-Make sure that your passengers also buck le up and prop
erly wear the ir safety belts .
- Protect your children with a child restraint system appro-
priat e for the si ze and age of the child ren.
The warn ing light tin the instrument cluster lights up when the igni
tion is switched on as a reminder to fasten the safety belts. In addi
tion, you wi ll hear a war ning sound.
After the ignition is switched on, the warning tone will come on for abou t 6 seconds along with a t warn ing light in the inst rument
cluster if e ither the driver or (on USA models o nly) front seat
passenge r has not fastened their safety bel t. As soon as the driver
and front seat passenger have fastened the safety belt, the warning
tone will stop and the warning light will go out.
If both the driver and front seat passenger have not buckled- up
within about 24 seconds after the warning tone has stopped, the
wa rning tone w ill sound aga in for about 6 seconds. The warn ing tone
w ill sound repeatedly for about 6 seconds at 24 second interva ls unt il
bo th the driver and fron t passenger have bu ckled -up. The safety belt
warning system is active for about 5 minutes and during this time the
warning light in the instrument cluster wi ll stay on.
Fasten your safety b elt now and make sure that your pa ssengers
also properly put on their safety belt s. •
Safety first Vehicle OP-eration
Safety belts
Why safety belts?
Frontal collisions and the law of physics
Frontal crashes create very strong forces for people
riding in vehicles .
Fig. 18 7 Unbe lted
occu pant s in a veh icl e
h ea din g for a wall
Fig . 18 8 T he veh icle
cr ash es into t he wall
Th e physical pr incip les are simple. Bot h the vehicle and the passen
gers possess energy which varies with vehicle speed and body weight.
Enginee rs call th is energy "kine tic en ergy ."
The higher the speed of the vehicle and the greater the veh icle's
weight, the more energy that has to be "absorbed" in the crash .
Vehicle speed is the most significant factor.
If the speed doub les
from 15 to 30 mph (25 to SO km/h), the energy increases 4 times!
~
•
Vehicle care Do-it-yourselt service iTechnical data
___ s_a_ f_ e_ t_y _ b_e _l_t _s ___________________________________________ _
& 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 belt s twisted.
• Never wear belts over rig id or breakable objects in or on your
clothing, such as eye glasses, pen s, keys, etc ., a s these may cause
injury.
• Never allow safety belt s 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 h eavy clothing may interfere with correct
positioning of belts and reduce the overall effectiveness of the
sy stem.
• Always keep belt buckles free of anything that may prevent the
bu ckle from latching securely.
• Never u se 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, hav e belts replaced
by an authorized Audi dealer or qualified workshop.
• Safety be lts that have been worn and loaded in an accident
must be repla ced 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 , disas semble, or try to repair the safety
belts yourself .
& WARNING (co ntinued )
• Always keep the belts clean. Dirty belts may not work properly
and can impair the function of the inertia reel ::::>
page 272,
"Safety belts". •
Safety belts
Belt positioner
Th e driver and fr ont passenger se ats are e qui pp ed with
b elt pos itione rs.
Fig. 192 Driver 's seat:
Be lt positioner
Th e fron t seats a re equipped with belt posi tioners so it is easie r to
fasten the safety be lts. The belt posit ioners automatically extend
w hen the door closes and the igni tion swi tch es on=> fig. 192.
T he be lt pos it io ner returns to its starting posit ion aga in when
• the tong ue in the be lt latch engages or the belt was not fastene d
w it hi n 60 s eco nds .
• you switc h the ignition off .
• you open the door.
_________________________________________________ A_ ir_ b_ a_,,g :;..__ s-=y '"- s_ t_ e_ m __ _
defined in the electronic contro l unit~ page 212, "PASSENGER AIR
B A G OFF li ght ".
Always remember , a c hild safety seat or infa nt ca rr ie r i nstalled on th e
front seat may be str uck and k noc ked out of position by the ra pidly
in flating p assenge r's ai rbag in a frontal coll is io n. T he a irbag could
great ly reduce the effect iveness of the c hild restraint and even seri
o us ly i njur e the chi ld dur ing inflation.
