2011 AUDI R8 SPYDER steering wheel

122 Airbag sys te m
conditio ns is impossible in a ll co nceiva­
ble situati ons t hat may happen during
t h e usef ul lif e of your vehicle.
- The Adva nced Airbag System can deploy
in accor dance with the "low risk" opt ion
under the U.S. Federal Sta ndard if a child
that is heavier than the typical one-year old child is on the front passenger seat
and the othe r cond itions for airbag de­
ployment are met.
- For their own safety, all children, espe­
cially 1 2 yea rs and younger, sho uld a l­
ways ride p roperly rest rained for their
age and size.
Advanced front airbag system
Your veh icle is eq uipped wit h a front Advanced
Airbag System in compliance with United
States Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard
208 as applicab le at the time your vehicle was
manufactured.
The front Advanced Airbag System supp le­
ments the safety belts to provide addit iona l
protection for the driver's and front passeng ­
er's heads and upper bodies in frontal crashes.
The airbags inflate only in frontal impacts
when the vehicle dece lerat io n is high enough .
The front Advanced Airbag System for the
front seat occupants is not a substitute for
your safety belts. Rather, it is part of t he over­
all occupa nt restraint system in your ve hicle.
A lways remember that the airbag system can
on ly help to protect you, if you are s itting up­
r ight, wearing yo ur safety belt and wea ring it
p roperly. This is w hy you and yo ur passenge rs
must always be properly restrained , not just
beca use the law requires you to be.
The Advanced Airbag System in your veh icle
h as been cer tified to meet the " low r is k " re­
qu irements for 3 and 6 year -o ld children on
the passenger side and very small adu lts on
the driver side. The low risk deployment crite ­
ria are intended to he lp red uce the risk of in­
jury through interaction with the front airbag that can occur, fo r example, by be ing too cl
ose to the steering wheel and instrument
pane l when the airbag inflates .
In add ition, the system has been certified to
comply wi th the "s uppression" re qu iremen ts
of the Sa fe ty Standard, to turn off the front
airbag for infants 12 months o ld and younger
who are rest rained on the front passenger
seat in child restraints that are listed in the Standard
¢ page 140, Child restraints and
Advanced Airbags .
"Suppression" requires the front a irbag on the
passenger side to be turned off if:
- a child up to abo ut one year o f age is re ­
strained on the front passenger seat i n one
of the rear-fac ing or forward -facing infant
restraints listed in Federal Motor Vehicle
Safety Standard
208 with which the Ad­
vanced Airbag System in your vehicle was
cert ified . For a listing o f the ch ild res traints
that were used to certify your vehicle 's com­
plia nce w it h t he US Safety Standa rd
¢ page 140,
-we ight less than a threshold level stored in
the co ntrol uni t is de te cted on the fron t pas­
senger seat.
When a person is detected on the front pas­
senger seat, weighing more than t he total
we ight of a ch ild tha t is abou t 1 year old re ­
stra ined in one of the rear-fac ing or forward­
f acing infant res traints ( listed in Fede ral Mo­
tor Vehicle Safety Standar d
208 with which
the A dvanced Airbag System in your vehicle
was certif ied), the front airbag on the passen­
ger side may or may not deploy.
The
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes on
whe n the electronic contro l unit detects a to­
ta l we ight on the front passenger seat that re ­
quires t he front airbag to be t urned off. If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does not
come on, the front a irbag on the passenger
s ide has not been t urned off by the cont ro l
u ni t and ca n dep loy if the control un it senses
an imp act that meets the cond itions store d in
i ts memory.
If the total weight on the fro nt passenge r
seat is more than that of a typ ical 1 yea r-old , .,.

electronic control unit (the PA SS ENGE R AIR
BAG OFF
light comes on and stays on).
A WARNING
Sitting in the wrong position can increase
the risk of serious injury in crashes.
