2015 AUDI A7 Owners Manual

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Use the height adjustment to change the posi­
tion of the shoulder belt of the front safety
belts.
.&_ WARNING
Improperly positioned safety belts can
cause serious personal injury in an acci­
dent.
-
- The shoulder belt should lie as close to
the center of the collar bone as possible
and should fit well on the body. Hold the
belt above the latch tongue and pull it
evenly across the chest so that it sits as
low as possible on the pelvis and there is
no pressure on the abdomen. The belt
should always fit snugly¢
fig. 157. Pull
on the belt to tighten if necessary.
- A loose-fitting safety belt can cause seri­
ous injuries by shifting its position on
your body from the strong bones to more
vulnerable, soft tissue and cause serious injury.
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS and
other important information
¢ page 141.
Pregnant women must also be correctly
restrained
The best way to protect the fetus is to make
sure that expectant mothers always wear
safety belts correctly -throughout the preg­
nancy.
Fig. 158 Safety belt pos itio n during pr egnancy
To provide maximum protection, safety belts
must always be positioned correctly on the
wearer's body
¢ page 142.
Safety belts 143
.. Adjust the front seat and adjustable head
restraint* correctly ¢
page 53, General rec­
ommendations .
.. Hold the belt by the tongue and pull it even­
ly across the chest and pelvis ¢
fig. 158,
¢& .
.. Insert the tongue into the correct buckle of
your seat until you hear it latch securely
r=:;, page 141, fig. 156 .
.. Pull on the belt to make sure that it is se­
curely latched in the buckle.
A WARNING
-
Improperly positioned safety belts can
cause serious personal injury in an acci­
dent.
- Expectant mothers must always wear the
lap portion of the safety belt as low as
possible across the pelvis and below the
rounding of the abdomen.
-Always read and heed all WARNINGS and
other important information¢ &.
in Fas­
tening safety belts on page 142.
Unfastening safety belts
Unbuckle the safety belt with the red release
button only after the vehicle has stopped.
,,,,,
Fig. 159 Re leas ing the tong ue from the buck le
.,. Push the red release button on the buckle
r=:;, fig. 159. The belt tongue will spring out
of the buckle
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0 ...
"' 0 ±
~
.,. Let the belt wind up on the retractor as you
guide the belt tongue to its stowed position.
Ill>

144 Safet y belt s
A WARNING
Never unfasten safety belt while the vehi­
cle is moving. Doing so will increase your
r isk of being injured or killed .
Adjusting safety belt height
With the aid of the safety belt height adjust­
ment, the three point safety belt strap rout­
ing can be fitted to the shoulder area, accord ­
ing to body size .
Fig. 160 Safety belt height adjustment for the front
sea ts - loop -around f ittings
The shoulder belt should lie as close to the
center of the collar bone as possible and
should fit well on the body¢
A in Safety belt
position on page 143.
,. Push
the loop-around fittings up ¢fig. 160
@ , or
"'"squeeze together the@ button, and push
the loop-around fitt ings down @.
"'" Pull the belt to make sure that the upper at­
tachment is p roperly engaged.
A WARNING
Always read and heed a ll WARNINGS and
other important information¢
page 141 .
@ Tips
With the fron t seats, the height adjust­
men t of the seat can also be used to adjus t
the posit ion of the safety be lts.
Improperly worn safety belts
Incorrectly positioned safety belts can cause
severe injuries .
Wearing safety belts improperly can cause se­
rious injury or death. Safety belts can o nly
work when they are correctly positioned on
the body . Improper seating pos itions reduce
the effectiveness of safety belts and will even
i ncrease t he risk of injury and death by mov­
ing the safety be lt to crit ica l areas o f the
body. Improper seating positions also in­
crease the risk of serious injury and death
when an airbag deploys and strikes an occu­
pant who is not in the correct seating posi­
tion. A driver is respons ible for the safety of
all veh icle occupants and especially for chil­
dren . Therefore:
"'" Never permit anyone to assume an incorrect
sitting position in the vehicle while traveling
¢&_ .
A WARNING
Improperly worn safety be lts increase the
r isk of ser ious persona l injury and death
whenever a vehicle is being used.
- Always ma ke sure that all vehicle occ u­
pants are co rrectly restra ined and stay in
a correc t seating position whe never the
veh icle is being used .
