2015 AUDI A3 Owners Manual

To provide maximum protection, safety belts
must always be positioned correctly on the
wearer's body.
... Adjust the front seat and head restraint
properly
c::> page 53, Front seats.
• Make sure the seatback of the rear seat
bench is in an upright position and securely
latched in place before using the belt
c::> ,&..
... Hold the belt by the tongue and pull it even­
ly across the chest and pelvis
c::> ,&. .
""Insert the tongue into the correct buckle of
your seat until you hear it latch securely
c::>fig. 117.
.., 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 hill or through a sharp curve. During normal driving the belt lets you move
freely.
Safety belt pretensioners
The safety belts are equipped with a belt pre­
tensioner that helps to tighten the safety belt
and remove slack when the pretensioner is ac­
tivated
c::> poge 137. The function of the pre­
tensioner is monitored by a warning light
c::> page 21.
Switchable locking feature
Every safety belt except the one on the driver
seat is equipped with a switchable locking fea­
ture that
must be used when the safety belt is
used to attach a child seat. Be sure to read the important information about this feature
c::> page 177 .
A WARNING
Improperly positioned safety belts can
cause serious injury in an accident
c::> page 135, Safety belt position.
-Safety belts offer optimum protection
only when the seatback is upright and
Safety belts 135
belts are properly positioned on the
body.
- Always make sure that the rear seat
backrest to which the center rear safety
belt* is attached is securely latched
whenever the rear center safety belt is
being used. If the backrest is not secure­
ly latched, the passenger will move for­
ward with the backrest during sudden
braking, in a sudden maneuver and espe­
cially in a crash .
- Never attach the safety belt to the buck­
le for another seat . Attaching the belt to
the wrong buckle will reduce safety belt
effectiveness and can cause serious per­
sonal injury.
- A passenger who is not properly restrain­
ed can be seriously injured by the safety
belt itself when it moves from the stron­
ger parts of the body into critical areas
like the abdomen.
- Always lock the convertible locking re­
tractor when you are securing a child seat in the vehicle
c::> page 179.
(D Tips
For information on safety belt pretension­
ers, refer to
c::> page 13 7.
Safety belt position
Correct belt position is the key to getting
maximum protection from safety belts.
Fig. 118 Safety belt position
Use the height adjustment to change the posi­
tion of the shoulder belt of the front safety
belts .
~

136 Safet y belt s
A WARNING
Imprope rly positioned safety belts can
cause serious persona l injury in an acci ­
dent.
-
- The shoulder belt shou ld lie as close to
the center of the collar bone as poss ible
and should fit we ll on the body. Hold the
belt above the latch tongue and pull it
evenly across the chest so that it sits as
low as possible on the pelvis and there is
no p ressure on the abdomen. The be lt
sho uld a lways f it snugly
¢ fig . 118. Pull
on the be lt to tighten if necessary.
- A loose-fitt ing safety be lt can cause seri­
o us in juries by s hifting its position on
yo ur body from the stro ng bones to more
vulnerab le, so ft tissue and cause serious
injury.
- Alw ays re ad and heed all WARN INGS and
other impor tant in format io n
¢ page 134.
Pregnant women must al so be correctly
restrained
The best way to protect the fetus is to moke
sure that expectant mothers always wear
safety belts correctly -throughout the preg­
nancy.
Fi g. 1 19 Safety be lt pos ition du ring preg nancy
To provide maxim um protection, safety belts
must always be pos it io ned correctly on the
wearer 's body
¢ page 135.
.,. Adjust the front seat and adjustable head
restraint* correctly
c::> page 53, Front seats .
.,. Ho ld the belt by the tongue and pu ll it even ­
ly across the chest and pelvis¢
fig. 119,
¢ _&..
.,. Insert the tongue into the correct buck le of
your seat unt il you hear it latch securely
¢page 134, fig . 117.
.,. Pull on the belt to make sure that it is se·
curely latched in th e buckle .
_& WARNING
Imprope rly posit io ned safety be lts ca n
c a use ser ious perso nal in ju ry in an a cci­
den t.
-
- Expe cta nt mo thers m ust alw ays wea r the
lap portion of the safety belt as low as
possible across the pelvis and below t he
round ing of the abdomen.
