2016 AUDI Q3 Owners Manual

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Applicable to Canada
If you live in Canada and you be­
lieve that your vehicle has a de­
fect that could cause a crash, in ­
jury or death, you should immedi­
ately inform Transport Canada,
Defect Investigat ions and Recalls.
You should also notify Audi Cana­
da .
Canadian customers who wish to
report a safety-related defect to
Transport Canada, Defect Investi­
gations and Recalls , may either
call Transport Canada toll-free at:
Tel.: 1 -800-333 -0510 or
Tel.: 1-819 -994-3328 (Ottawa re­
gion and from other countries)
TTY for hearing impaired: 1-888-67 5-6863
or contact Transport Canada by mail at:
Transport Canada
Motor Vehicle Safety Investiga­
tions Laboratory
80 Noel Street
Gatineau, QC
J8Z 0Al
F or additional road safety infor­
mation, please visit the Road
Safety website at:
Driving safety
http://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/
roadsafety/menu.htm
103

Safety belt s
Safety belts
General information
Always wear safety belts!
Wearing safe ty belts correctly saves lives!
This chapte r explains why safety be lts a re neces­
sary, how they work and how to adjust and wear
them correct ly.
.. Read all the information that follows and heed
all of the instructions and WARNINGS.
&_ WARNING
Not wea ring safety belts or wearing them im­
properly increases the risk of ser ious personal
injury and dea th .
- Safety belts are the s ingle most effective
mea ns ava ilab le to reduce the risk of serious
injury and dea th in automob ile accidents .
For yo ur protect ion and that of your passe n­
gers, alw ays co rre ctly wea r sa fety be lt s
when the veh icle is moving .
- Pregnant wom en, in ju re d, o r physically i m­
paired persons mus t also use s afety be lts.
L ik e all vehi cle o ccu pants, they are mo re
li kely to be serio usly injure d if th ey do no t
wea r safety be lts. The best way to protect a
fetus is to protect the mothe r -th roughout
the ent ire pregnancy .
Number of seats
Your Audi has a total of five seating positions:
two in the front and three in the rear. Each seat­
i n g position has a safety belt.
&_ WARNING
N ot wea ring safety bel ts or weari ng them im­
properly increases th e r isk of ser ious personal
inju ry and dea th.
- N ever st rap more tha n one perso n, includ­
ing small ch ildren, into a ny be lt .
It is espe­
ci ally dan gerous to pla ce a sa fety bel t over a
c hild s itting on you r lap.
- N ever le t mo re people ride in t he vehicle
t h an t he re are saf ety bel ts availab le.
104
-Be sure everyone riding in the vehicle is
properly restrained with a separate safety
be lt or ch ild restraint.
Safety belt warning light
Your vehicle has a warning system for the driver
and front seat passenger to remind you about the importance of buckling-up.
Fig . 11 0 Safety belt wa rning lig ht in th e in st ru ment clu s·
ter · enl arged
Before driving off , always:
.. Fasten yo ur safety belt and make sure you are
wearing it properly.
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.. Ma ke sure that your passengers also b uck le up
and properly wear t heir safety belts.
.. Protect your chi ldren with a ch ild restraint sys ­
tem app ropr iate for the size and age of the chil­
dren .
The wa rning lig ht . in the inst rument cluste r
li ghts up w hen the ig nition is switched on as a re­
minde r to fas ten the safety be lts . In addition,
you w ill hear a wa rn in g tone for a ce rtain per iod
of time .
Fasten your safety belt now and make sure that
your passenger s also properly put on their safe­
ty belt s.
&_ WARNING -
- Safety bel ts are the sing le mos t eff ec tive
means available to re du ce the risk of serio us
in jur y and dea th in a utomobile accidents.
F or your protection and t hat of yo ur passen­
ge rs, a lways cor rect ly wear safety belts
when the vehicle is movin g.

