2012 AUDI A6 ESP

144 Airbag sys tem
Child restraints on the front seat - some
important things to know
• Be sure to read the impo rtant in forma tion
and heed the WARNINGS for important de­
ta ils about ch ildren and Advanced Airbags
i=> page 168.
Even though yo ur vehicle is equipped with an
Advanced Airbag System, make certain that
all children, especially those 12 years and
younger, a lways ride in the back seat properly
res tra ined for their age and si ze. The airbag
on the passenger side makes the front seat a potentially dangerous place for a child to r ide .
The front seat is not the safest place fo r a
chi ld in a fo rward-faci ng chi ld sea t.
It can be a
ve ry dangerous p lace for an infant or a c hild in
a rearward -facing seat.
The Advanced Airbag System i n your veh icle
has been certified to comply with the require­
men ts of Uni ted States Federa l Mo to r Veh icle
Safety Standard 208 as applicable at the time
your ve hicle was manufact ured.
The Standa rd requires the fron t air bag on t he
passenger side to be turned off ("sup­
p ressed") if a c hild up to about one yea r of
age restrained in one of the rear-facing or for­
ward-facing infant restra ints listed in Federal
Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208 with which
the Advanced A irbag System in your vehicle
was certified has been installed on the front passenger seat . For a listing of the child re ­
straints that we re used to certify compliance
with the US Safety Sta ndard
c> page 170.
The PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light in the in­
strument panel te lls you when the front Ad­
vanced A irbag on t he passenger side has been
turned off by t he e lectronic control unit.
Each t ime you sw itch on the ignit ion, the
PAS­
SENGER AIR BAG OFF
li ght w ill come on for a
few seconds a nd:
- will stay on if the front passenger seat is not
occupied ,
- will stay on if the electrical capacitance
measured by the capacitive passenger de­
tection system fo r the fro nt passenger seat equa
ls the combined capacitance of an in ­
fant up to about one year of age and one of the rearwa rd- facing or forward-fac ing ch ild
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 of the ch ild restraints
that w ere used to certify you r vehicle 's com­
plia nce w it h t he U.S. Safety Standard
i=> page 170 .
-w ill stay on if the re is a small c hild or child
restrai nt on the front passenge r seat,
- w ill go off if the front passenger seat is oc­
cupied by an adult as registered by the ca­
p acitive passenge r de te ction system
c> page 154, Monitoring the Advanced Air ­
bag System.
T he PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes on
whe n elec trica l capacitance regis tered on the
front passenger seat is eq ua l to or less than
t h e comb ined ca pacitance of a typical 1 year ­
o ld infant and one of the rearward-facing or
forward-facing chi ld restraints listed in Feder ­
al Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208 with
which the Advanced Airbag System i n your ve­
hicle was cert ified .
If the total e lectr ica l capacitance registered
on the front passenger seat is more than that
of a typical 1 year-o ld child but less than the
we ight of a small adu lt, the front airbag on
the passenger side can deploy (the
PASSEN­
GER AIR BAG OFF
light does not come on) .
If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF ligh t does
not come on , the front airbag on the passen­
ger side has not been turned off by the e lec­
t ron ic cont ro l unit and can deploy if th e con­
t ro l u nit se nses an impa ct that mee ts the con­
di tions s to red in its memory.
For example, the airbag may deploy if:
- a small ch ild that is heav ier t han a typical 1
year-old ch ild is on the front passenger seat
(regard less of whethe r the child is in one of
the ch ild seats listed
c::;, page 170), o r
- a child who has outgrown ch ild restraints is
on the front passenger seat . ..,.

146 Airbag system
-Always carefully follow instructions from
child restraint manufacturers when in­
stalling child restraints.
_& WARNING
If, in exceptional circumstances, you must
install a forward or rearward -facing child
restraint on the front passenger's seat:
- Improper installation of child restraints
can reduce their effectiveness or even
prevent them from providing any protec­
tion.
