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
adju sted.
Th ere a re various ways of adjusting t he front seats to provide safe and
comfortable support for the driver and the front passenger . Ad just
your seat properly so that :
• you can easily and quickly reach a ll the switc hes and contro ls in the
ins trumen t pa nel
• your body is properly supported thus reducing phys ica l stress and
fatigue
• the safety be lts and airbag system can offer maximum protection
=>
page 199 .
In the following sections, you w ill see exact ly how you can best ad just
your sea ts .
Th ere are special regulations a nd instr uctions for install ing a child
safety seat on the front passenger's sea t. Always follow the informa
tion regarding child safety p rovided in=>
page 221, "Child Safety ".
& WARNING
Incorrect seating posit ion of the dri ver and all other passengers
can result in seriou s 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 o r on top of the seat cush ion. This applies especially
to the passengers.
If your seating po sition is incorrect, you
increase the ri sk of injury in the case of sudden braking or an acci-
Controls and equip
ment Safety first
Seats and storage
& WARNING
(con tinu ed)
dent . If the airbag inflates and the seating position is incorrect ,
this could result in per sonal injury or even death .
• It is important for both the dri ver and front passenger to keep
a distan ce of at least 10 inche s (25 cm) 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. You r 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 saf e and
re lax ed driving.
W e recomme nd that you a djust the drive r's sea t in the
f ollowing man ner :
- Ad just the seat in fore and aft direction so that you can
easily pus h the pedals to the floor w hile keeping your
knees slightly bent=>
& in "Why is yo ur seat a djus tme nt
so importa nt?" .
- Adjust the seatback so that when yo u sit with yo ur back
agai nst t he seatback , you can st ill grasp t he top of the
steering w heel. ..,
Vehicle care Technical data
___________________________________________________ O;,__ n_ t ;,__ h:...:e:.....:.. r..:o :...:a::.:... d.:.;___,J-
On the road
Steering
App lies to veh icles : w ith manu ally adjusta ble steering whe el
Manually adjustable steering wheel
Th e height and rea ch of th e st eer ing wh eel can b e
a dju sted.
Fir st, adj ust the drive r's s eat co rrec tly.
Fig . 108 Lever under
the steering colum n
-Pull th e lever=> fig. 10 8 -Ar row-=> &.
- Move the steeri ng w hee l to the des ired pos it ion.
- Pus h the lever aga inst the s tee ring column until it loc ks .
Th ere m ust be at leas t 10 inches (2 5 cm) be twee n you r chest a nd the
center of the steering whee l. If you cannot si t more than 10 inches
( 2 5 cm) from the s teer ing wheel, see if adaptive eq uipment is av ail
able to help you reach the p edals and inc rease t he distance from the
s teeri ng wheel.
F or det aile d info rmation on how to adju st the dr iver's sea t, see
=> page 78.
Con tro ls a nd e quip
m en t Vehicle
OP-eration The
steeri ng wh eel ca n be adju sted ev en wh en the ign ition is turn ed
off. For ve hicles with seat memory, the individual positions for the
stee ring wheel c an be st ored al ong wi th t he sea t positi on .
& WARNING
Improper use of steering wheel adjustment and improper seating
position can cause serious personal injury .
• Adjust the steer ing wheel column only when the vehicle is not
moving to prevent loss of vehicle control.
• Adjust the dri ver's seat or steering wheel so that there is a
minimum of 10 inches (25 cm) between your chest and the
steering wheel=>
page 178, fig. 178 . If you cannot maintain this
minimum distance , the airbag system cannot protect you prop
erly .
• If physical limitations prevent you from sitting 10 inches (25
cm) or more from the steering wheel, check with your authorized
Audi dealer to see if adaptive equipment is available.
• If the steering wheel is al igned with your face, the supple
mental driver 's airbag cannot provide as much protection in an
accident . Always make sure that the steering wheel is aligned with
your chest.
• Always hold the steering wheel with your hands at the 9 o 'clock
and 3 o'clock positions to reduce the risk of personal injury if the
driver's airbag deploys .
• Never hold the steering wheel at the 12 o'clock po sition or with
your hands inside the steering wheel
rim or on the steer ing wheel
hub. Holding the stee ring wheel the wrong way can cause serious
injur ies to the hands, arms and head if the driver's airbag
deploys. •
Vehicle care Do-it-yourselt service iTechnical data
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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 job, occupants must always properly wear their
safety belts and be in a proper seating position.
For your safety and the safety of your passengers, before
driving off, always:
- Adjust the driver's seat and steering wheel properly
=>
page 178,
- Adjust the front passenger's seat properly=> page 78,
-Wear safety belts properly=> page 192,
-Always properly use the proper child restraint to protect
children=>
page 221.
In a collision 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. Therefore 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 all times.
