98 Driving Safely
• Distribute the load evenly in the luggage
compartment.
• Always place and properly secure heavy
items in the luggage compartment as far
forward as possible.
A WARNING
Improperly stored luggage or other items
can fly through the vehicle causing serious
personal injury in the event of hard brak
ing or an accident. To help reduce the risk
of serious personal injury:
- Always put objects, for example, luggage
or other heavy items in the luggage com
partment.
- Always secure objects in the luggage
compartment using the tie-down eyelets
and suitable straps.
A WARNING
Heavy loads will influence the way your ve
hicle handles. To help reduce the risk of a
loss of control leading to serious personal
injury:
-Always keep in mind when transporting
heavy objects, that a change in the cen
ter of gravity can also cause changes in
vehicle handling:
- Always distribute the load as evenly as
possible.
- Place heavy objects as far forward in
the luggage compartment as possible.
- Never exceed the Gross Axle Weight Rat
ing or the Gross Vehicle Weight Rating
specified on the safety compliance stick
er on the left door jamb. Exceeding per
missible weight standards can cause the
vehicle to slide and handle differently.
- Please observe information on safe driv
ing
!:? page 92 .
A WARNING
To help prevent poisonous exhaust gas
from being drawn into the vehicle, always
keep the rear lid closed while driving.
- Never transport objects larger than
-
those fitting completely into the luggage area because the rear lid cannot be fully
closed.
- If you absolutely must drive with the rear
lid open, observe the following notes to
reduce the risk of poisoning:
- Close all windows,
- Close the convertible top,
- Open all air outlets in the instrument
panel,
- Switch off the air recirculation,
- Set the fresh air fan to the highest
speed.
A WARNING
-Always make sure that the doors, all win-
dows, the convertible top and the rear lid
are securely closed and locked to reduce
the risk of injury when the vehicle is not
being used.
- After closing the rear lid, always make
sure that it is properly closed and locked.
- Never leave your vehicle unattended es pecially with the rear lid left open . A
child could crawl into the vehicle through
the luggage compartment and close the
rear lid becoming trapped and unable to
get out. Being trapped in a vehicle can
lead to serious personal injury.
- Never let children play in or around the
vehicle.
- Never let passengers ride in the luggage
compartment. Vehicle occupants must
always be properly restrained in one of
the vehicle's seating positions.
@ Tips
- Air circulation helps to reduce window
fogging. Stale air escapes to the outside
through vents in the trim panel , on the
left side of the luggage compartment.
Be sure to keep these slots free and
open.
- The tire pressure must correspond to the
load. The tire pressure is shown on the
tire pressure label. The tire pressure la bel is located on the driver's side B-pillar .
The tire pressure label lists the ..,
104 Safety belts
-Never strap more than one person, in
cluding small children, into any single
safety belt.
- Never place a safety belt over a child sit
t ing on your lap.
- Always keep feet in the footwell in front
of the seat while the vehicle is being driv
en.
- Never let any person ride with feet on
the instrument panel or sticking out the
window or on the seat.
- Never remove a safety belt while the ve
hicle is moving. Doing so will increase
your risk of being injured or killed.
- Never wear belts twisted.
- Never wear belts over rigid or breakable
objects in or on your clothing, such as
eye glasses, pens, keys, etc., as these
may cause injury.
- Never wear the shoulder part of the belt
under your arm or otherwise out of posi
tion.
- Several layers of heavy clothing may in
terfere with correct positioning of belts
and reduce their effectiveness.
- Always keep belt buckles free of anything
that may prevent the buckle from latch
ing securely.
- Never use comfort clips or devices that
create slack in the shoulder belt. Howev
er, special clips may be required for the
correct use of some child restraint sys
tems.
- Never allow safety belts to become dam
aged by being caught in door or seat hardware.
- Torn or frayed safety belts can tear and
damaged belt hardware can break in an
accident. Inspect belts regularly.
If web
bing, bindings, buckles, or retractors are
damaged, have belts replaced by an au
thorized Audi dealer or qualified work
shop.
- Safety belts that have been worn and
loaded in an accident must be replaced
with the correct replacement safety belt by an authorized Audi dealer or qualified
workshop . Replacement may be necessa- ry even if damage cannot be clearly seen.
Anchorages that were loaded must also
be inspected.
- Never remove, modify, disassemble, or
try to repair the safety belts yourself.
- Always keep the belts clean. Dirty belts
may not work properly and can impair
the function of the inertia reel¢
ta
ble Cleaning interior on page 157.
Safety belts
Fastening safety belts
Seat first -everybody buckle up!
Fig. 108 Belt buckle and tongue on the driver's seat
To provide maximum protection, safety belts
must always be positioned correctly on the
wearer's body.
.,. Adjust the front seat and head restraint
properly ¢
page 60, General recommenda
tions.
