
12 Instrum ent s and w arn ing /indic ato r light s
-Never open the engine hood if you see or
hear steam, or if you see engine coolant
dripping from the engine compartment.
You could burn yourself . Let the engine
cool off first until you can no longer see
o r hear steam or coo lant escaping.
@ Note
- Mounting additional lights or accessories
i n front of the a ir inlets reduces the cool
i ng effect of the rad iator . At h igh outside
temperatures or high eng ine load, the
engine could overheat.
- The front spo iler has been designed to
proper ly distribute the cooling air when
t h e ve hicle is moving.
If the spoiler is
dam aged, th is co uld red uce the cooling
effect and the engine co uld then over
heat . Ask your authorized Audi dea ler for
assistance .
Tachometer (engine rev counter)
The tachometer indicates the engine RPM
(revolutions per minutes).
If engine RP M drops be low 1,500, yo u should
downshift to the next lower gear. The red a rea
at the end of the sca le indicates maximum
perm iss ib le engine RPM after the break-in pe
riod. Before reaching this area, move these
lector lever to position D/S (Drive) or ease
your foot off the accelerator pedal.
(D Note
The tachometer needle should on ly br iefly
be in the red zone: you could damage your
engine! The beginn ing of the red zone var
ies depending on the engine .
@ For the sake of the environment
Upshifting early saves fuel and reduces en
gine noise.
Fuel gauge
The fuel gauge only works when the ignition is
on .
If the fuel level d rops below 2 . 6 ga llons (10 liters), the bottom LED turns red and the
indicator light
Em turns on
¢ page 22. The
bottom LED blinks red when the fuel level is
very low.
T he possible range based on the current fuel
level is shown in tab@<=>
page 24, fig . 4 .
(D Note
Never run the tank completely dry. An ir
r egular supply of f uel can cause engine
misfiring and fuel could enter the ex ha ust
system . The catalytic converter could then
overheat and be damaged.
Warning/indicator Lights
Description
The ind icator lights in the instrument cluster
blink or turn on. They indicate funct ions or
malfunctions <=>,& .
Messages may appear with some indicato r
lights. A warning signal will sound at the
same t ime. The indicator lights and messages
in the center of the displays may be rep laced
by other d isplays . To show them again, select
the tab for ind icator lights and messages us
i ng the multifunction steering wheel
Q page 24. If t here are several malfunc
t ions, you can display them one at a time us
ing the thumbwheel.
Some indicato rs lights in the d isplay can turn
on in severa l co lors.
A WARNING
- F ailure to heed w arning l igh ts and other
important vehicle in forma tion may res ult
in ser io us personal inj ury or vehicle dam
age .
- Whenever stalled or stopped for repair, move the vehicle a safe d istance off the
road, stop the engine, and turn on the
emergency flasher<=>
page 45.
-The engine compartment of any motor
veh icle is a potentially hazardous area.
Before you chec k anything in the engine

-When installing the roof rack, make sure it
is only mounted on the designated locations
on the roof¢
fig. 61 .
-We recommend that you keep the installa
tion instructions for your roof rack system
together with your Owner's literature in the
vehicle.
Wh en should th e roof rack be remov ed ?
- Before going through an automatic car wash
(it is best to ask the car wash operator for
advice).
- When not in use, to reduce fuel consump
tion, wind noise and to guard against theft.
8_ WARNING
- Use of an unapproved roof rack or incor
rect mount ing of an approved roof rack
can cause the roof rack or the items at
tached to it to fall off the roof onto the road.
- Objects falling from the roof of a vehicle
can cause a crash and personal injury .
- Only mount the roof rack on the desig
nated locations on the roof¢
fig. 61 .
-The roof rack system must be installed
exactly according to the instructions pro
vided .
- When driving with a roof rack system,
changes to the center of gravity and wind
resistance can change the veh icle han
dling and lead to a collision . Always
adapt you r driv ing and your speed to the
c u rrent conditions.
(D Note
- Your vehicle warranty does not cover any
damages to the vehicle caused by using
r oof racks or mount ing structures not
approved by Audi for your vehicle . T he
same applies to damage resulting from
incorrect roof rack installa tion.
- Always check t he roof rack moun tings
and hardware before each trip and dur
i ng a trip to make sure everything is se
curely tightened . If necessary, retighten
the mount ings and check the entire sys
tem from t ime to t ime.
