2015 AUDI A6 Owners Manual

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-Never use additional seat cushions that
cover the areas where the side airbags
deploy.
- Damage to the original seat covers or
to the seam in the area of the side air­ bag module must always be repaired
immediately by an authorized Audi
dealer .
- Objects between you and the airbag can
increase the risk of injury in an acc ident
by interfering with the way the airbag
unfolds or by be ing pushed into you as
the airbag inflates.
- Never p lace or attach accessories or
other objects (such as cup holders., tel­
ephone brackets, or even large, bulky
objects) on the doors, over or near the
area marked "AIRBAG" on the seat
backrests .
- Such objects and accessories can be­ come dangerous projectiles and cause
injury when the supplemental s ide air­
bag deploys.
- Never carry any objects or pets in the
deployment space between them and
the airbags or allow children or other
passengers to travel in this position .
- Always use the built-in coat hooks only
for lightwe ight clothing. Never leave any
heavy or sharp-edged objects in the
pockets that may interfere with side air ­
bag dep loyment and can cause personal
injury in an accident.
- Always prevent the side airbags from be­
ing damaged by heavy objects knocking
against or hitting the sides of the seat­
backs.
- The airbag system can only be triggered once. If the airbag has been triggered,
the system must be replaced by an au­
thorized Aud i dealership.
- Damage (cracks, deep scratches etc.) to
the original seat covers or to the seam in
the area of the side airbag module must
always be repaired immediately by an au­
thorized Audi dealer.
Airbag system 167
-If children are seated improperly, their
risk of injury increases in the case of an
accident
Q page 171, Child Safety.
- Never attempt to modify any compo­
nents of the airbag system in any way .
- In a side coll ision, side airbags will not
function properly if sensors cannot cor­
rectly measure increasing air pressure in­
side the doors when air escapes through
larger, unclosed openings in the door
panel.
- Never drive with interior door trim pan­
els removed.
- Never drive when parts have been re ­
moved from the inside door panel and
the openings they leave have not been
properly closed.
- Never drive when loudspeakers in the
doors have been removed unless the
speaker holes have been properly
closed.
- Always make certain that openings are covered or filled if additional speakers
or other equipment is installed in the
inside door panels.
- Always have work on the doors done by
an authorized Audi dealer or qualified
workshop .
Side curtain airbags
Description of side curtain a irbags
The side curtain airbag system can provide
supplemental protection to properly restrain­
ed occupants .
Fig. 165 Side curta in air bags, driver's s ide: s ide curta in
airbag location ....

168 Airbag sys tem
The side curtain airbags are located on both
sides of the interior above the front and rear
side windows ¢
fig. 165. They are ident ified
by the word "AIRBAG" on the windshie ld
frame and the center roof p illar.
The side curtain airbags contain features that provide e jection m itigat ion to he lp prevent ve­
h icle occupants or parts of their bodies from
be ing completely or partially ejected from the
ve hicle interior in certain side impacts and ve ­
h icle rollovers.
The s ide curtain airbag system supp lements
the safety belts and can help to reduce the risk of injury for occupants' heads and upper
torso. The s ide curtain airbag inflates in side
impacts and only when the vehicle acce lera­
tion registered by the control u nit is high
enough. If t his rate is below the reference val­
ue programmed into the control unit, the s ide
curtain ai rbag will not be triggered, even
though the car may be badly damaged as a re ­
sult of the collision. It is not possible to de­
f ine an a irbag tr igger ing range that will cover
every possible angle of impact, since the cir­
cumstances wi ll vary considerably between
one coll ision and another. Important factors
include, for examp le, the natu re (hard o r soft)
of the impacting object, the ang le of impact ,
ve hicl e speed, etc. ¢
page 169, How side cur­
tain airbags work .
Aside from their normal safety function, safe­
ty belts wor k to he lp keep t he d river or front
passenger in posi tion in the event of a co ll i­
sion so tha t the side curta in ai rbags can pro­
vide protection.
The airbag system is not a s ubst itute for your
safety be lt. R athe r, it is p art of the overall oc ­
cupant restraint system in your ve hicle . Al­
ways remember that the airbag system can
on Ly help to protect you if you are wearing
your safety belt and wear ing it properly. Th is
is another reason w hy you should always wear
your safety belts, not just because the law re­ qu ires you to do so¢
page 136, General
notes .