- Always read and heed all WA RNINGS and
other important information¢.&.
in Fas­
tening safety belts on page 135.
Unfastening safety belts
Unbuckle the safety belt with the red release
button only after the vehicle has stopped .
Fig. 120 Releas ing the tong ue fro m the buck le
.,. Push the red release button on the buckle
¢ fig. 120 . The be lt tongue will spring out
of the buckle
¢ _& .
.,. Le t the belt wind up on the retractor as you
gu ide the be lt tongue to its stowe d posi tion .
_& WARNING
Neve r unfa sten sa fety belt whi le the vehi­
cle is moving. Doing so will increase yo ur
risk of being in ju red o r killed.

Adjusting safety belt height
With the aid of the safety belt height adjust­
ment, the three point safety belt strap rout­
ing can be fitted to the shoulder area, accord­
ing to body size .
Fig. 121 Safety belt height ad justmen t for th e front
seats -loop -aro un d fit tings
The shoulder belt should lie as close to the
center of the collar bone as possible and
should fit well on the body ¢,&.
in Safety belt
position on page 136.
.,. Push
the loop -around fittings up c> fig . 121
@ , or
.,. squeeze together the@button, and push
the loop-around fittings down@.
.,. Pull the belt to make sure that the upper at ­
tachment is properly engaged.
A WARNING
Always read and heed all WARNINGS and
other important information
c> page 134.
@ Tips
With the front seats, the height adjust­
ment of the seat can also be used to adjust
the position of the safety belts.
Improperly worn safety belts
Incorrectly positioned safety belts can cause severe injuries.
Wearing safety belts improperly can cause se­
rious injury or death. Safety belts can only
work when they are correctly positioned on
the body. Improper seating positions reduce
the effectiveness of safety belts and will even increase the risk of injury and death by mov-
Safety belts 13 7
ing the safety belt to critical areas of the
body. Improper seating positions also in­
crease the risk of serious injury and death
when an airbag deploys and strikes an occu­
pant who is not in the correct seating posi­
tion . A driver is responsible for the safety of
all vehicle occupants and especially for chil­
dren . Therefore:
.,. Never permit anyone to assume an incorrect
sitting position in the vehicle while traveling
~ .&. -
A WARNING
Improperly worn safety belts increase the
risk of serious persona l injury and death
whenever a vehicle is being used.
- Always make sure that all vehicle occu­
pants are correctly restrained and stay in
a correct seating position whenever the
vehicle is being used.
-Always read and heed all WARNINGS and
other important information
r:::>page 134 .
Safety belt preten­
sioners
How safety belt pretensioners work
In front, side and rear-end collisions above a
particular severity and in a rollover, safety
belts are tensioned automatically .
Reversible safety belt tensioners
The safety belts on the front seats are equip­
ped with power reversible tensioners . The fol­
lowing functions are avai lable when the driv­
er's/front passenger's safety belts are fas­
tened:
-Automatic tensioners: at the start of a drive,
the safety belts automatically adjust to the
passenger after a certain time period or ve­
hicle speed . To switch the automatic ten­
sioners off, select the following in the MMI: .,..

138 Safety belts
ICAR !function button> (Car )* sys tem s> Ve­
hicle setting s > Sea ts > Dri ver 's seat or Pas­
senger 's se at > Autom atic belt ten sioner
>
Off .
-In certain driving situations, the safety be lts
may tighten with a reversib le tensioning
function
c:> page 90.
- The safety belts may also tighten with this
revers ible tensioning f unction in m inor colli­
s ions.
Pyrotechnic safety belt preten sioner s
The sa fety belts are equipped with safety be lt
pretensioners. The system is activated by sen­
sors in front, side and rear-end collisions of
great severity and in a rollover. Th is tightens
the belt and takes up be lt slack
c:> &. in Service
and disposal of safety belt pretensioner on
page 138 .
Taking up the slack helps to reduce
forward occupant movement during a co lli­
sion.
,& WARNING
- It is possib le for the pretensioners to de­
ploy incorrect ly .
- T he py rotechnic system can only pr ovide
pro te ction for one co llision.
If t he pyro­
technic p retensioners dep loy, the p reten ­
sioning system must be replaced .
