Seats and storage
General recommendations
Why is your seat adjustment so important? The safety belts and the airbag system can only provide
maximum protection if the front seats are correctly
adjusted.
The re are various ways of adjusting the front seats to provide safe
and comfortable support for the driver and the front passenger.
Adjust your seat properly so that:
• you can easily and quickly reach all the switches and controls in
the instrument panel
• your body is properly supported thus reducing physical stress
and fatigue
• the safety belts and airbag system can offer maximum protec
tion
~ page 188.
In the follow ing sections, you will see exactly how you can best
adjust your seats.
There are special regulations and instructions for installing a child safety seat on the front passenger's seat. Always follow the informa
tion regarding child safety provided in~
page 213, "C hild Safety".
& WARNING
Incorrect seating position of the driver and all other passengers
can result in serious personal injury.
• Always keep your feet on the floor when the vehicle is in motion
- never put your feet on top of the instrument panel, out of the
window or on top of the seat cushion. This applies especially to
the passengers. If your seating position is incorrect, you increase
the risk of injury in the case of sudden braking or an accident. If
Controls and equip
ment
Seats and storage
& WARNING (continued)
the airbag inflates and the seating position is incorrect, this could
result in personal injury or even death.
• It is important for both the driver and front passenger to keep
a distance of at least 10 inches (25 cml between themselves and
the steering wheel and/or instrument panel. If you're sitting any closer than this, the airbag system cannot protect you properly. In
addition, the front seats and head restraints must be adjusted to
your body height so that they can give you maximum protection.
• Always try to keep as much distance as possible between your
self and the steering wheel or instrument panel.
• Do not adjust the driver's or front passenger's seat while the
vehicle is moving. Your seat may move unexpectedly, causing
sudden loss of vehicle control and personal injury . If you adjust
your seat while the vehicle is moving, you are out of position. •
Driver's seat
The correct seat position is important for safe and relaxed
driving.
We recommend that you adjust the driver's seat in the
following manner:
Adjust the seat in fore and aft direction so that you can
easily push the pedals to the floor while keeping your
knees slightly bent=>
& in "Why is your seat adjustment
so important?".
- Adjust the seatback so that when you sit with your back
against the seatback, you can still grasp the top of the
steering wheel. ..,
I • •
___ A_ ir_ b_ a-g _ s_y _s_ t_ e_ m _________________________________________________ _
Airbag system
Important things to know
Importance of wearing safety belts and
sitting properly
Airbags are only supplemental restraints. For airbags to
do their job, occupants must always properly wear their
safety belts and be in a proper seating position.
For your safe ty a nd the safety of your passengers, before
driving o ff, a lways:
- Adjust the driver's seat and steering wheel properly
~ page 170,
-Adjust the front passenger's seat properly~ page 70,
- Wear safety belts properly~ page 182,
-Always properly use the proper child restraint to pro tect
children~
page 213 .
In a col lision airbags must inflate within the blink of an eye and with
considerable force. The supplemental airbags can cause injuries if
the driver or the front 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 times.
By keep ing room between your body and the steering 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 170, "Proper occupant seating positions". For
detai ls on the operation of the seat adjustment controls=>
page 72.
It's especially important that children are properly restrained
=>
page 213 .
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 can do its job. I f you have a physical impairment or
condition that prevents you from sitting properly on the driver seat
with the safety belt proper ly fastened and reaching the peda ls,
special modifications to your vehicle may be necessary.
Contact your authorized Audi dealer, or call Audi Customer Rela
tions at 1 -800-822-2834 .
When the airbag system deploys, a gas generator will fill the
airbags, break open the padded covers, and inflate between the
steering wheel and the driver and between the instrument panel
and the front passenger . The airbags will def late immediate ly after
deployment so that the front occupants can see through the wind
shield again without interruption.
All of this takes p lace in the b link of an eye, so fast that many people
don't even rea lize that the airbags have dep loyed. The airbags also
inflate with a great dea l of force and nothing shoul d be in their way
when they deploy . Front airbags in combination with properly worn
safe ty belts slow down and limi t the occupant's fo rward movement .
Together they 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 help to
reduce the risk 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 airbags will not inflate in all frontal col lisions. The trig
gering of the a irbag system depends on the veh ic le dece leration
rate caused by the collision and registered by the electronic contro l
unit . If this rate is below the refe rence value programmed into the
control unit, the airbags will not be triggered, even though the car
may be bad ly damaged as a result of the collision . Vehicle damage, _,.
How the ABS system works
An au tomatic check is made when a speed of about 12 mph (20
km/h) is reached. When this happens, a pumping no ise can be
heard .
I f an individua l wheel begins to ro tate too s low ly in relation to
vehic le speed and tends to lock, the ABS automatical ly reduces
b rake pressure t o preven t tha t whee l from locking.
This automatic adjustment process wil l cause a
slight vibration of
t he brake peda l and some noises to ale rt you tha t veh ic le sp eed
must be adapted to existing road and traffic conditions.
in. WARNING
Although the ABS is very effe ctive , always remember that braking
c apability is limited by tire traction. Always adjust your driving
speed a ccording to the road and traffi c conditions. Do not let the
extra safety afforded by the ABS tempt you into taking extra risks.
The ABS c annot overcome the laws of physics .
[ i J Tips
• I f ABS is not functioning properly, a warning l ight wil l come on .
See
~ page 15.
• I f a fau lt occurs in the ABS, the EDL is also not funct ioning. This
is indicated by the ABS warning light .
Brake assist
Brake assist is designed to achieve the optimum brakin g
effect.
B rake a ssist hel ps to in crease the eff ective b raking powe r an d t hus
to achieve a shorter stopping distance. If the driver presses the
br ake pe dal ve ry q uickl y, br ake a ss is t auto matically boo sts t he
braking force to the maximum lev el, up to the point where the anti
lock b ra ke function (ABS) intervenes to stop the wheels from
Controls and equip
ment Safety first Vehicle operation
Intelligent technology
locking
. You shou ld then keep the brake pedal pressed until the
ve hic le has braked to the required spee d. Brake assist swi tches itse lf
off as soon as you release the brake pedal.
in. WARNING
Please remember that the accident r isk always increases if you
drive too fast , espe cially in corners or on a slippery road , or if you
follow the vehicle ahead of you too closely. Increa sed risk of an
accident cannot be compensated for even by brake as sist , so
always maintain a safe speed .•
Servotronic® -advanced power
steering system
The pow er st eer in g systems uses th e po we r of t he
run nin g eng ine to a llow prec ise s tee ring with lit tle eff ort.
The advanced S ervotronic ® power steering system senses the road
s p eed and electr onically a djusts power assis tance t o provide
comfortab le and safe steering response exactly matched to the
ve hicle speed .
Power steering wi ll n ot work if the eng ine is off. As a result, the
steering whee l wil l be hard to turn.
Th e power s teering flu id leve l is check ed during the sc hed uled
maintenance services .
0 Note
If there is an electronic ma lfunction, servotronic wi ll still function
like a conventi onal power s teer ing sys te m , pr ovi ding a constan t
steering support force that is no longer proportionate to the vehicle
speed. This is mo st noticeable when tu rning t he steering whee l at
low speeds {for examp le when parking), -more effort wi ll be
r equired than usual.
~
Vehicle care Do-it-yourself service Technical data