2008 AUDI S8 ESP

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Important things to do before driving
Safety is everybody's job! Vehicle and occupant safety
always depends on the informed and careful driver.
For your safety and the safety of your passengers, before
driving always:
- Make sure that all lights and signals are operat ing
correctly.
- Make sure that the tire pressure is correct.
- Make sure that all windows are clean and afford good
visibility to the outside.
- Secure all luggage and other items
carefully => page 109.
-Make sure that nothing can interfere with the pedals.
- Adjust front seat, head restraint and mirrors correctly for your height .
- Instruct passengers to adjust the head restraints
according to their height.
- Make sure to use the right child restraint correctly to
protect
children => page 243, "Child Safety".
- Sit properly in your seat and make sure that your passen ­
gers do the
same => page 86, "General recommenda ­
tions".
- Fasten your safety belt and wear it properly. Also instruct
your passengers to fasten their safety belts properly
=> page 209. •
Controls and equip­
ment Safety first
Vehicle operation
What impairs driving safety?
Safe driving is directly related to the condition of the
vehicle, the driver as well as the driver's ability to concen­
trate on the road without being distracted.
The driver is responsible for the safety of the vehicle and all
of its occupants. If your ability to drive is impaired, safety
risks for everybody in the vehicle increase and you also
become a hazard to everyone else on the road
=>& .There ­
fore:
Do not let yourself be distracted by passengers or by
using a cellular telephone .
NEVER drive when your driving ability is impaired (by
medications, alcohol, drugs, etc.).
- Observe all traffic laws, rules of the road and speed limits
and plain common sense .
- ALWAYS adjust your speed to road, traffic and weather
conditions.
- Take frequent breaks on long trips. Do not drive for more
than two hours at a stretch.
- Do NOT drive when you are tired, under pressure or when
you are stressed .
& WARNING
Impaired driving safety increases the risk of serious personal
injury and death whenever a vehicle is being used. •
Vehicle care Do-it-yourself service Technical data

Driving Safely fflll
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Proper adjustment of head restraints
Correctly adjusted head restraints are an important part
of your vehicle's occupant restraint system and can help to reduce the risk of injuries in accident situations.
Fig . 218 Correctly
adjusted head restraint
viewed from the side
The head restraints must be correctly adjusted to achieve
the best protection.
- Adjust the head restraint so that the upper edge of the
restraint is level with the top of your head, but no lower
than eye level and so it is as close to the back of your
head as
possible ~ fig. 218.
Adjusting head restraints=> page 91.
& WARNING
Driving without head restraints or with improperly adjusted head
restraints increases the risk of serious injuries in a collision. To
help reduce the risk of injury:
• Always drive with the head restraints in place and properly
adjusted.
• Every person in the vehicle must have a properly adjusted head
restraint.
Controls and equip­ ment Safety first Vehicle operation
&, WARNING
(continued)
• Always make sure each person in the vehicle properly adjusts
their head restraint. Each head restraint must be adjusted according to occupants' size so that the upper edge is as even
with the top of the person's head, but no lower than eye level and
so it is as close to the back of to the head as possible .
• Never attempt to adjust head restraint while driving. If you
have driven off and must adjust the driver headrest for any reason,
first stop the vehicle safely before attempting to adjust the head
restraint.
• Children must always be properly restrained in a child restraint
that is appropriate for their age and size
=> page 243. •
Examples of improper seating positions
The occupant restraint system can only reduce the risk of
injury if vehicle occupants are properly seated.
Improper seating positions can cause serious injury or
death . Safety belts can only work when they are properly
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 proper seating
position. A driver is responsible for the safety of all vehicle
occupants and especially for children. Therefore:
- Never allow anyone to assume an incorrect seating posi­
tion when the vehicle is being
used ~& .
The following bulletins list only some sample positions that will
increase the risk of serious injury and death. Our hope is that these
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Vehicle care Do-it-yourself service Technical data

