2017 AUDI Q7 ABS

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:E bracing themselves. Without the benefit of safe­
ty restraint systems, the unrestrained occupant will slam violently into the steer ing wheel, in ­
strument panel, windshield , or whatever else is
in the way¢
fig. 230. This impact with the vehi­
cle interior has all the energy they had just be ­
fore the cras h.
Never rely on airbags alone for protection. Even
when they deploy, airbags provide only additional protection . Airbags are not supposed to dep loy in
all k inds of accidents . Although your Aud i is
eq uipped w ith airbags, all vehicle occupants, in­
cluding the dr iver, mus t wear safety belts cor­
rect ly in o rder 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 protec tion in those accidents in w hich
ai rbags are not supposed to deploy or when they
have a lready deployed. Unbelted occupants can
also be thrown o ut of the ve hicle where even
more severe or fatal injur ies can occur.
It is also impo rtant for the rear passengers to
wear safety belts correctly. Unbelted passengers
in the rear seats endanger not on ly themse lves
but also the driver and other passengers
¢
fig. 231 . 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!
F ig. 232 Drive r is co rrectly restrained in a sudden b rak ing
maneuve r
Safety bel ts
Safety be lts 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 ser i­
ous injuries . In addition, safety belts reduce the
danger of be ing thrown out of the vehicle .
Safety be lts attach passengers to the car and g ive
them the benefit of being slowed down more gently or "soft ly" through the "give" in the safety
belts, crush zones and other safety features eng i­
neered into today's vehicles . By "absorbing" the
k inetic ene rgy over a longer period of t ime, the
safety belts make the fo rces on the body more
"tolerab le" and less likely to cause in ju ry.
Although these examples are based on a frontal collision, safety be lts can also substantia lly re­
duce the r isk of injury in other kinds of crashes.
So, whethe r you're on a long trip or just go ing to
the corner store, a lways buckle up and make sure
others do, too. Accident statistics show that vehi­ cle occupants proper ly wearing safety belts have
a lower risk of being injured and a much better
chance of surviving an accident. Properly using
safety belts also great ly increases the ability of
t h e supplemental a irbags to do their job in a col­
lis ion. For this reason, wea ring a safety belt is le­
gally required in most countries including much
of the Uni ted States and Canad a.
Although your Aud i is equipped with a irbags, you
still have to wear the safety be lts p rovided. Front
airbags, for example, are activated only in some
frontal collisions. The front airbags are not act i­
vated in a ll frontal collisions, in side and rear col ­
lisions, in rollovers or in cases where there is not
enough deceleration throug h impact to the front
of the vehicle . The same goes for the other a irbag
systems in your Aud i. So, always wear your safety
belt and make sure everybody in your vehicle is
properly restrai ned!
267

Airbag system
-Never hold the steering wheel at the 12
o'clock position or with your hands any­
where inside the steering wheel or on the
steering wheel hub. Holding the steering
wheel the wrong way increases the risk of
severe injury to the arms, hands, and head if
the driver airbag deploys.
,& WARNING
Objects between you and the airbag will in­
crease the risk of injury in a crash by interfer­
ing with the way the airbag unfolds and/or by
being pushed into you as the airbag inflates.
- Always make sure nothing is in the front air-
bag deployment zone that could be struck
by the airbag when it inflates.
-
- Objects in the zone of a deploying airbag
can become projectiles when the airbag de­
ploys and cause serious personal injury.
- Never hold things in your hands or on your
lap when the vehicle is in use.
- Never place accessories or other objects
(such as cup holders, telephone brackets,
note pads, navigation systems, or things
that are large, heavy, or bulky) on the doors;
never attach then to the doors or the wind­
shield; never place them over or near or at­
tach them to the area marked ,,AIRBAG" on
the steering wheel, instrument panel or the
seat backrests; never place them between
these areas and you or any other person in
the vehicle.
- Never attach objects to the windshield
above the passenger front airbag, such as
accessory GPS navigation units or music
players. Such objects could cause serious in­
jury in a collision, especially when the air­ bags inflate.
- Never recline the front passenger seat to transport objects. Items can also move into
the deployment area of the side airbags or
the front airbag during breaking or in a sud­
den maneuver. Objects near the airbags can
fly dangerously through the passenger com­ partment and cause injury, particularly
when the seat is reclined and the airbags in­
flate.
278
,& WARNING
, -
A person on the front passenger seat, espe­
cially infants and small children, will receive
serious injuries and can even be killed by be­ ing too close to the airbag when it inflates .
