2015 AUDI A5 CABRIOLET instrument panel

Airb ag syst em
Front airbags
Description of front airbags
The airbag system can provide supplemental
protection to properly restrained front seat occu­
pants .
Fig. 147 Location of driver airbag : in steering whee l
Fig. 148 Location of front passenger's airbag: in the instru­
ment panel
Your vehicle is equ ipped with an "Advanced Air­
bag System" in compliance with Un ited States
Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard
(FMVSS) 208 as applicab le at the time your veh i­
cle was manufactured. The safety belts for the
seats have "pretensioners" that help to take s lack
out of the belt system . The pretensioners are also
activated by the electronic control unit for the
airbag system .
The front safety belts a lso have load limiters to
help reduce the forces applied to the body in a
crash.
The airbag for the driver is in the steer ing wheel
hub ¢
fig. 147 and the airbag for the front pas ­
senger is in the instrument panel¢
fig. 148. The
general location of the airbags is marked "AIR­
BAG".
1 36
There is a lot you need to know about the airbags
in your vehicle . We urge you to read the detailed
i nformation about airbags, safety belts and child
safety in this and the other chapters that make
up the owner's literature. Please be sure to heed
the WARNINGS -they are extremely important
for your safety and the safety of your passengers, especially infants and small children .
,&_ WARNING -
Never rely on airbags alone for protection.
- Even when they deploy, airbags provide only supp lemental protection.
- Airbag work most effectively when used with properly worn safety belts .
- Therefore, always wear your safety be lts and
make sure that everybody in your vehicle is
properly restrained.
,&_ WARNING
A person on the front passenger seat, espe­
cially infants and small ch ild ren, will rece ive
serious i njuries and can even be killed by be­
ing too close to the airbag when it inf lates .
- Although the Advanced Airbag System in your vehicle is designed to turn off the front passenger airbag if an infant or a sma ll child
is on the front passenger seat, nobody can
absolutely guarantee that deployment un­
der these special condit ions is impossible in
all conceivable situations that may happen
during the useful life of your vehicle .
- The Advanced Airbag System can dep loy in
accordance with the "low risk" option under
the U .S. Federal Standard if a chi ld that is
heav ier than the typical one-year old child is
on the front passenger seat and the other
conditions for airbag deployment are met.
- Accident statistics have shown that ch ildren
are generally safer in the rear seat area than
in the front seating position .
- For their own safety, all children, especially
12 years and younger, sho uld a lways ride in
the back properly restrained for their age
and size .
-

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Advanced front airbag system
Your vehicle is equipped w ith a front Advanced
Airbag System in compliance with United States
F ederal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208 asap­
plicable at the time your vehicle was manufac­
tured.
The front Advanced Airbag System supplements
the safety belts to provide additiona l protection
for the driver's and front passenger's heads and
upper bodies in frontal crashes. The airbags in­
flate only in frontal impacts when the vehicle de­
celeration is high enough.
The front Advanced Airbag System for the front
seat occupants is not a substitute for your safety
be lts. Rather, it is part of the overall occupant re­
straint system in your vehicle. Always remember
that the airbag system can only help to protect
you, if you are sitt ing upright, wearing your safe­
ty belt and wearing it properly . This is why you
and your passengers must always be properly re­
strained, not just because the law requires you to
be.
The Advanced Airbag System in your veh icle has
been certified to meet the "low risk" require­
ments for 3 and 6 year-old children on the pas­
senger side and very small adults on the driver
side . The low risk deployment criteria are intend­
ed to help reduce the risk of injury through inter ­
action with the front airbag that can occur, for
examp le, by being too close to the steering whee l
and instrument panel when the airbag inflates.
I n addition, the system has been certified to
comp ly with the "suppression" requirements of
the Safety Standard, to turn
off the front airbag
for infants 12 months old and younger who are
restra ined on the front passenger seat in child re­
straints that are listed in the Standard
c::> page 154, Child restraints and Advanced Air­
bags.
