Seats and storage
General recommen
dations
Why is your seat adjustment so important?
The safety belts and the airbag system can
only provide maximum protection if the front
seats are correctly adjusted.
There are various ways of adjusting the front
seats to provide safe and comfortable support
for the driver and the front passenger. Adjust
your seat properly so that :
- you can easily and quick ly reach all the
switches and controls in the instrument
panel
- your body is properly supported thus reduc ing physical stress and fatigue
- the safety belts and airbag system can offe r
maximum protection
¢ page 142.
In the following sections, you will see exactly
how you can best adjust your seats .
There are special regulations and instructions
for installing a child safety seat on the front passenger's seat. Always follow the informa
tion regard ing child safety provided in
¢ page 166, Child Safety.
.&_ WARNING
-
Refer to ¢ page 124, Driving Safely for
important information, tips, suggestions
and warnings that you should read and fol
low for your own safety and the safety of
your passengers.
.&_ WARNING
Incorrect seating position of the driver and
all other passengers can result in serious
personal injury.
- Always keep your feet on the floor when
the vehicle is in motion -never put your
feet on top of the instrument panel, out of the w indow or on top of the seat cush
ion. This app lies especially to the passen-
S eat s an d sto rage 53
gers . If your seating position is incorrect,
you increase the risk of injury in the case
of sudden braking or an accident . If the
airbag inflates and the seating position
is incorrect, this cou ld result in pe rsonal
in jury or even death.
- It is important for both the driver and front passenger to keep a distance of at least 10 inches (25 cm) between them
selves and the steering wheel and/or in
strumen t panel. If you're s itting any
closer than th is, the airbag system can
not protect you properly. In addition, the
front seats and head restraints m ust be
adj usted to your body height so that they
can give you max imum protect ion.
- Always try to keep as much distance as
possible between yourself and the steer
ing wheel or instrument panel.
- Do not adjust the driver's or front pas senger's seat whi le the vehicle is moving.
Your seat may move unexpectedly, caus
ing sudden loss of veh icle control and
pe rsonal injury. If you adjust you r seat
while the veh icle is moving, you are ou t
of posit ion.
Driver's seat
The correct seat position is important for safe
and relaxed driving .
We recommend that you adjust the dr iver's
seat in the follow ing manner:
.., Adjust the seat in fore and aft direction so
that you can easily push the pedals to the
floor wh ile keeping your knees slightly bent
¢ .&, in Why is your seat adjustment so im
portant? on page 53.
"" Adjust the seatback so that when you sit
w ith your back against the seatback , you can
s ti ll grasp the top of t he steering wheel.
... App lies to vehicles with adjustable head re
straints: Adjust the head restraint so the up
per edge is as even as possible wit h the top
of your head. If that is not possib le, try to
adjust the head restraint so that it is as .,.
54 Seats and storage
close to this position as possible
¢page 56.
A WARNING
Never place any objects in the driver's foot
well. An object could get into the pedal area and interfere with pedal function. In
case of sudden braking or an accident, you
would not be able to brake or accelerate .
Front passenger's seat
Always move the front passenger seat into
the rearmost position .
To avoid contact with the airbag while it is de
ploying, do not sit any closer to the instru
ment panel than necessary and always wear
the three-point safety belt provided adjusted correctly . We recommend that you adjust the
passenger's seat in the following manner:
• Bring the backrest up to an (almost) upright
position. Do not ride with the seat reclined .
• Applies to vehicles with adjustable head re
straints: Adjust the head restraint so the up
per edge is as even as possible with the top
of your head . If that is not possible, try to
adjust the head restraint so that it is as
close to this position as possible
¢ page 56.
• Place your feet on the floor in front of the
passenger's seat.
Front seats
Power seat adjustment
Applies to vehicles: with power adjustab le seats
Fig. 49 Front seats: powe r seat adjustme nt
Controls
@ -Adjusting the lumbar support* : press the
button in the corresponding position ¢ .&, .
@ -Moving the seat up/down: press the but
ton up/down ¢ .&, .
