Page 113 of 262

as defined in the electronic control unit
¢ page 119, PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light .
Always remember, a chi ld safety seat or infant
carrier installed on the front seat may be
struck and knocked out of position by the rap
id ly inflating passenger's airbag in a frontal
coll is ion . T he airbag cou ld greatly reduce the
effectiveness of the child restraint and even
seriously injure the child during inflat ion.
F or this reason, and because the back seat is
the safest p lace for children -when properly
rest ra ined accord ing to their age and si ze - we
s trongly recommend that children always sit
in the back seat¢
page 130, Child Safety.
A WARNING
A child in a rearward-facing child safety
seat insta lled on the front passenger seat
w ill be seriously injured and can be k illed if
t he front a irbag inf lates - even with an Ad
vanced Airbag System .
- The inflating a irbag w ill hit the child
sa fety seat or infant carrier w it h great
f orce and w ill smash the ch ild safety seat
and child against the backrest , door or
roof .
- Always install rear -facing child sa fety
seats on the rear seat.
- If you mus t install a rearward facing
child safety seat on the front passenger
seat because of exceptional circ umstan
ces and the
PASSENGER AIR BAG O FF
light does not come on and stay on, im
med iately install the rear-facing child
safety seat in a rear seating posit ion and
have the a irbag system inspected by you r
Audi dealer.
- Forward-fac ing ch ild safety seats instal
led on the front passenger's seat may in
terfere with the deployment of the air
bag and cause serious person al injury to
the ch ild .
WARNING
If, in exceptional c ir c umstances, you mus t
install a forwa rd -facing child restra int on
the front passenger's seat:
A irbag system 11 1
-Always ma ke sure the forward-facing
seat has been designed and certified by
its manufacturer for use on a front seat
with a passenger front and s ide a irbag.
- Never put the forward-facing child re
straint up against or very near the instru ment panel.
- Always move the passenger seat into its
rearmost position in t he seat's fore and
aft adj ustment range, as fa r away from
the airbag as possible before installing
the forward-fa cing ch ild restra int. The
backrest mu st be ad ju sted to an upright
posi tion.
- Ma ke sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
li ght comes on and stays on all the
time wheneve r the ignit ion is swi tched
on.
A WARNING
To reduce the risk of serious injury, make
sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light wi ll be displayed whenever a child re
straint is installed on the front passenger
seat and the ignition is sw itched on .
- If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not stay on, perform the checks de
scribed ¢
page 119 , Monitoring the Ad
vanced Airbag System .
-Take t he chi ld restraint off the front pas
senger seat and install it properly at one
of the rear seat positions if the
PASSEN
GER AIR BAG OFF
li g ht does not stay on .
- Have the airbag system inspected by
your Aud i dea le r i mmediately .
- Always carefully follow instr uctions from
child restraint manufacture rs when in
stalling c hild restra ints .
A WARNING
If, in e xcept io na l circumstances, you must
ins tall a forward o r rearwa rd-facing child
restra int on the front passenger's se at:
- Imp roper install ation of ch ild restrai nts
can reduce their effec tiveness o r even
preven t them from providing any protec
tion. •
•
Page 114 of 262

112 Airbag system
-An improperly installed child restraint
can interfere with the airbag as it de
ploys and seriously injure or even kill the
child -even with an Advanced Airbag
System .
- Always carefully follow the manufactur
er's instructions provided with the child
safety seat or carrier.
- Never place additional items on the seat
that can increase the total weight regis tered by the weight-sensing mat and can
cause i njury in a crash .
Front airbags
Description of front airbags
The airbag system con provide supplemental
protection to properly restrained front seat
occupants.
Fig. 104 Location of driver airbag: in stee ring wheel
Fig. 105 Location of front passenger's air bag : in the in
st rume nt panel
Your veh icle is equipped with an "Advanced
A irbag System" in compliance w ith United
States Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standa rd
(FMVSS) 208 as applicab le at the time your
vehicle was manufactured. The safety belts
for the front seats have "pretensioners" that
help to take slack out of the belt system. The pretensioners are a
lso activated by the e lec
tronic contro l unit for the airbag system.
T he front safety belts also have lo ad lim ite rs
to help reduce the fo rces applied to the body
in a crash .
T he airbag for the d river is in the steering
wheel hub~
fig. 104 and the ai rbag for the
fron t passenger is in the instrument panel
~ fig. 105 . The general locat ion of the ai rbags
is marked "AIRBAG".
T he re is a lot you need to know about t he a ir
bags in you r vehicle. We urge yo u to read the
detailed information abo ut airbags, safety
belts and child safety in this and the other
chapters that make up the owner's literature .