It is important to remembe r that wh ile the
side curtain airbag system is designed to help
reduce the likelihood of ser ious injuries, other
injur ies, for example, swelling, br uising, fric­
t ion burns and minor abras ions can also be as­
sociated w ith these airbags upo n deployment .
Remember too, these airbags will deploy only
once a nd on ly in ce rtain kinds of accide nts -
yo ur safety belts a re always the re to offer p ro­
tection .
The side curtain airbag system basic ally
consists of:
- The e lectro nic co ntrol module and external
side impa ct sensors
- The side curtain a irbags above the front and
rea r side windows wit h ejection mitigation
fe atu res
- The a irbag i ndicator lig ht in the inst rument
pa nel
The airbag system is mon itored electronically
to make ce rtain it is functioning prope rly at all
t imes. Each time you sw itch on the ign ition,
t h e airbag system ind icator light will come on
f o r a few seconds (sel f diagnos tics) .
The side curtain airbag is not activated:
-if the ignition is sw itched off,
- in side co llisions whe n the acceleration
measu red by the sensor is too low,
- in rear-end collisions.
A WARNING
-Safety belts and the airbag system will
only provide protection when occupants
are in the proper seating posi tion
¢ page 52, General re commendations.
- If the ai rbag ind icator light ¢ page 19
comes when the veh icle is being used,
have the system inspe cted immedia tely
by your au thori zed A udi deale r.
It is pos­
sible tha t the airbag will infla te when it
is not supposed to, or will not inflate
when it should.

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How side curtain airbags work
Side curtain airbags can work together with
side airbags to help reduce the risk of head
and upper torso injuries for occupants who
are properly restrained.
Fig. 166 Illustrat ion of p rinc iple: Infla ted side cur ta in
airbags on the left side
The side curtain airbags inflate between the
occupant and the windows on the side of the
vehicle that is struck in a side collision
¢fig. 166.
When the system is triggered, the side curtain
airbag is filled with propellant gas and breaks
through a seam above the front and rear side windows identified by the AIRBAG label. In or­
der to help provide this additional protection,
the side curtain airbag must inflate within the
blink of an eye at very high speed and with
great force. The side curtain airbag could in­
jure you if your seating position is not proper
or upright or if items are located in the area
where the supplementa l side curtain airbag
inf lates . This applies especially to children
¢page 171.
Although they are not a soft pillow, side cur­
tain airbags can ''cushion" the impact and in
this way they can help to reduce the risk of in­
jury to the head and the upper part of the
body.
A fine dust may develop when the airbag de­
ploys. This is quite normal and does not mean
there is a fire in the vehicle .
Airbag system 169
Important safety instructions on the
side curtain airbag system
Airbags are only supplemental restraints. Al­
ways properly wear safety belts 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 do their job to provide supplemental
protection.
A WARNING
Improperly wearing safety belts and im­
proper seating positions increase the risk
of serious personal injury and death when­
ever a vehicle is being used.
- Never let occupants place any parts of
their bodies in the area from which the side curtain airbag inflate.
- Always make sure that the side curtain
airbags can inflate without interfere nce.
- Use the built-in coat hooks only for light­
weight clothing. Never leave any heavy or sharp-edged objects in the pockets that
may interfere with airbag deployment
and can cause personal injury in a colli­
sion.
- Never use hangers to hang clothes on the hooks .
- Only use factory-installed sun shades or,
if shades installed after the vehicle
leaves the factory, use only genuine Audi
sun shades .
- Never swing the sun visors over to the
side windows if things such as pens, ga­ rage door openers, hands-free speakers,
etc. are attached to the sun visors. They
could come loose and cause serious in­
jury if the side curtain airbag inflates.
-A deploying airbag inflates in a fraction
of a second and with great force.
- Never attach objects to the cover or in
the deployment zone of a side curtain airbag.
- The airbag deployment zones must be
kept clear at all times. Make sure there
are no objects, pets, or other persons in
-

1 70 Airbag sys tem
the space between any vehicle occupant
and any airbag at any time.
