2014 AUDI A7 Owners Manual

-never knee l on the seats
- never ride with the seatback reclined
- never lie down on the rear seat
- never lean up against the instrument pa nel
- never sit on the edge of the seat
- never sit s ideways
- never lean out the window
- never put yo ur feet out the window
- never put yo ur feet o n the ins trumen t pa nel
- never rest you r feet on the seat cushion o r
back of the seat
- never r ide in the footwe ll
- never r ide in the cargo area
A WARNING
Imprope r seat ing positions increase the
r is k of se rious personal injury and death
whenever a veh icle is being used.
- Always make sure that a ll vehicle occu­
pants stay in a p ro per seat ing pos it ion
and are properly restra ined whenever the
vehicle is be ing used .
Driver and passenger
side footwell
Important safety instructions
Appl ies to vehicles: with knee a irbags
A WARNING
Always make s ure that the knee ai rbag can
inf late without interfe rence. Objects be ­
tween yourse lf and the airbag can increase
the risk of injury in an acc ident by interfer­
ing w ith the way the a irbag deploys or by
being p ushed into you as the airbag de­
ploys.
- No persons (ch ildren) or animals should
ride in the footwell in front of the pas­
senger seat. If the airbag deploys, this
c an res ult in serious or fata l injuries.
- No objects of any k ind sho uld be car ried
in the footwell area in fron t of the driv­
er's or passenger's seat. Bul ky objects
(shopping bags, for example) can ham ­
per or prevent p roper deployment of the
airbag. Small objects can be thrown
Dr iving Safel y 135
through the vehicle if the airbag deploys
and in jure you or your passengers.
Pedal area
Pedals
The pedals must always be free to move and
must never be interfered with by a floor mat
or any other object.
Make sure that a ll peda ls move free ly without
i nterfe rence and that nothing prevents them
from return ing to their orig inal positions.
Only use floor mats that leave t he pedal area
free and can be secured with floor mat fasten­
ers .
If a brake circ uit fai ls, increased brake pedal
trave l is required to bring the vehicle to a full
stop.
A WARNING
Pedals that ca nnot move free ly can cause
loss of vehicle control and incr ease the risk
of ser ious injury.
- Never p lace any objec ts in the drive r's
footwell. An ob je ct cou ld get into the
pedal area a nd inte rfe re wi th pedal fun c­
tion. In case of sudde n brak ing o r an a c­
cident, yo u wou ld not be a ble to brake or
accelerate!
- Always ma ke su re th at nothing can fall
or move into the driver's footwel l.
Floor mats on the driver side
Always use floor mats that can be securely
attached to the floor mat fas teners and do
not in terfere with the free movement of the
pedals.
.,. Ma ke s ure t hat the floor ma ts are prope rly
secured an d cannot move and interfere wi th
the peda ls ~ _& .
Use only floor mats tha t leave the peda l area
u nobstru cte d a nd th at are firmly secured so
that they cannot slip o ut o f position. You can
II>
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136 Driving Saf ely
obtain sui table flo or mats from your
authorized Audi Dealer.
F loor mat fasteners are installed in your Audi .
Floor mats used in your vehicle must be at­
tached to these fasteners . Properly secur ing
the floor mats will prevent them from sliding
i nto pos itions that could interfe re wi th the
pedals or impair safe operation o f your vehicle
in other ways .
A WARNING
Pedals that cannot move freely can resu lt
in a loss of veh icle contro l and increase the
r isk of serious personal injury .
- Always make sure that floor mats are
properly secured.
- Never place or insta ll floor mats or other
floor coverings in the vehicle that cannot
be properly secured in place to prevent
them from slipping and interfering w ith
the pedals or the ability to control the
vehicle .
- Never place or install floor mats or other
floor coverings on top of a lready insta l­
led floor mats . Additional floor mats and
other cove rings w ill reduce the si ze of
the pedal area and interfere with the peda ls.