P lease be sure to heed the WARNINGS - they
are extremely important for your safety and
the safety of your passengers, especially in
fants and small children .
A WARNING
Never rely on airbags alo ne for protection .
- Even when they deploy, airbags provide
only supplemental protect ion.
- Airbag work most effective ly when used
with properly worn safety belts.
- Therefore, always wear your safety belts
a nd make sure that eve rybody in your ve
h icle is p roperly rest rained.
A WARNING
A person on the front passenger seat, es
pec ially infants and sma ll children, w ill re
ceive serio us injuries and can even be kil-
l ed by be ing too close to the ai rbag when
i t inflates .
- Al tho ugh the Advanced Airbag System in
your veh icle is designed to tur n
off the
front passenge r airbag if an infant or a
small child is on the front passenger
seat, nobody can absolutely guarantee
that deployment under these special
conditions is impossible in all conceiva
b le situat ions that may happen during
-
the useful life of your vehicle . ~
Page 115 of 262

-The Advanced Airbag System can deploy
in accordance with the "low risk" option
under the U .S . Federal Standard if a child
that is heavier than the typical one-year
old child is on the front passenger seat
and the other conditions for airbag de
ployment are met .
-Accident statistics have shown that chil
dren are generally safer in the rear seat
area than in the front seating position.
- For their own safety, all children, espe
cially 12 years and younger, should al
ways ride in the back properly restrained
for their age and size.
Advanced front airbag system
Your vehicle is equipped with a front Advanced
Airbag System in compliance with United
States Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard
208 as applicable at the time your vehicle was
manufac tured.
The front Advanced Airbag System supple ments the safety belts to provide additional
protection for the driver's and front passeng
er's head s and upper bodies in frontal crashes.
T he airbags inflate only in frontal impacts
when the vehicle deceleration is high enough.
T he front Advanced Airbag System for the
front seat occupants is not a substitute for
your safety belts . Rather, it is part of the over
all occupant restraint system in your vehicle.
Always remember that the airbag system can
only help to protect you, if you are sitting up
right , wearing your safety belt and wearing it
properly . This is why you and your passengers
must always be properly restrained, not just
because the law requires you to be.
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 very small adults on
the driver side. The low risk deployment crite
ria are intended to help reduce the risk of in
jury through interaction with the front airbag that can occur, for example, by being too
Airbag system 113
close to the steering wheel and instrument
panel when the airbag inflates.
In addition, the system has been certified to
comply with the "suppression" requirements
of the Safety Standard, to turn off the front
airbag for infants 12 months old and younger
who are restrained on the front passenger
seat in child restraints that are listed in the
Standard ¢
page 132 , Child restraints and
Advanced Airbags .
"Suppression" requires the front airbag on the
passenger side to be turned off if:
- a child up to about one year of age is re
strained on the front passenger seat in one
of the rear-facing or forward-facing infant restraints listed in Federal Motor Vehicle
Safety Standard 208 with which the Ad
vanced Airbag System in your vehicle was
certified . For a listing of the child restraints
that were used to certify your vehicle's com pliance with the US Safety Standard
¢page 132,
-weight less than a threshold level stored in
the control unit is detected on the front pas
senger seat.
When a person is detected on the front pas senger seat, weighing more than the total
weight of a child that is about 1 year old re
strained in one of the rear-facing or forward
facing infant restraints (listed in Federal Mo
tor Vehicle Safety Standard 208 with which
the Advanced Airbag System in your vehicle
was certified), the front airbag on the passen ger side may or may not deploy.
The
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes on
when the electronic control unit detects a to
tal weight on the front passenger seat that re
quires the front airbag to be turned off. If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does not
come on, the front airbag on the passenger
side has not been turned off by the control unit and can deploy if the control unit senses
an impact that meets the conditions stored in
its memory.
If the total weight on the front passenger
seat is more than that of a typical 1 year-old , ..,. •
•
Page 116 of 262

114 Airbag sys te m
but less than the weight of a small adu lt, the
front airbag on the passenger side may deploy (the
PASSENGER AIR B AG OFF light does not
come on).
F or exa mple , the air b ag m ay depl oy if:
- a small child that is heavier than a typical 1
year-o ld child is on the front passenger seat
(regardless of whe ther the child is in one of
the chi ld safety seats listed
~ page 132),
- a ch ild who has outgrown child rest raints is
on the front passenger seat.
If the front passenger airbag is turned off, the
PA SSENGER AIR BAG OFF light in the cente r
of the instrument panel w ill come on and stay
on.