S eat s an d sto rage 63
-After mounting a roof rack system, or
when you transport objects on the roof
of your vehicle, the heig ht of the veh icle
is naturally increased. Be careful when
dr iving under low bridges or in parking
garages for example. This cou ld cause
damage to the load and even the vehicle
itself .
- Make sure the open rear lid and the sun
roof* do not come into contact w ith the
roof rac k.
Loading the roof rack
Always distribute loads evenly. Make sure
anything on the roof rack is securely tied
down.
"' Always distribute the loads on the roof rack
even ly.
"' Always attach items to the roof rack securely
befo re you dr ive off.
The maximum permissible roof weight is
220 l b (100 kg) . The roof weight is the total
of the we igh t of the roof rack, t he attach
ments and the cargo you a re carry ing . You
must a lso not exceed the max imum load
weight for the roof rack yo u are using .
When using a roof rack system which has a lower load ca rrying capacity, you must not use
u p the tota l maximum permissible load car ry
ing capacity specified above . Instead, you
sho uld load the roof rack system only to the
max imum capacity specified by the manufac
turer of the roof rack system.
8_ WARNING
Weak, damaged or improper straps used
to secure items to the roof rack can fail
du ring hard b raking o r in a coll is ion and
cause ser ious persona l injury.
- Make sure the roof rack is installed exact
ly as specif ied above ¢
page 62.
- Always use su itable mount ing straps for
secur ing items to the roof rack to help
prevent items from sh ifting or flying for
ward.

64 Seats and storage
-Items on the roof rack must always be
sec urely mo unted.
- The use of a roof rack can negative ly af
fect the way a vehicle handles. Cargo
that is large, heavy, bulky, long or flat
will have a greater negative inf lue nce on
the vehicle's aerodynamics, center of gravity and overall handling . Always
dr ive slowly, avo id sudden braking and
maneuvers when tra nsporting cargo on
the roof of you r vehicle.
- Never exceed the maximum perm iss ible
load carryi ng capacity of the roof of yo ur
vehicle, the perm issib le axle weights and
the permiss ible total weight of your veh i
cle
¢ page 282, Weights .
@ For the sake of the environment
As a res ult of the increased w ind resist
ance crea ted by a roof rack, your ve hicle is
using fue l unnecessarily . So remove the
roof rack after using it .
Luggage compartment
Loading luggage compartment
Luggage items must be stowed securely.
Fig . 62 Place heavy obj ects as far forwar d as po ssible .
Note the following to prese rve the vehicle's
good hand ling cha ra c te ris tic s .
.. Distribute the load as evenly as possible .
.. Place heavy objects as far fo rward as possi
ble
¢ fig . 62 .
.. Secure luggage items wi th the cargo ne t* or
with non -elast ic retain ing s traps to the t ie
down r ings*
¢ page 66.
A WARNING """-iiiiiiiii
- Loose objects i n the l uggage compa rt-
ment can slide about suddenly and a lter
the vehicle's ha nd ling characteristics .
- Loose objects i n the passenge r compart
ment can fly forward during abrupt ma
ne uvers or accidents and inju re occu
pants .
- Always sto re objects in the luggage com
partment and use s uitable straps, partic
ularly w it h heavy objects.
- When you t ransport heavy objects, al
ways remember that a change in the cen
ter of gravity m ay result in a change in
the vehicle's hand ling c harac teristi cs.
- Follow all warnings
¢ page 130, Driving
Safely.
(D Tips
The t ire pressure mus t be adj usted to the
l oad -see the t ire p ressure sticker located
o n the dr iver's side 8-pilla r.
Luggage compartment cover
The luggage compartm ent cover consists of
two parts .
• • Fig. 63 Cov er in th e open rear lid
F ig . 64 Cover be hind th e r ear bench seat
![AUDI S7 2014 Owners Manual cannot engage the reverse gear. Drive to your
authorized Audi dealer or qualified repair fa
cility immediately to have the malfunction
corrected.
[O] Transmission malfunction: St AUDI S7 2014 Owners Manual cannot engage the reverse gear. Drive to your
authorized Audi dealer or qualified repair fa
cility immediately to have the malfunction
corrected.
[O] Transmission malfunction: St](/manual-img/6/57602/w960_57602-116.png)
cannot engage the reverse gear. Drive to your
authorized Audi dealer or qualified repair fa
cility immediately to have the malfunction
corrected.
