80 On the road
Audi magnetic ride
Applies to vehicles: with magnetic ride
Damping can be adjusted to the driver's pref
erence and it adapts automatically to the cur
rent driving situation.
Fig. 88 Center console: Switch for Audi magnetic r ide
.,. Press the sw itch ~ fig. 88 to turn sport set-
ting on or off.
Aud i magnetic ride is an electronically con
trolled damping system. This chassis system
assists the driver by adapting to the particular
situation through imperceptible control proc
esses. The
damping provides individual modu
lation of damping forces. For example, with
damping characteristics set to provide greater
comfort, damping is set somewhat harder for
a brief period only as required, when rounding
a curve and when braking.
Standard setting
Select the standard setting if you prefer a sus
pension setting emphasizing comfort.
Sport setting
Select the sport setting if you prefer a sporty
suspe nsion setting . The LED in the switch
8
comes on to indicate sport setting.
@ Tips
The warning/indicator light 8 in the instru
ment cluster comes on in the event of a
malfunction .
Drive to the closest author
ized Audi dealer as soon as possible and
have the malfunction repaired.
Sport mode
Applies to vehicles: with Sport button
Fig. 89 Button in the center console
.,. To switch sport mode on, press the button
in the center console. The indicator light
turns on .
.,. To switch sport mode off, press the button
in the center console again. The indicator
light turns on .
A more agile and sporty driving style is possi
ble when driving the vehicle in "sport mode".
T his mode affects throttle response and the
sound of the engine and the damping charac
teristics of the Audi magnetic ride for dynamic
suspension tuning .
@ Tips
If there is a malfunction in the retractable
rear spoiler* or the Audi magnetic ride*, it
may not be poss ible to activate sport
mode.
Acoustic parking system
Rear acoustic park assist
Applies to vehicles: with 4-channel acoustic park assist
Acoustic park assist gives a warning about
obstacles behind the vehicle.
Description
T he rear acoustic park ass ist (4-channel
acoustic park assist) determines the distance
of the vehicle from an obstacle using ultra
son ic sensors. The sensors are in the rear
bumper. The volume and the pitch of the
chimes can be adjusted through the menu display ~
page 24.
The range at which the sensors start to meas
ure is
about :
To the side 2 feet (0.60 m)
Center rear
5 feet (1.60 m)
Activation
The parking assist is activated when reverse
gear
is engaged. A brief tone confirms that
the system is activated .
Backing up
Distance warning when backing up starts
when an obstacle is detected in the range of
the park assist system. As the distance de
creases, the time interval between the audible
tones becomes shorter.
When the distance is less than 1 foot (0 .30
m), the tone becomes continuous . At this
point you should stop backing up.
Please note that low objects already signalled
by a warning can disappear from the system's
detection range and will not continue to be
signalled.
Potential malfunctions
If a war ning buzzer sounds for a few seconds
when the ignition is switched on, there is a
system malfunction with the acoustic park as
sist . If the malfunction persists until the igni
tion is switched off, there will be no acoustic
warning at the next attempt to activate the
system. Have the problem corrected.
There is no confirmation tone when reverse
gear is engaged if there is a system malfunc
tion .
For the parking assist to operate, the sensors
must be kept clean and free of ice .
.8, WARNING
- Sensors have blind spots in which objects
cannot be detected . Pay special attention
to small children and animals. They can-
On the road 81
not always be detected by the sensors -
danger of an accident!
- The parking assist cannot replace the
driver's attention. The driver alone is re
sponsible for parking and similar driving
maneuvers. Always watch where you are
driving .
(D Note
Low obstacles already signalled by a warn
ing can disappear from the system's detec
tion range as they are approached and will
not continue to be signalled. Objects such
as barrier chains, trailer draw bars, thin painted vertical poles, or fences may not
be detected by the system -risk of dam
age.
(D Tips
For the parking assist to operate, the sen
sors must be kept clean and free of snow
and ice.
-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 119 .
Alw ays 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
To reduce the risk of injury when an airbag 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 when it in
flates - even with an Advanced Airbag
¢page 109 .
.&_ 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.