For this reason, and because t he back seat is the safest place for chil
dren -whe n properly restrained according to their age an d size -we
st rong ly recommend t hat childre n always sit in the back seat
~ page 222, "C hild Safety" .
& WARNING
A child in a rearward-facing child safety seat installed on the front
passenger seat will be ser iously injured and can be killed if the
front airbag inflates - even with an Advanced Airbag System .
• The inflat ing airbag w ill hit the child safety seat or infant
carrier with great force and will smash the child safety seat and
child against the backrest, center armrest, door or roof .
• Always install rear-facing child safety seats on the rear seat .
• If you must install a rearward facing child safety 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 safety seat in a rear
seating position and have the airbag system inspected by your
authorized Audi dealer.
• Forward-facing child safety seats installed on the front
pa ssenger 's seat may interfere with the deployment of the airbag
and cause ser ious personal injury to the child.
& WARNING
If , in exceptional circumstances , you must install a forward-facing
c hild restraint on the front passenger's seat:
Controls and equip ment Safety first Vehicle operation
& WARNING
(co ntinued )
• 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 ad justed 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
re straint 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 211, "Monitoring the Advanced
Airbag System ".
• Take the child restra int 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 authorized Audi
dealer immediately.
• 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
_______________________________________________ A_ ir_ b_ a_,,,g '--- s.:.y _s _t_ e _ m ___ lJ'II
& WARNING (co ntinued )
• The inflating airbag will hit the child safety seat or infant
carrier with great force and will smash the child safety seat and
c hild against the backrest, center arm rest , door, or roof .
• Always install rearwa rd-facing child restraints in the back seat.
• If you must install a rearward facing child safety seat on the
front passenger seat because of except ional circumstances and
the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does not come on and stay on ,
immediately install the rear-facing child safety seat in a rear
seating position and have the airbag system inspected by your
authorized Audi dealer.
& WARNING
If, in except ional circumstances, you must install a forward-facing
child re straint on the front pa ssenger's seat:
• Always make sure the forward-facing seat has been designed
and certified by its manufacturer for us e on a front seat with a
passenger front and s ide airbag.
• Never put the forward-facing child restraint up again st 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 a s po ssible, before installing the forward-facing child
restraint. The backrest must be adjusted to an upr ight position.
• Make sure that the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes on
and stays on all the time whenever the ignition is switched on .•
Advanced Airbag System components
Th e front passenger seat i n your ve hicle has a lot of very im portant
parts o f th e Ad van ced A irbag System in it. These parts include t he
we ight-sens ing mat, sensors, wir ing, brackets, and mo re . The func-
Controls and equip
ment Safety first Vehicle operation
tion of the system
in the front passenger seat is checked by the elec
t ronic contro l unit whe n t he ignit io n is on. The con tro l u nit mon itors
t he Advanced A irbag System and tu rns th e airbag indicator light on
when a malfunction in the system components is detected. The func
tion of the a irbag indicator light is descr ibed in greater deta il below.
Beca use the front passen ger seat contains importa nt parts of the
Advance d Ai rbag System, you mus t take care to p revent i t fro m be ing
dama ged. Damage to the seat may prevent t he Advance d Airbag for
t he front p assenge r seat fro m d oin g its job in a cra sh.
The front Advanced Airbag System consists of the
following:
• Cras h sensors in the front of the vehicle t hat measure vehicle
acc ele ra tio n/d ecele ration to prov ide info rmat io n t o the Adva nced
Airbag System about t he severity of the crash.
• An elec tron ic con tro l unit, w it h i nteg rated crash senso rs fo r front
and side impacts . The contro l unit " dec ides" w het her to fire the front
a irbag s base d on th e informa tion re ceived from t he cr ash sensors.
The control unit also "decides" whether the safety be lt pretens ioners
s ho uld b e activa ted.
• An Advanced Airbag with gas generator and cont rol va lve for the
dr ive r inside t he st eer ing whee l hub .
• An Advanced Air ba g with gas gene rator and control valve inside
t he inst rume nt pan el for the front pass enger.
