tow AUDI Q7 2014 Owner´s Manual

have become completely familiar with the way
your vehicle-trailer combination behaves and responds.
Backing up is difficu lt and requires practice.
Backing up with a trai ler genera lly requires
steering action opposite to that when backing up your vehicle without a trailer .
Maintain a greater distance between your ve­
hicle and the one in front of you. You will need
more room to stop . To compensate for the
trai ler, you will need a larger than norma l
turning radius.
When passing, remember that you cannot ac ­
celerate as fast as you normally would be ­
cause of the added load . Make sure you have
enough room to pass. After passing, allow plenty of room for your tra iler before chang­
ing lanes again .
Avoid jerky starts, sharp turns or rapid lane
changes.
@ Tips
- Do not tow a traile r during the break-in
period of your vehicle.
- If you tow a trailer, your A udi may re­
quire more frequent maintenance due to
the extra load
<=> page 316.
Parking on a slope
Do not park on a slope with a trailer. If it can­
not be avoided, do so only after doing the fol­
lowing:
When parking:
.. Apply the foot brake .
.. Have someone place chocks under both the
vehicle and the trai ler wheels .
.. With chocks in place, slowly re lease the
brakes until the wheel chocks absorb the
load .
.. Turn the wheels towards the curb .
.. Apply the parking brake .
.. Move the selector lever to P.
When restarting after parking:
.. Apply the foot brake.
Trailer towing 243
.. Start the engine.
.. Move the selector lever to D.
.. Release the parking brake and s low ly pull
out and away from the wheel chocks.
.. Stop and have someone retr ieve the wheel
chocks.
(D Tips
If you move the selector lever of the auto­
matic transmission to P before applying
the parking brake and before blocking the
whee ls, you may have to use more force
l ater to move the lever out of the
P posi­
tion.
•
•

-If the ti re is not flat and y ou do not have
to change a wheel immed iate ly, drive at
reduced speed to the nearest service sta­
t ion to check the tire pressure and add
air as required.
(D Note
Dr iving without va lve stem caps can cause
damage to the t ire va lves. To prevent this,
always make sure that factory installed
valve stem caps on all wheels are secu re ly
mounted on the va lve.
@) For the sake of the environment
Underinflated tires will a lso increase the
fue l consumption.
Tires and vehicle load limits
There are limits to the amount of load or
weight t hat any veh icle and any t ire ca n car ry.
A vehicle that is overloaded w ill not handle
well and is more difficult to stop. Overload ing
can not on ly lead to loss of vehicle contro l,
but can a lso damage important parts of the
vehicle and can lead to sudden tire failure, in­
cluding a blowout and sudden deflation that
can cause the ve hicle to crash.
Your safety and that of yo ur passenge rs a lso
depends on making sure that load limits are
not exceeded. Vehicle load includes everybody
and everyth ing in and on the vehicle. These
load limits a re tech nica lly referred to as the
ve hicle's
Gross Veh icle Weight Rating
("GVWR").
The "GVWR" includes the we ight of the basic
ve hicle, all factory installed accessories, a full
tank of f uel, oil, coo lant and othe r fluids plus
max imum load. The maximum load includes
the number o f passenger s that the ve hicl e is
intended to carry ("se ating capacity") w it h an
assumed weig ht o f 150 lbs (68 kg) for each
passenger at a designated seating position
and the tota l weight of any luggage in the ve­
h icle. If you tow a trailer, the weight of the
trailer hitch and the tong ue weight of the
Tire s an d wheel s 281
loaded tra ile r must be included as part of the
vehicle load .
T he
Gro ss Ax le Weight Rating (" GAWR") is
the max imum load th at can be applied at each
of the vehicle's two axles .
T he Gross Vehicle Weight Rat ing and t he
G ross Ax le Weig ht Ra ting are l iste d on the
s af ety comp liance s tic ke r la bel lo cated on the
driver's side 8 -pillar . Your Audi has 5 seating
positions, 2 in the front and 3 in the rear fo r
total seating capacity of 5. On vehicles with
s ix seats*, your vehicle has two front seats,
two seats in the second row seat ing and two
seats in the th ird row seati ng. On veh icles
with seven seats*, your vehicle has two front
seats, t hree seats in the second row s eating
and two seats in t he third row seating. Ea ch
seat ing pos itio n has a se at belt
~page 174,
Safety be lts .
