in­
strument panel te lls you when the front Ad­
vanced A irbag on t he passenger side has been
turned off by t he e lectronic control unit.
Each t ime you tur n on the ignition, the
PAS­
SENGER AIR BAG OFF
li ght w ill come on for a
few seconds a nd:
- will stay on if the front passenger seat is not
occupied
- will stay on if there is a small child or child
rest raint on the front passenger seat -
w ill go off i f the front passenge r seat is oc ­
cupied by an adult as registere d by the
weight -sensing mat
r::!) page 195, Monitor­
ing the Advanced Airbag System.
T he PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes on
whe n the contro l unit detects a tota l weight
on the front passenger seat that req uires the
front a irbag to be turned off.
If the total weight on the front passenge r
seat is more than that of a typica l 1 year -old
c hi ld b ut less than the we ight of a small
adult, the front airbag on the passenger side
can deploy (the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
li ght does not come on). If the PASSENGER
AIR BAG OFF
light does not come on , the
front a irbag on the passenger side has not
bee n tur ned off by the elec tronic con trol unit
and can deploy if the control uni t se nses an
impact that meets the con ditions stored i n its
memo ry .
For exampl e, the airbag may deploy if:
- a small ch ild that is heav ie r th an a typical 1
year-old ch ild is on the front passenger seat
( r egard less of whethe r the child is in one of
t he child safety seats listed
<:!) page 207), or
- a child who has outgrown ch ild restraints is
on t he front passenge r seat.
If the front passenger airbag is turned off, the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes on in
the instr ume nt cluster and stays on.
The front airbag on the passenger side may
not deploy (the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
li gh t does not illum inate and stay lit) even if a
small ad ult o r teenager, or a passenger who is
not sitt ing up rig ht w ith their back against a
non- re cli ned ba ck res t w it h thei r feet on the
vehicle f loor in front of the sea t is on the front
passenge r seat
c::> page 1 66, Proper sea ting
position for the driver.
If t he fron t passenger a irbag dep loys, the
F ede ral Standard req uires the airbag to meet
t h e "low risk" dep loyment criteria to red uce
the risk of injury t hro ugh interactio n wit h the
airbag. "Low risk" dep loyment occ urs in those
crashes that take place at lower dece lerat ions ..,_

as defined in the electronic control unit
¢ page 195, PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light .
Always remember, a chi ld safety seat or infant
carrier installed on the front seat may be
struck and knocked out of position by the rap ­
id ly inflating passenger's airbag in a frontal
coll is ion . The airbag cou ld greatly reduce the
effectiveness of the child restraint and even
seriously injure the child during inflat ion.
F or this reason, and because the back seat is
the safest p lace for children -when properly
restra ined accord ing to their age and si ze - we
strongly recommend that children always sit in the back seat¢
page 205, Child Safety.
A WARNING
A child in a rearward-facing child safety
seat insta lled on the front passenger seat
w ill be seriously injured and can be k illed if
t he fron t airbag inf lates - even with an Ad­
vanced Airbag System .
- The inflating a irbag w ill hit the child
sa fety seat or infant carrier w it h great
f orce and w ill smash the ch ild safety seat
and child against the backrest, center
armrest, door or roof.
- Always install rear -facing child sa fety
seats on the rear seat.
- If you mus t install a rearward facing
child safety seat on the front passenger
seat because of exceptional circ umstan­
ces and the
PASSENGER AIR BAG O FF
light does not come on and stay on, im­
med iately install the rear-facing child
safety seat in a rear seating posit ion and
have the a irbag system inspected by you r
authori zed Aud i dealer.
- Forward-fac ing ch ild safety seats instal­
led on the front passenger's seat may in­
terfere with the deployment of the air­
b ag and cause serious person al injury to
the ch ild .
WARNING
If, in exceptional c ir c umstances, you mus t
install a forwa rd -facing child restra int on
the front passenger's seat:
A irbag system 187
-Always ma ke sure the forward-facing
seat has been designed and certified by its manufacturer for use on a front seat
with a passenger front and s ide a irbag.
- Never put the forward-facing child re­
straint up against or very near the instru­ ment panel.
- Always move the passenger seat into its
rearmost position in t he seat's fore and
aft adj ustment range, as fa r away from
the airbag as possible before installing
the forward-fa cing ch ild restra int. The
backrest mu st be a dju ste d to an upright
posi tion.
- Ma ke sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
li ght comes on and stays on all the
time wheneve r the ignit ion is swi tched
on.
A WARNING
To reduce the risk of serious injury, make
sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light wi ll be displayed whenever a child re­
straint is installed on the front passenger
seat and the ignition is sw itched on.
- If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not stay on, perform the checks de­
scribed ¢
page 195, Monitoring the Ad­
vanced Airbag System .
-Take t he 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
li g ht does not stay on.
- Have the airbag system inspected by
your author ized Audi dealer immed iate­
ly.
