
Important safety instructions about
safety belts
Safety belts must always be correctly posi
tioned across the strongest bones of your
body.
~ Always wear safety belts as illustrated and
described in this chapter.
~ Make sure that your safety belts are always
ready for use and are not damaged.
A WARNING
Not wearing safety belts or wearing them
improperly increases the risk of serious
personal injury and death. Safety belts can
work only when used correctly.
- Always fasten your safety be lts correctly
before driving off and make sure all pas
sengers are correctly restrained.
- For maximum protection, safety belts must always be positioned properly on
the body .
- Never strap more than one person, in
cluding small children, into any belt.
- Never place a safety belt over a child sit ting on your lap.
- Always keep feet in the footwell in front
of the seat while the vehicle is being d riv
en .
- Never let any person ride with their feet
on the instrument panel or sticking out
the window or on the seat.
- Never remove a safety belt while the ve
hicle is moving. Doing so will increase
your risk of be ing injured or killed.
- Never wear belts twisted.
- Never wear belts over rigid or breakable
objects in or on your clothing, such as
eye glasses, pens, keys, etc., as these may cause injury.
- Never allow safety belts to become dam
aged by being caught in door or seat
hardware .
- Do not wear the shoulder part of the belt
under your arm or otherwise out of posi
tion . Safety belts
135
- Several layers of heavy clothing may in
terfere with correct positioning of belts and reduce the overall effectiveness of
the system .
- Always keep belt buckles free of anything
that may prevent the buckle from latch
ing securely .
- Never use comfort clips or devices that
create slack in the shoulder belt . Howev
er, special clips may be requ ired for the
proper use of some child restraint sys
tems .
- Torn or frayed safety belts can tear, and
damaged belt hardware can break in an
accident. Inspect belts regularly.
If web
bing , bindings, buckles, or retractors are
damaged, have belts replaced by an au
thorized Audi dealer.
- Safety belts that have been worn and
loaded in an accident must be replaced
with the correct replacement safety belt
by an authorized Audi dealer. Replace
ment may be necessary even if damage
cannot be clearly seen. Anchorages that
were loaded must also be inspected.
- Never remove, modify, disassemble, or
try to repair the safety belts you rs elf .
- Always keep the belts clean. Dirty belts
may not work properly and can impair
the function of the inertia reel¢
ta
ble Cleaning interior on page 197 .
Safety belts
Belt positioner
The driver and front passenger seats are
equipped with belt positioners.
Fig. 145 Drive r's se at: B elt pos itio ner

belt itself when it moves from the stron
ger parts of the body into critical areas
like the abdomen.
- Always lock the convertible locking re
tractor when you are securing a child safety seat in the vehicle ¢
page 173.
Safety belt position
Correct belt position is the key to getting
maximum protection from safety belts .
Fig. 147 Safety belt pos it io n
"' ,-. 0 ±
just the position of the safety belt to match your body size .
- height -adjustable front seats.
A WARNING
Improperly positioned safety belts can
cause serious personal injury in an acci
dent .
- The shoulder belt should lie as close to
the center of the collar bone as possible
and should fit well on the body. Hold the
belt above the latch tongue and pull it
evenly across the chest so that it sits as
low as possible on the pelvis and there is
no pressure on the abdomen. The belt
should always fit snugly
¢ fig. 147. Pull
on the belt to tighten if necessary.
- The lap belt portion of the safety belt
must be positioned as Low as possible
across pelvis and never over the abdo
men. Make sure the belt lies flat and
snug
¢ fig . 147 . Pull on the belt to tight
en if necessary.
Safety belts 13 7
-A loose-fitting safety belt can cause seri
ous injuries by shifting its position on
your body from the strong bones to more
vulnerable, soft tissue and cause serious injury.
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS and
other important information
¢page 135.
Pregnant women must also be correctly
restrained
The best way to protect the fetus is to make
sure that expectant mothers always wear
safety belts correctly -throughout the preg
nancy.
Fig. 148 Safety bel t position during pregnancy
To provide maximum protect ion, safety belts
must always be positioned correctly on the
wearer's body¢
page 13 7.
.,. Adjust the front seat and head restraint cor
rectly
¢ page 60, Seats and storage.
.,. Make sure the seatback of the rear seat
bench is in an upright position and securely
latched in place before using the belt .
.,. Hold the belt by the tongue and pull it even
ly across the chest and pelvis~
fig. 148,
¢ _& .
.,. Insert the tongue into the correct buckle of
your seat until you hear it latch securely
¢page 136, fig. 146 .
.,. Pull on the belt to make sure that it is se
curely latched in the buckle.

