2016 AUDI RS7 SPORTBACK Owners Manual

....
Safety belts
General information
Always wear safety belts!
Wearing safety belts correctly saves lives!
This chapter explains why safety belts are neces­
sary, how they work and how to adjust and wear
them correctly.
~ Read all the information that follows 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 single most effective
means available to reduce the risk of serious
injury and death in automobile accidents.
For your protection and that of your passen­
gers, always correctly wear safety belts
when the vehicle is moving.
- Pregnant women, injured, o r physically im­
paired persons must also use safety belts.
Like all vehicle occupants, they are more
likely to be seriously injured if they do not
wear safety belts. The best way to protect a
fetus is to protect the mother -throughout
the entire pregnancy.
Number of seats
Your Audi has a total of four seating positions:
two in the front and two in the rear. Each seating position has a safety belt.
A WARNING
Not wearing safety belts or wearing them im­
properly increases the risk of serious personal
injury and death.
- Never strap more than one person, includ­
ing small children, into any belt.
It is espe­
cially dangerous to place a safety belt over a
N child sitting on your lap. er:
~ -Never let more people ride in the vehicle
~ than there are safety belts available. Lil
N v:, ......
Safety belts
-Be sure everyone riding in the vehicle is
properly restrained with a separate safety
belt or child restraint.
, ff. 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 .
Fig. 143 Safety belt warn ing light in the instrument clus ­
te r -enlarged
Before driving off, always:
.. Fasten your safety belt and make sure you are
wearing it properly.
.,, N
"' 0 ..:, ., m
~ Make sure that your passengers also buckle up
and properly wear their safety belts .
~ Protect children w ith a ch ild restraint system
appropr iate for the size and age .
The warning light . in the instrument cluster
lights up when the ignit ion is on as a reminder to
fasten the safety belts. In addition, you wil l hear
a warning tone for a certain period of time.
Fasten your safety belt and make sure that your
passengers also properly put on their safety
belts.
A WARNING
-
- Safety belts are the sing le most effective
means available to reduce the risk of serious
injury and death in automobile accidents.
For your protection and that of your passen­
gers, a lways correctly wear safety belts
when the vehicle is moving .
- Failure to pay attention to the warning light
that come on, could lead to personal injury.
127

Safety belts
Why use safety belts?
Frontal collisions and the law of physics
Frontal crashes create very strong forces for peo­
ple riding in vehicles .
Fig. 144 Unbelted occupants in a veh icle headi ng fo r a wall
Fig. 145 T he vehicle c rashes into the wall
The physical principles are simple. Both the vehi­
cle and the passengers possess energy which var­ ies w ith vehicle speed and body weight . Engi­
neers call this energy "k inetic 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. 144, they will keep moving
at the same speed the vehicle was moving just
before the crash, unti l something stops them -
here, the wall~
fig. 145.
The same principles apply to people sitting in a
vehicle that is involved in a frontal collision . Even
at c ity speeds of 20 to 30 mph (30 to 50 km/h),
the forces acting on the body can reach one ton
128
(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 also not
attached to their vehicle. In a frontal collision
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 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. 146 A drive r not wea ring a safety belt is vio len tly
t hrow n fo rward
Fig. 147 A rear passe nge r not wear ing a sa fety belt will f ly
forward an d str ike the driver
Unbelted occupants a re not able to res ist the tre­
mendous forces of impact by holding tight or
bracing themselves. Without the benefit of safe­
ty restraint systems, the unrestra ined occupant
will slam violently into the steering wheel, in­
strument pane l, windshield, or whatever e lse is
in the way ~
fig. 146. T his impact with the vehi ­
cle interior has all the energy they had just be-
fore the crash.
liJJ,-

Never rely on airbags alone for protection. Even
when they deploy, airbags provide on ly additional
protection. Airbags are not supposed to dep loy in
all kinds of accidents. A lthough your Audi is
equipped with airbags, all vehicle occupants, in­
cluding the dr iver, 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 w hich
a ir bags are not supposed to deploy or when they
have already deployed. Unbelted occupants can
also be thrown o ut of the vehicle where even
more severe or fatal injur ies can occur.
It is also important for the rear passengers to
wear safety belts correctly . Unbelted passengers
in the rear seats endanger not only themse lves
but also the driver and other passengers
¢ fig. 147. 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. 148 Dr iver is correctly restra ined in a sudden b raking
maneuver
Safety belts used properly can make a big differ­
ence. Safety belts help to keep passengers in
their seats, gradually reduce energy levels ap­
plied to the body in an accident, and help prevent
the uncontrolled movement that can cause se ri­
ous injur ies. In addition, safety belts reduce the
danger of being thrown out of the vehicle.
Safety belts
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 ene rgy over a longer period of time, the
safety belts make the forces on the body more
"tolerab le" and less likely to ca use injury .
Although these examples are based on a frontal collision, safety be lts can also substantially re ­
duce the r isk of injury in other k inds 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. Acciden t 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 supp lemental airbags to do their job in a col­
lision. For this reason, wearing a safety belt is le­
gally required in most count ries 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 example, are activated only in some
frontal collisions. The front airbags are not act i­
vated in all frontal collisions, 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 air bag
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.
129

