2014 AUDI R8 SPYDER warning

114 Airbag sys te m
the front airbag inf lates -even with an Ad­
vanced Airbag System.
- The inflating airbag will hit the child
safety seat or infant carrier with great
force and w ill smash the ch ild safety seat
and child against the backrest, door or
roof.
- Never install a rearward facing child
safety seat on the front passenge r seat
unless the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light comes on and stays on . If the PAS­
SENGER AIR BAG OFF
light does not
come on and stay on the infla ting airbag
wi ll hi t the child safe ty seat or infant car­
rie r with great force and will smash the
child safety seat and child against the
backrest, door or roof . Have the airbag
system inspected immediately by your
authorized 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 personal injury to
the ch ild.
A WARNING
If, in exceptional c ircumstances, you must
install a forwa rd-facing child restra int on
t he fron t passenger's seat:
- Always make sure the forward-fac ing
sea t has been des igned and certified by
i t s manufac turer for use on a fro nt sea t
with a passenger front an d side airbag.
- Never put the forwa rd-f acing child re­
s t rain t up aga inst or very near the inst ru ­
ment pane l.
- Always move t he passenger seat into i ts
rearmost position in the seat 's fore and
aft adjustment ran ge, as far away from
the a irbag as poss ible before installing
the forward-facing child restraint . The
backrest must be adjusted to an upr ight
posit ion.
- Make sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
light comes on and stays on all the
t ime whenever the ignition is switched
on .
A WARNING
To reduce the risk of serious injury, make
sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light w ill be displayed whenever a child re­
straint is insta lled on the front passenger
sea t and the igni tion is sw itched on .
- If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not stay on, perform the checks de­
s cri bed
~ page 121, Monitoring the Ad­
vanced Airbag System.
- Have the airbag system inspected by
your Aud i dea le r i mmedia tely .
- Always carefu lly follow instr uctions from
child res tra in t manufacture rs whe n in­
s tall ing c hild restr aints .
A WARNING
If, in except iona l circumst ances, yo u m ust
i nst all a forward or rearwa rd -f acing child
r estraint on t he front passenger's seat :
- I mp roper ins tallation o f ch ild restra ints
can reduce their effectiveness o r even
prevent them from providing any protec­
tion .
- An improper ly installed c hild restra int
can interfere with the airbag as it de­ p loys and seriously injure or even k ill the
child -even with an Advanced Airbag
System .
- Always carefully follow the manufactur­
er 's instructions prov ided with the chi ld
safety seat or carrier .
- Never p lace add itiona l items on the seat
that ca n increase the total weight reg is­
tered by the weig ht-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 .
Fig. 117 Loca tion of driver airbag: in steering whee l
Fig. 118 Locatio n of front passe nger 's ai rb ag : in th e in­
st rument panel
Your vehicle is equipped with an "Advanced
Airbag System" in compliance w ith United
States Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard
(FMVSS) 208 as app licable at the time your
veh icle was manufactured . The safety be lts
fo r the front seats have "pretensioners" that
h e lp to take s lack out of the belt system. The
pretensioners are also activated by the elec ­
tronic control unit for the airbag system.
The fron t safety belts a lso have load limiters
to help reduce the forces applied to the body
in a crash.
The airbag for the driver is in the steer ing
wheel hub¢
fig. 117 and the airbag for the
fro nt passenger is in the instrumen t panel
¢ fig . 118. The genera l location of the airbags
is marked "AIRBAG".
There is a lot you need to know about the air­
b ags in your veh icle. We urge you to read the
A irba g sy stem 115
detailed information about airbags, safety
belts and child safety in this and the other
chapters t hat make up t he owner's literature .
Please be sure to heed the WARNINGS - they
are extremely important for your safety and
the safety of your passengers, especially in ­
fants and small child ren.
A WARNING ,.;;
Neve r rely on airbags alone for protection .
- Even when they deploy, airbags provide
only s upplementa l protect ion.