140 Airbag system
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, always:
• Adjust the driver's seat and steering wheel
properly ¢
page 122,
• Adjust the front passenger's seat properly
r=; page 61,
• Wear safety be lts properly ¢ page 135,
• Always properly use the proper child re-
straint to protect children ¢
page 161.
In a collision airbags must inflate within the
blink of an eye and with considerable force.
The supplemental airbags can cause injuries if
the dr iver or the front seat passenger is not
seated properly . Therefore in order to help the
a ir bag to do its job, it is important, both as a
d river and as a passenger to sit prope rly at all
times.
By keeping room between your body and the
steering wheel and the front of the passenger
compartment, the airbag can inflate fully and
comp letely and provide supplemental protec
tion in ce rtain frontal collisions
¢page 122,
Proper occupant seating positions.
F or details
on the operation of the seat adjustment con
t rols ¢
page 61.
It's especially important that children are
properly restrained ¢
page 161.
There is a lot that the driver and the passen
ge rs can and must do to help the individua l
safety features installed in your A udi work to
gether as a system.
Proper seating pos ition is important so that
the front airbag on the driver side can do its
job. If yo u have a physical impa irment or con- dition that
prevents you from sitting properly
on the driver seat with the safety belt properly
fastened and reaching the pedals , spec ial
modif ications to your vehicle may be necessa
ry.
Contact your a uthorized Audi dealer, or call
Audi C ustomer Relations at 1-800-822-2834 .
When the airbag sys tem dep loys , a gas gener
ator will f ill the airbags, break open the pad
ded covers, and inflate between the steering
whee l and the driver and between the instru
ment pane l and the front passenger. The air
bags will deflate immediately after deploy
ment so that the front occupants can see
th rough the windshield aga in without inter
ruption .
All of this takes place in the blink of an eye, so
fast that many people don't even realize that
the a irbags have deployed . The airbags also
inflate with a great deal of force and nothing
shou ld be in their way when they deploy.
Front airbags in comb ination with prope rly
worn safety belts slow down and limit the oc
cupant's forward movement. Together they
help to prevent the driver and front seat pas
senger from hitting parts of the inside the ve
hicle while reducing the forces acting on the
occupant dur ing the crash. In this way they
help to reduce the risk of injury to the head
and upper body in the crash . A irbags do not
protect the arms or the lower parts of the
body.
Both front a irbags w ill not inflate in all fronta l
collisions . The triggering of the airbag system
depends on the vehicle deceleration rate
caused by the collision and registered by the
electron ic control unit. If this rate is below
the reference value programmed into the con
trol unit, the airbags will not be triggered ,
even though the car may be bad ly damaged as
a result of the co llision . Vehicle damage, re
pair costs or even the lack of veh icle damage
is no t necessarily an indication of whether an
airbag should inflate or not .
It is not possib le to define a range of vehicle
speeds that w ill cover every possib le kind and .,.

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 ro ll-overs .
Alwa ys rem ember : Airbags will deploy only
once, and only in certa in kinds of collisions .
Your safety belts are always there to offer pro
tection in those s ituations in which airbags
are not supposed to deploy , or when they have
a lready deployed ; fo r example , when yo ur ve
h icle strikes or is struck by another after the
first collision .
This is just one of the reasons why an a irbag is
a supplementary restra int and is not a s ubst i
tute for a safety belt . The airbag system
works most effectively when used with the
safety belts. Therefore, always properly wear
your safety belts
¢ page 132.
A WARNING
Sitting too close to the steer ing wheel or
instrument panel will decrease the effec
tiveness of the airbags and will increase
the risk of pe rsonal injury in a co llision .
- Never sit closer than
10 inches (25 cm)
to the stee ring wheel or instrument pan
el.
- If you cannot sit more than
10 i nches
(25 cm) from the steer ing whee l, investi
gate whether adaptive equipment may
be available to help you reach the pedals
and increase your seating dis tance from
the steering wheel.
- If you are unrestrained, lean ing fo rward,
sitting sideways or out of position in any
way, yo ur risk of inj ury is much highe r.
- You w il l also receive serio us inju 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.
- To reduce the r isk o f injury when an air
bag inflates, a lways wear safety belts
proper ly ¢
page 135, Safety belts .
Airbag system 141
-Always make certain that chi ld ren age 12
or younger a lways ride in the rear seat. If
children are not properly restrained, they may be severe ly inju red or killed when an
airbag inf lates .
- Never let ch ildren ride unrestra ined or
improperly restrained in the vehicle . Ad
just the front seats prope rly.
- Never ride with the backrest reclined.
- Always sit as far as possible from the
steer ing whee l or the instrument pane l
¢page 122.
-Always sit upright with your back against
the backrest of your seat.
