2012 AUDI S3 warning

120 Safety belts
Safety belt preten­
sioners
How safety belt pretensioners work
In front, side ond rear end collisions above a
particular severity, safety belts are tensioned automatically.
The safety belts are equipped with safety be lt
p retensioners. The system is activated by sen ­
sors in front, side and rear-end collisions of
g reat severity. This tight ens the belt and takes
up be lt slack ~
& in Service and disposal of
safety belt pretensioner on page 120 .
Taking
up the slack helps to reduce forward occupant
movement during a collision.
Never let the be lt remain over a rear seat­
back that has been folded forward.
The safety be lt pretensioners can only be
activated once.
-In m inor frontal and side coll isions, in
rear-end collisions, in a rollover and in
accidents involving very little impact
force, the safety belt pretensioner are
not act ivated.
- When the safety belt pretensioners are
activated, a fine dust is released. This is
normal and is not caused by a f ire in the
vehicle .
- The relevant safety requirements must
be observed when the vehicle or compo­
nents of the system are scrapped . A
qualified workshop is familiar with these
r egulations and will be pleased to pass
on the information to you.
- Be sure to observe all safety, environ­
mental and other regulations if the vehi­
cle or indiv idual pa rts of the system, par­
ticularly the safety belt or airbag, are to
be disposed. We recommend you have
your a uthorized Audi dealer perform this
serv ice for you .
Service and disposal of safety belt
pretensioner
The safety belt pre-tensioners are parts of the
safety belt and installed at the outboard seat­
ing pos itions on your Audi. Installing, remov ­
ing, servicing or repairing of be lt pre-tension­
ers can damage the safety belt system and
prevent that system from working properly in
a coll is ion.
There are some important things you have to
know to make sure that the effectiveness of
the system will not be impaired and that dis­
carded components do not cause injury or pol­
lute the environment.
,&. WARNING
Improper care, servicing and repair proce­
dures can increase the risk of personal in­
jury and death by preventing a safety belt
tensioner from activating when needed or
activating it unexpectedly:
- The safety be lt pre-tensioner system can
be activated on ly once. If safety belt pre­
tensioners have been activated, then
they must be replaced .
- Never repair, adjust, or change any parts
of the safety be lt system.
- Safety belt systems including safety belt
pre-tensioners cannot be repaired. Spe ­
cial procedures are required for removal,
installation and disposal of th is system.
- For any work on the safety belt system,
we strongly recommend that you see
your authorized Audi dealer or qualified
technician who has a Audi approved re­
pa ir manual, train ing and special equ ip­
ment necessary .
@ For the sake of the environment
Undeployed airbag modules and preten­
sioners might be classified as Perchlorate
Material -special handling may apply, see
www .dtsc.ca .gov/hazardouswaste/per­
chlorate. When the veh icle or parts of the
restraint system including airbag modules
safety be lts with pretensioners are scrap-
ped, all applicab le laws and regulations .,.

possible to define a range of vehicle spee ds
that will cover every possible kind and angle
of impact that will always trigger the a irbags .
Important fact ors include, for example, the
nature (hard or soft) of the object which the
car hits, the angle of impact, vehicle speed,
etc. The front airbags will also not inflate in
side or rear collisions, or in ro ll-overs .
Alw ay s rem ember : Airbags will deploy only
once, and only in certa in kinds of collisions .
Your safety belts are always there to offer pro­
tection in those s ituation s in which airbags
are not supposed to deploy , or when they have
a lready deployed ; fo r example , when yo ur ve­
h icle strikes or is struck by another veh icle af ­
ter the first co llision.
This is just one of the reasons why an a irbag is
a supplementary restra int and is not a s ubst i­
tute for a safety belt . The airbag system
works most effectively when used with the
safety belts. Therefore, always properly wear
your safety belts¢
page 113 .
A WARNING
Sitting too close to the steer ing wheel or
instrument panel will decrease the effec­
tiveness of the airbags and will increase
the risk of personal injury in a co llision .
- Never sit closer than
10 inches (25 cm)
to the steering wheel or instrument pan­ el.
