2015 AUDI A7 towing

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Safet y fir st . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
Driving Safely . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
General notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
Proper occupant seating posit ions . . . 129
Driver and passenger side footwell . . . 133
Pedal area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
Stowing luggage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
R eport ing Safety Defects . . . . . . . . . . . 136
Safety belts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
General notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
Why safety bel ts? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
Safety belts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 1
Safety belt p re tens ioners . . . . . . . . . . 145
Airbag system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
I mpor tant th ings to know . . . . . . . . . . 1 47
Fr ont airbags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
M onitoring the Advanced Airbag
System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
Knee airbags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
Side airbags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
Side curta in a irbags ........ . .... . .
Ch ild Safety ............... .. . .
Important things to know .. .. .. .. . .
C hi ld safety seats ............ .... .
Install ing a chi ld safety seat .. .. ... .
L A TC H L ower ancho rages and tethe rs
fo r ch ild ren . ............. .... .. . .
Addit io nal Informa tion
Audi pre sense .......... .. .. . .
Pr even ta ti ve passe nger p rotec tion
Vehicle operation ....... .. .. . .
Intelligent technology .. .. .. . .
N ot ice about da ta re corded by the
E vent Data Recorder and vehi cle
control mod ules ... .... ... .. .. .. . .
Elect ronic Stabilization Control (ESC) .
Rear spoiler ............. .... .. . .
Braking .. .. ................. .. . .
Elect romechan ical power assist, 169
173
173
179
184
187
19 1
192
19 2
194
194
194
195
197
198
dynam ic steering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200
D riving w ith your quattro . . . . . . . . . . 200
E ne rgy management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 1
Table of contents 3
Driving and environment . . . . .
203
T he first 1,000 miles (1 ,500 km) and
afterwa rds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
Avoid damaging the vehicle . . . . . . . . . 204 Driving through water on roads . . . . . 204
Catalytic co nverter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
D iesel pa rticulate filter . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
S hu tting down vehi cle . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
Operate your vehicle e conomically and
min imi ze poll ution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
Trailer towing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208
Dr iving wit h a trailer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208
T ra ile r tow ing t ips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
Vehicle care . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 12
Vehicle care and cleaning . . . . . 212
Genera l informa tion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212
Car was hes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212
Cleaning and care information . . . . . . 213
Fuel supply and filling your
fueltank ... .. .... . ... ...... ... .
217
Gasoline .. .. .. .. .. .. .. . . .. .. .. .. 217
Diesel fuel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218
Fuel tank.. .. .. .. .. .. ........... . 219
Se lective cata lytic reduction . . . . . . . . 221
Checking and filling . . . . . . . . . . . 225
Engine hood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225
En gine compartment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227
E ngine o il . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227
En gine cooling system . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231
Br ake fluid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234
Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235
Windshie ld/headlight * washer
co ntainer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238
Tires and wheels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 0
T ires . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240
Tire pressure mo nitoring system 2 70
Do-it-yourself service . . . . . . . . . 273
What do I do now? . . . . . . . . . . . . 273
Emergency warn ing triangle . . . . . . . . 273
Vehicle tool kit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273
Changi ng a wheel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275
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4 Table of contents
Fuses and bulbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
281
F uses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281
Bulbs. ... .. ... ... .... ... .. .. .... 284
Emergency situations . . . . . . . . . 285
General . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285
Starting by push ing or tow ing . . . . . . . 285
Starting with jumper cables . . . . . . . . 285
Use of jumper cab les . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286
Eme rgency towing with commercial
tow truck . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287
Lift ing vehicle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289
Technical data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 1
Technical data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291
Vehicle ident ifica tion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 1
Weights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 1
D imensions .... .. ..... ... .. .. ... . 292
Capacities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292
Gasoline engines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293
Diese l eng ine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293
Consumer Information . . . . . . . 294
Warranty coverages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294
Operating your vehicle outside the U.S.A. or Canada . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294
Audi Service Repair Manuals and Literature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294
M aintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294
Addit ional accesso ries, modifications
and parts replacement . . . . . . . . . . . . 296
D eclaration o f Compliance,
Te lecommunication and E lectronic
Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297
Inde x ... .. .. . .. ..... ... .. .. .... 299