- Never p lace your feet on the instrument
panel or on the seat. Always keep both
feet on the f loor in front of the seat to
he lp prevent serio us in juries to the legs
a nd h ips if the airbag inflates.
- Never recline the front passenger 's seat
to tra nsport objects. Items can a lso
move i nto the area of the s ide a irbag or
the front a irbag du ring bra king or in a
sud den maneuve r. Obje cts ne ar the air
bags can become projectiles and cause
injury when an airbag inflates.
_&. WARNING ~
A irbags that have de ployed in a crash must
be replaced.
- Use on ly original equipment airbags ap
proved by Audi and installed by a trai ned
technician who has the necessary too ls
and d iagnost ic equipment to properly re
place any airbag in your vehicle and as
sure system effectiveness in a crash .
- Never perm it salvaged or recycled air
bags to be installed in your vehicle .
Child restraints on the front seat - some
important things to know
.,. Be su re to read t he importa nt information
and head the WARNINGS fo r important de
tails about children and Advanced Airbags
¢ page 161. ..,.
•
•

142 Airbag system
Even though your vehicle is equipped with an
Advanced Airbag System, make certain that
all chi ldren, especially those 12 years and
younger, a lways ride in the back seat properly
restrained for their age and size. The airbag
on the passenger side makes the front seat a potentially dangerous place for a ch ild to ride.
The front seat is not the safest place for a
child in a forward-facing child safety seat. It
can be a very dangerous place for an infant or
a child in a rearward-facing seat.
The Advanced Airbag System in your veh icle
has been certified to comply with the Requ ire
ments of United States Federal Motor Vehicle
Safety Standard 208 as applicable at the time
your vehicle was manufactured.
The Standard requires the front a irbag on the
passenger side to be turned off ("sup
pressed") if a child up to about one year 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 Airbag System in your vehicle
was certified has been installed on the front passenger seat . For a listing of the child re
strai nts that we re used to certify compliance
with the US Safety Standard
r=v page 163.
The PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light in the in
strument panel te lls you when the front Ad
vanced A irbag on the passenger side has been
turned off by the e lectronic control unit.
Each t ime you turn on the ignition, the
PAS
SENGER AIR BAG OFF
light 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,
- wi ll go off if the front passenger seat is oc
cupied by an adult as registered by the
weight-sensing mat
r=v page 150, Monitor
ing the Advanced Airbag System .
The PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes on
when the control un it detects a total weight
on the front passenger seat that requires the
front airbag 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
chi ld but less than the weight of a small
adult, the front airbag on the passenger side
can deploy (the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light does not come on). 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 electronic con trol unit
and can deploy if the control unit senses an
impact that meets the cond itions stored in its
memory .
For example, the airbag may deploy if:
-a small ch ild that is heav ier than a typical 1
year-old ch ild is on the front passenger seat
( re gard less of whether the child is in one of
the child safety seats listed
r=v page 163), or
- a child who has outgrown ch ild restraints is
on the front passenger seat.
If the front passenger airbag is turned off, the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes on in
the instrument cluster and stays on.
The front airbag on the passenger s ide may
not deploy (the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light does not illum inate and stay lit) even if a
small adult or teenager, or a passenger who is
not sitt ing upright with their back against a
non-reclined backrest with their feet on the
vehicle floor in front of the seat is on the front
passenger seat
r=v page 122, Proper seating
position for the driver.
If the front passenger airbag deploys, the
Federal Standard requires the airbag to meet
the "low risk" deployment criteria to reduce
the risk of injury t hroug h interaction with the
airbag. "Low risk" deployment occurs in those
crashes that take place at lower dece lerat ions
as defined in the electronic control unit
r=v page 151, PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light .
Always remember, a child safety seat or infant
carr ier installed on the front seat may be
struck and knocked out of posit ion by the rap
idly inflat ing passenger's airbag in a frontal
collision . The air bag could greatly reduce the
effectiveness of the ch ild restraint and even
seriously injure the child during inflation .

For this reason, and because the back seat is
the safest place for children - when properly restrained according to their age and size - we
strongly recommend that children always sit in the back seat
Q page 161, Child Safety.
A WARNING
-
A child in a rearward-facing child safety seat installed on the front passenger seat
w ill be seriously injured and can be k illed if
the front a irbag inflates - even with an Ad
vanced Airbag System.
- T he inflating a irbag w ill hit the child
safety seat or infant carrier w ith great
force and w ill smash the ch ild safety sea t
and child against the backrest, cente r
armrest, door or roof .
- Always install rear -facing child safety
seats on the rear seat.
- If you mus t inst all a rearward facing
child safety seat on the front passenger
seat beca use of exceptional circumstan
ces and the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
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 your
authorized Aud i dealer .
