
140 Safet y belts
To provide maximum protection, sa fety belts
must always be positioned correctly on the
wearer 's body.
.,. Adjus t the front seat and head restr aint
properly ¢
page 52, General recommenda
tions .
.,. Make sure the seatback of the rear seat
bench is in an upright position and securely
latched in place before using the belt¢ .&,.
.,. Hold the be lt by the tongue and pull it even
ly across the chest and pelvis¢ .&,.
.,. Inse rt the tongue into the correct buckl e of
yo ur sea t until you hea r it latc h securely
¢fig. 152.
.,. Pull on the be lt to make sure that it is se-
cu rely latched in th e buckle.
Automatic safety belt retractors
Every safety belt is equipped w ith an automat
i c belt retracto r on the shoulder be lt. This fea
ture locks the be lt whe n the belt is pulled out
fast, dur ing hard braking and in an accident.
The belt may also lock when yo u drive up or
down a steep hill or throug h a sharp curve.
During normal driving the belt lets you move
freely.
Safety belt pretensioners
The sa fety belts are equipped with a belt pre
tensioner that helps to tighten the safety be lt
and remove slack when the pretensione r is ac
tivated ¢
page 143. The function of the pre
tensioner is mon itored by a warning light
¢page 19.
Convertible locking retractor
Every safety belt except the one on the driver
seat is eq uipped w ith a convertib le loc king re
tractor that
must be used when the safety
be lt is used to attach a child seat. Be sure to
read the important information about this
featu re
¢page 182 .
.,& WARNING
Imprope rly posit ioned safety belts can
cause se rious injury in an accident
¢ page 140, Safety bel t posi tion.
- Safety belts offer opt imum protection
only when the seatback is upr ight and
be lts are properly posit ioned o n the
body .
- Always make sure that the rear seat
backrest to wh ich the center rear safety
be lt* is attached is securely latched
wheneve r the rea r center safety belt is
be ing used.
If th e bac krest is not secu re
ly latched, the passenge r will move fo r
ward with the ba ckr est dur ing s udden
brak ing, in a sudden maneuver and es pe
cially in a crash.
- Never at tach the safety bel t to the buck
le for ano ther seat. Attaching the belt to
the wron g buckle will reduce safety be lt
effectiveness and can cause serio us per
sonal injury .
- A passenger who is not proper ly restrain
ed can be seriously injured by the safety
be lt itself w hen it moves from the stron
ger parts of the body into cr itical areas
like the abdomen .
- Always lock the conve rtible locking re
tracto r when you are secu ring a child
seat in the vehicle¢
page 184.
(D Tips
Fo r inf ormation on safety belt pretension
ers, refer to ¢
page 143.
Safety belt position
Correct belt position is the key to getting
maximum protection from safety belts.
Fig . 15 3 Safety belt posit ion
"' .... 0
~ CD

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Use the height adjustment to change the posi
tion of the shoulder belt of the front safety
belts .
.&_ WARNING
Improperly positioned safety belts can
cause serious personal injury in an acci
dent.
-
- The shoulder belt should lie as close to
the center of the collar bone as possible
and should fit well on the body. Hold the
belt above the latch tongue and pull it
even ly ac ross the chest so that it sits as
low as possible on the pelvis and there is
no pressure on the abdomen. The be lt
sho uld a lways f it snugly ¢
fig. 153. Pull
on the belt to tighten if necessary.
- A loose-fitt ing safety be lt can cause seri
o us injuries by shifting its position on
yo ur body from the strong bones to more
vulnerab le, soft tissue and cause serious
injury.
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS and
other important information
¢ page 139.
Pregnant women must also be correctly
restrained
The best way to protect the fetus is to make
sure that expectant mothers always wear
safety belts correctly -throughout the preg
nancy.
Fi g. 154 Safety belt pos itio n during pr egnancy
To provide maxim um protection, safety belts
must always be posit ioned correctly on the
wearer's body¢
page 140.
Safety belts 141
.. Adjust the front seat and adjustable head
restraint* correctly ¢
page 52, General rec
ommendations .
.. Hold the belt by the tongue and pull it even
ly across the chest and pelvis ¢
fig. 154,
¢& .
.. Insert the tongue into t he correct buckle of
your seat until you hear it latch securely
r=;, page 139, fig. 152 .
.. Pull on the belt to make sure that it is se
curely latched in the buck le .
A WARNING
-
Improperly positioned safety be lts can
cause ser ious persona l injury in an acci
dent.
- Expectant mothers m ust always wear the
lap portion of the safety belt as low as
possible across the pelvis and below the
round ing of the abdomen.
-Always read and heed all WARNINGS and
other important information¢ &.
in Fas
tening safety belts on page
140.
Unfastening safety belts
Unbuckle the safety belt with the red release
button only after the vehicle has stopped.
,,,,,
Fig . 155 Re leas ing the tong ue from the buck le
.,. Push the red release button on the buckle
r=:;, fig. 155 . The be lt tongue will spr ing out
of the buckle
r=:;, .&, .
0 ...
"' 0 ±
~
.,. Let the belt wind up on the retractor as you
guide the be lt tongue to its stowed position.
Ill>