The fact that ther e is a n upper limit to you r
vehicle's G ross Vehicle Weigh t Rati ng means
that the to tal weig ht of whatever is bei ng car­
ried in the vehicle ( in cl ud ing the weight of a
trailer hitch and the tongue weight of the l oa ded trai le r) is limite d. The more passen­
gers in the vehicle or passengers who are heavier than the standard we ights assumed
mean that less we ight can be carried as lug­
gage.
The tire pressure label on your Audi also lists
the max imum combined weight of all of the
occupants and luggage or other cargo that
t h e ve hicle can carry. Fo r the locat ion of the
label
~page 277, fig . 249.
A WARNING
Overloading a veh icl e can cause loss of ve­
h icl e cont ro l, a crash or o ther accide nt, se­
rio us pe rson al inj ury, a nd eve n death .
- Ca rrying more we ight tha n your ve hicle
was des igned to carry w ill prevent the
veh icle from h andling proper ly and in ­
crease the risk of the loss o f vehicle con ­
trol.
•
•

282 Tires and wheels
-The brakes on a vehicle that has been
overloaded may not be able to stop the
vehicle within a safe distance.
- Tires on a vehicle that has been overload­
ed can fail suddenly, including a blowout
and sudden deflation, causing loss of
control and a crash.
- Always make sure that the total load be­
ing transported -including the weight of
a trailer hitch and the tongue weight of a
loaded trailer -does not make the vehi­
cle heavier than the vehicle's Gross Vehi­
cle Weight Rating.
Determining correct load limit
Use the example below to cal­
culate the total weight of the
passengers and luggage or oth­
er things that you plan to trans­
port so that you can make sure
that your vehicle will not be overloaded.
Steps for Determining
Correct Load Limit
1. Locate the statement "THE COMBINED WEIGHT OF OC­
CUPANTS AND CARGO
SHOULD NEVER EXCEED XXX KG OR XXX LBS"on your vehi­
cle's placard (tire inflation pressure label)
¢ page 2 77,
fig. 249.
2. Determine the combined
weight of the driver and pas­
sengers that will be riding in
your vehicle. 3
. Subtract the combined
weight of the driver and pas­ sengers from
"XXX" kilo­
grams or
"XXX" pounds
shown on the sticker
¢page 277, fig. 249.
4. The resulting figure equals the available amount of car­
go and luggage load capaci­
ty. For example, if the
"XXX"
amount equals 1400 lbs.
and there will be five
150
lbs. passengers in your vehi­
cle, the amount of available
cargo and luggage load ca­
pacity is
650 lbs. (1400-7 50
(5 X 150) = 650 lbs.)
5. Determine the combined
weight of luggage and cargo
being loaded on the vehicle.
That weight may not safely
exceed the available cargo
and luggage load capacity
calculated in Step 4.
6. If your vehicle will be towing
a trailer, load from your trail­
er will be transferred to your
vehicle. Consult this manual
to determine how this re­ duces the available cargo
and luggage load capacity of
your vehicle. ..,

2 94 What do I do now ?
What do I do now?
Jack, tools and
inflatable spare tire
Tools
The tool kit is located in the luggage com­
partment under the cargo floor cover.
Fig. 255 Luggage compart men t: vehicle too l kit
The onboard tool kit includes:
- Hook for removing wheel covers*
- Plast ic hook to remove wheel bolt covers*
- Wheel bolt wrench
- Alignment pin for changing wheels
- Screwdriver with reversible blade
- 10 x 13 open ended wrench
- Towing eye
(D Tips
Some of the onboard items listed above
are provided on certa in models only or are
optional ext ras .
Jack and folding chocks
The jack and the folding chocks are located in
the luggage compartment under the cargo
floor cover.
Fig . 256 Luggage compartment veh icle jack and fo ld­
i ng chocks
-----........ -
Fig. 257 Open ing fold ing chocks
Veh icle jack
The jack is located under the tool kit
<=> fig . 256. Before storing the jack, make sure
it is wound back down as far as it will go.
