2014 AUDI RS7 SPORTBACK belt

146 Airbag system
-Always carefully follow instructions from
child restraint manufacturers when in­
stalling child restraints.
_& WARNING
If, in exceptional circumstances, you must
install a forward or rearward -facing child
restraint on the front passenger's seat:
- Improper installation of child restraints
can reduce their effectiveness or even
prevent them from providing any protec­
tion.
- An improperly installed child restraint
can interfere with the airbag as it de­
ploys and seriously injure or even kill the
child -even with an Advanced Airbag
System.
- Always carefully follow the manufactur­
er's instructions provided with the child
seat or carrier .
- Always make sure that there is nothing
on the front passenger seat that will
cause the capacitive passenger detection
system in the seat to signal to the Airbag
System that the seat is occupied by a person when it is not, or to signal that it
is occupied by someone who is heavier
than the person actually sitting on the
seat . The presence of additional objects
could cause the passenger front airbag
to be turned on when it should be off, or
could cause the airbag to work in a way
that is different from the way it wou ld
have worked without the object on the
seat.
Front airbags
Description of front airbags
The airbag system can provide supplemental
protection to properly restrained front seat occupants .
Fig. 159 Locat io n of drive r ai rbag: in steering wh eel
Fig. 160 Locat io n of fron t passenger' s air bag: in the in·
st rument panel
Your vehicle is equipped with an "Advanced
Airbag System" in compliance with United
States Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard
(FMVSS) 208 as applicable at the time your
vehicle was manufactured. The system senses
the position of the front seats and controls
front airbag inflation with a valve , depending
on the distance between the respective seat
and the steering wheel or instrument panel.
The safety belts for the seats have "preten­
sioners" that help to take slack out of the belt
system. The pretensioners are also activated by the electronic control uni t for the airbag
system .
The front safety belts also have load limiters
to help reduce the forces applied to the body in a crash.
The airbag for the driver is in the steering
wheel hub¢
fig. 159 and the airbag for the
front passenger is in the instrument panel

q fig. 160. The general location of the airbags
is marked "AIRBAG".
There is a lot you need to know about the air­ 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.
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 children .
A WARNING
Never rely on airbags alone for protection.
- Even when they deploy, airbags provide only supplemental protection .
- Airbag work most effectively when used
with properly worn safety belts .
- Therefore, always wear your safety belts
and make sure that everybody in your ve­
hicle is properly restrained .
- Always hold the steering wheel with both
hands on the outside of the steering
wheel rim at the 9:00 o'clock and 3:00 o'clock positions to help reduce the risk
of personal injury if the driver's airbag in­
flates.
- Never hold the steering wheel at the 12
o'clock position or with your hands any­
where inside the steering wheel or on the
steering wheel hub. Holding the steering
wheel the wrong way increases the risk
of severe injury to the arms, hands, and
head if the driver airbag deploys .
A WARNING
Objects between you and the airbag will
increase the risk of injury in a crash by in­
terfering with the way the airbag unfolds
and/or by being pushed into you as the air­
bag inflates.
- Always make sure nothing is in the front
airbag deployment zone that could be
struck by the airbag when it inflates.
- Objects in the zone of a deploying airbag
can become projectiles when the airbag
Airbag system 147
deploys and cause serious personal in­
Jury.
- Never hold things in your hands or on
your lap when the vehicle is in use.
- Never place accessories or other objects
(such as cup holders, telephone brackets,
note pads, navigation systems, or things
that are large, heavy, or bulky) on the
doors; never attach then to the doors or
the windshield; never place them over or
near or attach them to the area marked
,,AIRBAG" on the steering wheel, instru­
ment panel or the seat backrests; never
place them between these areas and you
or any other person in the vehicle.
- Never attach objects to the windshield
above the passenger front airbag, such
as accessory GPS navigation units or mu­
sic players. Such objects could cause seri­
ous injury in a collision, especially when
the airbags inflate.
