2017 AUDI A7 brakes

Trailer towing
Coolant t emperatur e
The coolant temperatu re gauge <=? page 9 must
be observed ca refully. The coo lant tempe rature
can increase if you drive on long inclines in a low
gear at high engine sp eeds. Reduce your sp eed
immed ia te ly if the LEDs in the top part of the dis­
p lay turn on.
For more information abo ut indicator lights, re­
fe r to . <=?
page 14.
A WARNING
Anyone not properly restrained in a moving
vehicle is at a much greater risk in an acci­
dent . Never let anyone ride in your car who is
not properly wearing the restraints provided
by Audi.
Trailer towing information
Important to know
-
Your veh icle hand les different ly when tow ing a
tra ile r because of the additional weight and d if­
fe rent we ight d istr ib ution. Safety, performance
and economy w ill great ly depend o n how careful­
ly you load yo ur trailer and ope rate your r ig .
Before you actually tow your tra iler, practice
turn ing, stopp ing and bac king up in an area away
from t raff ic. Keep practicing until you have be­
come comple tely fami liar with t he way your vehi­
cle-trailer comb inat ion behaves and responds.
Backing up is d iffic ult and requires pract ice .
Backing up with a tra iler gene rally requires steer­
i n g ac tion oppos ite to tha t when backing up yo ur
veh icle w it h out a trailer .
M aintain a g reater d istance between your vehicle
and the one in front of you . You w ill need more
room to stop . To compensa te fo r th e tra ile r, you
will nee d a larger than no rma l tur ning rad ius.
When pass ing , remembe r that you ca nnot accel­
e rate as fast as you no rma lly would because of
the adde d load . Make s ure yo u have eno ugh room
to pass . After passing, allow plenty of room for
your trai ler before chang ing lanes again.
84
Avo id jerky starts, sharp turns or rapid lane
c h anges.
(D Tips
- Do not tow a trailer dur ing the brea k-i n pe ri­
od of your veh icle.
- I f you tow a tra ile r, your A udi m ay requi re
more frequent ma intenance due to the ex­
tra load
¢ page 264.
Parking on a slope
Do not park on a slope wi th a trailer . If it cannot
be avoided, do so only after doing the following:
When parking:
.,. App ly the foot bra ke .
.,. Have so meone p lace cho cks unde r bot h the ve­
hicle and the trailer w heels.
.,. With choc ks in place, slowly rele ase the brakes
until the w heel chocks abso rb the load .
.,. Turn th e whee ls towards the curb.
.,. App ly the par king b rake .
.,. Select the P se lecto r lever posit ion.
When restarting after parking:
.,. App ly the foot bra ke .
.,. Start the engine .
.,. Sele ct the D/S se lector l ever position.
.,. Re lease the par king brake and s low ly pull o ut
and away from the whee l chocks.
.,. Stop and have someone re trieve the wheel
chocks .
(D Tips
If you move the selector lever of the automat­
i c transmission to P befo re applying the park­
i ng brake and before blocking the whee ls, yo u
may have to use more force la ter to move the
l eve r o ut of the P pos it io n.

Ass is t
- Please note that unconsciously "resting"
your foot on the accelerator pedal prevents
the cruise control from braking. This is be­ cause pressing the accelerator pedal over­
rides the cruise control system .
-If a brake system malfunction such as over­
heating occurs when the cruise control sys­
tem is sw itched on, the braking function in
the system may be switched off. The rest of
the cruise control system f unctions remain
a ct ive as long as the
[l!jl!)~1j (USA models) /
Bl (Canada models) indicator light is on .
@ Tips
The brake lights turn on when the brakes a re
app lied automatically.
Changing speed
A pp lies to: ve hicles w ith c ruise control system
.. To inc rease or decrease the speed in incre­
ments, tap the lever toward
0 10 ¢ page 85,
fig . 86 .
.. To increase or decrease the speed quickly, hold
the lever in the
0 10 direction until the de­
s ired speed is displayed.
You can a lso press the accelerator pedal down to
increase your speed, for example if you want to
pass someone. The speed you set earlier w ill re­
sume as soon as you release the accelerator ped­
al.
However, if you exceed your saved speed by 5
mph (10 km/h) for longer than 6 minutes, the
cru ise control system turns off temporarily.
The green
1ij;(l )~14 (USA models) t BI (Canada mod ­
els) indicator light in the speedometer turns off
and the stored speed is maintained.