Folding chock s
Two unassembled folding chocks are attached
to the foam section at the front with the jack
<=>fig. 256.
Release the two hook-and-loop fasteners, and
remove the two chocks. To use the chocks, you
first have to raise the support plate
<=> fig. 257 (!) and then insert the locking plate
with the two "tabs" into the elongated holes
in the base plate@<=>&. .
A WARNING
--The chock cannot fulfill its function and
may lose its stability if the "tabs" on the
suppo rt p late are not inse rted correctly
into the elongated holes in the base

plate. If this hap pens , the vehicle may
start to m ove whi le a whee l is being
changed.
- Never use the folding chocks if they are
damaged or i f they have not been assem­
bled correct ly.
A WARNING
Improper use of the vehicle jack can cause
ser ious personal injuries.
- Never use the jack supplied with your
Audi on another vehicle, particularly on a heavier one. The jack is only suitable for
use on the vehicle it came w ith .
- Us ing a bumper jack to raise the vehicle
will damage the bumper system. The
jack may slip, causing i njury.
- Never support your vehicle on cinder bloc ks, b ricks or other objects. Th ese
may not be able to support the load and
cou ld cause injury when they fail.
- Never start or run t he engine while the
vehicle is suppor ted by the jack.
- If you must wo rk under the vehicle, al­
ways use safety stand s spe cifically de­
signed for this purpose.
- Always make sure the inflatable spare
tir e a nd even a f lat t ire are se cured in
place and not loose, ot herwise they
cou ld fly forward, causing personal inj ury
to passengers in the veh icle in an acc i­
dent or sudden mane uver.
Removing bass box
Applies to vehicles: with bass box
Before the inflatable spare tire can be taken
out, the bass box must be removed .
Fig . 2 58 Spare wheel well: Sass box
What do I do now ? 295
Removing bass box
.,. Squee ze the locking tabs ~ fig . 258 (D of
the conne ctor .
.,. Disconnect the connector @and place the
lead to one side.
.,. Turn the large screw counter-clockwise .
.,. Carefully remove the bass box.
Installing bass bo x
.,. Carefully p lace the bass box in the wheel.
The inscription "F RO NT" on the bass box
must face forward .
.,. Reconnect the connector that was removed.
.,. Secure the bass box with the large screw .
Inflatable spare tire
The inflatable spare tire expands to its full di­
ameter when it is inflated.
Fig. 25 9 In flatable spare tir e w ith compressor
Removing inflatable spare tire
.,. Lift up the cargo floo r us ing the handle .
"' Turn the large screw
9 fig . 259 co unte r-
clockw ise.
"' Remove the bass box as required
¢ page 295 .
.,. Take out the in flatable spare tire .
.,. Always store the vehicle tool kit, the jack
and the replaced tire in the luggage com­
partment
9 page 170.
Stowing the inflatable spare t ire
"' Release the ai r by u nscrewing the valve
stem .
.,. Screw the valve stem back in afterwards .
.,. Wait a few hours before p lac ing the wheel in
the spare wheel we ll¢ ,& .
"' Install the bass box as required ¢
page 295 . ..,_

2 9 6 What do I do no w?
• Secure the wheel with the large screw.
• Fold the cargo floor back down .
After using th e inflat able spare wheel
The inflatable spare t ire can be re-used as
l ong as it is not damaged and is not worn
down to the tread wear indicators
c::> A .
When you let the air out of the inflatable
spa re tire, it does not assume its folded shape
again for several ho urs. Until then, it cannot
be p laced back in the spare wheel well and
stowed securely.
A WARNING
- Never use the spare tire if it is damaged
or if it is worn down to the tread wear in­
dicators.
- If the inflatable spare tire is more than 6
years old, use it on ly in an emergency
and with extreme caut ion and careful
driv ing .
- The inflatable spare tire is intended only
for temporary and short-term use .
It
should be replaced as soon as possible
with the no rmal wheel and tire .
- The tire pressure value for the inflatable
spare t ire is located on the driver's side
B-p illar
c::> page 277, fig . 250.
-Maximum perm iss ible speed is SO mph
(80 km/h).
