58 Seat s a nd s tor ag e
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 adjust ing 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 prope rly supported thus reduc
ing physical stress and fatigue
- the safety be lts and a irbag system can offer
maximum protection
¢ page 145 .
In the following sec tions, you will see exactly
how you can best adjust you r seats .
There are special regulations and instructions
for insta lling a child safety seat on the front
passenger's seat. Always follow the informa
tion rega rd ing child safety provided in
G page 166, Child Safety.
WARNING
Refer to G page 12 7, 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.
A WARNING
, -
Incorrect seating position of the dr iver and
all other passengers can result in serious
personal inj ury .
- Always keep your feet on the f loor when
the vehicle is in mo tion -never p ut 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- 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 could result in pe rsonal
in ju ry or even death.
- It is important for both the driver and front passenge r to keep a distance of at
least 10 inches (25 cm) between them
selves and the steering wheel and/or in
s trumen t panel.
If you're s itting any
closer than th is, the a irbag 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 while the vehicle is moving.
Your seat may move unexpected ly , caus
ing sudden loss of veh icle control and
pe rsonal injury. If you ad just you r seat
while the veh icle is moving, yo u are out
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
G &. in Why is your seat adjustment so im
portant? on page 58 .
.,. Adjust the seatback so that when you sit
w ith your back against t he seatback, you can
s till grasp the top of the steering whee l.
.. Applies to veh icles with adjustable head re
straints: Adjust the head restraint so the up
per edge is as even as possible with the top
of yo ur head. If that is not possib le, try to
adjust the head restraint so that it is as .,.
Head restraints
Front head restraints
Applies to vehicles: with adj ustable head restraints
Head restraints that ore adjusted according
to body size, along with the seat belt , offer
effective protection .
Fig. 61 Fron t seat: adjusting the head rest ra in ts
Ad just the head restraint so the upper edge is
as even as possible with the top of your head.
If that is not poss ible, try to adjust the head
restraint so that it is as close to this position
as possible
c> page 61.
~ To adjust the height of the head restraint,
grip the head restraint on the sides with
both hands and slide it up/down until it
locks into place
c>fig. 61.
Refer to¢ page 131, 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 restra ints or with
head restraints that are not properly ad
justed increases the r isk of serious or fa
tal neck injury dramatically.
- Read and heed all WARNINGS
c>page 131.
@ Tips
Correctly adjusted head restraints and
safety belts are an extremely effective
combinat ion of safety features .
l) The head restra ints cann ot be re move d fro m rear
se ats with fixe d backr ests.
-
Seats and storage 61
Rear head restraints
Fig. 62 Rear seat : head restraints
Fig. 63 Rear head restraints: release
If there is a passenger in the rear center seat
ing position, slide the center head restraint
upward at least to the next notch¢&_.
Adjusting the head restraints
~ To move the head restraint up, hold it at the
sides with both hands and slide it upward
until you feel it click into place.
~ To move the head restraint down, press the
button @¢
fig. 62 and slide the head re
straint downward .
Removing the head restraints1>
~ Fold the backrest forward¢ page 69.
~ Move the head restraint upward as far as it
can go.
~ Press the release@¢ fig. 63 with the me
chanical key¢
page 34 and the button @
¢
fig . 62 . Pull the head restraint out of the
backrest at the same time¢&_ .
~
Roof rack
Description and mounting locations
Additional cargo can be carried with a roof
luggage rack .
Fig. 72 Seda n: Roof ra ck atta chmen t po ints
Fig. 73 allroa d: Roof ra ck atta chm ent points
~ Always read and follow the instructions pro
vided by the roof rack manufacturer when
installing the roof rack system.
If luggage or cargo is to be carried on the roof, you must observe the following:
- Only use roof racks approved for your vehi
cle. These approved roof racks are the basis
for a complete roof rack system. Additional
attachmen ts or carrier systems are needed
to transport luggage a nd sports equ ipment .
We recommend using roof racks from the
Audi original accessories program.
- When installing the roof rack, make sure it
is only mounted on the designated locations
on the roof ¢
fig. 72 or¢ fig. 73 .
-We recommend that you keep the installa
tion instructions for your roof rack system
together with your Owner 's literature in the
veh icle .