- Always properly reinstall and se cu re floor
mats that have been taken out for clean­
ing.
- Always make su re that obje cts canno t
f all into the driver footwe ll wh ile the ve­
hicle is moving . Objects can become
t rapped under the b rake pedal and accel­
erator peda l causing a loss of veh icle
control.
Stowing luggage
Loading the luggage compartment
All luggage and other objects must be prop­ erly stowed and secured in the luggage com­
partment.
Loose i tems in the luggage compartmen t can
shift suddenly, changing veh icle hand ling characteristics. Loose items can a
lso increase
the risk of s erious persona l injury in a sudden
vehicle maneuver o r in a co llision .
.. Dis trib ute the load even ly in the luggage
compa rtment .
.. Always place and properly secure heavy
items in the luggage compartment as far
forward as possible .
.. Secure luggage using the tie-downs prov id­
ed
¢ page 64, Luggage compartment .
.. Make sure that the rear seatback is securely
latched in place.
A WARNING
Imp roperly stored luggage or other items
can fly thro ugh the vehi cle causing ser ious
personal injury in the event of hard brak­
i ng or an accident. To help reduce the risk
of ser ious personal in ju ry:
- Always put ob jects, fo r example, luggage
or other heavy items in the luggage com­
partment.
- Always secure objects in the luggage
compa rtment us ing the tie-down hooks
and suitable straps.
A WARNING
-
Heavy loads w ill influence the way yo ur ve-
h icle handles. To help reduce the risk of a
l oss of cont ro l leading to serious personal
in Jury :
- Always keep in mind when transporting
heavy objects , that a change in the cen ­
ter of gravity can also cause changes in
veh icle handling:
- Always distribute the load as evenly as
poss ible .
- Place heavy objects as far forward in the luggage compartment as possible.
- Never exceed the Gross Axle We igh t Rat ­
ing or the Gross Vehicle Weight Rating
specif ied on the safety compliance stick­
er on the left door jamb. Exceeding per­
miss ible weight standards can cause the
veh icle to slide and hand le diffe rently.
- Please observe information on safe dr iv­
ing¢
page 130.

A WARNING
To help prevent poisonous exhaust gas
from being drawn into the vehicle, always keep the rear lid closed while driving .
- Never transport objects larger than
those fitting completely into the luggage
area because the rear lid cannot be fully
closed.
- If you absolutely must drive with the rear
lid open, observe the following notes to
reduce the risk of poisoning:
- Close all windows,
- Close the power roof*,
- Open all air outlets in the instrument
panel,
- Switch off the air recirculation,
- Set the fresh air fan to the highest
speed.
A WARNING
Always make sure that the doors, all win­ dows, the power roof* and the rear lid are
securely closed and locked to reduce the
risk of injury when the vehicle is not being
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. Being trapped in a vehicle can
lead to serious personal injury.
- Never let children play in or around the
vehicle .
- Never let passengers ride in the luggage
compartment. Vehicle occupants must
always be properly restrained in one of
the vehicle's seating positions.
Gj) Tips
-Air circulation helps to reduce window
fogging. Stale air escapes to the outside
through vents in the trim panel. Be sure
to keep these slots free and open .
-
Driving Safely 137
-The tire pressure must correspond to the
load. The tire pressure is shown on the
tire pressure label. The tire pressure la­
bel is located on the driver's side B-pillar.
The tire pressure label lists the recom­
mended cold tire inflation pressures for
the vehicle at its maximum capacity
weight and the tires that were on your
vehicle at the time it was manufactured.
For recommended tire pressures for nor­
mal load conditions, please see chapter
~page 247.
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 136, Loading the luggage com­
partment.
In a collision, the laws of physics mean that
even smaller items that are loose in the vehi­
cle will become heavy missiles that can cause
serious injury. Items in the vehicle possess en­
ergy which vary with vehicle speed and the
weight of the item. Vehicle speed is the most
significant factor.