"Suppression" requires the front airbag on the passenger side to be turned
off if:
- a ch ild up to about one year of age is restrained
on the front passenger seat in one of the rear­
facing or forward-fac ing infant restraints listed
in Federa l Motor Veh icle Safety Standard 208
Airbag system
with which the Advanced Airbag System in your
vehicle was certified. For a listing of the child
restraints that were used to certify your veh i­
cle's compliance with the US Safety Standard
c::>page 154,
- weight less than a thresho ld level stored in the
control unit is detected on the front passenger
seat.
When a person is detected on the front passen ­
ger seat, weighing more than the tota l weight of
a child that is about 1 year old restrained in one
of the rear-facing or forward-facing infant re­
stra ints (listed in Federal Motor Vehicle Safety
Standard 208 with which the Advanced Airbag
System in your veh icle was certified), the front
airbag on the passenge r side may or may not de­
ploy.
The
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes on
whe n the electronic contro l unit detects a total
weight on the front passenger seat that requires
the front airbag to be turned
off. If the PASSEN­
GER AIR BAG OFF
light does not come on, the
front airbag on the passenger side has not been
turned
off by the control unit and can deploy if
the control un it senses an impact that meets the
condit ions stored in its memory.
If the total weight on the front passenger seat is
more than that of a typical 1 year-old, but less
than the weight of a small adult, the front airbag on the passenger s ide may deploy (the
PASSEN­
GER AIR BAG OFF
light does not come on).
For example , the airbag may deploy if:
- a small child that is heav ier than a typical 1
yea r-old chi ld is on the front passenger seat (re ­
gardless of whether the chi ld is in one of the
child safety seats listed
c::> page 154),
- a child who has outgrown child restraints is on
the front passenger seat.
If the front passenger airbag is turned off, the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light in the center of
the instrument panel wi ll come on and stay on.
T he front airbag on the passenge r sid e may
not
deploy (the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does
not illuminate and stay lit) if: .,..
137

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detail below . Because the front passenger seat
contains important parts of the Advanced Airbag
System, yo u must take care to prevent it from be­
ing damaged. Damage to the seat may prevent
the Advanced Airbag for the front passenger seat
from do ing its job in a crash .
The front Ad vanced Airb ag S ystem con sis ts
of the following :
-Crash sensors in the front of the veh icle that
measure veh icle acceleration/deceleration to
provide information to the Advanced Airbag
System about the severity of the crash .
- An electronic control unit, with integrated
crash sensors for front and side impacts . The
control unit "decides" whether to fire the front
airbags based on the information received from
the crash sensors . T he control un it also "de­
cides" whether the safety be lt pretensioners
sho uld be activated.
- An Advanced Airbag with gas generator and
control valve for the driver inside the steering
whee l hub.
- An Advanced Airbag with gas generator and
control valve inside the instrument panel for
t h e front passenger.
- A weig ht-sensing mat under the upholstery
padding of the front passenger seat cushion
that meas ures the tota l weight on the seat. The
information registered is sent cont in uous ly to
the e lectronic control unit to regulate dep loy­
ment of the front Advanced Airbag on the pas­
senger side.
- An airbag monitoring system and indicator
light in the instrument cluster
¢ page 142.
-A sensor in each front seat registers the dis­
tance between the respect ive seat and the
steering wheel or instrument panel. The infor­
mation registered is sent cont inuously to the
elect ron ic cont ro l unit to regulate deployment
of the front Advanced Airbags.
- T he
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes on
and stays on in the center of the i nstrument
pane l¢
page 142, fig . 150 and tells you when
the front Advanced Ai rbag on the passenger
side has been turned
off .
-A sensor below the safety belt la tch fo r the
front seat passenge r to measure the tension on
Airbag syste m
the sa fe ty belt. The tens ion on the safety be lt
and the weight registe red by the weight -sens­
ing mat help the control unit "decide" whether
the front a irbag for the front passenger seat
should be turned
off or not¢ page 133, Child
restraints on the front seat- some important things to know.
- A sensor in the safety belt latch for the driver
and for the front seat passenger that senses
whether that safety belt is latched or not and
transm its this informat ion to the elect ro nic
cont ro l unit.