[O] Transmission malfunction: Stop vehicle
and shift to P
Do not continue driving. Select the P selector
l eve r position and see your autho rized Aud i
dealer or qualified repair facility for assis
tance.
(D Note
If the transmission switches to emergency
mode, you should take the vehicle to an
authorized Audi dealership as soon as pos
sible to have the cond ition corrected.
Selector lever emergency release
Applies to vehicles: with S tro nic/t iptronic
If the vehicle's power supply fails, the selec
tor lever can be released in an emergency.
Fig. 121 F ront center co nsole: selecto r lever emergen
c y r elease
~ To r each the emergency release mechanism,
remove the asht ray insert* .
~ Loosen and remove the small cap in the ash
tray mount
~ fig. 121.
~ You now have access to a bolt. Using a
screwdriver or simi lar, press the bolt down
and hold it down.
~ Now press the interlock and move the selec-
tor lever to the N pos ition.
The selector lever can only be moved from the P posit ion if the ignition is turned on . If the
vehicle has to be pushed or towed if the power
supp ly fai ls (e .g . battery is discha rged), the
Automatic Transmission 115
selector lever must first be moved to the N
position using the emergency locking device.

156 Airbag sys te m
If the tota l electrical capacitance registe red
on the front passenger seat is more than that
of a typ ica l 1 year-old, but less than the
weight of a small adult, the front a irbag on
the passenger side may deploy (the
PA SSE N
GER AIR BAG OFF
li ght 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 seats listed
¢ page 177),
-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.
If the front passenger airbag deploys, the
F ederal Standard requires the airbag to meet
the " low risk" deployment criteria to help re
d uce the risk of injury 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 161.
Alw ays rem ember : Even though your vehicle
is equipped with Advanced Airbags, the safest
place 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 a ll of the WARNINGS.
.&_ WARNING
To reduce the risk of injury when an airbag
inflates, a lways wear safety belts prope rly.
- If you are unrestrained, lean ing fo rward,
sitting sideways or out of position in any
way, your risk of injury 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
¢page 149.
.&_ WARNING
A child in a rearward-fac ing ch ild seat in
stalled on the front passenger seat will be
seriously injured and can be killed if the
front airbag inflates - even w ith an Ad
van ced A irbag System.
- Altho ugh the Advanced Airbag System in
your veh icle is designed to turn off the
front airbag when a rearward-facing
child restraint has been instal led 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 seat
or infant carrier with great force and will
smash the child seat and child against
the backrest, center armrest, door, or roof.
- Always install rearward-facing ch ild re
straints on the rear seat .
- If you must install a rearward fac ing
child seat on the front passenger seat because of exceptional circumstances
and the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not come on and stay on, immed i
a tely insta ll the rear-facing child seat in a
rear seat ing pos ition and have the airbag
system inspected by your Audi dealer.
.&_ WARNING ,..___
If, in except iona l circumstances, you m ust
install a forward -facing child restraint on
the front passenger's seat:
- 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 s ide a irbag.
- Never p ut the forward-facing child re
straint up against or very near the instru
ment panel.
- Always move the passenger seat into its
rearmost pos ition in the seat's fore and
aft ad justment range, as far away from
the airbag as possible, before install ing
the forward-fac ing ch ild restra int. The
-

backrest must be adjusted to an upright
posit ion.
- Always make sure that there is nothing
on the front passenger seat that will
cause the capacitive passenger detection
system in the seat to s ignal to the A irbag
System that the seat is occupied by a person when it is not, or to signa l that it
is occupied by som eone who is heavier
than t he pe rson actually s itting on t he
sea t. T he presence of addition al obje cts
cou ld cause the passenger front airbag
to be t urned on when it sho uld be off, or
cou ld cause t he airbag to work in a way
that is different from the way it wou ld
have worked without the object on the
seat.
- Make sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
light comes on and stays on all the
t ime w henever the ignition is switc hed
on.
Advanced Airbag System components
The front passenger seat in your vehicle has a
l ot of very important parts of the Advanced
A irbag System in it. These parts incl ude t he
c a pac itive passenger de te ct ion sys tem, wir
ing, b racke ts, and more . The cont ro l uni t
monitors the system o n the front passenger
seat when the ign ition is switched on and
turns the airbag indicator light on w hen a
malfunct ion in the one of the system compo
nents is detected ¢
page 162. Because the
fro nt passenge r seat contains important parts
of the Advanced Airbag System, you must
take care to p revent it from bei ng damaged.