• A weig ht-sensing mat unde r the upholste ry paddin g of the front
passenger seat c ushi on that measures the tota l weigh t on the seat .
T he information registe red is se nt co ntin u ously to the electronic
cont rol uni t t o reg ulate deployment of t he front Advanc ed A irbag o n
the passenger side .
• An a irbag mon itoring system and ind icator light in the inst rume nt
cluster =>
page 211.
• A sensor in each fro nt seat reg isters the distance between t he
res pective seat and the s teer ing whee l o r i nst rume nt pane l. The
information reg iste red is sent co ntin uously to the e lectro nic cont rol
uni t to reg ulate dep loyment o f the front Advanced Airbags . .,_
Vehicle care Do-it-yourself service Technical data
-L___:_A~ i r'....: b~ a ::::: gL:: s~y -=s ::..:t :.:e :..: m..:..:.. ______________________________________________ _
lower parts of the body. Front airbags only supplement the three
point s afety be lts i n some fro ntal c ollisions in which t he vehicle de ce l
eratio n is h igh enough to dep loy the a irbags.
Front airbags will not deploy:
• if the ignition is sw itched off when a cras h occu rs,
• in s ide collisions,
• in rea r-end collisions,
• in rollovers,
• when the cras h deceleration me asured by the ai rbag syste m is less
than t he m in imum threshold needed for airbag dep loyment as regis
t ere d by the e lectro nic cont rol unit.
The front passenger airbag will also not deploy:
• when the fron t pa sse nger sea t is not o ccupied,
• when the we ight on the front passenge r seat as sense d by the
Advanced Airbag Sys tem in dicates t hat the front airbag on the
passenger side has to be turned off by t he e lectron ic control un it (the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes on and st ay s on).
& WARNING
Sitt ing in the wrong posit ion can increa se the risk of serious injury
in crashes .
• To reduce the risk of injury when the airbags inflate , the driver
and passengers must always sit in an upright position , must not
lean against or place any part of their body too close to the ar ea
where the airbags are located.
• Occupants who are unbelted, out of position or too close to the
airbag can be ser iously injured by an airbag as it unfolds with
great force in the blink of an eye=>
page 202.
& WARNING
A child in a rearward-facing ch ild safety seat installed on the front
pa ssenger seat will be seriou sly injured and can be killed if the
front airbag inflates -even with an Advanced Airbag System.
• The inflating airbag will hit the child safety seat or infant
carrier with great force and will smash the child safety seat and
child against the backrest, center armrest , door or roof.
• Always install rear-f acing child safety seats on the rear seat.
• If you must install a rearward facing child safety seat on the
front p assenger seat because of e xceptional circumstances and
the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does not come on and stay on,
i mmediately install the rear-facing child safety seat in a rear
seating position and have the airbag system inspected by your
authorized Audi dealer.
& WARNING
Objects between you and the airb ag wilt increase the risk of injury
in a crash by interfering with the way the airbag unfolds or by
being pushed into you as the airbag inflates.
• N ever hold things in your hands or on your lap when the vehicle
is in use.
• Never tran sport items on or in the area of the front passenger
seat . Object s could move into the area of the front airbag s during
brak ing or other sudden maneuver and become dangerous projec
tiles that can cause serious personal injury if the airbags inflate.
• Never place or attach accessories or other objects (such as
cupholders , telephone bra ckets , large, heavy o r bulky objects) on
the doors, over or near the area marked "AIRBAG " on the steering
wheel, instrument panel , seat backrests or between those areas
and yourself . The se obj ect s could cause injury in a crash , especially
when the airbags inflate .
• Never recl ine the front passenger's seat to transport objects.
Items can also move into the area of the side airbag or the front ..,
Airbag system -----------------=--=---
& WARNING (co ntinued )
airbag during braking or in a sudden maneuver. Objects near the
airbags can b ecome projectiles and cause injury , particularly when
the seat is reclined.
& WARNING
The fine dust created when airbags deploy can c ause breathing
problems
for people with a history of asthma or other breathing
conditions.
• To
reduce the risk of breathing probl ems, those with asthma or
other respiratory conditions should get fresh air right away by
getting out of the vehicle or opening windows or doors.