- Avoid full-throttle acce lerat ion, heavy
braking, and fast corner ing .
- When the air is let out of the inflatable
spare wheel, it does not assume its fold­
ed shape for several hours . Until then, it
cannot be placed back in the spare wheel
we ll and stowed secu rely.
- Never drive with more than one inflata­
ble spare ti re.
- For technical reasons, the use of tire
chains on the inf latable spare tire is not
permitted.
If i t is necessary to drive w ith
t ir e cha ins, the infla table spare wheel
must be mounted on the front axle in the
event of a flat in a rear tire . The newly
available front whee l must the n be in­
sta lled in place of the rear wheel with the flat tire
. Insta lling the ti re cha in be­
fore mounting the wheel and tire is rec­
ommended.
- Loose items in the passenger compart­
ment can cause serious personal injury
during hard brak ing or in an accident.
Never store the inflatable spare tire or
jack and tools in the passenge r compart­
ment.
(D Note
- The inflatable spare tire has been deve l­
oped specifically for th is veh icle model.
It must not be exchanged or used for
other vehicle models. Sim ila rly, inflata­
ble t ires from other vehicle models m ust
no t be used.
- Norma l summer or w inte r ti res must not
be ins talled on the infla table t ire rim.
Inflating inflatable spare tire
• Remove the compressor from the luggage
compartment
c::> page 295 , fig. 259.
• Unscrew the valve stem from the spare tire.
• Screw the tire f iller hose from the compres­
sor firmly onto the
valve of the spare tire.
• Insert the plug from the compressor into an
outlet of the ve hicle
c::> page 88 .
• Switch the comp ressor on .
• Let the compressor run unti l the va lue speci­
fied on the ti re p ressu re label is reached
c::> page 2 77, fig. 250 . Switc h the compres­
sor off after running for 12 m inutes at the
most -danger of overheating!
A WARNING
-The compressor and the tire f iller hose can
become extremely hot while they are run­
n ing -danger of burns!
([) Note
Switch the compressor off after running
for 12 min utes at the most -danger of
overheating! Allow the compressor to cool
down for a few m inutes before you use it
again .

Changing a wheel
Before changing a wheel
Observe the following precautions for your
own and your passenger's safety when chang­
ing a wheel .
.,. After you experience a tire fa ilure, pull the
car well away from moving traffic and try to
reach
level gro und before you stop¢.&_ .
.. All passengers should
leav e the car and
move to a safe location (fo r instan ce, be hind
the guardra il) ¢.&_ .
.,. Engage the
parkin g brake to prevent your
vehicle from ro lling unintentionally ¢.&_ .
.. Move
selecto r le ver to p osition P ¢ .&_ .
1> Ifyou are towing a trai ler: unhitch the trail­
er from your veh icle.
.,. Block the diagonally opposite wheel with
the folding chocks or other objects .
.. Take the
jack and the inflatab le spare tire
out of the luggage compartment
¢ page 294.
& WARNING
You or your passengers cou ld be injured
while changing a whee l if yo u do not fol­
low these safety precautions:
- If you have a flat t ire, move a safe dis ­
tance off the road . Turn off the eng ine,
t ur n the emergency flashers o n and use
other warning devices to alert other mo­
torists .
- Make sure that passengers wait in a safe
place away from the vehicle and well
away from the road and traffic.
- To he lp prevent the veh icle from mov ing
sudden ly and possibly slipping off the
jack, always fully set the parking b rake
and block the whee l diagonally opposite
the wheel being cha nged with the fo ld­
ing chocks or othe r objects. When one
front whee l is lifted off the g ro und, plac­
ing the A utomat ic Transm iss ion in P
(Park) wi ll
not prevent the vehicle from
moving .
-
What do I do now? 297
-Before you change a whee l, be sure the
ground is level and firm. If necessary,
use a sturdy board under the jack.
- Always store the vehicle tool kit, the jack
and the replaced tire in the luggage com­
partment
<=:>page 170 .
Changing a wheel
When you change a wheel , follow these­
quence described below step-by-step and in
exactly that order.
1. Activate the vehicle jack mode (only
vehicles with Adaptive Air S uspension)
¢ page 159 .