- An improperly installed child restraint
can interfere with the airbag as it de­
ploys and seriously injure or even kill the
child -even with an Advanced Airbag
System.
- Always carefully follow the manufactur­
er's instructions provided with the child
seat or carrier .
- Always make sure that there is nothing
on the front passenger seat that will
cause the capacitive passenger detection
system in the seat to signal to the Airbag
System that the seat is occupied by a person when it is not, or to signal that it
is occupied by someone who is heavier
than the person actually sitting on the
seat . The presence of additional objects
could cause the passenger front airbag
to be turned on when it should be off, or
could cause the airbag to work in a way
that is different from the way it wou ld
have worked without the object on the
seat.
Front airbags
Description of front airbags
The airbag system can provide supplemental
protection to properly restrained front seat occupants .
Fig. 144 Locatio n of drive r ai rbag: in steering wh eel
Fig. 145 Locat io n of fron t passenger' s air bag: in the in·
st rument panel
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 system senses
the position of the front seats and controls
front airbag inflation with a valve , depending
on the distance between the respective seat
and the steering wheel or instrument panel.
The safety belts for the seats have "preten­
sioners" that help to take slack out of the belt
system. The pretensioners are also activated by the electronic control uni t for the airbag
system .
The front safety belts also have load limiters
to help reduce the forces applied to the body in a crash.
The airbag for the driver is in the steering
wheel hub
¢ fig. 144 and the airbag for the
front passenger is in the instrument panel

q fig. 145. The general location of the airbags
is marked "AIRBAG".
There is a lot you need to know about the air­ bags in your vehicle. We urge you to read the
detailed information about airbags, safety
belts and child safety in this and the other
chapters that make up the owner's literature.
Please be sure to heed the WARNINGS -they
are extremely important for your safety and
the safety of your passengers, especially in ­
fants and small children .
A WARNING
Never rely on airbags alone for protection.
- Even when they deploy, airbags provide only supplemental protection .
- Airbag work most effectively when used
with properly worn safety belts .
- Therefore, always wear your safety belts
and make sure that everybody in your ve­
hicle is properly restrained .
- Always hold the steering wheel with both
hands on the outside of the steering
wheel rim at the 9:00 o'clock and 3:00 o'clock positions to help reduce the risk
of personal injury if the driver's airbag in­
flates.
- Never hold the steering wheel at the 12
o'clock position or with your hands any­
where inside the steering wheel or on the
steering wheel hub. Holding the steering
wheel the wrong way increases the risk
of severe injury to the arms, hands, and
head if the driver airbag deploys .
A WARNING
Objects between you and the airbag will
increase the risk of injury in a crash by in­
terfering with the way the airbag unfolds
and/or by being pushed into you as the air­
bag inflates.
- Always make sure nothing is in the front
airbag deployment zone that could be
struck by the airbag when it inflates.
- Objects in the zone of a deploying airbag
can become projectiles when the airbag
Airbag system 147
deploys and cause serious personal in­
Jury.
- Never hold things in your hands or on
your lap when the vehicle is in use.
- Never place accessories or other objects
(such as cup holders, telephone brackets,
note pads, navigation systems, or things
that are large, heavy, or bulky) on the
doors; never attach then to the doors or
the windshield; never place them over or
near or attach them to the area marked
,,AIRBAG" on the steering wheel, instru­
ment panel or the seat backrests; never
place them between these areas and you
or any other person in the vehicle.
- Never attach objects to the windshield
above the passenger front airbag, such
as accessory GPS navigation units or mu­
sic players. Such objects could cause seri­
ous injury in a collision, especially when
the airbags inflate.
- Never recline the front passenger seat to
transport objects. Items can also move
into the deployment area of the side air­
bags or the front airbag during breaking
or in a sudden maneuver. Objects near
the airbags can fly dangerously through
the passenger compartment and cause injury, particularly when the seat is re­
clined and the airbags inflate.
