2008 AUDI S8 child seat

___ s_a_ f_ e_ t-= y_ b_e_ l_ t _s _______________________________________________ _
-Make sure that your passengers also b uckle up and pro p­
erly wea r th eir sa fety be lts.
Protect children wit h a c hild restraint sys tem appropriate
for the size and age.
The warning light ~ in the instrument cluster lights up when the
ignition is switched on as a reminder to fasten the safety belts. In
addition , you will hear a warning tone.
After the ignition is switched on, the warning light in the instrument cluster will a lways come on for about 6 seconds and if the driver has
not fastened the safety belt, a warning tone will also sound for
about 6 seconds . As soon as the driver has fastened the safety belt,
the warning tone will stop and the warning light will go out .
If the driver or front seat passenger have not buckled -up within
about 10 seconds after the warning tone has stopped and the
vehicle is moving faster than about 15 mph, the warning tone will
sound again for about 6 seconds and then s top for 24 seconds and
then repeat this reminder sequence for a maximum of 2 minutes. At
speeds be low 5 mph, the warning to ne will not sound.
Fa sten your safe ty belt and make su re that your p assengers al so
properl y put on their s afet y belts .
& WARNING
• Safety belts are the single mo st effective mean s available to
reduce th e risk of ser ious in jur y a nd death in aut omobile acci­
dent s. For your prote ction and that of your pas sengers , alway s
c orrectly wear safety belt s when t he v ehicle is moving .
• Failure t o pay attention to th e warning light that come on,
c ould lead to per sonal injur y.•
Why safety belts?
Frontal collisions and the law of physics
Frontal cras hes cre ate very strong forces for people ridi ng
in vehicles.
F ig . 22 0 Unbel te d
occ upants in a ve hicle
h ead ing for a w all
F ig . 22 1 The vehi cle
c ras hes in to th e wa ll
The physical principles are simple. Both the vehicle and the passen­
gers possess energy which varies with vehicle speed and body
we ight . Engineers call this energy "kinetic energy ."
T he higher the speed of the vehicle and the greater the vehic le's
we ight, the more energy that has to be "absorbed" in the crash .
Vehicle speed is the most signi fican t factor. If the speed doubles
from 15 to 30 mph (25 to 50 km/h), the energy increases 4 times!
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lfflJ _ ___.:::S:,::a ~f ..::e :..::t Ly _ b~ e:.:.:lt ~s::._ _____________________________________________ _
Safety belts protect
People think it's possible to use the hands to brace the
body in a min or c ollision . It's simply not true!
Fig . 22 4 Driv er is
c orr ectly r est rai ned in
a su dd en braki ng
m aneuver
Safety belts used properly can make a big difference. Sa fety belts
help to keep passengers in their seats, gradually reduce energy
levels app lied to the body in an accident, and help prevent the
uncontrolled movement that can cause serious injuries. In addition,
safety be lts re duce the danger of being thrown out of the vehic le .
Safety belts attach passengers to the car and give them the benefit
of being s lowed down more gently or "softly" through the "give" in
the safety belts, crush zones and other sa fety features engineered
into today's vehicles. By "absorbing" the kinetic energy over a
longer pe riod of time, the sa fety belts make the forces on the body
more "tolerable" and less likely to cause injury .
Altho ugh these examples are based on a frontal co llision, safety
belts can a lso substantially reduce the risk of injury in other kinds
of crashes . So, whether you're on a long trip or just going to the
corner store, a lways buckle up and make sure others do, too. Acci­
dent statistics show that vehicle occupants properly wearing safety
belts have a lower ris k of being injured and a much better chance of
surviving an accident. Properly using safety belts also greatly
increases the abi lity of the supplementa l airbags to do their job in a
collision . For th is reason, wearing a safety belt is legally required in
most countries including much of the United States and Canada. Although your Audi is equipped with airbags, you sti
ll have to wear
t he safety belts provided . Fron t air bags, for example, are activated
only in some frontal collisions. The front a irbags are not activated in
a ll fro ntal co llisions, in side and rear coll isions, in ro ll ove rs or in
cases where there is not enough dece leration through impact to the
front of the vehicle . The sa me goes for the other airbag systems in
you r Aud i. So, always wear your safety belt and make sure every ­
body in your vehic le is properly restrained! •
Important safety instructions about safety
belts
Safety belts must always be correctly posi tio ned across
t he strongest bones of your body.
