2011 AUDI S8 warning

134 Driving Safely
-Always distribute the load as evenly as
possible.
- Place heavy objects as far forward in
the luggage compartment as possible.
- Never exceed the Gross Axle Weight Rat­
ing or the Gross Vehicle Weight Rating
specified on the safety compliance stick­
er on the left door jamb. Exceeding per­
missible weight standards can cause the
vehicle to slide and handle differently.
- Please observe information on safe driv­
ing
r:::> page 12 7.
A 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.
- 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.
A WARNING
Always make sure that the doors, all win­
dows, 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 es­ pecially 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 .
(D Tips
-Air circulation helps to reduce window
fogging. 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 .
- The tire pressure must correspond to the
load . The tire pressure is shown on the
tire pressure label. The tire pressure la­
bel is located on the driver's side B-pillar.
The tire pressure Label lists the recom­
mended cold tire inflation pressures for
the vehicle at its maximum capacity
weight and the tires that were on your
vehicle at the time it was manufactured.
For recommended tire pressures for nor­
mal Load conditions, please see chapter
r:> page 242.
Tie-downs
The luggage compartmen t is equipped wi th
four tie-downs to secure luggage and o ther
items.
Use the tie-downs to secure your cargo p rop­
erly
c> page 133, Loading the luggage com­
partment.
In a collision, the laws of physics mean that
even smaller items that are loose in the vehi­
cle will become heavy missiles that can cause
serious injury. Items in the vehicle possess en ­
ergy which vary with vehicle speed and the
weight of the item. Vehicle speed is the most significant factor.
For example, in a frontal collision at a speed
of 30 mph (48 km/h), the forces acting on a 10-lb (4 .5 kg) object are about 20 times the
normal weight of the item. This means that
the weight of the item would suddenly be

about 200 lbs. (90 kg). You can imagine the
injuries that a 200 lbs. (90 kg) item flying
freely through the passenger compartment
could cause in a collision like this.
_&. WARNING
Weak, damaged or improper straps used to secure items to tie-downs can fail dur­
ing hard braking or in a collision and cause
serious personal injury.
- Always use suitable mounting straps and properly secure items to the tie-downs in
the luggage compartment to help pre­
vent items from shifting or flying for­
ward as dangerous missiles .
- Never attach a child safety seat tether
strap to a tie-down.
Reporting Safety
Defects
Applicable to U.S.A.
If you believe that your vehicle
has a defect which could cause
a crash or could cause injury or
death, you should immediately
inform the National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in addition to notify­
ing Audi of America, Inc.
If NHTSA receives similar com­
plaints, it may open an investi­
gation, and if it finds that a
safety defects exists in a group
of vehicles, it may order a recall
and remedy campaign. Howev­
er, NHTSA cannot become in­
volved in individual problems
Driving Safely 135
between you, your dealer, or
Audi of America, Inc.
To contact NHTSA, you may call
the Vehicle Safety Hotline toll­
free at:
Tel.: 1-888-327-4236 (TTY:
1-800-424-9153)
or write to:
Administrator NHTSA
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
Washington, D.C. 20590
You can also obtain other infor­
mation about motor vehicle
safety from:
http://www.safercar.gov
Applicable to Canada
Canadian customers who wish
to report a safety-related de­
fect to Transport Canada, De­
fect Investigations and Recalls,
may telephone the toll free hot­
line:
Tel.: 1-800-333-0371 or
Tel.: 1-613-998-8616 if you are
in the Ottawa area
TTY for hearing impaired: 1-888-67 5-6863
email comments/questions to: [email protected]
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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 nec­
essary, 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.
A 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 se­
rious 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 be lts . 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. In some
vehicles, there are four seat ing positions : two
in the front and two in the rear. Each seating
position has a safety belt .
A WARNING
Not wearing safety belts or wearing them
improperly increases the risk of serious
personal injury and death .
- Never strap more than one person, in­
cluding small chi ldren, into any belt. It is
especially dangerous to place a safety
belt over a child sitting on your lap.
Safety belts 13 7
-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 safe­
ty 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.
Fig. 138 Safety bel t warning light in the instrument
cl uster -enla rged
Before driving off, always:
~ Fasten your safety belt and make sure you
are wearing it properly .
~ Make sure that your passengers also buck le
up and properly wear their safety belts.