- Always carefully follow instr uctions from
child r estraint manufa cture rs when in­
s tall ing c hild restra ints.
A WARNING
If, in exce ptiona l circumstan ces, you must
ins tall a forward or rearw ard-facing c hild
restra int on the front passenger's seat:
- Imp roper ins tal lation o f ch ild restraints
can reduce their effec tiveness or even
•
•

188 Airbag system
prevent them from providing any
protection.
- An improperly installed child restraint
can interfere with the airbag as it de­
ploys and serious ly injure or even kill the
child -even with an Advanced Airbag
System .
- Always carefully follow the manufactur­
er's instructions provided with the child
safety seat or carrier.
- Never place additional items on the seat
that can increase the total weight regis­
tered by the weight-se nsing mat and can
cause injury in a crash.
Front airbags
Description of front airbags
The airbag system can provide supplemental
protection to properly restrained front seat
occupants.
Fig. 2 09 Locat ion of dr ive r air bag : in stee ring wheel
Fig. 2 10 Locat ion of front passenger's a irbag: in the in­
st rument panel
Your veh icle is equipped with an "Advanced
A irbag System" in complia nce w ith United
States Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard
( FM VSS) 208 as app licab le at the time your
veh icle was manufactured. The safety belts f
or the seats have "pretensioners" that help
to take slack out of t he belt system . The pre­
tens ioners are also act ivated by the electronic
control unit for the airbag system.
T he front safety be lts also have load limiters
to help reduce the forces applied to the body
i n a crash .
T he airbag for the drive r is in the stee ring
whee l hub ¢
fig. 209 and the airbag for the
front passenger is in the instr ument panel
~ fig. 210 . The general locat ion of the a irbags
is marked "AIRBAG".
T here is a lot you nee d to know about the ai r­
bags in your vehicle . We urge you to read the
detailed information about airbags, safety
belts and child safety in this and the other
chapters that make up the owner's literature.
P lease be sure to heed the WARNINGS -they
are extremely importa nt for your safety and
the safety of you r passengers, especially in­
fants and small chi ldren.
_&. WARNING
Neve r rely on airbags alo ne for p rotection.
- E ven w hen they deploy, airbags provide
only supplement al pro tectio n.
- Airbag work most effect ive ly when used
with p roperly wor n safety bel ts.
- Therefore, always wea r you r safety belts
a nd make sure tha t eve rybody in your ve­
h icle is properly res trained.
_&. WARNING
A pe rso n on the fron t passenger seat, es­
pe cial ly infa nts and sm all ch ildren, w ill re­
ceive serio us inju ries and can even be kil-
l ed by being too close to the airbag when
it inflates .
- A lthough t he Advanced Airbag System in
your veh icle is des igned to tur n off the
front passenge r airbag if an infant or a
small child is on the front passenger
seat, nobody can absolutely guarantee
-
that deployme nt under these special ..,

conditions is impossible in all conceiva­
ble s ituations that may happen during
the useful life of your vehicle.
- The Advanced A irbag System can deploy
in accordance with the "low risk" opt ion
under the U.S. Federa l Standard if a child
that is heavier than the typical one-year
old child is on the front passenger seat
and the other cond itions for airbag de­
ployment are met.
- Acc ident statist ics have shown that chil­
dre n are generally safe r in the rea r seat
area than in the front se ating posit io n.
- For their own safety , all children, espe­
ci ally 1 2 yea rs and younger, sho uld al­
w ays ride in the ba ck p roperly restrained
f or their age and size .
Advanced front airbag system
Your vehicle is equipped w it h a front Advanced
Ai rbag System in compl iance with United
States Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard
208 as applicable at the time your vehicle was
manufactured.
The front Advanced Airbag System supp le ­
ments the safety belts to provide addit iona l
protection for the driver's and front passeng­
er's heads and upper bodies in frontal crashes.
The airbags inflate only in frontal impacts
when the vehicle decele rat io n is high enough .
The front Advanced Airbag System for the
fro nt seat occupants is not a substitute for
your safety belts . Rather, it is part of the over­
all occupant rest raint system in your veh icle .
A lways remember that the airbag system can
only help to pro te ct you, if you a re s itting up­
right, wearing yo ur safe ty be lt and wearing i t
p roperly. This is why you and yo ur passenge rs
must always be properly restrained, not just
beca use the law requires you to be.
The Advanced Airbag System in your veh icle
h as been cer tified to meet the " low r is k" re ­
q uir ements for 3 and 6 year -o ld children on
the passenger side and very small adu lts on
the dr iver side. The low risk dep loyment crite­
ria are intended to he lp red uce the risk of in-
A irbag system 189
jury through interaction with the front ai rbag
that can occur, for examp le, by being too
close to the steering wheel and instr ument
panel when the airbag inflates.