Preselecting the speed
A pp lies to: ve hicles w ith c ruise control system
You can pre-select your desired speed when the
vehicle is stationary.
.. Switch the ignition on .
.. Pu ll the lever into position@~
page 85,
fig. 86.
86
.. To increase or decrease the speed, tap the lever
toward
0 10 .
.. To store the speed d isp layed, release the lever.
This function makes it possible, fo r example, to
save the speed you want before driving on the
highway. Once on the highway, activate the
cruise contro l by pull ing the lever toward@.
Switching off
App lies to : vehicles with c ruise co nt rol system
Temporary deacti vation
.. Press the brake pedal, or
.. Press the lever into position @(not clicked into
place)
¢ page 85, fig . 86, or
.. Dr ive for longer than 5 minutes faster than 5
mph (10 km/h) above the stored speed.
Switching off completely
.. Press the lever into position @(clicked into
place), or
.. Switch the ignit io n off.
The speed you stored will be maintained if the cruise contro l has been switched off temporarily .
To resume the stored speed, release the brake pedal and pull the lever to position @.
Switch ing the ignit ion off w ill erase the stored
speed .
A WARNING
You should only resume the stored speed if it
is not too high for existing traff ic conditions.
Othe rw ise you can inc rease the risk of an acc i­
dent.

Assist
Timing laps
.. To start timing, press the thumbwheel.
.. To stop t iming for this round, press the thumb­
whee l again. This starts timing the next lap at
the same time. The last recorded t ime will
move up one line. The lap number is displayed
in front of the time measurement.
Di splaying intermediate time and pausing
timing
.. To display a split time, press the thumbwheel.
The timing continues to run in the background .
.. To interrupt the timing, for example to insert a
pause, press the thumbwheel.
.. To resume timing , press the thumbwheel
again.
If timing is paused, you can continue it later even
if you switch the ign ition off .
Evaluating , resuming or resetting timing
App lies to: ve hicles with lap timer
You can evaluate the fastest, slowes t and aver­
age lap times .
Fig. 89 Display: eva lu ating a recorded time
.. To eval uate a recorded time (view the statis­
tics), press the thumbwheel. The number of
laps driven, the fastest lap"+", the slowest lap
"-", and the average lap time "0" appear in the
display.
• To continue timing for additional laps, press
the thumbwheel.
.. To reset the timing to zero, press the thumb­
whee l aga in. The lap timer switches off.
88
@ Tips
- Saved lap times cannot be individually de­
leted from the total results.
- The saved lap timer va lues wi ll remain after
switching the ignition off.
Audi adaptive cruise
control
Description
Applies to: vehicles with Audi adapt ive cruise control
Fig. 90 Detectio n ra nge
The adaptive cru ise control system is a combina­
tion of speed and dis tance regulation .
It assists
the driver by both regulating the speed and
maintaining a distance to the vehicle driving
ahead, within the limits of the system.
If the sys­
tem detects and object ahead, adaptive cruise
control can brake and accelerate your vehicle .
This makes driving more comfortable both on
long stretches of highway and in stop-and-go
traffic .
What can adaptive cruise control do?
The adaptive cruise control system uses video, ra­
dar and ultrasound. Objects driving ahead can be
recognized up to 650 feet (200 m) away.
On open roads with no traffic, it functions like a
cruise control system. The stored speed is main­
tained . When approaching an object ahead, the
adaptive cruise control system automatically
brakes to match that object's speed and then
maintains the stored distance . As soon as the
system does not detect an object ahead, adaptive
cruise contro l accelerates up to the stored speed.
Ill>

Ass is t
_&. WARNING
- Improper use of adaptive cruise control can
cause collis ions, other accidents and serious
personal injury .
- Never let the comfort and convenience that
adaptive cruise control and braking guard
offer d istract you from the need to be alert
to traff ic conditions and the need to rema in
in full control of your vehicle at all times,
- Always remember that the adaptive cruise
contro l and braking guard have limits - they
will not slow the veh icle down or ma intain
the set distan ce when you drive towards a n
obstacle or something on or near the road
that is not moving, such as vehicles stopped in a traffic jam, a stalled or disabled vehicle .
If registered by the radar sensors, vehicles
or obstacles that are not moving can trigger
a collision warn ing and if confirmed by the
video camera, a n acute collision warning .