- To reduce the risk of injury when the air­
bags inflate, the driver and passengers
must always sit in an upright posit ion,
must not lean against or place any part
of the ir body too close to the area where
the a irbags are located .
- Occupants who are unbelted, out of posi ­
t ion or too close to the airbag can be se­
riously injured by an airbag as it unfolds
with great force in the blin k of an eye
¢ page 119.
A WARNING
A child in a rearward-facing child safety
seat insta lled on the front passenger seat
wi ll be seriously injured and can be k illed if
the front ai rbag inflates -even with an Ad­
vanced Airbag System.
-
-The inflating airbag will hit the child
safety seat or infant carrier w ith great
force and w ill smash the ch ild safety seat
and child against the backrest, center
armrest , door or roof.
- Never install a rearward facing child
safety seat on the front passenger seat
unless the
PASSENGER A IR BAG OFF
light comes on and stays on . If the PAS­
SENGER AIR BAG OFF
light does not
come on and stay on, the inflating airbag
will hit the child safety seat o r infant car­
rier wi th great force and will smash the
child safety seat and child against the
backrest, door or roof . Have the airbag
system inspected immediately by your
authorized Audi dealer .
A WARNING
Objects between you and the a irbag will
increase the risk of in ju ry in a c rash by in­
terfering with the way the airbag unfolds
A irbag system 127
or by be ing p ushed into you as the airbag
inflates.
- Never hold things in you r hands o r on
your lap when the veh icle is in use.
- Never transport items on or in the area
of the front passenger seat . Objects
could move into the area of the front air­
bags during braking or other sudden ma­
neuvers and become dangerous projec­
tiles that can cause ser ious personal in ­
jury if the a irbags inflate .
- Never p lace or attach accessories or oth ­
er objects (such as cup holders, te le­
phone b rac kets, large, heavy or bulky ob­
jects) on the doors, ove r o r near the area
marked "AIRBAG " on the steering wheel,
instrument panel, seat bac krests or be­
tween those areas and yo urself. These
objects could cause injury in a crash, es­
pecially when the airbags inflate .
- Never recline the front passenger's seat
to transport objects . Items can a lso
move into the area of the s ide a irbag or
the front a irbag during braking or in a
sudden maneuver. Objects near the air­ bags can become projec tiles and cause
in ju ry, partic ula rly when the seat is re­
clined.
A WARNING
T he fine dust created when airbags deploy
can cause breathing prob lems fo r people
with a history of as thma or other breath­
ing cond itions.
- T o reduce t he risk of bre ath ing problems,
those wi th asthma o r other respiratory
conditions shou ld get fresh air right
away by getting o ut of the vehicle or
open ing windows or doors.
- If you are in a collision in which airbags
deploy, wash your hands and face with
mild soap and water before eating .
- Be ca reful not to get the dust into your
eyes, or into any c uts or scratches.
- If the resi due should get into your eyes,
f lush them w ith wate r.
•
•

A WARNING
1
Improper care, servicing and repair proce­
dures can increase the risk of personal in­
jury and death by preventing an airbag from deploy ing when needed or deploying
an airbag unexpected ly:
- Never cover, obstr uct, o r change the
steering wheel horn pad or airbag cover
or the instr ument pane l or modify them
in any way.
- Never attach any objects such as cup
holders or telephone mountings to the
s u rfaces covering the airbag units .
- For cleaning the ho rn pad or ins trumen t
pane l, use only a soft, dry cloth or one
moistened w ith plain water . Solvents or
cl eaners cou ld damage the airbag cover
or change the stiffness or strength of the
material so that the airbag cannot de­
ploy and protect properly.
- Never repai r, adjust, or change any parts
of the airbag system.
- All work on the stee ring wheel, instru­
ment pane l, front seats or electrical sys­
tem (including the installation of aud io
equipment, cellular telephones and CB
radios, etc.) must be performed by a
qualified technician who has the training
and special equipmen t necessa ry.
- For any work on the ai rbag system, we
st rongly recommend that you se e you r
au thori zed Aud i dealer o r qualified wo rk­
shop.