WARNING
A person on the front passenger seat, es­
pecially infants and small children, will re­
ceive serious injuries and can even be kil­
led by being too close to the airbag when
it inflates.
- Although the Advanced Airbag System in
your vehicle is designed to turn off the
front passenger airbag if an infant or a
small child is on the front passenger
seat, nobody can absolutely guarantee
that deployment under these special conditions is impossible in all conceiva­
ble situations that may happen during
the useful life of your vehicle . .,.
•
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148 Airbag system
-The Advanced Airbag System can deploy
in accordance with the .,low risk" option
for 3- and 6-year-old children under the U.S . Federal Standard if a child with elec­
trical capacitance greater than the com­ bined capacitance of a typical one-year
old infant restrained in one of the for­
ward facing or rearward-facing child
seats with which your vehicle was certi­
fied is on the front passenger seat and
the other conditions for airbag deploy­ ment are met.
- Accident statistics have shown that chil­
dren are generally safer in the rear seat
area than in the front seating position.
- For their own safety, all children, espe­
cially 12 years and younger, should al­
ways ride in the back properly restrained
for their age and size.
Advanced front airbag system
Your vehicle is equipped with a front Advanced
Airbag System in compliance with United
States Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard
208 as applicable at the time your vehicle was manufactured.
The front Advanced Airbag System supple ­
ments the safety belts to provide additional
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 deceleration 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 the over­ all occupant restraint system in your vehicle.
Always remember that the airbag system can
only help to protect you, if you are sitting up­
right, wearing your safety belt and wearing it
properly . This is why you and your passengers
must always be properly restrained, not just
because the law requires you to be.
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 very small adults on the driver side. The low risk deployment crite­
ria are intended to help reduce the risk of in­
jury through interaction with the front 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 "suppression" requirements
of the Safety Standard, to turn off the front
airbag for infants 12 months old and younger
who are restrained on the front passenger
seat in child restraints that are listed in the
Standard
c::> page 170, Child restraints and
Advanced front airbag system.
"Suppression" requires the front airbag on the
passenger side to be turned off if:
- a child up to about one year of age is re­
strained on the front passenger seat in one
of the rear-facing or forward-facing infant
restraints listed in Federal Motor Vehicle
Safety Standard 208 with which the Ad­
vanced Airbag System in your vehicle was
certified. For a listing of the child restraints
that were used to certify your vehicle's com­
pliance with the US Safety Standard
i=>page 170,
-When a person is detected on the front pas­
senger seat that has an electrical capaci­
tance that is more than the total electrical
capacitance of a child that is about 1 year
old restrained in one of the rear-facing or
forward -facing infant restraints (listed in
Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208
with which the Advanced Airbag System in
your vehicle was certified) , the front airbag
on the passenger side may or may not de­
ploy.
The
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes on
when the electronic control unit detects a to­
tal electrical capacitance on the front passen­ ger seat that requires the front airbag to be
turned off. If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light does not come on, the front airbag on
the passenger side has not been turned off by
the control unit and can deploy if the control unit senses an impact that meets the condi -
tions stored in its memory. ..,_

150 Airbag sys te m
backrest must be adjusted to an uprigh t
posit ion.
- Always make sure that there is nothing
on the front passenger seat that will
cause the capacitive passenger detection
system in the seat to s ignal to the A irbag
System that the seat is occupied by a
person when it is not, or to signal that it
is occupied by someone who is heavier
than the pe rson actually s itting on t he
seat. The presence of additiona l objects
cou ld cause the passenger front airbag
to be t urned on w hen it sho uld be off, or
cou ld cause the airbag to work in a way
that is different from the way it wou ld
have worked without the object on the
seat.
- Make sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BA G
OFF
light comes on and stays on all the
t ime w henever the ignition is switched
on.
