2014 AUDI TT ROADSTER instrument panel

110 Airbag system
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 roll-overs.
Always remember: Airbags will deploy only
once, and only in certain kinds of collisions.
Your safety belts are always there to offer pro­
tection in those situations in which airbags
are not supposed to deploy, or when they have
already deployed; for example, when your ve­ hicle strikes or is struck by another after the
first collision.
This is just one of the reasons why an airbag is
a supplementary restraint and is not a substi­
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 101.
A WARNING
Sitting too close to the steering wheel or
instrument panel will decrease the effec­
tiveness of the airbags and will increase
the risk of personal injury in a collision .
- Never sit closer than 10 inches (25 cm)
to the steering wheel or instrument pan­ el.
- If you cannot sit more than 10 inches
(25 cm) from the steering wheel, investi­
gate whether adaptive equipment may
be available to held you reach the pedals
and increase your seating distance from
the steering wheel.
- If you are unrestrained, leaning forward,
sitting sideways or out of position in any
way, your risk of injury is much higher.
- You will also receive serious injuries and
could 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 risk of injury when an air­
bag inflates, always wear safety belts
properly
c::> page 104, Safety belts.
- If children are not properly restrained,
they may be severely injured or killed
when an airbag inflates.
- Never let children ride unrestrained or
improperly restrained in the vehicle. Ad­
just the front seats properly.
- Always sit as far as possible from the steering wheel or the instrument panel
¢ page 93, Proper occupant seating po­
sitions.
- Always sit upright with your back against
the backrest of your seat.
- Never place your feet on the instrument
panel or on the seat. Always keep both
feet on the floor in front of the seat to help prevent serious injuries to the legs
and hips if the airbag inflates.
A WARNING
Airbags that have deployed in a crash must
be replaced.
- Use only original equipment airbags ap­
proved by Audi and installed by a trained
technician who has the necessary tools
and diagnostic equipment to properly re­
place any airbag in your vehicle and as­
sure system effectiveness in a crash.
- Never permit salvaged or recycled air­ bags to be installed in your vehicle.
Child restraints on the front seat - some
important things to know
.. Be sure to read the important information
and head the WARNINGS for important de­
tails about children and Advanced Airbags
¢page 130.
The airbag on the passenger side makes the
front seat a potentially dangerous place for a
child to ride. The front seat is not the safest
place for a child in a forward-facing child safe­
ty 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 vehicle
has been certified to comply with the Require­
ments of United States Federal Motor Vehicle .,.

Front airbags
Description of front airbags
The airbag system can provide supplemental
protection to properly restrained front seat
occupants .
Fig. 112 Location of dri ver airbag: in steering whee l
Fig. 113 Location of front passe nger's ai rb ag : in the in­
strument 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 safety belts
for the front seats have "pretensioners" that
help to take slack out of the belt system. The
pretensioners are also activated by the elec­
tronic control unit 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. 112 and the airbag for the
front passenger is in the instrument panel
¢fig. 113. 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
Airbag system 113
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 supplementa l 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.
A 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 .
- The Advanced Airbag System can deploy
in accordance with the "low risk" option
under the U.S. Federal Standard if a child
that is heavier than the typical one-year
old child is on the front passenger seat
and the other condit ions for airbag de­
ployment are met.
- For its own safety, a child should always
ride properly 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>