Sea ts a nd s to rage 67
Wh en should th e ro of rack be r emo ved ?
-Before going through an automatic car wash
(it is best to ask the car wash operator for
advice).
- When not in use, to reduce fuel cons ump
tion, wind noise and to guard against theft.
A WARNING
=
- Use of an unapproved roof rack or incor-
rect mounting of an approved roof rack
can cause the roof rack or the items at
tached to it to fall off the roof onto the road.
- Objects falling from the roof of a vehicle
can cause a crash and personal injury.
- Only mount the roof rack on the desig
nated locations on the roof
i:> fig . 72.
- The roof rack system must be installed
exactly according to the instruct ions pro
vided.
- When driving with a roof rack system,
changes to the center of gravity and wind
resistance can change the vehicle han
dling and lead to a collision . Always
adapt your driving and your speed to the
cur ren t conditions.
(D Note
- Your vehicle warranty does not cover any
damages to the veh icle caused by using
roof racks or mounting structures not
approved by Aud i for your veh icle. The
same app lies to damage resulting from
incorrect roof rack installation.
- Always check the roof rack mountings
and hardware before each trip a nd d ur
ing a trip to make sure everything is se
curely tightened. If necessary, retighten
the mountings and check the entire sys
tem from time to time.
- After mounting a roof rack system, or
when you transport objects on the roof
of your vehicle, the height of the veh icle
is naturally increased. Be careful when
dr iving under low bridges or in parking
garages for example . This cou ld cause
111>
Driving Safely
General notes
Safe driving habits
Please remember -safety first!
This chapter contains important information,
tips, instructions and warnings that you need
to read and observe for your own safety, the
safety of your passengers and others . We have
summarized here what you need to know
about safety belts, airbags, child restraints as
well as child safety. Your safety is for us
priori
ty number 1.
Always observe the information
and warnings in this section - for your own
safety as well as that of your passengers.
The information in this section applies to all
model versions of your vehicle . Some of the
features described in this sections may be
standard equipment on some models, or may
be optional equipment on others. If you are
not sure, ask your authorized Audi dealer.
A WARNING
- Always make sure that you follow the in
structions and heed the WARNINGS in
this Manual. It is in your interest and in
the interest of your passengers.
- Always keep the complete Owner's Liter
ature in your Audi when you lend or sell
your vehicle so that this important infor
mation will always be available to the
driver and passengers.
- Always keep the Owner's literature handy
so that you can find it easily if you have
questions.
Safety equipment
The safety features are part of the occupant
restraint system and work together to help
reduce the risk of injury in a wide variety of
accident situations .
Your safety and the safety of your passengers
should not be left to chance. Advances in
technology have made a variety of features
available to help reduce the risk of injury in an
Driving Safely 127
accident. The following is a list of just a few of
the safety features in your Audi :
- sophisticated safety belts for driver and all
passenger seating positions,
- belt force limiters for the front seats,
- belt pretensioners for the seats,
- head restraints for each seating position,
- front airbags,
- side airbags in the front seats,
- side curtain airbags ,
- special LATCH anchorages for child re-
straints,
- adjustable steering column.
These individual safety features, can work to
gether as a system to help protect you and
your passengers in a wide range of accidents.
These features cannot work as a system if
they are not always correctly adjusted and cor
rectly used.
Safety is everybody's responsibility!
Important things to do before driving
Safety is everybody's job! Vehicle and occu
pant safety always depends on the informed and careful driver.
For your safety and the safety of your passen
gers,
before driving always:
"' Make sure that all lights and signals are op
erating correctly .
"' Make sure that the tire pressure is correct .
"' Make sure that all windows are clean and
afford good visibility to the outside.
"' Secure all luggage and other items carefully
qpage 64.
"' Make sure that nothing can interfere with
the pedals.
"' Adjust front seat, head restraint and mir
rors correctly for your height.
"' Instruct rear seat passengers to adjust the
head restraints according to their height.
"' Make sure to use the right child restraint
correctly to protect children
q page 166,
and~~fy. ~
•
•
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
r::!:> page 58, Seats and storage.
• Make sure the seatback of t he rear seat
bench is in an upright pos ition and securely
latched in place before using the belt¢,&. .
