2012 AUDI S6 ECU

the luggage compartment to help pre­
vent items from shifting or flying
forward as dangerous missiles .
- When the rear seat backrest is folded
down, always use suitable mounting
straps and properly secure items to the
tie -downs in the luggage compartment
to help prevent items from flying for­
ward as dangerous missiles into the pas­ senger compartment.
- Never attach a child safety seat tether
strap to a tie-down.
Reporting Safety
Defects
Applicable to U.S.A.
If you believe that your vehicle
has a defect which could cause
a crash or could cause injury or
death, you should immediately
inform the National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in addition to notify­
ing Audi of America, Inc.
If NHTSA receives similar com­
plaints, it may open an investi­
gation, and if it finds that a
safety defects exists in a group
of vehicles, it may order a recall
and remedy campaign. Howev­
er, NHTSA cannot become in­
volved in individual problems
between you, your dealer, or
Audi of America, Inc.
Driving Safely 131
To contact NHTSA, you may call
the Vehicle Safety Hotline toll­
free at:
Tel.: 1-888-327-4236 (TTY:
1-800-424-9153)
or write to:
Administrator NHTSA 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
Washington, D.C. 20590
You can also obtain other infor­
mation about motor vehicle
safety from:
http://www.safercar.gov
Applicable to Canada
Canadian customers who wish
to report a safety-related de­
fect to Transport Canada, De­
fect Investigations and Recalls, may telephone the toll free hot­
line:
Tel.: 1-800-333-0371 or
Tel.: 1-613-998-8616 if you are
in the Ottawa area
TTY for hearing impaired:
1-888-67 5-6863
email comments/questions to:
[email protected]
or contact Transport Canada by
mail at:
111-
•
•
'

136 Safety belts
Important safety instructions about
safety belts
Safety belts must always be correctly posi­
tioned across the strongest bones of your
body.
,.. Always wear safety belts as illustrated and
described in this chapter.
,.. Make sure that your safety belts are always
ready for use and are not damaged.
A WARNING
Not wearing safety belts or wearing them
improperly increases the risk of serious
personal injury and death. Safety belts can
work only when used correctly .
- Always fasten your safety belts correctly
before driving off and make sure all pas­
sengers are correctly restrained.
- For maximum protection, safety belts must always be positioned properly on
the body .
- Never strap more than one person , in­
cluding small children, into any belt.
- Never place a safety belt over a child sit­ ting on your lap.
- Always keep feet in the footwell in front
of the seat while the vehicle is being driv­
en .
- Never let any person ride with their feet on the instrument panel or sticking out
the window or on the seat.
- Never remove a safety belt while the ve­
hicle is moving. Doing so will increase
your risk of be ing injured or killed.
- Never wear belts twisted.
- Never wear belts over rigid or breakable
objects in or on your clothing, such as
eye glasses, pens, keys, etc., as these
may cause injury.
- Never allow safety belts to become dam­
aged by being caught in door or seat
hardware .
- Do not wear the shoulder pa rt of the belt
under your arm or otherwise out of pos i­
tion . -
Several layers of heavy clothing may in­
terfere with correct positioning of belts
and reduce the overall effectiveness of
the system .
- Always keep belt buckles free of anything
that may prevent the buckle from latch­
ing securely .
- Never use comfort clips or devices that
create slack in the shoulder belt . Howev­
er, special clips may be required for the
proper use of some child restraint sys­
tems .
- Torn or frayed safety belts can tear, and
damaged belt hardware can break in an
accident. Inspect belts regularly .
If web­
bing, bindings, buck les, or retractors are
damaged, have belts replaced by an au ­
thorized Audi dealer or qualified work­
shop.
- Safety belts that have been worn and
loaded in an accident must be replaced
with the correct replacement safety belt
by an authorized Audi dealer . Replace­
ment may be necessary even if damage
cannot be clearly seen . Anchorages that
were loaded must also be inspected.
- Never remove, modify, disassemble, or
try to repair the safety belts yourself.
- Always keep the belts clean. Dirty belts
may not work properly and can impair
the function of the inert ia reel
¢ page 213, Safety belts .
Safety belts
Fastening safety belts
Seat first -everybody buckle up!
Fig. 139 B elt buck le and to ngue o n th e drive r's sea t

