When the regulator is in the O position, the
seat ventilation is switched off. The range of
adjustment is between 1 and 6.
Heated rear seats~
Applies to vehicles: with heated rear seats
The seat cushions and seatbacks of the two
outer rear seats can be heated electrically.
F ig. 114 Ce nter console rea r: Heated sea ts
i
-..:,
---------------<%
F ig. 1 15 Ce nter console rear : Se at heat ing with four
zone automat ic comfort a ir cond it ion ing•
Rear seat he ating
• Rotate the thumb wheel ~fig. 114 @to
turn on and adjust the heating for the left
rear seat .
• Rotate the thumb wheel @ to turn on and
adjust the heating for the right rear seat.
Rear seat heating w ith four-zone
automatic comfo rt air conditioning *
• Press the Q] button . ~ fig. 115.
• Rotate the regu lator to the desired setting .
I n pos ition O the heating for the seats is
turned off . T he range of ad justment is be
tween 1 and 6 .
The heater for the outer rear seats can be
turned on when the weight of the parti cular
seat's occ upant is detected. Howeve r, the rea r
Warm and cold 101
seats can be pre-heated for about 10 minutes
using the activated seat heater. After this
time has e lapsed, the seat heater automati
ca lly turns off if it does not detect an occu
pant's weight for the particular seat.
A WARNING
Individuals wit h reduced se ns itiv ity to pa in
or temperature could develop burns when
usi ng the seat heat ing funct ion . To reduce
the r isk of injury, these ind ividuals shou ld
not use se at hea ting.
(D Note
To avoid damage to the heat ing e lements
i n the seats, do not kneel on the seats or
place heavy loads o n a sma ll a rea of the
seat.
© Tips
P lease not e that the weight of objects
placed on the seat wi ll also be detected .
This weight may be enough to cause the
seat heater to turn on .
Steering wheel heating~
Applies to vehicles: with steering wheel heating
The steering wheel can be heated electrically.
F ig . 1 16 Steer ing wheel: button for steering whee l
heat ing
• Press the [j] button to turn the steer ing
whe el heat ing on and
off <=>fig . 116. The
message
Steering wheel h eating on! or
Steering wheel heating off! appears in the
instrument cluster disp lay. ..,.
On the road
Steering
Manually adjustable steering wheel
Applies to vehicles: with manu ally adjustable steering
w hee l
The height and reach of the steering wheel
can be adjusted.
Fig. 117 Lever under the steer ing column
First, adjust the driver's seat correctly .
.. Pull the lever
c:>fig . 117-Arrow-c:> ,A .
.. Move the steering wheel to the desired po
sition.
.. Push the lever against the steering column
unt il it locks.
There must be at least 10 inches (25 cm) be
tween your chest and the center of the steer
ing wheel.
If you cannot sit more than 10 in
ches (25 cm) from the steering wheel, see if
adapt ive equipment is available to help you
reach the pedals and increase the distance
from the steering wheel.
For detailed information on how to adjust the
driver's seat, see
c:> page 72.
& WARNING
Improper use of steering wheel adjust
meht and improper seating position can
cause serious personal injury.
- Adjust the steering wheel column only
when the veh icle is not moving to pre
vent loss of vehicle control.
-
-Adjust the driver's seat or steering wheel
so that there is a minimum of 10 inches
(25 cm) between your chest and the
steering wheel
c:> page 161, fig. 182. If
On the road 103
you cannot maintain this minimum dis
tance, the airbag system cannot protect
you properly.
- If physical limitations prevent you from
sitting 10 inches (25 cm) or more from
the steering wheel, check with your au
thorized Audi dealer to see if adaptive
equipment is available.
- If the steering wheel is aligned with your
face, the supplemental dr iver's a irbag
cannot provide as much protection in an
accident. Always make sure that the
steering wheel is aligned with your
chest.
- Always hold the steer ing wheel w ith your
hands at the 9 o'clock and 3 o'clock posi
tions to reduce the risk of personal injury
if the driver's airbag dep loys .
- Never hold the steering wheel at the 12
o'clock position or with your hands inside
the steering wheel rim or on the steering
wheel hub. Holding the steering wheel
the wrong way can cause serious injuries
to the hands, arms and head if the driv
er's airbag deploys.
Electrically adjustable steering wheel
App lies to vehicles: with electrically adjustable steering
w heel
The height and reach of the steering wheel
can be electrically adjusted to suit the driver.
Fig. 118 Switch for stee ring wheel adjustment
First, adjust the driver's seat correctly.
Height adjustment
.. Push the switch @ up or down c:>fig. 118.