- Never recline the front passenger seat to
transport objects. Items can also move
into the deployment area of the side air­
bags or the front airbag during breaking
or in a sudden maneuver. Objects near
the airbags can fly dangerously through
the passenger compartment and cause injury, particularly when the seat is re­
clined and the airbags inflate.
WARNING
A person on the front passenger seat, es­
pecially infants and small children, will re­
ceive serious injuries and can even be kil­
led by being too close to the airbag when
it inflates.
- Although the Advanced Airbag System in
your vehicle is designed to turn off the
front passenger airbag if an infant or a
small child is on the front passenger
seat, nobody can absolutely guarantee
that deployment under these special conditions is impossible in all conceiva­
ble situations that may happen during
the useful life of your vehicle . .,.
•
•

148 Airbag system
-The Advanced Airbag System can deploy
in accordance with the .,low risk" option
for 3- and 6-year-old children under the U.S . Federal Standard if a child with elec­
trical capacitance greater than the com­ bined capacitance of a typical one-year
old infant restrained in one of the for­
ward facing or rearward-facing child
seats with which your vehicle was certi­
fied is on the front passenger seat and
the other conditions for airbag deploy­ ment 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 airbag 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.
The 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
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
c::> page 170, Child restraints and
Advanced front airbag system.
"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
i=>page 170,
-When a person is detected on the front pas­
senger seat that has an electrical capaci­
tance that is more than the total electrical
capacitance of a child that is about 1 year
old restrained in one of the rear-facing or
forward -facing infant restraints (listed in
Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208
with which the Advanced Airbag System in
your vehicle was certified) , the front airbag
on the passenger side may or may not de­
ploy.
The
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes on
when the electronic control unit detects a to­
tal electrical capacitance on the front passen­ ger seat that requires 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 condi -
tions stored in its memory. ..,_

If the total electrical capacitance registered
on the front passenger seat is more than that
of a typ ica l 1 year-old, but less than the
weight of a small adult, the front airbag on the passenger side may deploy (the
PA SSEN ­
G ER AIR BA G OFF
light does not come on) .
For example, th e air bag 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 whether the child is in one of
the chi ld seats listed
¢ page 170),
-a chi ld who has outgrown child restraints is
on the front passenger seat.
I f the front passenger airbag is turned
off, the
PA SSENGER AIR BA G OFF light in the center
of the instrument panel wi ll come on and stay
on.
If the front passenger airbag deploys, the
F ederal Standard requires the a irbag to meet
the " low risk" deployment criteria to help re­
d uce 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 electronic control
un it
o page 154 .
Alwa ys rem ember: Even though your vehicle
is equipped with Advanced Airbags, the safest
place 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 a ll of the WARNINGS.
A WARNING
To reduce the risk of injury when an airbag
inf lates, a lways wear safety belts properly.
- If you are unres trained, lean ing fo rward,
sitting sideways or out of position in any
way, your risk of inj ury is much highe r.
- You w ill also receive serio us inju ries and
cou ld even be killed if you are up against
the a irbag or too close to it when it in ­
flates -even with an Advanced Airbag
¢ page 142 .
Airbag system 149
A WARNING
A child in a rearward-fac ing ch ild seat in­
stalled on the front passenger seat will be
seriously inju red and can be killed if the
front airbag inflates -even w ith an Ad­
vanced A irbag System .
- Although the Advanced Airbag System in
your veh icle is designed to turn
off the
front airbag when a rearward-facing child res traint has been installe d on the
front passenger seat, nobody can abso ­
lutely guarantee 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 seat
or infant carrier with great force and will
smash the child seat and child against
the backrest, center armrest, door, or roof.
- Always install rearward-facing chi ld re­
straints on the rear seat .
- If you must install a rearward fac ing
child seat on the front passenger seat because of exceptional circumstances
and the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not come on and stay on, immed i­
ately in sta ll the rear-fa cing child seat in a
rea r seat ing pos ition and have the airbag
system inspected by your Audi dealer.
A WARNING ,-
If, 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 rearmost position in the seat's fore and
aft adjustment range, as far away from
the airbag as possible, before installing
the forward-fac ing ch ild restra int . Th e •
-
•

150 Airbag sys te m
backrest must be adjusted to an uprigh t
posit ion.