- Do not attach any accessories to the
doors .
.&_ WARNING
- The airbag system can deploy only once.
If the airbag has been triggered, the sys­
tem must be replaced by an author ized
Audi dealer or qua lified workshop .
- Always have work involving the side cur­
tain airbag system, removal and installa­
tion of the a irbag components, o r other
repa irs perfo rmed by a qualified dealer­
ship. Othe rwise the airbag system may
not wo rk cor rectly .
- Never a ttempt to modify any compo­
nents of the airbag sys tem in any way.

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Child Safety
Important things to know
Introduction
The rear seat is generally the safest place in a
collision.
The physical principles of what happens when
your ve hicle is in a crash app ly also to chi ldren
~ page 13 7, What happens to occupants not
wearing safety belts?.
But unlike adu lts and
teenagers, the ir muscles and bones are not
fu lly developed . In many respects children are
at greater risk of serious injury in crashes than
ad ults.
Because children's bod ies a re not f ully deve l­
oped, they require restraint systems especial­ l y designed for their size, weight, and body
structure. Many co untries and all states of the
United States and provinces of Canada have
laws requ iring the use of approved ch ild re­
straint systems for infants and small chi ldren .
In a fronta l crash at a speed of 20 -35 mph
(30-56 km/h) the forces acting on a 13-po und
(6 kg) infa nt w ill be more than 20 t imes the
weight of the child . T his means the weight of
the child would suddenly be more than
260 pounds ( 120 kg). Under these conditions,
on ly an appropr ia t e chi ld restraint properly
used can reduce the risk of ser ious injury.
Ch ild restra ints, like adult safety belts, must
be used properly to be effective. Used improp ­
erly, they can increase the risk of ser ious in ­
jury in an accident.
Consult the ch ild safety seat manufacture r's
instr uctions in order to be sure the seat is
right fo r you r ch ild's size ~
page 175, Impor­
tant safety instructions for using child safety
seats.
Please be sure to read and heed all of
the impo rtant informat ion and WARNINGS
about ch ild safety, Advanced A irbags, and the
i nstallation of child rest raints in this chapter .
There is a lot you need to know about the Ad­
vanced A irbags in your vehicle and how t hey
wo rk when infants and children in child re-
Child Sa fet y 1 71
stra ints are on the front passenge r seat . Be­
ca use of the large amount of impo rtant infor­
mation, we cannot repeat it a ll here . We urge
you to read the detailed information in t his
owner 's man ua l about a irbags and the Ad­
vanced Airbag System in your vehicle and the
very important information about transport­
ing children on the front passenge r seat .
Please be sure to heed the WARN INGS -they
are ex tremely importa nt for yo ur safety and
the safety o f you r passengers, especially in ­
f ants and small chi ldren .
.A, WARNING
-Accident statistics have shown that c hil­
dren a re generally safer in the rear seat
area than in the front seating position.
Always restrain any child age 12 and un­ der in the rea r.
- All vehicle occupants and especially chil­
dren must be restrai ned p roperly when­
eve r riding in a vehicle . An unr est rained
or improperly restrained chi ld could be
in ju red by str iking the interio r or by be­
ing ejected from the vehicle during a
sudden maneuve r or impac t. An un re ­
straine d or improper ly restrai ned ch ild is
also at greater risk of injury o r death
through contact with an inflating airbag.
- A suitable ch ild restraint properly insta l­
led and used at one of the rear seat ing
positions p rov ides the highest degree of
protection for infants and small children
in most accident situations.
A WARNING
Ch ildren on the front seat of any car even
with Advanced Airbags ca n be ser iously in­
ju red or even kil led when an a irbag in­
fla tes. A child in a rearwar d-fac ing ch ild
safety seat installed on t he front passen ­
ge r seat will be ser iously injure d and ca n
be killed i f the front airbag inflates .
- T he infla ting air bag will h it the ch ild
safety sea t or i nfan t carrie r wi th great
force an d will smash the child safe ty seat
an d child against the bac krest , center
armrest, or door .
•
•

172 Child Safety
-Always install rear-facing child safety
seats on the rear seat.