@ -Moving the seat forward/back : press the
button forward/back ¢.&, .
©-Adjusting the backrest angle: press the
button forward/back ¢.&, .
©-Raising/lowering * the head restraints:
press the button up/down¢.&, .
@ -Lengthening/shortening the upper thigh
support* : lift the handle. A spring moves the
front seat cushion forward ¢ .&, .
A WARNING
---Never adjust the driver's or front pas
senger's seat while the vehicle is moving.
If you do this while the vehicle is moving,
you will be out of position . Always adjust
the driver's or front passenger's seat
when the vehicle is not mov ing.
- Be careful when adjusting the seat
height . Check to see that no one is in the
way, or serious injury could result!
- Because the seats can be electrically ad
justed with the ignition off or with the
ignition key removed, never leave chil
dren unattended in the vehicle. Unsuper
vised use of the electric seat adjust
ments may cause serious injury.
- To reduce the risk of injury in the case of
sudden braking or accident, front pas
sengers must never ride in a moving ve hicle with the backrest reclined. Safety
belts and the airbag system only offer maximum protection when the backrest
is upright and the safety belts are prop
erly positioned on the body. The more
the backrest is reclined, the greater the
risk of personal injury from an incorrect
seating position and improperly posi
tioned safety belts.
Power easy entry function
Applies to vehicles: with power ad justable seats
The easy entry function makes it easier for
the rear passengers to enter and leave the ve
hicle.
F ig. 50 Comfort seats•: easy entry contro ls
Fi g. 51 Spor t seats •: easy e ntry co ntrols
.,. To fold t he front seat ba ckrests f orwar d/
back,
lift t he latch @ c:::> fig. 50 or c:::> fig. 51
and fold the backrest fo rward.
.,. To move the front seats forward/back, press
and hold the @ button until the seat has
reached the desired position.
When the front seats are moved forward,
their origina l posit ion is stored . When it is
moved back, the seat automatically stops in
this posit ion. To move the seat even further
back, you have to re lease the switch @ and re
activa te it .
Applies to vehicles w ith ad justab le head re
straints : T he head restraints from the front
seats, dependi ng on the seat he ight that has
been set, are au tomatically retrac ted when
the seatbacks are folded down . They return to
thei r origina l posi tion aga in whe n the seat
b ac ks f or th e fron t seat s are ra ised .
Seats and storage 55
@ Tips
Wit h the driver's or passe nger's door
cl osed, the c orresponding switch to move
the seat is inoperat ive.
Seat adjustments in MMI
Applies to vehicles: wit h seat memory and MMI
The passenger's seat can be adjusted to vari
ous positions by the driver.
Convenience side view
.,. Sele ct: I CAR I func tion b utton > Seat adju st
ment > Passenger's seat > Convenience side
view.
O r
--... Select: !CAR !function button> Car systems
contro l butto n > Vehicle settings > Seats >
Passenger's seat > Con venience side view .
.,. Continue to press t he control knob until the
ad justment process is comp lete .
Seat symmetry
.,. Select: Function button !CAR !> Seat adjust·
ment > Passenger's seat > Seat symmetry .
Or
.,. Select: I CAR I function b utton > Car systems
cont ro l button > Ve hicle settings > Seat s >
Passenger's seat > Align with driver's seat.
.,. Con tinue to press t he con tro l kn ob un til the
adj ustment p roce ss is com plete .
U sing the
Convenience side view func tion, the
passenger 's seat is adjust ed so that the driv er
ha s the best poss ib le view to the righ t. Whe n
t h e Conve nience si de v iew is set, t he specif ic
pos ition of the d river 's seat is ta ken in to con
s ideration.
U si ng the
Seat symmetry fu nction, the pa s
s enger 's seat c an be moved to the sa m e po si
tion as the d river's seat . The settings for the
drive r's seat are imported and set automati
ca lly.
56 Seats and storage
Center armrest
The center armrest can be adjusted to several
levels.
Fi g. 52 Armrest between t he driver's/front passe nger's
seats .