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Instruments and warning/indicator lights 23
Go to an authorized dea lership to have the
headlights or the contro l unit for the Adaptive
Light repaired.
fi.D Light/rain sensor
El Automatic headl ights/automatic wipers:
system fault
If the indicator light t urns on and this mes ­
sage appears, the light/rain sensor is not
functioning correctly .
F or safety reasons the low beams are turned
on permanent ly with the switch in
AUTO.
However, you can continue to turn the lights
on and off using the light switch. You can still
control all funct ions that are independent of
the rain sensor through the windsh ield wiper
lever .
Contact your author iz ed Audi dealer as soon
as possible to have the problem corrected.
I-: Sport differential
App lies to vehicles: with sport different ia l
IIJ Sport differential: system fault
There is a malfunct ion with the sport differen­
tial.
Drive to your authorized Audi dea ler immedi­
ately to have the malfunction corrected.
IIJ Sport differential : overheating
The transmission temperature has increased
sig nificantly due to the sporty dr iv ing manner .
Dri ve i n a less sporty manner until the tem­
perature returns to the normal range and the
indicator light switches of .
A WARNING
Contact your authorized Audi dealer or a
qualif ied workshop if the sport differential
is faulty or ma lfunctioning. The repa ir
must be performed by trained personnel
using the correct oil in order to ensure
safety .
-
¢ Q Turn signals
The indicator light blinks when you use either
turn signal .
Whenever you use the left . or the right 1B
turn s ignal, the indicator light blinks. When
you use the emergency flashers, both indica­
tor lights flash .
If one of the turn signa l light bulbs burn out,
the turn signal will blink twice as fast as nor­
mal. Carefully dr ive to your authorized Audi
dealer immed iately to have the malfunction
corrected. The ind icator light does not indi­
cate a malfunction if a turn signal on the trail­
er or on the vehicle fails in trailer towing
mode.
(D Tips
For more information on the turn signals,
refer to
q page 46.
CRUISE/' (-) Cruise control
The warning/indicator light Ill (USA models)/
l'I (Canada mode ls) illuminates when the
cruise control is activated
q page 84.

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visibility conditions. For example, fog cannot be detected by the light sensors.
So always switch on the headlights 1§.D under these weather conditions and
when driving in the dark.
- Crashes can happen when you cannot see
the road ahead and when you cannot be
seen by other motorists . Always turn on
the headlights so that you can see ahead
and so that others can see your car from
the back.
- Please observe legal regulations when
using the light ing systems descr ibed .
(D Note
The rear fog lights should only be turned
on in accordance with traffic regulation, as
the lights are bright for following traffic.
@ Tips
- The light sensor* for automatic head­ light range control* is located in the rear
view mirror mount. You should therefore not apply any stickers to the windshield
in this area in order to prevent malfunc­
tions or failures.
- In the event of a light sensor malfunc­
tion, the driver is notified in the instru­
ment cluster display ¢
page 23 .
-You will hear a warning tone if you open
the driver door when the exterior lights
are switched on .
- In cool or damp weather, the inside of
the headlights, turn signals and tail
lights can fog over due to the tempera­
ture difference between the inside and
outside. They will clear shortly after
switching them on. This does not affect
the service life of the lighting .
Clear vision 45
Emergency flasher
The emergency flasher makes other motorists
aware that you or your vehicle are in an emer­
gency situation .
Fig. 37 Ce nt er co nsol e: em erge ncy flash er sw itc h
.,. Press the switch &..¢ fig. 37 to turn the
emergency flashers on or off.
When the emergency flasher is on, all four
turn signals blink at the same time . The turn
signal indicator lights
B DI in the instru­
ment cluster, as well as the light in the emer­
gency flasher switch &.. blink likewise. The
emergency flashers also work when the igni­
tion is turned off.
The emergency flashers will turn on automati­
cally if you are in an accident where the airbag has deployed.
@ Tips
You should turn on the emergency flashers
when:
- you a re the last vehicle standing in a traf­
fic jam so that any other vehicles coming
can see you, or when
- your vehicle has broken down or you are
in an emergency situation, or when
- your vehicle is being towed by a tow
truck or if you are towing another vehicle
behind you.
Adjusting the exterior lighting
The settings are adjusted in the MMI.
.,. Select: !CAR ! function button> (Car)* sys­
tem s
control button > Vehicle settings > Ex-
terior lighting. ..,.