- Although the Advanced Airbag System in your vehicle is designed to turn off the front passenger airbag if an infant or a small child
is on the front passenger seat, nobody can
absolutely guarantee that deployment un­
der these special conditions is impossible in
all conceivable situations that may happen
during the useful life of your vehicle.
- The Advanced Airbag System can deploy in accordance with the ,.low risk" option for 3-
and 6-year-old children under the U.S. Fed­
eral Standard if a child with electrical capac­
itance greater than the combined capaci­
tance of a typical one-year old infant re­
strained in one of the forward facing or rear­
ward-facing child seats with which your ve­ hicle was certified is on the front passenger
seat and the other conditions for airbag de­
ployment are met.
- Accident statistics have shown that children
are generally safer in the rear seat area than
in the front seating position.
- For their own safety, all children, especially
12 years and younger, should always ride in
the back properly restrained for their age
and size.
Advanced front airbag system
Your vehicle is equipped with a front Advanced
Airbag System in compliance with United States
Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS)
208, as well as Canada Motor Vehicle Safety
Standard (CMVSS) 208 as applicable at the time
your vehicle was manufactured .
-
The front Advanced Airbag System supplements
the safety belts to provide additional protection
for the driver's and front passenger's heads and upper bodies in frontal crashes. The airbags in­
flate only in frontal impacts when the vehicle de-
celeration is high enough.
ll>

Airbag syste m
-If you are unrestrained, leaning forward, sit­
ting sideways or out of position in any way,
your risk of injury is much higher.
- You will also receive serious injuries and
could even be killed if you are up aga inst the
airbag or too close to it when it inflates -
even with an Advanced Airbag
¢page 273.
A WARNING
A child in a rearward-facing child safety seat installed on the front passenger seat w ill be
ser iously injured and can be killed if the front
airbag inflates -even w ith an Advanced Airbag
System.
- Although the Advanced A irbag System in
yo ur vehicle is designed to turn off the front
airbag when a rearward-facing child re­
straint has been insta lled on the front pas­
senger seat, nobody can absolutely guaran­
tee that deployment is impossible in all con­ ceivable s ituations that may happen during
the useful life of your vehicle.
- The inf lating airbag will hit the child safety
seat or infant carrier with great force and
will smash the chi ld safety seat and child
against the backrest, center armrest, door,
or roof.
- Always install rearward-facing ch ild re­
straints on the rear seat.
- If you must install a rearward fac ing ch ild
safety seat on the front passenger seat be­
cause of exceptiona l circumstances and the
PAS SENGER AIR BAG OFF~; light does not
come on and stay on, immed iate ly install
the rear-fac ing ch ild safety seat in a rear
seating position and have the airbag system
inspected by your authorized Audi dea ler.
A WARNING
If, in exceptional circumstances, you must in­
stall a forward-facing chi ld restraint on the
front passenger's seat:
- Always make sure the forward-facing seat
has been designed and certified by its man­
ufacturer for use on a front seat with a pas­
senger front and side a irbag.
280
- Never put the forward-facing child restraint
up against or very near the instrument pan­
el.
- Always move the front passenger seat to
the highest posit ion in the up and down ad­
justment range and move it back to the rearmost posit ion in the seat's fore and aft
ad justment range, as far away from the a ir­
bag as poss ible, before install ing the for­
ward-facing chi ld restraint.
- Always make sure that the safety be lt upper
anchorage is behind the ch ild rest raint and
not next to o r in fron t of the child rest raint
so that the safety be lt will be properly posi­
tioned.
- Always make sure th at there is noth ing on
the front passenger seat that will cause the
capacitive passenger detection system in
the seat to signal to the Airbag System that
the seat is occup ied by a person when it is
not, or to signal that it is occupied by some­
one who is heavier than the person actually
sitt ing on the seat. The presence of addi­
tional objects could cause the passenger
front airbag to be turned on when it should
be off, or could cause the airbag to work in a
way that is d ifferent from the way it wou ld
have worked withou t the objec t on the seat .
- Ma ke sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
"1; light comes on and stays on all the
time wheneve r the ignit ion is switched on .
' Advanced Airbag System components
The front passenger seat in your vehicle has a lot
of very important parts of the Advanced Airbag
System in it. These parts include the capacitive
passenger detection system, wir ing, brackets,
and more. The control unit monitors the system
on the front passenger seat when the ignit ion is
switched on and turns the airbag indicato r light
o n when a malfunction in the one of the system
components is detec ted
¢ page 285. Because
t h e fron t passenger seat contains impo rtant
parts of the Advanced Ai rbag System, you must
take care to prevent it from being damaged .
Damage to the seat may prevent the Advanced .,.