Advanced Airbag System components
The front passenger seat in you r veh icle has a
l ot of very important pa rts of the Advanced
A irbag System in it . These parts include the
capacitive passenge r de tect ion sys tem, wir­
ing, brac kets, and more . The cont ro l uni t
monitors the system on the front passenger
seat when the ignition is switc hed on and
turns the airbag indicato r light on when a
malfunction in the one of the system compo­
nents is detected
c::;, page 155 . Because the
fro nt passenge r seat contains important pa rts
of the Advanced Airbag System , you must
take ca re to p revent it from being damaged.
Da mage to the seat may preven t the Ad­
vanced A irb ag System for the fron t passenger
seat from doing i ts job in a c rash .
The front Advanced Airbag System
consists of the following:
-Crash sensors in the front o f the veh icle tha t
measure veh icle acceleration/dece le ration
to provide information to the Advanced Air­ bag System about the severity of the crash. -
An elect ronic contro l unit, with integrated
crash sensors for front and sid e impacts .
T he control un it "decides" whether to fire
the front a irbags based on the inform at ion
received from the crash sensors. The control
unit also "decides" whether the safety belt prete nsioners shou ld be act ivated .
- An Advanced A irbag w ith gas generator and
contro l valve for the driver inside the steer­
ing wheel hub .
- An Advanced A irbag w ith gas generator and
contro l valve inside the inst rument panel for
the front passenger .
- A capacit ive passenger detection system u n­
de rneath the front passenger seat cover .
This system measures the elec trical capac i­
t ance of the perso n in t he seat. The informa ­
t ion regis tered is se nt cont inuo usly to the
electronic con trol un it to regu late deploy­
ment of the front Advanced Airbag on the
passenger side.
- An airbag monitoring system and indicator
light in the instr ument cluster
c::;, page 154.
- A senso r in each front seat regis ters the dis­
tance between the respective seat and the
steering whee l or instrument panel. The in ­
formation registered is sent cont inuo usly to
the electron ic contro l uni t to regulate de­
ployment of the front Adv a need A irbags .
- The
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes
on and stays on in the center of the instr u­
ment panel
c::;, page 155, fig . 147 and tells
you when the front Advanced Airbag on the
passenger side has been t urned off.
- A sensor in the safety belt latch for the driv­
er and fo r the front seat passenger that
senses w hether t hat safety belt is latched or
no t and transmi ts this information to t he
elec tronic con trol un it.
A WARNING
D amage to the fron t passenger seat can
prevent the front airbag from working
p roperly.
- Imp roper repai r or disassembly of the
front passenge r and dr iver seat will pre­
vent the Advanced Airbag System from
functioning properly .
-

152 Airbag system
same effect . If the front passenger
frontal a irbag is turned on, the
PA SSEN ·
GER AIR BAG OFF
light light will go out.
How the Advanced Airbag System
components work together
The front Advanced Airbag System and the
side a irbags supplement the protect ion of­
fered by the front three-point safety be lts
with pretensioners and load limiters and the
ad justab le head restraints to he lp red uce the
risk of injury in a wide range of accident and
crash situations. Be sure to read the impor­
tant information about safety and heed the
WARNINGS in this chapter .
Deployment of the Advanced Airbag System
and the activation of the safety be lt preten­
sioners depend on the dece lerat ion measured
by the crash sensors and registered by the
electronic control un it . The amount of infla ­
tion of the front airbags can also be adapted
to the front seat position, depend ing on the
d istance between the respective front seat
and the steering wheel or instrument panel as registered by sensors in the seats. Crash se­
verity depends on speed and deceleration as
well as the mass and stiffness of the vehicle
or object invo lved in the crash.
