~ Always keep both feet in the footwell so
that you are in control of the vehicle at all
times.
For detailed information on how to adjust the
driver's seat, see
c:;, page 62.
A WARNING
Drivers who are unbelted, out of position
or too close to the airbag can be seriously
injured by an airbag as it unfolds. To help
reduce the risk of serious personal injury:
- Always adjust the driver's seat and the
steering wheel so that there are at least
10 inches (25 cm) between your breast
bone and the steering wheel.
- Always hold the steering wheel on the
outside of the steering wheel rim with
your hands at the 9 o'clock and 3 o'clock positions to help reduce the risk of per
sonal injury if the driver's airbag inflates.
- Never hold the steering wheel at the
12 o'clock position or with your hands at
other positions inside the steering wheel
rim or on the steering wheel hub. Hold
ing the steering wheel the wrong way
can cause serious injuries to the hands,
arms and head if the driver's airbag de
ploys.
- Pointing the steering wheel toward your
face decreases the ability of the supple
mental driver's airbag to protect you in a
collision .
- Always sit in an upright position and nev
er lean against or place any part of your
body too close to the area where the air
bags are located.
- Before driving, always adjust the front
seats and head restraints properly and
make sure that all passengers are prop
erly restrained.
- Never adjust the seats while the vehicle
is moving . Your seat may move unexpect
edly and you could lose control of the ve
hicle.
- Never drive with the backrest reclined or
tilted far back! The farther the backrests
are tilted back, the greater the risk of in-
Driving Safely 141
jury due to incorrect positioning of the
safety belt and improper seating posi
tion .
- Children must always ride in child safety
seats
c:;, page 178. Special precautions
apply when installing a child safety seat
on the front passenger seat
c:;, page 157 .
Proper seating position for the front
passenger
The proper front passenger seating position
is important for safe, relaxed driving .
For your own safety and to reduce the risk of
injury in the event of an accident, we recom
mend that you adjust the seat for the front
passenger to the following position :
~ Adjust the angle of the seatback so that it is
in an upright position and your back comes
in full contact with it whenever the vehicle is
moving .
~ Adjust the head restraint so the upper 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
c:;, page 142.
~ Keep both feet flat on the floor in front of
the front passenger seat .
~ Fasten and wear safety bel ts correctly
c:;, page 152.
For detailed information on how to adjust the
front passenger 's seat, see
c:;, page 61.
A WARNING ,_
Front seat passengers who are unbelted,
out of position or too close to the airbag
can be seriously injured or killed by the air
bag as it unfolds. To help reduce the risk of
serious personal injury:
- Passengers must always sit in an upright
position 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
•
•
142 Driving Safely
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 their own and properly fasten and
wear the safety belt belonging to that
seat.
- Before driving, always adjust the front
passenger seat and head restraint prop
erly .
- Always keep your feet on the floor 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 will not be able 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
tion.
- Children must always ride in child safety
seats
c::> page 178. Special precautions
apply when installing a child safety seat
on the front passenger seat
c::> page 15 7 .
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 seating position in the event of a sudden
braking maneuver or an accident, your pas
sengers on the rear bench seat must always
observe the following :
.. If there is a passenger on the rear center
seating pos ition, slide the center head re
straint upward at least to the next notch
c::> page 65.
.. Make sure that the seatback is securely
latched in the upright position
c::> page 67.
.. Keep both feet flat in the footwell in front
of the rear seat.
.. Fasten and wear safety belts properly
c::>page 152.
.. Make sure that children are always properly
restrained in a child restraint that is appro
priate for their size and age
c::> page 178.
_& WARNING
Passengers who are improperly seated on
the rear seat can be seriously injured in a
crash .
- Each passenger must always sit 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 securely latch
ed in the upright position and the safety
belts are properly positioned on the
body. By not sitting upright, a rear seat
passenger increases the risk of personal
injury from improperly positioned safety
belts!
-Always adjust the head restraint properly
so that it can give maximum protection.
Proper adjustment of head restraints
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. 153 H ead restra int: vi ew ed from the front
The head restraints must be correctly adjust-
ed to achieve the best protection. .,.
~ Adjust the head restraints so the upper
edge is as even as possible with the top of
your head. If that is not possib le, try to ad
j ust the head restraint so that it is as close
to this position as possible
¢fig . 153.