The steering wheel height changes for as
long as you press the sw itch. ..,.
160 Driving Safel y
Driving Safely
General notes
Safe driving habits
Please remember -safety first!
This chapter contains important information,
tips, instructions and warnings that you need
to read and observe for your own safety, the
safety of your passengers and others . We have
summarized here what you need to know
about safety belts, a irbags, ch ild restra ints as
well as child safety. Your safety is for us
priori
ty number 1.
Always observe the info rmat ion
and warn ings in th is sect ion -fo r yo ur own
safety as well as that of your passengers .
The information in this se ction app lies to all
model ve rsions of your veh icle . Some of the
feat ures desc ribed in this sec tions may be
standard equipment on some models, or may be optional equipment on others . If you are
not sure, ask your authorized Aud i dealer.
A WARNING
- Always make sure that you follow the in
struct ions and heed the WARNINGS in
this Manual. It is in your interest and in
the inte rest of you r passengers.
- Always keep the complete Owner's Liter
ature in your Audi when you lend or sell
yo ur vehicle so that this important info r
mation will always be ava ilable to the
dr iver and passengers.
- Always keep the Owner's literature handy
so that you can find i t eas ily if you have
ques tions.
Safety equipment
The safety features are part of the occupant
restraint system and work together to help
redu ce the risk of injury in a wide variety of
accident situations.
Your safety and the safety of your passenge rs
should not be left to chance. Advances in
technology have made a varie ty o f fea tures
avai la bl e to he lp re duce the risk of inj ury in an accident
. The following is a list of just a few of
the safety features in your Audi:
- sophis tic ated s afety be lts for d rive r and a ll
passenger sea ting pos it ions,
- be lt te nsione rs fo r th e fro nt sea ts a nd the
ou ter sea ting posit ions in the second row
seating,
- be lt h eight adjustment fo r th e front sea ts
an d the o ute r seat ing pos itions in the sec
ond row seating,
- he ad restra ints for e ach sea ting pos ition,
- front airbags,
- side airbags in the fro nt seats and the outer
seating positions in the second row seat ing*,
- side curta in ai rbags,
- specia l LATCH anchorages for child re-
st raints,
- ad justab le steering colum n.
These individual safety features, can work to gether as a system to he lp protect you and
your passengers in a wide range of accidents .
These features cannot work as a system if
they are not always correctly adjusted and cor rectly used .
Safety is everybody's responsibil ity!
Important things to do before driving
Safety is everybody 's job! Vehicle and occu
pant safety always depends on the informed
and careful driver.
For yo ur safety and the safety of your passen
gers,
before driving always:
.. Make s ure that all lights and signa ls a re op
erati ng correctly .
.. Ma ke s ure that the tire pressure is correct .
.. Make s ure that all windows are clean and
afford good v is ibility to the o utside.
.. Secure a ll luggage a nd other items carefu lly
¢ page 87.
.. Make su re that nothing can in terfe re with
the peda ls.
.. Adjust fron t se at, head restraint and mir
rors co rrec tly for you r heigh t.
unfolds with great force in the blink of
an eye .
- Always make sure that there are at least
10 inches (25 cm) between the front
passenger 's breastbone and the instru
ment panel.
- Each passenger must always sit on a seat of the ir own and properly fasten and
wear the safety belt be longing to that
seat .
- Before driving, always adjust the front
passenger seat and head restra int prop
erly .
- Always keep your feet on the f loor in
front of the seat. Never rest them on the
seat, instrument panel, out of the win dow, etc. The airbag system and safety
belt w il l not be ab le to protec t you prop
er ly and can even increase the risk of in
jury in a crash .
- Never drive with the backrest reclined o r
ti lted far back! The farther the backrests
are ti lted back , the greater the risk of in
jury due to incorrect positioning of the
safety belt and improper seating posi
t ion.
- Children must always ride in child safety
seats
c> page 200 . Special precautions
apply when installing a child safety seat
on the front passenger seat
c> page 179 .
Proper seating positions for passengers
in rear seats
Rear seat passengers must sit upright with
both feet on the floor consistent with their
physical size and be properly restrained whenever the vehicle is in use .
To reduce the risk of injury caused by an incor
rect seat ing pos ition in the event of a sudden
brak ing maneuve r or an acc ident , your pas
se ngers on the rea r bench seat must always
observe the fo llow ing :
~ If there are passengers in the rear seat, fold
the head rest ra ints up on the occupied seats
or slide the center head restrain t upward at
least to the next notch
c> page 77 .
