2013 AUDI Q7 Media

Audi braking guard
Description
Applies to vehicles: with a daptive cruise co ntrol
Audi braking guard warns you of a possible
collision with a moving vehicle up ahead .
Fig. 146 Display in the instrument cluster
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 deactivated.
A radar sensor is bu ilt into the front of the ve­
hicle
¢page 114, fig. 127. The system is in­
tended to measure the distance to reflective
surfaces .
If a measurement is not possible,
the system does not respond.
When the measurement has been taken, the
system can recognize a possibly hazardous sit ­
uation, for example, whe n a vehicle up ahead
in your lane of trave l sudden ly brakes or when
your own vehicle is moving at high speed to­
wards a much slower vehicle up ahead . As
soon as the system senses that a possible col­
lision with the vehicle up ahead can only be
avoided by immed iate full brake application or
by an avoidance maneuver, a warning appears.
The system has a defau lt response time to be
able to signal before a collision occurs. This
system response time is automat ica lly re­
duced if you acce lerate actively, fo r example
to join a highway. Braking, transverse acceler­
ation and the steering angle can lead to a re­
duced system response time. The warning is
deactivated if you begin to overtake with full
acceleration .
Adaptive cruise control 127
The system can make you aware o f two differ­
ent hazardous situations:
Distance
The distance warning is given if the system
calculates that there is not enough distance
to the vehicle up ahead a period of more than
S seconds . If the distance is less than 30 feet
(9 meters) at SO mph (80 km/h), for examp le,
an optical display comes on in the instrument
cluster¢
fig. 146.
If the vehicle ahead brakes sharp ly, Audi brak­
ing guard cannot help you to avoid a collision,
even in the case of an immediate response.
Take immed iate action to avoid the co llision
and increase the distance to the vehicle up
ahead.
Speed
If there is a much slower vehicle moving up
ahead in your lane, or if the vehicle ahead
brakes sharply, the Aud i brak ing guard calcu­
lates the po int from which a collision can only
be avoided by full braking or by an avoidance
maneuver. If a warning does sound, a poss ible
collision with the ve hicle in front can on ly be
avo ided through an evasive maneuver or by
braking.
The warning is given in two stages :
-Pre-warning: A visual display appears in the
instrument cluster and a warning tone
sounds.
- Acute warning: If you do not respond to the
pre-warn ing, the second stage warning is
given. A quick brake application helps to di­
rect your attention to the road and traffic
situation.
Under heavy braking, the brake ass istant
¢
page 114 also helps you benef it from maxi­
mum brak ing efficiency.
A WARNING
Inatt ention can cause collisions, other ac­
cidents and serious personal injuries.