A WARNING
D amage to the fron t passenger seat can pre­
vent the fron t air bag from working prope rly.
- Imp roper repai r or d isassembly of the front
passenger and driver sea t will prevent the
Advanced Airbag System from functioning properly .
- Repairs to the front passenge r seat must be
performed by qualified and p roperly trained
workshop personne l.
- Never remove the front passenger or driver seat from the vehicle .
- Never remove the upho lstery from the front
passenger seat.
- Never d isassemble o r remove par ts from the
seat or disconnect w ires from it.
- Never carry sh arp objects in yo ur po ckets or
p la ce them on t he seat.
If the weight-sens­
ing mat in the passenger seat is punctu red
it cannot work properly .
- Never carry things on yo ur lap or carry ob ­
jects on the passenger seat. S uch items can
increase the we ight registe red by the
weight-sensing mat and send the wrong in­
formation to the a irbag control unit.
- Never store items under the front passenger
seat . Parts of the Advanced Airbag System
under the passenger seat could be dam­
aged, p reventing them and the airbag sys­
tem from wo rking prope rly.
- Never p lace seat covers or rep lacement up­
holstery that have not been specifically ap­
p roved by Aud i on the front seats.
- Seat cove rs can prevent the Advanced Air­
bag Sys tem from recogniz ing child
1 39

Airbag syste m
his or her back up against the backrest and the
backrest is not reclined ¢
page 114, Correct
passenger seating positions,
- the adu lt is not taking weight off the seat by
holding on to the passenger assist handle
above the front passenger door or supporting
their weight on the armrest,
- the safety belt is being properly worn and that
there is not a lot of slack in the safety belt web­
bing,
- accessory seat covers or cushions or other
things that may cause an incorrect reading or impression on the weight-sens ing mat under
the upholstery of the seat have been removed
from the front passenger seat,
- a safety be lt extender has not been left in the
safety belt latch for the front passenger seat .
In addition to the
P ASS ENGER AIR BA G OF F
light in the center of the instrument panel, the
message
PASSE NGER A IR BAG OFF or PASSEN­
GER AIR BAG ON
will briefly appear in the instru­
ment cluster display . Thi s is to inform the driver
of the current front passenger airbag status.
Important safety instructions on
monitoring the Advanced Airbag System
A WARNING
An airbag system that is not funct ion ing prop ­
erly cannot prov ide supplementa l protect ion
in a frontal crash.
- If the airbag indicator light ¢
page 19
comes when the vehicle is being used, have
the system inspected immediate ly by your
authorized Aud i dealer.
It is possible that
the a irbag will inflate when it is not s up­
posed to, or wi ll not inflate when it should.
A WARNING
If the front airbag in flates, a chi ld without a
child restraint, in a rearward-facing child safe­
ty seat or in a forward-facing child restraint
that has not been proper ly installed will be
ser iously injured and can be killed.
- Even though your veh icle is equipped with
an Advanced Airbag System, make certa in
that all ch ildren, especially 12 yea rs and
144
younger, a lways ride on the back seat prop­
erly restrained for their age and size.
- Always install forward or rear-facing child
safety seats on the rear seat -even with an
Advanced A irbag System.
- If you must install a rearward-facing child
safety seat on the front passenger seat be­
cause of exceptional circumstances and the
PASSENG ER AIR BAG OFF light does not
appear and stay on, immediately insta ll the
rea r-facing chi ld safety seat in a rear seating
position and have the airbag system inspect­
ed by your authori zed Audi dealer .
- A t ight tether or other s trap on a rea rward­
facing chi ld restraint attached to the front
p assenger sea t can put too much pressure
on the weight-sens ing mat in the seat and
reg ister more weight than is actually on the
seat. The heavier weight registered can make the system work as though an adult
were on the seat and deploy the Advanced Airbag when it must be suppressed caus ing
serious or even fatal injury to the child .
- If, in exceptiona l circumstances, you must
install a forward-facing child restraint on
the front passenger seat, always move the seat into i ts rearmost pos ition in the seat's
fore and aft ad justmen t range, as fa r away
from the airbag as possib le. The backrest
m ust be adjusted to an upr ight position.
