2016 AUDI A7 Owners Manual

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Safety belts
General information
Always wear safety belts!
Wearing safety belts correctly saves lives!
This chapter exp lains why safety be lts are neces­
sary, how they work and how to adjust and wear
them cor rectly.
~ Read a ll the information that fo llows and heed
all of the instructions and WARNINGS .
A WARNING
Not wearing safety belts or wearing them im­
properly increases the risk of serious personal
injury and death.
- Safety belts are the sing le most effective
means availab le to reduce the risk of serious
injury and death in automobile accidents.
For yo ur protection and that of your passen­
gers, always correct ly wear safety belts
when the veh icle is moving.
- Preg nant women, injured, or physically im­
paired pe rsons must also use safety belts.
Lik e all ve hicle occupants, t hey are more
likely to be seriously injured if they do not
wea r safety belts . The best way to protect a
fetus is to protect the mother -througho ut
the entire pregnancy.
Number of seats
Your Audi has a total of four seating positions:
two in the front and two in the rear. In some
ve hicles, there are five seat ing positions: two in
the front and th ree in the rear . Each seat ing pos i­
tion has a safety belt.
A WARNING
N ot wea ring safety bel ts or wearing them im­
prope rly i ncrea ses the r is k of se rious person al
injury and death.
- Never st rap more than o ne pe rson, in cl ud ­
ing small c hildren, in to any bel t. It is espe­
c ially dangerous to place a sa fety belt over a
child sitting on your lap.
Sa fety bel ts
- Never let more people ride in the vehicle
than there are safety belts available.
- Be s ure everyone riding in the vehicle is
properly restrained with a separate safety
belt or child restraint.
~ Safety belt warning light
Your vehicle has a warning system for the driver
and front seat passenger (on USA models only)
to remind you about the importance of buckling­
up.
Fi g. 146 Safety belt warni ng light in the instr ument clus­
te r -en larged
Befor e dr iv ing off , always :
~ Fasten yo ur safety belt and make su re you are
wearing it properly.
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~ Make sure that your passengers also buck le up
and properly wear their safety belts.
~ Protect childre n w ith a child restraint system
app rop riate for the s ize and age .
The warning lig ht . in the instrument cluster
li ghts up when the ignit ion is on as a reminder to
fasten the safety belts . In add ition, you will hear
a warn ing tone for a certa in pe riod of time .
Fasten your safety belt and make sure that your
passengers al so properly put on their safety
belts .
A WARNING
-
-Safety belts are the s ingle most effective
means ava ilable to reduce t he risk of se rious
inj ury and death in au tomobile acc iden ts.
F or your protec tion and that of your passen ­
ge rs, always correctly wear safety belts
when the vehicle is moving .
13 5

Safety belts
-Failure to pay attention to the warning light
that come on, could lead to personal injury.
Why use safety belts?
Frontal collisions and the law of physics
Frontal crashes create very strong forces for peo­
ple riding in vehicles.
F ig. 147 Unbelted occupants in a vehicle heading for a wall
Fig . 148 The vehicle crashes into the wall
The physical principles are simple. Both the vehi­
cle and the passengers possess energy which var­ies with vehicle speed and body weight. Engi­
neers call this energy "kinetic energy."
The higher the speed of the vehicle and the
greater the vehicle's weight, the more energy
that has to be "absorbed" in the crash.
Vehicle speed is the most significant factor.
If the
speed doubles from 15 to 30 mph (25 to 50 km/
h), the energy increases 4 times!
Because the passengers of this vehicle are not us­
ing safety belts¢
fig . 147, they will keep moving
at the same speed the vehicle was moving just
before the crash, until something stops them -
here, the wa ll
c> fig. 148.
136
The same principles apply to people sitting in a
vehicle that is invo lved in a frontal collision. Even
at city speeds of 20 to 30 mph (30 to 50 km/h),
the forces acting on the body can reach one ton
(2,000 lbs, or 1,000 kg) or more. At greater
speeds, these forces are even higher .
Peop le who do not use safety belts are also not
attached to their vehicle. In a fronta l co llision
they will also keep moving forward at the speed
their vehicle was travelling just before the crash.
Of course, the laws of phys ics don't just apply to
frontal coll is ions, they determine what happens
in all kinds of accidents and collisions.