.,. Hold the belt by the tongue and pull it even
ly across the chest and pelvis ¢
.&_.
.,. Insert the tongue into the correct buckle of
your seat until you hear it latch securely
¢fig . 108.
.,. Pull on the belt to make sure that it is se-
curely latched in the buckle.
Automatic safety belt retractors
Every safety belt is equipped with an automat
ic belt retractor on the shoulder belt . This fea
ture locks the belt when the belt is pulled out
fast, during hard braking and in an accident .
The belt may also lock when you drive up or
down a steep hi ll or through a sharp curve.
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. •
•
Model Manufactured on or
after
Cosco Summit Deluxe September 25, 2007
High Back Booster
22-262
Cosco High Back September 25, 2007
Booster 22-209
Evenflo Tribute V September 25, 2007
379xxxx
Evenflo Medallion December 1, 1999
254
Evenflo Generations September 25, 200 7
352xxxx
Graco ComfortSport September 25, 2007
Graco Toddler Sa fety September 25, 2007
Seat Step 2
Graco Platinum Cargo September 25, 2007
_& WARNING
To reduce the risk of serious injury, make
sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light comes on and stays on whenever a
child restraint is installed on the front pas
senger seat and the ignition is switched
on.
- Never install a rearward facing child
safety seat on the front passenger 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 inflating airbag
will hit the child safety seat o r infant car
rie r wi th 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
Audi dealer.
@ Tips
The ch ild seats listed in categories A to C
have been statically tested by Audi only for
the Advanced Airbag function.
Child Sa fet y 133
Important safety instructions for us ing
child safety seats
Correct use of child safety seats substantially
reduces the risk of injury in an accident!
As the dr iver, you are responsible for the safe
ty of everybody in the veh icle, especially ch il
dren:
.. Always use the right child safety seat for
each child and always use it properly
r=;, page 135.
.. Always carefully fo llow the child safe ty seat
manufact urer's inst ruct ions on how to ro ute
the sa fe ty belt properly through the c hild
safety seat .
.. When using the vehicle safety belt to install
a child safety seat, you must first activate
the convertible locking retractor on the
safety belt to prevent the child safety seat
from mov ing
¢ page 138.
.. Push the ch ild safety seat down with your
full weight to get the safety be lt really tight
so that the seat cannot move fo rward o r
sideways more th an one inch
(2.5 cm).
Always remember: Even tho ugh your vehicle is
equipped with an Advan ced Airbag system, a
ch ild should always ride in the sea t properly
restrained for its age and s ize .
_& WARNING ,-= ~
Not using a child safety seat, using the
wrong child safety seat or improperly in
stalling a ch ild restraint increases the risk
of ser ious personal injury and death.
- All vehicle occupants and especially chil
dren must always be restrained properly
whenever riding i n a vehicle.
- An unrest rained or imp roper ly restrain
ed ch ild ca n be injured or killed by be
i ng th rown against the ins ide of the ve
hicle or by being e jected from it during
a sudden maneuve r or impact.
- An unrest rained or improper ly res train
ed ch ild is at much greater risk of inj ury
or death by being struck by an inflating
airbag.
•
•
light comes on and stays on. If the PAS
S EN GER AIR BAG OFF
light does not
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
Audi dealer.
Child safety seats
Infant seats
Babies and infants up to about one year old
and 20 lbs. or 9 kg need special rearward-fac
ing child restraints that support the back,
neck and head in a crash.
I
Fig. 120 Rea rward-faci ng infant seat. properly instal·
led on the passe nger seat
.. When using the vehicle safety belt to install
a child safety seat, you must first activate
the convertible locking retractor on the
safety belt to prevent the child safety seat
from moving
¢ page 138.
.. Push the child safety seat down with your
full weight to get the safety belt rea lly tight
so tha t the seat cannot move forwa rd or
s ideways more than one inch (2.5 cm).
I nfants up to about one year (20 lbs. or 9 kg)
are best protected in special infant carriers
and chi ld safety seats designed for their age
group. Many experts believe that infants and
small children should ride only in special re
straints in which the child faces the back of
the vehicle . These infant seats support the ba
by's back, neck and head in a crash
¢ fig. 120.
Child S afety 13 5
A WARNING
Not using a child safety seat, using th e
wrong child safety seat or improperly in
stall ing a ch ild restraint increases the risk
of ser ious personal injury and death in a
crash.
- Never install a rear-fac ing ch ild restraint
in the forward-fac ing d irect ion. Such re
straints are designed for the special
needs of infants and very small ch ildren
and cannot protect them properly if the
seat is forward-facing.