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& WARNING
Improperly stored luggage or other items can fly through the
vehicle causing serious personal injury in the event of hard braking
or an accident. To help reduce the risk of serious personal injury:
• Always put objects, for example, luggage or other heavy items
in the luggage compartment.
• Always secure objects in the luggage compartment using the
tie-down hooks and suitable straps.
& WARNING
Heavy loads will influence the way your vehicle handles. To help
reduce the risk of a loss of control leading to serious personal
injury :
• Always keep in mind when transporting heavy objects, that a
change in the center of gravity can also cause changes in vehicle
handling:
-Always distribute the load as evenly as possible.
- Place heavy objects as far forward in the luggage compart-
ment as possible.
• Never exceed the Gross Axle Weight Rating or the Gross
Vehicle Weight Rating specified on the safety compliance sticker on the left door jamb. Exceeding permissible weight standards
can cause the vehicle to slide and handle differently.
• Please observe information on safe
driving => page 198.
& WARNING
To help prevent poisonous exhaust gas from being drawn into the
vehicle, always keep the rear lid closed while driving.
• Never transport objects larger than those fitting completely
into the luggage area because the rear lid cannot be fully closed.
& WARNING (continued)
• If you absolutely must drive with the rear lid open, observe the
following notes to reduce the risk of poisoning :
- Close all windows,
- Close the power roof,
- Open all air outlets in the instrument panel,
- Switch off the air recirculation,
- Set the fresh air fan to the highest speed.
& WARNING
Always make sure that the doors, all windows, the power roof and
the rear lid are securely closed and locked to reduce the risk of injury when the vehicle is not being used.
• After closing the rear lid, always make sure that it is properly
closed and locked.
• Never leave your vehicle unattended especially with the rear lid
left open. A child could crawl into the vehicle through the luggage
compartment and close the rear lid becoming trapped and unable
to get out . Being trapped in a vehicle can lead to serious personal
injury.
• Never let children play in or around the vehicle.
• Never let passengers ride in the luggage compartment. Vehicle
occupants must always be properly restrained in one of the
vehicle's seating positions.
[ i] Tips
Air circulation helps to reduce windowfogging. Stale air escapes to
the outside through vents in the trim panel, on the left side of the
luggage compartment. Be sure to keep these slots free and open. •

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Safety belts
General notes
Always wear safety belts!
Wearing safety belts correctly saves lives!
This chapter explains why safety belts are necessary, how
they work and how to adjust and wear them correctly.
- Read all the information that follows and heed all of the
instructions and WARNINGS.
& WARNING
Not wearing safety belts or wearing them improperly increases
the risk of serious personal injury and death.
• Safety belts are the single most effective means available to
reduce the risk of serious injury and death in automobile acci­
dents. For your protection and that of your passengers, always
correctly wear safety belts when the vehicle is moving.
• Pregnant women, injured, or physically impaired persons must
also use safety belts . Like all vehicle occupants, they are more
likely to be seriously injured if they do not wear safety belts. The
best way to protect a fetus is to protect the mother -throughout
the entire pregnancy. •
Number of seats
Your Audi has a total of five seating positions: two in the front and
three in the rear. Vehicles with power individual rear seats* have
seating for four: two in the front and two in the rear. Each seating
position has a safety belt.
Controls and equip­ ment Safety first
Vehicle operation
& WARNING
Not wearing safety belts or wearing them improperly increases
the risk of serious personal injury and death .
• Never strap more than one person, including small children,
into any belt. It is especially dangerous to place a safety belt over
a child sitting on your lap.
• Never let more people ride in the vehicle than there are safety
belts available.
• Be sure everyone riding in the vehicle is properly restrained
with a separate safety belt or child restraint. •
Safety belt warning light ~
Your vehicle has a warning system for the driver and front
seat passenger to remind you about the importance of
buckling-up.
Before driving off, always:
Fig . 219 Safety belt
warning light in the
instrument cluster -
enlarged
- Fasten your safety belt and make sure you are wearing it
properly.
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Vehicle care Do-it-yourself service Technical data

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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.
•