Adju sting th e ce nter armr est
.. To adjust the angle, raise the armrest from
the start ing pos ition
¢ fig . 52 detent by de
tent.
" To bring the armrest back into the starting
pos ition, raise it out of the top detent and
fold it back down .
The armrest can sl ide forward and back .
Head restraints
Front head restraints
Applies to vehicles: with a djustable head restrain ts
Head restraints that are adjusted according
to body size, along with the seat belt , offer
effective protection.
F ig . 53 Ma nua l front seat : adjusting the head re
st raints
Fig. 54 Power front seat: adjusting the head restraints
Adjust the head restraint so the upper edge is
as even as possible with the top of your head.
If that is not possible, t ry to adjust the head
rest raint so that it is as close to this position
as possib le
¢ page 56 .
.,. To adjust the height of the manual head re
straint*, grip the head rest raint on the sides
w ith both hands and slide it up/down until it
locks in to p lace
¢fig. 53.
"' To adjust the height of the power head re
straint*, press the button up/down
¢ fig. 54.
Refer to¢ page 12 7, Proper adjustment of
head restraints
for guidelines on how to ad
just the height of the front head restraints to suit the occupant's body size.
A WARNING
- Driving without head restraints or with
head restra ints that are not properly ad
justed increases the risk of ser ious or fa
tal neck inju ry dramatica lly.
- Read and heed all WARNINGS
¢page 127.
@ Tips
-To prevent the head restra ints from run
ning into the headliner, they retract au
tomatically when moving the seat for
ward or upward .
- Correctly adjusted head restraints and
safety belts are an extremely effective
combination of safety featu res.
-Passengers must always sit in an upright
posit ion and never lean against or place
any part of their body too close to the
area where the airbags are located .
- Passengers who are unbelted, out of po
sition or too close to the airbag can be
seriously injured by an airbag as it un
folds with great force in the blink of an
eye .
- Always make sure that there are at least 10 inches (25 cm) between the front
passenge r's breastbone and the instru
ment pane l.
- Each passenger must always sit on a seat
of the ir own and properly fasten and
wear the safety bel t belong ing to that
seat .
- Before driv ing, a lways adj ust the front
passenger seat and head restra int prop
er ly .
- 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 ill not be ab le to protect you prop
erly and can even increase the risk of in
jury in a crash .
- Never drive with the backrest reclined or tilted far back! The farther the backrests
are tilted 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 166. Spec ial precautions
apply when installing a child safety seat
on the front passenge r seat
c::> page 142.
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
braking maneuver or an accident, your pas-
Dr ivin g Sa fely 12 7
sengers on the rear bench seat must always
observe the following:
1-Make s ure th at the seatback is secure ly
la tched in the upright position
c::> page 63 .
.,. Keep both feet flat in the footwell in front
of the rear seat.
.,. Fasten and wear safety be lts properly
c::> page 13 7 .
.,. Make sure that children are always properly
restrai ned in a child restraint that is appro
p riate for the ir s ize and age
c::> page 166.
.&, WARNING
P assengers who are imp roperly seated on
the rea r seat can be seriously i njured in a
crash.
- Each passenger must always si t on a seat
of their own and pr operly fasten and
wear the safety belt belonging to that
seat.
- Safety belts only offer maximum protec
tion when the sea tback is sec urely latch
ed in the upright position and the safety
be lts are properly positioned on the
body. By not s itting upright, a rear seat
passenger increases the risk of personal
inju ry from improperly positioned safety
belts!
- Always adjust the head restraint properly
so that it can give maximum protection .
Proper adjustment of head restraints
Applies to vehicles: wit h adjustab le hea d r est ra in ts
Correctly adjusted head restraints are an im
portant part of your vehicle 's occupant re
straint system and can help to reduce the risk
of injuries in accident situations .
Fig. 1 28 Head restra int: v iewed fro m th e front
142 Airbag sys te m
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.
F or your safety and the safety of your passen
gers, before driving off, always:
• Adjust the dr iver's seat and steering wheel
properly ¢
page 125,
• Adjust the front passenger's seat properly
¢page 54,
• Wear safety be lts properly ¢ page 137,
• Always properly use the proper child re-
stra int to protect children¢
page 166.
