2015 AUDI A5 CABRIOLET ESP

Driving safet y
• Fasten your safety belt and wear it properly . Al­
so instruct your passengers to fasten the ir
safety belts properly ¢
page 124.
What impairs driving safety?
Safe driving is directly related to the condition of
the vehicle, the driver as well as the driver 's abili­
ty to concentrate on the rood without being dis­
tracted .
The driver is responsible for the safety of the ve ­
hicle and all of its occupants. If your ability to
drive is impaired, safety risks for everybody in the
veh icle increase and you also become a hazard to
everyone else on the road ¢,&. .Therefore:
• Do not let yourself be distracted by passengers
or by using a cellular telephone .
• NEVER drive when your driv ing ability is im­
paired (by medicat ions, alcohol, drugs, etc .).
• Observe all traffic laws, rules of the road and
speed limits and plain common sense .
• ALWAYS adjust your speed to road, t raff ic and
weather cond itions .
• Take frequent breaks on long trips . Do not dr ive
f or more than two hours at a stretch.
• Do NOT drive when you are tired, under pres­
sure or when you are stressed.
A WARNING
Impaired driving safety increases the risk of
ser ious personal injury and death whenever a
vehicle is being used.
114
.
Correct passenger
seating positions
Proper seating position for the driver
The proper driver seating position is important
for safe, relaxed driving.
Fig. 129 Co rrect seat ing posit ion
For your own safety and to reduce the risk of in­
jury in the event of an accident, we recommend
that you adjust the driver's seat to the following pos ition:
• Adjust the driver 's seat so that you can easily
push the pedals all the way to the floor while
keeping your knee(s) slightly bent¢,&..
• Adjust the angle of the seatback so that it is in
an upright position so that your back comes in
full contact with it when you dr ive.
• Ad just the steering wheel so th at there is a dis­
tance of at least 10 inches (25 cm) between the
steering whee l and your breast bone¢
fig. 129 .
If not possible, see your authorized A udi dealer
about adaptive equipment.
• Adjust the steering wheel so that the steering
wheel and airbag cover points at your chest and
not at your face.
• Grasp the top of the steer ing wheel with your
elbow(s) slightly bent.
• App lies to veh icles with adjustable head re­
straints: Adjust the head res traint so the upper
edge is as even as possible with the top of your
head . If that is not possible, try to adjust the
head restraint so that it is as close to this posi­
tion as possible.
• Fasten and wear safety belts correctly
¢page 127.
• Always keep both feet in the footwell so that
you are in control of the vehicle at all times .

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-Every person in the vehicle must have a
properly adj usted head restra int.
- Always make sure each person in the vehicle
properly ad justs their head restraint. Adjust
the head restraints so the upper edge is as
even as possib le w ith the top of your head.
If that is not possib le, try to adjust the head
restraint so that it is as close to this position
as possib le.
- Never attempt to adjust head rest raint
wh ile driving. If you have driven off and
must adjust the dr iver head rest for any rea­
son, first stop the veh icle safely before at­
tempting to ad just the head rest raint.
- Children must always be properly restrained
in a ch ild restraint that is appropriate fo r
their age and size
q poge 152.
Examples of improper seating positions
The occupant restraint system con only reduce
the risk of injury if vehicle occupants ore properly
seated.
Improper seating posit ions can cause serious in­
jury o r death . Safety be lts can only work when
they are prope rly positioned on the body. Im­
p roper seating posit ions reduce the effectiveness
of safety belts and wi ll even increase the risk of
in ju ry and death by moving the safety belt to cr it­
ical areas of the body. Improper seating positions
also increase the risk of serious injury and death
when an airbag deploys a nd strikes an occupant
who is not in the proper seating position . A driver
i s responsible for the safety of all vehicle occu­
pants and especia lly for children. Therefore:
.. Never allow anyone to assume an incorrect
seat ing pos it ion when the veh icle is being used
~ & -
The follow ing bulletins list only some sample po­
sitions that will increase the risk of ser ious injury
and death . Our hope is that these examples w ill
make you mor e aware of seat ing pos itions that
are dangerous.
