2014 AUDI Q7 ESP

~ Secure unused safety belts on the rear seat
¢ page 209.
Children up to at least 8 years old (over 40
lbs. or 18 kg) are best protected in child safe­
ty seats designed for their age and weight. Ex­ perts say that the skeletal structure, particu­
larly the pelvis, of these children is not fully
developed, and they must not use the vehicle
safety belts without a suitable child restraint .
It is usually best to put these children in ap­
propriate booster seats. Be sure the booster
seat meets all applicable safety standards .
Booster seats raise the seating position of the
child and reposition both the lap and shoulder
parts of the safety belt so that they pass
across the child 's body in the right places. The
routing of the belt over the child's body is very
important for the child's protection, whether
or not a booster seat is used . Children age 12
and under must always ride in the rear seat.
Children who are at least 4
ft . 9 in. (57 in­
ches/1.45 meters) tall can generally use the
vehicle's three point lap and shoulder belts .
Never use the lap belt portion of the vehicle's
safety belt alone to restrain any child, regard­
less of how big the child is. Always remember
that children do not have the pronounced pel­
vic structure required for the proper function
of lap belt portion of the vehicle's three point
lap and shoulder belts. The child's safety ab­
solutely requires that a lap belt portion of the
safety belt be fastened snugly and as low as
possible around the pelvis. Never let the lap
belt portion of the safety belt pass over the
child's stomach or abdomen.
In a crash, airbags must inflate within a blink
of an eye and with considerable force. In order
to do its job, the airbag needs room to inflate
so that it will be there to protect the occupant
as the occupant moves forward into the air­ bag.
A vehicle occupant who is out of position and
too close to the airbag gets in the way of an inflating airbag. When an occupant is too
close, he or she will be struck violently and
Child Safety 213
will receive serious or possibly even fatal in­
jury.
In order for the airbag to offer protection, it is
important that all vehicle occupants, especial­
ly any children, who must be in the front seat
because of exceptional circumstances, be
properly restrained and as far away from the
airbag as possible . By keeping room between
the child's body and the front of the passen­
ger compartment, the airbag can inflate com ­
pletely and provide supplemental protection
in certain frontal collisions .
_&. WARNING
Not using a booster seat, using the boos­
ter seat improperly, incorrectly installing a booster seat or using the vehicle safety
belt improperly increases the risk of seri­
ous personal injury and death in a collision
or other emergency situation. To help re­
duce the risk of serious personal injury
and/or death:
- The shoulder belt must lie as close to the
center of the child's collar bone as possi­
ble and must lie flat and snug on the up­
per body . It must never lie across the
throat or neck . The lap belt must lie
across the pelvis and never across the
stomach or abdomen. Make sure the belt lies flat and snug. Pull on the belt to
tighten if necessary.
- Failure to properly route safety belts
over a child's body will cause severe inju­
ries in an accident or other emergency
situation
¢page 174.
- The rear side of the child safety seat
should be positioned as close as possible
to the backrest on the vehicle seat. Ad­
just or remove the rear seat head re­ straint if it is difficult to install the child
seat with the head restraint in place
¢ page 78. Install the head restraint
again immediately once the child seat is
removed . Driving without head restraints
or with head restraints that are not prop­
erly adjusted increases the risk of serious
-
or fatal neck injury dramatically. ~
•
•

214 Child Saf ety
- Childre n on the front seat of any car,
even with Advanced A irba gs, can be seri­
ous ly injured or even killed when an a ir­
bag inflates .
- Never let a child stand or knee l on any
seat, for exam ple the front seat.
- Never let a child ride in the cargo area of your vehicle .
- Always remember that a chi ld leaning
forward, sitt ing s ideways or out of posi­
t ion in any way during an acc ident can be
struck by a deploying airbag . This will re­
sult in serious personal injury or death .
- If you must install a booster seat on the
front passenger seat because of excep­
t ional circumstances the
PASSENGER
AIR BAG OFF
light must come on and
stay on, whenever the ignition is sw itch­
ed on.
- If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not come on and stay on, perform
the checks described¢
page 194, Moni­
toring the Advanced Airbag System.
- T ake the child restrain t off the front pas­
senger seat and install it properly at one
of the rear seat positions if the
PASSEN­
GER AIR BAG O FF
light does not stay on
whenever the ignition is switched on.
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS
whenever using a child restrained in ave­
hicle is being used
¢page 174, Safety
belts,
c:::;, page 183, Airbag system and
c:::;, page 204, Important things to know.