- Al ways wear safety belts as illust rated and described in
th is chapte r.
-Make s ure tha t yo ur sa fety be lts ar e always ready for us e
and are not damage d.
& WARNING
Not wearing safety belts or w earing them improperl y increas es
the risk of serious per sonal injury and death . S afety belts ca n work
onl y when used corre ctl y.
• Alway s fa sten your s afety belt s correctly before driving off and
make sure all p assengers ar e correctly restrain ed.
• For ma ximum protect ion , safet y belts must always be po si­
tioned properly on the body .
• Never strap more than one person , including sm all ch ildren ,
into any belt.
• Never pla ce a safety belt ove r a child sitting on your lap .
• Alway s keep feet
in the footwell in front of the seat while the
vehicle is being driven .
.,_

fl::. WARNING (continued)
• 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 objects in or on your
clothing, such as eye glasses, pens, keys, etc. , as these may cause
injury.
• Never allow safety belts to become damaged by being caught
in door or seat hardware.
• Do not wear the shoulder part of the belt under your arm or
otherwise out of position.
• Several layers of heavy clothing may interfere with correct posi­
tioning of belts and reduce 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 create slack in the
shoulder belt. However, special clips may be required for the
proper use of some child restraint systems .
• Torn or frayed safety belts can tear, and damaged belt hard­
ware can break in an accident. Inspect belts regularly .
If webbing,
bindings, buckles, or retractors are damaged, 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
authorized Audi dealer. Replacement may be necessary even if
damage cannot be clearly seen. Anchorages that were loaded
must also be inspected.
• Never remove, modify, disassemble, or try to repair the safety
belts yourself.
Safety belts
fl::. WARNING (continued)
• Always keep the belts clean. Dirty belts may not work properly
and can impair the function of the inertia reel
~ page 299, "Safety
belts" .•
Safety belts
Fastening safety be lts
Seat first -everybody buckle up!
Fig . 225 Belt buckle
and tongue on the
driver's seat
To prov ide maximum protection, safety belts must always
be positioned correctly on the wearer's body.
Adjust the front seat and head restraint properly
=> page 86, "General recommendations" .
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. 225.
Pull on the belt to make sure that it is securely latched in
the buckle.
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Vehicle care I I irechnical data

-Safety belts
---=---------------------------------
Automatic safety belt retractors
Every safety belt is equipped with an automatic belt retractor on the
shoulder belt. This feature locks the belt when the belt is pulled out
fast, during hard braking and in an accident. The belt may also lock
when you drive up or down a steep hill or through a sharp curve. During normal driving the belt lets you move freely.
Safety belt pretensioners
The safety belts are equipped with a belt pretensioner that helps to
tighten the safety belt and remove slack when the pretensioner is
activated. The function of the pretensioner is monitored by a
warning
light=> page 19.
Switchable locking feature
Every safety belt except the one on the driver seat is equipped with
a switchable locking feature that
must be used when the safety belt
is used to attach a child seat. Be sure to read the important informa­
tion about this
feature => page 253.
& WARNING
Improperly positioned safety belts can cause serious injury in an
accident=> page 214, "Safety belt position" .
• Safety belts offer optimum protection only when the seat back
is upright and belts are properly positioned on the body.
• Never attach the safety belt to the buckle for another seat.
Attaching the belt to the wrong buckle will reduce safety belt
effectiveness and can cause serious personal injury.
• A passenger who is not properly restrained can be seriously
injured by the safety belt itself when it moves from the stronger
parts of the body into critical areas like the abdomen.
• Always lock the convertible locking retractor when you are
securing a child seat in the vehicle
=> page 255. •
Safety belt position
Correct belt position is the key to getting maximum
protection from safety belts.
., N
8
~
Fig . 226 Head restraint
and safety belt
posi­
tion as seen from the
side
Use the height adjustment to change the position of the shoulder
belt of the front safety belts.
& WARNING
Improperly positioned safety belts can cause serious personal
injury in an accident .