By keeping room between your body and the steering wheel and the
front of the passenger compartment, the airbag can inflate fully and
completely and provide supplemental protection in certain frontal
collisions =:,
page 178, "Proper occupant seating positions" . For
details on the operation of the seat adjustment controls=>
page 78.
It's especially important that children are properly restrained
=:,
page 221.
Controls and equip ment Safety first Vehicle operation
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 .
Proper seating position is important so that the front airbag on the
driver side can do its job. If you have a physical impairment or condi
tion that prevents you from sitting properly on the driver seat with
the safety belt properly fastened and reaching the pedals, special
modifications to your vehicle may be necessary .
Contact your authorized Audi dealer, or call Audi Customer Relations
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 deflate immediately after deployment so
that the front occupants can see through the windshield again
without interruption.
All of this takes place in the blink of an eye, so fast that many people
don 't even realize that the airbags have deployed . The airbags also
inflate with a great deal of force and nothing should be in their way
when they deploy . Front airbags in combination with properly worn
safety belts slow down and limit the occupant's forward movement.
Together they help to prevent the driver and front seat passenger
from hitting parts of the inside the vehicle while reducing the forces
acting 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 collisions . The trig
gering of the airbag system depends on the vehicle deceleration rate
caused by the collision and registered by the electronic control unit.
If this rate is below the reference value programmed into the control
unit , the airbags will not be triggered, even though the car may be
badly damaged as a result of the collision. Vehicle damage , repair .._
Vehicle care Do-it-yourself service Technical data
ffl..,___A_ i_rb _ a_,g,:;._ s_, y'- s_ t_e _m ________________________________________________ _
& WARNING (conti nued)
• The inflating ai rbag will hit the child safety seat or infant
carrier with gr eat force and will sma sh the child safety seat and
c hild again st the backrest , center armrest , door , or roof.
• Alway s install rearward-facing child restraints in the back seat.
• 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 come on and stay on ,
immediately install the rear-facing child safety seat in a rear
s eating po sition and have the airbag system inspected by your
authorized Audi dealer .
& WARNING
If, in except ional circumstances, you must install a forward-facing
child restraint on the front pas senger' s seat:
• Always make sure the forward-fac ing se at has been designed
and certified by its manufacturer for u se 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.
• Alway s move the passenger seat into it s rearmost position
in
the seat 's fore and aft adjustment range, as far away from the
airbag a s possible, before in stalling the forward -facing child
restraint. The back rest must be adjusted to an upright position.
• Make sure that the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes on
and stays on all the t ime whenever the ignition is switched on .•
Advanced Airbag System components
Th e front passenger seat in your veh icle has a lot of very important
parts of t he A dvanced A irbag System in it. These parts incl ude t he
we ight-sens ing mat, sensors, wiring, brackets, and more. The func- tion of the system
in the front passenger seat is checked by the elec
t ronic c ontro l unit w hen the ignitio n is o n. The contr ol unit mon itors
t he Advanced Airbag System and tu rns the airbag indicato r light o n
w hen a malfunction in t he system components is detected. The func
t ion of the a irbag indicator light is descr ibed in greater deta il below .
Because the front passenge r seat co nta ins impo rtant parts of t he
Adva nced Ai rbag System, you must ta ke care to p reve nt i t from be ing
damaged. Damage to the seat may p revent the A dvanced A irbag for
t he fro nt passenge r se at from do ing its job in a crash.
The front Advanced Airbag System consists of the
following:
• Cras h sensors in the front of t he vehicle that measu re vehicle
a cc ele ration/de ce le ra tion to provi de i nfo rm ation to the Advanced
Airbag System about the severity of the crash .
• An e lec tron ic contro l unit, w it h i ntegrated crash sensors fo r front
and side impacts. The contro l unit "dec ides" w het her to fire the front
a irbag s based o n the inform ation receive d fro m t he c rash se nso rs.
The contro l unit also "decides" whether the safety be lt pretens ioners
shoul d be activ at ed .
• An Advanced Air bag with gas generator and control va lve for the
dr ive r in side t he steering wheel hub.
• An Advanced Air bag with gas generator and control va lve inside
t he inst rument pa ne l for the fron t passenge r.
• A weight-sensi ng mat unde r th e up ho ls tery pad ding of the front
passenger s eat cushion that measures the tota l we igh t on the seat .
Th e informat io n registered is sent continuous ly to the elect ronic
con trol unit to regulate deployment of t he front Advanced A irbag o n
the passenger side.
• An airbag mon itoring system a nd ind icator light in the ins trument
cl uster => page
210 .
• A senso r in each front seat reg isters the distance between the
res pective sea t and t he steeri ng whee l o r i nst rument p ane l. T he
info rmation reg iste red is sent co ntin uously to the e lectronic con trol
uni t to reg ulate dep loyment of the front Advanced Air bags . ..,