On the passenger s ide, regard less of safety
be lt use, the front passenger fro nta l airbag
will be turned off if the electrical capacitance
measured by the capacitive passenger detec­
tion system on the front passenger seat is less
than the amount programmed in the electron·
i c control unit . The front passenger frontal air­
bag will also be turned off if the capac itance
measured by the system for the front passen­
ge r sea t equa ls tha t of an infant of abo ut one
yea r of age in one of the child sea ts tha t was
used to certify the Advanced Airbag System
u nder Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard
208 . T he
PASSENGER AIR BA G OFF light
comes on and stays on to tell you when the
front Advanced A irbag System on the passen­
ger s ide has been turned off
c> page 155 .
A WARNING
-To reduce the risk of injury w hen an a irbag
in flates, always wear safety be lts properly.
- If you are unrestra ined, leaning forward,
sitt ing s ideways or out of pos ition in any
way, your risk of injury is much h igher .
- You will a lso receive se rious injuries and
could even be killed if you a re up aga inst
the airbag o r too close to it when it in­
flates - even w ith an Advanced A irb ag
<=> page 142 .
More important things to know about
front airbags
Fig . 14 6 Inflated fro nt a irbags
Safety belts a re important to he lp keep front
seat occupants in the proper seated position
so that a irbags can unfold properly and pro­
v ide s upplementa l pro te cti on in a fron tal col­
li sion .
T he front airbags are des igned to provide ad­
ditional p rotection fo r the chest and face of
the driver a nd the front seat passenger w hen:
- safety belts are worn properly,
- the seats have bee n positioned so that the
occupant is properly seated as far as poss i­
b le from the airbag ,
- and the head restraints have been properly
adj usted .
Because airbags inflate in the blink of an eye
with great force, th ings you have on your lap
or have placed on the seat cou ld become dan ­
gerous projecti les, and be p ushed into you if
the a irbag inflates .
When an airbag deploys, fine dust is re leased.
This is norma l and is not caused by a f ire in ..,.

154 Airbag sys te m
- Never place or attach accessories or o th­
er objects (such as cup holders, tele­
phone brackets, large, heavy or bulky ob­
jects) on the doors, over or near the area marked "AIRBAG" on the stee ring wheel,
instrument panel, seat backrests or be­
tween those a reas and yourself. These
objects co uld cause injury in a crash, es­
pecially when the airbags inflate .
- Never recline the front passenger's seat
to transport objec ts. Items can also
move into the area o f the side airbag or
the front airbag during braking or in a sudden maneuver . Objects near the air­
bags can become project iles and cause
injury, part icularly when the seat is re­
cl ined .
- Never place or transport ob jects on the
front passenger seat. Objects on the
front passenger seat could cause the ca­ pacitive senso r in the seat to s ignal to
airbag system that the seat is occupied
by a person whe n it in fa ct is not, o r that
the person on the se at is heavie r than he
or she actually is. The change in electric
capacitance because of such objects can
cause the passenger front airbag to be
t u rned on when it sho uld be
off, or can
cause the airbag to work in a way that is
different from the way it wou ld have
wor ked w ithout ob jects on the seat .
- Always make sure that there is nothing
on the front passenger seat that will
cause the capacitive passenge r detection
system in the s eat to s ignal to the A irbag
System that the seat is occupied by a
person when it is not, or to signa l th at it
is occupied by someone who is heavier
than the pe rson actually s itting on the
seat . The prese nce of an object co uld
cause the passenger front a irbag to be
t ur ned on when it sho uld be
off, or co uld
cause the airbag to work in a way t hat is
different from the way it wou ld have
worked w ithout the object on the seat.
A WARNING
The fine dust created when airbags deploy
ca n cause breathing p rob lems for people
with a history of asthma or ot her breath­
i ng cond itions .
- To reduce the risk of breath ing problems ,
those wi th asthma o r othe r respiratory
conditions s hou ld get fresh air right
away by getting o ut of th e veh icle or
open ing windows or do ors .
- If you are i n a collision in which airbags
de ploy, was h your h ands and face wi th
mild soap and wate r before eating.
- Be ca reful not to get the dust into your
eyes, o r into any c uts or sc ratches.
- If the res id ue should get into your eyes,
fl ush them w ith wate r.