What happens to occupants not wearing
safety belts?
In crashes unbelted occupants cannot stop
themselves from flying forward and being in­
jured or killed. Always wear your safety belts!
Fig. 149 A driver not wearing a safety belt is violently
thrown forwar d
Fig. 150 A rear passenge r not wea ring a safety belt will fly
forward and strike the drive r
Unbelted occupa nts are not able to resist the t re­
mendous forces of impact by holding tight or
bracing themselves. Without the benefit of safe ­
ty restraint systems, the unrestrained occupant
will slam violently into the steering wheel, .,.

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instrument panel, windshield, or whatever else is
in the way~
fig. 149. This impact with the vehi­
cle interior has all the energy they had just before
the crash.
Never rely on airbags alone for protection. Even
when they deploy, airbags provide only additional
protection. Airbags are not supposed to deploy in
all kinds of accidents. Although your Audi is
equipped with airbags, all vehicle occupants, in­
cluding the driver, must wear safety belts cor­
rectly in order to minimize the risk of severe in­
jury or death in a crash.
Remember too, that airbags will deploy only once
and that your safety belts are always there to of­
fer protection in those accidents in which airbags
are not supposed to deploy or when they have al­
ready deployed . Unbelted occupants can also be
thrown out of the vehicle where even more severe
or fatal injuries can occur.
It is also important for the rear passengers to
wear safety belts correctly . Unbelted passengers
in the rear seats endanger not only themselves
but also the driver and other passengers
¢ fig. 150. In a frontal collision they will be
thrown forward violently, where they can hit and
injure the driver and/or front seat passenger.
Safety belts protect
People think it's possible to use the hands to
brace the body in a minor collision. It's simply
not true!
Fig. 151 Driver is correc tly restra ined in a sudden braking
maneuve r
Safety belts used properly can make a big differ­
ence. Safety belts help to keep passengers in
their seats, gradually reduce energy levels ap-
Safety belts
plied to the body in an accident, and help prevent
the uncontrolled movement that can cause seri­
ous injuries . In addition, safety belts reduce the
danger of being thrown out of the vehicle.
Safety belts attach passengers to the car and give
them the benefit of being slowed down more
gently or "softly" through the "give" in the safety
belts, crush zones and other safety features engi­
neered into today's vehicles. By "absorbing" the
kinetic energy over a longer period of time, the
safety belts make the forces on the body more
"tolerable" and less likely to cause injury.
Although these examples are based on a frontal collision, safety belts can also substantially re­
duce the r isk of injury in other kinds of crashes.
So, whether you're on a long trip or just going to
the corner store, always buckle up and make sure
others do, too. Accident statist ics show that vehi­
cle occupants properly wearing safety belts have
a lower risk of being injured and a much better
chance of surviving an accident. Properly using
safety belts also greatly increases the ability of
the supplemental airbags to do their job in a col­ lision. For this reason, wearing a safety belt is le­
gally required in most countries including much
of the United States and Canada.
Although your Audi is equipped with airbags, you still have to wear the safety belts provided. Front
airbags, for example, are activated only in some
frontal coll isions. The front airbags are not acti­
vated in all frontal coll is ions, in side and rear col­
lisions, in roll overs or in cases where there is not
enough deceleration through impact to the front
of the vehicle. The same goes for the other airbag
systems in your Audi . So, always wear your safety
belt and make sure everybody in your vehicle is
properly restrained !
Important safety instructions about safety
belts
Safety belts must always be correctly positioned
across the strongest bones of your body.
.,. Always wear safety belts as illustrated and de­
scribed in this chapter.
.,. Make sure that your safety belts are always
ready for use and are not damaged.
137

Safety belts
_&. WARNING
Not wearing safety belts or wearing them im­
properly increases the risk of serious personal
injury and death . Safety belts can work only
when used correctly .
- Always fasten your safety belts correctly be­
fore driving off and make sure all passen­
gers are correctly restrained.
- For maximum protection, safety belts must
always be positioned properly on the body .
- Never strap more than one person, includ­
ing small children, into any belt .
- Never place a safety belt over a child sitting
on your lap .
- Always keep feet in the footwell in front of
the seat while the vehicle is being driven .
- Never let any person ride with their feet on
the instrument panel or sticking out the
window or on the seat .