114 Airbag sys te m
States Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard
208 as applicable at the time your vehicle was manufactured .
The front Advanced Airbag Sys tem supp le­
ments the safety belts to provide additional
protection for the driver's and front passeng­
er 's heads and upper bodies in fronta l crashes.
The airbags inflate only in fronta l impacts
when the vehicle dece lerat ion 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 veh icle.
A lways remember that the airbag system ca n
only help to protect you, if you are s itting up­
right, wearing yo ur safety belt and wea ring it
p roperly. This is why you and you r passenge rs
must always be properly restr ained , not just
beca use the law requires you to be.
The Advanced Airbag System i n your veh icle
has been cer tified to meet the " low r is k " re­
qu iremen ts for
3 an d 6 year-o ld childre n on
the passenger side and very small adu lts on
the driver side. The low risk deploymen t crite ­
ria are intended to he lp red uce the risk of in­
jury through interaction with the front airbag that can occur, for example, by be ing too
close to the steer ing whee l and instrument
panel when the airbag i nflates .
In addition, the system has been certif ied to
comp ly w ith the "suppression" requ irements
of the Safety Standard, to tur n off the front
a irbag for infants
12 months old and younger
who a re restra ined on the front passenger
seat in c hild restra ints that a re listed in the
St anda rd ¢
page 132, Child restraints and
Advanced Airbags.
"Suppression" requires the front airbag on the passenger side to be turned off if :
- a ch ild up to about one year of age is re­
stra ined on the front passenger seat in one
of the rear-facing or forwa rd-fac ing infa nt
rest raints listed in Federa l Motor Veh icle
Safety Standard 208 wit h whi ch the Ad­
vanced Airbag System in your vehicle w as
certified . For a list ing of the child rest rain ts t
ha t were used to certify your vehicle 's com ­
pliance with the US Safety Standa rd
¢ page 132,
-weight less than a thres ho ld level stored in
the control unit is detected on the front pas­
senger seat.
When a person is dete cted on the front pas ­
senger seat, weighing more than the tota l
weight of a chi ld that is about
1 year old re­
stra ined in one of the rear-facing or forward­
facing infant restraints ( listed in Federal Mo­
tor Vehicle Safety Standard 208 w it h which
the Advanced Airbag System in your vehicle
was ce rtified), the front airbag on the passen­
ger side may or may not deploy.
The
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes on
whe n the electro nic con trol unit detects a to­
ta l we ight on the front passenger seat that re­
quires t he front airbag to be tu rned off. If t he
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF ligh t does no t
come o n, the fron t airbag on the passenger
s ide has not been turne d off by the cont ro l
u nit and can dep loy if the control unit senses
an impact that meets the conditions stored in
its memory.
If the total weight on the front passenge r
seat is more than that of a typica l
1 year-old,
but less than the we ight of a small ad ult, the
front a irbag on the passenger side may dep loy
(the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does not
come on).
For example , the airbag may deploy if:
- a small ch ild that is heav ier t han a typic al 1
yea r-old ch ild is on the front passenger seat
(regard less of whethe r the child is in one of
the child safety seats listed
¢ page 132),
-a child who has outgrown ch ild restraints is
on the front passenge r seat .
If the fron t passenger a irbag is turned off, the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF ligh t in the cen ter
of the ins trument panel will come on and stay
o n.
T he front airbag on the passenge r sid e may
not dep loy (the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
li ght does not illuminate a nd stay lit) i f:

116 Airbag sys te m
components is detected . The function of the
airbag indicator light is described in greater
deta il below . Because the front passenger
seat contains important parts of the Ad­
vanced A irbag System, you must take care to
prevent it from be ing damaged . Damage to
the seat may prevent the Advanced Airbag for
the front passenge r seat from doing its job in
a crash .
The front Ad vanced Airb ag System
consists of the following:
- Crash sensors in the front of the veh icle that
measure ve hicle acceleration/decele ra tion
to provide info rmation to the Advanced Air­
bag System abo ut the severi ty of the crash.
- An electron ic co ntro l unit, with integra ted
crash sensors for front and side impacts .
T he cont ro l unit "decides " whethe r to fire
the front airbags based on the information received from the crash sensors . The contro l
unit a lso "decides" whether the safety belt
pre tensioners should be activated.
- An Advanced Ai rbag with gas generator for
the driver ins ide the steer ing whee l hub.
- An Advanced Airbag with gas generator in­
s ide the inst rument panel for the front pas­
senger.
- A weight -sens ing mat under the upholstery
padd ing of the front passenger seat cush ion
that measures the total we ight on the seat.
The information reg istered is sent continu ­
ous ly to the electron ic control unit to regu­
late deployment of the front Advanced Air­
bag on the passenger s ide.
- An airbag monito ring system and indicator
li ght in the instrument cluster
9 page 119.
- T he PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes
on and stays on in the cente r of the instru­
ment pane l
9 page 120, fig. 115 and tells
yo u when the front Advanced A irbag on the
passenge r side has been turned off.
- A senso r be low the safety bel t latch fo r the
fron t se at passenge r to me asu re the tension
on the safety belt . The tension on the safety
belt and the weight registe red by the
weight -sensing mat help the control unit
"decide" whether the front a irbag for the front passenge
r seat should be turned off or
not
¢ page 110, Child restraints on the
front seat -some important things to
know.
- A sensor in the safety be lt latch fo r 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 un it .
.&_ WARNING
D amage to the fron t passenger seat can
p revent the fro nt airbag from wor king
pr operly.
- I mp roper repai r or disassembly of the
front passenge r and dr ive r sea t will pre­
vent the Advanced Airbag System from
functioni ng p roperly.
- Repairs to the front passenge r seat mus t
be pe rformed by qu alifie d and p roperly
trained workshop personne l.
- Never remove the front p assenger o r
d river seat from the vehicle .
-Never remove th e upholstery from the
front passenger seat.
- Neve r d isassemble o r remove parts from
the sea t or discon nect wires from it.
- Never carry sha rp objects in yo ur poc kets
or p lace t hem on the seat. If the weight ­
sensing ma t in the passenger seat is
punctured it cannot work p roperly.
- Neve r carry things on y our la p or ca rry
objects on the passenger seat. S uc h
items can increase the weight registere d
by the weight -sensing mat and send the
wrong information to the airbag control
un it.
- Never store items under the front pas­
senger seat. Parts o f the Advanced Air­
bag System under the passenger seat
could be damaged, preventing them and
the airbag system from working proper­ ly.
- Never p lace seat covers or rep lacement
up ho lstery that have not been specifica l­
ly approved by Audi on the front seats .
- Seat covers can prevent the Advanced
-
Ai rbag System from recognizing chi ld .,..