... Hold the be lt by the tongue and pull it
evenly across the chest and pelvis ¢ ,&. .
"" Inse rt the tongue into the correct buckle of
you r seat until you hear it latch securely
r::!:>fig . 148.
• Pull on the belt to make sure that it is se-
c ur ely la tched in the buckle.
Automatic safety belt retractors
Every safety belt is equipped with 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, during 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 t he safety belt
and remove s lack when the pretensioner is ac
tivated. The function of the pretensioner is monitored by a warning light¢
page 20 .
Switchable locking feature
Every safety belt except the one on the driver
seat is eq uipped 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¢
page 176.
A WARNING
Improperly positioned safety belts can
cause se rious injury in an accident
r::!:> page 141, Safety belt position .
- Safety belts offer optimum protection
only when the seatback is upright and
Safety belts 141
belts are proper ly 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 . A tt ach ing the belt to
t he wrong buckle will reduce s afety 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
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
¢ page 178.
Safety belt position
Correct belt position is the key to getting
maximum protection from safety belts.
Fig . 149 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,
- automatic belt height adjustment for the
rear seats .
.. Let the belt wind up on the retractor as you
guide the belt tongue to its stowed position .
A WARNING
Never unfasten safety belt while the vehi
cle is moving. Doing so will increase your
r isk of being injured or killed .
Adjusting safety belt height
-
With the aid of the safety belt height adjust
ment, the three point safety belt strap rout
ing can be fit ted to the shoulder area , accord
ing to body size .
;g 0 0 C) .., m
Fig. 152 Saf ety be lt height ad justme nt fo r th e fro nt
seats - loop -ar ou nd fitt ings
The shoulder belt should lie as close to the
center of the collar bone as possible and
should fit well on the body¢&.
in Safety belt
position on page 142 .
.,. Push
the loop-around fittings up ¢ fig. 152
@ , or
.. squeeze together the (D button, and push
the loop-around fitt ings down @ .
.. Pull the belt to make sure that the upper at
tachment is properly engaged.
A WARNING
Always read and heed all WARNINGS and other impo rtant informat io n ¢
page 140.
@ Tips
With the front seats, the height adjust
men t of the seat can also be used to adjust
t he pos it ion of the safety be lts.
Safety belts 143
Improperly worn safety belts
I ncorrectly positioned safety belts can cause
severe injuries .
Wearing safety belts improperly can cause se
rious injury or death. Safety belts can only
work when they are correctly positioned on
the body . Improper seat ing pos itions reduce
the effectiveness of safety be lts and will even
i ncrease the risk of injury and death by mov
ing the safety be lt to crit ica l areas o f the
body. Improper seating positions also in
crease the risk of serious injury and death
when an airbag dep loys and strikes an occu
pant who is not in the correct seating posi
tion. A driver is responsible for the safety of
all vehicle occupants and especially for ch il
dren . Therefore:
.. Never permit anyone to assume an incorrect
sitt ing position in the vehicle while traveling
¢ &,. .
A WARNING
Improperly worn safety belts increase the
risk of serious persona l injury and death
whenever a ve hicle is being used.
- Always make s ure that all vehicle occu
pa nts are co rrectly restrained and stay in
a co rrec t seating position whenever the
veh icle is being used .
- Always read and heed al l WARNINGS a nd
o ther important informat ion
¢ page 140.
Safety belt preten
sioners
How safety belt pretensioners work
In front , side and rear -end collisions above a
particular severity, safety belts are tensioned automatically.
The safety belts are equipped with safety belt
pretensioners . The system is activated by sen
sors in front, side and rear-end co llisions of
great seve rity . This tightens the belt and takes
u p belt slack¢.&.
in Service and disposal of Iii>
174 Child Safety
to the backrest on the vehicle seat. Ad
just or remove the rear seat head restraint if it is difficult to install the
child seat with the head restraint in place
<=> page 61 . Install the head restraint
again immediately once the child seat is
removed. Driving without head restraints
or with head restraints that are not prop
erly adjusted increases the risk of serious
or fatal neck injury dramatically.
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS
whenever using a child restrained in ave
hicle is being used
<=>page 137, Safety
belts,<=> page 145, Airbag system
and
t::> page 166, 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.