- Always read and heed all WAR NINGS a nd
o ther important inform ation
¢page 141.

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Safety belt preten­
sioners
How safety belt pretensioners work
In fron t, side and rear-end collisions above a
parti cular severi ty and in a rollover, safety
b e lts ar e te nsion ed automatically .
Reversible safety belt tensioners
The safety belts on the front seats are equip­
ped wit h power reve rsible tensioners . T he fo l­
l ow ing f un ct ions are available w hen the dr iv ­
e r' s/fron t passenger 's sa fety bel ts are fas­
tened :
- Automatic tensioners: at the start of a d rive,
the safety be lts automatically adjust to the
passenge r aft er a certai n time period o r ve­
hicle speed. To switch the automa tic ten­
s ioners off, select the fo llow ing in the M MI:
I CAR I funct ion button > (Car )* systems > Ve·
hide sett ings
> Seats > Driver 's seat or Pas ­
senger's seat
> Automat ic belt tensione r >
Off.
-In certa in driving situations, the safety belts
may t ighten with a reversib le tensioning
function
¢ page 192.
-The safety belts may also tighten w ith this
r evers ible tension ing funct ion in mino r colli­
s ions .
Pyrotechnic safety belt pretensioners
The safety be lts are equipped with safety be lt
pretensioners. The system is activated by sen­
s o rs in fron t, side and rear-end collisions of
great severity and in a rollover . Th is tightens
the bel t and takes up be lt slack ¢&.
in Service
and disposal of safety belt pre tensioner on
page 146.
T aking up the s lack helps to redu ce
forward occup ant movemen t during a colli ­
sion.
A WARNING
- It is possib le for the pre tensioners to de­
ploy i ncor rect ly .
- T he pyrotechnic sys tem can only provide
protection for one co llision. If the pyro -
Safety belts 145
technic pretensioners deploy, the preten­
sioning system must be replaced .
(D Tips
The pyro technic safety be lt pretensioners
ca n only deploy once .
- T he safety bel t pretensioners do not de­
ploy in minor frontal and s ide collisions,
in rear-end co llisions, i n rollovers and in
co llisions involving very little impact
f o rce.
- A fine dust is released w hen the py ro­
technic safety be lt pretensioners dep loy.
Th is is normal and is not caused by a fire
in the vehicle.
- The re levant safety requi rements must
be observed when the vehicle or compo­
nents of the system are scrapped . A
qualified dealership is fam iliar with
these regulations and will be please d to
pa ss o n the information to yo u.
- Be sure to observe all safety, env iron­
ment al and ot her regu la tio ns if t he ve hi­
cle or ind ividu al p ar ts of t he system, par­
t ic ular ly the s afe ty belt or airbag, are to
be disposed. We recommend you have
your authorized A udi dealer perform this
service fo r you .
Service and disposal of safety belt
pretensioner
The safety belt pretens ione rs are parts of the
saf ety be lts on your Aud i. Insta lling, remov­
i ng, se rv ici ng o r repair ing of be lt pre tension­
ers can dam age the safe ty belt sy stem and
prevent it from working correctly in a co lli­
sio n.
T he re a re some impo rtan t thi ngs you have to
kn ow to m ake su re th at the effectiveness o f
t h e sys tem w ill not be impaired and tha t dis­
ca rded components do not cause injury o r pol -
lu te the environment . ..,_ •
•

146 Safety belts
,8. WARNING
Improper care, servicing and repair proce­
dures can increase the risk of personal in­
jury and death by preventing a safety belt
pretens ioner from act ivat ing when needed
or act ivat ing it unexpectedly:
- The belt pretensioner system can be acti­
vated only once. If belt pretens ioners
have been act ivated, the system must be
replaced.
- Never repair, adjust, or change any parts
of the safety belt system.
- Safety belt systems includ ing safety be lt
pretensione rs cannot be repaired. Spe­
ci al procedures are required for removal,
installation and disposal of this system.
- For any work on the safety belt system,
we strongly recommend that you see
your authorized Audi dealer or qualified
technician who has an Audi approved re­
pair manual, training and specia l equip­
ment necessary.