• The shoulder belt portion of the safety belt must be positioned
over the middle of the occupant's shoulder and never across the
neck or throat.
• The safety belt must lie flat and snug on the occupant's upper
body
=> fig. 226. Pull on the belt to tighten if necessary.
• The lap belt portion of the safety belt must be positioned as
low as possible across pelvis and never over the abdomen. Make
sure the belt lies flat and snug
=> fig. 226. Pull on the belt to
tighten if necessary.
• A loose-fitting safety belt can cause serious injuries by shifting
its position on your body from the strong bones to more vulner-
able, soft tissue and cause serious injury.
...

___ s_a _f _e _t -=-y _ b_ e_lt _s ______________________________________________ _
Adjusting safety belt height Use the safety belt height adjustment to change belt posi­
tion on the shoulder.
Fig . 229 Adjusting
shoulder belt height
The safety belt height adjustors for the front seats can be
used to adjust the height of the shoulder portion of the
safety belt so that it is positioned correctly.
- Push the
latch ~ fig. 229 up or down so that the shoulder
portion of the safety belt is positioned nearly midway
over the
shoulder ~ & in "Safety belt position" on
page 214.
& WARNING
Always read and heed all WARNINGS and other important informa­
tion
~ page 212. •
Improperly worn safety belts
Incorrectly positioned safety belts can cause severe inju­
ries.
Wearing safety belts improperly can cause serious injury or
death. Safety belts can only work when they are correctly positioned on the body. Improper seating
positions reduce
the effectiveness of safety belts and will even increase the
risk of injury and death by moving the safety belt to critical
areas of the body. Improper seating positions also increase
the risk of serious injury and death when an airbag deploys
and strikes an occupant who is not in the correct seating position. A driver is responsible for the safety of all vehicle
occupants and especially for children. Therefore:
- Never permit anyone to assume an incorrect sitting posi­
tion in the vehicle while
traveling ~& .
& WARNING
Improperly worn safety belts increase the risk of serious personal
injury and death whenever a vehicle is being used.
• Always make sure that all vehicle occupants are correctly
restrained and stay in a correct seating position whenever the
vehicle is being used.
• Always read and heed all WARNINGS and other important infor­
mation
~ page 212. •
Safety belt pretensioners
How safety belt pretensioners work
In front, side and rear-end collisions above a particular
severity, safety belts are tensioned automatically.
The safety belts are equipped with safety belt pretensioners . The
system is activated by sensors in front, side and rea r-end collisions
of great severity . This tightens the belt and takes up belt
slack ~ &
in "Service and disposal of safety belt pretensioner" on page 217.
Taking up the slack helps to reduce forward occupan t movement
during a collision.
•

__________________________________________________ A_ i_ r _b _a-' g=- s_ y=- s_t _e _m __ lfflll
r ep air costs or ev e n the lac k of veh icle dama ge is not necessari ly an
indicati on of w heth e r an air b ag s houl d infla te or not .
I t is not poss ib le to def in e a ran ge of v ehicle sp ee ds t hat w il l cover
eve ry po ssible kind and ang le of impact that wil l a lway s trigger the
a ir b ags , s in ce t he cir cum stanc es w ill vary c onsid era bly be tw een
one co llision and another . Important factors inc lude , for example,
th e nat ure ( hard or soft) of the o bject w hic h the car h its, the a ng le
of impact, ve hicle speed, etc. The front airbags wi ll also not inflate
in side or rea r co lli s io ns, or i n ro ll-ov ers .
Always remember : Airbags w ill d eploy only onc e, an d on ly in c ertain
k inds of coll isi ons. Your s afe ty b elt s a re a lway s the re to o ffer prot ec­
t ion in th ose s ituat io ns in whi ch airba gs are not su pposed to deplo y,
or whe n th ey hav e a lready dep lo yed; for ex am ple, wh en your v ehi cle
s tr ik es or i s struc k by another a ft e r th e fir st c ollis ion .
T his is just one of the reasons why a n airbag is a su pple mentary
r es traint and is not a sub stitut e for a sa fe ty b elt. T he ai rbag s ystem
w ork s most eff ect ively wh en us ed w ith the saf ety be lts . T herefore,
alw ay s pr operly w ea r y ou r safe ty b e lts ~ page 2 09.