• If you are in a colli sion in which airbags deploy, wash your
hands and face with
mild soap and water before eating .
• Be careful
not to get the dust into your eyes, or into any cuts or
scratches.
• If the residue should get into your eyes, flush them with
water. •
Monitoring the Advanced Airbag
System
Airbag monitoring indicator Light~~
Two sep ara te i ndic a to rs mo nit o r the func tio n of the
A dvan ced Ai rb ag Sy stem: th e airbag mo nito ring i ndic ator
lig ht and th e
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light.
The A dvanced A irbag System ( includ ing the elect ronic contro l unit,
senso r circu it s and system wir ing) is mon it or ed co ntinuous ly to make
sure that it is function ing p roperly whenever the ignition is on. Eac h
tim e you turn on the igni tion, the airba g mo nitoring indicat or ligh t
t:.
will come o n for a few seconds (se lf diagnostics) .
Controls and equip
ment Safety first Vehicle operation
The system must be inspected when the indicator
light ~:
• does not come o n when the ignit io n i s switched on,
• does not go o ut a few se conds a fter you h ave switche d on t he ig ni
tion, or
• co mes on whil e dr iving.
If a n airbag system malfunction is detected, the ind icator light will
fi rst start flashing to catc h the dr iver 's attention and t hen stay on
cont inuo usly to s erve as a constan t rem inder to have the system
inspected immediately .
If a ma lf u ncti on oc curs that tur ns th e fron t air bag on the passe nger
side off, the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light will come on and stay on
w henever the ignition is on.
& WARNING
An airbag system that is not functioning properly cannot provide
supplemental p rotect ion in a frontal crash .
• If the airbag indicator light comes on, it means that there may
be something wrong with the Advanced Airbag System. It is
possible that the airbag will inflate when it is not supposed to, or
will not inflate when it should .
• Have the airbag system inspected immediately by your autho
rized Audi dealer. •
Vehicle care Do-it-yourself service Technical data
-Airbag system
,._____
~--------------
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
Fig. 200 Sec tion from
the in strume nt panel :
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF light
The PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light is located in the center of t he
ins trumen t panel => fig.
200.
T he PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF ligh t will com e on and stay on to te ll
you when the front Advanced Airbag on the passenger side has been
t u rn ed off by the ele ct ronic contro l uni t. Each t ime you t urn on t he
ign ition, the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF lig ht will flas h fo r a few
se co nds and:
• will stay on if the front passenger seat is not occupied,
• will s tay on if t here i s a small ch ild or child re str ain t on the fron t
passenger seat,
• will go out if t he fron t passenger seat is oc cupied by a n adul t as
registered by the weight-sensing mat .
Th e
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light mu st come on and stay on if the
ign ition is o n and
• a ca r bed has been installed o n the front seat, or
• a rearward -facing child restraint has been insta lled on t he front
passenger seat, o r
• a forward-fac ing ch ild restraint has bee n installed on the front
passenge r seat, o r
• the weight registered on t he front passe nger seat is equal to o r
less th a n the co mb ined we ight of a typic al 1 year-o ld rest rained in one of the rear-fac
ing or forward-facing infant restraints listed in
F e d era l Mo tor Ve hicle Safe ty St anda rd 2 08 w ith which th e Adv anced
Airbag System in your vehicle was cert ified.
If the front passen ger seat is not occ upied, the front airbag will not
dep loy, and t he
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF ligh t will stay on. Never
install a rearward -facing c hild rest raint on the f ront passenger seat,
t he s afest pl ace fo r a child in any kin d of child re stra in t is a t one o f th e
seating pos it ions on t he rear seat::::;,
page 202, "Child restra ints on
t he fro nt sea t - so me im port an t things to kno w" and ::::;,
page 222,
"Ch ild Safety".