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 SO, 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. 139.
... 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
c::> page 140. The function of the pre­
tensioner is mon itored by a warning light
c::> page 18 .
Switchable locking feature
Every safety belt except the one on the driver
seat is equipped w ith a switchable locking fea­
ture that
must be used when the safety belt is
used to attach a child seat. Be sure to read the
important information about this feature
c::> page 179 .
A WARNING
Improperly positioned safety belts can
cause se rious injury in an accident
c::> page 13 7, Safety belt position.
Safety belts 13 7
-Safety belts offer optimum protection
only when the seatback is upright and
belts are properly posit ioned on the
body .
- Always make sure that the rear seat
backrest to which the center rear safety
belt* is attached is secu rely latched
whenever the rear cente r safety belt is
being used. If the backrest is not secu re­
ly latched, the passenger will move fo r­
ward with the backrest during s udden
braking, in a sudden maneuver and espe­
cially in a crash.
- Never attach the safety belt to the buck­
le for another seat. Attaching 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 properly restrain­
ed can be seriously injured by the safety
belt itself when it moves from the stron­
ger parts of the body into cr itical areas
like the abdomen .
- Always lock the convertible locking re­
tractor when you are securing a child seat in the veh icle
c::> page 181.
(!} Tips
For information on safety belt pretension­
ers, refer to
c::> page 140 .
Safety belt position
Correct belt position is the key to getting
maximum protection from safety belts.
Fig. 140 Head restra int and safety be lt pos itio n as
see n fr om the side

138 Safety belts
Use the height adjustment to change the posi­
t ion of the shoulder belt of the front safety
belts.
.&_ WARNING
Improperly positioned safety belts can
cause serious personal injury in an acci­
dent .
- The shoulder belt portion of the safety
belt must be positioned over the middle
of the occupant's shoulder and never
across the neck or throat .
- The safety belt must lie flat and snug on
the occupant's upper body
c:> fig . 140 .
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
c:> fig . 140. Pull on the belt to tight­
en if necessary.
- A loose-fitting sc1fety belt can cause seri­
ous injuries by shifting its position on
your body from the strong bones to more
vulnerable, soft tissue and cause serious
injury.
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS and
other important information
c:> page 136.
Pregnant women must also be correctly
restrained
The best way to protect the fetus is to make
sure that expectan t mothers always wear
safety belts correctly- throughout the preg­ nancy.
Fig. 141 Safe ty belt pos it ion during p regnancy
To provide maximum protection, safety belts
must always be positioned correctly on the
wearer's body
c:> page 137.
.. Adjust the front seat and head restraint cor­
rectly
c:> page 50, General recommenda­
tions.
.. Hold the belt by the tongue and pull it
evenly across the chest and pelvis
¢ fig. 141, q A..
.. Insert the tongue into the correct buckle of
your seat until you hear it latch securely
c:>page 136, fig . 139 .
.. Pull on the belt to make sure that it is se­
curely latched in the buckle.
.&_ WARNING
Improperly positioned safety belts can
cause serious personal injury in an acci­
dent.
- Expectant mothers must always wear the lap portion of the safety belt as low as
possible across the pelvis and below the
rounding of the abdomen .
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS and
other important information
c:> A in Fas­
tening safety belts on page 137 .
Unfastening safety belts
Unbuckle the safety belt with the red release
button only after the vehicle has stopped.
}~
Fig. 142 Re leas ing the tong ue from the bu ckle
.. Push the red release button on the buckle
c:> fig. 142 . The belt tongue will spring out
of the buckle
c:> ,& .
.. Let the belt wind up on the retractor as you
guide the belt tongue to its stowed position . ..,.