The refore, whene ver the vehicle is moving:
- never stand up in the vehicle
- never stand on the seats
Dr ivin g s afet y
-neve r kneel on the seats
- neve r ride w it h the seatback reclined
- never lie down on the rear seat
- never lean up against the instrument panel
- never s it on the edge of the seat
- never s it sideways
- never lean out the window
- never put your feet out the window
- neve r put your feet on the instr ument pane l
- neve r rest your feet on the seat cush ion or back
of the seat
- never ride in the footwell
- never ride in the cargo area
A WARNING
Imp roper seating posit ions increase the risk
of ser ious personal in ju ry and death whenever
a veh icle is being used.
- Always make sure that all vehicle occupants
stay in a prope r seating position and are
properly rest rained whenever the vehicle is
be ing used.
Driver's and front
passenger's footwell
Important safety instructions
App lies to vehicles : wit h knee airbags
A WARNING ,-.=-
Always make sure that the knee airbag can in-
flate w ithout interference. Objects between
yourself and the airbag can increase the risk
of injury in an accident by interfering with the
way the airbag deploys or by be ing pushed in­
to you as the ai rbag deploys .
- No persons (children) or animals shou ld ride
in the footwell in front of the passenger
seat. If the airbag deploys, th is can result in
serious or fatal injur ies.
- No objects of any kind should be ca rried in
the footwell area in front of the driver's or passenger's seat. Bu lky objects (shopping
bags, for example) can hamper or prevent
p roper deployment o f the a irbag . Small ob ­
jects can be thrown through the vehicle if
117

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Loose items in the luggage compartment can
shift suddenly , changing vehicle handling charac­
ter istics . Loose items can also increase the risk of
serious personal injury in a sudden veh icle ma ­
neuver or in a collis ion.
~ Distribute the load evenly in the luggage com­
partment.
~ Always place and properly secure heavy items in
the luggage compartment as low and as far for­
ward as poss ible
c:> fig . 131 .
~ Secure luggage us ing the tie-downs provided
<=:> page 66 .
~ Make sure that the rea r seatback is secu rely
latched in p lace.
A WARNING ,~ -
Improperly stored luggage or other items can
fly through the vehicle causing serious per­
sonal injury in the event of hard braking or an
accident . To help reduce the risk of serious
personal injury:
- Always put objects, for examp le, luggage or
other heavy items in the luggage compart­
ment.
-Always secure objects in the luggage com­
partment us ing the tie-down eye lets and
suitable straps .
A WARNING
Heavy loads will influence the way your vehi­
cle handles. To he lp reduce the risk of a loss
of control leading to ser ious persona l inju ry:
- Always keep in m ind when transporting
heavy objects, t hat a change in the ce nter of
gravity ca n also cause changes in vehicle
hand ling:
- Always distribute the load as even ly as
possible.
- Place heavy objects as far forward in the
luggage compartment as possible .
- Never exceed the Gross Ax le Weight Rating
o r the Gross Vehicle Weight Rating specified
on the safety compliance sticker on the left
door jamb. Exceeding permissible weight
standards can cause the vehicle to slide and hand le different ly .
Dr ivin g s afet y
-Please observe information on safe driving
c:> page 113.
A WARNING
-To help prevent poisonous exhaust gas from
being drawn into the vehicle, always keep the
rear lid closed wh ile driving .
- Never transport objects larger than those
fitting completely into the luggage area be­
cause the rear lid cannot be fully closed .
- If you absolutely must dr ive with the rear lid
open, observe the following notes to reduce
the risk of poisoning:
- Close all windows,
- Close the power top,
- Open all a ir outlets in the instrument pan-
el ,
- Switch off the air rec irculat ion,
- Set the fresh air fan to the highest speed .