- If you cannot sit more than
10 i nches
(25 cm) from the steer ing wheel, investi­
gate whether adaptive equipment may
be available to help you reach the pedals
and increase your seating dis tance from
the steering wheel.
- If you are unrestrained, lean ing fo rward,
sitting sideways or out of position in any
way, yo ur risk of inj ury is much highe r.
- You w il l also receive serio us injuries and
cou ld even be killed if you are up against
the airbag or too close to it when it in ­
flates -even with an Advanced Airbag.
- To reduce the r isk of injury when an air ­
bag inflates, a lways wear safety belts
properly ¢
page 116, Safety belts .
Airbag system 123
-Always make certain that chi ld ren age 12
or younger a lways ride in the rear seat. If
children are not properly restrained, they may be severe ly inju red or killed when an
airbag inf lates .
- Never let ch ildren ride unrestra ined or
improperly restrained in the vehicle . Ad ­
just the front seats prope rly .
- Never ride with the backrest reclined.
- Always sit as far as possible from the
steer ing whee l or the instrument pane l
¢page 104.
-Always sit upright with your back against
the backrest of your seat.
- Never p lace your feet on the instrument
panel or on the seat. Always keep both
feet on the f loor in front of the seat to
he lp prevent serio us in ju ries to the legs
and h ips if the airbag inflates.
- Never recline the front passenger 's seat
to transport objects. Items can a lso
move into the area of the s ide a irbag or
the front a irbag du ring bra king or in a
sudde n maneuve r. Obje cts ne ar the air­
bags can become projectiles and cause
injury when an airbag inflates.
_&. WARNING ~
A irbags that have de ployed in a crash must
be replaced.
- Use on ly original equipment airbags ap­
proved by Audi and installed by a trained
technician who has the necessary too ls
and d iagnost ic equipment to properly re­
place any airbag in your vehicle and as­
sure system effectiveness in a crash .
- Never perm it salvaged or recycled air­
bags to be installed in your vehicle .
Child restraints on the front seat - some
important things to know
.,. Be su re to read t he important information
a nd head the WAR NINGS fo r important de­
t ails about children and Advanced A irbags
¢ page 143. ..,.
•
•

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 . •
•

126 Airbag system
-Never place additiona l items on the seat
that can increase the total weight regis­
tered by the weight-sensing mat and can
cause injury in a crash.
Front airbags
Description of front airbags
The airbag system can provide supplemental
protection to properly restrained front seat
occupants.
F ig . 131 Location of driver airbag: in steer ing whee l
Fig. 132 Location of front passenger's airbag: in the in ­
strument panel
Your veh icle is equipped with an "Advanced
A irbag System" in compliance with United
States Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard ( FM VSS) 208 as app licab le at the time your
ve hicl e was manufac tured. The safe ty belts
for the front seats have "pretensioners" that
he lp to take slack out of the belt system. The
pretensioners are also activated by the elec­
tronic control unit for the airbag system.
The front safety be lts a lso have load limiters
to help reduce the forces applied to the body
i n a crash.
The airbag fo r the driver is in t he s teer ing
wheel hub¢
fig. 131 and the airbag for the front passenger is in the
instrument panel
¢
fig. 132 . The general location of the airbags
is marked "AIRBAG".
T here is a lot you need to know about the a ir­
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 you r passengers, especially in­
fants and small children.
_&. WARNING
Neve r rely on airbags a lone for p rotection.
- Even when they deploy, airbags provide
only supplemental protect ion.
- Ai rbag work most effectively when used
with properly worn safety belts.
- Therefore, always wear your safety belts
a nd make sure that eve rybody in your ve­
h icle is p roperly restrained.
_&. WARNING
=
A pe rson on the front passenger seat, es-
pe cial ly infants and sma ll children, w ill re­
ce ive ser io us in ju ries and can even be kil­
l ed by being too close to the airbag when
it inflates .
- Altho ugh the Advanced Airbag Sys tem in
your vehicle is designed to tur n off the
front passenger airbag if a n in fant or a
sma ll child is on the front passenger
seat, nobody can absolutely guarantee
that deployment under these special
conditions is imposs ible in all conceiva­
b le si tua tions that may happen during
the useful life of your v ehicle.