142 Safet y belt s
A WARNING
Never unfasten safety belt while the vehi
cle is moving. Doing so will increase your
r isk of being injured or 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. 156 Safety belt height adjustment for the front
sea ts - loop -around f ittings
The shoulder belt should lie as close to the
center of the collar bone as possible and
should fit well on the body¢
A in Safety belt
position on page 141.
,. Push
the loop-aro und fittings up ¢fi g. 156
@ , or
"'"squeeze together the@ button, and push
the loop-around fitt ings down @.
"'" Pull the belt to make sure t hat the upper at
tachment is p roperly engaged.
A WARNING
Always read and heed a ll WARNINGS and
other important information¢
page 139 .
@ Tips
With the front seats, the height adjust
men t of the seat can also be used to adjus t
the posit ion of the safety be lts.
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 o nly
work when they are correctly positioned on
the body . Improper seat ing pos itions reduce
the effectiveness of safety belts and will even
i ncrease t he risk of inju ry and death by mov
ing the safety be lt to crit ica l areas o f 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 respons ible for the safety of
all veh icle 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
r isk of ser ious persona l injury and death
whenever a vehicle is being used.
- Always ma ke sure that all vehicle occ u
pants are co rrectly restra ined and stay in
a correc t seating position whe never the
veh icle is being used .
- Always read and heed all WAR NINGS and
o ther important inform ation
¢page 139.

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...... ..,., ......
Safety belt preten
sioners
How safety belt pretensioners work
In fron t, side and rear-end collisions above a
parti cular severi ty and in a rollover, safety
b e lts ar e te nsion ed automatically .
Reversible safety belt tensioners
The safety belts on the front seats are equip
ped wit h power reve rsible tensioners . T he fo l
l ow ing f un ct ions are available w hen the dr iv
e r' s/fron t passenger 's sa fety bel ts are fas
tened :
- Automatic tensioners: at the start of a d rive,
the safety be lts automatically adjust to the
passenge r aft er a certai n time period o r ve
hicle speed. To switch the automa tic ten
s ioners off, select the fo llow ing in the M MI:
I CAR I funct ion button > (Car )* systems > Ve·
hide sett ings
> Seats > Driver 's seat or Pas
senger's seat
> Automat ic belt tensione r >
Off.
-In certa in driving situations, the safety belts
may t ighten with a reversib le tensioning
function
¢ page 190.
-The safety belts may also tighten w ith this
r evers ible tension ing funct ion in mino r colli
s ions .
Pyrotechnic safety belt pretensioners
The safety be lts are equipped with safety be lt
pretensioners. The system is activated by sen
s o rs in fron t, side and rear-end collisions of
great severity and in a rollover . Th is tightens
the bel t and takes up be lt slack ¢&.
in Service
and disposal of safety belt pre tensioner on
page 144.
T aking up the s lack helps to redu ce
forward occup ant movemen t during a colli
sion.
A WARNING
- It is possib le for the pre tensioners to de
ploy i ncor rect ly .
- T he pyrotechnic sys tem can only provide
protection for one co llision. If the pyro -
Safety belts 143
technic pretensioners deploy, the preten
sioning system must be replaced .
(D Tips
The pyro technic safety be lt pretensioners
ca n only deploy once .
- T he safety bel t pretensioners do not de
ploy in minor frontal and s ide collisions,
in rear-end co llisions, i n rollovers and in
co llisions involving very little impact
f o rce.
- A fine dust is released w hen the py ro
technic safety be lt pretensioners dep loy.
Th is is normal and is not caused by a fire
in the vehicle.
- The re levant safety requi rements must
be observed when the vehicle or compo
nents of the system are scrapped . A
qualified dealership is fam iliar with
these regulations and will be please d to
pa ss o n the information to yo u.
- Be sure to observe all safety, env iron
ment al and ot her regu la tio ns if t he ve hi
cle or ind ividu al p ar ts of t he system, par
t ic ular ly the s afe ty belt or airbag, are to
be disposed. We recommend you have
your authorized A udi dealer perform this
service fo r you .
Service and disposal of safety belt
pretensioner
The safety belt pretens ione rs are parts of the
saf ety be lts on your Aud i. Insta lling, remov
i ng, se rv ici ng o r repair ing of be lt pre tension
ers can dam age the safe ty belt sy stem and
prevent it from working correctly in a co lli
sio n.
T he re a re some impo rtan t thi ngs you have to
kn ow to m ake su re th at the effectiveness o f
t h e sys tem w ill not be impaired and tha t dis
ca rded components do not cause injury o r pol -
lu te the environment . ..,_ •
•