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-
130
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 195.
Safety belts
Fastening safety belts
Safety first -everybody buckle up!
Fig. 149 Be lt buckle and tongu e on t he drive r's seat
To provide maximum protection, safety belts
must alw ays be positioned correctly on the wear­
er 's body.
.. Adjust the front seat and head restraint proper­
ly¢
page 52, General information.
.. Make sure the seatback of the rear seat bench
is in an upright position and securely latched in
place before using the belt¢,&. .
.,. 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. 149.
.. Pull on the belt to make sure that it is securely
latched in the buckle. .,,_

Automatic safety belt r etractors
Every safety be lt is equ ipped wi th an automatic
be lt retractor on the shoulder belt. Th is feature
l ocks the belt when the belt is p ulled out fast,
during hard braking and in an accident. The belt may also 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 freely .
Safety be lt pret en sioner s
The safety belts are equipped with a belt preten­
sioner that helps to tighten the safety belt and
remove slack when the pretensioner is activated
c:;, page 133 . The function of the pretensioner is
monitored by a warning light
c:;, page 17.
Con vertible loc king retractor
Every safety belt exc ept the one on the driver
seat is equipped with a convertible locking retrac­
tor that
mu st be used when the safety belt is
used to attach a child seat. Be sure to read the
important information about this featu re
c;, page 169.
& WARNING
Improperly posit ioned safety be lts ca n cause
ser ious injury in an accident
c:;, page 131,
Safety belt position.
- Safety belts offer optimum protection only
when the seatback is upr ight and belts are
prope rly pos itioned on the body.
- If the rear seat ba ckrest is not securely
latched, the passenger wi ll move fo rward
with the ba ckrest during sudden b raking, in
a sudden mane uver and especially in a
c rash.
- Never a ttach the safety belt to the buckle
for another seat. Attaching the belt to the
wrong buckle will red uce safety belt effec­
t iveness and can cause serious personal in­
jury.
- A passenger who is not proper ly restrained
can be seriously in jured by the safety be lt it­
self when it moves from the stronger parts
of the body into cr itical areas like-the abdo ­
men .
Safet y bel ts
-Always lock the convertible locking retractor
when yo u are securing a child seat in the ve­
hicle
c;, page 171.
(0 Tips
For information on safety belt pretensioners,
r efer to
c:;, page 133 .
Safety belt position
Correct belt position is the key to getting maxi ­
mum protection from safety belts.
Fi g. 1 50 Safety belt pos it ion
U se the height adjustme nt to change the posit ion
of the shoulder belt of the fro nt safety belts .
& WARNING
Imp roperly positioned safety belts can ca use
se rio us pe rson al injury in an a cciden t.
- The s hou lde r belt should lie as close to the
center of t he collar bone as possib le and
should fi t well on the bo d y. Ho ld the belt
above the latch tongue and pull it evenly
across the chest so that it sits as low as pos­
sible on the pe lvis and there is no pressure
on the abdomen. The belt should a lways fit
snug ly
¢fig. 150. Pull on the belt to tighten
if necessary .
- A loose-fitting safety belt can cause serious
i nj uries by shifting its position on your body
from the strong bones to more vulnerable,
soft tissue and cause serious inj ury .
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS and
other important informat ion
c:;, page 129 .
131

Safe ty 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
corre ctly -throughout the pregnancy.
Fig. 151 Safety belt pos ition during pregnancy
To provide maximum protection, safety belts
must always be posit ioned correctly on the wear­
er's body
¢ page 131.
... Adjust the front seat and ad justable head re­
straint* correctly ¢
page 52, General informa­
tion .
... Hold the belt by the tongue and pull it evenly
across the chest and pelv is
r::;, fig. 151 , ¢ _&..
... Inse rt the tongue into the correct buckle of
your seat until you hear it latch secure ly
¢page 130, fig. 149.
... Pull on t he be lt to make sure that it is securely
latched in the buck le .
A WARNING
Improperly pos itioned safety be lts can cause
ser ious persona l injury in an accident.
- Expectant mothers must a lways 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¢ &.
in Fasten­
ing safety belts on page 131.
132
Unfastening safety belts
Unbuckle the safety belt with the red release
button only ofter the vehicle hos stopped.
.,,
Fig . 15 2 Releasing the tongue from the buckle
... Push the red re lease button on the buck le
r:::;, fig. 152. The belt tongue wi ll spring out of
the buck le
r::;, A .
... Let the belt wind up on the retractor as yo u
guide the belt tongue to its stowed position .
A WARNING
Never unfasten safety belt while the vehicle is
moving . Do ing so will increase your r isk of be­
ing inj ured or killed .
Adjusting safety belt he ight
With the aid of the safety belt height adjust­
ment, the three point safety belt strop routing
con be fitted to the shoulder area, according to
body size.
F ig . 153 Safety belt height adj ustment for the front seats
- loop -around fittings
0 ,-. N 0 :i: .. m
The shoulder be lt shou ld lie as close to the center
of the co llar bo ne as poss ible and s hou ld fit well
o n the body
r::;, .&. in Safe ty belt posi tion on
page 131. ..,,.