In a collision airbags must inflate within the
blink of an eye and with considerable force .
The supplementa l airbags can cause injuries if
the dr iver or the front seat passenger is not
seated properly . Therefore in order to he lp the
a irbag to do its job, it is important, both as a
d river and as a passenge r to sit properly at all
times.
By keeping room between your body and the
steering wheel and the front of the passenger
compartment, the airbag ca n inflate fully and
comp letely and provide supp lemental p rotec
tion in ce rtain frontal collisions¢
page 125,
Proper occupant seating positions .
For detai ls
on the operat ion of the seat adjustment con
trols ¢
page 54.
It's especially important that children a re
properly restrained ¢
page 166.
There is a lot that the driver and the passen
gers can and must do to help the individua l
safety features ins talled in your A udi work to
gether as a system.
Prope r seat ing pos ition is important so that
the front airbag on the driver s ide can do i ts
job. If yo u have a physical impa irment or con- dition that prevents you from sitting properly
on the driver seat with the safety belt properly
fastened and reaching the peda ls , spec ial
modifications to your vehicle may be necessa
ry.
Contact your a uthorized Audi dea ler, or call
Audi C ustomer Re lations at 1-800-822-2834 .
When the airbag system dep loys, a gas gener
ator will f ill the airbags, break open the pad
ded covers, and inf late between the steering
whee l and the dr iver and between the instru
ment pane l and the front passenger. The air
bags will deflate immediately after dep loy
ment so that the front occupants can see
th rough the w indshield aga in without inter
ruption .
All of th is take s place in the blink of an eye, so
fast that many people don't even realize that
the a irbags have dep loyed . The airbags also
inflate with a great dea l of force and nothing
shou ld be in their way when they deploy.
F ront a irbags in combination with properly
worn safety belts slow down and lim it the oc
cupant's forward movement. Together they
help to prevent the drive r and front seat pas
senger from hitting parts of the inside the ve
hicle while reducing the forces acting on the
occupant dur ing the crash. In this way they
help to reduce the risk of injury to the head
and uppe r body i n the c rash . A irbags do not
protect the a rms or the lower parts of the
body.
Both front a irbags w ill not i nflate in all fronta l
collisions . The t rigge ring of the a irbag system
depends on the vehicle dece lerat ion rate
c aused by the co llision and registered by the
elect ron ic cont ro l u nit. If t his rate is below
the re ference 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 resu lt of the collision . Veh icle damage, re
pair costs or even the lack of veh icle damage
is no t necessarily an indication of whether an
airbag should inflate or not .
It is not possib le to define a range of vehicle
speeds that w ill cover every possib le kind and .,.
-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 installing
the forward-facing child restraint. The backrest must be adjusted to an upr ight
posit ion.
- Make sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
light comes on and stays on all the
t ime w henever the ignition is sw itched
on.
Advanced Airbag System components
The fron t passenger seat in your vehicle has a
lot of very important parts of the Advanced
Airbag System in it. These parts include the
weight-sensing mat, sensors, wiring, brack
ets, and more. The function 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 un it mon itors the Advanced Air
bag System and turns the airbag indicator
l ight on whe n a ma lfunction in t he sys tem
components is de tected. The function of the
airbag indicator light is described in greater
detai l below . Because the front passenger
seat contains important parts of the Ad
vanced A irbag System, you m ust take care to
prevent 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 Advanced Airb ag Sy stem
consists of the following:
- Crash sensors in the front of the veh icle that
measure veh icle acceleration/decele ration
to provide information to the Advanced Air
bag System about the seve rity of the crash.
- An electronic co ntrol unit, with integrated
c rash se nsors for front and side impacts .
T he cont ro l unit " decides " whethe r to fire
the front airbags based on the inform ation
received from the crash senso rs . The contro l
unit a lso "decides" whether the safety belt
pretensioners should be activated .
Airbag system 149
-An Advanced A irbag w ith gas gene rator and
contro l valve fo r the driver ins ide the steer
ing wheel h ub.