- Never mod ify the front bumper or parts
of the veh icle body.
- Always make sure that the side airbag
can inflate witho ut interferen ce:
- Never insta ll seat covers or replace­
ment upho lstery over the front seat­
backs that have not been spec ifically
approved by Audi.
- Never use add itiona l seat cushions that
cover the areas where the side airbags
inflate.
- Damage to the origina l seat covers or
to the seam in the area of the side air­ bag module must always be repa ired
A irbag system 13 1
immediately by an author ized Audi
dealer.
- The airbag system can be activate d only
once. After an airbag has inflated, it m ust be replaced by an authorized Aud i
dea ler or qualified technician who has
the technical info rmation , training and
special equipment necessary .
- The airbag system can be deployed only
once. After an airbag has been deployed,
it must be replaced with new replace­
men t pa rts designed and approved espe­
cially fo r you r A udi model versi on. Re­
placemen t of complete airbag systems
or airbag components must be pe r­
formed by qualified wo rkshops on ly .
Make sure that any airbag serv ice action
is entered in your Audi Warranty
& Main­
tenance booklet under
AIRBAG REPLACE­
MENT RECORD.
- For safety reasons in severe accidents,
the alternator and starter are sepa rated
from the veh icle battery with a pyrotech­
nic circuit inte rrupte r.
- Wor k on the pyrotechnic c ircui t inte r­
rupter m ust only be performed by a
qualified dea le r - risk of an accident!
- If the vehicle or the circuit interr upter
is scrapped, a ll applicable safety pre­
cautions must be followed.
@ For the sake of the environment
Undeployed airbag modules and preten­
sioners might be cl assified as Perchlorate
Materia l - specia l hand ling may a pply, see
www .dtsc .ca. gov/hazard o u swaste/ per-
ch [orate. When the veh icle or parts of the
restraint system including airbag modules
and safety be lts with pretensioners are
scrapped, all app licab le laws and regu la­
tions must be obse rved. Your authorized
A udi dealer is familia r with these require­
ments and we recommend that you have
your dealer per form this service for you .
•
•
• •

134 Airbag system
How knee airbags work
The risk of injury to the leg area is reduced by
fully deployed knee airbags .
Fig. 127 Inflated airbags protecting in a frontal coll i­
sion
The knee airbag system has been designed so
that the airbags for the driver and front pas­
senger are deployed in certain but not all
frontal collisions .
If the front airbags deploy, the knee airbags
also deploy in frontal collisions above acer­
tain severity .
When the system is deployed, the airbags
start to fill with a propellant gas, and inflate
between the lower part of the instrument
panel and the driver and the lower part of the
instrument panel and the front passenger
¢ page 126, fig. 124.
Although they are not a soft pillow, they can
"cushion" the impact and in this way they can
help to reduce the risk of injury to the lower
extremities.
All this takes place instantaneously, so fast
that many people don't even realize that the
airbags have deployed. The airbags also in­
flate with a great deal of force and it is impor­
tant for occupant safety that nothing should be in their way when they deploy.
Fully inflated airbags in combination with
properly worn safety belts slow down and lim­
it the occupant's forward movement and help
to reduce the risk. Important safety instructions on the
knee airbag system
Airbags are only
supplemental restraints. Al­
ways wear safety belts correctly and ride in a
proper seating position.
There is a lot that you and your passengers
must know and do to help the safety belts and
airbags to provide supplemental protection.
A WARNING ~
An inflating knee airbag can cause serious injury. Wearing safety belts incorrectly and
improper seating positions increase the
risk of serious personal injury and death
whenever a vehicle is being used.
- The airbag system cannot protect you
properly if you are seated too close to
any of the airbag locations. When adjust­
ing their seat positions, it is important
that both the driver and the front pas­
senger keep their upper bodies and
knees at the following minimum safe
distances:
- 10 inches (25 cm) between the chest
and the steering wheel/instrument
panel.