~ Protect children with a child restraint sys-
tem appropriate for the size and age.
The warning light . in the instrument cluster
lights up when the ignition is on as a reminder
to fasten the safety belts. In addition, you will
hear a warning tone for a certain period of
time .
Fasten your safety belt and make sure that
your passengers also properly put on their
safety belts.
A WARNING
- Safety belts are the single most effective
means available to reduce the risk of se­
rious 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. •
•

138 Safet y belts
-Failure to pay attention to the warning
light that come on, could lead to person­
al injury.
Why safety belts?
Frontal collisions and the law of physics
Frontal crashes create very strong forces for
people riding in vehicles.
F ig. 1 39 Unbelt e d occ upants in a ve hicle h eading for a
wall
Fig. 1 40 The vehicle c rash es into t he wall
The physical principles are simp le. Both the
vehicle and the passengers possess energy
which varies w ith veh icle speed and body
weight . Engineers call this energy "kinetic en­
e rgy ."
The higher the speed of the vehicle and the
g reater the vehicle's we ight, the more energy
that has to be "absorbed" in the crash .
Vehicle speed is the most sign ificant factor.
If
the speed doubles from 15 to 30 mph (25 to
50 km/h), the energy inc reases 4 t imes!
Because the passengers of this veh icle are not
using safety belts¢
fig. 139, they will keep
mov ing at the same speed the vehicle was
mov ing just before the c rash, unt il something
stops them - here, the wall ¢
fig. 140 .
The same principles apply to people s itting in
a vehicle that is involved in a frontal collision .
Even at c ity speeds of 20 to 30 mph (30 to 50
km/h), the forces acting on the body can
reach one ton (2,000 lbs , or 1,000 kg) or
more . At greater speeds, these forces are even
highe r.
Peop le who do not use safety belts are also
not at tached to their vehicle. In a frontal colli­
s io n they will also keep moving forward at the
speed their veh icle was t ravell ing just before
the crash . Of co urse, the laws of physics don't
just app ly to frontal collisions, they determine
what happens i n all kinds of a cciden ts and col­
li sions .
What happens to occupants not wearing
safety belts?
In crashes unbelted occupants cannot stop
themselves from flying forward and being in­
jured or killed. Always wear your safety belts!
F ig . 14 1 A driver not wea ring a safety b elt is viol en tly
thrown fo rwa rd
F ig . 14 2 A re ar passe nge r no t wea ring a sa fety be lt
w ill fl y forward a nd strike the dr iver
Un belted oc cupants a re not able to resist the
t remendous forces o f impac t by ho lding tight
o r bracing themse lves. Without the benefit of
safety restraint systems , the unrestrained
ll-

140 Safety belts
Important safety instructions about
safety belts
Safety belts must always be correctly posi­
tioned across the strongest bones of your
body.
,.. Always wear safety belts as illustrated and
described in this chapter.
,.. Make sure that your safety belts are always
ready for use and are not damaged.
A WARNING
Not wearing safety belts or wearing them
improperly increases the risk of serious
personal injury and death. Safety belts can
work only when used correctly .
- Always fasten your safety belts correctly
before driving
off and make sure all pas­
sengers are correctly restrained.
- For maximum protection, safety belts must always be positioned properly on
the body .
- Never strap more than one person , in­
cluding small children, into any belt.
- Never place a safety belt over a child sit­ ting on your lap.
- Always keep feet in the footwell in front
of the seat while the vehicle is being driv­
en .
- 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 ve­
hicle is moving. Doing so will increase
your risk of be ing injured or killed.
- Never wear belts twisted.
- Never wear belts over rigid or breakable
objects in or on your clothing, such as
eye glasses, pens, keys, etc., as these
may cause injury.
- Never allow safety belts to become dam­
aged by being caught in door or seat
hardware .
- Do not wear the shoulder pa rt of the belt
under your arm or otherwise out of pos i­
tion . -
Several layers of heavy clothing may in­
terfere with correct positioning of belts
and reduce the overall effectiveness of
the system .
- Always keep belt buckles free of anything
that may prevent the buckle from latch­
ing securely .
- Never use comfort clips or devices that
create slack in the shoulder belt . Howev­
er, special clips may be required for the
proper use of some child restraint sys­
tems .
- Torn or frayed safety belts can tear, and
damaged belt hardware can break in an
accident. Inspect belts regularly .