@ Tips
The pyrotechnic safety belt p retens ioners
can only deploy once .
- The safety belt pretens ione rs do no t de­
ploy in mino r frontal and side col lisions,
i n rear -end collisions, in rollove rs and in
collisions invo lving very litt le impact
force.
- A f ine d ust is released when the pyro ­
technic safety belt pretensioners deploy.
This is normal and is not caused by a fire
i n the veh icle.
- The relevant safety requirements must
be observed when the vehicle or compo­
nents of the system are scrapped. A
qualified dea lership is familiar with
these regulations and w ill be pleased to
pass on the informat io n to you . - Be sure to observe all safety, env
iron ­
menta l and other regu lations if the ve hi­
cle or individual parts of the system, par­
ticu larly the safety belt or airbag, are to
be disposed. We recommend you have
your authorized Audi dealer perform this service fo r you.
Service and disposal of safety belt
pretensioner
T he safety belt pretens ioners are parts o f the
safety belts on your Audi . Insta lling, remov­
ing, servicing or repairing of be lt pretension­
ers can damage the safety belt system and
prevent it from working correctly in a co lli­
s ion.
There are some important t hings you have to
know to make sure that the effectiveness of
the system w ill not be impaired and that dis­
carded components do no t cause injury or pol­
l u te the environment .
A WARNING
-Improper care, serv ic ing and repair p roce-
du res can increase the risk of pe rsonal in­
j u ry and death by prevent ing a safety belt
p retensioner from activ ating w hen neede d
or activa ting it unexpectedly:
- T he belt pretensione r system can be a ct i­
vated only once. If be lt pretensioners
have been activated , the system m ust be
replaced .
- Never repair, adjus t, or change any parts
of the safety be lt system .
- Safety belt systems incl uding safety belt
pretensioners cannot be repaired. Spe ­
cial procedures are required for removal,
installation and disposa l of th is system.
- For any wo rk on the safety belt system,
we strongly recommend t hat you see
your author ized Audi dealer or qualif ied
technician who has an Audi approved re­ pa ir manua l, train ing and special equ ip­
ment necessary.

@ For the sake of the environment
Undeployed airbag modu les and preten­
sioners might be classified as Perchlorate
Material -specia l hand ling may apply, see
www.dtsc.ca.gov/hazardouswaste/per­ chlorate. When the vehicle or parts of the
restraint system including airbag modules
safety belts w ith pretens ioners are scrap­
ped, all applicable laws and regulat ions
m ust be observed. Yo ur authorized Aud i
dea le r i s familiar w ith these requi rements
and we recommend that you have your
dea ler perform this service for you.
Sa fety belts 139
•
•
•

140 Airbag sys tem
Airbag system
Important things to know
Importance of wearing safety belts and
sitting properly
Airbags are only supplemental restraints. For
airbags to do their job , occupants must al­
ways properly wear their safety belts and be
in a proper seating position.
F or your safety and the safety of your passen­
gers, before driving off, a lways:
• Adjust the driver's seat and steering wheel
properly ¢
page 122,
• Adjust the front passenger's seat properly
r=; page 53,
• Wear safety be lts properly ¢ page 134,
• Always properly use the proper child re-
straint to protect children¢
page 166.
In a collision, airbags must inflate within the
blink of an eye and with considerable force .
The supplemental airbags can cause injuries if
the dr iver or the front seat passenger is not
seated properly . Therefore in order to he lp the
a irbag to do its job, it is important, both as a
d river and as a passenger to sit prope rly at all
times.
By keeping room between your body and the
steering wheel and the front of the passenger
compartment, the airbag can inflate fully and
comp letely and provide supp lemental protec­
tion in ce rtain frontal collisions
¢ page 122,
Proper occupant seating positions.
F or detai ls
on the operation of the seat adjustment con­
t rols ¢
page 53.
It's especially important that children are
properly restrained ¢
page 166.
There is a lot that the driver and the passen­
gers can and must do to help the individua l
safety features installed in your A udi work to­
gether as a system.