The front a irbag on the passenger side may
not deploy (the PAS SENGER AIR BAG OFF
light does not illuminate and stay lit) if:
- a small adult or teenager is on the front pas
senger seat
- a passenger who is not sitt ing upright with
their back against a non-reclined backrest
with their feet on the veh icle floo r in front
of the seat is on the front passenger seat.
If the front passenger airbag deploys, the Federal Standard requires the airbag to meet
the "low risk " deployment criteria to help re
duce the risk of inju ry through interaction
with the airbag . "Low risk" deployment occurs
in those crashes that take place at lower de
celerations as defined in the e lectronic control
un it
~ page 119.
Alw ays re m emb er: Even tho ugh you r vehicle
is equipped with Advanced Airbags, the safest
p lace for children is properly restrained on the
back seat . Please be sure to read the impor
tant information in the sect ions that follow
and be sure to heed all of the WARNINGS.
A WARNING
To reduce the risk of injury when an airbag
inf lates, always wear safety belts properly.
- If you are unrestrained, lean ing forward,
sitting sideways or out of position in any
way, your risk of in jury is much higher . -
You will a lso receive serious injuries and
could even be killed if you are up aga inst
the airbag or too close to it when it in
flates - even w ith an Advanced A irbag
~ page 108 .
A WARNING '"----
A child in a rearward-fac ing ch ild safety
seat installed on the front passenger seat
will be serious ly injured and can be killed if
the front airbag infla tes - even with an Ad
vanced A irbag System.
- Altho ugh the Advanced Airbag System in
your veh icle is de signed to turn off the
front airbag when a rearward -facing
child restraint has been installed on the
front passenger seat, nobody can abso
lutely g uarantee that dep loyment is im
possible in all conceivable situations that
may happen dur ing the usefu l life of your
veh icle.
- The inflating airbag will h it the ch ild
safety seat or infant carrier with great
force and will smash the child safety seat and child aga inst the bac krest, door, or
roof .
- Always install rearward-facing ch ild re
straints in the back seat.
- If you must install a rearward fac ing
child safety seat on the front passenger
seat be cause of exceptiona l circumstan
ces and the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light does not come on and stay on, im
mediately insta ll the rear -fac ing child
safety seat in a rear seating position and
have the airbag system inspected by your
Aud i dealer.
A WARNING
If, in exceptional circumstances, you must
i nstall 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 manufacture r fo r use on a front seat
with a passenger front and s ide a irbag .
Page 117 of 262

-Never put the forward-facing child re
straint up against or very near the instru
ment panel.
- 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 forward-facing child restraint . The
backrest must be adjusted to 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.
Advanced Airbag System components
The front passenger seat in your vehicle has a
lo t of very important parts of the Advanced
Airbag System in it. These parts include the
weight-sens ing mat, sensors, wiring, brack
ets, and more. The function of the system in
the front passenger seat is checked by the
electronic control unit when the ignition is on.
The control unit monitors the Advanced Air
bag System and turns the airbag indicator
light on when a malfunction in the system
components is detected. The function of the
airbag indicator light is described in greater
detail below. Because the front passenger
seat contains important parts of the Ad
vanced Airbag System, you must 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 Airbag System
consists of the following:
- Crash sensors in the front of the vehicle that
measure vehicle acceleration/deceleration
to provide information to the Advanced Air
bag System about the severity of the crash.
-An electronic control unit, with integrated
crash sensors for front and side impacts .
The control unit "decides" whether to fire
the front airbags based on the information
r eceived from the crash sensors. The control
Airbag system 115
unit also "decides" whether the safety belt
pretensioners should be activated.
- An Advanced Airbag with gas generator for
the driver inside the steering wheel hub.
- An Advanced Airbag with gas generator in
side the instrument panel for the front pas
senger.
- A weight-sensing mat under the upholstery
padding of the front passenger seat cushion
that measures the total weight on the seat.
The inform ation registered 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 monitoring system and indicator
light in the instrument cluster
c:;. page 119.
-The PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes
on and stays on in the center of the instru
ment panel
c:;. page 119, fig. 107 and tells
you when the front Advanced Airbag on the
passenger side has been turned off.
- A sensor below the safety belt latch for the
front seat passenger to measure the tension
on the safety belt. The tension on the safety
belt and the weight registered by the
weight-sensing mat help the control unit
"decide" whether the front airbag for the
front passenger seat should be turned off or
not
c:;. page 110, Child restraints on the
front seat -some important things to
know.