Dr ivin g Sa fely 163
~ Make s ure that the seatback is secure ly
latch ed in the upright posi tion
c> page 79.
~ Keep both feet flat in the footwell in front
of the rear seat.
~ F asten and wear safety be lt s properly
<=> page 174 .
~ Make sure that children are always properly
restrained in a child restraint that is appro
pria te fo r the ir s ize and age ¢
page 200.
A WARNING
Passengers who are imp roperly seated on
the rear seat can be se riously inj ured in a
crash .
- Each passenger must always si t on a seat
of their own and properly fasten and
wear the safety belt belonging to that
seat .
- Safety belts only offer maximum protec
tion when the seatback is sec urely latch
ed in the upright position and the safety
be lt s are properly posit ioned on the
body . By not s itting up right, a rear seat
passenger increases the risk of personal
in jury from improperly positioned safety
be lts!
- Always adjust the head restraint p roperly
so that it can give maximum protection .
Proper adjustment of head restraints
Correctly adjusted head restraints are an im
portant port of your vehicle's occupant re
straint system and can help to reduce the risk
of injuries in accident situations .
Fig. 1 83 Head restr ain t: v ie wed from th e front
The head restraints must be correct ly adjust-
ed to achieve the best protectio n. ..,.
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
belt 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 secur ing a child
safety seat in the vehicle
~ page 211 .
Safety belt position
Correct bel t posi tion is the key to getting
maximum protection from safety belts .
Fig. 192 Safety be lt pos it io n
Standard features on your vehicle help you ad
just the position of the safety belt to match
your body size.
- belt height adjustment for the front seats
and the outer seating positions in the sec
ond row seating,
- height-adjustable front seats.
A WARNING
Improperly positioned safety belts can
cause serious personal injury in an acci
dent.
-
- The shoulder belt should lie as close to
the center of the collar bone as possible
and should fit well on the body. Hold the
belt above the latch tongue and pull it
evenly across the chest so that it sits as
low as possible on the pelvis and there is
no pressure on the abdomen . The belt
Safety belts 175
should always fit snugly¢ fig. 192. 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. 192 . Pull on the belt to tight
en if necessary .
- A loose-fitting safety belt can cause seri
ous injuries by shifting its pos ition 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 173.
Pregnant women must also be correctly
restrained
The best way to protect the fetus is to make
sure that expectant mothers always wear
safety belts correctly -throughout the preg
nancy.
Fig. 193 Safety belt pos ition du ring pregnan cy
To provide max imum protection, safety belts
must always be positioned correctly on the
wearer's body¢
page 175 .
.,. Adjust the front seat and head restraint cor
rectly ¢
page 71 , 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.
... Hold the belt by the tongue and pull it
evenly across the chest and pelvis
¢fig. 193, ¢ A.
Airbag system Important things to know
Importance of wearing safety belts and
sitting properly
Airbags are only supplemental restraints. For
airbags to do their job , occupants must al
ways properly wear their safety belts and be
in a proper seating position.
For your safety and the safety of your passen
gers, before driving off, always:
"" Adjust the dr iver's seat and steering wheel
properly ¢
page 161,
"" Adjust the front passenger's seat properly
¢page 72 ,
"" Wear safety be lts properly ¢
page 173,
"" Always properly use the proper child re-
straint to protect chi ldren ¢
page 200.
In a collision, airbags must inflate within the blink of an eye and with considerable force .
The supplemental airbags can cause injuries if
the driver or the front seat passenger is not
seated properly . T herefore in order to help the
a irbag to do its job, it is important, both as a
driver and as a passenge r to s it properly at all
times.
By keeping room between your body and the
steer ing wheel and the front of the passenger
compartment, the airbag can inflate fully and
comp letely and provide supplemental protec
tion in certain frontal collisions ¢
page 161,
Proper occupant seating positions.
F or detai ls
on the operation of the seat adjustment con
trols ¢
page 72.
It's especially important that children a re
properly restrained ¢
page 200.
There is a lot that the driver and the passen
gers can and must do to help the individual
safety features installed in your Aud i work to
gether as a system.
Proper seat ing pos ition is important so that
the front airbag on the driver s ide can do its
job. If yo u have a physical impa irment or con-
A irbag system 179
dition that prevents yo u from sitting properly
on the driver seat with the safety belt properly
fastened and reach ing the peda ls, or if you
have concerns with regard to the function or
operation of the Advanced Airbag System,
please contact your author ized Audi dealer or
qualified workshop, or call Audi Customer Re
l ations at 1-800-822-2834 for poss ible modi
ficat io ns to your veh icle.