Make sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
li ght comes on and stays on all the time
whenever the ignit ion is switched on.
A WARNING
- If the PASS ENGER AIR BAG OF F light does
not go out when an adult is s itting on the
front passenger seat after tak ing the steps
described above, make sure the adult is
prope rly seated and restra ined at one of the
rea r seat ing pos itions.
- Have the airbag system inspected by your
author ized Audi dealer befo re transpo rting
anyone on the fro nt passenger seat.

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@ Tips
If the weight-sensing mat in the front passen­
ger seat detects an empty seat, the front air­
bag on the passenger side will be turned off,
and
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF will stay on.
Repair, care and disposal of the airbags
Parts of the airbag system are installed at many
different places on your Audi. Installing, remov­ ing , servicing or repairing a part in an area of the
vehicle can damage a part of an airbag system and prevent that system from working properly in a collision.
There are some important things you have to know to make sure that the effectiveness of the
system will not be impaired and that discarded
components do not cause injury or pollute the
environment.
A WARNING
-
Improper care, servicing and repair proce­
dures can increase the risk of personal injury
and death by preventing an airbag from de­
ploying when needed or deploying an airbag
unexpectedly:
- Never cover, obstruct, or change the steer­
ing wheel horn pad or airbag cover or the in­
strument panel or modify them in any way .
- Never attach any objects such as cup holders
or telephone mountings to the surfaces cov­
ering the airbag units .
- For cleaning the horn pad or instrument panel, use only a soft, dry cloth or one mois­
tened with plain water. Solvents or cleaners could damage the airbag cover or change
the stiffness or strength of the material so
that the airbag cannot deploy and protect
properly.
- Never repair, adjust, or change any parts of
the airbag system.
- All work on the steering wheel, instrument
panel, front seats or electrical system (in­
cluding the installation of audio equipment,
cellular telephones and CB radios, etc.)
must be performed by a qualified technician
Airbag system
who has the training and special equipment
necessary.
- For any work on the airbag system, we
strongly recommend that you see your au­
thorized Audi dealer or qualified workshop.
- Never modify the front bumper or parts of
the vehicle body.
- Always make sure that the side airbag can
inflate without interference:
- Never install seat covers or replacement
upholstery over the front seatbacks that
have not been specifically approved by
Audi .
- Never use additional seat cushions that
cover the areas where the side airbags in­
flate.
- Damage to the original seat covers or to
the seam in the area of the side airbag
module must always be repaired immedi­
ately by an authorized Audi dealer.
- The airbag system can be activated only
once. After an airbag has inflated, it must
be replaced by an authorized Audi dealer or
qualified technician who has the technical
information, training and special equipment
necessary.
- The airbag system can be deployed only
once . After an airbag has been deployed, it
must be replaced with new replacement
parts designed and approved especially for
your Audi model version. Replacement of complete airbag systems or airbag compo­nents must be performed by qualified work­
shops only. Make sure that any airbag serv­
ice action is entered in your Audi Warranty
&
Maintenance booklet under AIRBAG RE­
PLACEMENT RECORD.
- In accidents when an airbag is deployed, the
vehicle battery separates the alternator and
the starter from the vehicle electrical sys­ tem for safety reasons with a pyrotechnic
circuit interrupter .
- Work on the pyrotechnic circuit interrupt­
er must only be performed by a qualified
dealer -risk of an accident!
- If the vehicle or the circuit interrupter is
scrapped, all applicable safety precautions
must be followed.
145

Airb ag syst em
@ For the sake of the environment
Undep loyed airbag modu les and pretension­
ers m ight be classified as Perchlorate Mater ia l
-special handling may apply, see
www.dtsc.ca.gov/hazardouswaste/perchlo­ rate. When the vehicle or parts of the re­
straint system including a irbag modules safe­
ty belts with pretensioners are scrapped, all
app licab le laws and regu lations must be ob­
served. Your authori zed A udi dealer is fami lia r
w ith these requirements and we recommend
that you have yo ur dealer perform this service
for you.