If the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes on when one of the
c onditions lis ted above is met, be sure to check the lig ht reg ularly to
ma ke certain that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF li ght stays on
c ont inuous ly whenever the ignition is on. If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
light does not appear and not stay on all the t ime , stop as soon
as it is safe to do so and
• reactivate the system by turn ing the ig nition off and then tur ning
it on again;
• remove and reinstall the child restraint. Make sure that the c hild
restrain t is properly insta lled and that the sa fety belt for the fron t
passenger seat has been correctly ro uted around the child restraint as
described in the child res trai nt ma nufactu rer's instr uctions;
• make su re that the convertib le lock ing feature on t he safety belt
f or the front passenger sea t has been act ivate d an d that the safe ty
belt has bee n pulled tight. The belt m ust not be loose or have loops
of slac k so that t he senso r be low the safety belt latc h on the seat can
do its job::::;,
page 232 .
• make s ure tha t things tha t may in crease the weight o f the chi ld
and child safety seat are not be ing transported on t he front
passenge r seat;
• make sure that the safety belt tension sensor is not blocked .
Shake the sa fety belt la tch on the front passenger seat back and
forth;
• If a st rap o r tether i s be ing u sed t o tie the c hild safety sea t to the
front passenger seat, make sure that it is not so tig ht that it causes .,_
Airbag system Ill
----------------=--=---
the weight-sensing mat to measure more weight t han is act ua lly on
t he sea t.
If the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light still does not come on and
does not stay on cont in uou sly (when the ignition is sw itched on),
• t ake the child re st raint o ff the fr ont pa ssenge r seat and in stall it
prope rly at one of t he rear seat pos itions. Have t he a irbag system
i n sp ec ted by y ou r au thorized A udi dea ler im medi ately.
• move the child to a rear seat posit io n and make sure that the child
i s prop erly re stra ined in a chi ld restr aint t hat is a ppr opr iate for i ts
size and age.
Th e
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light sho uld NOT come on when t he
ign ition is on and an adult is si tting in a proper seating pos it io n on the
front passenge r seat. If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes on
and st ays o n or flashes for abou t 5 seco nds w hile drivi ng, under these
circumstances, make sure that:
• t he adult on t he fr on t p asse nger sea t is pro pe rly se ate d on the
center of the seat cushion with his or her back up against the backrest
and the bac kres t is not recli ned => page 178, "Proper occ upant
seating posit ions",
• t he adult is n ot tak ing weig ht off t he se at by h olding on to t he
passenger assist handle above the fro nt passenger doo r or
s up po rting their weight on the armrest,
• the safety belt is be ing properly worn and th at there is not a lot of
s la ck in t he safe ty be lt webb in g,
• accessory seat cove rs or cushions o r othe r th ings that may cause
an in cor rect readin g or i mpress io n o n the weight -sen sing m at under
the upholstery of the seat have been removed from the front
pas senge r sea t,
• a safety be lt extender has not been left in the safety belt latch fo r
t he fr ont p asse n ge r se at.
In addition to the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light in t he center of the
instrument pa nel, the message
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF or
PASSENGER AIR BAG ON w ill b riefly appear in th e inst rume nt clus ter
Controls and equip
ment Safety first Vehicle operation
display.
This is to inform the dr iver of the current front passenger
a ir bag s tatus. •
Important safety instructions on
monitoring the Advanced Airbag System
& WARNING
An airbag system that is not functioning properly cannot provide
supplemental protection in a frontal crash.
• If the airbag indicator light comes on, it means that there may
be something wrong with the Advanced Airbag System. It is possible that the airbag will inflate when it is not supposed to, or
will not inflate when it should .
• Have the airbag system inspected immediately by your autho
rized Audi dealer.
& WARNING
If the front airbag inflates, a child without a child restraint, in a
rearward-facing child safety seat or in a forward-facing child
restraint that has not been properly installed will be seriously
injured and can be killed .
• Even though your vehicle is equipped with an Advanced Airbag
System, make certain that all children, especially 12 years and
younger , always ride on the back seat properly restrained for their
age and size .
• Always install forward or rear-facing child safety seats on the
rear seat -even with an Advanced Airbag System.
• If you must install a rearward-facing child safety seat on the
front passenger seat because of e xceptional circumstances and
the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does not appear and stay on, immediately install the rear-facing child safety seat in a rear ..,
Vehicle care Do-it-yourself service Technical data