Installing a child safety
seat
Securing a child safety seat using a
safety belt
Safety belts for the rear seats and the front
passenger can be locked with the convertible locking retractor to properly secure child
safety seats .
The safety belts emergency locking retractors
for the rear seats safety belts and for the
front passenger's seat safety belt have a con­
ve rtible locking retracto r fo r child restra ints . T
he safety belt m ust be locked so that be lt
webbing cannot unree l. The retractor can be
activated to lock the safety belt and prevent
the safety belt webbing from loosening up
during norma l dr iving. A child safety seat can
o n ly be properly insta lled when the safety belt
i s loc ked so that the child and child safety
sea t w ill stay in place .
Always remember: Even tho ugh your vehicle is
equipped with an Advanced Airbag system, all
c h ildren, especially those 12 years and young­
er, shou ld always r ide in the back seat prope r­
l y restra ined fo r the ir age and size.
_& WARNING
Imp ro perly ins talled ch ild safety sea ts in­
crease the risk of serious pe rsonal injury
and death in a co llision.
- Always make s ure that the safe ty belt re­
trac to r i s loc ked when insta lling a child
safety seat . An un locked safety belt re­
tracto r cannot hold the child safety seat
in place dur ing norma l driving or in a
crash.
- Always buckle the child sa fety seat firmly
in place even if a ch ild is not sitt ing in it.
A loose child safety seat can fly around du ring a sudden stop or in a collision.
- Always make sure that the rear seat
backrest to wh ich the center rear safety
be lt is attached is securely latched when­
eve r the rea r center safety belt is being
used to secure a c hild restra int.
- If the backrest is not securely la tched,
the child and the child restraint will be
thrown forward togethe r with t he back ­
rest and will strike part s of the vehicle
interior. The child can be seriously in­
jured or killed.
- Never inst all rear-facing child s afety
seats or in fant ca rrie rs on the front pas ­
senger seat . A child will be serious ly in ­
jured and can be killed when the passen­ ger airbag in flates.
- The inflating air bag will h it the ch ild
safety seat or infant carrier with great
force and will smash the child safety seat ..,.

and child against the backrest, center
armrest, door or roof.
- Always install rear-facing child safety
seats or infant carriers on the rear seat.
- Forward-facing child safety seats or in­
fant carriers installed on the front pas­
senger's seat may interfere with the de­
ployment of the airbag and cause serious
injury to the child.
- It is safer to install a forward-facing
child safety seat on the rear seat .
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS whenever using a child restrained in ave­
hicle is being used¢
page 204 . Special
precautions apply when installing a child
safety seat on the front passenger seat
¢ page 185, Child restraints on the front
seat -some important things to know.
A WARNING
Always take special precautions if you
must install a forward or rearward-facing
child restraint on the front passenger's
seat in exceptional situations:
-Whenever a forward or rearward-facing
child restraint is installed on the front
passenger seat, the
PASSENGER AIR
BAG OFF
light must come on and stay on
whenever the ignition is switched on.
- If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not come on and stay on, perform
the checks described¢
page 194, Moni­
toring the Advanced Airbag System.
- Take the child 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
light does not stay on
whenever the ignition is switched on.
- Improper installation of child restraints
can reduce their effectiveness or even
prevent them from providing any protec­
tion.
- An improperly installed child restraint
can interfere with the airbag as it de­
ploys and seriously injure or even kill the
child.
Child Safety 215
- 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-sensing mat and can
cause injury in a crash .
A WARNING
Forward-facing child restraints:
- Always make sure the forward-facing
seat has been designed and certified by its manufacturer for use on a front seat
with a passenger front and side airbag.
- Never put the forward-facing child re­ straint up, against or very near the in­
strument panel.
- Always move the passenger seat into its rearmost position in the seat's fore and
aft adjustment range, as far away from
the airbag as possible before installing
the forward-facing child restraint. The
backrest must be adjusted to an upright
position.
- Make sure that the PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
light comes on and stays on all the
time whenever the ignition is switched
on .
A WARNING
Rearward-facing child restraints:
- A child in a rearward-facing child safety
seat installed on the front passenger
seat will be seriously injured and can be killed if the front airbag inflates -even
with an Advanced Airbag System.
- The inflating airbag will hit the child
safety seat or infant carrier with great
force and will smash the child safety seat
and child against the backrest, center
armrest, door or roof .