- Make sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
light comes on and stays on all the
time whenever the ignition is switched
on.
- If the light does not stay on, perform the
checks
<=> page 156, Monitoring the Ad
vanced Airbag System.
-
- Take the child 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
whenever the ignition is switched on.
Booster seats and safety belts
Properly used booster seats can help pro te ct
children weighing between about 40 lbs. and
80 lbs. (18 kg and 36 kg) who are less than 4
ft.
9 in . (57 inches/1 .45 meters) tall.
"' .....
"' 0 ±
o5
Fig. 165 Rea r seat: child properly rest rai ned in a boos
te r se at
The vehicle 's safety belts alone will not fit
most children until they are at least 4 ft . 9 in .
(57 inches/1.45 meters) tall and weigh about
80 lbs. (36 kg). Booster seats raise these chil
dren up so that the safety belt will pass prop
erly over the stronger parts of their bodies
and the safety belt can help protect them in a
crash.
.,. Do not use the convertible locking retractor
when using the vehicle's safety belt to re
strain a child on a booster seat.
.. The shoulder belt must lie as close to the
center of the child's collar bone as possible
and must lie flat and snug on the upper
body. It must never lie across the throat or
neck . The lap belt must lie across the pelvis
and never across the stomach or abdomen .
Make sure the belt lies flat and snug . Pull on
the belt to tighten if necessary .
.,. If you must transport an older child in a
booster seat on the front passenger seat,
you can use the safety belt height adjust
ment to help adjust the shoulder portion
properly.
-Never mount used tires on yo ur vehicle if
yo u are not sure of their "previous histo
ry." Old used tires may have been dam
aged even though the damage cannot be
seen that can lead to sudden tire failure
and loss of vehicle control.
- If you notice unusual vibration or if the
vehicle pulls to one side when d riving, al
ways stop as soon as it is safe to do so
and check the wheels and tires for dam
age .
(D Note
Please note that summe r and wi nte r tires
are designed for the cond itions that are
Glossary of tire and loading terminology
Accessory weight means the comb ined weight (in excess of
those sta ndard items which may be rep laced)
of au toma tic transmission, power steer ing ,
power brakes, power windows, power seats,
radio, and heater, to the extent that these
items are availab le as factory-installed equip
ment (whether installed or not) .
Aspect ratio
means the rat io o f the height to the w idth of
the tire in percent . Numbers of 55 or lower in
dicate a low sidewall for improved steering re
sponse and better overa ll handling on dry
pavement .
Bead
means the part of the t ire t hat is made o f
steel wires, wrapped or reinforced by ply cords
and that is shaped to fit the r im.
Bead separation
means a b reakdown of the bond between
components in the bead .
Cord means the strands forming the plies in the
tire.
Tire s an d wheel s 235
typica l in those seasons . Aud i recommends
using winter tires during the winter
months . Low temperatures signif icant ly
dec rease the e lasticity of summer t ires,
which affects tract ion and brak ing ability.
If summer t ires are used i n very co ld tem
peratures, cracks ca n form o n the tread
bars , res ulting in perma nen t tire damage
that can cause loud driving noise and un
bala nced ti re s. Audi i s not respon sible for
th is type of damage .
Cold tire inflation pressure
means the t ire p ress ure recommended by t he
vehicle manufacture r fo r a tire o f a des ignated
s ize t hat has not bee n driven for more than a
coup le o f miles (k ilometers) at low speeds in
the three hour period before the tire press ure
is m easured or adjusted.
Curb weight
me ans the we ight of a motor ve hicle with
st andard equipmen t incl ud ing the max imum
capacity of fuel, oi l, and coolant, air condi
tioning and additional weig ht of optiona l
equipment.
Extra load tire
means a t ire design to oper ate a t higher load s
and at higher inflation pressures than the cor
responding standa rd tire . Extra load tires may
be identified as "XL", "x l", "EXTRA LOAD", o r
"RF" on the sidewal l.
Gross Axle Weight Rating ("GAWR")
me ans the load-ca rry ing capac ity of a single
axle system , measured at the tire -ground in
te rfaces.
Gross Vehicle Weight Rating ( "GVWR ")
mea ns the maximum total loaded we ight of
the ve hicl e. .,..
•
•