Other things that can affect Advanced
Airbag performance
Changing the vehicle 's suspension system can
change the way that the Advanced A irbag System
pe rforms in a crash. For example, using t ire-rim
comb inat ions not approved by Audi, lowering the
ve hicl e, chang ing the stiffness of the suspension,
including the spr ings, suspension s truts, shock
absorbers etc . can change the forces that are
measured by the airbag sensors and sent to the
electronic control un it. Some suspension changes
can, for example, increase the force levels meas­
ured by the sensors and make the airbag system
deploy in c rashes in which it wo uld not deploy if
the changes had not been made. Other ki nds of
changes may reduce the force levels measured by
the sensors and preve nt the airbag from deploy­
i n g when i t should .
A WARNING
Changing the vehicle's s uspension including
use of unapproved ti re -rim comb inations can
change Advanced A irbag pe rformance and in ­
crease t he risk of serious persona l injury in a
crash.
- Never install suspension components that do not have the same performance charac­
teristics as the components or iginally insta l­
led on your veh icle.
- Never use tire-rim combinations that have
not been approved by Audi.
146
A WARNING
Items stored between t he safety be lt b uckle
and the center console can cause the sensors i n the buckle to send the wrong informat ion
to the electronic control module a nd prevent
the Adva nced Airbag System from wor king
properly.
- Always ma ke sure that nothing can interfere
w it h the safe ty belt bu ckles an d that they
are no t obstr ucted.
Knee airbags
Description of knee airbags
Applies to vehicles: with knee airbags
The knee airbag system can provide supplemen­
tal protection to properly restrained front seat
occupants.
F ig. 151 Driver"s kn ee airbag
The driver knee airbag is i n the instrument panel
u nderneath the steer ing whee l~
fig. 151, the
k nee a irbag for the passenger is at abou t the
same height in the instrument pane l unde rneath
the g love compartment.
The knee air bag offers addi tional protec tion to
t h e d river 's and passenge r's knees and uppe r and
l ower thigh areas and supplements the protec ­
tion provided by the safety belts.
If t he front airbags dep loy, the knee a irbags also
deploy in fro ntal c ollisions when the dep loyment
th reshold stored in the control un it is me t
~ page 140, More important things to know
about front airbags.
In add it ion to their normal sa fe ty f unct io n, safe-
ty be lts he lp keep the driver or front passenger in ..,.

Airb ag syst em
All of this takes place in the blink of an eye, so
fast that many people don't even realize that the
airbags have deployed. The airbags also inflate
with a great deal of force and it is important for
occupant safety that nothing should be in their
way when they deploy .
Fully inflated airbags in comb ination with proper­
ly worn safety belts slow down and lim it the oc­
cupant's forward movement and help to reduce
the risk of injury.
Important safety instructions on the knee
airbag system
A pp lies to veh icles : w ith k nee a irbags
Airbags are only supplemental restraints . Always
wear safety belts correctly and ride in a proper
seating position.
There is a lot that you and your passengers must
know and do to help the safety belts and airbags
to prov ide supplemental protection.
,&. WARNING
An inflating knee airbag can cause ser ious in ­
jury. Wearing safety belts incorrectly and im­ proper seating positions increase the risk of
serious personal injury and death whenever a
vehicle is being used.
- The knee airbag system cannot protect you properly if you are seated too close to any of
the airbag locations. When adjusting their
seat positions, it is important that both the
driver and the front passenger keep the ir
upper bodies and knees at the following
min imum safe distances:
- at least 10 inches (25 cm) between the
chest and the steering whee l/instrument
panel.
- at least 4 inches (10 cm) between the
knees and the lower part of the instru­
ment panel.
- The risk of persona l injury increases if you
lean forward or to the s ide, or if the seat is
improperly positioned and you are not wear­
ing your safety belt. The risk increases even
more should the airbag deploy.
