2012 AUDI A3 seat adjustment

Proper adjustment of head restraints
Correctly adjusted h ead restraints are an im­
portant part of your vehicle's occupant r e­
straint system and can help to reduce the risk
of injuries in accident situations.
F ig. 118 Hea d re str ain t: v ie w ed fro m the front
The head restraints must be correctly adjust­
ed to achieve the best protection.
,.. Adjust the head restrai nts so the upper
edge is as even as poss ible with the top of
your head. If that is not possib le, try to ad­
just the head restraint so that it is as close to this position as possib le
q fig. 118.
"'" If there are passengers in the rear seat,
s li de the head restra in ts upward at least to
the next notch on the occup ied seats .
Ad justing head restraints¢
page 65.
A WARNING
Driv ing with out head restraints or w ith
head restraints that are not properly ad­
justed increases the risk of serious o r fatal
neck injury d ramatically. To help reduce
the risk of inj ury:
- Always drive wit h the head restraints in
place and properly adjusted.
- Every pe rson in the veh icle must have a
properly ad justed head restra int .
- Always make sure each person in the ve ­
hicle p roperly adjus ts thei r head r e­
st raint. Ad just t he head rest raints so t he
upper edge is as even as possi ble w it h
the top of your head. If tha t is not possi­
ble, try to adjus t the head restra int so
that it is as close to this position as pos ­
sible.
-
Dr iving S afel y 107
-Never attempt to adj ust head restraint
while driving. I f you have driven off and
must adjust the driver headrest for any
reason, first stop the vehicle safely be­
fore attempting to adjust the head re­
s traint .
- Ch ild ren must a lways be properly re ­
s trained i n a child rest ra int that is ap pro­
priate fo r their age and size ¢
page 143.
Examples of improper seating positions
The occupant restraint system can only re­
duce the risk of injury if vehicle occupants are
properly seated .
Improper seating positions can cause serious
injury or death . Safety belts can only work
whe n they are properly positioned on the
body . Improper s eating positions red uce the
effectiveness of safety belts and w ill even in­
c rease the r is k of i njury and dea th by mov ing
the safety be lt to crit ica l areas o f the body .
Improper seating positions a lso increase t he
risk of serio us inju ry and death when an a ir­
bag deploys and str ikes an occupant who is
not in the proper seating posit ion. A dr iver is
responsible for the safety of all veh icle occu­
pants a nd espec ially for children. The refo re:
"'" Never allow anyone to assume an incorrect
seating position when the vehicle is being
used ¢_&. .
The following bulletins list on ly some samp le
pos itions that will increase the risk of serio us
injury and death. Our hope is that these exam­
ples will make you more aware of seating po ­
s itions tha t are dangerous .
Therefore, whenever the vehicle is
moving:
- neve r stand up in the vehicle
- never stand on the seats
- neve r kneel on the seats
- neve r ride wit h the seatback reclined
- never lie down o n the rear se at
- neve r lean up against the ins trumen t panel
- neve r sit on the edge of the seat
- neve r sit sideways
•
•
...

To provide maximum protection, safety belts
must always be positioned correctly on the
wearer's body .
... Adjust the front seat and head restra int
properly
c::> page 61, General recommenda­
tions .
... Make sure the seatback of the rear seat
bench is in an upright position and securely
latched in place before using the belt
c::> ,&. .
... Hold the be lt by the tongue and pull it
evenly across the chest and pelvis
c::> ,&..
... Insert the tongue into the correct buckle of
your seat until you hea r it latch securely
c::> fig. 126.
... Pull on t he be lt to make sure that it is se-
curely latched in the buckle.
Automatic safety belt retractors
Every safety belt is equipped w ith an automat­
i c belt retractor on the shoulder be lt. This fea­
ture locks the be lt when the belt is pulled out
fast, dur ing hard braking and in an accident.
The belt may also lock when you drive up or
down a steep hill or through a sharp curve.
During normal driving the belt lets you move
freely.