- 4 inches (10 cm) between the knees
and the lower part of the instrument
panel.
- The risk of personal injury increases if
you lean forward or to the side, or if the
seat is improperly positioned and you are not wearing your safety belt . The risk in­
creases even more should the airbag de­ ploy .
- Always make sure that the knee airbag
can inflate without interference. Objects
between yourself and the airbag can in­
crease the risk of injury in an accident by
interfering with the way the airbag de­
ploys or by being pushed into you as the
airbag deploys.
- No persons (children) or animals
should ride in the footwell in front of

A WARNING ,~
If, in exceptional circumstances, you must
install a forward-facing child restraint on
the front passenger's seat:
- 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.
-Always follow the manufacturer's in­
structions provided with the child safety
seat or carrier.
- 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 child restraint. The backrest must be
adjusted to an upright position.
- Always make sure that the
PASSENGER
AIR BAG OFF light comes on and stays
on all the time whenever the ignition is
switched on.
Advanced front airbag system and children
Your vehicle is equipped with an "Advanced
Airbag System" in compliance with United
States Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard
(FMVSS) 208 as applicable at the time your
vehicle was manufactured.
The Advanced Airbag system in your vehicle
has been certified to meet the "low-risk" re­
quirements for 3- and 6- year-old children on
the passenger side and small adults on the
driver side. The low risk deployment criteria
are intended to reduce the risk of injury
through interaction with the airbag that can
occur, for example, by being too close to the
steering wheel and instrument panel when
the airbag inflates. In addition, the system has been certified to comply with the "sup­
pression" requirements of the Safety Stand­
ard, to turn
off the front airbag for infants up
to 12 months who are restrained on the front
passenger seat in child restraints that are list­
ed in the Standard.
Child Safety 139
Even though your vehicle is equipped with an
Advanced Airbag system, a child should al­
ways ride in the seat properly restrained for
its age and si ze. The airbag on the passenger
side makes the front seat a potentially dan­
gerous place for a child to ride . The front seat
is not the safest place for a child in a forward­
facing child safety seat . It can be a very dan­
gerous place for an infant or a larger child in a
rearward-facing seat.
Advanced Airbags and the weight­
sensing mat in the front seat
The Advanced Airbag System in your vehicle detects the presence of an infant or child in a
child restraint on the front passenger seat us­
ing the weight -sensing mat in the seat cush­
ion and the sensor below the safety belt latch
on the front passenger seat that measures the
tension on the safety belt.
The weight -sensing mat measures total
weight of the child and the child safety seat
and a child blanket on the front passenger
seat. The weight on the front passenger seat
is related to the design of the child restraint
and its "footprint", the size and shape of the
bottom of the child restraint as it sits on the
seat. The weight of a child restraint and its
"footprint" vary for different kinds of child re­
straints and for the different models of the
same kind of child restraint offered by child
restraint manufacturers .
The weight ranges for the individual types,
makes and models of child restraints that the
NHTSA has specified in the Safety Standard
together with the weight ranges of typical in­
fants and typical 1 year-old child have been
stored in the control unit of the Advanced Air­
bag System. When a child restraint is being
used on the front passenger seat with a typi­
cal 1 year-old child, the Advanced Airbag Sys­
tem compares the weight measured by the
weight sensing mat with the information stor­
ed in the electronic control unit.
The electronic control unit also registers the
tension on the front passenger safety belt. ..,. •
•

150 Intelligent te chn olog y
Intelligent technology
Notice about data
recorded by vehicle
control modules
Your veh icle is not equipped with an Event Da­
ta Recorder (EDR), installed by some manu­
facture rs fo r the express p urpose o f capturing
data for retrieval after an accident or cras h
event. EDR's are sometimes called "crash re­
corders".
Some state laws restrict the retrieval or down­ loading of data stored by EDR 's that were in­
stalled in a vehicle for the express purpose of retrieving data after an accident or crash
event without the owner's consent.