Proper seat ing pos ition is important so that
the front airbag on the drive r side can do its
job. If yo u have a physical impa irment or con- dition that prevents yo
u from sitting properly
on the driver seat with the safety belt properly
fastened and reaching the pedals , or if you
have concerns with regard to the function or
operation of the Advanced Airbag System ,
please contact your author ized Audi dealer or
qualified workshop, or call Audi Customer Re­
lations at 1-800-822-2834 fo r poss ible modi­
ficat ions to your veh icle.
When the airbag system deploys, a gas gener ­
ator will f ill the a irbags, break open t he pad­
ded cove rs, and inflate between the steering
whee l and the dr iver and between the instru­
ment pane l and the fron t passenger. The a ir­
bags will deflate immediately after dep loy­
ment so that the front occupants can see
t hr ough the windshie ld again witho ut inter­
ruption .
All of th is takes p lace in the b link o f an eye, so
fast that many peop le don't even realize tha t
the airbags have deployed. The airbags a lso
inflate with a great dea l of force and nothing
shou ld be in their w ay when they deploy.
Front a irbags in combination with properly
wor n safety belts slow down and lim it the oc ­
cupant's forward movement . T ogether they
help to prevent the drive r and front seat pas­
senger from hitting pa rts of the inside of the
vehicle while reducing the forces acting on the
occupant dur ing the crash . In this way they
help to reduce the risk of injury to the head
and upper body in the crash. A irbags do not
protect the arms or the lower parts of the
body.
Both front airbags wi ll not inflate in all fronta l
collisions . The triggering of the airbag system
depends on the vehicle dece lerat ion rate
caused by the co llision and registered by the
electron ic control unit. If th is rate is below
the reference value programmed into the con ­
t rol unit , the airbags will not be trigge red,
even though the car may be badly damaged as
a res ult of the co llision . Ve hicl e damage, re­
pair costs or even the lack of ve hicle damage
is not necessari ly an indication of whether an
airbag shou ld inflate or not .
IJll-

Since the circumstances will vary considerably
between on e collision and another , it is not
possible to define a range of veh icle speeds
that will cover every possible k ind and angle
of impact that will always trigger the a irbags .
Important factors include, for example, the nature (hard or soft) of the object which the
car h its, the ang le of impact, vehicle speed ,
etc. The front airbags will a lso not inflate in
side or rear collisions, or in ro ll-overs .
Alwa ys re memb er: Airbags will deploy only
once, and only in certa in kinds of collisions.
Your safety belts are always there to offe r pro­
tection in those s ituations 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 vehicle af­
ter the first collision .
This is just one of the reasons why an a irbag is
a supp lementary restraint and is not a s ubsti ­
tute for a safety belt. The airbag system
works most effectively when used with the
safety belts. Therefore, always properly wear
your safety belts
c::;,page 131.
A WARNING
Sitting too close to the steer ing wheel or
instrument panel will decrease the effec­
tiveness of the airbags and will inc rease
the risk of pe rsonal injury in a co llision.
- Never sit closer than 10 inches (2S cm)
to the stee ring wheel or instrument pan­
el.
- If you cannot sit mo re than 10 inches
( 2 5 cm) from the steer ing whee l, investi­
ga te whethe r adaptive equipment may
be available to help you reach the pedals
and increase your seating distance from
the steering wheel.
- All vehicle occupants and especia lly chil ­
dren must be restrained properly when­
ever riding in a vehicle . An unrestra ined
or improperly restrained child could be
injured by striking the inter ior or by be­
ing ejected from the vehicle during a
sudden maneuver or impact . An unre­
strained or improperly rest rained child is
A irbag system 141
also at greater risk of injury or death
through contact with an inflating airbag .
- If you are unrestrained, leaning forward,
sitt ing s ideways or out of position in any
way, your risk of injury is much higher.
- You will a lso receive se rious injuries and
could even be killed if you are up aga inst
the airbag or too close to it when it in­
flates -even w ith an Advanced A irbag.
- To reduce the risk of injury when an air­
bag inflates, always wear safety belts
properly
c::;, page 134, Safety belts .
-Always make certain that ch ildren age 12
or younger always ride in the rear seat. If
children are not properly restrained , they
may be severe ly inju red or killed when an
airbag inf lates.
- Never let ch ildren ride unrestra ined o r
improperly restrained in the vehicle . Ad­
just the front sea ts properly.