- Airbag work most effective ly when used
with properly wor n safety belts.
- Therefore, always wear your safety belts
and make sure that everybody in your ve­
hicle is p roperly restrained.
A WARNING
A person on the front passenger seat, es­
pec ia lly infants and sma ll children, will re­
ceive serious i njuries and can even be kil ­
l ed by being too close to the ai rbag when
it inflates .
- Al tho ugh the A dvanced Airbag Sys tem in
your veh icle is designed to tur n off the
front passenger airbag if an infant or a
sma ll child is on t he front passenger
seat, nobody can absolutely guarantee
that deployment under these special
conditions is imposs ible in all conceiva­
ble situat ions that may happen during
the useful life of your veh icle .
- The Advanced Airbag System can dep loy
in acco rdance with the "low risk" option
unde r the U .S. Fede ral Standa rd if a child
that is heav ie r than the typical one-year
old c hild is on the front pas senge r seat
and the other condi tions for airbag de­
p loyment are met .
- For its own safe ty, a c hild sho uld always
ride proper ly restrained for its age and
size .
Advanced front airbag system
-
Your vehicle is equipped with a front Advanced
Airbag System in compliance with United
Ill>

-a small adu lt or teenager is on the front pas­
senger seat
- a passenger who is not sitting upright w ith
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.
I f 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 injury through interaction
with the airbag. "Low risk" deployment occurs in those crashes that take place at lower de­
celerations as defined in the electron ic control
un it
¢ page 121 .
Always rem emb er: Please be sure to read the
important information in the sections that
follow and be sure to heed all of the WARN ­
INGS.
A WARNING
T o reduce the risk of injury when an ai rbag
inflates, a lways wear safety belts prope rly.
- If you are unrestrained, lean ing forward,
sitting sideways or out of position in any
way, your risk of inj ury is much higher.
- You w ill also receive serious inju ries and
cou ld even be killed if you are up against
the a irb ag or too close to it whe n it in­
flates - even with an Advanced Airbag
¢page 111 .
.&_ 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 inf lates - even with an Ad­
vanced Airbag System.
- Although the Advanced Airbag System in
your vehicle is designed to turn off the
front a irbag when a rearward-fac ing
child restraint has been installed on the
front passenger seat, nobody can abso­ l u te ly guarantee that deployment is im­
poss ible in al l conceivable situations th at
may happen d uring the useful life of your
vehicle.
A irbag system 117
-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 against the backrest, doo r, or
roof.
- If you must install a rearward fac ing
child safety seat on the front passenger
seat because of exceptional c ircumstan­
ces and t he
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light does not come on and stay on have
the airbag sys tem ins pected by your Audi
dea ler.
.&_ WARNING
I f, in except iona l circumstances, you must
install 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 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
rea rmost pos ition in the seat's fore and
aft ad justment range, as far away from
the airbag as possible, before installing
the forward-fac ing ch ild restra int. The
backrest must be ad justed to an upright
position.
- Ma ke sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
li ght comes on and stays o n all the
time wheneve r the ig nit io n is swit ched
on.
Advanced Airbag System components
T he front passenge r seat in yo ur vehicle has a
lot of very important parts of the Advanced
Airbag System in it . These parts include the
weight-sensing mat, sensors, wiring, brack­ ets, and more. The funct ion of the system in
the front passenger seat is checked by the
electronic control unit when the ignition is on .
The cont rol unit monito rs the Advanced A ir­
bag System and turns the airbag indicator
l igh t on when a malfunct ion in the system
•
•

118 Airbag 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 received from the crash sensors. The control
unit also "decides" whether the safety belt
pre tensioners should be activated.
- An Advanced Ai rbag with gas generator for
the driver inside the steering wheel hub.
- An Advanced Airbag with gas generator in­
side the inst rument 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 information 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
¢page 121.