D amage to the seat may preven t the Ad
vanced A irbag System for the front passenger
seat from doing its job in a crash .
The front Advanced Airbag System
consists of the following:
-Crash sensors in the front of the veh icle tha t
measure ve hicle acceleration/dece le ration
to provide information to the Advanced Air bag System about the severity of the crash.
A irbag system 157
- An elect ron ic contro l unit, with integrated
crash sensors fo r front and side impacts .
T he control un it "decides" whether to f ire
the front a irbag s based on the informat ion
received from the crash sensors. The control
unit also "decides" whether the safety belt
prete nsione rs should be act iva ted .
- An Advanced A irbag w it h gas generator and
cont ro l valve for the driver ins ide the steer
ing wheel h ub.
- An Advanced A irbag w ith gas generator and
cont ro l valve inside the instrument pa nel for
the front passenger .
- A capacit ive passenger detection system un
de rneath the front passenger seat cover .
This system measu res the ele ct rical capac i
t ance of the perso n in the seat. The informa
t ion regis tered is se nt cont inuo usly to the
elec tronic con trol un it to regu late dep loy
ment of the front Advanced A irbag on the
passenger side.
-An airbag monitoring system an d ind icator
light in the instr ument cluster ¢
page 161.
-A senso r in each front seat registers the dis
tance between the respective seat a nd the
steering whee l or instrument panel. The in
formation registered is sent cont inuo usly to
the electron ic contro l unit to regulate de
ployment of the front Adva need A irbags .
- The
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF li ght comes
on and stays on in the center of the instr u
ment panel ¢
page 162, fig . 164 and tells
you whe n the front Advanced Airbag on the
passenger side has been tu rned off.
- A senso r in t he safety belt latch fo r the d riv
er and fo r the front seat passenger that
senses whethe r th at safety belt is latched or
no t and tra nsmi ts this informa tion to the
elec tro nic con trol un it.
A WARNING
D amage to the fron t passenger se at can
p revent the front air bag from work ing
p roperly.
- Imp roper repai r or disassembly of the
front passenge r and dr iver seat will pre
vent the Advanced Airbag System from
functioning properly.
-
•
•

160 Airbag sys te m
the vehicle. This dust is made up most ly of a
powder used to lubricate the airbags as they
deploy . It cou ld irritate sk in .
I t is important to remember that whi le the
supp lemental airbag system is designed to re
duce the likelihood of serious injuries, other
in ju ries, for example swelling, bruising and
minor abrasions, can also happen when air
bags inflate. Airbags do not protect the arms
or the lower parts of the body . Front airbags
supplement the three-poi nt safety belts only
in some frontal co llisions in which the vehicle
dece lera tion is high enough to deploy the air
bags.
Front airbags will not d eploy:
- if the ignit ion is switched off when a crash
occurs,
- in s ide collisions,
- in rear-end collisions,
- in ro llovers,
- when the crash deceleration measured by
the airbag system is less than the minimum
threshold needed for airbag deployment as
registered by the electronic control unit.
Th e front pa ssenger airbag al so will not
d epl oy :
-when the front passenger seat is not occu
pied,
- when the electrical capacitance measured by
the capacitive passenger detection system
for the front passenger seat indicates that
the passenger side frontal airbag must be
switched off by the electronic control unit (the
PASSENGER A IR B AG OFF light
c::> page 162 and how they wo rk comes on
and stays on).
.&_ WARNING
Sitting in the wrong position can inc rease
the risk of serious injury in crashes .
- To reduce the r isk of injury when the air
bags inflate, the driver and passengers
must always sit in an upright position,
must not lean against or place any part of their body too close to the area where
the airbags are
located .
- Occupants who are unbelted, out of posi
tion or too close to the airbag can be se
rious ly injured by an airbag as it unfolds
with great force in the blink of an eye
c::> page 151 .
.&_ WARNING
--A child in a rearward-fac ing ch ild seat in -
stalled on the front passenger seat will be
se riously inju red and can be killed if t he
front ai rbag inflates - even w ith an Ad
vanced A irbag System.
- The inflating airbag will h it the c hild seat
or infant car rier with great force and will
smash the child sea t and chi ld against
the backrest, center armrest, door or
roof.