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:E -For safety reasons in severe accidents, the
alternator and starter are separated from
the vehicle battery with a pyrotechn ic circuit
interrupter.
- Work on the pyrotechnic circ uit interrupt ­
er must only be performed by a qualified
technicians who have the experience, in ­
formation and special tools necessary to
perform the work safely.
- If the vehicle or the circuit interrupter is
scrapped, all app licab le safety precautions
must be followed .
® For the sake of the environment
Undeployed airbag modu les a nd pretension ­
ers might be classified as Perch lorate 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 and
safety belts with pretensioners are scrapped,
all applicable laws and regulations must be
observed. Your authorized Audi dealer is fa­
m iliar with these requi rements a nd we recom­
mend t hat you have you r dealer perform this
service for you.
Other things that can affect Advanced
Airbag performance
Changing the vehicle's suspension system can
change the way that the Advanced Airbag System
performs in a crash . For example, using tire-r im
comb inat ions not approved by Audi, lowering the
ve hicl e, chang ing the s tiffness of the suspens io n,
in clud ing the spr ings, suspens ion str uts, shock
absor bers et c. can change the forces that are
measured by the airbag sensors and sent to the
e lectronic contro l unit. Some suspension changes
can, for example, increase the force levels meas­
ured by the sensors and make the airbag system
deploy in crashes in which it would not deploy if
the changes had not been made. Other ki nds of
changes may reduce the fo rce levels meas ured by
the sensors and prevent the airbag from deploy­ in g when i t should .
Airbag sys tem
A WARNING ,-
Changing the vehicle's suspension including
use of unapproved tire-rim combinations can
change Advanced Airbag performance and in­
crease the risk of serious personal injury in a
crash.
- Never install suspension components that
do not have the same pe rformance charac­
teristics as the components o rigina lly ins tal­
led on your vehicle.
- Never use tire-rim combinations t hat have
not been approved by Audi.
Side airbags
Description of side airbags
The airbag system can provide supplemental
protection to properly restrained occupants.
Fig. 2 42 Sid e airbag location in t he drive r's seat
The side airbags are located in the sides of the
front seat backrests
¢ fig . 242 and the rear back­
r es t* facing the doo rs.
The side airbags installed for the front seating
pos itions have bee n des igned and certified to
help reduce the risk of in ju ry that can be caused
by a irbags when they inflate, pa rticu larly when
the oc cupant s itting next to it is not seated prop ­
erly . T he side airbag for the fron t passenger seat
can be used w it h properly installed chi ld re­
straints . Please be sure to read the important in­
formation and warnings whenever using a child
restra int in a vehicle: Safety belts
c::> page 265,
Airbag system c::> page 273, Child safety
c>page295 .
The side airbag sy stem ba sica lly consi st s of: II>
289

Booster seats and safety belts
Properly used booster seats can help protect
children weighing between about 40 lbs. and
80 lbs. (18 kg and 36 kg) who are less than 4
ft.
9 in. (57 inches/1.45 meters) tall.
Fig. 250 Rear se at; chi ld proper ly restrained in a booster
sea t
The vehicle's safety belts alone will not fit most
children until they are at least 4
ft. 9 in. (57 in­
ches/1.45 meters) tall and weigh about 80 lbs.
(36 kg). Booster seats raise these children up so
that the safety belt will pass properly over the
stronger parts of their bodies and the safety belt
can help protect them in a crash.
.,. Do not use the convertible locking retractor
when using the vehicle's safety belt to restrain
a chi ld on a booster seat .
.. The shoulder belt must lie as close to the cen­
ter of the child's collar bone as possible and must lie fla t and snug on the upper body.
It
must never lie across the throat or neck. The
lap belt must lie across the pelvis and never
across the stomach or abdomen. Make sure the
belt lies flat and snug. Pull on the belt to tight­
en if necessary .
.,. If you must transport an older child in a boos­
ter seat on the front passenger seat , you can
use the safety belt height adjustment to help
adjust the shoulder portion properly .
.. Secure unused safety belts on the rear seat
r:=>page 301.
Children up to at least 8 years old (over 40 lbs. or
18 kg) are best protected in child safety seats de-
u ~ signed for their age and we ight. Experts say that
N ~ the skeletal structure , part icularly the pelvis , of
g these children is not fully developed, and they
:E Child safety
must not use the vehicle safety belts without a
suitable child restraint .
It is usually best to put these children in appro­
priate booster seats. Be su re the booster seat
meets all applicab le safety standards .