- The Advanced Airbag System can dep loy
i n acco rdance with the "low risk" option
unde r the U.S. Fede ral Standa rd if a child
t hat is heav ie r th an the typical o ne-year
old ch ild is on the front passenger seat
and the other conditions for ai rbag de ­
p loyment are met .

128 Airbag sys tem
(regar dless of whe ther the chil d is in one of
the ch ild safety seats listed
¢ pa ge 14 5),
- a chi ld w ho has outgrown child rest raints is
on the front passenger seat.
I f the front passenger airbag is turned
off , the
PASSEN GER AIR BA G OFF light in the cen ter
of the instrument pane l will come on and stay
on.
The front a irbag on the passenger side may
not deploy (the PA SSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light does not illuminate and stay lit) if:
- a small adu lt or teenager is o n the front pas­
senger seat
- a passenger who is not sitt ing upr ight w ith
their back against a non-reclined backrest
with their feet on the veh icle floo r in front
of the sea t is on the front passenger seat.
I f the front passenger airbag deploys, the
F ederal Standard requires the airbag to meet
the " low risk " deployment criteria to help re­
d uce the risk of in jury through in terac tion
with the airbag. " Low risk" deployment occurs
in those crashes that take place at lower de­
celerations as defined in the e lectronic contro l
un it
q page 133.
Alwa ys remember: Even tho ugh you r vehicle
is equipped with Advanced Airbags, the safest
p lace for children is properly restrained on the
back seat. Please be sure to read the impo r­
tant information in the sect ions that follow
and be sure to heed a ll of the WARNINGS .
A WARNING
To reduce the risk of injury when an airbag
inflates, a lways wear safety belts prope rly .
- If you are unrestrained, lean ing forward,
sitting sideways or out of position in any
way, your risk of injury is much higher.
- You w ill also receive serio us in juries and
cou ld even be killed if you are up against
the a irbag or too close to it when it in­
fla tes - even with an Adv ance d Airbag
qpage 122.
A WARNING
A child in a rearward-fac ing ch ild safety
seat installed on the front passenger seat
will be serious ly injured and can be killed if
the front airbag inflates - even with an Ad­
van ced A irbag System.
- Altho ugh the Advanced Airbag System in
your veh icle is designed to tur n
off the
front air bag when a rearward-facing
child res traint has been instal le d on the
front passenger seat, nobody can abso ­
lutely g uarantee that dep loyment is im­
possible in all conceivable situations that
may happen dur ing the usefu l life of your
veh icle.
- The inflating airbag will h it the ch ild
safety seat or infant carrier with great
force and will smash the child safety seat
and child aga inst the backrest, center
armrest, doo r, or roof.
- Always install rearward-facing ch ild re­
straints in the back seat.
- If you must install a rearward fac ing
child safety seat on the front passenger
seat because of exceptiona l circumstan­
ces and t he
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light does not come on and s tay on, im­
mediately inst all the rear-fac ing c hild
safety seat in a rear seating position and
have the air bag system inspected by your
author ized Audi dealer .
A_ WARNING
If, in exceptiona l circumstances, you m ust
i nsta ll 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 s ide a irbag .
- Never p ut the fo rward-facing child re­
straint up against or very near the instru­
ment panel.
- Always move the passenger seat into its
rearmost pos ition in the seat's fore and
aft ad justmen t range, as fa r away from
the airbag as possible, before ins talling

the forward-facing child restraint. The backrest must be adjusted to an upr ight
posit ion.
- Make sure that the
PASSENG ER AI R BA G
OFF
light comes on and stays on all the
t ime whenever the ignition is switched
on.
Advanced Airbag System components
The front passenger seat in your vehicle has a
l ot of very important parts of the Advanced
Airbag System in it. These parts include the
weight-sens ing ma t, sensors, wiring, brack­
ets, and mo re. The function of the system in
the front passenger seat is checked by the
e lectronic control unit when the ignition is on .
