
64 Seats and storage
Before you purchase any accessories, a lways
read and fo llow the information in
c::> page 245, Additional accessories and parts
replacement.
A WARNING
The outlet p lus any appliances plugged in
to it rema in functional even if the ignition
is switched off or the ignition key is re
moved. N ever leave children inside the ve
hicle withou t supe rv ision.
Q) Note
To avo id damag ing the socket, only use
plugs that fit properly .
(D Tips
When the engine is off and accessor ies are
still plugged in and are on, the vehicle bat
tery ca n still be dra ined .
Storage
General
A WARNING
-Always remove objec ts from the instru
ment panel. Any items not put away
cou ld slide around inside the vehicle
wh ile driving or when acce lerating or
when applying the brakes or when driv
ing around a corner.
- When you are drivi ng make sure tha t
anything you may have placed in the cen
ter console or other storage lo cations
cannot fa ll out into the footwells . In case
of sudden braking you would not be able
to brake, depress th e clutch or acceler
ate.
-Any articles of cloth ing that you have
hung up must not interfere with the driv
er's v iew. The coat hooks are desig ned
only for lightweight clothing. Never hang
any clothing with ha rd, po inted or heavy
objects in the pocke ts on the coat hooks.
Dur ing sudden braking or in an acciden t -
especially if the airbag is deployed -
-
these objects co uld injure any passen
gers inside the vehicle.
Glove compartment
The glove compartment is illuminated and
can be locked.
I i I
I
ij
----------- i
Fig. 67 Glove compa rt me nt
To open glo ve com partment
.. Pull the handle c::>fig. 67 in the direction of
the arrow push down lid to the fully open
position .
To close gl ove c ompa rtment
.. Push the glove compartment lid upward un-
til the lock engages.
CD changer *
The CD changer fo r the Sound System is locat
ed in the g love compartment.
A WARNING
To reduce the risk of pe rsonal injury in an
accident or sudden stop, always keep the
glove compartment closed while driving.
Storage compartment in the front seats
App lies to veh icles : w it h storage compart men t in the
fro nt seats
There is a fold-out storage compartment in
the front of the seats.
Opening
.. Lift the handle and pull the drawer out.
Closing
-
.. Push the drawer in complete ly until it latch -
es. .,.

On the road
Steering
Adjusting the steering wheel column
The steering wheel position can be continu
ously adjusted in height and distance.
Fig. 70 Lever under the stee ring column
• Push the lever~ fig. 70 -Arrow-~ .&,..
• Move the steering wheel to the desired po
sition.
• Push the lever against the steering column
until it locks.
There must be at least 10 inches (25 cm) be tween your chest and the center of the steer
ing wheel. If you cannot sit more than 10 in
ches (25 cm) from the steering wheel, see if
adaptive equipment is available to help you
reach the pedals and increase the distance
from the steering wheel.
For detailed information on how to adjust the
driver's sea t, see
Q page 56 .
A WARNING
Improper use of steering wheel adjust
ment and improper seating position can
cause serious personal injury.
- Adjust the steering wheel column only
when the vehicle is not moving to pre
vent loss of vehicle control.
- Adjust the driver's seat or steering wheel so that there is a minimum of 10 inches
(25 cm) between your chest and the
steering wheel
~page 91, fig. 91. If
you cannot maintain this minimum dis
tance, the airbag system cannot protect
you properly.
On the road 71
-If physical limitations prevent you from
sitt ing 10 inches (25 cm) or more from
the steering wheel, check with your au
thorized Audi dealer to see if adaptive equipment is ava ilable .
- If the steering wheel is aligned with your
face, the supplemental dr iver 's airbag
cannot provide as much protection in an
accident. Always make sure that the
steering wheel is al igned with your
chest .
-Always hold the steer ing wheel w ith your
hands at the 9 o'clock and 3 o'clock posi
tions to reduce the risk of persona l injury
if the driver's airbag deploys .
- Never hold the steering wheel at the 12
o'clock position or with your hands inside
the steering wheel rim or on the steering
wheel hub. Holding the steering wheel
the wrong way can cause serious injuries
to the hands, arms and head if the driv
er's airbag deploys.
Ignition lock and ignition switch
Ignition lock
The ignition key starts or stops the engine.
Fig. 71 Ignit ion lock posit ions
Ignition off @
In position ~ fig. 71 @both the ignition and
engine are off, and the steering is locked .
To
lock the steering after you have removed
the ignition key , turn the steering wheel in ei
ther direction until you hear it lock into place .
You should always lock the steering whenever ..,.