- 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 a ll conceivable situations that
may happen d uring the useful life of your
vehicle.
A irbag system 11 5
-The inflating airbag will hit the child
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 the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light does not come on and stay on have
the airbag sys tem inspected 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
rearmost pos ition 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. The
backrest must be ad justed to an upright
position.
- Make sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
li ght comes on and stays o n all the
time wheneve r the ig nit ion 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 monitors the Advanced A ir
bag System and turns the airbag indicator
l igh t on when a malfunct ion in the system
•
•
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 .,..
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
PAS SENGER 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 i n 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 117
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 te ll
you when the front Adva nced A irbag on the
passenger side has been turned off
¢ page 110, 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 injur ies 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 109.
•
•
-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. •
•
-Never modify the front bumper or parts
of the veh icle body.
- Always make sure that the side airbag
can inflate without interference:
- Never install seat covers or replace
ment upho lstery ove r the front seat
backs that have not been spec ifically
approved by Audi.
- Never use add itiona l seat cushions that
cover the areas where the side airbags
inflate .
- Damage to the o rigina l seat covers or
to the seam in the area of the side air
bag module must always be repa ired
immediate ly by an authorized Audi
dealer.
- The airbag system can be activated only
once . After an airbag has inflated, it
must be replaced by an author ized Audi
dealer or qualif ied technic ian who has
the techn ica l information, tra ining and
special equipment necessary.
- The airbag system can be deployed only
once. After an a irbag has been deployed,
it must be replaced w ith new replace
ment parts designed and approved espe
c ially for your Aud i model version. Re
placeme nt of complete ai rbag systems
or airbag componen ts m ust be per
f ormed by qualified workshops only.
Make su re that any airbag service act ion
is entered in your Audi Warranty
& Main
tenance booklet under
AIRBAG REPLACE
MENT RECORD.
- For safety reasons in severe accidents,
the a lternator and starter are separated
from the vehicle battery with a pyrotech
nic circuit interrupter.
- Wo rk on the pyrote chnic cir cu it inter
rupter must on ly be per formed by a
qualified dealer - risk of an accident!
- If the veh icle or the ci rcuit interrupter
is sc rapped, all applicable safety pre
cautions must be followed .
Airbag system 123
@:) For the sake of the environment
Un deployed airbag modules and p reten
sione rs might be classified as Perchlorate
Materia l -special handling may apply, see
www. dtsc. ca.gov/hazard o u swa ste/ per-
ch lo rate. When the veh icle or parts of the
restraint system including airbag modules
and safety be lts with pretensioners are
scrapped, all applicab le laws and regu la
tions mus t be obse rved. Your authori zed
A udi dealer is familia r wi th these require
ments and we recommend that you have
your dealer perform this service fo r you .
Other things that can affect Advanced
Airbag performance
Chang ing the veh icle's suspens io n system can
c h ange the way that the Advanced Airbag Sys
tem perfo rms in a crash. For examp le, using
tir e-rim combi nat ions not approved by A udi,
l ower ing the veh icle, chang ing the st iffness of
the suspens ion, including the spr ings, suspen
sion struts, shock absorbers etc. can change
the forces that are measured by the airbag
sensors and sent to the electronic contro l
u nit. Some suspension changes can, for exam
ple, i ncrease the force levels measured by the
sensors and make the airbag system deploy in c rashes in which it wou ld not deploy if the
c h anges had not been made. Other kinds of
c h anges may reduce the fo rce leve ls meas
ur ed by the sensors and preven t the airbag
from dep loying when i t should.
T he sensors in the safety be lt b uck le for the
d rive r and fr on t p assenger seat te ll the e lec
tron ic cont ro l modu le if the s afety be lt is
l atche d or no t. If the safety be lt is being used,
the front airbag will deploy at a slightly high er rate of veh icle deceleration t han i f th e safe
ty belt is not be ing used. Therefore, in a par
ticular coll is ion, it is possible t hat an airbag
will not deploy at a seat ing pos ition where the
safety belt is be ing used b ut w il l inflate at the
pos ition wher e th e safety be lt is not be ing
u sed. It is impo rtant that noth ing in terfere
Ill>
•
•