- Never follow a veh icle so closely that you
cannot stop your vehicle safe ly . The adap ­
t ive cr uise control cannot slow or brake the
vehicle safely when you fo llow another veh i­
cl e too close ly. Always remember that the
automa tic braking func tion cannot br ing the
vehicle to a sudden or emergency stop un­
der these condit ions .
- T o prevent unintended operation, always
switch ACC off when it is not being used .
(U) Note
The sensors can be displaced by impacts or
damage to the bumpe r, whee l housing and
underbody. That cou ld affect t he adaptive
cruise control system and braking guard .
Have an authorized Audi dealer or authorized
Audi Serv ice Facility check their function.
90
In curves
Applies to: vehicles with Audi adaptive cruise control
Fig. 92 Ex am ple: dri ving into a curv e
When dr iving into a curve c:::> fig. 92 and out of a
curve , the adapt ive cruise control may react to an
object in the neighboring lane and apply the brakes . Yo u can prevent that by pressing the ac­
ce le ra to r peda l br iefly.
Stationary objects
Applies to: vehicles with Audi adaptive cruise control
F ig . 93 Exam ple: object chang ing la nes a nd stat ion ary ob ·
jec t
The adaptive cru ise control system only reacts to
objects that are moving or t hat the system has
already detected as moving . For example, it can
react when a vehicle that has already been de­
tected @ turns or changes lanes, but adaptive
cruise control does not react to a stationary veh i­
cle @.

co
co
.... N
" N .... 0
00
<.,;) 'SI"
Switching on/off
App lies to: vehicles with Audi adaptive cruise contro l
Fig. 9 4 Operat ing leve r: sw itching o n and off
Fig. 95 Inst rument cluste r: adaptive cruise contro l
You can set any speed between 20 mph (30 km/
h) and 95 mph (150 km/h) .
Indicator lights and messages in the instrument
cluster display inform you about the current sit­
uation and setting.
An addit ional indicator appears in the Head-up
d isplay* .
Switching adaptiv e cruise control on
.,. Pull the lever toward you into position @
¢
fig . 94. ACC: standb y appears in the display.
Saving the speed and activating regulation
.. To save the current speed, p ress the ISETI
¢ fig . 94 button . The stored speed is shown in
the speedometer in the L ED l ine @ and appears
briefly in t he information line @ ¢
fig. 95 .
.,. To activate the regu lation whi le stationary, also
press the brake peda l.
Switching adaptive cruis e control off
.,. Push the lever away from you in to posi tion @
u nt il it clicks i nto place. The message
ACC : off
appears.
A ss ist
@ Indic ato r light s
•-adaptive cruise control is switched on. No
objects are detected ahead . The stored speed is
maintained .
• - An object ahead was detected . The adaptive
c ruise contro l system regu lates the speed and
distance to the object ahead and accelerates/
brakes automatically .
f:i-adaptive cruise control is switched on. An
object ahead was detected. Your vehicle remains
stopped and will not sta rt driving automatically .
• -The automatic braking is not enough to
mai ntai n a sufficie nt dis tance to an obje ct ahead.
You must intervene ¢
page 94, Request for
driver intervention .
© Instrument cluster display
If adaptive cru ise control is not shown in the in­
strument cl uster d isplay, you can call it up using
t h e m ultif unction steer ing whee l butto ns
¢page 21.
Based on the graphics in the display , you can de­
te rm ine if the system is maintain ing a distance to
t h e object ahead and what that d ist ance is .
No vehicle -No object ahead was detected .
White veh icle -An object ahead was detected.
Red vehicle -Request for driver intervention
~page 94.
Both arrow s on the scale © indicate the distance
to the object ahead. No arrow appears w hen the
vehicle is on an open road and t here is no object
ahead . If an object is detected ahead, the arrow
moves on the sca le .
The green zone on the s cale i ndicates the store
distance . For information on changing the dis ­
tance, refer to ¢
page 93. If the distance se ­
lected is exceeded or not reached , the arrow
moves into the red zone on the scale .
A WARNING
~~ --
If you press the !SET ! button when driv ing at
speeds below 20 mph (30 km/h), the vehicle
accelerates automatically up to 20 mph (30
91

Ass is t
@ Tips
Your settings are automatica lly stored and as­
signed to the remote control key be ing used .
Request for driver intervention
App lies to: ve hicles w ith Audi adaptive cruise co ntro l
Fig . 99 Instrum ent clus te r: r eq ues t fo r drive r interve ntio n
In certain situations, the system w ill request you
to take action :
- if t he braking from the adapt ive cr uise control
system is no t enough to maintai n enough dis­
tance to the object ahead.