- A sensor in the safety belt latch for the driv
er and for the front seat passenger that
senses whether that safety belt is latched or
not and transmits this information to the
electronic control unit .
.&_ WARNING
Damage to the front passenger seat can
prevent the front airbag from working
properly.
- Improper repair or disassembly of the
front passenger and driver seat will pre
vent the Advanced Airbag System from
functioning properly.
- Repairs to the front passenger seat must
be performed by qualified and properly
-
trained workshop personnel. 111>
•
•
Page 118 of 262

116 Airbag system
-Never remove the front passenger or
driver seat from the vehicle.
- Never remove the upholstery from the
front passenger seat.
- Never disassemble or remove parts from
the seat or disconnect wires from it.
- Never carry sharp objects in your pockets
or place them on the seat. If the weight
sensing mat in the passenger seat is
punctured it cannot work properly.
- Never carry things on your lap or carry
objects on the passenger seat. Such
items can increase the weight registered
by the weight-sensing mat and send the
wrong information to the airbag control unit.
- Never store items under the front pas
senger seat. Parts of the Advanced Air bag System under the passenger seat
could be damaged, preventing them and
the airbag system from working proper
ly.
- Never place seat covers or replacement
upholstery that have not been specifical
ly approved by Audi on the front seats.
- Seat covers can prevent the Advanced
Airbag System from recognizing child re
straints or occupants on the front pas
senger seat and prevent the side airbag
in the seat backrest from deploying prop
erly.
- Never use cushions, pillows, blankets or
similar items on the front passenger
seat. The additional padding will prevent
the weight-sensing mat in the seat from
accurately registering the child restraint
or person on the seat and prevent the
Advanced Airbag System from function
ing properly.
- If you must use a child restraint on the
front passenger seat and the child re
straint manufacturer's instructions re
quire the use of a towel, foam cushion or
something else to properly position the
child restraint, make certain that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes
on and stays on whenever the child re- straint is installed on the front passen
ger seat.
- If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not come on and stay on, immedi
ately install child restraint in a rear seat
ing position and have the airbag system
inspected by your Audi dealer.
How the Advanced Airbag System
components work together
The front Advanced Airbag System and the
side airbags supplement the protection of
fer ed by the front three-point safety belts
with pretensioners and load limiters and the
adjustable head restraints to help reduce the
risk of injury in a wide range of accident and
crash situations. Be sure to read the impor
tant information about safety and heed the
WARNINGS in this chapter.
Deployment of the Adv a need Airbag System
and the activation of the safety belt preten
s ioners depend on the deceleration measured
by the crash sensors and registered by the
electronic control unit. Crash severity depends
on speed and deceleration as well as the mass
and stiffness of the vehicle or object involved
in the crash.
When the electronic control unit registers a low severity crash and the safety belt is being
used , the airbag will not deploy.
If the safety
belt is not being used, the first stage deploys,
follow ed by the second stage after a much lat
er time in t he crash sequence.
If the electronic control unit registers a crash
of medium severity, the first stage of the air
bag deploys followed by the second stage at a
much later time in the crash sequence -re
gardless of whether the safety belt is being
u sed or not . In higher severity crashes as reg
istered by the electronic control unit, both the
first and second stages deploy almost at the
same time.
On the passenger side, regardless of safety
belt use, the airbag will be turned off if the
weight on the passenger seat is less than the
amount programmed in the electronic control
Ill-
Page 119 of 262

unit. The front airbag on the passenger side
will also be turned off if one of the child safe
ty seats that has been certified under Federal
Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208 has been
recogn ized on the seat. The
P A SSEN GER AIR
BAG OFF
light comes on and stays on to tell
you when the front Advanced Airbag on the passenger side has been turned off
~ page 110, Child restraints on the front seat
- some important things to know.
A WARNING
To reduce the risk of injury when an airbag
inflates, a lways wear safety belts properly.
- If you are unrestrained, lean ing forward,
sitting sideways or out of position in any
way, yo ur risk of in jury is much highe r.
- You w il l also rece ive serio us in ju ries and
cou ld even be killed if you are up against
the airbag or too close to it when it in
flates -even with an Advanced Airbag
~ page 108.
More important things to know about
front airbags
F ig . 10 6 Inflated fron t airbags
Safety belts are important to help keep front
seat occupants in the proper seated position
so that airbags can unfo ld properly and pro
vide supp lemental protection in a frontal col
lision.
The front a irbags are designed to provide ad
d itional protection for the chest and face of
the dr iver and the front seat passenger when:
- safety belts are worn properly,
A irba g sy stem 11 7
- the seats have been positioned so that the
occupant is properly seated as far as possi
ble from the airbag,
- and the head restraints have been properly
adjusted .