In add ition, the system has been certi fied to
comply with the "s uppression" requirements
of the Sa fety Standa rd, to turn off the front
airbag for infants 12 months old and younger
who are restrained on the front passenger
seat in child restraints that are listed in the
Standard
~ page 207, Child restraints and
Advanced Airbags .
"Suppression" requires the front a irbag on the
passenger s ide to be turned off if:
- a child up to abo ut one year o f age is re ­
strained on the front passenger seat in one
of the rear-fac ing or fo rward-facing infant
restrai nts listed in Federal Motor Vehicle
Safety Standa rd 208 with wh ich the Ad­
vanced Ai rbag System in your ve hicl e was
cert ified. Fo r a listing of the chi ld res traints
t h at were used to certify you r vehi cle's com­
pliance w it h t he US Sa fe ty Standard
~page 207,
-weigh t less than a thres ho ld level stored in
the control unit is de tected on the fron t pas ­
senger seat .
When a person is dete cted on t he front pas ­
senger se at, weigh ing more than the tota l
weight of a chi ld tha t is about 1 year old re ­
stra ined in one of the rear-facing or forward ­
facing infant restraints ( listed in Federal Mo­
tor Vehicle Safety Standard 208 w ith which
the Advanced Airbag System in you r vehicle
was certified), the front airbag on the passen­ ger side may or may not de ploy.
The
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes on
whe n the electro nic contro l unit detects a to­
ta l we ight on the front passe nger seat that re­
quires the front airbag to be tu rned off . If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does no t
come on, the front ai rbag on t he passe nger
s ide has not been turned off by the cont ro l
u ni t an d can dep loy if t he con trol un it senses
an impact that meets the cond itions stored i n
its memory . ..,. •
•

190 Airbag sys tem
If the tota l weight on the front passenger
seat is more than that of a typical 1 year-o ld,
but less than the weight of a small adu lt, the
front airbag on the passenger side may deploy (the
PA SSEN GER AIR BAG OFF light does not
come on).
For e xample , the airbag m ay deploy if :
-a small child that is heavier than a typical 1
year-o ld child is on the front passenger seat
(regardless of whether the child is in one of
the chi ld safety seats listed
¢ page 207),
-a chi ld who has outgrown child restraints is
on the front passenger seat.
If the front passenger airbag is turned off, the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light in the center
of the instrument panel wi ll come on and stay
on.
The front a irbag on the passenger side may
not deploy (the PAS SENGER AIR BAG OFF
light does not ill uminate and stay lit) if:
- a small adu lt o r teenager is o n the front pas­
senger seat
- a passenger who is not sitt ing upright w ith
their back against a non-reclined backrest
with their feet on the veh icle floo r in front
of the seat is on the front passenge r seat .
I f the front passenge r airbag deploys, the
F ederal Standa rd requires the airbag to meet
the " low ris k'' deployment criteria to help re ­
duce the risk of inj ury through interaction
with the airbag . "Low risk" deployment occurs
in those crashes that take place at lower de ­
celerations as defined in the electronic control un it.
¢ page 195
Alway s remember : Even though yo ur vehicle
is equipped with Advanced Airbags, the safest
p lace for children is properly restrained on the
back seat. Please be sure to read the impor­
tant information in the sect ions that follow
and be sure to heed all of the WARNINGS.
A WARNING
To reduce the risk of injury when an airbag
inf lates, a lways wear safety belts prope rly. -
If you are unrestrained, leaning forward,
sitt ing s ideways or o ut of pos ition in any
way, your risk of injury is muc h higher.
- You will a lso receive serious injuries and
could even be killed if you are up aga inst
the airbag or too close to it when it in­
f lates -even w it h an Advanced A irbag
¢page 184.
A WARNING "---
A child in a rearward-fac ing ch ild safety
seat installed on the front passenger seat
will be serious ly inju red and ca n be killed if
the front airbag infla tes -even with an Ad­
vanced A irbag System.
- Al tho ugh t he Advanced Airbag Sys tem in
your veh icle is designed to turn off the
front airbag when a rearward -facing
child restraint has been insta lled on the
front passenger seat, nobody can abso­ lutely g uarantee that dep loyment is im­
possible in all conceivable situations that
may happen dur ing the usefu l life of your
veh icle.
- The inflating airbag will h it the ch ild
safety seat or i nfant carrier with great
force and will smash the child safety seat
a nd child aga inst the bac krest, center
armrest, doo r, or roof.
- Always install rea rward-facing ch ild re­
s traints on the rear seat.
- If you must ins tall a rearwa rd fac ing
child safety seat on the fro nt passenger
seat because of exceptiona l circumstan­
ces and the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light does not come on and stay on, im ­
mediately insta ll the rear-facing chi ld
safety seat in a rear seating position and
have the airbag system inspected by your
author ized Audi dealer.
A WARNING
-If, in except ional circumstances, you must
i nstall a forward-facing child restraint on
the front passenge r's seat:
II--