- The PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes
on and stays on in the center of the instru­
ment panel ¢
page 122, fig. 120 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
¢ page 112, 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 informa tion 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.
- 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 .,..

restraints 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 add itional padd ing will prevent
the weight-sens ing mat in the seat from
accurately reg istering the ch ild restra int
or person on the seat and preve nt the
Advanced Airbag System from func tion­
ing properly .
- If you must use a child restra int on the
front passenger seat and the ch ild re­
straint manufacturer's instructions re­
quire the use of a towel, foam cush ion or
something else to properly position the
child restraint, make certa in that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes
on and stays on whenever the child re­
st ra int is installed on the front passen­
ger seat .
- If the
PA SSE NGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not come on and stay on, 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 s upplement the protection of­
fered by the front three-point safety be lts
with pretensioners and load limiters and the
adjustab le head restra ints to he lp reduce the
risk of injury in a wide range of acc ident and
crash situat ions . Be sure to read the impor­
tant information about safety and heed the
WARNINGS in this chapter .
Deployment of the Advanced Airbag System
and the act ivat ion of the safety be lt preten­
sioners depend on the dece le rat ion measured
by the c rash sensors and registered by the
e lectronic control un it . Crash severity depends
on speed and dece leration as well as the mass
and stiffness of the vehicle or object involved in the crash .
Airbag system 119
When the electronic control unit registers a
low severity cras h and the safety belt is being
used, the airbag will not dep loy. If the safety
belt is not being used, the first stage deploys,
followed by the second stage after a much lat­ er t ime in the crash sequence.
If the electron ic 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 be ing
used or not . In higher sever ity crashes as reg­
iste red by the elect roni c cont rol unit, bot h the
first and se cond s tages deploy almost at the
same t ime.
On the passenger side, regardless of safety
belt use, the airbag w ill be tu rned off if the
weight on the passenger sea t is less than the
amount programmed in the electronic control
u nit . The front airbag on the passenger side
will a lso be turned off if one of the child safe­
ty seats that has been certified under Federal
Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208 has been
recognized on the seat. The
PASS ENGER A IR
BAG OFF light comes on and stays on to tell
you when the front Adva nced A irbag on the
passenger side has been turned off
¢ page 112, Child restraints on the front seat
- some important things to know .
_&. WARNING ~
To reduce the risk of inj ury when an a irbag
inflates, always wear safety be lts properly.
- If you are unrestrained, leaning forward,
sitting sideways or o ut o f position in any
way, your risk of injury is m uch higher.
- You will a lso receive serious injuries and
could even be killed if yo u are up against
the airbag or too close to it when it in­
f lates -even with an Advanced A irbag
¢page 111.
•
•

120 Airbag system
More important things to know about
front airbags
F ig. 1 19 Inflated fro nt airbags
Safety belts are impo rtant to help keep fro nt
seat occupants in the p roper seated pos it io n
so that airbags can unfo ld prope rly and pro­
vide supplemental protection in a fronta l co l­
lision .
The front a irbags are designed to provide ad­
d itiona l protect ion for the chest a nd face of
the dr iver and the front seat passenger when:
- safety belts are worn properly,
- the seats have been positioned so that the
occupant is properly seated as far as possi­
ble from the a irbag,
- and the head restraints have been properly
adjusted .
Because airbags inflate in the blink of an eye
with great force, things you have on your lap or have placed on the seat could become dan­
gerous projectiles, and be pushed into you if
the airbag inflates .
When an a irbag deploys, fine dust is released.
This is normal and is not caused by a fire in
the vehicle . This dust is made up mostly of a
powder used to lubricate the airbags as they
deploy. It cou ld irritate ski n.
It is important to remember that while the
supp lemental airbag system is designed to re­
duce the l ikelihood of serious inj uries, other
i n juries, fo r example swelling, bruisi ng and
m inor abrasions, ca n also happe n when air­
bags in flate. Airbags do not protect the a rms
or the lower pa rts of the body. Front airbags
only supplement the t hree point safety belts
in some frontal collisions in which the vehicle deceleration
is high eno ugh to deploy the air ­
bags .