- An Advanced Airbag w ith gas gene rator and
contro l valve inside the instrument pane l for
the front passenger.
- A weight-sensing mat under the upholstery
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 electronic control unit to regu
late deployment of the front Advanced Air
bag on the passenger side.
- An airbag monitor ing system and ind icator
light in the instrument cluster
q page 153 .
-A sensor in each front seat registers the dis
tance between the respective seat and the
steer ing whee l o r inst rument panel. The in
forma tion registered is sent cont inuo usly to
t he elect ron ic cont ro l uni t to regula te de
ployment o f the front Advance d Airbags .
- The
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF ligh t comes
on and st ays on in the cen ter o f th e instr u
ment panel
<:!;> page 153, fig . 143 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 fo r the
front seat passenger to measure the tension on the safety be lt . The tension on the safety
be lt and the weight registered by the
weight-sensi ng mat he lp the control unit
"decide" whether the front a irbag for the
front passenge r seat should be turned
off or
not
r:!;> pag e 143, Child restraints on the
front seat -some important things to
know.
- A senso r in the safety belt latch fo r the d riv
er a nd fo r the fro nt sea t passenger tha t
senses w hethe r that safe ty belt is latched or
no t and transmi ts this informa tion to the
electronic control unit.
_&. WARNING
Damage to the front passenger seat can
prevent the front airbag from work ing
properly.
-
•
•
-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 rearward-facing child safety
seat in a rear seating position and have
the airbag system inspected immediately by your authorized Audi dealer.
,& WARNING
If, in exceptional circumstances, you must
install a forward-facing child restraint on
the front passenger's seat:
- Always make sure the forward-facing
seat has been designed and certified by
its manufacturer for use on a front seat
with a passenger front and side airbag.
- Always follow the manufacturer's in
structions provided with the child safety
seat or carrier.
- Always move the passenger seat into its
rearmost position in the seat's fore and
aft adjustment range, as far away from
the airbag as possible before installing
the child restraint. The backrest must be adjusted to an upright position .
- Always make sure that the
PASSENGER
AIR BAG OFF
light comes on and stays
on all the time whenever the ignition is
switched on.
@ 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 a front "Ad
vanced Airbag System" in compliance with
United States Federal Motor Vehicle Safety
Standard (FMVSS) 208 as applicable at the
time your vehicle was manufactured .
Child Safety 167
The Advanced Airbag system in your vehicle
has been certified to meet the "low-risk" re
quirements for 3- and 6-year old children on
the passenger side and small adults on the driver side. The low risk deployment criteria
are intended to reduce the risk of injury
through interaction with the airbag that can
occur, for example, by being too close to the
steering wheel and instrument panel when
the airbag inflates. In addition, the system
has been certified to comply with the "sup
pression" requirements of the Safety Stand
ard, to turn off the front airbag for infants up
to 12 months who are restrained on the front passenger seat in child restraints that are list
ed in the Standard.
Even though your vehicle is equipped with an
Advanced Airbag system, all children, espe
cially those 12 years and younger, should al
ways ride in the back seat properly restrained
for their age and size . The airbag on the pas
senger side makes the front seat a potentially
dangerous place for a child to ride . The front
seat is not the safest place for a child in a for
ward-facing child safety seat. It can be a very
dangerous place for an infant or a larger child
in a rearward-facing seat.
Advanced Airbags and the weight
sensing mat in the front seat
The Advanced Airbag System in your vehicle
detects the presence of an infant or child in a
child restraint on the front passenger seat us
ing the weight-sensing mat in the seat cush
ion and the sensor below the safety belt latch
on the front passenger seat that measures the
tension on the safety belt.
The weight-sensing mat measures total
weight of the child and the child safety seat
and a child blanket on the front passenger
seat. The weight on the front passenger seat
is related to the design of the child restraint
and its "footprint", the size and shape of the
bottom of the child restraint as it sits on the
seat. The weight of a child restraint and its "footprint" vary for different kinds of child re -
straints and for the different models of the ..,. •
•