- Forward-fac ing ch ild safety seats instal
led on the front passenger's seat may in
terfe re with the deployment of the air
bag and cause se rious personal injury to
the ch ild.
A WARNING
If, in exceptional c irc umstances, you mus t
install a forwa rd-facing child restra int on
the front passenger's seat:
- Alw ays make sure the forw ard -fac ing
sea t has been des igned and certified by
its manufacturer for use on a front seat
with a passenger front and side airbag.
- Never put the forward -facing child re
straint up aga inst or very near the instru
ment pane l.
- Always move the passenger seat into its
rearmost position in the seat's fore and
A irbag system 143
aft ad justment range, as far away from
the airbag as possible before installing
the forward-fac ing ch ild restraint. The
backrest must be adj usted to an upright
position .
- Make sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
li ght comes on and stays on all the
time wheneve r the ignit ion is switched
on.
A WARNING
T o reduce the risk of ser ious injury, make
su re that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light w ill be displayed whenever a child re
straint is installed on the front passenger
seat and the ignition is switched on.
- If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not s tay on, per form the checks de
scribed
Q page 150, Monitoring the Ad
vanced Airbag System.
- Take the 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 light does not stay on.
- Have the airbag system inspected by
your author ized Audi dealer immed iate
ly .
-Always carefu lly follow instr uctions from
child restraint manufacturers when in
stall ing ch ild restra ints .
A WARNING
If, in except iona l circumstances, you must
install a forward or rearward-facing child
restra int on the front passenger's seat :
- Improper instal lation of ch ild restraints
can reduce their effectiveness o r even
prevent them from providing any protec
tion.
- An improper ly installed ch ild restra int
can interfere with the airbag as it de
ploys and seriously i njure o r even kill the
child -even with an Advanced Airbag
System.
- Always carefu lly follow the manufact ur
er 's ins tructions p rov ided with the ch ild
safety seat or carrier . •
•

144 Airbag system
-Never place additiona l items on the seat
that can increase the total weight regis
tered by the weight-sensing mat and can
cause injury in a crash.
Front airbags
Description of front airbags
The airbag system can provide supplemental
protection to properly restrained front seat
occupants.
F ig . 150 Location of driver airbag: in steer ing whee l
Fig. 151 Location of front passenger's airbag: in the in
strument panel
Your veh icle is equipped with an "Advanced
A irbag System" in compliance with United
States Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard ( FM VSS) 208 as app licab le at the time your
ve hicl e was manufac tured. The system senses
the position of the front seats and controls
front airbag inflation with a valve, depending
on the distance between the respect ive seat
and the steering wheel or instrument panel.
The safety belts for the seats have "preten
sioners" that he lp to take slack out of the belt
system . The pretensioners a re also activated
by the electron ic cont ro l unit for the ai rbag
system. T
he front safety belts also have load limiters
to help reduce the forces applied to the body
i n a crash .
T he airbag for the drive r is in the stee ring
whee l hub¢
fig. 150 and the airbag for the
front passenger is in the instrument panel
~ fig. 151. The general locat ion of the a irbags
is marked "AIRBAG".
T here is a lot you need to know about the ai r
bags in your vehicle. We urge you to read the
detailed information about 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 importa nt for your safety and
the safety of your passengers, especially in
fants and small chi ldren.
_&. WARNING
Neve r rely on airbags alone for p rotection.
- Even w hen they deploy, airbags provide
only s upplement al pro te ctio n.
- Airbag work most effect ive ly when used
with p roperly wor n safety bel ts.
- Therefore, always wea r you r safety belts
a nd make sure tha t eve rybody in your ve
h icle is properly res trained.
_&. WARNING
A pe rson on the front passenger seat, es
pe cial ly infa nts and sm all ch ildren, w ill re
ceive serio us inju ries and can even be kil
l ed by being too close to the airbag when
it inflates .
- Although t he Advanced Airbag System in
your veh icle is designed to tur n off the
front passenger airbag if an infant or a
small child is on the front passe nger
seat, nobody can absolutely guarantee
that deployment under these special
conditions is imposs ible in all conceiva
b le sit uat ions that may happen during
the useful life of your vehicle.
- The Advanced Airbag System can dep loy
i n acco rdance with the "low risk" option
unde r the U.S . Feder al Standard if a child
that is heav ie r 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
manufactured.
The front Advanced Airbag System supple ments the safety belts to provide additional
protection for the driver's and front passeng
er's heads and upper bodies in frontal crashes.
The airbags inflate only in frontal impacts
when the vehicle deceleration is high enough.
The 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 ai rbag 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.
T he 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
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
Airbag system 145
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 163 , 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 163,
-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 ,
but less than the weight of a small adult, the
front airbag on the passenger side may deploy
(the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does not
come on). ..,. •
•