To upshift
• Push the selec tor leve r forw ard to the pl us
pos ition
0 ¢ fig. 160 .
To downshift
• Push the lever to the m in us position
Q .
When acce lerating, the transm iss ion w ill au­
tomatically sh ift into the next gear before the
e ngine reaches its maxim um RPM .
If you app ly a light throttle when accelerat­
ing , tiptronic ® will automatically shift from
1st to 2nd gear to save fuel. If you apply a
h eavy thrott le, the transmission will stay in
1st gear unt il n ear maximum R PM is reached,
or until the d river sh ifts i nto 2nd gear .
If you take your foot off the accelerator peda l
when dr iv ing down a steep incli ne , tiptronic ®
will downshift from th e se lected gear into the
n ex t lowe r gear until it reaches 1st gea r,
b ased on ro ad s peed and eng ine RPM . A uto­
mat ic downshifting is in ter rupted as soon as
you apply t he thrott le again.
@ Tips
- Wh en you sh ift i nto the next lower ge ar,
t h e transmiss io n will dow nshift only
whe n there is no possibility of over-rev­
v ing the engine.
- When the kick -down comes on, t he
transmission will s hift down to a lower
gear, depending on ve hicle and engine
speeds .
- tiptron ic® is inoperative w hen the trans­
mission is in the fail-sa fe mode.
Autom atic transm ission 141
Steering wheel with tiptronic ®
Applies to vehicles: w ith t iptronic-steering wheel
T he shift buttons on the steering wheel allow
the driver to shift gears manually .
Fig. 162 Steering w hee l: S hift b utt ons
• To down shi ft, tou ch the bu tton on t he left
o .
• To upshift, touch the button on the right
0 .
The shift bu ttons are activ at ed when these ­
lector lever is in D, So r in the manual s hift
program (tiptronic) .
O f c ourse , you can c ontinue to use the manu al
s hift p rogram wi th the selecto r leve r on the
cente r co nsole.
Automatic transmission malfunction
[O] Transmission malfunction : You can con­
tinue driving
T he re is a system mal function in the t ransmis­
s io n. You may cont in u e dr iving . Drive to yo ur
a utho rized Aud i dea ler or qualified repa ir fa ­
cility soon to have the malfunction corrected.
[O] Trans mission malfunction : Lim ited driv­
ing functionality
T he re is a system mal func tion i n the t ransm is­
s io n. The transm ission is swi tching to emer­
gency mode. This mode on ly shifts into cer­
ta in gears o r will no longer shift at all . The en ­
gine may sta ll. Drive to your a uthorized Audi
dealer or qualif ied repair facility immediately
to have the malfunction correcte d.
IJJ,,

156 Adapti ve Air Susp en sion
possible to raise the suspension to a h igh level
above certain speeds .
When a speed of about 75 mph (120 km/h) is
exceeded for more than 30 seconds, the vehi­
cle is automatically lowered to
low level when
in comfort and automatic mode. Ground
clearance is about 0.6 inch (15 mm) less,
compared to the
normal level .
When a speed of about 100 mph (160 km/h)
is exceeded for more than 20 seconds, the ve­
h icle is automat ica lly lowered to
highway l ev­
el
when in automatic and dynamic mode.
G round clearance is about 1.4 inches (35 mm)
less, compared to the
normal level. Road
hold ing is optimized as a result of the lower
center of gravity, and fuel consumption is re­
duced as a result of reduced wind resistance .
I
Level adjustment
high level 2
high level 1
normal level
low level
highway level
Ground clearance
about 9.4 inches
(240 mm)
about
8 inches
(205 mm)
about 7 inches (180 mm)
about 6 .5 inches
(165 mm)
about 5 .7 inches
(145 mm)
The segment disp lay @ in the MMI Display
c:::> page 157 or in the instr ument cluste r dis­
p lay
c:::> page 158 shows the current veh icle
level.
Automatic
Select the automatic mode if you prefer a bal­
anced, comfortable suspension setting . The
damping characteristics are adjusted accord­ ingly.
- Automatic lowe rin g: When a speed of
about 75 mph (120 km/h) is exceeded for
more than 30 seconds, the vehicle is auto­
matically lowered by about 0.6 inch (15
mm) to the
low level, wh ich is more suitable
for highway speeds . Road hold ing is opti ­
mized as a result of the lower ce nter of grav- ity and fuel consumption is reduced as a re
­
sult of r educed wind resistance . When a
speed of about 100 mph (160 km/h) is ex ­
ceeded for more than 20 seconds, the veh i­
cle is automa tically lowered by an addi tional
0 .8 inch (20 mm) to
highway level .
-Automat ic raising: When the vehicle is at
highway level and the speed falls below
about 80 mph (130 km/h) for more than 20
seconds , the vehicle is automatically raised
to
low level. Th e vehicle is automatica lly
raised aga in to
normal level if the speed
fa lls below about 44 mph (70 km/h) for a
pe riod of 2 minutes . The vehicle is raised im ­
mediately when speed fa lls below about 22
mph (35 km/h) .
Dynamic
Select the dynam ic mode if yo u pre fer a spor­
ty suspension se tti ng. In t his mode , the veh i­
cle is lowered to
low level while it is still sta­
t ionary and sporty damping characteristics
are selected . The warning light
Ill in the in ­
strument cluster will come on for a few sec­
onds just to rem ind you of the reduced ground
clearance .
If you switch off the engine whi le the vehicle
is in the dynamic mode and then switch on the
igni tion once aga in, the
Ill warn ing light will
also come on again for a few seconds as a re­ minder .
-Automat ic lowe ring: When a speed of
about 100 mph (160 km/h) is exceeded for
more than 20 seconds , the veh icle is auto ­
mat ically lowered by 0 .8 inch (20 mm) to
highway level .
-Automa tic raising: The vehicle is automati ­
cally ra ised to
low level again , if the speed
fa lls below about 80 mph (130 km/h) for a
pe riod of 20 seconds. The ve hicle i s raised
immed iate ly when speed falls be low about
22 mph (35 km/h).
Comfort
Select the comfort mode if you desire a s us­
pension setti ng w ith a special emp hasis on
comfort . Damp ing cha racte ris tics w ith a clear .,.