If web­
bing, bindings, buck les, or retractors are
damaged, have belts replaced by an au ­
thorized Audi dealer or qualified work­
shop.
- Safety belts that have been worn and
loaded in an accident must be replaced
with the correct replacement safety belt
by an authorized Audi dealer . Replace­
ment may be necessary even if damage
cannot be clearly seen . Anchorages that
were loaded must also be inspected.
- Never remove, modify, disassemble, or
try to repair the safety belts yourself.
- Always keep the belts clean. Dirty belts
may not work properly and can impair
the function of the inert ia reel
¢ page 216, Safety belts .
Safety belts
Fastening safety belts
Seat first -everybody buckle up!
Fig. 144 Be lt buck le and to ngue o n the drive r's se at

To provide maximum protection, safety belts
must always be positio ned cor rectly on the
wearer's body .
... Adjus t the front seat and head restraint
properly
c::> page 54, General recommenda­
tions .
... Hold the be lt by the tongue and pull it even ­
ly across the chest and pelvis
c::> &,. .
""Insert the tongue into the correct buckle of
you r seat until you hear it latch securely
c::> fig. 144 .
""Pull on the belt to make su re that it is se-
c u rely latched in the buckle .
Automatic safety belt retractor s
Every safety belt is equipped with an automat­
ic belt retractor on the shoulder belt. Th is fea ­
ture locks the belt when the belt is pulled out
fast, dur ing hard braking and in an accident .
The belt may also lo ck when you drive up or
down a steep hill or through a sharp curve .
During normal driving the belt le ts you
move
freely.
Safety belt pretensione rs
The safety belts are equipped with a belt p re­
tensioner that helps to t igh ten the safety belt
and remove s lack when the pretensione r is ac­
tivated
c::> page 143. The function of the pre ­
tensioner is monitored by a warning light
c::> page 18 .
Switchable locking f eature
Every safety belt except the one on the driver
seat is eq uipped w ith a switchable locking fea­
ture that
mu st be used when the safety belt is
used to attach a child seat. Be sure to read the important information about this feature
c:;,page 178.
A WARNING
Improperly positioned safety belts can
cause serious injury in an accident
c::> page 141, Safety belt position .
-Safety belts offer optimum protection
only when the seatback is upright and
belts are properly positioned on the
body.
-
Safety belts 141
- Never attach the safety belt to the buck­
le for another seat. Attaching the belt to
the wrong buckle will reduce safety belt
effectiveness and can cause serious per­
sonal injury .
- A passenger who is not properly restrain­
ed can be seriously injured by the safety
be lt itself when it
moves from the stron­
ge r parts of the body into critical ar eas
like the abdomen.
- Always lock the convertible locking re­
tracto r when you are secu ring a child
se at in the veh icle
c::>page 180.
@ Tips
For informat ion on safety belt pretension­
e rs, refer to
c::> page 143 .
Safety belt position
Correct belt position is the key to getting
maximum protection from safety belts .
Fig. 14 S Head restra int and safety belt positio n as
see n from the side
Use the height adjustment to change the posi­
t ion of the shoulder belt of the front safety
belts.
A WARNING
-Imp roperly posit ioned safety be lts can
cause ser ious perso na l inju ry in an a cc i­
dent.
- The s hou lde r belt port io n of the safety
be lt must be posi tioned over the midd le
of the occupant's shoulder and never
across the neck or throat.
-

142 Safety belts
-The safety belt must lie flat and snug on
the occupant's upper body¢
fig. 145.
Pull on the belt to tighten if necessary.
- The lap belt portion of the safety belt
must be positioned as low as possible
across pelvis and never over the abdo­
men . Make sure the belt lies flat and
snug ¢
fig. 145 . Pull on the belt to tight­
en if necessary.
- A loose-fitting safety belt can cause seri ­
ous injuries by shifting its position on
your body from the strong bones to more
vulnerable, soft tissue and cause serious
injury .
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS and
other important information
¢ page 140.
Pregnant women must also be correctly
restrained
The best way to protect the fetus is to mak e
sure that expectant mothers always wear
saf ety belts correctly -throughout the preg­
nancy .
Fig. 146 Safety be lt pos it ion during p regnancy
To provide maximum protection, safety belts
must always be positioned correctly on the
wearer's body¢
page 141.
.,. Adjust the front seat and head restraint cor­
rectly ¢
page 54, General recommenda­
tions .