A lthough yo ur vehicle is not equ ipped wit h an
EDR, it is equipped with a number of elect ron­
ic control modules for various v ehicl e systems
such as, for examp le, eng ine function, emis­
sion control, as well as for the airbags and
sa fety belts .
These electron ic co ntrol modules also record
vehicle-re lated data du ring norma l vehicle op­
er ation for diagno stic and repa ir purposes .
T he recording capacity of the elec tronic con­
trol modules is limited to data (no sound is re ­
corded) and only a small amount of data is ac­
tually recorded ove r a ve ry limited pe riod of
time and stored when a system fault or other condition is sensed by a cont ro l u nit. Some of
the data t hen stored may re late to vehicle
speed, direction, braking as we ll as restraint
syst em use and performanc e in the event of a
c rash or other condition. Stored data can only
be read and downloaded w ith special equip­
ment .
Electronic Stabilization
Program (ESP)
The Electronic Stabilization Program increas­
es driving stability .
Fig . 1 33 Ce nt er conso le wi th~ bu tto n
Intent and purpose
T he Anti-Lock Brake System (ABS), Elec tronic
D ifferential Lock (EDL) a nd Anti-Slip Regula ­
tion System (ASR) are integrated i n the Elec­
tronic Stabilization Program (ES P).
It increas ­
es control over the vehicle in handling condi­
tions close to the limit of "grip", such as when
acce lerat ing and cornering .
It reduces the r isk
of skidd ing under all road conditions and at
all speeds and improves vehicle stability .
When road condit ions are poor, ES P makes it
easier to start from a complete stop as well as
acce le rate a nd d rive up hills . E S P s witches o n
automatica lly when you start the engine. It
shou ld normally be activated at a ll t imes be ­
cause this ensures optimum veh icle stability .
Critical driving situations
Wi th an oversteering vehi cle ( the vehicle
tu rns too sharply and the rear wheels slide to­
ward the o utside of a cu rve), ESP primari ly
brakes the o utside front wheel, with an
un­
dersteering vehicle (the vehicle does not turn
sharp ly enough and pushes out of a curve) it
brakes the inside rear whee l or other addition­
al wheels. This brake inte rvent ion is accompa­
nied by noises .
If the speed of a wheel s lows down too m uch
rela tive to vehicle speed while braking and i t
starts to lock, brake pressure to this whee l is
reduced . This adjustment process can be felt ..,.

154 Intelligent technology
Other road users must not be put at risk -
you may cause an accident!
- Before descending a steep grade, reduce
speed and shift transmission into a lower
gear or lower driving position . Do not
ride the brakes or hold the pedal down
too long or too often. This could cause
the brakes to get hot and diminish brak­ ing efficiency .
- Do not "ride the brakes" by resting your
foot on the pedal when you do not intend
to brake . This may cause the brakes to
overheat, premature wear and increased
stopping distance.
- Under certain climatic and operating
conditions such as passing through wa­
ter, driving in heavy rain or after washing
the vehicle, the effectiveness of the
brakes can be reduced. In winter, ice can
accumulate on the brake pads, linings,
discs and drums. Cautiously apply brakes
for a test . Brakes will dry and ice coat­
ings will be cleaned off after a few cau­
tious brake applications .
- Driving for an extended period of time on
salt-covered roads without using your
brakes can also affect braking efficiency .
Clean off accumulated salt coating from
brake discs and pads with a few cautious
brake applications.
- If you damage the front spoiler, or if you
install a different spoiler, be sure the air
flow to the front brakes is not obstruct­
ed. Otherwise the brake system could
overheat reducing the effectiveness of
the entire brake system.
- Failure of one brake circuit will impair
braking capability, resulting in increased
stopping distance. Avoid driving the vehi­
cle and have it towed to the nearest au­
thorized Audi dealer or qualified work­
shop.
- Never let the vehicle roll to a stop with
the engine shut off .
