-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.
•
•
118 Airbag system
More important things to know about
front airbags
F ig. 114 Inflated fro nt airbags
Safety belts are impo rtant to help keep fro nt
seat occupants in the p roper seated pos it io n
so that airbags can unfo ld prope rly and pro
vide supplemental protection in a fronta l co l
lision .
The front a irbags are designed to provide ad
d itiona l protect ion for the chest and face of
the dr iver and the front seat passenger when:
- safety belts are worn properly,
- the seats have been positioned so that the
occupant is properly seated as far as possi
ble from the a irbag,
- and the head restraints have been properly
adjusted .
Because airbags inflate in the blink of an eye
with great force, things you have on your lap or have placed on the seat could become dan
gerous projectiles, and be pushed into you if
the airbag inflates .
When an a irbag deploys, fine dust is released.
This is normal and is not caused by a fire in
the vehicle . This dust is made up mostly of a
powder used to lubricate the airbags as they
deploy. It cou ld irritate ski n.
It is important to remember that while the
supp lemental airbag system is designed to re
duce the l ikelihood of serious inj uries, other
i n juries, fo r example swelling, bruisi ng and
m inor abrasions, ca n also happe n when air
bags in flate. Airbags do not protect the a rms
or the lower pa rts of the body. Front airbags
only supplement the t hree point safety belts
in some frontal collisions in which the vehicle deceleration
is high eno ugh to deploy the air
bags .
Front airbags will not deploy:
- if the ignition is sw itched off when a crash
occurs,
- in side co llisions,
- in rear-end co llisions,
- in rollovers,
-when the crash deceleration measured by the airbag system is less than the min imum
threshold needed for a irbag deployment as
reg istered by the electronic control unit .
The front pass enge r airbag will al so not
deploy:
- when the front passenger seat is not occu
p ied,
- when the weight on the front passenger
seat as sensed by the Advanced Airbag Sys
tem indicates that the front ai rbag on the
passenger side has to be turned off by the
elec troni c control un it (the
PASSENGER AIR
BAG OFF
li ght comes on and stays o n).
_&. WARNING ~
Si tting in the wrong position can increase
the r isk of se rious injury in crashes.
- To reduce the risk of inju ry w he n t he air
bags inflate, the drive r and passengers
must always sit in an upr ight position,
m ust not lean aga inst or place any part
of their b ody too close to the area where
the airbags a re located .
- Occupants who are unbelted, out of posi
tion or too close to the a irbag can be se
rio usly injured by a n airbag as it unfolds
wit h great force in the blink of an eye
¢page 110 .
_&. WARNING ~ -
A child in a rearward-fac ing c hild safety
seat installed on the front passenger seat
will be serio usly injured and ca n be killed if
the front airbag in fla tes -even with an Ad
vanced A irbag System.
120 Airbag system
-comes on whi le driving .
I f an airbag system malfunct ion is detected,
the ind icator light will first start flash ing to
cat ch the d river's attention and then stay on
continuously to serve as a constant reminder
to have the system inspected immediately.
I f a malfunc tion occurs that turns the front
a ir bag on the passenger side off, the
PAS SEN
GER AIR BAG OFF
light will come on and stay
on whenever the ignition is on .
.&_ WARNING
An airbag system that is not functioning
properly cannot provide supplemental pro
tection in a frontal crash.
- If the airbag indicator light comes on, it
means that there may be somet hing
wrong with the Advanced Airbag System.
It is possible that the airbag will inflate
when it is not supposed to, or w ill not in
flate when it should.
- Have the airbag system inspected imme
diat ely by your Aud i dealer .
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
Fig. 11 5 Sect ion from the instrumen t pa nel: PASS EN
GER AIR BAG OFF light
The PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light is located
in the center of the instr ument panel
¢ fig. 115.
The PAS SENGE R AIR BAG OFF light will come
on and stay on to tell you when the front Ad·
vanced A irbag on the passenger side has been
turned off by the e lectronic control unit. Each
time you tu rn on the ig nition, the
PASSEN
GER AIR BAG OFF
li ght will flash for a few
seconds and: -
will stay on i f the front passenger seat is not
occupied,
- wi ll stay on if there is a small ch ild or child
restrai nt on the front passenger seat,
- will go out i f the front passenger sea t is oc
cupied by an adult as registered by the
weight-sensing mat .
T he
PAS SENGER AIR BAG OFF light mu st
come on and stay on
if the igni tion is on and
- a car bed has been installed on the front
seat, or
- a rearward-facing child restraint has been
installed on the front passenger seat, or
- a forward -fac ing ch ild restra int has been in
stalled on the front passenger seat, or
- the we ight reg istered on the front passen
ger seat is equal to or less than the com·
b ined weight of a typical 1 year-old restra in
ed in one of the rear -facing or forwa rd-fac
ing infan t restr aints listed in Feder al Motor
Ve hicl e Safety Standa rd 208 with wh ich the
Advanced Airbag System in your vehicle was
certified .
If the front passenger seat is not occupied,
the front airbag will not dep loy, and the
PAS
SENGER AIR BAG OFF
light will stay on . Nev
er install a rearward-facing child restraint on
the front passenger seat ¢
page 110, Child
restraints on the front seat -some important
things to know
and¢ page 130, Child Safety.
If the PASSENGER A IR BAG OF F light come s
on
when one of the cond itions listed above is
met, be sure to check t he light regularly to
make certain that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
light stays on continuously whenever the
ignition is on . If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
light does not appear and not stay on a ll
t h e time, s top as soon as i t is safe to do so
and
- reactivate the system by t urning the ig nition
off and then turning it on again;
- remove and reinstall the child restra int .
Make s ure that the ch ild restra int is properly
installed and that the safety belt for the
fro nt passenge r seat has bee n correctly
rou ted aro und the ch ild restrai nt as
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>
•
•
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 . ..,.