& WARNING
Sitting too close to the steering wheel or instrument panel will
decrease the effectiveness of the airbags and will increase the risk
of personal injury in a collision.
• Never sit closer than 10 inches (25 cm) to the steering wheel or
instrument panel.
• If you cannot sit more than 10 inches (25 cm ) from the steering
wheel , investigate whether adaptive equipment may be available
to held you reach the pedals and increase your seating distance
from the steering wheel.
• If you are unrestrained , leaning forward, sitting 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 against the airbag or too close to it when it inflates -
even with an Advanced Airbag.
Controls and equip­ ment Safety first
Vehicle operation
&, WARNING (continued )
• To reduce the risk of injury when an airbag inflates, always
wear safety belts
properly ~ page 213, "Safety belts ".
• Always make certain that children age 12 or younger always
ride in the rear seat . If children are not properly restrained , they
may be severely injured or killed when an airbag inflates.
• Never let children ride unrestrained or improperly restrained in
the vehicle . Adjust the front seats properly .
• Never ride with the backrest reclined .
• Always sit as far as possible from the steering wheel or the
instrument panel
~ page 200.
• Always sit upright with your back against the backrest of your
seat.
• Never place your feet on the instrument panel or on the seat .
Always keep both feet on the floor in front of the seat to help prevent serious injuries to the legs and hips if the airbag inflates .
• Never recline the front passenger's seat to transport objects.
Items can also move into the area of the side airbag or the front
airbag during braking or in a sudden maneuver. Objects near the
airbags can become projectiles and cause injury when an airbag
inflates .
& WARNING
Airbags that have deployed in a crash must be replaced.
• Use only original equipment airbags approved by Audi and
installed by a trained technician who has the necessary tools and
diagnostic equipment to properly repla ce any airbag in your
vehicle and assure system effectiveness in a crash .
• Never permit salvaged or recy cled airbags to be installed in
your vehicle. •
Vehicle care Do-it-yourself service Technical data

___ A_ ir_b _ a_ g=- s-a. y_s _t _e _m _________________________________________________ _
Child restraints on the front seat - some important things to know
- Be sure to read the important information and head the WARNINGS for important details about c hildren and
Advanced
Airbags=> page 243.
Even though your vehic le is equipped with an Advanced Airbag
System, make certain that a ll children, especia lly those 12 years and
younger, a lways ride in the back seat proper ly restrained for their
age and size . The airbag on the passenger side makes the front seat
a potentia lly dangerous place for a child to ride. The front seat is not
the safest p lace for a child in a forward -facing chi ld seat. It can be a
very dangerous place for an infant or a child in a rearward -fac ing
seat.
The Advanced Ai rbag System in your vehicle has been certified to
comply with the Requirements of United States Federal Motor
Vehicle Safety Standard 208 as applicable at the time your vehicle
was manufactured.
The Standard requires the front airbag on the passenger side to be
t urned off ("suppressed") if a chi ld up to about one year of age
restrained in one of the rear -facing or forward -facing infant
restraints l isted in Federa l Motor Vehic le Safety Standard 208 with
which the Advanced Airbag System in your vehicle was certified has
been insta lled on the front passenger seat. For a listing of the child
restraints that were used to certify compl iance with the US Safety
Standard
=> page 245.
The PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF l ight in the instrument pane l te lls you
when the front Advanced Airbag on the passenger side has been
t urned off by the electronic co ntrol unit.
Each time you turn on the ignition, the
PA SS ENGER AIR BAG OFF
light will come on for a few seconds and :
• will stay on if the front passenger seat is not occup ied, •
will stay on if there is a small child or chi ld restraint on the front
passenge r seat,
• will go off if the front passenger seat is occupied by an adult as
r egis tered by the weight-sensi ng
m at => page 229, "Monitoring the
Advanced Airbag System" .
The
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes on when the contro l unit
detects a tota l weight on the front passenger seat that requires the
front airbag to be turned off.