~ If there is a passenger on the rear center
seat ing pos ition, slide the center head re
stra int upward at least to the next notch .
Adjust ing head restra ints ¢
page 65.
A WARNING
All seats are equipped with head re
straints. Dr iv ing without head restra ints or
w ith head restra ints that a re not properly
adjusted increases the risk of ser ious or fa
t al neck injury dramat ic a lly. To help reduce
t he risk of in jury:
- Alw ays drive with the he ad restraints in
pla ce and properly adjusted.
- E very pe rson in the veh icle must have a
properly adj usted head restr aint.
- Always make sure each pe rson in the ve
hicle properly adjus ts the ir head re
st rain t. Ad just the head restrain ts so the
upper edge is as even as possib le with
the top of your head. If that is not possi
ble, try to adjust the head restra int so
that it is as close to this position as pos
sible.
- Never attempt to adjust head restraint wh ile driving. If you have driven off and
must adjust the dr iver head rest for any
reason, first stop the vehicle safe ly be
fore attempting to adjust the head re
st raint.
- Children must always be properly re
st rained in a ch ild restraint that is appro
pr iate for their age and s ize ¢
page 1 78.
Examples of improper seating positions
The occupant restraint system can only re
duce the risk of injury if vehicle occupants are
properly seated.
Imp rope r seat ing pos it ions can cause serious
in ju ry or death . Safety belts can on ly wor k
when they a re properly posit ioned o n the
Dr iving S afel y 143
body. Improper seating positions re duce the
effectiveness of safety belts and wi ll even in
crease the ris k of i njury and death by moving
the safety belt to crit ica l areas of the body.
Improper seating positions a lso increase the
risk of serious injury and death when an a ir
bag deploys and str ikes an occupant w ho is
not in the p roper seating posit ion. A dr iver is
responsible fo r the safety of all veh icle occu
pan ts and espec ially for children. The re fore :
~ Never allow anyone to assume an incorrect
seating position when the vehicle is being
used
Q ,& .
The following bulletins list on ly some sample
pos itions tha t will increase the risk of serious
i njury and death . Ou r hope is that these exam
ple s will ma ke yo u mo re aware o f seati ng po
s itions tha t are d angerous.
Therefore , whenever the vehicle is
moving:
- neve r stand up in the vehicle
- neve r stand on the seats
- never kneel on the seats
- never ride w it h the seatback reclined
- never lie down on the rear seat
- never lean up against the instrument panel
- never s it on the edge of the seat
- neve r sit sideways
- neve r lean out the window
- neve r put your feet out the window
- never put your feet on the instr ument panel
- neve r rest your feet on the seat cush ion or
back of the seat
- neve r ride in the footwell
- neve r ride in the cargo area
A WARNING ~
Imp ro p er seating posit ions increase the
risk of serious persona l injury and death
whenever a vehicle is being used.
- Always make sure that all vehicle occu-
pants stay in a proper seating position
and are properly restrained whenever the
veh icle is being used .
-
•
•
146 Driving Safel y
to reduce the risk of inj ury when the vehi
cle is not be ing used.
- After closing the rear lid, always make
sure that it is properly closed and locked.
- Never leave your vehicle unattended es
pecially with the rear lid left open . A
child could crawl into the vehicle through
the luggage compartment and close the
rear lid becoming trapped and unable to
get out . Be ing trapped in a vehicle can
lead to serious persona l injury.
- Never let children p lay in or around the
vehicle .
- Never let passengers r ide in the luggage
compartment . Veh icle occupan ts must
always be proper ly restrained in one of
the vehicle's seating positions.
(D Tips
- Air circulation helps to reduce window
fogging . Sta le air escapes to the o utside
th rough vents in the trim pane l. Be su re
to keep these slots free and open.
- The tire pressure must correspond to the
load . The t ire pr essure is shown on the
tire p ressu re label. The tire pressure la
bel is loc ate d on the driver's s ide B-pi lla r.
The tire pressure label lists the recom
men ded cold t ire inflat ion pressu res for
the veh icle at its maximum capacity
weight and the tires that were on your
vehicle at the time it was manufact ured.
For recommended t ire pressures for nor
mal load conditions, please see chapter
Q page252.
Tie-downs
The luggage compartment is equipped with
four tie-downs to secure luggage and other
items .