The dange r is ind icated by the . indicator light
~ fig. 99. An audio s ignal will also sound.
- Press the brake pedal to slow your vehicle down .
Audi braking guard
Applies to: ve hicles w ith Audi adaptive cruise co ntro l
Fig . 100 In str um ent clus te r: appro ach warning
The braking guard uses radar sensors and a video
camera .
It also functions within the limits of the
l) This is no t a vail able in som e coun trie s.
94
system when adaptive cru ise control is switched
off.
What can the braking guard do ?
When detected in time, the system can assess
dange rous si tu at ions where an object ahead
brakes sudden ly or if yo ur own vehicle is trave ling
at a h igh speed and approach ing an ob ject that is
moving more slow ly. The braking guard does not
react if it cannot detect the situation.
The system advises you of var ious dange rous sit­
uations :
- The
di stan ce warning occu rs if you dr ive too
close ly to the object ahead fo r a long per iod of
time .
If the object ahead brakes strongly, you
would not be ab le to avoid a co llis ion. The .
indicator light appears as an indication for this .
- T he
appr oach w arning occurs when an object
ahead is trave ling more slowly or brakes
strongly. When this warning occurs, it may only
be possible to avoid a collis ion by swerving or
brak ing strongly . The danger is indicated by the
• indicator light
¢fig. 100 . An audio signal
w ill also so und .
If you do not react early enough or at all to a dan ­
gerous situation, the braking guard supports you
with a braking intervention .
- If a co llision is imminent, the system wi ll first
provide an
acute warning by braking sharply .
- If you do not react to th e acute warning, the
b raking guard can inc rease the braking force
w ith in the lim its of the system
1> . This reduces
the vehicle speed in the event of a coll is ion.
- T he system can in itiate complete dece leration
shortly before a collision
l) . Full deceleration at
high speeds occurs only in veh icles with adap­
tive cruise control and side assist (pre se nse
plus) .
- If the braking guard determ ines that you are
not braking s trongly enough when the re is a n
impending coll is ion, it can increas e the b raking
force.
- The p re sense funct io ns also engage w hen
there is an impending collision ~
page 138.

Intelligent Technology
Intelligent Technology
Electronic Stabilization
Control (ESC)
Description
Elect ronic Stabilization Control (ESC) suppo rts
driver safety.
It red uces the risk of slipping and
improves dr iving stability. ESC detects crit ica l sit­
uations such as the veh icle oversteering and un­
dersteering or the wheels are sp inning. The vehi­
cle is stabilized by app lying the brakes or reduc ­
ing engine torque. As soon as the ESC is active ly
regulat ing, the
D.1 indicato r light blin ks in the in­
s trumen t clus ter.
The fo llow ing systems are integrated in the ESC :
Ant i-lock braking system (ABS)
ABS p revents the whee ls from locking whe n brak­
ing. The vehicle can sti ll be steered even during
hard brak ing. Apply steady press ure to the brake
pedal. Do not pump the pedal. A puls ing in t he
b rake pedal indicates that the system is acting to
s tabilize the vehicle .
Br ake assist system
The brake assist system can decrease brak ing dis­
tance . It increases brak ing power when the driver
presses the brake pedal q uick ly in emergency sit­
uations . You must press and hold t he b rake pedal
until the dangerous sit uat io n is over . In veh icles
with adapt ive c ruise control*, the bra ke as sist
sy stem is more sensitive if t he di sta nce detec ted
t o the vehicle dr iv ing ahead is too small. On
ve hicl es with act ivated and f unct io ni ng night vi ­
sion assist*, the brake assist system can respond mo re sensit ively if there is a warning .
Anti-slip regulation (ASR)
ASR red uces eng ine power when the drive w heels
be gin sp inning an d adapts the force to the road
conditions. This makes it easie r to sta rt, acceler ­
ate and dr ive up h ills.
Electronic differential lock (EDL)
E DL a ppl ies the bra kes to a wheel tha t st art s
sp inning and tra nsfe rs t he dr ive powe r to t he
120
other driving whee ls. This func tion is no t ava ila ­
ble at hig her speeds.
I n extreme cases , EDL automat ic al ly swi tches off
to keep t he b rake o n the br aked wheel from ove r­
heating. The ve hicle is still working correct ly. ED L
will switc h on again automatically when condi­
tions have returned to normal.