-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, center
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
come 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 119
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
•
•

described in the child restraint manufactur­
er 's instructions;
- make sure that the convertible locking fea­
ture on the safety be lt for the front passen­
ger seat has been activated and that the
safety belt has been pulled tight. The belt
must not be loose or have loops of slack so
that the sensor below the safety belt latch
on the seat can do its job<=>
page 138 .
-make sure that th ings that may increase the
weight of the child and child safety seat are
not being transported on the front passen­
ger seat;
- make sure that the safety belt tension sen­
sor is not blocked . Shake the safety belt
latch on the front passenger seat back and
forth;
- If a strap or tether is being used to tie the
ch ild safety seat to the front passenger
seat, make sure t hat it is not so tight that it
ca uses the we ight-sensing mat to meas ure
more weight than is actua lly on the seat .
If the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light still
d oes no t com e on and does not stay on con­
tinuously (when the igni tion is sw itched on),
- take the ch ild restraint off the front passen·
ger seat and have the airbag system inspect­
ed by your Aud i dealer immediately .
The
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light should
NO T come on when the ign ition is on and a n
adu lt is sitt ing in a p roper seat ing pos ition on
the front passenger seat.
If the PASSENGER
AIR BAG OFF
li gh t comes on and stays on or
flashes for about 5 seconds while driving, un­
de r these circ umstances, make s ure that:
- the ad ult o n the front passenger seat is
properly seated on the center of the seat
cus hion with his or her back up against the
backrest and the backrest is not reclined
<=> page 93, Proper occupant seating posi­
tions,
- the ad ult is not taking weight off the seat by
ho lding on to the passenger assist handle
above the front passenger door,
A irbag system 12 1
- the safety belt is being properly wo rn and
that there is not a lot of s lack in the safety
be lt webb ing,
- accessory seat covers or cushions or other
things that may cause an incorrect reading
or impression on the weight-sensing mat
under the upho lstery of the seat have been
removed from the front passenger seat,
- a safety belt extender has not been left in the safety belt latch for the front passenger
seat .
In addition to the
PASSEN GER A IR BAG O FF
light in the center of the instrument panel,
the message
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF or
PAS SENG ER AIR BAG ON will briefly appear
i n the instrument cluster d isplay. This is to in­
fo rm the dr iver of the current front passenger
airbag status.
Important safety instructions on
monitoring the Advanced Airbag System
A WARNING
-
An airbag system that is not functioning
p roperly cannot provide supplemental pro­
tection in a frontal c rash.
- If the airbag ind icator light comes on, it
means that there may be something
wrong with the Advanced Airbag Sys tem.
It is poss ible that the ai rbag w ill inflate
when it is not supposed to, or will not in­
f late when it sho uld .
- Have the airbag system inspe cted imme­
diate ly by your Audi dealer.
A WARNING
If the front airbag inflates, a child withou t
a child restraint, in a rea rward-facing child
safety seat or in a forwa rd-facing child re­
straint that has not been properly installed
will be ser ious ly injured and can be killed.
- Even tho ugh your vehicle is equipped
with an Advanced A irbag System, make
certain that all children, espec ially 12
yea rs and younger, always ride properly
restrained fo r their age and size. •
•