The control unit monitors the Advanced Air­ bag System and turns the airbag indicator
light on when a malfunction in the system
components is detected. The function of the
airbag ind icator light is described in greater
deta il below. Because the front passenger
seat contains impo rtant parts of the Ad­
vanced A irbag System, you m ust take care to
p revent it from being damaged. Damage to
the seat may prevent the Advanced Airbag for
the front passenger seat from doing its job in
a crash .
The front Advanc ed Airbag Syst em
con sis ts o f th e following :
-Crash sensors in the front of the vehicle that
measure vehicle acceleration/deceleration
to provide information to the Advanced Air­ bag System about the severity of the crash.
-An electronic control unit, with integrated
crash sensors for front and side impacts .
The cont ro l unit "decides" whether to fire
the front airbags based on the information r eceived from the c rash sensors. The control
unit a lso "dec ides" whet her the safety be lt
pretensione rs should be activated.
- An Advanced Airbag with gas generator for
the d river ins ide the steer ing whee l hub.
- An Advanced Airbag with gas generator in­
s ide t he instr ument pane l for the front pas­
senger.
A irbag system 129
- A weight-sensing mat under the upho lstery
padding of the front passenger seat cushion
that measures the total weight on the seat .
The informat ion reg istered is sent continu­
ously to the electron ic control unit to regu­
late deployment of the front Advanced Air­
bag on the passenger side.
- An airbag monitoring system and ind icator
light in the instrument cluster
¢page 133.
-The PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes
on and stays on in the center of the instru­
ment panel
c:::> page 133, fig . 134 and tells
you when the front Advanced Airbag on the passe nger side has been tu rned off.
- A senso r below the safety belt latch fo r the
front seat passenger to measure the tension
on the safety be lt. T he ten sion on the safety
be lt and the weight regis tered by the
weight -sensing mat he lp the control unit
"decide" whether the front airbag fo r the
front passenger seat should be turned off or not
¢ page 123, Child restraints on the
front seat -some important things to
know.
-A sensor in the safety belt latch for the driv­
er and for the front seat passenger that
senses whether that safety belt is latched or
not and transmits this information to the
electronic contro l un it .
A WARNING
D amage to the front passenger seat can
p revent the front airbag from wor king
properly.
- Imp roper repai r or d isassembly of the
fr on t passenge r and dr iver seat will pre­
vent the Advanced Airbag System from
functioning p roperly.
- Repairs to the front passenger seat must
be pe rformed by qualified and p roperly
trained workshop personne l.
- Never remove the front passenger or driver seat from the vehicle .
- Never remove the upho lstery from the
front passenger seat .
- Never disassemble or remove p arts from
-
the sea t or disconnect wires from it. ..,.
•
•

130 Airbag system
-Never carry sharp objects in your pockets
or place them on the seat. If the weight­
sensing mat in the passenger seat is
punctured it cannot work properly .
- Never carry things on your lap or carry
objects on the passenger seat. Such items can increase the weight registered
by the weight-sensing mat and send the
wrong information to the airbag control
unit.
- Never store items under the front pas­
senger seat. Parts of the Advanced Air­
bag System under the passenger seat
could be damaged, preventing them and
the airbag system from working proper­
ly.
- Never place seat covers or replacement
upholstery that have not been specifical­
ly approved by Audi on the front seats.
- Seat covers can prevent the Advanced Airbag System from recognizing child re­
straints or occupants on the front pas­
senger seat and prevent the side airbag
in the seat backrest from deploying prop­
erly .
- Never use cushions, pillows, blankets or
similar items on the front passenger
seat. The additional padding will prevent
the weight-sensing mat in the seat from
accurately registering the child restraint
or person on the seat and prevent the
Advanced Airbag System from function­
ing properly.
- If you must use a child restraint on the
front passenger seat and the child re­
straint manufacturer's instructions re­
quire the use of a towel, foam cushion or
something else to properly position the
child restraint, make certain that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes
on and stays on whenever the child re­
straint is installed on the front passen­ ger seat .
- If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not come on and stay on, immedi­
ately install child restraint in a rear seat­
ing position and have the airbag system
inspected by your authorized Audi dealer.