Safety belt pretensioners
The safety belts are equipped with a belt pre­
tensioner that helps to tighten the safety belt
and remove slack when the pretensioner is ac­
tivated. The funct ion of the pretensioner is
monitored by a warning light
c::> page 16.
Sw itchable locking feature
E very safety belt except the one on the driver
seat is equipped with a switchable locking fea­
ture that
must be used when the safety belt is
used to attach a child safety seat. Be sure to read the important information about this
feature
c::> page 152.
A WARNING
Imprope rly positioned safety belts can
cause serious injury in an accident
o::> page 117, Safety belt position.
-Safety belts offer optimum protect ion
only when the seatback is upright and
Safety belts 11 7
belts are properly positioned on the
body.
- Always make sure that the rear seat
backrest to which the center rear safety
be lt is attached is securely latched when­
ever the rear center safety belt is being
used. If the backrest is not securely latched, the passenger w ill move for­
ward with the backrest during sudden
braking, in a sudden maneuver and espe­
cially in a crash .
- Never attach th e safety belt to the buck­
le for another seat . Atta ching the belt to
the wrong buckle will reduce safety be lt
effectiveness and can cause ser ious per­
sonal injury.
- A passenger who is not proper ly restrain ­
ed can be seriously injured by the safety
be lt itself when it moves from the stron­
ger parts of the body into critical areas
like the abdomen.
- Always lock the convertible locking re­
tractor when you are securing a child safety seat in the vehicle
c::> page 154.
Safety belt position
Correct belt position is the key to getting
maximum protection from safety belts.
Fig . 1 27 Head restra int and safety belt pos it ion as
see n from the s ide
ill
q :r ... CD
Standard features on your vehicle he lp you ad ­
just the position of the safety belt to match
your body size.
- be lt h eight adjustment for the front seats,
- automatic belt height adjustment for the
rear seats .

For this reason, and because the back seat is
the safest place for children - when properly restrained according to their age and size - we
strongly recommend that children always sit in the back seat
Q page 143, Child Safety.
A WARNING
-
A child in a rearward-facing child safety seat installed on the front passenger seat
w ill be seriously injured and can be k illed if
the front a irbag inflates - even with an Ad­
vanced Airbag System.
- T he inflating a irbag w ill hit the child
safety seat or infant carrier with great
force and w ill smash the ch ild safety sea t
and child against the backrest, cente r
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 circumstan­
ces and the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light does not come on and stay on , im­
med iately install the rear-facing child
safety seat in a rear seating posit ion and
have the a irbag system inspected by your
authorized Aud i dealer .
- Forward-fac ing ch ild safety seats instal­
led on the front passenger's seat may in­
terfe re with the deployment of the air­
bag and cause se rious personal injury to
the ch ild.
A WARNING
If, in exceptional c irc umstances, you mus t
install a forwa rd-facing child restra int on
the front passenger's seat:
- Alw ays make sure the forw ard-fac ing
seat has been des igned and certified by
its manufacturer for use on a front seat
with a passenger front and side airbag.
- Never put the forward -facing child re ­
straint up aga inst or very near the instru­
ment pane l.
- Always move the passenger seat into its
rearmost position in the seat's fore and
A irbag system 12 5
aft adjustment range, as far away from
the airbag as possible before installing
the forward-fac ing ch ild restraint. The
backrest must be adj usted to an upright
position .
- Make sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
li ght comes on and stays on all the
time wheneve r the ignit ion is switched
on.
A WARNING
To reduce the risk of ser ious injury, make
su re that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light w ill 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 s tay on, per form the checks de ­
scribed
Q page 133, Monitoring the Ad ­
vanced Airbag System.
- Take the chi ld restraint off the front pas­
senger seat and install it properly at one
of the rear seat positions if the
PASSEN ­
GER AIR BAG Off light does not stay on.
- Have the airbag system inspected by
your author ized Audi dealer immed iate­
ly .
-Always carefu lly follow instr uctions from
child restraint manufacturers when in­
stall ing ch ild restra ints .
A WARNING
If, in except iona l circumstances, you must
install a forward or rearward-facing child
restra int on the front passenger's seat :
- Improper instal lation of ch ild restraints
can reduce their effect iveness o r even
prevent them from providing any protec­
tion.