Booster seats raise the seating position of the
child and reposition both the lap and shoulder
parts of the safety belt so that they pass across
the child's body in the right places. The routing of
the belt over the chi ld's body is very important
for the ch ild's protection, whether or not a boos­
ter seat is used. Children age 12 and under must
always ride in the rear seat.
Ch ildr en who are at least 4
ft. 9 in. (57 inches/
1.45 meters) tall can generally use the vehicle 's
three point lap and shoulder belts . Never use the
lap belt portion of the vehicle 's safety belt alone
to restrain any ch ild, regard less of how big the
ch ild is. Always remember that childr en do not
have the pronounced pelvic structure required for
the proper function of lap belt portion of the ve­
hicle's three point lap and shoulder belts . T he
child's safety absolutely requires that a lap belt
portion of the safety belt be fastened snugly and
as low as possible around the pe lvis. Never let
the lap belt portion of the safety belt pass over
the child 's stomach or abdomen .
In a crash, airbags must inflate within a blink of
an eye and with considerab le force. In order to do
its job, the airbag needs room to inflate so that it
will be there to protect the occupant as the occu­
pan t moves forward into the airbag .
A vehicle occ upant who is out of position and too
close to the a irbag gets in the way of an inflating
airbag. When an occupant is too close , he or she
will be struck violently and will receive serious or possibly even fata l injury .
In order for the airbag to offer protection, it is
important that all vehicle occupants, especially
any children, who must be in the front seat be­
cause of exceptiona l circumstances, be properly
restrained and as far away from the airbag as
poss ible. By keeping room between the child 's ..,.
305

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l: ..
different tire speeds. For this rea­son, in case of emergency, only
use a spare tire that has the same
circumference as the regular
tires.
&,_ WARNING
-Do not use steel rims that are 17 inches or larger. Other­
wise, damage to the vehicle
and an accident could result.
-For technical reasons, it is not
possible to use tires from oth­
er vehicles -in some cases,
you cannot even use tires from
the same vehicle model.
-Make sure that the tires you
select have enough clearance
to the vehicle. Replacement
tires should not be chosen
simply based on the nominal
size, because tires with a dif­
ferent construction can differ greatly even if they are the
same size. If there is not
enough clearance, the tires or
the vehicle can be damaged
and this can reduce driving
safety and increase the risk of
an accident.
-Only use tires that are more
than six years old when abso-
Wheels
lutely necessary and drive
carefully when doing so.
-Run-flat tires* may only be used on vehicles that were
equipped with them at the
factory
¢ page 3 52.
-If you install wheel covers on
the vehicle, make sure they al­ low enough air circulation to
cool the brake system. If they
do not, this could increase the
risk of an accident.
Tire wear/damage
Fig. 274 T ire profile: treadwear indica­
tor
Tire wear
Check the tires regularly for wear.
-Inflation pressure that is too low
or high can increase tire wear
considerably.
-Driving quickly through curves, rapid acceleration and heavy
braking increase tire wear.
341

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:E: ' Tire pressure monitoring system
UJ General notes
Each tire, including t he spare (if provided),
should be checked monthly when cold and inflat­
e d to the inflation pressure recommended by the
veh icle manufacturer on the vehicle placard or
tire inflat ion pressure label. (If your vehicle has
tires of a different size than the size indicated on
the veh icle placard or t ire inflation pressure la­
be l, you shou ld determine the prope r ti re infla­
tion pressure fo r those t ires) .
As an added safety feature , your veh icle has been
equ ipped w ith a t ire pressure monitoring system
(TPMS) that illuminates a low tire p ress ure te ll­
tale whe n one or more of yo ur t ires is significant­
l y under- infla ted . Accordingly, when the low tire
p ressure tellta le ill uminates, yo u should stop and
check your tires as soon as possible, and inflate
them to the proper press ure. Driving on a s ignifi ­
cantly under-inflated tire causes the tire to over­
heat and can lead to t ire failure. Under-inflation
also reduces fuel efficiency and tire tread life,
and may affect the veh icle's handling and stop­
p ing ability.
P lease note that the TPMS is not a substitute for
proper tire maintenance, and it is the driver's re­
sponsib ility to ma inta in correct tire p ressure,
even if u nder-inflation has not reached t he leve l
to tr igger illum inat io n of the TPMS low tire p res­
sure telltale.
Your veh icle has also been equ ipped w ith a TPMS
malfunct ion ind icator to indicate when the sys­
tem is not operat ing properly. The TPMS ma l­
f u nction indicator is combined w ith the low tire
p ressure tellta le. Whe n the system de tects a
mal function, the te lltale will flash fo r approxi ­
mate ly one min ute and then remain continuo usly
illum inated. This sequence will continue upon
subseq uent veh icle start-ups as long as the ma l­
function ex ists .