17 4 Child Safety
standard safety belt on the rear seat may
play with unused rear seat safety belts and
become entangled resulting in ser ious per­
sonal injury and even death.
- Always buck le unused rear seat safety
belts out of reach of chi ldren in ch ild
seats and properly activate the converti­
ble locking retractor so that the child
cannot unreel the safety belt from the
retractor.
Child 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. 154 Schemat ic overv iew: rea rwa rd -facing infa nt
sea t, p roper ly in stalled o n the rear sea t
.. When using the vehicle safety be lt to insta ll
a chi ld safety seat, you must first activate
the convertible locking retractor on the
safety belt to prevent the child safety seat
from moving
c> page 179 or install the seat
using the LATCH attachments .
.. Push the child safety seat down with your
full weight to get the safety belt rea lly t ight
so that the seat cannot move forward or
s ideways more than one inch ( 2.5 cm).
I nfants up to about one y ear (20 lbs. or 9 kg)
are best pro tected in special infant carriers
and child safety seats designed for their age
group. Many experts believe that infants and
small children should ride only in special re­
straints in which the child faces the back of the vehicle
. These infant seats support the ba­
by's back, neck and head in a crash¢
fig. 154.
The airbag on the passenger 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 forward-facing child seat .
It is a very dangerous place for an infant or a
larger child in a rearward-facing seat.
Secure unused safety belts on the rear
seat!
If a child safety seat is used on the rear bench,
especially with LATCH universal anchorages ,
the unused safety belts must be secured so
that the child in the child restraint cannot
reach them .
_&. WARNING
--
Not using a child safety seat, using the
wrong child safety seat or im prope rly in­
stalling a child restraint incre ases the risk
of ser ious perso nal inju ry and death in a
crash .
- Never install rear-facing child safety
seats or infant carriers on the front pas­
senger seat - even with an Advanced Air­ bag System. A chi ld will be seriously in­
jured and can be killed when the inflat­ ing airbag hits the child safety seat or in­
fant carrier with great force and smashes
the child safety seat and child against
the backrest , center armrest, doo r or
roof
c> page 144, Child restraints on the
front seat -some important things to
know.
-Always install rear-facing child safety
seats or infant carriers on the rear seat.
- Never install a rear-facing ch ild restra int
in the forward-facing direction. Such re­
s traints are designed for the special
needs of infants and very small ch ildren
a nd cannot protect them properly if the
seat is forward-facing.
- If you must install a rearward facing
child safety seat on the front passenger
seat because of exceptiona l cir cumstan­
ces and the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF

light does not come on and stay on, im­
mediately install the rear-facing child
safety seat in a rear seating position and
have the airbag system inspected by your
Audi dealer.
- Never place or use any electrical device
(such as a laptop, CD player, electronic
games device or power inverter) on the
front passenger seat if the device is con­ nected to the 12-volt socket or the ciga­
rette lighter socket.
- If a seat heater has been retrofitted or
otherwise added to the front passenger
seat, never install any child restraint sys­
tem on this seat.
- Make sure that there are no wet objects
(such as a wet towel) and no water or
other liquids on the front passenger seat
cushion.
- Never place objects on the seat (such as
a laptop, CD player, electronic games de­
vice or power inverter). These may influ­
ence the electrical capacitance measured
by the capacitive passenger detection
system and can also fly around in an acci­
dent and cause serious personal injury.
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS
whenever using a child restrained in ave­
hicle is being used
¢page 133, Safety
belts,¢ page 142, Airbag system
and
¢ page 168, Important things to know.
_& WARNING
A child in a child restraint installed with
the LATCH lower universal anchorages or
with the standard safety belt on the rear
seat may play with unused rear seat safety
belts and become entangled resulting in
serious personal injury and even death.
- Always secure unused rear seat safety
belts out of reach of children in chi ld
seats such as by properly routing them
around the head restraint for the seating
position where the child restraint is in­
stalled.
-
Child Safety 175
- Never activate the switchable locking re­
tractor when routing the safety belts
around the head restraints.
- Never let anyone sit at the center rear
seating position if the center rear safety
belt has been routed around a rear head
restraint.
- A child restrained in the child safety seat
on the rear bench can be fatally injured
when playing with unused lockable safe­
ty belts .
- Always secure unused lockable safety belts on the rear bench.
Convertible child safety seats
Properly used convertible child safety seats
can help protect toddlers and children over
age one who weigh between 20 and 40 lbs. (9
and 18 kg) in a crash .
Fig. 155 Schemat ic overv iew : installat ion of the at·
tac hments applicable to a LATCH seat
Fig. 156 Schemat ic overview : instal lation of the seat
using the vehicl e's safety be lt system
.,. When using the vehicle safety belt to install
a child safety seat, you must first activate
the convertible locking feature on the safety
belt to prevent the child safety seat from
moving ¢
page 179 or install the seat using
the LATCH attachments.
IJ>-

