152 Airbag system
examp le, increase the force levels measured
by the sensors and make the airbag system
deploy in crashes in wh ich it would not deploy
if the changes had not been made. Other
kinds of changes may reduce the force levels
measured by the sensors and prevent the air
bag from deploying when it should .
The sensors in the safety belt buckle for the
driver and front passenger seat tell the elec
tronic control module if the safety belt is latched or not. If the safety belt is being used,
the front airbag will deploy at a slightly high
er rate of vehicle deceleration than if the safe
ty belt is not being used. Therefo re, in a par
ticular co llision, it is poss ible that an airbag
will not deploy at a seating position where the
safety belt is being used but will inflate at the position where the safety belt is not being
used.
It is important that nothing interfere
with the safety belt buckles so that the sen
sors can send the correct information about
safety belt use to the electron ic cont ro l unit.
A WARNING
Changing the vehicle 's s uspension includ
ing u se of unapproved tire-rim combina
tions can change Advan ced Airb ag per
formance and increase the risk of serious
personal in jury in a c rash.
- Never ins tall suspens io n components
that do not have the same performance characteristics as the components origi
nally insta lled on your vehicle.
- Never use tire- rim combinations that
have not been approved by A udi.
~ WARNING
-
Items stored between the safety belt
buckle and the center console can cause
the senso rs in the buckle to send the
wrong informat ion to the elect ro n ic con
trol modu le and prevent the Advanced A ir
bag System from wor king proper ly.
- Always make sure that noth ing can inte r-
fere w ith the safety belt buckles and that
they are not obstructed.
Knee airbags
Description of knee a irbags
Applies to vehicles: with knee airbags
The knee airbag system can provide supple
mental protection to properly restrained
front seat occupants .
Fig . 1 36 Driver 's knee airbag
T he driver knee airbag is in the ins trumen t
pane l underneath t he steering whee l
¢ fig. 136, the knee airbag for the passenger
is at about the same height in the instrument
pane l underneath the g love compartment.
T he knee airbag offe rs additional p rotection
to the driver 's and passenger's knees and up
per and lower th igh areas and supplements
the protection provided by the safety belts.
If t he front airbags dep loy , the knee ai rbags
also dep loy in frontal coll isio ns when the de
ployment thresho ld stored in the contro l unit
is met
¢ page 146, More important things to
know about front airbags .
In addition to their norma l safety function,
safety belts help keep the dr iver or front pas
senger in position in a fronta l collision so that
the a irbags can provide supplemental protec
t ion .
The airbag system is not a substit ute for your
safety belt . Rather, it is part of the overa ll oc
cupant restra int system in your vehicle. Al
ways remember that the a irbag system can
o nly help to protect you if you are weari ng
your safety belt and wea ring i t proper ly. This
is why you should always wear your safety
b elt, no t jus t be ca use the law requi res you to
do so
r::!;> page 129, General notes .
182 Intelligent technology
-Always accelerate with specia l care on
even, smooth surfaces s uch as those that
are wet or covered with ice and snow.
The drive whee ls can spin even with
these ass istance systems that canno t al
ways help to reduce the risk of loss of ve hicle control.
(i_) Tips
-ABS and ASR on ly wor k correctly when
all four wheels a re eq uipped w ith ident i-
Switching on/off
cal tires. Diffe ren t tire sizes can lead to a
reduction in engine power.
- Yo u may hear noises when the systems
descri bed are worki ng.
- If the in dicator ligh t
bl or t!lJ (USA
models)/ [IJ (Ca nada models) ap pears,
there may be a malfunction
¢page 18,
¢page 19.
ESC turns on automatically when you start the engine.
Fig . 15 3 Version A: lower center console,~ OFF but·
ton
The ESC is designed to function in levels . De
pending on the leve l that is selected, the sta
b ili zat io n function of the ESC is limited or
switched off. The amount of stabilizat ion con
trol will d iffe r depend ing on the level.
The following situations are exceptions where
it may be useful to switch on sport mode to
allow the whee ls to spin:
Fig. 154 Versio n B: uppe r ce nter console,~ OFF but·
to n
-Rocking the vehicle to free it when it is st uck
- Driving in deep snow or on loose g round
- Dr iving with snow c hains