emphasis on comfort are selected in this
mode.
- Automatic lowering : When a speed of
abo ut 75 mph (120 km/h) is exceeded for
more than 30 seconds, the vehicle is auto­
matically lowered by 0.6 inch (15 mm) to
low level .
-Automatic raising: The vehicle is automati­
ca lly raised to
normal level again, if the
speed falls below about 44 mph (70 km/h)
for a period of 2 minutes . The vehicle is
raised immediately when speed falls below
about 22 mph (35 km/h) .
Offroad
Select the offroad mode when you have to
travel over poor quality sections of road (e .g.
trails). In th is mode, the vehicle is raised to
high level 1, and damp ing characteristics for
poor road stretches are selected . When
sw itch ing to offroad mode, the Adaptive Air
Suspension indicator appears automat ically in
the instrument cluster display ¢
page 158.
The offroad mode can only be activated at
speeds below 37 mph (60 km/h) . Offroad
mode ends automatically and the automatic
mode is activated when a speed of approxi­
mately 50 mph (80 km/h) is exceeded.
Lift
Select the lift mode when except ionally high
ground clearance is needed at a reduced
speed. In this mode, the vehicle is raised to
high level 2. When switching to lift mode , the
Adaptive A ir Suspension indicator appears au­
tomatically in the instrument cluster display
¢ page 158.
The lift mode can be activated only at speeds
be low 12 mph (20 km/h) . When a speed of
about 25 mph (40 km/h) is exceeded, the sys­
tem automatically leaves lift mode and the
offroad mode is activated. The instrument
cluster display automat ically switches the dis­
play to Adaptive Air Suspens ion to indicate re­
duced ground clearance .
Adaptive Air Suspension 15 7
MMI settings
Applies to vehicles: wit h Adaptive A ir Suspension
Driving modes are adjusted in the MMI and
the current vehicle level is displayed .
Fig. 187 MMI Display: Sett ings
Fig. 188 MMI Display: Sett ings
Th e ign ition must be switched on to set the
driving modes.
1-Select: !CAR ! function button .
Raising and lowering
If the arrow (D ¢ fig. 187 is white or if the ar­
rows
(D blink ¢ fig. 188, the vehicle is being
raised .
If the arrow @¢
fig. 187 is white or if the ar­
rows
(D point downward and blink ¢ fig. 188,
the vehicle is being lowered .
The respective arrow stays on/blinks until the
level change is complete . The time used for a
level change can vary, depending on the cur­
rent driving conditions .
Displaying the vehicle level
The c urrent vehicle level is shown with seg­
ments filled out in the segment display@. If
only the bottom segment is filled o ut, the ve-
hicle is at highway level. If all segments are
IJJ>-