- An improper ly installed ch ild restra int
can interfere with the a irbag as it de­
ploys and seriously i njure o r even kill the
child -even with an Adv ance d Airbag
System.
- Always carefu lly follow the manu factur­
er 's ins truc tions p rov ided with the ch ild
safety seat or car rier . •
•

144 Child Safety
-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 in 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 air­
bag system inspected immediately by
your authorized Audi dealer.
_& 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.
(D Tips
Always replace child restraints that were
installed in a vehicle during a crash. Dam­
age to a child restraint that is not visible
could cause it to fail in another collision
situation.
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.
Even though your vehicle is equipped with an
Advanced Airbag system , all children, espe­
cially those 12 years and younger, should al­
ways ride in the back seat properly restrained
for their age and size. The airbag on the pas­
senger side makes the front seat a potentially dangerous place for a child to ride . The front
seat is not the safest place for a child in a for­
ward-facing child safety seat. It can be a very
dangerous 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 .,..

A WARNING
1
Not using a child safety seat, using the
wrong child safety seat or improperly in­
stalling a child restraint increases the risk
of serious personal injury and death .
-All vehicle occupants and especially chil­ dren must always be restrained properly
whenever riding in a vehicle.
- An unrestrained or improperly restrain­
ed child can be injured or killed by be­
ing thrown against the inside of the ve­
hicle or by being ejected from it during
a sudden maneuver or impact.
- An unrestrained or improperly restrain­
ed child is at much greater risk of injury
or death by being struck by an inflating
airbag.
- Commercially available child safety seats
are required to comply with U.S. Federal
Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS)
213 (in Canada CMVSS 213).
- When buying a child restraint, select
one that fits your child and the vehicle.
- Only use child restraint systems that
fully contact the flat portion of the
seat cushion. The child restraint must
not tip or lean to either side. Audi does
not recommend using child safety
seats that rest on legs or tube-like
frames . They do not provide adequate
contact with the seat.
-Always heed all legal requirements per­
taining to the installation and use of
child safety seats and carefully follow
the instructions provided by the manu­
facturer of the seat you are using.
- Never allow children under 57 inches
(1.45 meters) to wear a normal safety
belt. They must always be restrained by a
proper child restraint system. Otherwise,
they could sustain injuries to the abdo­
men and neck areas during sudden brak­
ing maneuvers or accidents.
- Never let more than one child occupy a
child safety seat .
Child Safety 147
-Never let babies or older children ride in
a vehicle while sitting on the lap of an­
other passenger.
- Holding a child in your arms is never a
substitute for a child restraint system .
- The strongest person could not hold
the child with the forces that exist in
an accident. The child will strike the in­
terior of the vehicle and can also be
struck by the passenger.
- The child and the passenger can also
injure each another in an accident.
- Never install rear-facing child safety
seats or infant carriers on the front pas­
senger seat . A child will be seriously in­
jured and can be killed when the passen­
ger airbag inflates -even with an Ad­
vanced 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-facing child safety
seats or infant carriers on the rear seat .
- Forward-facing child safety seats instal­
led on the front passenger's seat can in­
terfere with the airbag when it inflates
and cause serious injury to the child.
Al­
ways install forward-facing child safety
seats on the rear seat .
- If exceptional circumstances require the
use of a forward-facing child restraint on
the front passenger's seat, the child 's
safety and well-being require that the
following special precautions be taken:
- Make sure the forward-facing seat has
been designed and certified by its man­
ufacturer for use on a front seat with a
passenger front and side airbag.
- Always carefully follow the manufac­
turer's instructions provided with the
child safety seat or carrier.
- Always move the front passenger seat
into the rearmost position of the pas­
senger seat's fore and aft adjustment range, and as far away from the airbag •
•
•
•

148 Child Safet y
as possible before insta lling the child
restra int.
- Always make sure t hat nothing pre­
vents the front passenger's seat from
being moved to the rearmost position
in its fore and aft adjustment range.
- Always make sure that the backrest is in the upright position .