124 Airbag system
with the safety belt buckles so that the sen­
sors can send the correct information about
safety belt use to the electron ic control unit.
,&. WARNING
Changing the vehicle 's suspension includ­
ing use of unapproved tire-rim combina­
tions can change Advanced Airbag per­
formance and increase the risk of serious personal injury in a crash.
- Never install suspens ion components
that do not have the same performance
characteristics as the components origi­
nally insta lled on your vehicle.
- Never use ti re-rim combinat ions that
have not been approved by Audi.
,&. WARNING
-
Items stored between the safety belt
buckle and the center console can cause
the sensors in the buckle to send the
wrong information to the electronic con­
trol modu le and prevent the Advanced A ir ­
bag System from working properly.
- Always make sure that nothing can inter-
fere with the safety belt buckles and that
they are not obstructed.
Knee airbags
Description of knee airbags
The knee airbag system can provide supple­
mental protection to properly restrained
front seat occupants.
Fig. 116 Driver's airbag
The driver knee airbag is in the instrument
panel underneath the steering wheel
~ fig. 116, the airbag for the passenger is at
about the same height in the instrument pan­
el underneath the glove compartment .
T he knee airbag offe rs addi tional p rotec tion
to the driver 's and passenger's knees and up­
per and lower thigh areas and supplements
the protection by the safety belts.
If t he front a irbags dep loy, the k nee a irbags
also dep loy in frontal collisions when the de­
ployment threshold stored in the control unit
is met
~ page 118, More important things to
know about front airbags .
In addition to their normal sa fety function,
safety belts help keep the driver 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 substitute for your
safety belt. Rather, it is part of the overa ll oc ­
cupant restraint system in your vehicle. A l­
ways remember that the airbag system can
only he lp to protect you if you are wearing
you r safety belt and wea ring it properly. This
is why you should a lways wear your safety
belt, not just because the law requi res you to
do so~
page 101, General notes.
The safety belt buckle for the driver and front
seat passenger have switches that tell the air­
bag control module if the safety bel t is being
u sed or not .
If the safety belt is be ing used,
t h e knee a irbag w ill deploy at a s light ly h igher
rate of dece leration than if the belt is not be ­
ing used. Therefore, in a particular co llision, it
is possib le that an airbag will not dep loy 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 .
Remember too, airbags will deploy on ly once
and only in certa in kinds of accidents - your
safety belts are always there to offer protec­
t ion in those accidents in which airbags are
not supposed to deploy o r whe n they have al­
ready dep loyed, for example when your vehi­
cl e s trikes or is st ru ck by ano ther after the
first collision . ..,.

This is just one of the reasons why an airbag is
not a substitute for the safety belt . The airbag
system works most effective ly when used with
the safety belts. Therefore, always wear your
safety belts correctly .
It is important to remember that while the
supp lemental knee a irbag system is des igned
to reduce the like lihood of serious injuries,
other injuries, for example, swel ling, bruising,
minor abrasions and friction burns can also
occur when an a irbag inflates.
The knee airb ag sy stem ba sically con sist s
of:
-The electronic contro l modu le
- Two inflatable airbags (airbag and gas gen-
erator), one for the driver and one for the
front passenger
- The airbag indicator light in the instrument
panel
The knee airbag sy stem will not d eploy :
-when the ignition is turned off
- in frontal col lisions when the dece lerat ion
measured by the control unit is too low
- in s ide collisions
- in rear-end collisions
- in rollovers
- in the event of a system malfunct ion (warn-
ing/indicator light is on)~
page 15.
A WARNING
-Safety belts and the a irbag system can
o nly prov ide protection when o ccupants
are in the proper sea ting posit ion
~page 118.
-If the airbag indicato r light comes when
t h e vehicle is being used, have the sys­
tem inspected immediately by your au ­
thorized Audi dea ler.
-
A irba g sy stem 125
How knee airbags work
The risk of injury to the leg area can be re­
duced by fully inflated knee airbags .
Fig . 1 17 In flated a irbags protecting in a fronta l colli ­
sion
The knee airbag system has been designed so
that the airbags for the driver and front pas­
senger deploy in certain but not all frontal
collisions .
If the front a irbags deploy, the knee a irbags
also deploy in frontal collisions when the de­
ployment threshold stored in the control unit
is met .
When the system deploys, the airbags fill
with a propellant gas, and inflate between the lower pa rt of the instrument pa nel and the
driver and the lower part of the instrument
panel and the front passenger
9 page 118,
fig. 114 .
Although they are not a soft p illow, they can
"cushion" the impact and in th is way they can
help to reduce the risk of injury to the lower
extremit ies.
All of th is 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 a lso
inflate wi th a great deal of fo rce and it is im­
portant for occupant safety t hat no thing
shou ld be in their way when they deploy .
Fully inf lated ai rbags in combination with
properly worn safe ty be lts s low down and lim­
it the occupant's forward movemen t an d help
to reduce the risk of injury.