.,. Hold the belt by the tongue and pull it even­
ly
across the chest and pelvis ¢ fig. 146,
¢ ,&. .
.,. Insert the tongue into the correct buckle of
your seat until you hear it latch securely
¢ page 140, fig. 144.
.,. Pull on the belt to make sure that it is se ­
curely latched in the buckle.
A WARNING
-
Improperly positioned safety belts can
cause serious personal injury in an acci­
dent.
- Expectant mothers must always wear the
lap portion of the safety belt as low as
possible across the pelvis and below the rounding of the abdomen .
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS and
other important information¢
A in Fas­
tening safety belts on page 141.
Unfastening safety belts
Unbuckle the safety bel t wi th the red release
button only after the vehicle has stopped .
Fig. 147 Releas ing the tong ue from the bu ckle
.,. Push the red release button on the buckle
¢
fig. 147 . The belt tongue will spring out
of the buckle ¢ ,&. .
0 ,._
9 r ... a,
.,. Let the belt wind up on the retractor as you
guide the belt tongue to its stowed position.
A WARNING
Never unfasten safety belt while the vehi­
cle is moving . Doing so will increase your
risk of being injured or killed.
Adjusting safety belt height
You can adjust the height of the driver's and
front passenger's safe ty bel ts .
The safety belt height adjusters 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 .
Power safety belt h eight adju stment*
You ca n adjust the height of the safety belts
usi ng the multifunc tion b utton on the dr iver
or front passenger seat
c> page 56. The
shoulder portion of the sa fety belt sho uld r un
approximately across the midd le of the
shoulder -
never o ver the nec k c> A in Safety
bel t posi tion on page 141.
A WARNING
Always read and heed all WARNINGS and
other impo rtant informat io n
c> page 140 .
(D Tips
You can also ad just the height of the front
seats to c hange the position of the safety
be lts.
Improperly worn safety belts
Incorrectly posi tioned safety belts con cause
severe injuries.
Wearing safety be lts imprope rly can cause se­
rio us injury or death. Safety belts can only
work when they are correct ly positioned on
the body . Improper seating positions reduce
the effect iveness of safety belts and w ill eve n
in crease the r isk of injury and death by mov­
in g the safety belt to cr itical a reas of the
body. Imp roper seat ing pos it ions also in ­
crease the risk of serio us inj ury and de ath
when an airbag deploys a nd strikes an occu ­
pant who is not in the correct seating posi­
tion . A driver is responsib le for the safety of
all vehicle occupants and especially for chi l­
dren. Therefore :
~ Never permit anyone to ass ume an inco rrect
s itting position in the veh icle wh ile traveling
c> .,&. .
Sa fety belts 143
A WARNING
Improperly worn safety belts increase the
risk of serious persona l injury and death
whenever a vehicle is being used.
- Always make sure that all vehicle occu-
pants are correc tly restrained and stay in
a co rrect seating position whenever the
veh icle is being used .
- Always read a nd heed all WAR NINGS a nd
other important information
c> poge 140.
Safety belt preten­
sioners
How safety belt pretensioners work
In front, side and rear-end collisions above a
particular severi ty and in a rollover, safe ty
belts ore tensioned automatically .
Reve rsible safety belt ten sione rs
The safety belts on the front seats are equip­
ped with power reversib le tensioners . The fo l­
lowing functions are ava ilab le when the driv­
er 's/fro nt passenge r's safety belts are fas­
tened :
- Automatic tens ioners: at the start of a drive,
the safety belts automat ica lly adjus t to the
passenger after a certain time period or ve­
hicle speed . To switch the automatic ten ­
sioners off, select the following in the
MMI :
!CARI function button > Car sy ste m s> Vehi­
cle settings > Seat s> Driv er's seat or P as­
s eng er' s s eat
> Automati c belt ten sioner >
Off.
- I n cer tain dr iv ing s itu ations , the safety belts
may tighten w ith a revers ible tens ion ing
function
c> poge 188.
-The safety be lts may also t ighten wi th th is
reve rsible tensioning function in minor co lli ­
sions .
Pyrotechnic safety belt pretensioners
The safety belts are equipped with safety belt
p re tensioners. The system is ac tiva ted by sen­
sors in fro nt, side and rear -end co llisions of
great severity and in a rollover. This tig htens
1J1>
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