- Never
remove a safety belt while the vehicle
is moving . Doing so will increase your risk of
being injured or killed .
- Never wear belts twisted .
- Never wear belts
over rigid or breakable ob-
jects in or on your clothing, such as eye
glasses, pens, keys, etc ., as these may cause
injury .
- Never allow safety belts to become dam­
aged by being caught in door or seat hard ­
ware.
- Do not wear the shoulder part of the belt
under your arm or otherwise out of position .
- Several layers of heavy clothing may inter­
fere with correct positioning of belts and re ­
duce the overall effectiveness of the system.
- Always keep belt buckles free of anything
that may prevent the buckle from latching
securely .
- Never use comfort clips or devices that cre­
ate slack in the shoulder belt. However, spe­
cial clips may be required for the proper use
of some child restraint systems.
- Torn or frayed safety belts can tear, and
damaged belt hardware can break in an acci­
dent . Inspect belts regularly. If webbing,
bindings, buckles, or retractors are dam-
138
aged, have belts replaced by an authorized
Audi dealer or qualified workshop .
- Safety belts that have been worn and loaded
in an accident must be replaced with the
correct replacement safety belt by an au­
thorized Audi dealer. Replacement may be
necessary
even if damage cannot be clearly
seen. Anchorages that were loaded must al­
so be inspected.
- Never
remove, modify, disassemble, or try
to repair the safety belts yourself .
-Always keep the belts clean . Dirty belts may
not work properly and can impair the func­
tion of the inertia reel¢
table on page 207.
Safety belts
Fastening safety belts
Safety first -everybody buckle up!
Fig. 152 Be lt buckl e and to ngue o n th e dri ver's se at
To provide maximum protection, s afety belts
must always be positioned correctly on the wea r­
er's body.
... Adjust the front seat and head restra int proper ­
ly ¢
page 52, General informa tion.
... Make sure the seatback of the rear seat bench is
in an upright position and securely latched in
place before using the belt
q &_ .
.,. Hold the belt by the tongue and pull it evenly
across the chest and pelvis ¢&_ .
.,. Insert the tongue into the correct buckle of
your seat until you hear it latch securely
¢fig. 152.
... Pull on the belt to make sure that it is securely
latched in the buckle .
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Automatic safety belt retractors
Every safe ty belt is eq uipped w ith an automatic
be lt re tractor on the shou lder belt. This fea ture
l ocks the belt when the be lt is pulled o ut fast ,
d uring hard braking and in an accident . The belt
may a lso lock when you drive up or down a steep
h ill or through a sharp curve. During normal driv­
ing the belt lets you move free ly.
Safety belt preten sioner s
The safety belts are equipped w ith a be lt p reten ­
sioner that helps to tighten the safety belt and
remove s lack when the pretensioner is activated
c::> page 141. The funct ion of the pretensioner is
monitored by a warni ng light
c::> page 18.
Convert ible locking ret ra ctor
Every safety belt except the one on the driver
seat is equipped with a convertib le locking retrac­
tor that
m ust be used when the safety belt is
used to attach a child seat. Be sure to read the
important information about this feature
c::> page 177 .
A WARNING
Improperly positioned safety belts can ca use
ser ious injury in an a cci dent
c::> page 139,
Safety belt position .
-Safety belts offe r optimum protection only
when the seatback is upright and belts are
properly positioned on the body.
- Always make sure that t he rear seat back­
re st to which the cente r rear safety belt* is
attached is securely latched whenever the
rear center safety belt is being used . If the
backrest is not securely latched, the passen ­
ger will move forward with the backrest dur­
ing sudden braking, i n a sudden maneuver
and especially in a crash.
- Never attac h the sa fety belt to the buck le
for another seat. Attaching the belt to the
wrong buckle will reduce safety be lt effec­
t iveness and can cause serious personal in­
jury.
- A passenger who is not p roperly rest rained
can be seriously in ju red by the safety belt it­
self when it moves from t he stronger parts
Safety belts
of the body into critical areas like the abdo­
men .
- Always lock the convertible locking retractor
when yo u are secur ing a chi ld seat in the ve­
hicle
c::> page 179.
@ Tips
For information on safety belt pretensione rs,
r efer to
c::> page 141.
Safety belt position
Correct belt position is the key to getting ma xi­
mum protection from safety belts.