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-Failure to pay attention to the warn ing light
that come on, could lead to persona l injury.
Why use safety belts?
Frontal collisions and the law of physics
Frontal crashes create very strong forces for peo­
ple riding in vehicles .
Fig. 111 Unbelted occupants in a vehicle heading for a wall
Fig. 112 The vehicle crashes into the wall
The physical principles are simple. Both the vehi­
cle and the passengers possess energy which var­ ies 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 we ight, the more energy
that has to be "absorbed" in the crash.
Veh icle speed is the most significant factor. If
the speed doubles from 15 to 30 mph (25 to 50
km/h), the energy increases 4 t imes!
Because the passengers of this vehicle are not us­
ing safety belts
¢fig. 111, they will keep moving
at the same speed the vehicle was moving just
before the crash, until something stops them -
here, the wall¢
fig. 112 .
Safety belts
The same p rinciples apply to people sitting in a
vehicle that is invo lved in a fronta l co llision. 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.
People who do not use safety belts are a lso not
attached to the ir vehicle. In a frontal collis ion
they will also keep moving forward at the speed
their vehicle was travelling just before the crash .
Of course, the laws of physics don't just apply to
frontal collisions, they determine what happens in all kinds of accidents and collisions .
What happens to occupants not wea ring
safety belts?
In crashes unbelted occupants cannot stop
themselves from flying forward and being in­
jured or killed. Always wear your safety belts!
Fig. 113 A driver not wearing a safety belt is violently
th row n forwar d
Fig. 114 A rear passe nger not wearing a safety belt will fly
forward a nd strike the driver
Unbelted occupants are not able to resist the tre­
mendous forces of impact by holding tight or
bracing themselves . Without the benefit of safe­
ty restraint systems, the unrestrained occupant
will slam viol ently into th e steering wheel, .,.
105

Safe ty belts
instrument panel, windshield, or whatever else is
in the way
r:!> fig. 113. This impact with the vehi­
cle interior has all the energy they had just be­
fore the crash.
Never rely on airbags alone for protection . Even
when they deploy, airbags provide only additional
protection. A irbags are not supposed to dep loy in
all kinds of accidents. A lthough your Audi is
equipped w ith 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 offer protect ion in those accidents in wh ic h
airbags are not supposed to deploy or when they
have a lready deployed . Unbel ted occupants can
also be thrown o ut of the veh icle where eve n
mo re severe or fatal injuries can occur .
It is also important for the rear pass engers to
wear safety belts correctly. Unbelted passengers
i n t he re ar seats endanger no t on ly themse lves
but also the drive r and other passengers
~ fig . 114. In a frontal collision they will be
thrown forward violently, where they can hit and
in jure 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!
F ig . 11 5 Driver is co rrectly restrai ned in a sudde n brak ing
m aneu ver
Safety belts used properly can make a b ig d iffer­
ence. Safety belts help to keep passengers in
their seats, gradually reduce energy levels ap-
106
plied to the body in an accident , and help prevent
the uncontrolled movement that can cause seri­
ous injuries. In add ition, sa fety belts red uce the
danger of being thrown out of the vehicle.
Safety be lts attach passengers to the car and g ive
them the benefit of being s lowed down more
gently or "soft ly" thro ugh the "give" in the safety
belts, crush zones and other safety feat ures engi­
neered into today's vehicles. By "absorbing" the
k inet ic energy over a longer per iod of t ime, the
safety belts make the forces on the body more
"tolerab le" and less likely to cause inju ry .
Although these examples are based on a frontal
collision, safety be lts ca n also substantially re ­
duce the r isk o f injury in ot her kinds of crashes .
So, whethe r yo u're on a long trip or just goi ng to
the cor ne r store, a lways b uckle up and make s ure
othe rs do, too. Ac ciden t st at ist ics show that veh i­
cle o ccupants prope rly wearing safety bel ts have
a lowe r risk of being injured and a m uch better
chance of surviving an acc ident . Properly using
safety be lts also great ly increases the ability of
the supp lemental airbags to do their job in a col­
li sion. For this reason, wearing a safety belt is le­
gally required in most countries including much
of the United States and Canada .
Although your Aud i is equipped with airbags, you
still have to wear the safety belts provided. Front
airbags, for examp le, are activated only in some
frontal collisions. The front airbags are not act i­
vated in all frontal collisions, in side and rear co l­
li sions, in roll overs or in cases where the re is not
eno ugh deceler ation throug h impa ct to the front
of the vehicle . The same goes for the other a irbag
systems in your Audi. So, always wear your safety
belt and make sure everybody in your vehicle is
properly rest rained!
Important safety instructions about safety
belts
Safe ty belts must always be correctly positioned
acros s the strongest bones of your body .
.,. Always wear safety belts as illustrated and de ­
scribed in this chapter.
.,. Make sure that your safety be lts are always
ready fo r use a nd are not damaged .