A WARNING ~
Always make sure that the doo rs, all windows,
the power top and the rear lid are securely
closed and locked to reduce the risk of injury
when the vehicle is not being used.
- Afte r closing the rear lid, always make sure
that it is properly closed and locked.
- Never leave your vehicle unattended espe­ cially with the rea r lid left open. A child
could cr awl into the ve hicle through the lug­
g age compartmen t and close the re ar lid be­
coming trapped and unable to get out . Be­
ing trapped in a veh icle can lead to serious
pe rsonal injury .
- Never let c hildren play in or around the vehi­
cle.
- Never let passengers ride in the luggage
compa rtment . Vehicle occupants must al ­
ways be properly restrained in one of the ve­
h icle's seating posit ions.
(D Tips
- Air circu lation helps to reduce win dow fog­
ging . Stale air escapes to the outs ide
through vents i n the t rim panel. Be sure to
keep these slots free and open .
119

Driving safet y
- The tire pressure must cor respond to the
l oad . The tire press ure is shown on the tire
pressure label. The tire pressure labe l is lo ­
cated on the driver's s ide B-pillar. The tire
pressure label lists the recommended cold
tire inflation pressures for the vehicle at its max imum capacity weight and the t ires that
were on you r vehicle at the time it was man­
ufa ctu red. For re comme nded ti re p ress ures
fo r normal load cond itions, please see chap­
ter
<=> page 219 .
Tie-downs
Applies to vehicles: with tie-downs
The Luggage compartment is equipped with four
tie-downs to secure Luggage and other i tems.
Use the tie-downs to secure your cargo properly
<=> page 118, Loading the luggage compartment.
In a coll is io n, the laws of phys ics mean that even
smaller items that are loose in the vehicle w ill
become heavy m iss iles that can cause serious in­
jury. Items i n the vehicle possess energy which
vary w ith vehicle speed and the weight of the
item . Vehicle speed is the most significant factor .
For examp le, in a frontal coll is ion at a speed of
30 mph (48 km/h), the fo rces acting on a 10-lb
( 4 .5 kg) obje ct are abou t 20 times the normal
weight of the item. This means that the we ight
of the item would suddenly be abo ut
200 lbs . (90 kg). Yo u can imagine the injuries
that a 200 lbs. (90 kg) item flying free ly through
t he passenger compartmen t could cause in a co l­
lision like this.
A WARNING
Weak, damaged or improper straps used to
secure items to t ie-downs ca n fa il during hard
braking or in a collision and ca use serious pe r­
sonal i njury.
- Always use suitable mounting straps and
properly secure items to the tie-downs i n
t h e luggage compartment to help prevent
items from shifting or f ly ing fo rward as dan ­
gerous missiles .
- When the re ar seat bac krest is folded down,
always use suitable mounting s traps and
120
-
properly secure items to the t ie-downs in
the l uggage compartment to help prevent
items from flying forward as dangerous mis­
siles into the passenger compartment .
- Never attach a child safety seat tether strap
to a tie-down.
Reporting Safety Defects
Applicable to U.S.A.
If you believe that your vehicle
has a d efect which could cause a
crash or could cause injury or
death, you should immediatel y in­
form the Nat ional High way Traffic
S afet y Administration (NH TSA ) in
addition t o notify ing Audi of
America, Inc.
If NHTSA re cei ves similar com ­
pl aint s, it ma y open an in ves tiga­
tion , and if it find s that a safety
defe cts exists in a group of
v ehi cles, it ma y order a recall and
remed y campaign . Howe ver ,
NHTSA cannot become in vol ve d in
indi vidu al pr oblem s betw een you ,
your deal er, o r A udi of Am eri ca ,
In c.