For example , in a frontal collision at a speed
of 30 mph (48 km/h), the forces acting on a
10-lb (4.5 kg) object are about 20 times the
normal weight of the item. This means that
the weight of the item would suddenly be about 200 lbs. (90 kg) . You can imagine the
injuries that a 200 lbs . (90 kg) item flying
freely through the passenger compartment
could cause in a collision like this.
A WARNING
Weak, damaged or improper straps used
to secure items to tie-downs can fail dur­
ing hard braking or in a collision and cause
serious personal injury.
-Always use suitable mounting straps and properly secure items to the tie-downs in
.
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•

138 Driving Safely
th e lu gg age compartment to help pre-Tel.: 1-888-327-4236 (TTY :
vent items from shiftin g or flying
1-800-424-9153) or forward as dange ro us m iss iles.
- When the rear seat back rest is folded
1-800 -424-9393
down, always use su itab le mounting
st raps a nd pro perly secure items to the
or you may write to:
t ie -downs in t he luggage com partmen t
NHTSA to help prev ent item s fro m flyi ng fo r-
w ar d as dang erous miss iles into th e pas-
U.S. Department of Transporta-
se ng er compartm ent .
tion - N ever at ta ch a child sa fety seat tet her
st rap to a tie- down.
1200 New Jersey Ave., S. E.
Reporting Safety
West Building
Washington, DC 20590
Defects
Applicable to U.S.A.
You can also obtain other infor-
mation about motor vehicle
If you believe that your vehicle safety from:
has a defect which could cause
a crash or could cause injury or http:/ /www. safe rca r. gov
death, you should immediately
Applicable to Canada
inform the National Highway If you live in Canada and you
Traffic Safety Admini stration
believe that your vehicle has a
(NHTSA) in addition to notify- defect that could cause a crash,
ing Audi of America, Inc. injury or death, you should im-
If NHTSA receives similar com- mediately inform Transport
plaints, it may open an investi- Canada, Defect Investigations
gation, and if it finds that a and Recalls. You should also no-
safety defects exists in a group tify Volkswagen Group Canada,
of vehic les, it may order a recall
Inc.
and remedy campaign. Howev- Canadian customers who wish
er , NHTSA cannot become in-
to report a safety-related de-
volved in individual problems feet to Transport Canada, De-
between you, your dealer, or feet Investigations and Recalls,
Audi of America, Inc .
may either call Transport Cana-
To contact the NHTSA , you may
da toll-free at:
....
either call:

Tel.: 1-800-333-0510 or
Tel.: 1-819-994-3328 (Ottawa region and from other coun­
tries)
TTY for hearing impaired: Tel.:
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
For additional road safety infor­
mation, please visit the Road
Safety website at:
http://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/
roadsafety/menu.htm
Driving Safely 139
•
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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. 150 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.

-Failure to pay attention to the warning
light that come on, could lead to person­
al injury.
Why safety belts?
Frontal collisions and the law of physics
Frontal crashes create very strong forces for
people riding in vehicles .
Fig. 151 Unbelted occupants in a ve hicle heading for a
wall
Fig. 152 The vehicle cras hes into the wall
The physical principles are simple. Both the
vehicle and the passengers possess energy
which varies w ith veh icle speed and body
weight . Engineers call this energy "kinetic en­
ergy."
The higher the speed of the vehicle and the
greater the vehicle's weight, the more energy
that has to be "absorbed" in the crash.
Vehicle speed is the most significant factor . If
the speed doubles from 15 to 30 mph (25 to
50 km/h), the energy increases 4 t imes!
Because the passengers of this vehicle are not
using safety belts
c:::;, fig. 151, they will keep
moving at the same speed the vehicle was
mov ing just before the crash, until something
stops them - here, the wall ¢
fig. 152.
Safety belts 141
The same principles apply to people sitting in
a vehicle that is involved in a frontal collision.