- Never install a rearward faci ng child
safety seat on the front passenger seat
un less the
PA SSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light comes on and stays on. If the PA S
SENGER AIR BA G OF F
light does not
come on and stay on the inflating a irbag
will hit the child safety seat or infant car·
rier w ith great force and w ill smash the
child safety seat and child against the
backrest, door or roof. Have t he airbag
sys tem inspected immedi ately by your
Aud i dea le r.
- Always read and heed al l WARNI NGS
whenever using a child restrained in ave
hicle is being used
¢ page 101, Safety
belts, ¢ page 109, Airbag system
and
¢ page 130, Important things to know .
Convertible child safety seats
Properly used convertible child safety seats
can help protect toddlers and children over
age one who weigh between 20 and 40 lbs . (9
and 18 kg) in a crash.
Fig. 12 1 Sc hematic overv iew: instal lation of the seat
using the vehicle's safety belt system
136 Child Saf ety
.. When using the vehicle safety be lt to insta ll
a chi ld safety seat, you must first activate
the convertible locking retractor on the
safety belt to prevent the child safety seat
from moving¢
page 138.
• Push the child safety seat dow n with your
full weight to get the safety belt really t ight
so that the seat cannot move forward or s ideways more than one inch (2 .5 cm)
¢page 138.
A toddler or child is usually too large for an in
fant restraint if it is more than one year o ld
and weighs more than
20 lbs. (9 k g).
Toddlers and child ren who are older than one
yea r up to about
4 yea rs old and weigh more
tha n
20 lbs. (9 kg) up to 40 lbs. (18 kg) must
a lways be prope rly restrained in a ch ild safety
seat certified for the ir s ize and we ight
¢ fig . 121.
.&_ WARNING
Not using a ch ild safety seat, using the
wrong chi ld safety seat or improper ly in
stal ling a child restraint increases the risk
of serious personal injury and death in a
co llision or other eme rgency s ituation .
- Children on the front seat of any car,
even w ith Advanced A irbags, can be seri
ous ly injured or even killed when an a ir
bag inflates . A child in a rearward-facing
c hild safety seat installed on the front
passenge r seat w il l be seriously injured
and can be killed if the fron t air bag in
flates -even with an Advanced Airbag
S ystem .
-
-The inflating a irbag will hit the child
safety seat or infant carrier w ith g reat
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
com e on a nd stay on have the airbag sys- tern inspected immediate
ly by you r Audi
dea le r.
- Always rea d and heed all WAR NINGS
whenever using a child restrained in ave
hicle is being used¢
page 101, Safety
belts ,¢ page 109, Airbag system
and
¢ page 130, Important things to know.
.&_ WARNING
-If exceptional circ umstances require the
use of a fo rward-facing child restraint on
the front passenge r's seat, the child's safe
ty and we ll-being require that the follow
i ng spec ial prec autions be ta ken:
- Make sure t he forward- facing seat has
been designed and cert ified by its m anu
facturer fo r use on a front seat with a
passenger front and side airbag.
- Always follow the manuf acturer 's in
structions p rov ided with the ch ild safety
seat o r infant ca rr ier .
- Always move the fron t passenger se at in
to the rearmost position of the passen
ger seat's fore and aft adjustment range,
an d as far away from the airbag as possi
b le before installing the ch ild restraint.
- Always make sure that nothing prevents
the front passenger's seat from being moved to the rearmost pos ition in its
fore and aft ad justment range .
-Always make sure the bac krest is in an
upright pos ition.
- Make sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
li ght comes on and stays on all the
time wheneve r the ignit ion is switched
on .
-If the light does not stay on, perform the
checks ¢
page 119, Monitoring the Ad
vanced Airbag System .
-If the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not come on and stay on have the
airbag system inspec ted immediately by
your Aud i dea le r.
-
138 Child Saf ety
,8. WARNING
Not using a booster seat, using the boos
ter seat improperly, incorrectly install ing a
booster seat or using the vehicle safety
belt improperly increases the risk of seri
ous personal injury and death in a collision
or other eme rgency s ituation. To help re
duce the risk of serious persona l injury
and/or death:
- T he shoulder belt must lie as close to the
center of the child· s collar bone as possi
ble and must lie and snug on the upper
body. It must never lie across the throat
or neck. The lap belt must lie across the
pelvis and never across the stomach or
abdomen . Make sure the belt lies flat
and snug . Pull on the belt to t ighten if
necessary .
- Failure to properly route safety belts over a ch ild's body will cause severe inju
ries in an acc ident or other emergency
situation
¢ page 101 .
-Children on the front seat of any car,
even with Advanced A irbags, can be seri
ous ly inju red or even killed when an a ir
bag inflates.
- Never let a child stand or knee l on the
seat.
- Never let a child ride in the cargo a rea of
yo ur vehicle.
- Always remember that a ch ild lean ing
forward, sitting sideways or out of posi
t ion in any way during an acc ident can be
struck by a deploying airbag. This will re
sult in serious personal injury or death.