When the airbag system dep loys, a gas gener
ator will fill the a irbags, break open the pad
ded covers, and inflate between the steer ing
whee l and the dr iver and between the instru
ment pane l and the front passenger. The a ir
bags will deflate immediately after dep loy
ment so that the front occupants can see
through the windshield again without inter
ruption .
All of th is takes place in the blink of an eye, so
fast that many people don't even realize that
the airbags have deployed. The airbags a lso
inflate with a great dea l of force and nothing
should be in their way when they deploy.
Front airbags in combination with properly
worn safety belts slow down and lim it the oc
cupant's forward movement . T ogether they
help to prevent the driver and front seat pas
senger from h itti ng pa rts of the inside of the
vehicle while reducing the forces acting on the
occupant during the crash . In this way they
help to reduce the risk of injury to the head
and upper body in the crash. Airbags do not
protect the arms or the lower parts of the
body.
Both front airbags will not inflate in all fronta l
collisions . The triggering of the airbag system
depends on the vehicle de ce leration rate
caused by the collision and regis te red by the
electron ic control unit. If th is rate is below
the reference value programmed into the con
trol unit, the airbags will not be trigge red ,
even though the car may be bad ly damaged as
a res ult of the co llision . Ve hicl e damage, re
pair costs or even the lack of veh icle damage
is not necessarily an indication of whether an
airbag should inflate or not . .,. •
•
186 Airbag sys tem
-Always make sure the forward-facing
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 panel.
- Always move the passenger seat into its
rearmost position in the seat's fore and
aft adjustment range, as far away from
the a irbag as poss ible, before insta lli ng
the fo rward-facing chi ld restraint. The
b ackres t must be adjus ted to an upr igh t
posit io n.
- Make su re that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
light co m es on and s tays on all the
t ime whenever the ignition is switched
on.
Advanced Airbag System components
The front passenger seat in your vehicle has a lot of very important parts of the Advanced
Airbag System in it. These parts include the
weight-sens ing mat, sensors, wiring, brack
ets, and more . The fu nction of the system in
the front passenger seat is checked by the
e lectronic control u nit when the ignit ion is on.
The control unit mo nitors the Advanced Air
bag Sys tem and turns the airbag indicator
light on when a ma lfunction in the system
components is detected . The function of the
ai rbag ind icator light is described in greater
detai l below. Because the front passenger
seat contains important parts of the Ad
vanced A irbag System, you must take care to
prevent it from be ing damaged . Damage to
the seat may prevent the Advanced A irbag for
the front passenger seat from doing its job in
a cra sh .
The front Advanced Airbag System
consists of the following:
- Crash senso rs in the front of the veh icle that
measu re ve hicle ac celera tion/de ce le ra ti on
to provide info rm ation to the Advanced Air
bag System abo ut the severity of the crash . -
An elect ronic contro l unit, with integrated
crash sensors for front and side impacts .
The control un it "decides" whether to fi re
the front a irbags based on the informat ion
received from the crash sensors. The contro l
un it also "decides" whether the safety belt
prete nsioners shou ld be act ivated .
- An Advanced A irbag w ith gas generator for
the dr iver inside the stee ring wheel hub .
- An Advanced A irbag w ith gas generator in
side the instrument panel for the front pas
senge r.
- A we ight-sensing mat under the up ho lstery
padding of the front passenger seat cushion
that measures the total weight on the seat .
The informat io n registe red is sent continu
ou sly to the elec troni c con tro l unit to regu
la te deployment of the front Advanced Air
bag on the passenger side .
- An airbag monitoring sys tem and in dicator
light in t he instr ument cluster
~ page 190.
-The PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF ligh t comes
on and sta ys on in the cen ter o f th e instr u
ment panel
~ page 190, fig . 199 and tells
you whe n the front Advanced Airbag on the
passenger side has been tu rned off .
- A sensor below the safety be lt latch for the
front seat passenger to meas ure the tension
on the safety be lt . The tension on the safety
be lt and the weight registered by the
weight-sensing mat he lp the control unit
"decide" whether the front airbag for the
front passenger seat should be turned off or
not
~ pag e 181, Child restraints on th e
front seat -some important things to
know.
- A senso r in the safety belt latch fo r th e d riv
er a nd fo r the front sea t passenger tha t
senses w het he r th at safety bel t is latched or
no t and transmi ts this information to the
electronic control unit.
A WARNING
Damage to the fr ont passenger seat can
p revent the front airbag from work ing
properly.
-
-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 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
Child Safety 201
(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 si ze. 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 ..,.
•
•