How the Advanced Airbag System
components work together
The front Advanced Airbag System and the
side airbags supplement the protection of­
fered by the front three-point safety belts
with pretensioners and load limiters and the
adjustable head restraints to help reduce 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 Adva need Airbag System
and the activation of the safety belt preten­
sioners depend on the deceleration measured
by the crash sensors and registered by the
electronic control unit. Crash severity depends
on speed and deceleration as well as the mass
and stiffness of the vehicle or object involved
in the crash.
When the electronic control unit registers a
low severity crash and the safety belt is being
used , the airbag will not deploy. If the safety
belt is not being used, the first stage deploys,
followed by the second stage after a much lat­
er time in the crash sequence.
If the electronic control unit registers a crash
of medium severity, the first stage of the air­
bag deploys followed by the second stage at a
much later time in the crash sequence - re­
gardless of whether the safety belt is being
used or not . In higher severity crashes as reg ­
istered by the electronic control unit, both the
first and second stages deploy almost at the same time.
On the passenger side, regardless of safety
belt use, the airbag will be turned off if the
weight on the passenger seat is less than the
amount programmed in the electronic control
unit. The front airbag on the passenger side
will also be turned off if one of the child safe­
ty seats that has been certified under Federal
Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208 has been
recognized on the seat. The
PASSENGER AIR
BAG OFF
light comes on and stays on to tell
you when the front Advanced Airbag on the passenger side has been turned off ..,_

¢ page 123, Child restraints on the front seat
- some important things to know .
A WARNING
To reduce the risk of injury when an airbag
inflates, always wear safety belts properly.
- If you are unrestrained, lean ing forward,
sitting sideways or out of position in any
way, your risk of injury is much higher.
- You w ill also receive serious injuries and
cou ld even be killed if you are up against
the a irbag or too close to it when it in­
flates - even with an Advanced Airbag
~ page 122.
More important things to know about
front airbags
F ig. 133 Inflated front a irbags
Safety belts are important to help keep front
seat occupants in the proper seated pos ition
so that airbags can unfold properly and pro­
vide supp lemental protection in a fronta l co l­
lision .
The front a irbags are designed to provide ad­
d itiona l protection for the chest and face of
the dr iver and the front seat passenger when :
- safety belts are worn properly,
- the seats have been positioned so that the occupant is properly seated as far as possi­
ble from the a irbag,
- and the head restraints have been proper ly
adjusted .
Because airbags i nflate in the blink of an eye
with great force, things you have on your lap or have placed on the seat could become dan­
gerous projectiles, and be pushed into you if
the airbag inflates.
A irba g sy stem 131
When an airbag deploys, fine dust is re leased.
This is norma l and is not caused by a fire in
the vehicle . This dust is made up mostly of a
powder used to lubricate the airbags as they
deploy. It could irritate skin .
It is important to remember that whi le the
supplementa l airbag system is designed to re­
duce the like lihood of serious injuries, other
injur ies, for example swelling, bruising and
minor abras ions, can also happen when air­
bags i nflate. A irbags do not protect the arms
or the lower parts of the body . Front a irbags
supplement the th ree -po in t safety belts only
in some fronta l co llisions in which the vehicle
deceleration is high enough to deploy the air­
bags .
Front airbags will not deploy :
-if the ignition is sw itched off when a crash
o ccu rs,
- in side co llisions,
- in rear-end collisions,
- in rollovers,
- when the crash dece leration measured by
the airbag system is less than the minimum
threshold needed for a irbag deployment as
reg istered by the electron ic contro l unit .
The f ront pa ssen ger airbag als o will no t
deplo y:
- when the front passenger seat is not occu­
pied,
- when the weight on the front passenger
seat as sensed by the Advanced Airbag Sys­
tem ind icates that the front a irbag on the
passenger side has to be tu rned off by the
electronic contro l un it (the
PASSENGER AIR
BA G OFF
light comes on and stays o n).
.&, WARNING
Sitting in t he wrong pos ition can increase
the risk of serious injury in crashes.
- T o reduce the risk of injury when the air­
bags inflate, the driver and passenge rs
m ust always s it in an upright position,
m ust not lean against or place any part