- If you must install a booster seat on the
front passenger seat because of excep
tional circumstances the
PASSENGER
AIR BAG OFF
light must come on and
stay on, whenever the ignition is switch
ed on.
- If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not come on and stay on, perform
the checks described
¢page 119, Moni
toring the Advanced Airbag System .
-If the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not come on and stay on whenever
-
the ignition is switched on the inflating
airbag w ill hit the child safety seat or in
fant carrier with great force and will smash the child safety seat and child
aga inst the backrest, door or roof. Have
the airbag system inspected immed iately
by your Audi dea ler.
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS
whenever using a child restrained in ave
h icle is being used
¢page 101, Safety
belts,
¢ page 109, Airbag system and
¢ page 130, Important things to know .
Installing a child safety
seat
Securing a child safety seat using a
safety belt
Safety belts for the front passenger can be
locked with the convertible locking retractor
to properly secure child safety seats.
T he safety belts emergency locking retracto rs
for the front passenger's seat safety belt have
a convertible locking retracto r for child re
straints. The safety be lt must be locked so
that belt webbing cannot unreel. The retrac
tor can be activated to lock the safety belt and
prevent the safety be lt webbing from loosen
ing up during normal driving. A child safety
seat can only be properly installed when the
safety belt is locked so that the child and child safety seat wi ll stay in place .
Always remember: Even though your vehicle is
equipped with an Advanced Airbag system, a
child should always ride in the seat properly
restrained for its age and s ize.
,8. WARNING
Imp roperly installed chi ld safety seats in
crease the risk of serious personal injury
and death in a collision.
- Always ma ke sure that the safety belt re
tractor is loc ked when insta lling a child
safety seat . An un locked safety belt re -
tractor cannot hold the child safety seat ..,_
140 Child Saf ety
and child against the backrest, door or
ro of.
- Always be especially careful if you mu st
ins tall a rearward facing c hild safety seat
on the front passenger seat in exception
al circumstanc es.
- Make sure that the
PA SS ENGER AIR BAG
OFF
light comes on and stays on all the
t ime w henever the ignition is switched
on.
- Never install a rearward facing child
safety seat on the front passenger 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 h ave the airbag sys
tem inspec ted immediately by your Aud i
dealer .
Activating the convertible locking
retractor
Use the convertible locking retractor to se
cure a child restraint.
A lways heed the child sa fety seat man ufactur
er's instructions when ins talling a chi ld re
straint in your vehicle . To activate the conver
tib le locking retractor:
., Place the child restrain t on a seat .
., Slow ly pull the be lt
all the wa y out.
., Route it around or through the chi ld re
stra int be lt path
c:> ,&. .
., Push the child safety seat down with your
full weight to get the safety belt rea lly t ight.
., In sert the be lt tongue into the buckle fo r
t h at seating posi tion.
., Gu ide the safety be lt back into the retracto r
u nt il the belt lies flat a nd snug on the chi ld
sa fe ty seat.
., You should hear a "clicking" noise as the
belt winds bac k into the ine rtia reel. Test the
conve rtible locking retractor by pull ing on
the be lt . You should no longer be able to
pull the belt out of the retractor. The con
vertib le lock ing retractor is now act ivated. .,
Ma ke s ure that the red release button is fac
ing away from the child rest raint so that it
can be unbuckled q uick ly .
., Pull on the belt to make sure the safety be lt
is properly tight and fastened so that the
seat ca nnot move forward or sideways more
t han one inch (2.5 cm) .
A WARNING
Using the wrong child res traint o r an i m
pr operly ins talled chi ld restraint can cause
se rious pe rsonal injury or death in a crash.
- Always ma ke sure that the safety belt re-
trac to r i s lo cked when insta lling a child
safety seat . An un locked safety bel t re
tracto r cannot hold the child safety seat
in place dur ing no rma l dr iving o r in a
crash.
- Always buckle the child safety seat firmly
in place even if a ch ild is not sitt ing in it.
A loose child safety seat can fly around
during a sudden stop or in a crash.
- Always make sure the seat backrest to
which the child restraint is installed is in
an upright pos ition. Otherw ise, the seat
back with the ch ild safety seat attached
to it could fly forward in the event of an
accident o r othe r emergency situation.
- Always read and heed all WAR NIN GS
wheneve r using a child res trained in ave
h icle is being used
c:> page 130. Special
p re ca utions apply when insta lling a child
safe ty se at on the fron t passenger seat
<=> page 110, Child restraints on the front
seat -some important things to know .
Deactivating the convertible locking
retractor
-
The convertible locking retractor for child re
straints will be deactivated automatically when the belt is wound all the way back into
the retractor.
., Press the red b utton on the safety belt buck
le . The belt tong ue will pop out of the b uck
le .
., Guide the safety be lt all the way back into
its stowed position .