Even at city speeds of 20 to 30 mph (30 to 50
km/h), the forces acting on the body can
reach one ton (2,000 lbs, or 1,000 kg) or
more . At greater speeds, these forces are even
higher.
People who do not use safety belts are also
not attached to their vehicle . In a frontal colli­
sion they will also keep moving forward at the
speed their vehicle was travelling just before
the crash . Of course, the laws of physics don't
just app ly to frontal collisions, they determine
what happens in all kinds of accidents and col­
lisions.
What happens to occupants not wearing safety belts?
In crashes unbelted occupants cannot stop
themselves from flying forward and being in­
jured or killed. Always wear your safety belts!
Fig. 153 A driver not wea ring a safety be lt is vio lently
th rown forward
Fig. 154 A rear passenger not wearing a safety belt
w ill fly forward and strike the driver
Unbelted occupants are not able to resist the
tremendous forces of impact by holding tight
or bracing themselves. Without the benefit of
safety restraint systems, the unrestrained .,..

142 Safety belts
occupant will slam violently into the steering
wheel, instrument panel, windshield, or what­
ever else is in the way
c::> fig. 153. This imp act
with the vehicle interior has all the energy
t hey had just before the crash.
Never rely on a irbags alone for protection.
Even when they deploy, airbags provide only
additional protection. Airbags are not sup­
posed to deploy in all kinds of accidents. Al­
though your Audi is equipped with airbags, all
vehicle occupants, including the driver , must
wear safety belts correctly in order to mini­
mize the risk of severe injury or death in a
crash.
Remember too, that airbags will deploy only
once and that your safety belts are always
there to offer protection in those accidents in
which airbags are not supposed to deploy or
when they have already deployed . Unbelted
occupants can also be thrown out of the vehi­
cle where even more severe or fatal injuries
can occur.
It is also important for the rear passengers to
wear safety belts correctly. Unbelted passen­
gers in the rear seats endanger not only them­
selves but also the driver and othe r passen­
gers ~
fig. 154. In a frontal collision they will
be thrown forward violently, where they can
hit and injure the driver and/or front seat pas­
senger .
Safety belts protect
People think it's possible to use the hands to
brace the body in a minor collision . It's simply
not true !
Fig. 155 Driver is co rr ect ly re strain ed in a sudd en brak­
ing maneuve r
Safety belts used properly can make a big dif­
ference. Safety belts help to keep passengers
in their seats, gradually reduce energy levels
applied to the body in an accident, and help
prevent the uncontrolled movement tha t can
cause serious injuries . In addition, safety belts
reduce the danger of being thrown out of the
vehicle .
Safety belts attach passengers to the car and
give them the benefit of being slowed down
more gently or "softly" through the "give" in
the safety belts, crush zones and other safety
features engineered into today's vehicles. By
"absorbing " the kinetic energy over a longer
period of ti me, the safety belts make the
forces on the body more "tolerable" and less
likely to cause injury.
Although these examples are based on a fron­
tal collision, safety belts can also substantial­
ly reduce the r isk of injury in other kinds of
crashes. So, whether you're on a long trip or
just going to the corner store, always buckle up and make sure others do, too. Accident sta­
tistics show that vehicle occupants properly
wearing safety belts have a lower risk of being
injured and a much better chance of surviving
an accident. Properly using safety belts also
greatly increases the ability of the supplemen­
tal airbags to do their job in a collision . For
this reason, wearing a safety belt is legally re­
quired in most countries including much of
the United States and Canada.
Although your Audi is equipped with airbags,
you still have to wear the safety belts provid­
ed. Front airbags , for example, are activated
only in some frontal collisions. The front air­
bags are not activated in all frontal collisions,
in side and rear collisions, in roll overs or in
cases where there is no t enough decelera tion
through impact to the front of the vehicle .
The same goes for the other airbag systems in
your Audi . So, always wear your safety belt
and make sure everybody in your vehicle is
properly restrained!