144 Safety belts
,8. WARNING
Improper care, servicing and repair proce
dures can increase the risk of personal in
jury and death by preventing a safety belt
pretens ioner from act ivat ing when needed
or act ivat ing it unexpectedly:
- The belt pretensioner system can be acti
vated only once. If belt pretens ioners
have been act ivated, the system must be
replaced.
- Never repair, adjust, or change any parts
of the safety belt system.
- Safety belt systems includ ing safety be lt
pretensione rs cannot be repaired. Spe
ci al procedures are required for removal,
installation and disposal of this system.
- For any work on the safety belt system,
we strongly recommend that you see
your authorized Audi dealer or qualified
technician who has an Audi approved re
pair manual, training and specia l equip
ment necessary.
@ For the sake of the environment
Undep loyed airbag modu les and preten
sioners might be classified as Perchlorate
Material -specia l hand ling may apply, see
www.dtsc.ca.gov/haza rdou swaste/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 regulations
must be observed. Your authorized Aud i
deale r is familiar with these requ irements
and we recommend that you have your
dea ler perform this service for you.

M N
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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, always:
"" Adjust the driver's seat and steering wheel
properly ¢
page 12 7,
"" Adjust the front passenger's seat properly
¢ page 53,
""Wear safety be lts properly ¢ page 139,
"" Always properly use the proper child re-
stra int to protect ch ildren
r::::> page 171.
In a collision, airbags must inflate within the
blink of an eye and with considerable force .
The supplementa l airbags can cause injuries if
the dr iver or the front seat passenger is not
seated prope rly . T herefore in order to help the
a irbag to do its job, it is impo rtant, both as a
d river and as a passenge r to s it properly at all
times.
By keep ing room between your body and the
steer ing whee l and the front of the passenge r
compartment, the airbag can i nflate fully and
comp lete ly and provide supp lemen tal protec
tion in ce rtain frontal collisions
r::::> page 12 7,
Proper occupant seating positions . For deta ils
on the operation of the seat adjustment con
trols ¢
page 53.
It's espe cially important that children a re
p roperly restrained
r::::> page 171.
There is a lot that the d river and the passen
ge rs ca n and must do to help the individua l
safety features ins talled in your A ud i work to
gether as a system.
P rope r seat ing pos ition is important so that
the front airbag on the dr iver s ide ca n do its
job. If yo u have a physical impa irment or con-
A irbag system 145
dition that prevents yo u from sitting properly
o n the driver seat with the safety belt properly
f astened and reach ing the peda ls, or if you
have concerns with regard to the function or
operation o f the Advanced Airbag System,
please contact your author ized Audi dealer or
qualified wo rkshop, o r call Audi Customer Re
l ations at 1-800-822-2834 fo r poss ible modi
fica tions to your veh icle.
When the airbag system dep loys, a gas gener
ator will fill t he a irbags, break open the pad
ded cove rs, and inflate between the steer ing
whee l and the dr ive r and between the instru
ment pane l and the fron t passenger. The a ir
bags will deflate immedia tely after dep loy
ment so that the front occupants can see
thro ugh the windshie ld again witho ut inter
ruption .
A ll of th is takes place in t he blink o f an eye, so
f ast that many people don't even realize that
the airbags have deployed. The airbags a lso
inflate with a great dea l of force and nothing
shou ld be in their way when they deploy.
Front a irbags in combination with properly
wor n safety belts slow down and lim it the oc
c u pant's fo rward movement . Togethe r they
help to preve nt the drive r and front seat pas
senger from h itti ng pa rts of the inside of the
vehicle while reducing the forces act ing 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. Airbags do not
protect the arms or the lower parts o f the
body.
Both front airbags wi ll not inflate in all fronta l
collisions . The trigge ring of the airbag system
depends on the vehicle dece lerat ion rate
ca used by the co llision and registered by the
elec tron ic control unit. If t his rate is below
the reference value programmed into the con
tro l unit, the airbags will not b e trigge red,
even t hough the car may be bad ly 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 necessarily an indica tion of whether an
airbag shou ld inflate or not . .,. •
•