Steering recommendation
The ESC he lps to s tabili ze th e vehicle by ch ang ing
t h e s teer ing torque.
I n veh icles with dynamic s teer ing*, ESC a lso
helps to stab ilize the s teeri ng in cr it ic al situ a­
tions.
Selective wheel torque control
Se lective wheel to rque control is used when d riv­
i ng on curves . The front whee l on the ins ide of
t h e curve or both whe els on the i nside of th e
cu rve are braked se lectively as needed. This al­
l ows mo re pre cise driving in curves .
Automatic post -collision braking system
The "a utomat ic post -coll is io n braking system"
can help to reduce the risk of sl iding and of addi­
tiona l co llisions after an acc iden t. If the a irbag
c on tro l modu le dete cts a collision above a cer tain
vehicle speed, the veh icle is braked by t he ESC.
The veh icle does not brake automatically if:
- the drive r presses the accelerator pedal, or
- the bra king force generate d by the pressed
brake pedal is greater than the b raking force
that would be in itiated by the system, or
- the ESC, the bra ke system or the vehicle elect ri­
cal system are not functioning.
A WARNING
- The ESC and its integ rated systems can not
overcome the lim its imposed by natura l
p hys ica l laws. Th is is es pec ially i mpo rtan t
on s lippery or we t roads. If the system s be­
g in a cting to s tabili ze yo ur vehicle, you
should immedi ately alte r your speed to
match the road and tra ffi c conditions. Do
not let the inc reased safety provided tempt

Intelligent Technology
ESC levels
Ap plies to : RS models
Sport mode on ESC/ASRoff Sport mode off or
ESC /ASRon
Beha vior
The ESC and ASR stabiliza-
The stabilization function is The fu
ll stabilization func-
tion funct ions are limited not available
¢ ,& . ESC and tion of the ESC and ASR is
¢ .&. . ASR are switched off. availab le aga in.
Op eration Press the I.$ OFF I button P ress and hold the j.$ OF FI Press the I.$ OFF I button
briefly. b
utton longer than 3 sec- aga in .
onds .
Indicator II turns on . II and Ill turn on. II turns off or II and Ill
light s turn off .
Me ssage s Stabilization control (ESC ): S tabilization control (ESC ): Stabilization control
Sport Warn ing ! Reduced Off . Warning! Reduced sta - (ESC): On
stab ility bility
A WARNING
-Yo u should only sw itch sport mode on or
switch ESC/ ASR off if your dr iving abili ties
and road condi tions permit.
- T he stabilization func tion is limited w hen
spo rt m ode is sw itche d on. The driving
wheels co uld spi n and the vehicle could
swerve, espec ially on s lick or slippery road
s u rfaces.
- T here is no vehicle sta bilizat ion when E SC/
ASR a re swi tched off.
(D Tips
- ES C/ASR can not be switc hed off or sport
mode cannot be switche d on if the cr uise
contro l system * or the adap tive c ruise con­
tro l* is switched on.
- If the re a r spoiler sys tem m alf unct ions,
sport mo de may not switch on or it may
switc h off aga in automatically.
Braking
New brake pads
New b rake pads do not ac hieve the ir full b raking
effe ct during the firs t 2S 0 mi (400 km). They
m ust be "broken in" fi rst .
The b rea k-in period ca n be considerably longe r
for ve hicles w it h cer amic b rake rotors*. However,
you can compensa te fo r the slightly reduced
122
braking force by pressing firmly on the brake
pedal. Avo id heavy braking during the break-in
per iod.
Wear
Brake pad
wear depends large ly on the way the
vehicle is driven and on ope rating conditions .
This is espec ia ll y true if you a re driv ing frequent ly
i n the city and on curves or with a sporty driving
sty le .
Ope rating noi se
Noises may occur when braking depending on the
speed, braking force and outside conditions such
as temperature and humid ity.
Noises may become mo re apparent at lower
speeds due to the nature of the materials in the
ceram ic brake rotors* .
Effect of water and road salt
In certain situa tions, for e xamp le after d riving
thro ugh water, in heavy rain, a fter over nigh t con­
densation or after washing your car, the brak ing
effect can be reduced by moisture or ice on the bra ke rotors and brake pads. The brakes must be
"dried" f irst with a few ca refu l brake app lica­
tions.
At higher speeds and with the windshield wipers
turned on, the brake pads press against the brake rotors for a short amount of time. This action,
wh ich is not felt by the dr iver, happens at regu lar .,..