66 Seats and st o rage
Belts showing damage to webbing, bind­
ings, buckles, or retractors must be re­
placed.
(D Note
- If you move the front seat back when the
rear seat backrest is fo lded forward, you
could damage the head restraints on the
rear seat.
- Slide the belt guide on the outside safety
belt all the way up before folding the
backrest back forward. Make sure the
seat belt is not p inched or damaged
when the rear seat backrest if folded
back. Other objects shou ld be removed
from the rear seat bench to protect the
seatbac k from d amage.
Tie -downs and cargo net
The cargo net" prevents small objects from
sliding.
Fig . 68 Locat ion of the tie-downs in the luggage com ­
partment
Fig. 69 Luggage compartme nt: ca rgo net*
... To secure objects with the luggage compa rt­
ment net*, fold the tie-down bracket up­
ward
c:::> fig. 68.
... Insert the hooks on the luggage compart ­
ment net* into the tie-downs
c:::> fig . 69.
... Read and heed all WARNINGS
c:::> page 134,
Stowing luggage.
In a collision, the laws of physics mean that
even smaller items that are loose in the vehi­
cle wi ll turn into heavy missi les that can cause
serious injury. Items in the vehicle pick up ki­
netic energy which varies with the veh icle and
the weight of the item . Vehicle speed is the
most sign ificant factor .
For example, in a frontal collision at a speed
of 30 mph (48 km/h), the forces acti ng on a
10-lb (5 kg) object are about
20 times the
normal we ight of the item . This means that
the weight of the item would sudden ly be the
equivalent of abo ut 200 lbs (90 kg). One can
easily imagine the injuries that an item of that
weight flying freely through the passenge r
compartment ca n cause in a collision at a
speed considered relatively low.
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 retaining straps and
properly secure items to the tie-downs in
the l uggage compartment to help pre­
vent items from shift ing or fly ing for­
ward.
- Never attach a chi ld seat tether strap to
a tie-down.
- For strength-related reasons, the mou nt­
ing hooks can only be used to secure ob­
jects weigh ing up to 10 lb. (5 kg). Heavi­
er objects will not be adequ ately sec ured
- there is a risk of injury.

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General information
Applies to vehicles: with side ass ist
®
©
Fig . 106 Dr iving situations
Fig. 107 Rear of t he ve hicle: positio n of t he se nsors
"' a, 0 0 " a,
Side assist functions at speeds above approx i­
mately 19 mph (30 km/h).
@ Vehicl es th at ar e approaching
In certain cases, a vehicle will be classified as
cr itical for a lane change even if it is still
somewhat far away. The fas ter a vehicle ap­
p roaches, the sooner the display in the exteri­
or m irror will t urn on.
@ Vehicles traveling with you
Vehicles traveling w ith you are indicated in the
exterior m irror if they are classified as cr itical
for a lane change. All vehicles detec ted by
side assist are indicated by the time they en­
ter your "blind spot", at the latest.
Audi side assist 99
@ Veh icle s left behind
If you s low ly pass a vehi cle that s ide assist has
detected (the difference in speed between the
vehicle and you r vehicle is less than 9 mph or
15 km/h), the display in the exterio r mir ror
turns on as soon as the vehicle enters your blind spot.
T he disp lay will not t urn on if you quickly pass
a vehicle that side assist has detected (the dif­
ference in speed between the veh icle and your
vehicle is greater than 9 mph or 15 km/h).
Functi onal limitations
The radar sensors are designed to detect the
left and right adjacent lanes when the road
lanes are the normal width. In certain situa­
tions, the d isp lay in the exterior mirror may
turn on even though there is no veh icle locat­
ed in the area that is cr itical for a lane change.
For example:
- if the lanes are narrow or if your are dr iving
on the edge of your lane.
If this is the case,
the system may have detected the vehicle in
another lane that is
not adjacent to your
current lane .
- if you a re driving through a curve. Side assist
may react to a vehicle that is one lane ove r
from the adjacent lane.
- if side assist reacts to other objects (such as
high or d isp laced guard rails) .
- In poor weather conditions. The side assist
functions are l imited .
Do not cover the radar sensors
c> fig. 10 7 with
stickers, depos its, bicycle wheels or other ob­
jects, because this will affect the funct ion. Do
not use s ide ass ist when towing a trailer. For
i nformation on cleaning, refer to
c> page 212 .
_&. WARNING
-Always pay attention to traffic and to t he
area a round your ve hicl e. S ide assist can­
not replace a driver's attention. T he driv­
er a lone is always responsible for lane
changes and similar driving mane uvers.