Monitoring the
Advanced Airbag System
t~i Airbag monitoring indicator light
Two separate indicators monitor the function
of the Advan ced Airbag Sy stem: the airbag
moni toring indicator light and the
PASSEN­
GER AIR BAG O FF
light.
The Adva nced A irbag Sys tem ( incl uding the
ele ct ron ic cont ro l u nit , sensor circu its and sys­
tem wir ing) is monitored con tinuously to
make sure that it is functioning properly
whenever the ignition is on. Eac h time you
switch on the ignition, the airbag monitor ing
indicator light
m will come on for a few sec­
onds (self diagnostics) .
The sy stem mu st be in spected when the
indicator light
rl:
- does not come on when the ignition is
sw itched on,
- does not go out a few seconds after you
have switched on the ignit ion, or
- comes on while driv ing .
If an airbag system malfunc tion is detec ted,
the i ndicator lig ht w ill first sta rt flashing to
catch the drive r's attention and then stay on .,..

cushion with his or her back up against the
backrest and the backrest is not reclined,
- the adult is not taking weight off the seat by
holding on to the passenger assist handle
above the front passenger door or support­
ing their we ight on the armrest,
- the safety be lt is being properly worn and
that there is not a lot of slack in the safety
belt webbing,
- there are no aftermarket seat covers or
cushions or other things (such as blankets)
on the front passenger seat that m ight
cause the capacitive passenger detection
system to miscalculate electrical capac i­
tance.
Important safety instructions on
monitoring the Advanced Airbag System
A WARNING
- If the status of the Adva need A irbag Sys­
tem has changed wh ile the vehicle is
moving, the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light b links for about 5 seconds to catch
the driver's attent ion. If this happens, al­
ways stop as soon as it is safe to do so
and check the steps described above.
- If the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not go off when an adu lt who is not
very small is sitting on the front passen ­
ger seat after taking the steps described
above, make sure the adult is properly
seated and restrained at one of the rear
seating pos it ions . Have the a irbag sys­
tem inspected by your authorized Audi
dealer before transpo rting anyone on the
front passenger seat .
A WARNING
An airbag system that is not funct ioning
prope rly cannot provide supplemental p ro­
t e ction in a fron tal crash.
- If the airbag indicato r light comes on, it
means that the re may be somet hing
wrong with the Advance d Ai rb ag Sy stem .
It is possible that the airbag will inflate
A irbag system 157
when it is not supposed to, or will not in­
flate when it sho uld.
- Have the airbag system inspected imme­
diate ly by you r Audi dealer.
A WARNING
-If the front airbag inflates, a child without
a child restraint, or in a rearward-facing
chi ld safety seat, or in a forward-facing
chi ld restraint that has not been properly
installed w ill be seriously injured and can
be killed.
- Even tho ugh your vehicle is equipped
wit h an Advanced A irbag System, make
certain that all children, espe cially 12
yea rs and younger, alw ays ride on the
back seat properly rest rained for their
age an d size .
- Always install forward o r rear-facing
child seats on the rear sea t - even with
an Advanced Ai rbag System.
- If you m ust install a rearw ard-fa cing
child seat on the front passenger seat
because of exceptional circ umstances
and the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not appear and stay on, immediate­ ly install the rear-facing child seat in a
rea r seat ing pos ition and have the airbag
system inspected by your Audi dealer .
- If, in exceptiona l circumstances, you
must install a forward-fac ing ch ild re­
straint on the front passenger seat, al­
ways move the sea t into its rearmost po­
s ition in the seat 's fore and aft adjust­
men t range, as far away from the airbag
as poss ible . The backrest must be ad just ­
ed to an upright pos ition. Make su re that
the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
comes on and stays on all the time when­
ever the ignit ion is switched on.
A WARNING
- If the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not go out when an ad ult is sitting
on the front passenger seat after taking
the steps described above, make su re the ...,
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