I f the to tal weight on the front passe nger seat is m ore than tha t of
a typ ica l 1 year -old child but less than the weight of a small adult,
t he fron t airbag on the passe nger side can dep loy (the
PAS SENGER
AIR BAG OFF
light does not come on). If the PASSEN GER AIR BAG
OFF
light does not come on, the front airbag on t he passe nger s ide
has not been turned off by the electronic contro l unit and can
deploy if the control unit senses an impact t hat meets the condi­
tions stored in its memory.
For example , the airb ag m ay deploy if :
• a small ch ild that is heavier tha n a typ ical 1 yea r-o ld child is on
the front passenger seat (regardless of whether the child is in one
of the child seats
l isted => page 245), or
• a child who has outgrown chi ld restraints is on the front
p asse nger seat.
I f the front passe nger airbag is turned o ff, the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
light comes on in the instrument cluster and stays on.
T he front a irbag o n th e passenger s ide may
not deploy (the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF l ight does not illuminate and stay lit) even
if a smal l adult or teenage r, o r a passenger wh o is n ot sitting uprigh t
with their back against a non -reclined backrest with their feet on the
vehic le floor in front of the seat is o n the front passenge r seat
=> page 200, "Proper seating pos it ion for the driver".
I f the front passenger airbag deploys, the Federa l Standard requires
the airbag to meet the "low risk" deployment cr iteria to reduce the
risk of injury through interaction with the airbag. "Low risk" deploy­
ment occu rs in those crashes that take place at lower decelerations
~

as defined in the elec tronic control unit~ page 230 , "PA SSENGER
AI R BAG OFF ligh t".
A lways r em ember, a ch ild seat or infant carrier install ed on th e front
seat may be st ruck and knocked out of position by the rap idly
i n fl ating pass enger's airbag in a fr ontal co llisio n. T he airb ag co uld
greatly reduce the effectivenes s of the chi ld restraint and even seri ­
ously inju re t he c hild duri ng i nflatio n .
F or this reason, and because the bac k seat is the safest place for
chi ldr en -w hen pro perly res traine d acc ording to th eir age an d size
- w e stron gly recomm end that c hildren a lways sit in th e bac k seat
~ page 243, "C hil d Safe ty" .
& WARNING
A child in a rearward -facing child seat installed on the front
passenger seat will be seriously injured and can be killed if the
front airbag inflates - even with an Advanced Airbag System.
• The inflating airbag will hit the child seat or infant car rier with
great force and will smash the child seat and child against the
backrest , center arm rest, door or roof .
• Always install rear-facing child seats on the rear seat.
• If you must install a rearward facing child seat on the front
passenger seat because of exceptional circumstances and the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does not come on and stay on,
immediately install the rear-facing child seat in a rear seating posi­
tion and have the airbag system inspected by your Audi dealer.
• Forward -facing child seats installed on the front passenger's
seat may interfere with the deployment of the airbag and cause
serious personal injury to the child .
& WARNING
If, in exceptional circumstances, you must install a forward-facing
child restraint on the front passenger's seat:
Controls and equip­ ment Safety first
Vehicle operation
Airbag system
&, WARNING (continued )
• Always make sure the forward-facing seat has been designed
and certified by its manufacturer for use on a front seat with a
passenger front and side airbag .
• Never put the forward-facing child restraint up against or very
near the instrument panel .
• Always move the passenger seat into its rearmost position in
the seat's fore and aft adjustment range, as far away from the
airbag as possible before installing the forward-facing child
restraint. The backrest must be adjusted to an upright position .
• Make sure that the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes on
and stays on all the time whenever the ignition is switched on.
& WARNING
To reduce the risk of serious injury, make sure that the PASSENGER
AIR BAG OFF light will be displayed whenever a child restraint is
installed on the front passenger seat and the ignition is switched
on.
• If the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does not stay on , perform
the checks described
~ page 229 , "Monitoring the Advanced
Airbag System" .
• Take the child restraint off the front passenger seat and install
it properly at one of the rear seat positions if the PASSENGER AIR
BAG OFF light does not stay on .
• Have the airbag system inspected by your Audi dealer immedi ­
ately .
• Always carefully follow instructions from child restraint manu­
facturers when installing child restraints .
& WARNING
If, in exceptional circumstances, you must install a forward or
rearward -facing child restraint on the front passenger's seat:
Vehicle care Do-it-yourself service Technical data