Because ai rb ags inflate in the bli nk of an eye
wi th great force, th ings you have on your lap
or have p laced on the seat co uld become dan
gerous projectiles, and be pushed into you if
the a irbag inflates.
When an airbag deploys, fine dust is re leased .
T his is norma l and is not ca used by a fi re in
the ve hicle . This dust is made up mostly of a
powder used to lubricate the airbags as they
deploy. It could irr itate skin.
It is important to remember that while the
supplementa l airbag system is designed to re
duce the like lihood of serious injuries , other
injuries, for example swelling, bru is ing and
minor abrasions, can also happen when air
bags i nflate . A irbags do not protect the arms
or the lower parts of the body . Front a irbags
o nl y supp lement the three point safety be lts
i n some fronta l co llisions in which the vehicle
deceleration is high e nough to deploy the air
bags .
Front airbags will not deploy :
-if the ignition is sw itched off when a crash
o ccur s,
- in side co llisions,
- in rear-end coll isions,
- in rollovers,
- when the crash deceleration measu red by
the airbag system is less than the minimum
threshold needed for a irbag deployment as
reg istered by the electro nic contro l unit .
The front pass enger airbag will also not
deploy:
- when the front passenger seat is not occu
pied,
- when the weight on the front passenger seat as sensed by the Advanced Airbag Sys
tem ind icates that the front a irbag on the
passenger side has to be turned
off by the II>
Page 120 of 262

118 Airbag sys te m
electronic contro l uni t (the PAS SENGER AIR
BAG OFF
light comes on and stays on) .
A WARNING
Sitting in the wrong position can increase
the risk of serious injury in crashes.
- To reduce the risk of injury when the air
bags inflate, the driver and passengers
must always sit in an upright position,
must not lean against or place any part
of the ir body too close to the area where
the a irbags are located .
- Occupants who are unbelted, out of posi
t ion or too close to the airbag can be se
riously injured by an airbag as it unfolds
with great force in the blink of an eye
~page 110.
A WARNING
-
A child in a rearward -facing child sa fety
seat insta lled on the front passenger seat
w ill be seriously injured and can be ki lled if
the front airbag inflates - even wit h an Ad
vanced Airbag System.
-The inflating ai rbag will hit the child
safety seat or infant carrier with g reat
force and w ill smash the ch ild safety seat
and child against the backrest, ce nter
arm rest, door o r 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 circ umstan
ces and the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light does not come on and stay on, im
med iately install the rea r-facing child
safety seat in a rear seating po sition and
have the airb ag sys tem inspec ted by you r
Audi dealer .
A WARNING
Objects between you and the a irbag will
increase the risk of in jury in a c rash by in
terfering with the way the airbag unfolds
or by being pushed into yo u as the a irbag
inf lates. -
Never hold things in you r hands o r on
your lap when the veh icle is in use.
- Never transpo rt items on or in t he a rea
of the front passenger seat. Objects
could move into the area of the front air
bags during braking or other sudden ma
neuver and become dangerous p rojec
tiles that can cause ser ious personal in
jury if the a irbags inf late .
- Never p lace or attach accesso ries o r oth
er objects (such as cup hold ers, te le
phone b ra ck ets, large, heavy or bulky ob
jects) on the doors, ove r o r ne ar the are a
marked "AIRBAG" on the s teer ing whee l,
instr ument panel, sea t bac krests o r be
tween those areas and yourself. These
objects could ca use in jury in a crash, es
pecially when the airbags inflate.
- Never recline the front passenger 's seat
to transport objects. Items can a lso
move into the area of the s ide airbag or
the front a irbag during braki ng or in a
sudden maneuve r. Objects near the air
bags can become projectiles and cause
in jur y, partic ularly when the seat is re
clined.
- Never tilt the front passenger seat back
rest forwar d w hen the vehi cle is moving.
An in flating airbag w il l force the ba ck
rest backwar d an d can injure rear seat o c
cupants.
A WARNING
=
The fine dust create d when air bags deploy
can cause breathing prob lems fo r people
with a history of asthma or other breath
i ng cond itions.
- To reduce the risk of breathing problems ,
those with asthma or other respiratory
conditions shou ld get fresh air right
away by getting o ut o f the veh icle or
open ing windows or doors.
- If you are in a collision in which airbags
deploy , wash your hands and face with
mild soap and wate r before eating .
- Be ca reful not to get the dust into your
eyes, o r into any c uts or sc ratches .