148
- Always make sure that the knee airbag can
inflate w ithout interference. Objects be­
tween you and the airbag can increase the
risk of injury in an accident by interfering
w ith the way the airbag deploys or by being
pushed into you as the a irbag deploys .
- Never let anybody, especia lly children or
anima ls ride in the footwell in front of the
passenger seat. If the airbag deploys, this
can resu lt in serious or fatal injuries.
- Never carry objects of any kind in the foot­
well area in front of the driver's or pas ­
senger's seat. Bulky objects (shopping
bags, for examp le) can interfere with or
prevent proper deployment of the airbag.
Small objects can be thrown through the
vehicle if the airbag deploys and injure you
or your passengers.
- Make sure there are no cracks, deep scratch­
es o r other damage in the area of the instru­
ment panel where the knee airb ags a re lo­
cated.
- I f ch ildren are incorrectly seated, their risk
of injury in creases in a coll is ion
~ page 152, Child safety.
S ide airbags
Description of side airbags
The airbag system can provide supplemental
protection to properly restrained occupants .
Fig. 153 Side airbag location in the driver 's seat
The side airbags are located in the sides of the
front seat backrests~
fig. 153 . They a re ident i­
fied by the word "A IRBAG" .
The si de airbag system b asically con sists o f: ll>-

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exceptional circumstances and the PASSEN­
GER AIR BAG OFF
light does not come on
and stay on, immediately install the rear­
ward-facing child safety seat in a rear seat­
ing position and have the airbag system in­
spected immediately by your authorized
Audi dealer.
A WARNING
If, in exceptional circumstances, you must in­
stall 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 man­
ufacturer for use on a front seat with a pas­
senger front and side airbag.
- Always follow the manufacturer's instruc­
tions provided with the child safety seat or carrier.
- Always
move the passenger seat into its
rearmost position in the seat's fore and aft
adjustment range, as far away from the air­
bag as possible before installing the child
restraint. The backrest must be adjusted to
an upright position.
- Always make sure that the
PASSENGER AIR
BAG OFF
light comes on and stays on all the
time whenever the ignition is switched on.
Always replace child restraints that were in­
stalled in a vehicle during a crash. Damage to
a child restraint that is not visible could cause
it to fail in another collision situation.
Advanced front airbag system and children
Your vehicle is equipped with a front "Advanced
Airbag System" in compliance with United States
Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS)
208 as applicable at the time your vehicle was
manufactured.
The Advanced Airbag system in your vehicle has
been certified to meet the "low-risk" require­
ments for 3- and 6-year old children on the pas­
senger side and small adults on the driver side.
The low risk deployment criteria are intended to
Child safety
reduce the risk of injury through interaction with
the airbag that can occur, for example, by being
too close to the steering wheel and instrument
panel when the ai rbag inflates. In addition, the
system has been certified to comply with the "suppression" requirements of the Safety Stand ­
ard, to turn off the front airbag for infants up to
12 months who are restrained on the front pas­
senger seat in child restraints that are listed in
the Standard.
Even though your vehicle is equipped with an Ad­
vanced Airbag system, all children, especially
those 12 years and younger, should always 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 safety seat. It
can be a
very dangerous place for an infant or a
larger child in a rearward-facing seat.
Advanced Airbags and the weight-sensing
mat in the front seat
The Advanced Airbag System in your vehicle de­
tects the presence of an infant or child in a child
restraint on the front passenger seat using the
weight-sensing mat in the seat cushion and the sensor below the safety belt latch on the front
passenger seat that measures the tension on the
safety belt .
The weight-sensing mat measures total weight of
the child and the child safety seat and a child blanket on the front passenger seat. The weight
on the front passenger seat is related to the de­
sign of the child restraint and its "footprint", the
size and shape of the bottom of the child re ­
straint as it sits on the seat. The weight of a child
restraint and its "footprint" vary for different
kinds of child restraints and for the different
models of the same kind of child restraint offered
by child restraint manufacturers.
The weight ranges for the individual types, makes
and models of child restraints that the NHTSA
has specified in the Safety Standard together
with the weight ranges of typical infants and typ-
ical 1 year-old child have been stored in the ...,
153