Front airbags will not deploy:
- if the ignition is sw itched off when a c rash
occu rs,
- in side co llisions,
- in rear-end co llisions,
- in rollovers,
-when the crash deceleration measured by the airbag system is less than the min imum
threshold needed for a irbag deployment as
reg istered by the electronic control unit .
The front pass enge r airbag will al so not
deploy:
- when the front passenger seat is not occu­
p ied,
- when the weight on the front passenger
seat as sensed by the Advanced Airbag Sys ­
tem indicates that the front ai rbag on the
passenger side has to be turned off by the
elec troni c control un it (the
PASSENGER AIR
BAG OFF
li ght comes on and stays o n).
_&. WARNING ~
Si tting in the wrong position can increase
the r isk o f se rious injury i n crashes.
- To reduce the risk of inju ry w he n t he air ­
bags inflate, the drive r and passengers
m ust always sit in an upr ight position,
m ust not lean aga inst or place any part
of their b ody too close to the area where
the airbags a re located .
- Occupants who are unbelted, out of posi­
tion or too close to the a irbag can be se­
rio usly injured by a n airbag as it unfolds
wit h great force in the blink of an eye
<=:>page 112 .
_&. WARNING ~ -
A child in a rearward-fac ing c hild safety
seat installed on the front passenger seat
will be serio usly injured a nd ca n be killed if
the front air bag in fla tes -even with an Ad­
vanced A irbag Sys tem.

-The inflating airba g will hit the child
safety seat or infant carrier wit h great
f o rce and w ill smash t he ch ild safety seat
and child aga inst the backrest, cente r
arm rest, d oor or roof.
- Never install a r earward facing child
sa fety seat on the front pass eng er s eat
unless the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light c omes on and stays on. If the PAS­
S ENGER AIR BAG OFF
ligh t does no t
c o m e on and stay on, the inflating airbag
will hit the child safety seat or infant car­
rier with great force and will smash the
child safety seat and child against the
backrest, door or roof. Have the airbag
system inspected immediately by your
authorized Audi dealer .
A WARNING
Objects between you and the a irbag will
increase the risk of injury in a crash by in­
terfering with the way the airbag unfolds
or by being pushed into you as the a irbag
inflates.
- Never hold th ings in your hands or on
your lap when the vehicle is in use .
- Never transport items on or in the area
of the front passenge r seat. Objects
cou ld move into the area of the front air­
bags dur ing braking or other s udden ma­
neuver and become dangerous projec ­
ti les that can cause serious personal in­
jury if the airbags inflate.
- Never place o r attach accessories or oth­
er objects (such as cup ho lders, tele­
phone brackets, large, heavy or b ulky ob­
jects) on the doors, over or near the area
marked "AIRBAG" on the steering wheel,
instrument panel, seat backrests or be­
tween those a reas and yourself. These
objects could cause injury in a crash, es­
pecially when the airbags inflate.
- Never recline the front passenger's seat
to transport objects. Items can also
move in to the area of the side airbag or
the front airbag dur ing braking or in a
sudden maneuver . Objects near the air -
-
Airbag system 12 1
bags can become projectiles and cause
inju ry, partic ularly when the seat is re­
clined.
A WARNING
The fine dust created when airbags deploy
can cause breathing prob lems for people
with a history of asthma or other breath­
ing cond itions.
- To reduce the risk of breath ing problems,
those with asthma o r other respiratory
conditions shou ld get fresh air r ight
away by getting o ut of the veh icle or
open ing windows or doors.
- If you are in a collision in which airbags
deploy, was h your hands and fa ce with
mild soap and wate r before ea ting.
- Be ca reful not to get the dust into your
eyes, o r into any cuts or sc ratches .