@ For the sake of the environment
Undep loyed airbag modu les and preten ­
sioners might be classified as Perchlorate
Material -specia l hand ling may apply, see
www.dtsc.ca.gov/haza rdou swaste/per­
chlorate. When the vehicle or parts of the
restraint system including airbag modules
safety belts w ith pretens ioners are scrap­
ped, all applicable laws and regulations
must be observed. Your authorized Aud i
deale r is familiar with these requ irements
and we recommend that you have your
dea ler perform this service for you.

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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, always:
"" Adjust the driver's seat and steering wheel
properly ¢
page 129,
"" Adjust the front passenger's seat properly
¢ page 54,
""Wear safety be lts properly r::::> page 141,
""Always properly use the proper child re-
stra int to protect ch ildren
r::::> page 173.
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 prope rly . T herefore in order to help the
a irbag to do its job, it is impo rtant, both as a
d river and as a passenge r to s it properly at all
times.
By keep ing room between your body and the
steer ing whee l and the front of the passenge r
compartment, the airbag can i nflate fully and
comp lete ly and provide supp lemen tal protec­
tion in ce rtain frontal collisions
r::::> page 129,
Proper occupant seating positions .
For deta ils
on the operation of the seat adjustment con­
trols
¢ page 54.
It's espe cially important that children a re
p roperly restrained
r::::> page 173.
There is a lot that the d river and the passen­
ge rs ca n and must do to help the individua l
safety features ins talled in your A ud i work to­
gether as a system.
P rope r seat ing pos ition is important so that
the front airbag on the dr iver s ide ca n do its
job. If yo u have a physical impa irment or con-
A irbag system 147
dition that prevents yo u from sitting properly
o n the driver seat with the safety belt properly
f astened and reach ing the peda ls, or if you
have concerns with regard to the function or
operation o f the Advanced Airbag System,
please contact your author ized Audi dealer or
qualified wo rkshop, o r call Audi Customer Re­
l ations at 1-800-822-2834 fo r poss ible modi­
fica tions to your veh icle.
When the airbag system dep loys, a gas gener ­
ator will fill t he a irbags, break open the pad­
ded cove rs, and inflate between the steer ing
whee l and the dr ive r and between the instru­
ment pane l and the fron t passenger. The a ir­
bags will deflate immedia tely after dep loy­
ment so that the front occupants can see
thro ugh the windshie ld again witho ut inter­
ruption .
A ll of th is takes place in t he blink o f an eye, so
f ast that many people don't even realize that
the airbags have deployed. 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 ­
c u pant's fo rward movement . Togethe r they
help to preve nt the drive r and front seat pas­
senger from h itti ng pa rts of the inside of the
vehicle while reducing the forces act ing 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. Airbags do not
protect the arms or the lower parts o f the
body.
Both front airbags wi ll not inflate in all fronta l
collisions . The trigge ring of the airbag system
depends on the vehicle dece lerat ion rate
ca used by the co llision and registered by the
elec tron ic control unit. If t his rate is below
the reference value programmed into the con ­
tro l unit, the airbags will not b e trigge red,
even t hough the car may be bad ly damaged as
a res ult of the co llision . Ve hicl e damage, re­
pair costs or even the lack of ve hicle damage
is not necessarily an indica tion of whether an
airbag shou ld inflate or not . .,. •
•

148 Airbag sys tem
Since the cir cumstances will vary considerab ly
between one collision and anot her, it is not
possib le to def ine a range of vehicle speeds
that will cover every possible k ind and angle
of impact t hat will always trigger the a irbags.
Important factors include, for example, the
nature (hard or soft) of the object which the
car h its , the ang le of impact, vehicle speed ,
etc. The front airbags will also not inflate in
side or rea r collisions, or in ro ll-overs .
Always remember : Airbags will deploy only
once, and only in certa in k inds of co llisions .
Your safety belts are always there to offer pro­
tection in those s ituations in which airbags
a re not supposed to deploy, or when they have
a lready deployed ; for example , when your ve­
hicle strikes or is struck by another vehicle af­
te r the first co llision .
This is jus t one of the reasons why an a irbag is
a supplementary restra int and is not a substi­
tute fo r a safety belt . The airbag system
works most effect ively when used with the
safety belts. There fore, always properly wear
your safety belts¢
page 138.
A WARNING
Sitting too close to the steer ing whee l or
instrument panel will dec rease the effec­
t iveness of the airbags and will increase
the risk of personal injury in a collision .