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A 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 correct ly.
-Always fasten your safety belts correctly be­ fore driving off and make sure all passen­
gers are cor rect ly restrained.
- For maximum protection, safety belts must
always be posit ioned properly on the body .
- Never strap more than one person, includ­
ing small ch ildren, into any belt .
- Never place a safety belt over a child sitt ing
on your lap.
- Always keep feet in the footwell in front of
the seat wh ile the vehicle is being driven.
- Never let any person ride w ith 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 . Do ing so will increase your risk of
being injured or k illed.
- 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 be lt . However, spe­
cial clips may be requ ired for the proper use
of some child restraint systems.
- Torn or frayed safety belts can tear, and
damaged belt ha rdware can break in an acc i­
dent. Inspect belts regularly.
If webbing,
bind ings, buckles, or re tractors are dam-
Safet y bel ts
aged, have belts rep laced by an authorized
Aud i dea ler 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
thor ized Audi dealer. Replacement may be
necessary even if damage cannot be clearly
seen. Anchorages that were loaded must al­
so be inspected.
- Never remove, mod ify, d isassemble, or try
to repair the safety belts yourse lf.
-Always keep the belts clean . Dirty belts may
not work properly and can impair the func­
tion of the inert ia reel~
table Internal
cleaning on page 170.
Safety belts
Fastening safety belts
Safety first -everybody buckle up!
Fig. 116 Belt buckle and tongue on t he driver 's seat
To provide maximum protect ion, safety belts
must always be positioned correctly on the wear­
er's body .
.. Adjust the front seat and head restraint proper­
ly¢
page SO, Front seats.
.. Make sure the seatback of the rear seat bench
is in an upright posit ion and securely latched in
p lace before using the belt¢ ,&. .
.. Ho ld the belt by the tongue and pu ll it evenly
across the chest and pelvis~,&. .
.. Insert the tongue into the correct buckle of
your seat unti l you hear it latch securely
r:!)fig. 116 .
.. Pull on the belt to make sure that it is securely
latched in the buckle. ..,.
107

Safe ty belts
Autom ati c s afet y belt retr actors
Every safety belt is equ ipped with an automa tic
be lt retractor on the shoulder belt. This feature
locks the belt when the belt is pulled out fast,
during hard braking and in a n accident. The belt
may a lso lock when you drive up or down a steep
hill or through a sharp curve. Dur ing normal driv­
ing the belt lets you
move freely.
Safety belt p ret en sion ers
The safety belts are equipped with a belt preten­
sioner that helps to t ighten the safety belt and
remove slack when the pretensioner is activated.
The function of the pretensioner is mon itored by
a warning light
r:::') page 16.
Convertib le loc king retracto r
Every safety be lt except the one on the driver
seat is equipped with a convertible locking retrac­
tor that
mus t be used when the safety belt is
used to attach a child safety seat. Be sure to read
the impo rtant information about this feature
c:;,page 141.
.&_ WARNING
Imprope rly pos itioned safety be lts can cause
ser ious injury in an accident
¢page 108,
Safety belt position.
- Safety belts offer optimum protection only
when the seatback is upright and belts are
properly positioned on the body.
- Always make sure that the rear seat back­
rest to which the center rea r safety belt is
attached is secure ly 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, in a sudden maneuver
and especially in a crash.
- Never attach the safety belt to the buckle for another seat. Attaching the belt to the
wrong buckle will reduce safety belt effec­
tiveness and can cause serious persona l in­
jury.
- A passenger who is not properly restrained can be seriously in jured by the safety be lt it­
self when it moves from the stronger parts
108
of the body into critical areas like the abdo­ men.
- Always lock the convertible locking retractor
when you are securing a child safety seat in
the vehicle
¢page 143.
Safety belt position
Correct belt position is the key to getting maxi­
mum protection from safety belts .
Fig. 117 Safety belt posit ion
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Standard features on your vehicle help you adjust
the position of the safety belt to match your body
s ize.
- belt height adjustment for the front seats,
- height-adjustab le front seats.
.&_ WARNING
Improperly positioned safety belts can cause
serious pe rsonal injury in an acc ident .
- The shou lder belt should lie as close to the
center of the collar bone as possib le and
should fit well on the body. Hold the belt
above the latch tongue and pull it evenly
across t he chest so that it s its as low as pos­
sib le on the pe lvis and there is no p re ssure
on the a bdomen . The belt sho uld a lways f it
snug ly
c:;, fig. 117. Pull on the belt to tig hten
if necessary .
- The lap be lt portion of the safety belt must
be positioned as low as possible across pel­
vis and never
over the abdomen. Make sure
the belt lies flat and snug
c:;, fig. 117. Pull on
the belt to tighten if necessary.
- A loose-fitting safety belt can ca use serious
injuries by sh ifting its position on your body ..,_