- If you must install a rearward facing
child safety seat on the front passenger
seat in exceptional circumstances and
the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does
not come on and stay on, immediately
install the rear-facing child safety seat in
a rear seating position and have the air­
bag system inspected immediately by
your Audi dealer.
_&, WARNING
- Forward-facing child seats installed on
the front passenger seat may interfere
with the deployment of the airbag and
cause serious personal injury to the
child.
- If exceptional circumstances require the
use of a forward-facing child restraint on
the front passenger 's seat, the child's
safety and well-being require the follow­ ing special precautions to be taken:
- Always make sure that the forward-fac­
ing seat has been designed and certi­
fied by its manufacturer for use on a
front passenger seat with a front and
side airbag.
- Always carefully follow the manufac­
turer's instructions provided with the
child seat or infant carrier.
- Never install a child restraint without a
properly attached top tether strap if
the child restraint manufacturer's in­
structions require the top tether strap
to be used.
- Never put the forward-facing child re­
straint up against or very near the in­
strument panel.
- Always set the safety belt upper an­
chorage to the adjustment position
that permits proper installation in ac­
cordance with the child restraint manu­
facturer's instructions.
-Always move the passenger seat into
its rearmost position in the seat's fore
and aft adjustment range, as far away
.
from the airbag as possible before in­
stalling the child restraint. The back­
rest must be adjusted to an upright po­
sition .
- Always make sure that nothing pre­
vents the front passenger's seat from
being moved to the rearmost position
in its fore and aft adjustment range.
- Never place objects on the seat (such
as a laptop, CD player, electronic
games device, power inverter or seat
heater for child seats) . These may in­
fluence the electrical capacitance
measured by the capacitive passenger
detection system and can also fly
around in an accident and cause serious
personal injury.
- Never place or use any electrical device
(such as a laptop, CD player, electronic
games device, power inverter or seat
heater for child seats) on the front pas­
senger seat if the device is connected
to the 12 -volt socket or the cigarette
lighter socket.
- If a seat heater has been retrofitted or
otherwise added to the front passen­
ger seat, never install any child re­
straint system on this seat.
- Make sure that there are no wet objects
(such as a wet towel) and no water or
other liquids on the front passenger
seat cushion .
- Always make sure that the
PASSENGER
AIR BAG OFF
light comes on and stays
on all the time whenever the ignition is
switched on.
- If the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not come on and stay on, immedi­
ately install the forward-facing child seat in a rear seating position and have
the airbag system inspected by your
authori zed Audi dealer.
- Always buckle the child seat firmly in
place even if a child is not sitting in it.
A loose child seat can fly around during
a sudden stop or in a collision.
~

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-Always read and heed all WARNINGS
whenever using a child restraint in ave­
hicle
¢ page 136, Safety belts,
¢ page 145, Airbag system and
¢ page 171, Important things to
know.
(D Tips
Always replace child restraints that were
installed in a vehicle during a crash. Dam­
age 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 "Ad­
vanced Airbag System" in compliance with United States Federal Motor Vehicle Safety
Standard (FMVSS) 208 as applicable at the
time your vehicle was manufactured .
T he Advanced Airbag system in your vehicle
has been certified to meet the "low-risk" re­
quirements for 3-and 6-year old children on
the passenger side and small adults on the
driver side. The low risk deployment criteria
are intended to 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 airbag inflates . In addition, the system
has been certified to comply with the "sup­
pression" requirements of the Safety Stand­
ard, to turn off the front airbag for infants up
to 12 months who are restrained on the front passenger seat in child restraints that are list­
ed in the Standard .
Even though your vehicle is equipped with an
Advanced Airbag system, all children, espe­
cially those 12 years and younger, should al­
ways ride in the back seat properly restrained
for their age and size. The airbag on the pas­
senger side makes the front seat a potentially
dangerous place for a child to ride. The front
seat is not the safest place fo r a child in a for­
ward-facing child safety seat. It can be a very
Child Safety 173
dangerous place for an infant or a larger child
in a rearward-facing seat.
The vehicle's Advanced Airbag System has a
capacitive passenger detection system in the
front passenger seat cushion that can detect
the presence of a baby or a child in a child re­
straint system on this seat.