- Always install rear -fac ing chi ld seats on
the rear seat.
- If you m ust insta ll a rearward fac ing
chi ld seat on the front passenger seat
because of exceptional circumstances
and the PAS SENGER AIR BAG O FF light
does not come on and stay on, immed i
ately install the rear-facing child seat in a rear seat ing pos ition and have the airbag
system inspected by you r Audi dealer .
.&_ WARNING
= -
Objects between you and the airbag will
i ncrease the r is k of injury in a crash by in
terfering with the way the a irbag unfolds
or by be ing p ushed in to you as the airbag
i nflates.
- Neve r hold things in yo ur hands or on
your lap when the veh icle is in use.
- Never transpo rt items on o r in the a rea
of the front p assenger sea t. Objects
could move into the a rea of the front air
bags during braking or other sudden ma
neuvers and become dangero us projec
tiles that can cause ser ious personal in-
jury if the a irbags inf late. ..,.

-The PA SS ENGER AIR BAG OFF light must
come on and stay on if the ignition is on
and . ..
- a car bed has been insta lled on the front
passenger seat, or
- a rearward -facing chi ld restraint has been
installed on the front passenger seat, or
- a fo rward-facing child restraint has been in
stalled on the front passenger seat,
- and if the e lectr ica l capaci tance registered
on the front passenger seat is equal to or
l ess than the combined capacitance of a typ
ical 1 year-old infant and one of the rear
ward-facing or forward -facing child re
stra ints listed in Federal Motor Veh icle Safe
ty Standard 208 w ith which the Advanced
Airbag System in your vehicle was certified.
If the front passenger seat is not occupied,
the front airbag will not deploy, and the
P A S·
SE NG ER AIR BA G OFF
light w ill stay on . Nev
er install a rearward-fac ing ch ild restra int on
the front passenger seat, the safest place fo r
a child in any ki nd of child restraint is at o ne
of the seati ng positions on the rear seat
¢ page 151, Child restraints on the front seat
- some important things to know
and
¢ page 175, Child Safety .
If the PASSENGER AIR BAG light com es
on ...
If the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF li ght comes
on when one of the conditions listed above is met, be sure to check the light regularly to
make certa in that the
PA SSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
light stays on cont inuous ly whenever the
ignit ion is on.
If the PA SS ENG ER A IR BAG
OFF
li ght does not appear on and does not
stay on all the time, stop as soon as it is safe
to do so and
- react ivate the system by turning the ignition
off for more than 4 seconds and then turn
i ng it on again;
- remove and reinstall the chi ld restraint .
Make sure that the child restraint is properly
installed and that t he safety be lt fo r the
front passenger seat has been correct ly
ro uted through the child rest raint as descr i-
A irbag system 163
bed in the child restraint manufacturer's in
structions;
- make sure that the convertible locking fea
ture on the safety belt for the front passen
ger seat has been activated and that the
safety belt has been pulled tight.
- make sure t hat no e lectrical device (such as
a laptop, CD p layer, e lectronic games device,
power inverter or seat heater for ch ild seats)
is placed or used on the front passenger
seat if the dev ice is connected to the 12-volt
socket or the cigarette l ighter socket;
- make sure that no seat heater has been ret
rofitted or othe rwise added to the front pas
senger seat;
- make sure that nothing can interfere with
the safety belt buckles and that they are not
obst ructed;
- make sure that there are no wet objects
(such as a wet towel) and no water or other
liquids on the front passenger seat cushion .
If the PASSENGER AIR BAG light still
does not come on ...
If the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light still
does not come on and does not stay on con
tinuously (whe n the ignition is switched on),
- take the child restra int off the front passen-
ger seat and install it properly at one of the
rear seat positions . Have the airbag system
inspected by yo ur Audi dealer immed iate ly.
- move the ch ild to a rear seat position and
make sure t hat the c hild is properly restra in
ed in a ch ild restra int that is app rop riate fo r
its size and age.
The PASSENGER AIR BAG light should
NOT come on .. .
The PAS SENGER AIR BAG OFF lig ht sho uld
NOT come on when t he ignit io n i s on and an
adult is s itting in a proper seating position on
the front passenger seat . If the
PASSENGER
AIR BAG O FF
light comes on and stays on or
flashes for about 5 seconds wh ile driving, un
der these c ircumstances, make sure that:
- the adult on the front passenger seat is
properly seated on the center of the seat
•
•