~ Push the loop-around fittings up qfig. 153 @,
or
~ squeeze together the(!) 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 informat ion
qpage 129.
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 pos itioned on the body .
Improper seating positions reduce the effect ive­
n ess of safety be lts and will
even i ncrease the
ris k of injury and death by mov ing the safety belt
to cr it ica l areas of the body. Imp roper seating
positions also increase the risk of serious inj ury
and death when an airbag deploys and strikes an
occ upant who is not in the correct seat ing posi­
tion. A driver is respons ible for the safety of all
vehicle occupants and espec ia lly for children.
Therefore:
~ Never permit anyone to assume an incorrect
s itting position in the veh icle wh ile traveling
Q A .
A WARNING
Improperly worn safety belts increase the risk
of serious personal injury and death wheneve r
a vehicle is be ing used.
- Always make sure that al l vehicle occupants
are correctly restra ined and stay in a co rrect
seating pos it io n whenever the ve hicle is be­
ing used.
S afet y be lts
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS and
other important in format ion
q page 129.
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.
Rever sible safety belt tensioner s
The safety belts on the front seats are equipped
with power reversible tensioners. The following
funct ions are available when the dr iver's/front
passenger's safety belts are fastened:
- Automatic tens ioners: at the start of a drive,
the safety belts automatically adjust to the passenger after a certain time period or vehicle
speed. To switch the automatic tensioners off,
select the following in the MMI :
!CARI function
button
> (Car )* system s > Vehicle setting s >
Seats > Driver's seat or Passeng er' s s eat > Au­
tom atic belt ten sioner
> Off .
- In certain driving situations, the safety bel ts
may tighten w it h a reve rsib le tensioning func­
tion
q page 177.
-The safety be lts may also tigh ten with this re-
versible tension ing function in m inor collisions.
Pyrotechnic safety belt pretens ioners
The safety belts are equipped w it h safety belt
prete nsioners. The system is activated by sensors
in front, side and rear -end collisions of great se­
verity and in a ro llover. This tightens the belt and
takes up belt slack
q .& in Service and disposal of
safety belt pretensioner on page 134.
Taking up
the slack he lps to reduce forward occupant
movement during a collision.
A WARNING
--
- It is poss ible for the pretensioners to dep loy
incorrectly.
- The pyrotechnic system can only provide
protection for one collision. If the pyrotech­
n ic pretens ioners deploy, the pretensioning
system must be replaced.
133

Safety belts
(D Tips
The pyrotechnic safety be lt pretensioners can
only deploy once.
- The safety belt pretensioners do not deploy
in minor frontal, side and rear-end co lli­
sions.
- A fine dust is released when the pyrotechnic
safety be lt pretensioners deploy. This is nor­
mal and is not caused by a fire in the vehi­
cle.
- The re levant safety requirements must be
observed when the vehicle or components
of the system are scrapped. A qualified
dealership is familiar with these regulations
and will be pleased to pass on the informa­
tion to you.
- Be sure to observe all safety, environmental
and other regulations if the veh icle or indi­
v idual parts of the system, pa rticularly the
safety be lt o r airbag, are to be disposed . We
recommend you have your authorized Audi
dealer perform this service for you.
Service and disposal of safety belt preten­
sioner
The safety belt pretensioners are parts of the
safety belts on your Audi. Installing, removing,
servicing or repairing of belt pretensioners can
damage the safety belt system and prevent it
from working correctly in a collision.
There are some important things you have to
know to make sure that the effectiveness of the
system w ill not be impaired and that discarded
components do not cause injury or pollute the
environment.
A WARNING
Improper care, servicing and repair proce­
dures can increase the risk of personal injury
and death by preventing a safety belt preten­
sioner from activating when 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 .
134
-Never repair, adjust, or change any parts of
the safety belt system .
- Safety belt systems including safety belt
pretensioners cannot be repaired. Spec ial
procedures are required for removal, 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 repa ir manual,
tra ining and special equipment necessary .
@) For the sake of the environment
Undeployed airbag modules and pretension­
ers might be classified as Perchlorate Materi­
al -special handling may apply, see
www .dtsc.ca .gov/hazardouswaste/perchlo­
rate. When the vehicle or parts of the re­
straint system including airbag modules safe­
ty belts with pretensioners are scrapped, all
applicable laws and regulations must be ob­
served. Your authorized Audi dealer is familiar
with these requirements and we recommend
that you have your dealer perform this service
for you.