The capacitive passenger detection system
registers the changes that result in an electri ­
cal field when a child, a child restraint, and a
baby blanket are on the front passenger seat .
The change in the measured capacitance due
to the presence of a child, a child restraint,
and a baby blanket on the front passenger
seat is related to the child restraint system resting on the seat . The measured capacitance
of a child restraint system varies depending
on the type of system and specific make and
model.
The electrical capacitance of the various
types, makes, and models of child restraints
specified by the U.S.National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration (NH TSA) in the relevant
safety standard are stored in the Advanced
Airbag System control unit together with the capacitances typical of infants and a 1-year
old child. When a child restraint is used on the
front passenger seat with a typical 1 year-old infant, the Advanced Airbag System compares
the capacitance measured by the capacitive passenger detection system with the data
stored in the electronic control unit.
Child restraints and Advanced front
airbag system
Regardless of the child restraint that you use,
make sure that it has been certified to meet
United States Federal Motor Vehicle Safety
Standards and has been certified by its manu­
facturer for use with an airbag. Always be sure
that the child restraint is properly installed at
one of the rear seating positions. If in excep­
tional circumstances you must use it on the
front passenger seat, ca refully read all of the
information on child safety and Advanced Air-
bags and heed all of the applicable ..,.
•
•

174 Child Saf ety
WARNINGS. Make certain that the ch ild and
child restraint are correct ly recognized by the
capacitive passenger detect ion system in the
front passenger seat, that the front passenger
a irbag is turned off, and that the airbag status
is always correct ly signa led by the
PAS SEN­
GER AIR BA G OFF
light .
Many types and models of child restra ints
have been ava ilable over the years, new mod­
els are introduced regular ly incorporating new
and improved designs a nd older models are
taken out of production . Child rest raints are
not standardi zed. Ch ild restra ints of the same
type typi cally have differen t weights and s izes
and d ifferent "footprints", the size and shape
of the bottom of the child restraint that sits
on the seat, when they are installed on a vehi­
cle seat. These differences make it virtually imposs ible to certify compliance w ith the re­
qu irements for advanced a irbags w ith each
and every child restraint that has ever been
sold in the past or will be sold over the course
of the useful life of you r vehicle .
For this reason, the United States National
Highway Traffic Safety Admin istration has
published a list of specific type, makes a nd
models of child rest raints that must be used
to certify compliance of the Advanced Airbag
System in yo ur vehicle with the suppress ion
requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety
Standard 208 . These child restraints are:
Subpart A -Car bed child restraints
Model Manufactured on or
after
Ange l Guard Ange l September 2S, 200 7
Ride AA2403 FOF
Subpart B -Rear -facing child re straint s
Model Manufactured on or
after
Century SmartFit December 1, 1999
4543
Cosco Arriva September 2S, 2007
22-0 13PAW and base
22-999WHO
Model Manufactured on or
after
Evenflo Discovery Ad- December 1, 1999
just Right 212
E venflo First Choice December 1, 1999
204
Graco Infant 8457 December 1, 1999
Graco Snugride September 25 , 2007
Peg Perego Pr imo Vi- September 25, 2007
aggio SIP IMUNOOUS
Subpart C - Forw ard-facing and
convertible child restraint s
Model Manufactured on or
after
Britax Roundabout September 25, 2007
E9L02xx
Cosco Touriva 02S19 December 1, 1999
Cosco Summit De luxe September 2S, 2007
High Back Booster
22-262
Cosco H igh Back September 2S , 2007
Booste r 22-209
Evenflo Tribute V September 25, 2007
379xxxx
Evenflo Meda llion December 1, 1999
254
E venflo Generations September 25 , 2007
352xxxx
Graco ComfortSport September 25, 2007
Graco Todd ler Safety September 25, 2007
Seat Step 2
Graco Platinum Cargo September 25, 2007
A WARNING
To reduce the risk of serious inju ry, ma ke
sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
l ight comes on and stays on whenever a
chi ld restraint is installed on the front pas­
senger seat and the ignition is switched
on.
- Take the chi ld restraint off the front pas­
senger seat and install it properly at one
of the rear seat positions if the
PA SSEN -
GER AIR BAG OFF
light does not stay on. ...