To contact the NHTSA, you ma y
eith er call:
T el.: 1-888-327-4236 (TTY :
1 -800-424 -915 3) or
1 -800-424-9 393
or you may write to :

Safety belt s
Safety belts
General information
Always wear safety belts!
Wearing safety belts correctly saves lives!
This chapter explain s why safety be lts are neces­
sary, how they work and how to adjust and wear
them correctly.
.. Read all the information that fo llows and heed
all of the instructions and WARNINGS.
&_ WARNING
Not wearing safety belts or wearing them im­
properly increases the risk of serious personal
injury and death.
- Safety belts are the single most effective
means available to reduce the risk of serious
injury and death in automobile accidents.
For your protection and that of your passen­
gers, always correct ly wear safety belts
when the vehicle is moving.
- Pregnant women, injured, or physically im­
paired persons must also use safety belts.
L ik e all veh icle occupants, they are more
likely to be seriously injured if they do not
wear safety be lts . The best way to protect a
fetus is to protect the mother - throughout
the ent ire pregnancy.
Number of seats
Your Audi has a total of four seating positions:
two in the front and two in the rear. Each seating
position has a safety belt .
&_ WARNING
Not wearing safety belts or wearing them im­
properly increases the risk of serious personal
injury and death.
- Never strap more than one person, includ­
ing small ch ildren, into any belt. It is espe­
cially dangerous to place a safety belt over a
child sitting on your lap.
- Never let more people ride in the vehicle
than there are safety belts available.
124
-Be sure everyone riding in the vehicle is
properly restrained with a separate safety
belt or child restraint.
Safety belt warning light
Your vehicle has a warning system for the driver
and (on USA models only) front seat passenger
to remind you about the importance of buckling­
up .
Fig. 136 Safety belt warning light in the instrument cl us­
ter -enlarged
Before driving off, always:
.. Fas ten your safety belt and make sure you are
wearing it properly.
(0
"'
"' 0 N .. Make sure that your passengers also buckle up
and properly wear the ir safety belts .
.. Protect your children w ith a child restraint sys­
tem appropriate for the siz e and age of the chil­
dren.
The . warn ing light in the instrument cluster
lights up when the ign it ion is switched on as a re­
minder to fasten the safety be lts. In addit io n,
you w ill hear a warning tone for a certain period
of time.
Fasten your safety belt now and make sure that
your passengers also properly put on their safe­
ty belts.

Safety belts
Unfastening safety belts
Unbuckle the safety belt with the red relea se
button only after the vehicle has stopped .


Fig. 146 Re le as ing th e to ngu e fr om th e buck le
.. Push the red re lease button on the b uck le
Q fig. 146 . The belt tongue wi ll spring out of
the buckle
Q ,& .
.. Let the belt wind up on the retr actor as you
guide the bel t tongue to its stowed position.
A WARNING
Never unfasten safety belt while the veh icle is
moving . Doing so will increase your risk of be­
ing injured or killed.
Improperly worn safety belts
a
~ 0 :i: .. 0J
Incorrectly positioned safety belts can cause se­
vere injuries .
Wearing safety belts improperly can cause seri­
ous injury or death. Safe ty belts can only work
when they are correctly posit ioned on the body .
Improper seating pos it ions reduce the effective­
ness of safety belts and will even inc rease the risk
of injury and death by moving the safety be lt to
cr itica l areas of the body . Improper seati ng posi­
tions a lso increase the risk of serious injury and
death when an airbag deploys and strikes an oc­
cupant who is not in the correct seating position.
A driver is responsible for the safety of all vehicle
occupants and espec ially for children. Therefore :
.. Never perm it anyone to ass ume an incorrect sit -
ting position in the vehicle while traveling
Q A .
130
A WARNING
Improperly worn safety belts increase the r isk
of ser ious personal injury and death whenever
a veh icle is being used .
- Always make sure that all vehicle occupants
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
Q page 126 .