-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 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
passenger's breastbone and the instru
ment panel.
- Always make sure that there are at least
4 inches (10 cm) between the front pas
senger 's knees and the lower part of the
instrument 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 seats
¢
page 130. Special precautions apply
when installing a child seat on the front
passenger seat¢
page 108.
Driving Safely 93
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:
.,. Make sure that the seatback is securely
latched in the upright position¢
page 59.
.,. Keep both feet flat in the footwell in front
of the rear seat.
.,. Fasten and wear safety belts properly
¢page 104.
.,. Make sure that children are always properly
restrained in a child restraint that is appro
priate for their size and age¢
page 130.
A 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!
•
•

102 Safet y belt s
What happens to occupants not wearing
safety belts?
In crashes unbelted occupants cannot stop
themselves from flying forward and being in
jured or killed. Always wear your safety belts!
F ig . 97 A driver not wearing a safety belt is violently
thrown forward
F ig. 98 A rear passenger not wearing a safety belt will
fly forward a nd strike the d river
Unbelted occupants are not able to res ist the
tremendous fo rces of impact by holding tight
or brac ing thems elves. Without the benefit of
safety restraint systems, the unres trained o c
cupa nt w ill slam vio lent ly into the steering
wheel, instrument panel, winds hield, or what
ever else is in the way
q fig . 97 . This impact
with the vehicle interior has all the energy
they had just before the crash.
Neve r rely on airbags a lone for p rotection .
Even when they deploy, airbags provide only
addit ional protection . Airbags are not sup
posed to deploy in all kinds of accidents. Al
though your Audi is equipped with a irbags, all
vehicle occupants, including the driver, must
wear safety belts correctly in order to min i
mize the risk of severe inju ry or death in a
crash.
Remember too, that a irbags will deploy on ly
once and that your safety belts are always there to offe
r protection in those accidents in
which airbags are not supposed to dep loy or
when they have already dep loyed . Unbelted
occupa nts can also be thrown o ut of the ve hi
cle where even more severe or fatal injuries
can occur .
It is also important for the rear passengers to
wear safety belts correctly. Unbelted passen
gers in the rear seats endanger not only them
se lves but also the driver and othe r passen
gers¢
fig. 98 . In a frontal coll is ion they w ill
be th rown forward violently, where they can
hi t and i njur e the d river a nd/or fro nt sea t pas
senger.
Safety belts protect
People think it's possible to us e the hands to
brace the body in a minor collision. It 's simply
not true!
Fig. 9 9 Driver is proper ly restrained in a sudden brak
in g maneuve r.
Safety be lts used p roperly can make a big dif
fere nce. Safe ty belts help to keep passengers
in the ir seats, gradua lly reduce energy leve ls
applied to the body in an accident, and he lp
prevent the uncontrolled movement that ca n
ca use serio us inju ries . In addition, safety be lts
reduce the danger of being thrown out of the
vehicle.
S afety be lts attach passenge rs to the car and
give them the benefit of being slowed down
more gently or "softly" through the "give" in
the safety belts, crush zones and other safety
features engineered into today's vehicles. By
"absorbing" the kinetic energy over a longer
per iod of t i me, the safety be lts make th e
lilJJ,

forces on the body more "tolerable" and less likely to cause injury.
Although these examples are based on a fron
tal collision , safety belts can also substantial
ly reduce the risk of injury in other kinds of
crashes. So, whether you're on a long trip or
just going to the corner store, always buckle
up and make sure others do, too. Accident sta
tistics show that vehicle occupants properly
wearing safety belts have a lower risk of being
injured and a much better chance of surviving
an accident . Properly using safety belts also
greatly increases the ability of the supplemen
tal airbags to do their job in a collision. For
this reason, wearing a safety belt is legally re
quired in most countries including much of
the United States and Canada.
Although your Audi is equipped with airbags ,
you still have to wear the safety belts provid
ed. Front airbags, for example, are activated
only in some frontal collisions. The front air
bags are not activated in all frontal collisions,
in side and rear collisions, in roll overs or in
cases where there is not enough deceleration
through impact to the front of the vehicle .
The same goes for the other airbag systems in
your Audi. So, always wear your safety belt
and make sure everybody in your vehicle is
properly restrained!
Important safety instructions about
safety belts
Safety belts must always be properly 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 .
Safety belts 103
-Always fasten your safety belts correctly
before driving off and make sure all pas
sengers are properly restrained.
- For maximum protection, safety belts
must always be positioned correctly on
the body .
- Never strap more than one person, in cluding small children, into any single
safety 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 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 being 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 wear the shoulder part of the belt
under your arm or otherwise out of posi
tion .
- Several layers of heavy clothing may in
terfere with correct positioning of belts and reduce their effectiveness .
- 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
correct use of some child restraint sys
tems .
- Never allow safety belts to become dam
aged by being caught in door or seat
hardware.
- Torn or frayed safety belts can tear and
damaged belt hardware can break in an
accident. Inspect belts regularly. If web-
bing, bindings, buckles, or retractors are .,..
L,_ _______________ _J
•
•