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@ Tips
-Side assist is not active while you are
making the adjustment.
- Your settings are automatically stored
and assigned to the remote control key
being used.
Driver messages
App lies to vehicles: with side assist
If side assist switches off by itself, the LED in
the button turns off and a message will ap­
pear in the instrument cluster display:
Audi side assist: Currently unavailable. No
sensor vision
The radar sensors' vision is affected. Do not
cover the area in front of the sensors with bike
wheels, stickers, dirt or other objects. Clean
the area in front of the sensors, if necessary
c> page 99, fig . 107.
Audi side assist: Currently unavailable
Side assist cannot be switched on temporarily
because there is a malfunction (for example,
the battery charge level may be too low).
Audi side assist: System fault!
The system cannot guarantee that it will de ­
tect vehicles correctly and it is switched off .
The sensors have been displaced or are faulty.
Have the system checked by an authorized
Audi dealer or authorized Audi Service Facility
soon.
Audi side assist: Unavailable when towing.
Side assist switches off automatically when a
factory-installed trailer hitch is connected to
the electrical connector on the trailer. There is
no guarantee the system will switch off when
using a retrofitted trailer hitch. Do not use
side assist when towing a trailer.
Audi side assist 101

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Error messages
Applies to vehicles: with parking system plus/rear view
camera/per ipheral cameras
There is an e rror in the system if the LED in
the
p, qA button is blinking and you hear a con­
tinuous alarm for a few seconds afte r switch­
ing on the parking system or when the park ­
ing system is already activated. If the error is
not corrected before you switch off the igni­
tion, the LED in the
Pw.6. button will blink the
next time you switch on the parking system by
shifting into reverse.
Parking system plus
If a sensor is faulty, the~ symbol will appear
in front of/behind the vehicle in the Infotain­
ment display. If a rear sensor is fau lty, only
obstacles that are in areas @ and @ are
shown
c> page 117, fig . 124. If a front sensor
i s faulty, only obstacles that are in areas ©
and @are shown .
Peripheral cameras*
There is also a system error if:
- the
'(:8:)• • symbol appears in the display and
the corresponding display area is shown in
blue. The camera is not working in this area.
- all segments around the vehicles are red or
if no segments are displayed.
Drive to your authorized Aud i dea ler o r au­
thorized repair fac ility immediately to have
the ma lfunction corrected.
Trailer hitch
Appl ies to vehicles: with parking system plus/rear view
camera/per ipheral cameras and trailer hitch
For vehicles using the tra iler socket, the park­
ing system rear senso rs do not turn on when
you shift into reverse gear or when yo u press
the P
01A button. This results in the following re­
strictions:
Parking system plus*
There is no distance wa rning for the rear. The
front sensors rema in activated. The visual d is­
play switches to the traile r tow ing mode.
Parking systems 127
Parking system plus and rear view
camera* /Peripheral cameras*
There is no distance warning for the rear. The
front sensors remain activated. The visual dis­
play switches to the trailer towing mode. The
rear view camera image will not show the ori­
entation lines and the blue surfaces .
{D Tips
Trailer hitches that are not installed at the
factory may cause the park ing system to
malfunction or they may restr ict its func­
tion.