- Always make sure that there is nothing
on the front passenger seat that will
cause the capacitive passenger detection
system in the seat to s ignal to the A irbag
System that the seat is occupied by a
person when it is not, or to signal that it
is occupied by someone who is heavier
than the pe rson actually s itting on t he
seat. The presence of additiona l objects
cou ld cause the passenger front airbag
to be t urned on w hen it sho uld be off, or
cou ld cause the airbag to work in a way
that is different from the way it wou ld
have worked without the object on the
seat.
- Make sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BA G
OFF
light comes on and stays on all the
t ime w henever the ignition is switched
on.
Advanced Airbag System components
The front passenger seat in you r veh icle has a
l ot of very important pa rts of the Advanced
A irbag System in it . These parts include the
capacitive passenge r de tect ion sys tem, wir­
ing, brac kets, and more . The cont ro l uni t
monitors the system on the front passenger
seat when the ignition is switc hed on and
turns the airbag indicato r light on when a
malfunction in the one of the system compo­
nents is detected
c::;, page 155 . Because the
fro nt passenge r seat contains important pa rts
of the Advanced Airbag System , you must
take ca re to p revent it from being damaged.
Da mage to the seat may preven t the Ad­
vanced A irb ag System for the fron t passenger
seat from doing i ts job in a c rash .
The front Advanced Airbag System
consists of the following:
-Crash sensors in the front o f the veh icle tha t
measure veh icle acceleration/dece le ration
to provide information to the Advanced Air­ bag System about the severity of the crash. -
An elect ronic contro l unit, with integrated
crash sensors for front and sid e impacts .
T he control un it "decides" whether to fire
the front a irbags based on the inform at ion
received from the crash sensors. The control
unit also "decides" whether the safety belt prete nsioners shou ld be act ivated .
- An Advanced A irbag w ith gas generator and
contro l valve for the driver inside the steer­
ing wheel hub .
- An Advanced A irbag w ith gas generator and
contro l valve inside the inst rument panel for
the front passenger .
- A capacit ive passenger detection system u n­
de rneath the front passenger seat cover .
This system measures the elec trical capac i­
t ance of the perso n in t he seat. The informa ­
t ion regis tered is se nt cont inuo usly to the
electronic con trol un it to regu late deploy­
ment of the front Advanced Airbag on the
passenger side.
- An airbag monitoring system and indicator
light in the instr ument cluster
c::;, page 154.
- A senso r in each front seat regis ters the dis­
tance between the respective seat and the
steering whee l or instrument panel. The in ­
formation registered is sent cont inuo usly to
the electron ic contro l uni t to regulate de­
ployment of the front Adv a need A irbags .
- The
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes
on and stays on in the center of the instr u­
ment panel
c::;, page 155, fig . 162 and tells
you when the front Advanced Airbag on the
passenger side has been t urned off.
- A sensor in the safety belt latch for the driv­
er and fo r the front seat passenger that
senses w hether t hat safety belt is latched or
no t and transmi ts this information to t he
elec tronic con trol un it.
A WARNING
D amage to the fron t passenger seat can
prevent the front airbag from working
p roperly.
- Imp roper repai r or disassembly of the
front passenge r and dr iver seat will pre­
vent the Advanced Airbag System from
functioning properly .
-

152 Airbag system
things on the sea t cushion can have the
same effect. If the front passenger fron­ tal airbag is turned on, the
PASSENGER
AIR BAG OFF
light light will go out .
How the Advanced Airbag System
components work together
The front Advanced Airbag System and the
side airbags supplement the protection of­
fered by the front three -point safety be lts
with pretensioners and load limiters and the
adj ustab le head restraints* to help reduce the
risk of inju ry in a wide range of accident and
crash situa tions. Be sure to re ad the impor­
tan t information abou t safe ty and heed the
WARNINGS in this chapter .