- Never ride with the backrest reclined .
- Always sit as far as possible from the
steer ing whee l or the instrument panel
c::;, page 12 2 .
- Always sit upright with your back against
the backrest of yo ur seat.
- Never p lace your feet on the instrument
panel or on the seat . Always keep both
feet on the floor in front of the seat to he lp prevent serious inju ries to the legs
and h ips if the airbag inflates.
- Never recline the front passenger's sea t
to transport objects. Items can a lso
move into the area of the s ide a irbag or
the front airbag during braking or in a sudden maneuve r. Objects near the air­
bags can become projectiles and cause
injury when an airbag inflates.
A WARNING
A irbags that have deployed in a crash must
be replaced.
- Use on ly orig inal equipment airbags ap­
proved by Audi and installed by a trained
technician who has the necessary too ls
~
•
•
•

142 Airbag sys te m
and dia gnostic equipmen t to pro perly re­
place any a irbag in y our vehicle and
assure system eff ectiveness in a crash.
- Never permit salvaged or recycle d air­
bags to be installed in your veh icle.
Child restraints on the front seat - some
important things to know
~ Be sure to read the important informat ion
and heed the WARNINGS for important de­
ta ils about ch ild ren and Advanced Airbags
Qpage 166.
Even though your vehicle is equ ipped with an
Advanced Airbag System, make certain that
all c hildren, especially those 12 years and
younger, a lways ride in the back seat properly
restrained for their age and size . 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 seat. It can be a
ve ry dangerous place for an infant or a ch ild in
a rearward-facing seat.
The Advanced Airbag System in your veh icle
has been certified to comply with the require­
ments of United States Federal Motor Veh icle
Safety Standard 208 as applicable at the time
your ve hicle was manufactured.
The Standard requires the front a irbag on the
passenger side to be turned off ("sup ­
p ressed") if a ch ild up to about one year of
age restra ined in one of the rear-facing o r fo r­
ward-facing infan t restra ints listed in Federal
M otor Vehicle Safety Standard 208 with w hich
the Advanced A irbag System in your vehicle
was certified has been installed on the front
passenger seat. Fo r a listing of the child re­
straints that were used to certify compliance
with the US Safety Standard
Q page 168.
The PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light in the in­
strument panel te lls you when the front Ad­
vanced Airbag on the passenger side has been turned off by the e lectronic control unit. E
ach time you switch on the ignition, the
PAS­
SENGER AIR BAG O FF
light will come on for a
few seconds and :
- w ill stay on if the front passenge r seat is not
occupied,
- w ill stay on if the e lec trica l ca pa citance
meas ured by the capacitive passenger de ­
tection system for the front passenger seat equa ls the combined capacitance of an in ­
fant up to about one year of age and one of
the rearward-facing or forward-fac ing ch ild
restraints listed in Federal Motor Vehicle
Safety Standard 208 with wh ich the Ad ­
vanced Airbag System in your vehicle was
cert ified . For a listing of the chi ld restraints
tha t were used to certify you r vehi cle's com­
p lia nce w it h t he U.S. Safety Standard
Q page 168.
-w ill stay on i f there is a small ch ild or child
restraint on the front passenge r seat,
- will go off if the front passenger seat is oc ­
cupied by an adult as registered by the ca ­
pacitive passenger de tection system
c::> page 152, Monitoring the Advanced Air·
bag System.
The PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes on
when e lectrica l capacitance registered on the
front passenger seat is eq ua l to or less tha n
the comb ined capacitance of a typica l 1 year­
o ld infant and one of the rearward-facing or
forward-facing chi ld restraints listed in Feder­
al Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208 with
wh ich the Advanced Airbag System in your ve­
hicle was certified.
If the total electr ica l capacitance registered
on the front passenger seat is more than that
of a typical 1 year -o ld child but less than the
weight of a small adult , the front airbag on
t h e passenger side can deploy (the
PASSEN­
GER AIR BAG OFF
light does not come on).
If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does
not come on, the front airbag on the passen­
ger side has not been turned off by t he e lec­
t ro ni c cont ro l unit and can deploy if the con­
t ro l uni t se nses an impact tha t mee ts the con-
di tions stored in its memory .
1J1>