Fig . 1 53 Safety belt posit ion
Use the height adjustme nt to change the posit ion
of the shoulder belt of the front safety belts .
A WARNING ~
Imp roperly posit ioned safety be lts can cause
se riou s pe rsonal injury in an accident.
- The s hou lder belt should lie as close to the
ce nter of the collar bone as possib le and
should fi t well on the body. Hold the bel t
above the latch tongue and pull it evenly
across the ches t so t hat it sits as low as pos ­
sib le on the pe lvis and there is no pressure
on the abdomen. The belt should always fit
snug ly
c::> fig. 153. Pu ll on the belt to tighten
if necessary.
- A loose-fitting safety belt can ca use serio us
in juries by shifting its position on your body
from the strong bones to more vulnerable, soft t issue and cause serious injury .
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS and
other important information<=:>
page 137.
139

Safety belts
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 pregnancy.
Fig. 154 Safety belt posit ion during pregnancy
To provide maximum protection, safety belts
must always be pos itioned correctly on the wear­
er's body ¢
page 139 .
... Adjust the front seat and adjustab le head re­
stra int* correctly ¢
page 52, General informa­
tion .
... Hold the belt by the tongue and pull it evenly
across the chest and pelvis¢
fig. 154, ¢ ,.&. .
... Inse rt the tongue into the correct buckle of
your seat until you hear it latch securely
¢page 138, fig . 152.
... Pull on the belt to make sure that it is securely
latched in the buckle.
A WARNING
Improperly positioned safety belts can cause
serious personal injury in an accident.
- Expectant mothers must always wear the
lap portion of the safety belt as low as pos­
sible across the pelvis and below the round­
ing of the abdomen .
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS and
other important information
¢ A in Fasten­
ing safety belts on page 139 .
140
Unfastening safety belts
Unbuckle the safety belt with the red release
button only after the vehicle has stopped.
.,,
Fig. 155 Re leasing th e tongue from th e buckle
... Push the red release button on the buckle
¢ fig. 155. The belt tongue will spring out of
the buckle
¢ A.
... Let the belt wind up on the retractor as you
guide the belt tongue to its stowed position .
A WARNING
Never unfasten safety belt while the vehicle is
moving . Doing so will increase your risk of be­
ing injured or killed .
Adjusting safety belt height
With the aid of the safety belt height adjust­
ment, the three point safety belt strap routing
can be fitted to the shoulder area, according to
body size.
Fig. 156 Safety belt heigh t adjustment for the front seats
- loop -around fittings
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The shoulder belt should lie as close to the center
of the collar bone as possible and should fit well
on the body
¢ ,.&. in Safety belt position on
page 139.
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~ Push the loop-aro und fittings up ¢ fig. 156 @,
or
~ squeeze together the (D button, and push the
loop-around fittings
do wn@ .
~ Pull the belt to make sure that the upper at­
tachment is properly engaged.
A WARNING
Always read and heed all WARNINGS and oth­
er important information
¢ page 137.
With the front seats, the height adjustment
of the seat can also be used to adjust the po­
sition of the safety belts.
Improperly worn safety belts
Incorrectly positioned safety belts can cause se­
vere injuries .
Wearing safety be lts improperly can cause seri­
ous injury or death. Safety belts can on ly work
when they are correct ly posit ioned on the body .
Imp roper seat ing posit ions reduce the effective­
n ess of safety belts and will even inc rease the risk
of inju ry and death by moving the sa fety be lt to
cr it ica l areas of the body. Improper seat ing posi­
tions also increase the risk of ser ious injury and
deat h when an airbag deploys and stri kes an oc­
cupant who is not in t he cor rect seating posit ion .
A driver is responsible for the safety of all veh icle
occupants and espec ially for children. Therefore :
~ Never permit anyone to ass ume an inco rrect sit-
t ing position in the vehicle while trave ling
¢ ,& .
A WARNING
Imprope rly worn safety belts increase the risk
of serious personal injury and death whe never
a vehicle is be ing used.
- Always make sure that al l vehicle occupants
are co rrectly restrained and stay in a cor rect
sea ting pos it ion whenever the veh icle is be­
ing used.
- Always read and heed all WARNI NGS and
ot her important i nfo rmat ion
¢page 137 .