2. Remove the decorati ve wheel co ver* . For
more details see also <=:>
page 298, Deco­
rative wheel covers
or <=:> page 298,
Wheels with wheel bolt caps .
3. Loosen the wheel bolt s¢ page 298 .
4. Loca te the p roper mounting point for the
jack and align the jack be low that point
¢ page 299.
5. Lift the car with the jack Q page 299 .
6. Remove the wheel with the flat ti re and
then install the
inflatable spare tire
¢ page 300.
7. Tig hte n all wheel bolts lightly.
8 .
Lowe r the vehicle with the jack .
9. Use the wheel bolt w rench and
firmly
t ighten all wheel bolts¢ page 298 .
10. Replace the decora tive whe el co ver* .
11. Deactivate the vehicle jack mode (on ly
vehicles with Adaptive Air S uspension)
¢ page 159 .
A WARNING
Always read and follow all WARNINGS and
informat ion<=:>
& in Raising the vehicle on
page 300
and <=:> page 301.
•
•

Emergency situations
General
This chapter is intended for trained emer­
gency crews and working personnel who have the necessary tools and equipment to
perform these operations.
Starting by pushing or
towing
(D Note
Your v ehicl e is e quipped w ith an automatic
tra nsm iss io n. Cons eque ntly, the e ngine
cann ot be started by pus hing o r tow ing.
Starting with jumper
cables
If necessary, the engine can be started by
connecting it to the battery of another vehi­
cle.
If th e engine shou ld fail to start because of a
d ischarged o r weak battery, the battery can be
connected to the battery of
another veh icle,
usi ng a
pair of jumper cables to start the en­
gine .
Jumper c ables
Use only jumper cab les of sufficiently large
cross section to carry the starter cur rent safe­
l y. Refer to the man ufacturer's specifications.
Use only jumper cables with
insulated te rm i­
na l clamps w hich are d istinctly mar ked:
plus(+ ) cable in mos t ca ses co lore d red
minus(-) cable
i n most cases colored black .
A WARNING
Batteries con tai n elec trici ty, a cid, and gas.
Any o f these c an caus e ve ry ser ious or f atal
injury . Follow the instruc tions below fo r
safe han dling of your veh icle's battery .
- Alw ays s hield y our eyes and a void le an­
ing over the batte ry w henever possib le .
Emergency situations 307
- A discharged battery can freeze at tem­
pe rat ures just below 32 °F (0 °C). Before
connecting a jumpe r cable, you must
thaw the frozen battery c omp lete ly, ot h­
e rwise it could explode.
- Do not allow battery acid to co ntact eyes
or skin . Fl ush any con tacted area wi th
wat er immediately .
- Imp roper use of a booster battery to
s tart a vehicle may cause an ex plosion.
- Vehicle batter ies generate expl osive gas­
es. Keep sparks, flame and lighted c iga­
rettes away from ba tte ries.
- Do not t ry to jump start a ny ve hicle w it h
a low ac id leve l in the battery.
- The voltage of the booste r battery m ust
also have a 12-Vo lt rat ing. T he capac ity
(Ah) of the booste r batt ery sho uld not b e
lowe r than that of th e discharged bat­
t ery. Use o f batt eries of d iffe ren t vol tage
or su bstan tia lly differen t "Ah" rat ing
may cause an exp losion and pers onal in­
jury .
- N ever ch arge a fr ozen batt ery. Gas t ra p­
pe d in the ice may c ause an ex plosion .
- N ev e r ch arge o r use a batt ery th at h as
been fro zen . Th e batte ry case may have
be weake ned.
- U se o f batter ies of di ffere nt vol tage or
substantially differen t ca pa city (Ah) rat ­
i ng may cause an exp losion and injury .
T he ca pa c ity (Ah) of the booster battery
should not be lower than that of the dis­
charged battery.
- Before you check anything in the engine
compa rtment, always read an d heed a ll
WARNINGS
c::;,page 257.
(D Note
-App lyi ng a hi gher vo ltage booste r ba t­
t ery wi ll cause expens ive damage to sen ­
sit ive e lectronic components, such as
cont ro l units, relays, rad io , etc.