- Never sit closer than 10 inches (2S cm)
to the stee ring wheel or instrument pan­
el.
- If you cannot sit more than 10 inches
( 2 5 cm) from the s teer ing whee l, investi­
gate whethe r adap tive equipmen t may
be available to help you reach the pedals
and increase your seating distance from
the steering wheel.
- If you are unrestrained, lean ing fo rward,
sitting sideways or out of position in any
way, your risk of in jury is much higher.
- You will also receive serio us injuries and
cou ld even be killed if you are up against
the airbag or too close to it when it in­
flates - even with an Advanced Airbag. -
To reduce the risk of injury when an a ir­
bag inflates, always wear safety be lts
properly ¢
page 141, Safety belts.
-Always make certain that ch ildren age 12
or younger always ride in the rear seat. If
children are not properly restrained, they
may be severe ly injured or killed when an
ai rbag inflates .
- Never let children ride unrestrained or
improperly restrained in the vehicle. Ad ­
just the front seats prope rly .
- Never ride with the back rest reclined .
- Always sit as far as possible from the
steer ing whee l or the instrument pane l
¢page 129.
-Always sit upright with your back against
the backrest of your seat .
- Never p lace your feet on the instrument
panel or on the seat. Always keep both
feet on the floor in front of the seat to
help prevent serio us in ju ries to the legs
and h ips if the airbag inflates.
- Never recline the front passenger 's seat
to transport objects , Items can a lso
move into the a rea of the s ide airbag or
the front a irbag du ring bra king or in a
sudden maneuve r. Objects nea r the air ­
bags can become projectiles and cause
in jur y when an airbag inflates.
A WARNING ~
Airbags that have deployed in a crash must
be replaced.
- Use on ly orig ina l equipment airbags ap­
proved by Aud i and installed by a trained
technician who has the necessary too ls
and d iagnost ic equipment to properly re­
p lace any airbag in your vehicle and as­
sure system effectiveness in a crash .
- Never permit salvaged or recycled air­
bags to be installed in your vehicle .

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Child restraints on the front seat - some
important things to know
.. Be sure to read the important information
and heed the WARNINGS for important de­
tai ls about children and Advanced Airbags
~page 173.
Even though your vehicle is equipped with an
Advanced Airbag System, make certain that
a ll chi ldren, especially those 12 years and
younger, always ride in the back seat properly
restra ined for their age and size. The airbag
on the passenger side makes the front seat a potentially dangerous place for a child to r ide .
The front seat is not the safest place fo r a
chi ld in a fo rward-facing chi ld seat. It can be a
very dange ro us p lace for an infant or a ch ild in
a rearward -facing seat.
The Advanced Airbag System i n your veh icle
h as been cert ified to comp ly with the require­
men ts of Uni ted States Federa l Mo to r Veh icle
Safety Standard 208 as applicable at the time
your vehicle was manufactured.
The Standard requires the front a irbag on the
passenger side to be turne d off ("sup­
p ressed") if a child up to about one year of
age restrained in one of the rear-facing or for­
ward -facing infant restraints listed in Federal
Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208 with wh ich
the Advanced Airbag System in your vehicle
was certified has been installed on the front
passenger seat. For a listing of the child re­
straints that we re used to certify compliance
with the US Safety Standard ~
page 175.
The PASS ENGER AIR BAG OFF light in the in­
strument panel te lls you when the front Ad­
vanced A irbag on the passenger side has been
turned off by the e lectronic control u nit.
Each t ime you sw itch on the ignit ion, the
PAS­
SENGER AIR BAG OFF
l ight w ill come on for a
few seconds a nd:
- will stay on if the front passenger seat is not
occup ied,
- will stay on if the electrical capacitance
measured by the capacitive passenger de­
tection system for the front passenge r seat
A irbag sys tem 149
equa ls the combined capacitance of an in­
fant up to about one year of age and one of
the rearwa rd-facing o r forward-fac ing ch ild
restraints listed in Federal Motor Vehicle
Safety Standard 208 with which the Ad­
vanced Airbag System in your ve hicle was
cert ified. Fo r a listing of the child restraints
that were used to certify your vehicle's com­ p lia nce w ith the U.S. Safety Standard
~page 175.