Use the tie-downs to secure your cargo prop
erly ¢ page 145, Loading the luggage com
partment .
In a coll is ion, the laws of phys ics mean that
even smaller items that are loose in the vehi
cle will become heavy missiles that can cause se
rious injury. Items in t he vehi cle possess en
ergy which vary with vehicle speed and the
weight of t he item . Vehicle speed is the most
s ignificant factor.
F or example, in a frontal collision at a speed
of 30 mph (48 km/h), the forces acting on a 10 -lb (5 kg) object a re abo ut 20 times the
normal weight of the item. This means that
the weight of the item would sudden ly be
about 200 lbs . (90 kg) . You can imag ine the
injur ies that a 200 lbs . (90 kg) item fly ing
fr ee ly t hro ugh the passenger compa rtment
cou ld cause in a col lision like this.
_& WARNING
We ak, damaged or imprope r straps used
to secure items to tie-downs can fail dur
i ng hard braking or in a collision and cause
se rious pe rsonal injury.
-Always use s uita ble mo unt ing straps an d
p roperly secu re items to the tie-downs in
the l uggage compa rtment to he lp pre
vent items from shift ing or fly ing fo r
ward as dangerous missiles.
- When the rea r seat backrest is folded
down, a lways use suitable mounting
straps and properly secure items to the
tie-downs in the luggage compartment
to hel p prevent items from fly ing for
ward as dangerous missiles into the pas
senger compartment.
- Never attach a chi ld safety seat t ether
s trap to a t ie-down .
Reporting Safety
Defects
Applicable to U.S.A.
If yo u b eli eve that your vehi cle
has a def ect whi ch could cau se
a crash or could cau se injury or
death, you should immediately
inform the National Highway
Traffic Safet y Administration ""
Safety belts
General notes
Always wear safety belts!
Wearing safety belts correctly saves lives!
This chapter exp lains why safety be lts are nec
essary, how they work and how to adjust and
wear them correctly.
~ Read all the information that fo llows and
heed all of the inst ruct ions and WARNINGS.
A WARNING
Not wearing safety belts or wearing them
improperly increases the risk of ser ious
personal in jury and death .
- Safety belts are the sing le most effective
means availab le to red uce the r isk of se
rious injury and death in a utomob ile acci
dents . For your prot ecti on and that of
yo ur passenge rs, always co rrec tly wear
sa fe ty bel ts when the ve hicle is mov ing.
- P re g nant women, injured, or physically
impa ired perso ns must also use safe ty
belts. L ike a ll vehicle occup ants, they are
more like ly to be ser ious ly injure d if they
do not wea r safety be lts . The best way to
protect a fet us is to protect the mother -
thro ughout the entire pregnancy.
Number of seats
Your Audi has a total of five seating posit ions:
two in the front and three in the rear. Each
seating position has a safety belt.
A WARNING
N ot wea ring safety belts or wea ring them
improperly increases the risk of ser ious
perso nal i njur y an d deat h.
- Never st rap more than one pe rson, in
cl ud ing s mall ch ild ren, into any belt . It is
e speci ally dangerous t o pl ac e a safety
bel t over a child s itting on yo ur lap.
- N ever le t mo re people ride in t he ve hicle
th an there are s afe ty be lts availab le.
Safety belts 149
- Be s ure everyone riding in the vehicle is
properly restrained w ith a separate sa fe
ty belt or child restra int.
Safety belt warning light
Your vehicle has a warning system for the
driver and (on USA models only) front seat
passenger to remind you about the impor
tance of buckling-up.
Fig . 155 Safety belt warni ng lig ht in the instr ument
cl uster -enla rged
Before driving off, alway s:
~ Fasten your safety be lt and make sure you
are wearing it properly .
~ Make sure that yo ur passengers a lso buck le
up and properly wear their safety be lts.
~ Protect your childre n w ith a child rest raint
sys tem app ropriate fo r the size a nd age of
t h e children.
The wa rning lig ht . in the instrument cluster
li ghts up when the ig nit ion is switched on as a
reminder to fasten the safe ty belts. In addi
tion, you will hea r a warning tone for a certa in
per iod of t ime.
Fasten your safety belt now and make sure
that your pas sengers also properly put on
th eir safety belt s.