Belt tensioners
How safety belt pretensioners work
In front, side and rear-end collisions above a
particular sev erity, saf ety belts are tensioned au­
tomatically .
The safety belts are equipped with safety belt
pre tensioners. The system is act ivated by sensors
in front, side and rear-end collisions o f great se ­
verity. This tightens the belt and takes up belt
s lack
¢ .&. in Service and disposal of safety belt
pretensioner on page 131.
Taking up the slack
helps to reduce forward occupan t movement dur­
i ng a collision .
@ Note
Never let the belt remain over a rear seatback
that has been folded forward.
@ Tips
The safety belt pretensioner can only be acti­
vated once.
- In minor frontal and side collisions, in rear­
end co llisions and in accidents involving
very little impact force, the safety belt pre­
tensioner are not activated.
- When the safety belt pretensioners are acti­ vated, a fine dust is released . This is normal
and is not caused by a fire in the vehicle .
- The re levant safety requirements must be
observed when the vehicle or components
of the system are scrapped. An authorized
Audi dealer or qua lified workshop is familiar
with these regulations a nd will be pleased
to pass on the information to yo u. ...

Airbag system
Airbag system
Important information
Importance of wearing safety belts and
sitting properly
Airbags are only supplemental restraints . For
airbags to do their job, occupants must always
properly wear their safety belts and be in a prop­ er seating position.
For your safety and the safety of your passen­
gers, befo re driving off, always:
"' Adjust the driver's seat and steering wheel
properly
Q page 114,
"' Adjust the front passenger's seat properly
Qpage 60,
"'Wear safety be lts properly C? page 126,
"'Always properly use the proper child restraint
to protect children
Qpage 152.
In a coll is ion airbags must inflate within the blink
of an eye and with considerab le force. The sup­
p lemental airbags can cause injuries if the driver
or the front seat passenger is not seated proper•
Ly. Therefore in order to help the airbag to do its
job, it is important, both as a driver and as a pas­
senger to sit properly at all times.
By keeping room between your body and the
steering whee l and the front of the passenger
compartment, the airbag can inflate fully and
completely and provide supplemental protection
in certain frontal collisions
c> page 114, Correct
passenger seating positions.
Fo r details on the
operation of the seat adjustment controls
c>page 60.
It's especially important that children are proper­
ly restrained
Qpage 152.
There is a lot that the driver and the passengers
can and must do to help the individual safety fea­
tures installed in your Audi work together as a
system .
Proper seat ing position is important so that the
front airbag on the driver side can do its job. If
you have a phys ical impairment or condition that
prevents you from sitt ing properly on the dr iver
seat with the safety be lt properly fastened and
132
reaching the pedals, specia l modifications to your
vehicle may be necessary.
Contact your authorized Audi deale r, or call Audi
Customer Relat ions at 1-800-822-2834.
When the airbag system dep loys , a gas generator
will fill the airbags, break open the padded cov­
ers, and inflate between the steering wheel and
the driver and between the instrument panel and
the front passenger. The airbags wi ll deflate im ­
mediate ly after deployment so that the front oc­
cupants can see through the w indshield again
without interruption.
All o f this takes place in the blink o f an eye, so
fast that many people don't even realize that the
airbags have dep loyed . The airbags also inflate
with a great deal of force and nothing should be
in their way when they deploy. Front a irbags in
combination with properly worn safety belts slow
down and lim it the occupant's forwa rd move­
ment . Together they he lp to prevent the driver
and front seat passenge r from hitting parts of
the insid e the veh icle wh ile reduc ing the forces
acting on the occupant dur ing the crash. In this
way they help to reduce the risk o f injury to the
head and upper body in the crash. Airbags do not
protect the arms or the lower parts of the body.