- There must be no electrical c ontact be ­
tween the vehicles as otherw ise current
co uld already start to f low as soon as t he
posi tive(+) terminals a re con nect ed. ..,. •
•

-Jumper cables must be long enough so
that the vehicles do not t ouch.
- W hen connecting jumper ca bles, make
sure that they cannot get caught in any
moving parts in the eng ine compart­
ment.
- Before you check anything in the engine
compartment, always read and heed all
WARNINGS
Q page 257.
(D Note
Improper hook-up of jumper cables can ru­
in the generator.
- Always connect POSITIVE( +) to POSI ­
TIVE(+), and NEGATIVE(-) to NEGATIVE
( - ) ground post of the battery manager
control unit.
- Check that all screw plugs on the battery
cells are screwed in firmly. If not, tighten plugs prior to connecting clamp on nega­
tive battery terminal.
- Please note that the procedure for con­
nect ing a jumper cable as described
above applies spec ifically to the case of
your vehicle be ing jump started . When
you are giving a jump start to another ve­
hi cle, do
not connec t the negat ive (-) ca­
ble to the negat ive( -) term inal on the
discharged battery ©¢
fig. 2 72. In ­
stead, securely connect the negative( -)
cable to e ither a solid metal component
that is firmly bolted to the engine block
or to the engine block itse lf. If the bat­
tery that is being charged does not vent
to the outside, escaping battery gas
could ignite and exp lode!
Em erg en cy si tuation s 309
Emergency towing
with commercial tow
truck
General hints
Your Audi requires special handling for tow­
ing.
T he following information is to be used by
commercial tow t ruck operators who know
how to operate their equipment safely.
- Never tow your Audi , towing will cause
damage to the engine a nd transmi ssion.
- Never wrap th e safet y chain s or winch c a­
ble s around th e brak e lin es.
- To prevent unne ce ss ary dam age, your Aud i
mu st be t ransp orted with a flat bed truck .
- To load th e vehi cle on to the fl at bed, us e
the t owing loop found in the vehicle t ool s
and atta ch to the front or rear anch o rage
¢ page 310 and Qpage 310 .
A WARNING
A vehicle being towed is not safe for pas­
sengers. Never allow anyone to ride in a
vehicle be ing towed, for any reason.
-
•
•

310 Emergency situations
Front towing loop
Do not install the front towing loop until it is
needed.
Fig. 273 Right fron t bu mpe r: Remov ing t he cove r
Fig. 27 4 Righ t fron t bumpe r w it h out cove r: Screw ing
i n tow ing loo p
The towing loop fits into the threaded hole lo­
cated on the r ight side of the front bumper
a nd covered by a cover whe n not in use.
• Remove the towing loop from the vehicle
tool kit
Q page 294.
• Carefully remove the cover q fig. 273.
• Screw the towi ng loop tightly into the
threaded hole as fa r as it will go
q fig . 274 .
When it is no longer needed , unscrew the
towing loop and put it back into the vehicle
too lkit. Be sure to have the tow ing loop stored
i n the vehicle at all times .
A WARNING
If the towing loop is not scr ewed in as far
as it w ill go, the th read ca n pul l o ut w hen
t he vehicle is towed -potenti al risk of an
a cc ide nt.
Rear towing loop
Do not install the rear towing loop until it is
needed .
Fig . 275 Rea r bu mper: Cove r
Fig. 27 6 Rear bumpe r: Sc rew ing in tow ing loop
On t he right s ide of the rear bumper there is a
t hr eaded hole for t he towing loop. The
t h readed hole is protec ted by a cover.
• Remove th e tow ing loop from th e vehicl e
t oo l kit
q page 294 .
• To release the cover from the bumper, press
it in by app ly ing short, sharp pressure to the
outer part
q fig . 2 75.
• Screw the tow ing loop t ightly i nto the
threaded ho le as far as it wi ll go
q fig. 2 76.
U nscrew t he towing loop again afte r use and
insta ll the cover in the bumper. Return the
tow ing loop to the toolkit . Be su re to have the
towing loop stored in the vehicle at a ll times.
A WARNING
If the tow ing lo op is not screwed in as far
as it will go, the thread can pull ou t when
the veh icle is towed -potent ial ris k of an
accident.