- Always buck le the child safety seat firmly
in place even if a child is not s itting in it.
A loose ch ild safety seat ca n fly around
dur ing a sudden stop or in a coll is ion.
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS
whenever using a child restrained in ave­
hicle is being used
<=:>page 113, Safety
belts,<=:> page 122, Airbag system
and
<=;> page 143, Child Safety.
A WARNING
To reduce the risk of serious injury, make
sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light comes on and stays on whe never a
child rest raint is installed on the front pas ­
senge r seat and the ignition is switched
on.
- Take the child rest raint off t he front pas ­
senger seat and install it proper ly at one
of the rear seat positions if the
PAS SEN­
G ER AIR BAG OFF
light does not stay on.
- Have the airbag system inspected by
your authorized Audi dealer immediate­ ly.
A WARNING
-
A child in a child restraint installed w ith
the LATCH lower anchorages or w ith the
standard safety belt on the rear seat may play with unused rear seat safety belts and
become enta ngled resu lting in ser ious per­
sonal inj ury and even dea th.
- Always buck le unused rear seat safety
bel ts out of reach of ch ildren in ch ild
sea ts and p roperly activate the conve rti­
ble locking retrac to r so that the child
cannot un reel the safety belt from the
retracto r.
(D Tips
Always replace chi ld restraints that were
i nstalled in a vehicle d uring a crash. Dam -
age to a chi ld restraint that is not visible
could cause it to fail in another collision
s ituation.
Chi Ld safety seats
Infant seats
Babies and infants up to about one year old
and
20 lbs. or 9 kg need special rearward-fac­
ing child restraints that support the back,
neck and head in a crash.
F ig . 13 9 Schema tic overview : rearward -facing infan t
seat, properly installed o n the rear seat
.. When using the vehicle safe ty belt to install
a child safety seat, you m ust first activate
the convertib le locking retractor on the
safety belt to prevent the child safety seat
from mov ing <=:>
page 152 or install the seat
using the LATCH attachments .
.. Push the chi ld safety seat down with your
full weight to get the safety be lt really tight
so that the seat cannot move forwa rd or
sideways mo re than one inch (2 .5 cm).
Infants up to about one year (20 lbs . or 9 kg)
are best protected in spec ial infant car riers
and ch ild safety seats designed for their age
group. Many experts believe that infants and
small chi ld ren shou ld r ide o nly in special re­
stra ints in wh ich the child faces the back of
the vehicle . These infant seats suppo rt the ba­
by's back, neck and head in a c rash
<=:> fig. 139 .
The airbag on the passenger side makes the
fron t se at a pote ntia lly d angero us place for a
c h ild to ride. The front seat is not the safest ..,..

150 Child Saf ety
than 20 lbs (9 kg) up to 40 lbs. (18 kg) must
a lways be properly restrained in a chi ld safety
seat certified for the ir s ize and weight
c::> fig. 140 and c::> fig. 141.
The airbag on the passenger side makes the
front seat a potentially dangerous place for a
chi ld to r ide. T he front seat is not the safest
p lace for a child in a forward-facing child safe­
ty seat. It is a very dangerous place for an in­
fant or a larger child in a rearward -fac ing seat .
A WARNING
Not using a ch ild safety seat, using the
w rong ch ild safety seat or improper ly in­
stall ing a child res traint increases the risk
of serious person al injury and de ath in a
co llision or other eme rgency s ituation.
- Children on the front seat of any car,
even w ith Adv anced A irbags, can be seri­
o usly inju red or even killed when an a ir­
bag inflates. A child in a rearward-facing
child safety seat installed on the front
passenger seat w ill be seriously injured
and can be k illed if the front a irbag in­
flates -even with an Advanced Airbag
System .
- The inflating a irbag will hit the child
safety seat or infant car rier with g reat
force and w ill smash the ch ild safety seat
and child against the backrest, cente r
armrest, door or roof.
- Always install rear-facing child safety
seats on t he rear sea t.