176 Child Safety
• Push the child safety seat down with your
full weight to get the safety belt really tight
so that the seat cannot move forward or
sideways more than one inch (2.5 cm)
¢page 179.
• If the child safety seat is equipped with a
tether strap, attach it to the tether anchors
¢ page 185.
A toddler or child is usually too large for an in­
fant restraint if it is more than one year old
and weighs more than
20 lbs. (9 kg).
Toddlers and children who are older than one
year up to about
4 years old and weigh more
than
20 lbs (9 kg) up to 40 lbs . (18 kg) must
always be properly restrained in a child safety
seat certified for their size and weight
¢ fig. 155 and ¢fig . 156.
The airbag on the passenger 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 forward-facing child safe­
ty seat. It is a very dangerous place for an in­
fant or a larger child in a rearward-facing seat.
Secure unused safety belts on the rear
seat!
If a child safety seat is used on the rear bench ,
especially with LATCH universal anchorages,
the unused safety belts must be secured so
that the child in the child restraint cannot
reach them.
A WARNING
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 in a
collision or other emergency situation .
- Children on the front seat of any car,
even with Advanced Airbags, can be seri­
ously injured or even killed when an air­
bag inflates. 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 in­
flates -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
arm rest, 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
mediately install the rear-facing child
safety seat in a rear seating position and
have the airbag system inspected by your
Audi dealer.
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS
whenever using a child restrained in ave­
hicle is being used
c>page 133, Safety
belts,
cc> page 142 , Airbag system and
cc> page 168, Important things to know.
A WARNING
If exceptional circumstances require the
use of a forward-facing child restraint on
the front passenger's seat, the child's safe ­
ty and well-being require that the follow­
ing special precautions be taken:
- Make sure the forward-facing seat has
been designed and certified by its manu­
facturer 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 infant carrier .
- Always move the front passenger seat in­
to the rearmost position of the passen­
ger seat's fore and aft adjustment range,
and as far away from the airbag as possi­
ble before installing the child restraint.
- Always make sure that nothing prevents
the front passenger's seat from being
moved to the rearmost position in its
fore and aft adjustment range.
- Always make sure the backrest is in an
upright position.
-

-Never place or use any electrical devic e
(such as a laptop, CD player, electron ic
games device or power inverter) on the
front passenger seat i f the device is con­
nected to the 12-volt sock et or the ciga­
rette lighte r socket .
- If a seat heater has been retrofitted or
otherwise added to the front passenger
seat, never ins tall any child restraint sys­
tem on this seat.
- Make sure that there are no wet objects (such as a wet towel) and no water or
other liquid s on the front passenger seat
c u shion.
- Never place objects on the seat (such as
a la ptop , CD player, elect ronic games de­
vice or power inverter) . These may influ ­
ence the e lectrical capacitance measured
by the capacitive passenger detect ion
system and can a lso fly around in an acci­
dent and cause serious personal injury.
- Make sure that the
PA SSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
light comes on and stays on all the
t ime whenever the ignition is switched
on .
-If the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not come on and stay on, immedi­
ately install the forwa rd -facing child seat
at a seating posit ion on the rear seat and
have the a irbag system inspected by your
au thori zed Audi dealer .
- Take the child rest raint off the front pas­
senger seat and install it properly at one
of the re ar seat posi tions if the
PASSEN ­
G ER AIR BAG OFF
light does not s tay on
whenever the ignition is switched on .
A WARNING
A child in a child rest raint insta lled with
the LATCH lower universal anchorages or
w ith the standard safety belt on the rear
seat may play with unused rear seat safety
belts and become entangled resulting in
ser ious personal injury and even death .
- Always secure unused rear seat safety
belts out of reach of chi ld ren in ch ild
seats such as by properly routing them
-
Child S afety 177
around the head restraint for the seat ing
position where the child restraint is in­
stalled.
- Never activate the switchable lock ing re­
tractor when routing the safety be lts
around the head restraints.
-A child restrained in the chi ld safety seat
on the rear bench can be fatally injured
when playing with unused lockab le safe­
ty belts.
Booster seats and safety belts
Properl y used boos ter sea ts con help pro tect
children weighing be tween about 40 lb s. and
80 lbs . (1 8 kg and 36 kg) who ore less than 4
ft. 9 in. (57 inches/1.45 meters) toll .
"' ...
"' 0 :i: ;lli
Fig . 1 57 Rea r seat : chil d pr oper ly restr ained in a boo s­
ter seat
The vehicle's s afe ty belt s alone will not fit
most children until they are at lea st 4
ft . 9 in .
(57 inches/1.45 meters) tall and weigh about
80 lbs . (36 kg) . Booster seats raise these chi l­
dren up so tha t the safety belt w ill pass prop­
erly over the stronge r parts of the ir bodies
and the safety be lt can he lp protect them i n a
crash .
"' Do not use the convert ible loc king ret ractor
when using the veh icle's safety be lt to re­
s train a ch ild on a booster seat.
.. Always position the shoulder portion of the
safety belt m idway ov er th e ch ild's sho ulder.
If you must transport an o lder child in a
booster seat on th e fron t passenger seat,
yo u ca n use the sa fety be lt heigh t adjust­
ment to he lp adju st the shoulder portion
properly .