108 Airbag sys tem
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, a lways:
• Adjust the dr iver's seat and steering wheel
properly ¢
page 91,
• Adjust the front passenger's seat properly
r=:;page 55,
• Wear safety be lts properly r=; page 103,
• Always properly use the proper child re-
stra int to protect children¢
page 130.
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 are not
seated properly . Therefore in order to help the
a irbag to do its job, it is impo rtant, both as a
d river and as a passenge r to s it prope rly at all
times.
By keeping room between your body and the
steering wheel and the front of the passenge r
compa rtment, the airbag can inflate fully and
comp lete ly and provide supp lemental protec
tion in ce rtain frontal collisions
r=:; page 91,
Proper occupant seating positions .
For detai ls
on the operat ion of the seat adjustment con
trols ¢
page 55 and c:, page 56.
It's especially important that children a re
properly restrained ¢
page 130.
There is a lot that the driver and the passen
gers can and must do to help the individua l
safety features installed in your A udi work to
gether as a system.
P rope r seat ing pos ition is important so that
the front airbag on the drive r side can do its
job. If yo u have a physical impa irment or con- dition that prevents yo
u from sitting properly
o n the driver seat with the safety belt properly
fastened and reaching the peda ls, or if you
have concerns with regard to the function or
operation of the Advanced Airbag System,
please contact your author ized Audi dealer or
qualified workshop, o r call Audi Customer Re
lations at 1-800-822-2834 fo r poss ible modi
fica tions to your ve hicle.
When the airbag system dep loys, a gas gener
ator will f il l the a irbags, break open t he pad
ded cove rs, and inflate between t he steering
whee l and the dr ive r and be tween the instru
ment pane l and the fron t passenger. The a ir
bags will deflate immediately after dep loy
me nt so that the front occupants can see
t hr ough the windshie ld again witho ut inter
ruption .
All of th is takes p lace in the b link o f an eye, so
fast that many peop le don't even realize tha t
t h e airbags have deployed. The airbags a lso
inflate with a great dea l of force and nothing
shou ld be in their w ay when they deploy.
Front a irbags in combination with properly
wor n safety belts slow down and lim it the oc
cupant's forward movement . T ogether they
help to prevent the drive r and front seat pas
senger from hitti ng pa rts 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 airbags wi ll not inflate in all fronta l
collisions . The triggering of the airbag system
depends on the vehicle dece lerat ion rate
caused by the co llision and registered by the
electron ic control unit. If th is rate is below
the reference value programmed into the con
t rol unit , the airbags will not be trigge red,
even though the car may be badly damaged as
a res ult of the co llision . Ve hicl e damage, re
pair costs o r even the lack of ve hicle damage
is not necessari ly an indication of whether an
airbag shou ld inflate or not .
IJll-

It is not possible to define a range of vehicle
speeds that will cover every possible kind and
angle of impact that will always trigger the
airbags, since the circumstances will vary con
siderably between one collision and another.
Important factors include, for example, the nature (hard or soft) of the object which the
car hits, the angle of impact, vehicle speed ,
etc. The front airbags will also not inflate in
side or rear collisions, or in roll-overs .
Always remember: Airbags will deploy only
once, and only in certain kinds of collisions.
Your safety belts are always there to offer pro
tection in those situations in which airbags
are not supposed to deploy , or when they have
already deployed ; for example , when your ve
hicle strikes or is struck by another after the
first collision.
This is just one of the reasons why an airbag is
a supplementary restraint and is not a substi
tute for a safety belt. The airbag system
works most effectively when used with the
safety belts. Therefore, always properly wear
your safety belts
c::;, page 100 .
A WARNING
Sitting too close to the steering wheel or
instrument panel will decrease the effec
tiveness of the airbags and will increase
the risk of personal injury in a collision.
- Never sit closer than 10 inches (25 cm)
to the steering wheel or instrument pan
el.
- If you cannot sit more than 10 inches
(25 cm) from the steering wheel, investi
gate whether adaptive equipment may
be available to held you reach the pedals
and increase your seating distance from
the steering wheel.
- If you are unrestrained, leaning forward,
sitting sideways or out of position in any
way, your risk of injury is much higher.
- You will also receive serious injuries and could even be killed if you are up against
the airbag or too close to it when it in
flates -even with an Advanced Airbag.
Airbag system 109
-To reduce the risk of injury when an air
bag inflates, always wear safety belts
properly
c::;, page 104, Safety belts.
- Always make certain that children age 12
or younger always ride in the rear seat. If
children are not properly restrained, they
may be severely injured or killed when an
airbag inflates .
- Never let children ride unrestrained or
improperly restrained in the vehicle. Ad
just the front seats properly .
- Never ride with the backrest reclined .
- Always sit as far as possible from the
steering wheel or the instrument panel
c::;, page 91, Proper occupant seating po
sitions .
- Always sit upright with your back against
the backrest of your seat.
- Never place your feet on the instrument
panel or on the seat. Always keep both
feet on the floor in front of the seat to help prevent serious injuries to the legs
and hips if the airbag inflates.
-Never recline the front passenger's seat
to transport objects. Items can also
move into the area of the side airbag or
the front airbag during braking or in a
sudden maneuver. Objects near the air bags can become projectiles and cause
injury when an airbag inflates .
A WARNING
Airbags that have deployed in a crash must
be replaced.
- Use only original equipment airbags ap
proved by Audi and installed by a trained
technician who has the necessary tools
and diagnostic equipment to properly re
place any airbag in your vehicle and as
sure system effectiveness in a crash .
- Never permit salvaged or recycled air bags to be installed in your vehicle. •
•