Dep loyment of the Advanced Airbag System
and the activat ion of the safety bel t preten­
sioners depend on the decelera tion measured
by the crash sensors and registered by the
e lectronic control un it . The amount of i nfla­
tion of the front airbags can also be adapted to the front sea t position , depend ing on the
d istance between t he respective front seat
and the steering wheel o r instrument pa nel as
registered by sensors in the seats. Crash se­
ver ity depends on speed and dec elerat ion as
well as the mass and st iffness of the vehicle
or objec t invo lved in the crash .
On the passenge r side, regard less of safety
be lt use, the front passenger fronta l a irbag
will be turned off if the e lectrical capacitance
measured by the capac itive passenger de tec­
tion system on the front passenger seat is less
than the amount programmed in the electron ­
i c co ntrol unit . The front passenger frontal air­
bag will a lso be turned off if the capa cita nce
measured by the system for the front passen­
ge r seat eq ua ls tha t of an infant of abo ut one
yea r of age in one o f the child sea ts that was
used to cert ify the Advanced Airbag System
under Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard
208. The
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF li ght
comes on and stays on to tell you when the
front Advanced A irbag System on the passen­
ge r side has been turned off~
page 155 .
A WARNING
-To reduce the risk of injury w hen an a irbag
in flates, always wear safety be lts p roperly.
- If you are unrestra ined, leaning fo rward,
sitt ing s ideways or out of pos ition in any
way, your risk of injury is much h igher .
- You will a lso receive se rious injuries and
could even be killed if you a re up aga inst
the airbag o r too close to it when it in­
flates - even w ith an Advanced A irb ag
r:::> page 1 4 2 .
More important things to know about
front airbags
Fig . 1 61 In flated fro nt a irbags
Safety belts a re important to he lp keep front
seat o ccupants in the proper seated position
so that a irbags can unfold properly and pro­
v ide s upplementa l pro te cti on in a fron tal col­
li sion .
T he front airbags are des igned to provide ad­
di tional p rotection fo r the ches t and face of
the driver a nd the front seat passenger w hen:
- safety belts are worn properly,
- the seats have bee n positioned so that the
occupant is properly seated as far as poss i­
b le from the airbag ,
- and for ad justab le head restra ints: the head
restrai nts have been properly ad justed.
Beca use airbags inflate in the blink of an eye
with great force, th ings you have on your lap
or have p laced on the seat cou ld become dan ­
gerous projecti les, and be p ushed in to you if
t h e a irbag inflates .
When an airbag deploy s, fine dust is re leased.
This is norma l and is not caused by a f ire in ..,.

the vehicle. This dust is made up most ly of a
powder used to lubricate the airbags as they
deploy . It cou ld irritate skin .
It is importan t to remember that while the
supplemental airbag system is designed to re­
duce the likelihood of serious injuries , other
in ju ries, for example swell ing, bruising and
minor abrasions, can also happen when air­
bags inflate. Airbags do not protect the arms
or the lower parts of the body . Front airbags
supplement the three-poi nt safety belts only
i n some frontal collisions in which the vehicle
decelerat ion is high enough to deploy the air­
bags.
Front airbags will not deploy:
- if the ignit ion is switched off when a crash
occurs,
- in s ide collisions,
- in rear-end collisions,
- in ro llovers,
- when the crash deceleration measured by
the airbag system is less than the minimum
threshold needed for airbag deployment as
registered by the electronic control unit.
Th e front pa sseng er airbag al so will not
d e plo y:
-when the front passenger seat is not occu ­
pied,
- when the electrical capacitance measured by
the capacitive passenger detect ion system
for the front passenger seat indicates that
the passenger side frontal airbag must be
switched off by the electronic control unit (the
P ASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
¢ page 155 and how they wo rk comes on
and stays on).
A WARNING
Sitting in the wrong position can increase
the risk of serious injury in crashes .
- To reduce the r isk o f injury when the air ­
bags inflate, the driver and passengers
must a lways sit in an upright position,
must not lean against or place any part
A irbag system 153
of their body too close to the area where
the airbags are located.