-Always be especially careful if you must
install a rearward facing child safety seat
on the front passenger seat in exception-
al circumstances. .,.
•
•

220 Child Safe ty
& WARNING
Improper use of tether anchorages or low­
er anchorages can cause serious personal
injury in a crash.
- Always carefully follow the ch ild re­
straint manufacturer's instructions for proper installation and use of child re­
st raint systems .
- Never use the
LATCH or tethe r anchorag­
es to attach safety belts or other kinds of
occupant restraints.
- Child restraint tether attachments and
lower attachments are only des igned to
se cu re a child res traint that has been
equipped to use these anchorages.
- T ether anchorages and lower an chorages
are designed to withstand only those loads imposed by correct ly fitted ch ild
res traints . Under no circumstances can
they be used safe ly for adu lt or chi ld
safety belts or harnesses.
- Never mount more than one chi ld re­
st raint to a sing le tether or to a lower an­
chorage point. Attac hing two chi ld re­
straints to a sing le anchorage poi nt can
cause the anchorage to fail and cause se­
rious personal injury in a crash.
(D Note
- Remove the guidance f ixtures before
fo ld ing the rear seatback to prevent
damaging the seat cushion.
- If you leave the guidance fixtures instal­
l ed for several days, they could leave a
mark on the upho lstery on the seat cush­
i o n and backrest in the area that the
guidance fixtures were insta lled. The up­
ho lstery would also be permanently
stretched around the guid ance fixt ures.
This applies especially to leather seats.
Installing a child restraint with LATCH
lower anchorages
Whenever you install a child restraint always
follow the child restraint manufacturer's in­
structions.
F ig . 225 Lower a ncho rages: proper mount ing
Mo unting
.,. Make s ure the seatback of the rear seat
benc h is in the upright position and securely
latched in place.
.,. Attach both hook-on connectors with the
spring catch release on the child safety seat
onto the LATCH lower anchorage so that the
connectors lock into place ~
fig. 225 .
.,. Pull on the connector attachments to ma ke
sure they are properly attac hed to the LATC H
lower ancho rage .
.,. Pull straps tight fo llow ing the child res traint
manufacturer's instruct ions.
Releasing
.,. Loose n the tension on the straps fo llowing
t he child restra int manufac turer's inst ruc­
tions .
.. Depress the spring catches to release the
anchorage hooks from t he lower anchorag­
es.
Remember: Use tether straps to help keep the
c h ild restraint firmly in place .
A WARNING
'-
Improper use of the LATCH system can in-
crease the risk of serious personal in jury
and death in an accident.

Relea sin g the teth er str ap
"' Loosen the tens ion following the child re ­
stra int manufac turer's instructions .
"' Depress the spring catch on the hook and re­
lease it from the anchorage.
"' For the second row of se ats: Push the floor­
ing forward into place aga in.
"' For the third row of seats:* Replace the
plast ic cover cap .
([) Note
If you leave the child restraint with the
tether strap firmly insta lled for severa l
days, th is cou ld leave a mark on the up­
holstery on the seat cushion and bac krest
in the area whe re the tether strap was in­
s talled. The upho lstery wo uld a lso be per­
manently stretched around the tethe r
strap . This applies especially to leather
seats .
Using tether straps on rearward-facing
child restraints
Currently , few rear-facing child restraint sys­
tems come w ith a tether . P lease read and
h eed the child restraint system manufactur­
e r's instruc tions caref ully to determine how to
p roperly insta ll the tethe r.
A WARNING ,~
A child in a rearward -facing child sa fety
seat insta lled on the front passenger seat
w ill be seriously injured and can be k illed if
the front a irbag inflates - even with an Ad­
vanced Airbag System.
- The inflating a irbag wi ll hit the child
safety seat or infant carrier w ith great
force and w ill smash the ch ild safety seat
and child against the backrest, center
armrest, or door .
- A tight tether or other strap on a rear­
ward-fac ing child restra int attached to
the front passenger seat can put too much pressure on the weight-mat i n the
s ea t and regis ter a heavier we igh t in the
Advanced Airbag System. The heav ier
Child Sa fet y 223
weight registered can make the system
work as though an adult were on the seat
and deploy the Advanced Airbag when it must be suppressed causing ser ious or
even fatal injury to the ch ild.
