100 Safety belts
Safety belts
General notes
Always wear safety belts!
Wearing safety belts correctly saves lives!
This chapter explains why safety belts are nec
essary, how they work and how to adjust and
wear them correctly .
.. Read all the information that follows and
heed all of the instructions and WARNINGS.
A WARNING
Not wearing safety belts or wearing them
improperly increases the risk of serious
personal injury and death.
- Safety belts are the single most effective
means available to reduce the risk of se
rious injury and death in automobile acci
dents. For your protection and that of
your passengers, always correctly wear
safety belts when the vehicle is moving.
- Pregnant women, injured, or physically
impaired persons must also use safety
belts. Like all vehicle occupants, they are
more likely to be seriously injured if they
do not wear safety belts. The best way to
protect a fetus is to protect the mother -
throughout the entire pregnancy.
Number of seats
Your Audi TT Coupe has two seating positions in the front and two height-limited seating
positions in the rear. Each seating position has
a safety belt. The rear seat area in your Audi
TT Coupe does not have enough room for pas
sengers of all sizes. For reasons of safety, no
person taller than 4'11" (1.S meters) should
ever ride in the rear seat area.
A WARNING
Not wearing safety belts or wearing them
improperly increases the risk of serious
personal injury and death. -
Never strap more than one person, in
cluding small children, into any belt.
It is
especially dangerous to place a safety belt over a child sitting on your lap.
- Never let more people ride in the vehicle
than there are safety belts available.
- Be sure everyone riding in the vehicle is
properly restrained with a separate safe
ty belt or child restraint.
- Persons taller than 4'11" (1.5 m) as well
as children in booster seats who are too
close to the rear window and roof can
suffer severe head and neck injuries
when the rear lid is closed or in a crash .
- The minimum clearance between the passenger's heads and the rear window
must never -under any circumstances -
be less that 1 inch (2.5 cm.) when the
passengers sit fully upright.
- Always make sure that rear seat passen
gers cannot be struck when the rear lid is
closed.
,! Safety belt warning light
Your vehicle has a warning system for the
driver and front seat passenger to remind you
about the importance of buckling-up.
Fig. 94 Safety belt warning light in the instrument
cluster· enlarged
Before driving off, always:
" Fasten your safety belt and make sure you
wear it properly .
.. Make sure that your passengers also buckle
up and properly wear their safety belts.
.. Protect children with a child restraint sys-
tem appropriate for the size and age.
Ill-
The warning light. in the instrument cluster
lights up when the ignition is switched on as a
reminder to fasten the safety belts. In addi
tion, you w ill hear a warning tone for a certain
period of time.
Fasten your safety belt and make sure that
your passengers also properly put on their
safety belts.
A WARNING
- Safety belts are the sing le most effective
means availab le to reduce the risk of se
rious injury and death in automob ile acci
dents. For your protect ion and that of
yo ur passengers, always correctly wear
sa fety belts when the vehicle is moving.
- Failure to pay attention to the warning
ligh t that come on, could lead to person
al injury.
Why safety belts?
Frontal collisions and the law of physics
Frontal crashes create very strong forces for
people riding in vehicles.
Fig. 95 Unb elted occupa nts in a vehicle head ing for a
wall
Fig. 96 T he ve hicle crashes into the wall.
Safety belts 101
The physical principles are simple . Both the
vehicle and the passengers possess energy
which var ies with vehicle speed and body
weight. Engineers call this energy "kinetic en
ergy."
The higher the speed of the vehicle and the
greater the vehicle's we ight, the more energy
that has to be "absorbed" in the crash.
Vehicle speed is the most significant factor . If
the speed doubles from 15 to 30 mph (25 to
50 km/h), the energy increases 4 times!
Because the occupants in this vehicl e are not
using safety belts¢
fig. 95, they will keep
moving at the same speed the vehicle was
moving just before the crash, until someth ing
stops them - here, the wall¢
fig. 96.
The same principles apply to people sitting in
a vehicle that is involved in a frontal coll ision .
Even at city speeds of 20 to 30 mph (30 to 50
km/h), the forces acting on the body can
reach one ton (2,000 lbs, or 1,000 kg) or
more . At higher speeds, these forces are even
greater.
Peop le who do not use safety belts are also
not attached to their vehicle . In a frontal colli
s ion they will also keep moving forward at the
speed their vehicle was travell ing just before
the crash . Of co urse, the laws of physics don't
just apply to frontal collisions, they determine
what happens in all kinds of accidents and col
lisions .
104 Safety belts
damaged, have belts replaced by an au
thorized Audi dealer or qualified
workshop.
- 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 or qualified
workshop. Replacement may be necessa
ry 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 inertia reel
c:> page 174, Safety belts.
Safety belts
Fastening safety belts
Seat first -everybody buckle up!
,
Fig. 100 Belt buck le an d tongue o n the driver' s seat
To provide maximum protection, safety belts
must always be positioned correctly on the
wearer's body .
• Adjust the fron t sea t and he ad restraint
properly
c:> page 54, General recommenda
tions .
• Hold the belt by the tongue and pull it
evenly across the chest and pelvis
c:> &-
• Insert the tongue into the correct buckle of
your seat until you hear it latch securely
c:> fig. 100.
• Pull on the belt to make sure that it is se
curely latched in the buckle .
Automatic safety belt retractors
Every safety belt is equipped with an automat
ic belt retractor on the shoulder belt. This fea
ture locks the belt when the belt is pulled out
fast, during hard braking and in an accident.
T he 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 on the front seats are equip
ped with a belt pretensioner that helps to
tighten the safety belt and remove slack when
the pretensioner is activated. The function of
the pretensioner is monitored by a warning light
c:> page 15 .
Switchable locking feature
Every safety 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 seat . Be sure to read the
important information about this feature
c:> page 140.
_& WARNING
Improperly positioned safety belts can
cause serious injury in an accident
c:> page 105, Safety belt position .
-Safety belts offer optimum protection
only when the seatback is upright and
belts are properly positioned on the
body .
-
-Never attach the safety belt to the buck
le for another seat. Attaching the belt to
the wrong buckle will reduce safety belt
effectiveness and can cause serious per
sonal injury .
- A passenger who is not properly restrain
ed can be seriously injured by the safety
belt 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 seat in the vehicle
c:> page 142 .
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 ..,_
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. •
•
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 .
-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>
•
•
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-