- If the brake booster is not working, for
example when towing your vehicle, or because the brake booster has somehow
been damaged, the brake pedal must be pressed considerably harder to make up
for the lack of booster assistance.
Power steering
When the engine is running , power steering
makes i t easier for the driver to steer.
Power steering helps the driver steer the vehi­
cle with little physical effort.
If the engine is not running, the power steer­
ing system is also not working . In this case ,
you will find it extremely difficult to turn the
steering wheel.
If you turn the steering fully to the left or
right when the vehicle is stationary, you place
a very heavy load on the power steering sys­
tem. Turning the steering wheel fully to the left or right will cause noise in the system. It
also reduces engine idle speed.
(D Note
Do not hold the steering turned fully to
the left or right for more than 10 seconds
when the engine is running . There is a risk
of damage to the power steering system .
(D Tips
-In the event of a power steering system
failure, or if the engine is not running
(while being towed), you will still be able
to steer the vehicle. However, you will re­
quire more effort to do so .
- If the power steering system has a leak
or is defective, you should immediately
contact a qualified workshop .
- The power steering system requires a
special hydraulic fluid. The power steer­
ing fluid reservoir is located in the en­
gine compartment. The correct hydraulic
fluid level is important for proper opera­
tion of the power steering system. The
power steering fluid level is checked ac­
cording to the Audi maintenance service
schedule.

198 Tires and wheels
cargo and lugg age load ca­
pacity is 650 lb s. (1400-750
(5
X 150) = 650 lb s.)
5. Determin e the combined
weight of luggage and cargo
being loaded on the vehicle .
That weight may not safely exceed the a vailable cargo
and luggage load capacity
c alculated in Step
4.
6. If your vehicle will be towing
a trailer , load from your trail­
er w ill be tran sferred to your
vehi cle . Consult this manual
to determine how thi s re­
duces the available cargo
and luggage load capacity of
your vehicle.
.,.Che ck the tire sidewall
( ¢ page 199 , fig. 153) to de­
termine the designated load rating for a specific tire.
Tire service life
The service life of tires depends on a lot of
diff erent things i ncluding prop er installation
and balancing, correct tire pressure and driv ·
ing s tyle.
Fig. 152 T ire tread: trea d wea r ind icators (TWI)
Tread Wear Indicator (TWI)
The orig in al tires on yo ur vehi cle ha ve
1/ 16 inch ( 1.6 mm) hig h "wear indica tors"
¢ fig . 152 ru nning acro ss the tread . Depend·
ing on the ma ke , t here will be six to e ight of
them even ly placed aro und the tire. Marks on
t he tire sidewall (for example "TWI" or ot her
symbols) ind icate the pos itions of the tread
wea r indica to rs. Wor n tir es must be rep laced .
Differ ent figures may apply in othe r countries
¢ .&_ .
Tire pressure
Incor rect t ire pressure causes premature wea r
and can cause sudde n tire blow-out . For this
reason, tire pressu re must be checked at least
o nce a month
¢ page 195.
Driving style
Driving fast around c urves, heavy accele rat ion
and hard braking increase tire wear .
Wheel balancing
The wheels on new ve hicles are balance d.
However, va rious s ituations dur ing everyday
driv ing can cause them to become unbal·
anced, resulting in vib rations you can usually
feel t hrough the steer ing whee l.
Unb alanced w hee ls m ust be rebalance d to
avo id excessive wear on steering, suspension
and ti res. A whee l m ust also be reba lanced
whe n a new tire is insta lled.
Incorrect wheel alignment
Incor rect wheel alig nment can cause exces ­
s ive tire wear , impa iring the safety of the vehi ­
cle.
If tires show excessive wear , have the
w hee l alignment chec ked by an authoriz ed
Audi deal er or qualified wo rksh op.
All-wheel drive
Only the wheel/ti re sizes specif ied by the
manufacture r may be used on veh icles with
all-wheel drive. For detai ls see ¢
page 155.