- If you must install a rearward fac ing
child safety seat on the front passenger
seat because of exceptional c ircumstan­
ces and t he
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
lig ht does not come on and stay on, im­
mediately insta ll the rear-fac ing ch ild
safety sea t in a rear seating position and
have the airbag system i nspected by your
Audi dea le r.
Additional Information
Sources of information about child
restraints and their use
T he re a re a number of sour ces of add itiona l
information about child rest raint se lection, in ­
stallation and use:
N HT SA advises t hat the bes t chi ld safety seat
is the one that fi ts you r ch ild and fits in you r
vehicle, and that yo u will use correct ly and
consistently.
T ry before yo u buy!
U.S National Highway Traffi c Safety Admin­
i s tration
T el.: 1-888-3 27-4 236 (TIY: 1-800-424-9153)
http://www .nhtsa.gov
National SAFE KIDS Campaign
Tel.: (202) 662-0600
http://www .safe kids.o rg
Safety BeltSafe U.S.A
Tel.: (800) 745 -SAFE (English)
Tel.: (800) 747-SANO (Span ish)
http://www .ca rseat.org
Transport Canada Information C entre
Tel.: 1-800-333-0371 or call
1-613-998-86 16 if you a re in the Ottawa area
http://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/ roadsafety/
menu. htm
Audi Cu stomer R elation s
Tel.: (800) 822-2834
•
•

A WARNING 1-=
-ESC, ABS, ASR and EDL cannot overcome
the laws of physics. This is espec ially im­
portant on slippery or wet roads. If the
systems begin act ing to stab ilize your ve­
hicle, you should immediately change
your speed to match the road and traffic conditions. Do not let the increased sa fe­
ty provided by these systems tempt you
to take r isks. Doing so will increase the
risk of a loss of vehicle control, collision
and ser ious persona l injuries.
- Always adapt your speed to road, traffic
and weather conditions. The risk of los­
ing control of the vehicle increases when
dr iv ing too fast, especially through
curves and on slippery or wet roads, and
w hen driving too close to vehicles up
ahead. ESC, ABS, the b rake assist sys­
tem, ASR and EDL cannot prevent co lli­
sions.
Switching on/off --- -
Intellig ent technolog y 225
-Always accelerate with special care on
even, smooth surfaces such as those that
are wet or covered with ice and snow.
The drive wheels can spin even with
these assistance systems that cannot al­
ways he lp to reduce the risk of loss of ve­
hicle control.
@ Tips
- ABS and ASR only work correctly when
all four wheels are equipped with identi­
cal tires. D iffe rent tire sizes can lead to a
reduction in engine powe r.
- Yo u may hear noises when the systems
descr ibed are working.
- If the ind icator light
DJ or ~ (USA
mode ls)/ ii] (Canada models) appears,
there may be a malfunction~
page 16,
¢page 18.
•
•
ESC turns on automatically when you start the engine .
. ...---------.,
--------------
Fig. 230 Upper center conso le : ~ O FF button
The fo llow ing situations are exceptions where
it may be useful to switch on offroad mode to
allow the whee ls to spin: -
Rocking the vehicle to free it when it is stuck
- Dr iving in deep snow or on loose ground
- Driving with snow chains
- Dr iving on roug h terrain when much of the
car's weight is lifted off the whee ls (ax le ar ­
ticu lation)
- Dr iving downhi ll wh ile braking on loose
ground

226 Intelligent technology
Offroad mode on Offroad mode off
Behavio r
The ESC and ASR stabilization functions The fu ll stabilization function of the ESC
are limited
c> Li::,. .
Operation Press the 1.$ OFFI button.
Indicator fl turns on.
lights
D rive r mes-
Stabilization control (ESC): Offroad.
sages Warning! Rest ricted stability
Hill descent control
The hill descent control is switched on in off­
road mode. When slowly descending steep
gradients on loose ground or when the axles
are articulated, h ill descent control provides
assistance by automatically applying the
brakes to keep vehicle speed constant. The ve­
h icle is also rendered easier to steer by selec­
tive distribution of braking force . Hill descent
control intervenes when:
- the accelerator pedal is not pressed,
- the vehicle is trave lling less than 12 mph
(20 km/h),
- a steep gradient is detected,
-wheel behavio r indicates loose ground or
conditions with poor adhesion (e .g. also ax le
articulation) .
H ill descent control operates both driving for ­
ward and in reverse . Active hill descent con­
trol is deactivated by pressing the accelerator
pedal until the conditions for activation al ­
ready listed are met again.