- If the resid ue should get into your eyes,
f lush them w ith wate r.
Monitoring the
Advanced Airbag System
t!~ Airbag monitoring indicator light
Two separate indicators monitor the function
of the Advan ced Airbag System: the airbag
monitoring indi cator light and the
PASSEN ­
GER AIR BAG OFF
light.
T he Advanced A irbag System (including the
electron ic co ntro l unit, sensor circu its and sys­
tem wir ing) is monitored con tinuously to
make sure that it is functioning properly
whenever the ignition is on. Each time you
turn on the ignition, the a irbag mon itoring in­
dicator light
I will come on for a few seconds
(self diagnostics).
The sy stem mu st be in spected when th e
indicator light
I :
- does not come on when the ignition is
sw itched on,
- does not go out a few seconds after you
have switched on t he ignition, or
•
•

122 Airbag sys te m
- comes on while driving .
I f an airbag system malfunct ion is detected ,
the ind icator light will first start flash ing to
ca tch the d river's attention and then stay on
continuously to serve as a constant reminder
to have the system inspected immed iately.
I f a malfunction occurs that turns the front
a irbag on the passenger side off, the
PA SS EN­
GER AIR BAG OFF
li ght will come on and stay
on whenever the ignition is on .
A WARNING
An airbag system that is not funct ioning
properly cannot provide supplemental pro­
tection in a frontal crash.
- If the airbag indicator light comes on, it
means that there may be someth ing
wrong with the Advanced Airbag System .
It is possible that the airbag will inflate
when it is not supposed to, or w ill not in­
flate when it should.
- Have the airbag system inspected imme­
diately by your Aud i dealer .
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
Fig. 120 Sect ion from t he instru men t pan el: PASS EN­
G ER AIR BA G OFF ligh t
The PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light is located
i n the center of the instr ument panel
¢ fig. 120.
The PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light will come
on and stay on to tell you when the front Ad­
v a nced A irbag on the passenger side has been
turned off by the e lectronic control unit. Ea ch
time you tu rn on the ig nition, the
PASSEN­
GER AIR BAG OFF
li ght will flash for a few
seconds and: -
w ill s tay on i f the front passenger seat is not
occupied,
- will stay on i f there is a small ch ild or child
restrai nt on the front passenger seat,
- w ill go out i f the front passenger sea t is oc­
cupied by an adult as registered by the
weight-sensing mat .
T he
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light must
come on and stay on
if the igni tion is on and
- a car bed has been installed on the front
seat, or
- a rearward-facing child rest raint has been
installed on the front passenger seat, o r
- a forward -fac ing ch ild restra int has been in­
stalled on the front passenger seat, or
- the we ight reg istered on the front passen ­
ge r seat is equal to or less than t he com­
bined weight of a typical 1 year-old restra in­
ed in one of the rear-facing or forwa rd-fac ­
ing infan t restra ints listed in Feder al Motor
Ve hicle Safety Standa rd 208 wi th wh ich the
Advanced Airbag System in your vehicle was
certified.
If t he front passenger seat is not occupied,
the front airbag wi ll not dep loy, and t he
PAS­
SENGER AIR BAG OFF
light will stay on . Nev ­
er install a rearward-facing child rest raint on
the front passenger seat¢
page 112, Child
restrain ts on the front sea t-some impor tan t
things to know
and ¢ page 132, Child Safe ty.
If the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light come s
on
when one of the cond itions listed above is
met, be sure to check the lig ht regu larly to
make certain tha t the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
light stays on continuously whenever the
ignition is on .
If the PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
light does not appear and not stay on a ll
t h e time, s top as soon as i t is safe to do so
and
- reactivate the system by t urning the ig nition
off and then turning it on again;
- remove and reinstall the child restra int.
Make s ure that the ch ild restra int is proper ly
installed and that the safety belt for the
fro nt passenge r seat has been correctly
rou ted aro und the ch ild res tra int as .,.