172 Driving Safel y
to reduce the risk of inj ury 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 p lay in or around the
vehicle .
- Never let passengers r ide in the luggage
compartment . Veh icle occupan ts must
always be proper ly restrained in one of
the vehicle's seating positions.
(D Tips
- Air circulation helps to reduce window
fogging . Sta le air escapes to the o utside
th rough vents in the trim pane l. Be su re
to keep these slots free and open.
- The tire pressure must correspond to the
load . The t ire pr essure is shown on the
tire p ressu re label. The tire pressure la­
bel is loc ate d on the driver's s ide B-pi lla r.
The tire pressure label lists the recom­
men ded cold t ire inflat ion pressu res for
the veh icle at its maximum capacity
weight and the tires that were on your
vehicle at the time it was manufact ured.
For recommended t ire pressures for nor­
mal load conditions, please see chapter
Q page284.
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 ¢ page 171 , Loading the luggage com ­
partment .
In a coll is ion, the laws of phys ics mean that
even smaller items that are loose in the vehi­
cle will become heavy missiles that can cause se
rious injury. Items in t he vehi cle possess en ­
ergy which vary with vehicle speed and the
weight of t he item . Vehicle speed is the most
s ignificant factor.
F or example, in a frontal collision at a speed
of 30 mph (48 km/h), the forces acting on a 10 -lb (5 kg) object a re abo ut 20 times the
normal weight of the item. This means that
the weight of the item would sudden ly be
about 200 lbs . (90 kg) . You can imag ine the
injur ies that a 200 lbs . (90 kg) item fly ing
fr ee ly t hro ugh the passenger compa rtment
cou ld cause in a col lision like this.
_& WARNING
We ak, damaged or imprope r straps used
to secure items to tie-downs can fail dur­
i ng hard braking or in a collision and cause
se rious pe rsonal injury.
-Always use s uita ble mo unt ing straps an d
p roperly secu re items to the tie-downs in
the l uggage compa rtment to he lp pre­
vent items from shift ing or fly 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 dangerous missiles into the pas­
senger compartment.
- Never attach a chi ld safety seat t ether
s trap to a t ie-down .
Reporting Safety
Defects
Applicable to U.S.A.
If yo u b eli eve that your vehi cle
has a def ect whi ch could cau se
a crash or could cau se injury or
death, you should immediately
inform the National Highway
Traffic Safet y Administration ""

(NHTSA) in addition to notify­
ing Audi of America, Inc.
If NHTSA receives similar com­
plaints, it may open an investi­
gation, and if it finds that a
safety defects exists in a group
of vehicles, it may order a recall
and remedy campaign. Howev­
er, NHTSA cannot become in­
volved in individual problems between you, your dealer, or
Audi of America, Inc.
To contact the NHTSA, you may
either call:
Tel.: 1-888-327-4236 (TTY: 1-800-424-9153)
or
1-800-424-9 3 9 3
or you may write to: NHTSA
U.S. Department of Transporta­
tion 1200 New Jersey Ave., S. E.
West Building
Washington, DC 20590
You can also obtain other infor­
mation about motor vehicle
safety from:
http:/ /www.safercar.gov
Driving Safely 173
Applicable to Canada
If you live in Canada and you believe that your vehicle has a
defect that could cause a crash,
injury or death, you should im­
mediately inform Transport
Canada, Defect Investigations
and Recalls. You should also no­
tify Volkswagen Group Canada, Inc.
Canadian customers who wish
to report a safety-related de­
fect to Transport Canada, De­
fect Investigations and Recalls,
may either call Transport Cana­
da toll-free at:
Tel.: 1-800-333-0510 or
Tel.: 1-819-994-3328 (Ottawa region and from other coun­
tries)
TTY for hearing impaired: 1-888-675-6863
or contact Transport Canada by
mail at:
Transport Canada Motor Vehicle Safety Investiga­
tions Laboratory
80 Noel Street
Gatineau, QC
J8Z 0Al
•
•
'

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-

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--