-w ill stay on if t he re is a small ch ild or child
restrai nt on the front passenge r seat,
- w ill go off if the front passenger seat is oc­
cupied by an adult as registered by the ca­
pacitive passenger det ection sys tem
~ page 159, Monitoring the Advanced Air­
bag System.
T he PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF lig ht comes on
when e lec tric al capacitan ce registe red on the
fron t passenger seat is eq ua l to or less than
the combined capacitance of a typical 1 year ­
o ld infant and one of the rearward-facing or
f orward -facing child restraints listed in Feder­
al Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208 with
which the Advanced Airbag System in your ve­
hicle was certified.
If the total e lectr ica l capacitance registered
on the front passenger seat is more than that
of a typical 1 year-old child but less than the
weight of a small adult, the front airbag on
the passenger side can deploy (the
PASSEN­
GER AIR BAG OFF
light does not come on).
If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does
not come on, the front airbag on the passen­
ger side has not been turned off by the e lec­
tron ic cont ro l unit and ca n deploy if the con­
t rol unit senses an impact tha t mee ts the co n­
di tions s to red in its memo ry.
For example, th e airbag may deploy if:
- a small ch ild that is heav ier than a typical 1
year-old child is on the front passenger seat
(regard less of whether the child is in one of
the ch ild seats listed~
page 175), or
- a child who has outgrown child restraints is
on the front passenge r seat. .,,. •
•

150 Airbag sys te m
If the front passenger airbag is turned off, the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes on in
the instrument cluster and stays on.
I f the front passenger airbag deploys, the
F ederal Standard requires the airbag to meet
the " low risk" deployment criteria to reduce
the r isk of injury through interaction with the
a irbag. "Low risk" deployment occurs in those
crashes that take place at lower decelerations
as defined in the electronic control unit
c::> page 160, PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light.
A lways remember, a chi ld seat or infant carri­
er installed on the front seat may be struck
and knocked out of position by the rap idly in ­
flating passenger's a irbag in a frontal colli­
sion . The airbag could greatly reduce the ef­
fectiveness of the ch ild restraint and even se­
rio usly inju re the child during inflat ion.
For this reason, and because the back seat is
the safest place for chi ldren - when properly
restra ined accord ing to their age and size - we
strongly recommend that children always sit in the back seat
c::> page 173, Child Safety.
_& WARNING
-
A child in a rearward -facing child seat in ­
stalled on the front passenger seat will be
seriously injured and can be killed if the
front airbag inflates - even with an Ad­
vanced Airbag System.
- The inflating a irbag will hit the child seat
or infant carrier with great force and w ill
smash the ch ild seat and child against
the backrest, center armrest, door or roof.
- Always install rear-facing child seats on the rear seat.
- If you must install a rearward facing
child seat on the front passenge r seat
because of exceptiona l circumstances
and the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not come on and stay on, immedi­
ately install the rear-f acing chi ld seat in a
rear seating position and have the ai rbag
system inspected by your Aud i dealer. -
Forward-facing child seats installed on
the front passenger's seat may interfere
with the deployment of the a irbag and
cause serious persona l injury to the
child.
_& WARNING
-If, i n except ional circumstances, you must
i nsta ll a forward-facing child restraint on
the front passenge r's sea t:
- Always make sure the forward-facing
seat has been designed and certified by
its manufacture r fo r use on a fron t seat
with a passenger fron t and s ide a irbag.
- Never p ut the fo rward -facing child re­
s tra int up against or very near the instru­
men t panel.
- Always move the passenge r seat into its
rearmost pos ition in the seat's fore and
aft ad justment range, as fa r away from
the airbag as possible before installing
the forward-facing ch ild restra int . The
backrest must be ad justed to an upright
position.
-Make sure that the PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
li ght comes on and stays on all the
time whenever the ignition is switched on .
_& WARNING
-To reduce the risk of serious injury, make
sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light w ill be displayed whenever a child re­
straint is installed on the front passenger
seat and the ignition is sw itche d on .
- If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not s tay on, perform the checks de­
scribed
<> page 159, Monitoring the Ad­
vanced Airbag System.
- Ta ke the chi ld restraint off the front pas­
senger sea t and install it prope rly at one
of the rear seat positions i f the
PASSEN­
GER AIR BAG OFF
light does not stay on.
- Have the airbag system inspected by
your Aud i dea ler immediately.