- If you must install a rearward facing
child safety seat on the front passenger
sea t be cause of ex cep tional circ ums tan­
c es and the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
ligh t does no t come on and stay on, im­
me diately install the rea r-facin g child
safety seat in a rear seating position and
have the airbag system inspected by your
Audi dealer.
- Always read and heed all WARNI NGS
whenever using a child rest rained in ave­
hicle is being used
c::> page 113, Safety
belts,
c::> page 122, Airbag system and
c::> page 143, Important things to know .
A WARNING
If exceptional circumstances require the
use of a fo rward-facing child restraint on
the front passenge r's sea t, the child's safe­
ty and well-being require t hat the follow­
i ng spe cial preca utions be ta ken:
- Make sure t he forward-facing seat has
been designed and cert ified by its man u­
f a cturer fo r use on a front seat with a
p assenger front and side airbag.
- Always follow the manufacturer' s in­
s truc tions prov ided with t he ch ild safety
se at o r infant ca rr ier.
- Always move the front passenger seat in­
to the re armos t posi tion of the passen­
ge r seat's fo re and aft adjustment range,
an d as far away from the airbag as possi­
b le before installing the ch ild restraint.
- Always make sure that no thing prevents
the front passenger 's seat from being
moved to the rea rmost pos ition in its
fore and aft ad justment range .
- Always make sure the bac krest is in an
upright pos ition.
- Make sure t hat the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
li ght comes on and stays on all the
time whenever the ignit ion is switched
on.
- If the light does not stay on, perform the
checks
c::> page 133, Monitoring the Ad­
vanced Airbag System.
- Ta ke the chi ld restraint off the front pas­
senger seat and install it properly at one
of the rear seat positions if the
PASSEN ­
GER AIR BAG OFF
l ight does not s tay on
wheneve r the ignit ion is switched on.
-

154 Child Safety
A WARNING
Forward-facing child restraints:
- Always make sure the forward-facing
seat has been designed and certified by
its manufacturer for use on a front seat
w ith a passenger front and side airbag.
- Never put the forward-facing child re­
straint up, against or
very near the in­
strument 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 adjusted 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.
A WARNING
Rearward-facing child restraints:
-A child in a rearward-facing child safety
seat installed on the front passenger
seat will be seriously 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 be especially careful if you must
install a rearward facing child safety seat
on the front passenger seat in exception­
al circumstances.
- A tight tether strap on a rearward-facing
child restraint attached to the front pas­
senger seat can put too much pressure on the weight-mat in the seat and regis­
ter a heavier weight in the Advanced Air­
bag System . The heavier weight regis­
tered can make the system work as
though an adult were on the seat and de­
ploy the Advanced Airbag when it must be suppressed causing serious or even
fatal injury to the child.
- Make sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
light comes on and stays on all the
time whenever the ignition is switched
on .
- If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not come on and stay on, immedi­
ately install the rear-facing child safety
seat in a rear seating position and have
the airbag system inspected by your Audi
dealer.
Activating the convertible locking
retractor
Use the convertible locking retractor to se­
cure a child restraint.
Always heed the child safety seat manufactur­
er's instructions when installing a child re­
straint in your vehicle . To activate the conver­
tible Lacking retractor:
.,. Place the child restraint on a seat , prefera­
bly on the rear seat.
.,. Slowly pull the belt
all the way out.
.,. Route it around or through the child re­
straint belt path
~ _&..
.,. Push the child safety seat down with your
full weight to get the safety belt really tight.
.,. Insert the belt tongue into the buckle for
that seating position .
.,. Guide the safety belt back into the retractor
until the belt lies flat and snug on the child
safety seat.
.,. You should hear a "clicking " noise as the
belt winds back into the inertia reel. Test the
convertible locking retractor by pulling on
the belt. You should no longer be able to
pull the belt out of the retractor. The con­
vertible locking retractor is now activat ed.
.,. Make sure that the red release button is fac­
ing away from the child restraint so th at i t
can be unbuckled quickly .
.,. Pull on the belt to make sure the safety belt
is properly tight and fastened so that the
seat cannot move forward or sideways more
than one inch (2.5 cm). .,.