Both front airbags will not inflate in all fronta l
collisions . The triggering of the airbag system de ­
pends on the vehicle deceleration rate caused by
the collis ion and registered by the electronic con ­
trol unit. If this rate is below the reference value
programmed into the control unit, the airbags
will not be triggered, even though the car may be
badly damaged as a result of the coll is ion . Vehi­
cle damage, repair costs or even the lack of vehi­
cle damage is not necessar ily an indication of
whether an airbag should inflate or not.
It is not possible to define a range of vehicle
speeds that w ill cover every possible kind and an­
gle of impact that will always trigger the air bags,
since the circumstances will vary conside rably be­
tween one collision and another. Impo rtant fac­
tors include, for example, the nature (hard or
soft) of the object which the car hits, the angle of
impact, vehicle speed, etc . The front airbags will
IJ>-

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also not inflate in side or rear co llisions, or in roll­
overs .
Alwa ys rememb er: Airbag s wi ll deploy on ly once,
and on ly in cer tain kinds of collisions. Your safety
b e lts a re a lways there to offer protection in those
situations in which airbags are not supposed to
deploy, or when they have already deployed; for
examp le, when your vehicle str ikes or is struck by
another after the first collision .
This is just one of the reasons why an airbag is a
supp lementary restraint and is not a substitute
for a safety belt. The airbag system works most
effectively when used w ith the safety belts.
Therefore, always properly wear your safety belts
c::>page 124.
A WARNING
Sitting too close to the steer ing whee l o r in­
strument panel will decrease the effect ive­
ness of the airbags and will increase the risk
o f persona l injury in a coll is ion .
- Never sit closer than 10 inches (25 cm) to
the steering wheel or instrument panel.
- If you cannot sit more than 10 inches
(25 cm) from the steer ing whee l, investi­
gate whethe r adaptive equipment may be
available to help yo u reach the peda ls and
increase your seating distance from the
steering wheel.
- If you are unrestrained, lean ing forward, sit­
ting s ideways or out of position in any way,
your risk of in jury is much higher.
- You will also receive serio us injuries and
cou ld even be killed if you are up against the
airbag or too close to it when it inflates -
even with an Advanced Airbag.
- To reduce the r isk of injury when an airbag
inflates, always wear safety belts properly
<=> page 12 7, Safety belts .
- Always make certain that children age 12 or
younger always r ide in the rear seat. If chil­
dren are not properly restrained, they may
be severely injured or killed when an airbag
inflates .
- Never let children ride unrestrained or im­
properly restrained in the veh icle. Adjust the
front seats properly.
-
Airbag syste m
- Never ride with the back rest reclined .
- Always sit as far as possible from the steer -
ing wheel o r the instrument panel
c::> page 114.
- Always sit up right with your back against
the backrest of your 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 help pre­
vent serious injur ies to the legs and hips if
the airbag inflates.
- Never recline the front passenger's seat to transport objects. Items can also move into
the area of the side airbag or the front air­
bag d uring braking or in a sudden maneu­
ver. Objects near the airbags can become
p rojectiles and ca use in jury when an airbag
inflates.
A WARNING
A irbags tha t have deployed i n a crash mus t be
r eplaced.
- Use o nly orig inal equipment airbags ap ­
p rove d by Aud i an d in stalled by a trained
technici an who has the ne cessary too ls and
diagnostic equipment to properly rep lace
any airbag in yo ur vehicle and assu re system
effectiveness in a crash.
- Never permit salvaged or recycled airbags to
be installed in you r vehicle .
Child restraints on the front seat - some
important things to know
.,. Be su re to read the important information and
head the WARNI NGS for important details
about ch ild ren and Advanced Airbags
c::> page 152.
Even though your veh icle is equipped wit h an Ad ­
vanced Airbag System, make certain that a ll chil­
dren, especially those 12 years a nd you nger, a l­
ways ride in the bac k seat properly restrained fo r
the ir age and size. The airbag on the passenger
s ide makes the front seat a potent ia lly dangerous
place for a child to ride. The front seat is not the
sa fest p lace for a child in a forward-facing ch ild ..,.
133