- Occupants who are unbelted, out of posi­
tion or too close to the airbag can be se­
riously injured by an airbag as it unfolds
with great force in the blink of an eye
¢page 144.
A WARNING
A child in a rearward-fac ing ch ild seat in­
stalled on the front passenger seat will be
se riously injured and can be killed if the
front airbag inflates - even w ith an Ad­
vanced A irbag System.
- The inflating airbag will h it the ch ild seat
or infant carrier with great fo rce and will
smash the child seat and child against
the backrest, center armrest, doo r or
roof.
- Always install rear -facing chi ld seats on
the rear seat.
- If you must install a rearward fac ing
child seat on the front passenger seat
because of exceptional circumstances
and the PASS ENG ER AIR BAG OFF light
does not come on and stay on, immed i­
ately insta ll the rear-facing child seat in a
rea r seat ing pos ition and have the airbag
system inspected by your Audi dealer .
A WARNING
Objects between you and the airbag will
increase the r isk of injury in a crash by in­
terfering with the way the ai rbag unfolds
or by be ing p ushed into you as the airbag
inflates.
- Neve r hold things in yo ur hands o r on
your lap when the veh icle is in use.
- Never transpo rt items on or in the a rea
of the front passenger seat. Objects
co uld move into the area of the front air ­
bags during braking or other sudden ma ­
neuvers and become dangero us projec­
tiles that can cause ser ious personal in­
jury if the a irbags inf late.
•
•
-
-

continu ously to serve as a constant reminder
to have the system inspected immediately.
I f a malfunction occurs that turns the front
airbag on the passenger side
off, the PASSEN­
GER AIR BAG OFF
lig ht wi ll come on and stay
on whenever the ignition is on.
A WARNING
An airbag system that is not functioning properly cannot provide supplemental pro­
tection in a frontal crash.
- If the airbag indicator light
c::> page 18
comes when the vehicle is being used,
have the system inspected immediately
by your authorized Audi dealer . It is pos­
sible that the airbag will inflate when it
is no t supposed to, or will not inflate
when it sho uld.
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
Fig. 162 Sect ion fr om the inst ru ment pa ne l: PASSEN­
G ER AIR BAG OFF l ight
The PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light is locat ed
in the center o f the instrument panel
c::>fig . 162 .
The PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light will come
on and sta y on to te ll you when the front Ad­
vanced Airbag on the passenger side has been
turned
off by the e lectronic control unit. If the
bu lb for the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
burns out, the a irbag indicator light
fl will
come on to signal a malfunction in the Ad­
vanced A irbag System . Al though the burned­
out bulb will not change the way the front
passenger's frontal airbag works, it w ill no
longer be possible to use the
PASSENGER AIR
BAG OFF
l ight to make sure that the airbag
Airbag system 155
on/off status is correct fo r the occupant on
the front passenger seat. Have the a irbag sys­
tem inspected immediately by your author ­
i z ed Audi dealer.
The PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light will blink
for about 5 seconds when:
- the ignition is switched on and
- the capacit ive passenger detection system,
wh ich switches the front seat passenger's
frontal Advanced Airbag on and
off, detects
a change in the status of the front passen­
ger seat.
As soon as the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light stops blinking, always make sure that
the airbag status (on or off) as shown by the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light is proper for
the age, size and electrical capacitance of the
person occupy ing the front passenger seat.
Always make sure that the safe ty belt for the
front passenger sea t is properly fastened .
The PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light will
show the status of the front seat passenger's
frontal Advanced Airbag a few seconds after
the ignition is switched on and the airbag in­
dicator light goes off . The PASSENGER AIR
BAG OFF light:
- will stay on if the front passenger seat is not
occupied;
- w ill stay on if the e lectrical capacitance
measured by the capacitive passenger de­
tect ion system for the front passenger seat
equals the comb ined capacitance of an in­
fant up to about one year of age and one of
the rearward-facing or forward-facing child
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 w ith the U.S. Safety Standard
c::> page 170.
- will go out if the front passenger seat is oc­
cupied by an adult as registered by the ca­
pacitive passenger detection system.