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Airbag system
Important things to know
Importance of wearing safety belts and
sitting properly
Airbags are only supplemental restraints. For airbags to
do their jo b, occu pants must always properly we ar their
safety belts and be in a proper seating position.
Fo r your safe ty a nd the safety o f your passen gers, before
dr iving o ff, a lways:
- Adjust the driver 's seat and steering wheel proper ly
=> page 200,
- Adjust the front passenger's seat properly=> page 87,
-Wear safety be lts proper ly=> page 212,
- Always properly use the proper chi ld restrain t to pro tect
ch ildren
=> page 243 .
In a collision airbags mus t inflate with in t he blink of an eye and with
considerable force . The supplemental airbags can cause injuries if
t he driver or the fron t seat passenger is not seated properly. There ­
fore in order to help the airbag to do its job, it is important, both as a driver and as a passenger to sit properly at a ll ti mes.
By keep ing room between your body and t he steer ing wheel and the
front of the passenger compartment, the airbag can inflate fu lly and
comp letely and prov ide supplementa l protection in certain frontal
collisions => page 200, "Proper occupant seating positions". For
deta ils on the operation of t he seat adjustment
controls => page 87.
It's especia lly important that chi ldren are proper ly restrained
=> page 243 .
There is a lot that the driver and the passengers can and must do to
help the individual safety features installed in your Audi work
together as a system.
P roper seating position is important so that the front airbag on the
driver side ca n do its job. I f yo u have a physical impairment or
condition that prevents you from sitting properly on the driver seat
wi th the safety belt p roperly fastened and reaching the pedals, o r if
you have concerns with regard to the function or operation of the
Advanced Airbag System, p lease contact your authorized Audi
dea ler or qua lif ied workshop, or call Audi Customer CAR E at 1 -800-
822 -2834 for possib le modifications to your vehicle .
When the a irbag system deploys, a gas generator wi ll fil l the
airbags, break open the padded covers, and inflate between the
steer ing wheel and the dr iver and between the inst rume nt panel
and the front passenger. The airbags wi ll deflate immediate ly after
deployment so that the front occupants can see through the wind ­
shield again without interruption .
A ll of this takes p lace in the b link of an eye, so fast that many people
do n't even rea lize that the a irbags have dep loyed . T he airbags also
inflate with a great dea l of force and nothing should be in their way
when they dep loy. Fron t airbags in combinati on wi th properly worn
safety belts slow down and limit the occupant's forward movement.
Together t hey help to prevent the driver and front seat passenger
from hitting parts of the inside the vehicle while reducing the forces act ing on the occupant during the crash . In this way they he lp to
reduce the r isk of injury to the head and upper body in the crash .
Airbags do not protect the arms or the lower parts of the body .
Both front a irbags w ill not in flate i n all fro ntal col lis io ns. The trig­
gering of the airbag system depends on the vehic le dece lerat ion
r ate caused by the co llision and registe red by the electr onic c ontro l
unit . If this rate is be low the reference value programmed into the
co ntrol unit, the ai rbags w il l not be t riggered, even tho ug h the car
may be bad ly damaged as a result of the collision . Vehicle damage,
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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
~

-Airbag system P'll:1-~--------------
& WAR N IN G ( continued )
• Improper in stallation of child restraints can reduce their effec­
tiveness or even prevent them from p roviding any protection .
• An improperly installed child restraint can interfere with the
airbag as it deploys and seriously injure or even kill the child -
even with an Advanced Airbag System .
• Always carefully follow the manufa cturer's instruction s
provided with the child seat or carrier .
• Never pl ace additional items on the seat that can in crease the
total weight registered by the weight -sensing mat and can cause
injury in a crash . •
Front airbags
Description of front airbags
Th e air bag s ystem c an provide su ppleme ntal pro te cti on
t o prop erl y restra ined fr ont seat occu pants.
Fig. 2 30 Location of
driver airbag: in
s teering wheel
r I.. • ............ .
-= I
J
Fig . 231 Locat ion of
front pa ssenger' s
airbag : in the in stru ­
ment pa nel
Y our vehicle is equipped with an "Advanced Airbag System" in
complia nce with United States Federal M otor Vehicle Sa fe ty Sta n­
dard (FMVSS) 2 08 as applicable at t he time your vehicle was manu ­
f actured. The safe ty bel ts for the front seat s have "pretensione rs"
t h at help to ta ke slack out of the be lt sys tem . Th e p retensio ners are
a lso activated by the e lectronic control unit for the airbag system .
T he fron t sa fe ty be lts als o have loa d lim iters to hel p red uce the
forces applied to the body in a crash.
T he ai rbag f or the driver is in t he stee ring wheel
hub ~ fig. 230 and
th e ai rbag for the front passenger is in the instr ument panel
~ fig. 23 1. T he genera l location of the airbags is marked "A IRBAG".
There is a lo t yo u ne ed to know ab out the a irbags in y our vehicle. We
urge you to read the detailed informa tion about airbags, safety belts
and child s afety in t his an d th e other cha pters tha t make u p the
owner's literature . P lease be sure to heed the WARNINGS
-the y are
e xtr em ely im po rt ant for y our safety and the safe ty of y our passen ­
gers , especia lly infants and small children .
& WARNING
Never rely on airbags alone for protection .
• Even when they deploy, airbags provide only supplemental
protection .