A WARNING
- Safety belts are the s ingle mo st effec tive
means av ailable to redu ce th e ri sk of se
rio us in ju ry and death in au tomobile acci
dents. Fo r you r protection and that of
your passengers, a lways correctly wear
safety belts when the vehicle is moving.
•
•
152 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
c:> page 226, Safety belts .
Safety belts
Fastening safety belts
Safety first -everybody buckle up!
Fig. 161 B elt buck le and to ngue o n the drive r's sea t
To provide maximum protection, sa fety belts
must always be positioned correctly on the
wearer's body .
... Adjust the front seat and head restra int
properly
c::> page 61, 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 ac ross the chest and pelvis
c::> ,&..
... Insert the tongue into the correct buckle of
your seat until you hea r it latch securely
c::>fig. 161.
... Pu ll 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. T his fea
ture locks the belt 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. The funct ion of the pretensioner is
monitored by a warning light
c::> page 15.
Sw itchable locking feature
E very sa fety belt except the one on the driver
seat is equipped with a switchable locking fea
ture that
must be used when the safety belt is
used to attach a child safety seat. Be sure to read the important information about this
feature
c::> page 188.
A WARNING
Imprope rly positioned safety belts can
cause serious injury in an accident
o::> page 153, Safety belt position.
-Safety belts offer optimum protect ion
only when the seatback is upright and
Safety belts 153
belts are properly positioned on the
body.
- Always make sure that the rear seat
backrest to which the center rear safety
be lt is attached is securely latched when
ever the rear center safety belt is being
used. If the backrest is not securely
latched, the passenger w ill move for
ward with the backrest during sudden
braking, in a sudden maneuver and espe
cially in a crash .
- Never attach th e safety belt to the buck
le for another seat . Atta ching the belt to
the wrong buckle will reduce s afety be lt
effectiveness and can cause ser ious per
sonal injury.
- A passenger who is not proper ly restrain
ed can be seriously injured by the safety
be lt 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 safety seat in the vehicle
c::> page 190.
Safety belt position
Correct belt position is the key to getting
maximum protection from safety belts.
Fig . 162 Safety belt position
Standa rd features on your veh icle help you ad
just the position of the safety belt to match you r body size.
- belt height adjustment for the front seats,
- height-adjustable front seats.
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 driver's seat and steering wheel
properly ¢
page 140,
"" Adjust the front passenger's seat properly
¢page 62 ,
"" Wear safety be lts properly ¢page 152,
"" Always properly use the proper child re-
straint to protect chi ldren ¢
page 178.
In a collision airbags must inflate within th e
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 . Th erefore in order to help the
a ir bag to do its job, it is important, both as a
driver and as a passenger 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 140,
Proper occupant seating positions.
F or details
on the operation of the seat adjustment con
trols
¢ page 62.
It's especially important that children a re
properly restrained ¢
page 178.
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 seating pos ition is important so that
the front airbag on the driver side can do its
job. If yo u have a physical impa irment or con-
Airbag system 157
dition that prevents you from sitting properly
on the driver seat with the safety belt properly
fastened and reach ing the peda ls, spec ial
modifications to your vehicle may be necessa
ry.
Contact your authorized Audi dea ler, or call
Audi Customer Re lations at 1-800-822-2834.
When the airbag system dep loys, a gas gener
ator will fi ll the airbags, break open the pad
ded covers, and inflate between the steering
whee l and the dr iver and between the instru
ment panel and the front passenger. The air
bags will deflate immediately after deploy
ment so that the front occupants can see
through the windshield aga in 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 air bags have deployed . The airbags also
inflate with a great deal of force and nothing
shou ld be in their way when they deploy.
Front airbags in combination with properly
worn safety belts slow down and limit the oc
cupant's forward movement. Together they
help to prevent the driver and front seat pas
senge r 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 upper body in the crash . A irbags do not
protect the arms or the lower parts of the
body .
Both front a irbags w ill not inflate in all frontal
collisions . The triggering of the air bag system
depends on the vehicle dece leration rate
caused by the collision and registered by the
electron ic control unit.
If this rate is below
the reference value programmed into the con
trol unit, the airbags will not be triggered,
ev en though the car may be bad ly damaged as
a resu lt of the co llision . Veh icle damage, re
pair costs or even the lack of ve hicle 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 ..,.
•
•