Safety bel ts
Belt tensioners
How safety belt pretensioners work
In front, side and rear-end collisions above a
particular severity and in a rollover, safety belts
are tensioned automatically.
Reversible safety belt tensioners
The safety belts on the front seats are eq uipped
with power reversib le tensioners. The fo llow ing
funct ions are availab le when the driver's/front
passenge r's safety belts are fastened:
- Automatic tens ioners : at the start of a drive,
the safety belts automat ica lly adjust to the
passenger after a certain time per iod or vehicle
speed. To sw itch the automat ic tensioners off,
s e lect the following in the MMI:
!CA RI fu nction
button
> (Car )* systems > Vehicle s etting s >
Seats > Driver's seat or Pass enger' s seat > Au­
tomatic belt ten sioner
> Off .
- In ce rtai n dr iv ing s ituations, the safety belts
may tighten w ith a revers ible tens ion ing f unc­
t ion
¢ page 185.
-The s afety be lt s may also t igh ten wi th th is re-
versible tens ion ing funct ion in m inor collisions.
Pyrotechnic safety belt pretensioners
The safety belts are equ ipped with safe ty belt
pretensioners . The system is act ivated by se nsors
i n front, side and rea r-e nd coll is ions of great se­
ver ity and in a ro llover. This tig htens the belt and
ta kes up belt slack¢ .&.
in Service and disposal of
safety belt pre tensioner on page 14 2.
Taking up
t h e slack he lps to reduce forward occupa nt
movement during a collision.
A WARNING
- It is poss ible for the pretens ioners to deploy
incorrectly.
- The pyrotechnic system can only provide protection for one coll is ion. If the pyrotech­
n ic pretensioners deploy, the pretens ion ing
sys tem must be replaced .
(1) Tips
The pyrotechnic safety be lt pretensioners can
o nl y dep loy once . .,.
141

Safe ty belt s
- The safety belt pretensioners do not deploy
in minor frontal and side collisions, in rear­
end collisions, in rollovers and in collis ions
invo lv ing very little impact force.
- A fine dust is released when the pyrotechnic
safety be lt pretensioners dep loy. This is nor­
mal and is not caused by a fire in the vehi­
cle.
- The relevant safety requirements must be observed when the vehicle or components
of the system are scrapped . A qualified
dealersh ip is familiar with these regulations
and will be p leased to pass on the informa­
tion to you.
- Be sure to observe all safety, environmental
and othe r regulations if the vehicle or indi­
v idual parts of the system, particularly the
safety be lt or a irbag, are to be disposed. We
r ecommend you have your autho rized Aud i
dealer perform this service for you .
Service and disposal of safety belt preten­
sioner
The safety be lt pretensioners are parts of the
safety belts on your Audi . Installing, removing ,
servicing or repa iring of belt pretens ioners can
damage the safety belt system and prevent it
from working correctly in a co llision.
There are some important things you have to know to make sure that the effect iveness of the
system w ill not be impaired and that d isca rded
components do not cause injury or pollute the
env ironment.
_& WARNING
-
Imprope r care, servicing and repair proce­
dures can increase the risk of personal injury
and death by preventing a safety belt preten­
sioner from activating w hen needed or acti­
vating it unexpectedly :
- The be lt pretensioner system can be activat­
ed only once .
If belt pretensioners have
been act ivated, the system must be re­
placed .
- Never repa ir, adjust, or change any parts of
the safety be lt system .
142
-Safety belt systems including safety belt
pretens ioners cannot be repa ired. Spec ial
procedures are required for remova l, instal­
lation and disposal of this system.
- For any work on the safety belt system, we
strongly recommend that you see your au­
thorized Audi dealer or qualified technician
who has an Audi approved repair manual, train ing and spec ial equ ipment necessary .
@ For the sake of the environment
Undeployed airbag modules and pretension­
e rs might be classified as Perchlorate Material
-special handling may apply, see
www .dtsc.ca.gov/hazardouswaste/perchlo­
r ate. When the vehicle or pa rts of the re­
straint system incl uding airbag modules safe­
ty belts w ith pretens ioners are scrapped, all
applicable laws and regulations must be ob­
served . Your a uthorized Audi dealer is familiar
with these requirements and we recommend
that you have your dea ler perform this serv ice
for you.