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from the strong bones to more vulnerable,
soft tissue and cause serious injury.
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS and
other important information
c;> page 106.
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. 11 8 Safety belt position d urin g pregnancy
To p rov ide max imum p rotection, safety belts
must always be posi tioned correctly on the wear­
e r's body
c::> page 108 .
• Adjus t the front seat and head restra int cor­
rec tly
c::> page 50, Front seats .
• Make s ure the seatback of the rear seat bench
is in a n upright pos ition and secure ly latched in
place before using the belt.
• Hold the be lt by the tongue and pull it evenly
across the chest and pelv is
c::> fig. 118, c::> ,&. .
• Insert the tongue into the correct buckle of
your seat until you hear it latch securely
c::> page 107, fig . 116 .
• Pul l on the be lt to make sure that it is securely
la tched i n the bu ck le.
_& WARNING ,..__
Improperly po sit ione d safety be lts ca n cause
ser ious persona l inj ury in an accident .
- E xpec tan t m others mus t always wear the
lap po rtion of the sa fe ty belt as low as pos ­
sible ac ross the pelvis and below the round­
ing of the ab domen.
Safet y bel ts
-Always read and heed all WARNINGS and
other important informat ion
c::> A in Fasten­
ing safety belts on page 108.
Unfastening safety belts
Unbuckle the safety belt with the red release
button only o~er the vehicle has stopped.
Fig. 1 19 Releasi ng the to ngue from t he buckle
.,. Push the red re lease but ton on the buck le
c::> fig. 119 . The belt tongue w ill spr ing out of
t he buck le
c::> ,&. .
• Let the belt wind up on the retra ctor as yo u
guide the belt tongue to its stowed position.
_& WARNING
Never unfasten safety belt whi le the vehicle is
moving. Do ing so will increase your r isk of be­
i ng 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. 1 20 Safety belt height a djustment for the front seats
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- loop -aro und fitt ings Ill>
109

Safety belts
The shou lder belt should lie as close to the center
of the collar bone as possib le and should fit well
on the body
c::> A in Safety belt position on
page 108.
"' Push
the loop -around fittings up c::> fig. 120 @,
or
"'squeeze together the (D button, and push the
loop-around fittings down@.
"'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 informat ion
c::> page 106.
(D Tips
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 belts improperly can cause seri­
ous injury or death. Safety belts can only work
when they are correctly positioned on the body.
Improper seating positions reduce the effect ive­
ness of safety belts and will even inc rease the
risk of injury and death by mov ing the safety belt
to cr it ica l areas of the body. Improper seating
positions a lso increase the risk of serious injury
and death when an airbag deploys and strikes an
occupant who is not in the correct seating pos i­
tion. A driver is responsible for the safety of all
veh icle occupants and especially for children.
Therefore:
"' Never permit anyone to assume an incorrect
sitting position in the vehicle while traveling
c>_& .
A WARNING
Improperly worn safety belts increase the risk
of serious personal injury and death whenever
a vehicle is being used.
110
- Always make sure that all vehicle occupants
are correctly restrained and stay in a correct
seating position whenever the vehicle is be­
ing used.
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS and
other important information
c::> page 106.
Belt tensioners
How safety belt pretensioners work
In front, side and rear-end collisions above a
particular severity and in a rollover, safety belts ore tensioned automatically.
The safety belts are equipped w ith safety belt
pretensioners . The system is activated by sensors
i n front, side and rear-end collisions of great se­
verity and in a rollover. This tightens the belt and
takes up belt slack
c::> & in Service and disposal of
safety belt pretensioner on page 111.
Taking up
the slack helps to reduce forward occupant
movement during a collision.
(D Note
Never let the belt remain over a rear seatback
that has been folded forward .
@ Tips
The safety belt pretensioner can only be acti­
vated once.
- Th e safety belt pretensioners do not deploy
in minor frontal, side and rear-end colli­
sions.
- When the safety belt pretensioners are acti­
vated, a fine dust is released. This is normal
and is not caused by a fire in the vehicle.
- Th e relevant safety requirements must be
observed when the vehicle or components
of the system are scrapped. An authorized
Audi dealer or qualified workshop is familiar
with these regulations and will be pleased
to pass on the information to you.
- Be sure to observe all safety, environmental
and other regulations if the vehicle or indi­
vidual parts of the system, particularly the
safety belt or airbag, are to be disposed. We
recommend you have your authorized Aud i
dealer perform this service for you.