110 Airbag sys te m
Child restraints on the front seat - some
important things to know
• Be sure to read the impo rtant in formation
and head the WARNINGS for important de
ta ils about ch ildren and Advanced Airbags
i=> page 130.
Even though your vehicle is equipped with an
Advanced Airbag System, make certain that
all children, especially those 12 years and
younger, a lways ride in the back seat properly
restra ined for their age and size. The airbag
on the passenger side makes the front seat a potentially dangerous place for a child to r ide .
The front seat is not the safest place fo r a
chi ld in a fo rward-facing chi ld safety seat. It
can be a very dangerous place for a n infan t or
a child in a rearward-facing seat.
The Advanced Airbag System i n your veh icle
has been certified to comply with the Requ ire
men ts of United States Federa l Mo to r Veh icle
Safety Standard 208 as applicable at the time
your vehicle was manufact ured.
The Standa rd requires the fron t air bag on t he
passenger side to be turned off ("sup
p ressed") if a ch ild up to about one yea r of
age restrained in one of the rear-facing or for
ward-facing infant restraints listed in Federal
Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208 with which
the Advanced A irbag System in your vehicle
was certified has been installed on the front passenger seat . For a listing of the child re
straints that were used to certify compliance
with the US Safety Standard
c> page 132.
The PASSENGE R AIR BAG OFF light in the in
strument panel tells you when the front Ad
vanced A irbag on the passenger side has been
turned off by t he e lectronic control unit.
Each t ime you tur n on the ignition, the
PAS
SENGER AIR BAG OFF
l ight will come on for a
few seconds and:
- will stay on if the front passenger seat is not
occupied ,
- will stay on if there is a small child or child
restraint on the front passenger seat, -
will go off if the front passenger seat is oc
cupied by an adult as registered by the
weight -sensing mat
r::!) page 119, Monitor
ing the Advanced Airbag System.
T he PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes on
when the control unit detects a tota l weight
on the front passenger seat that req uires the
front a irbag to be turned off .
If the total weight on the front passenge r
seat is more than that of a typica l 1 year -old
c h ild b ut less than the weight of a small
adult, the front airbag on the passenger side
can deploy (the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
li ght does not come on). If the PAS SENGER
AIR BAG OFF
light does not come on, the
front a irbag on the passenger side has not
been turned off by the elect ronic con trol unit
and can deploy if the control uni t se nses an
impact that meets the cond itions stored in its
memory .
For exampl e, th e airbag ma y deplo y if:
-a small ch ild that is heav ie r than a typical 1
year-old ch ild is on the front passenger seat
( r egard less of whethe r the child is in one of
the child safety seats listed
<:!) page 132), or
- a child who has outgrown ch ild restraints is
on t he front passenger seat.
If the front passenger airbag is turned off, the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes on in
the instrument pane l and stays on .
The front airbag on the passenger side may
not deploy (the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light does not illum inate and stay lit) even if a
small adult o r teenager, or a passenger who is
not sitt ing up rig ht w ith their back against a
non- re cli ned ba ck res t w it h thei r feet on the
vehicle floor in front of the sea t is on the front
passenge r seat
c::> page 91, Proper seating po
sition for the driver.
If the front passenger a irbag dep loys, the
F ede ra l St andard req uires the airbag to meet
the "low risk" dep loyment criteria to reduce
the risk of injury t hro ugh interaction wit h the
airbag. "Low risk" dep loyment occ urs in those
crashes that take place at lower dece lerat ions ..,_