When the malfunction indicator is ill uminated,
the system may not be ab le to detect or signa l
low tire press ure as intended. TPMS ma lfunctions
may occur for a var iety of reasons, including the
Wh eel s
insta llation o f replacement or alternate tires or
whee ls on the vehicle that prevent the TPMS
from functioning p roper ly . Always check the
TPMS ma lfunction te lltale after replac ing one or
more tires or wheels on your vehicle to ensure
that the rep lacement or a lternate tires a nd
wheels allow the TPMS to continue to fu nction
prope rly .
If the tire pressure monitoring indicator
appears
The tire pressure indicator in the instrument
cluster informs you if the tire pressure is too low
or if there is a system mo/function .
Using the ABS se nsors, the t ire pressu re moni to r­
i ng system compares the tire tread circumfer ­
en ce and vibr ation character ist ics of the ind ividu­
al tires . If the press ure changes in one o r more
t ires , th is is indicated in the instrument cluster
display with an indicato r light
[I] and a message.
If only one tire is affected, the location of that
t ire will be indicated.
T he tire press ures must be stored in the Infotain ­
ment system again each time the p ressures
change (switching between partial and full load
pressure) or after changing or replac ing a tire on
your vehicle
c:> page 352. The tire pressure mon i­
tor ing system on ly mon itors the tire pressure you
have stored . Refer to the t ire pressu re label fo r
the re commended t ire pressu re fo r yo ur vehicle
c:> page 343, fig . 2 76.
T ire tread c irc umference and vibra tion characte r­
ist ics can change and ca use a tire press ure wa rn­
i ng if :
- the t ire pressure in one or more tires is too low
- the t ires have structural damage
- the t ire was rep laced or the t ire pressu re was
changed and it was not stored
c:> page 352
- tires that a re on ly pa rtially used are replaced
w ith new tires
Indicator lights
[I]-L oss of pressu re in at leas t one tire c:> ,&. .
Check the tires and replace or repair if necessary .
Check/correct the pressures of all four tires and .,.
351

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:E: ' Care and cleaning
Component Situation Solution
T ex til es
Deposits adhering to Vacuum cleaner
art ifici al leat her, the surface
A lcan tara Water-based deposits Absorbent
cloth and mild soap solutiona>
such as coffee, tea,
b lood, etc.
Oil -based deposits Apply a m ild soap solution
a), blot away the dissolved o il or
such as oil, make-up, dye, treat afterward with water, if necessary
etc.
Special deposits such Special stain
remover, blot with absorbent material, treat
as ink, nail polish, la- afterward with mild soap solution, if necessary
a)
tex paint, shoe pol-
ish, etc.
Natu ral le ath er Fresh stains Wool cloth with a mild soap solution a)
Water-based deposits Fresh stains: absorbent cloth
such as coffee, tea, dried stains: stain
remover suitable for leather
b lood , etc.
Oi [-based deposits Fresh stains: absorbent cloth and stain
remover suitable
such as oil, make-up, for leather
etc. dried stains: oil cleaning spray
Special deposits such Spot remove r suitab le for leather
as ink, nail polish, la-
tex paint, shoe pol-
ish, etc.
Care Regularly apply condit ion ing c ream that protects from
lig ht and penet rates into the material. Use specia lly-co l-
ored conditioning cream, if necessary .
Carbon part s Deposits clean the same way as plast ic parts
a) Mi ld soap solution: maximum two tablespoons of neutral soap in 1 q uart (1 liter) of water
.8, WARNING
The windshield may not be trea ted with wa­
ter-repelling windshield coating agents. Un ­
favorable cond itions such as wetness, dark­
ness, or low sun can result in increased glare.
Wiper blade chatter is also possible.
@ Note
- Headlight s/tail li ght s
-Never clean headlights or tail lights with a
dry cloth or sponge.
- Do not use any cleaning product that con­
tains alcohol, because they could cause
cracks to form.
- Whe els
-
- Never use any pa int polish or other abra­
sive materials .
- Damage to the protect ive layer on the
rims such as stone chips or scratches must
be repaired immediately .
-Sen sor s/cam era l enses
- Neve r use warm or hot water to remove
snow or ice from the camera lens . This
could cause the lens to crack .
- Neve r use ab rasive cleaning materials or
a lcohol to clean the camera lens. This
could cause scratches and cracks .
-Doo r window s
-Remove snow and ice on windows and ex-
terior mirrors w ith a plast ic scraper . To
357