A WARNING
You should only switch offroad mode on if
your dr iving abilities and road cond itions
permit.
- The stabilization function is limited
when offroad mode is switched on. The
dr iv ing wheels could spin and the vehicle
cou ld swerve, especially on slick or slip­
pery road surfaces.
- You should only sw itch offroad mode on
when driving offroad. and ASR
is available again.
Press the
1 .$ OF FI button again.
fl turns off.
Stabilization control (ESC): On
(D Tips
Offroad mode cannot be switched on when
adaptive cruise control* is switched on .
Brake system
Operating conditions and driving habits
The brakes on today's automobiles are still
subject to wear, depending largely on operat­
ing conditions and driving habits
c> Li::,. . On
vehicles that are either driven most ly in stop­
and-go city traffic or are dr iven hard, the
brake pads should be checked by your author­
ized Audi dealer more often than specified in
the Warranty & Maintenance booklet . Failure
to have your brake pads inspected can result
in reduced brake performance.
On steep slopes, you should use the braking
effect of the engine . This way, you prevent un­
necessary wear on the brake system .
If you
must use your brakes, do not hold the brakes
down continuously. Pump the brakes at inter­
vals.
Noises may occur when braking depending on
the speed, b raking force and outs ide cond i­
tions such as temperature and humidity.
Moisture or road salt
Under certain conditions, for example, when
driv ing through water or very heavy rain, or
even after washing your veh icle, the braking
effect can be reduced due to moisture (or in
freezing conditions ice) on the bra ke pads. A
f ew careful brake applications should dry off
the brake pads or remove any ice coatings.
jll,,

228 Intellig ent technol ogy
- Never let the vehicle ro ll to a stop with
the engine shut off.
- If the brake booster is not working, the
brake pedal must be pressed considera­
bly harder to make up for the lack of
booster assistance.
Servotronic - advanced
power steering system
The power steering systems uses the power of
the running engine to allow precise steering
with little effort.
The advanced Servotronic power steering sys­
tem senses the road speed and electronically
adjusts powe r assistance to provide comforta­
b le and safe steering response exact ly match­
ed to the vehicle speed.
Power steering w ill not work if the eng ine is
off. As a result, the steering wheel w ill be hard
to turn.
The power steering fluid level is checked dur­
ing the scheduled ma intenance serv ices .
@ Note
If the re is an electronic malfunct ion, ser­
votronic
w ill still function like a conven­
tional power steer ing system, p roviding a
constant steer ing support force that is no
longer proportionate to the vehicle speed .
This is most noticeab le when turning the
steering whee l at low speeds (for examp le
when parking), -more effort will be re­
quired than usual.
- Be aware of the different than usua l
steering response and adjust your steer­ i ng force accord ingly.
- Have the prob lem checked and set right
by an Aud i dealer as soon as possible.
- When the engine is running , never hold
the steering whee l turned all the way to
the right or to the left for longer than
15
seconds . The power steer ing pump w ill
overheat the hydraulic flu id if you keep holding the steering wheel turned all the
way . This is likely to damage the power
steering system.
- If the powe r stee ring system sho uld fail
entirely, or if the engine is not running
(for example, whi le be ing towed), you
will still be able to steer the ve hicle.
However,
considerably more effort will
be required to do so .
- If the power steering system should
have a leak, or is not functioning proper­
ly, contact your author ized Audi dealer
immediately .
- The power steering system requ ires a
specially formulated hyd ra ulic fluid . The
powe r stee ring reservoir is the one locat­
ed farthest to the rear on the left s ide of
the engine comp artment r=;,
page 259.
T he correct fluid level in the reservoir is
important for proper functioning of the
power steering .
Driving with your
quattro
With all-wheel drive , all four wheels are driv­
en .
Gen eral information
With all-wheel drive, power is distributed to
all four wheels. This happens au toma tically
depending on your driving style and the road
condit ions at the time . See also r=;,
page 224 .
Winter tire s
When driving in the winter, yo ur vehicle with
a ll-wheel drive has an advantage, even wi th
regular tires . In winter road conditions it may
be advisable to mount winter tires (or all -sea ­
son tires) for improved dr iveability and brak­
ing : these tires must be mounted o n
all four
wheels. See also r=;, page 288, Winter tires.
Tire chains
Where tire chains are mandatory on certain
roads, this normally also appl ies to veh icles
with all-wheel driver=;,
page 289, Snow
chains .