146 Airbag sys te m
Since the cir cumstances will vary considerab ly
between one collision and anot her, it is not
possib le to def ine a range of vehicle speeds
that will cover every possible k ind and angle
of impact t hat will always trigger the airbags.
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 also not inflate in
side or rea r collisions, or in ro ll-overs.
Al ways rememb er: Airbags will deploy only
once, and only in certa in k inds of co llisions.
Your safety belts are always there to offer pro
tection in those s ituations in which airbags
a re not supposed to deploy, or when they have
a lready deployed; for example, when your ve
hicle strikes or is struck by another vehicle af
ter the first co llision.
This is just one of the reasons why an airbag is
a supplementary restraint and is not a substi
tute for a safety belt . The airbag system
works most effect ively when used with the
safety belts. Therefore, always properly wear
your safety belts¢
page 136.
A WARNING
Sitting too close to the steer ing wheel or
instrument panel will dec rease the effec
t iveness of the airbags and will increase
the risk of personal injury in a collision.
- Never sit closer than 10 inches (2S cm)
to the stee ring wheel or instrument pan
el.
- If you cannot sit more than 10 inches
( 2 5 cm) from the s teer ing whee l, investi
gate whethe r adaptive equipmen t may
be available to help you reach the pedals
and increase your seating distance from
the steering wheel.
- All veh icle 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 st rained or imp roperly rest rained child is 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 o ut of pos ition in any
way, your risk of injury is m uch h igher.
- You will a lso receive serious injuries and
could even be killed if yo u 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 a ir
bag inflates, always wear safety belts
properly ¢
page 139, Safety belts.
-Always make certain that ch ild ren age 12
or younge r always ride in the rear seat. If
children are not properly restrained, they may be severe ly inju red or killed when an
ai rbag inflates.
- Never let children ride un restrained or
improperly restrained in the vehicle. Ad
just the front sea ts prope rly.
- Never ride with the back rest reclined.
- Always sit as far as possible from the
steer ing whee l or the inst rument panel
¢pag e 127.
- Always sit upright 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 he lp preven t serio us in ju ries to the legs
a nd h ip s if the airbag infla te s.
- Never re cline the front passenger 's sea t
to transport ob jects. Items can a lso
move into the area of the s ide airb ag or
the front a irbag du ring bra king or in a
sudden maneuve r. Objects near the air
bags can become projectiles and cause
in jur y when an airbag inflates.
A WARNING
-Airbags 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
~

M N
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-Take the child restraint off the front pas
senger seat and install it properly at one
of the rear seat positions if the
PASSEN
GER AIR BAG OFF
light does not stay on .
- Have the airbag system inspected by
your Audi dealer immediately.
- Always carefully follow instructions from
child restraint manufacturers when in
stalling child restraints .
_& WARNING
If, in exceptional circumstances, you must
install a forward or rearward-facing child
restraint on the front passenger's seat:
- Improper installation of child restraints
can reduce their effectiveness or even
prevent them from providing any protec
tion.
- An improperly installed child restraint
can interfere with the airbag as it de
ploys and seriously injure or even kill the
child - even with an Advanced Airbag
System.
- Always carefully follow the manufactur
er's instructions provided with the child
seat or carrier.
- Always make sure that there is nothing
on the front passenger seat that will
cause the capacitive passenger detection
system in the seat to signal to the Airbag
System that the seat is occupied by a person when it is not, or to signal that it
is occupied by someone who is heavier
than the person actually sitting on the
seat . The presence of additional objects
could cause the passenger front airbag
to be turned on when it should be off, or
could cause the airbag to work in a way
that is different from the way it would have worked without the object on the
seat.
Airbag system 149
Front airbags
Description of front airbags
The airbag system can provide supplemen tal
protection to properly restrained front seat occupants.
Fig. 157 Locat io n of drive r airbag : in steering wheel
Fig. 158 Locat ion of fron t pa ssenger' s airbag: in the in·
st rument panel
Your vehicle is equipped with an "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 safety belts
for the seats have "pretensioners " that help
to take slack out of the belt system. The pre
tensioners are also activated by the electronic
control unit for the airbag system.
The front safety belts also have load limiters
to help reduce the forces applied to the body
in a crash.
The airbag for the driver is in the steering
wheel hub
~ fig . 157 and the airbag for the
front passenger is in the instrument panel
¢ fig. 158. The general location of the airbags
is marked "AIRBAG".
There is a lot you need to know about the air
bags in your vehicle. We urge you to read the .,..