2015 AUDI Q3 Owners Manual

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and disposal of safety belt pretensioner on
page 111.
Taking up the slack helps to reduce
forward occupant movement during a colli­
sion.
(D Note
Never let the belt remain over a rear seat­
back that has been folded forward.
@ Tips
The safety belt pretensioner can only be activated once .
- In minor frontal and side collisions, in
rear-end collisions and in accidents in­
volving very little impact force, the safe­
ty belt pretensioner are not activated.
- When the safety belt pretensioners are
activated, a fine dust is released. This is
norma l and is not caused by a fire in the
vehicle.
- The relevant safety requirements must
be observed when the vehicle or compo­
nents of the system are scrapped. An au­
thorized Audi dealer or qualified work­
shop is familiar with these regulations
and will be pleased to pass on the infor­
mation to you.
- Be sure to observe all safety, environ­
mental and other regulations if the vehi­
cle or individual parts of the system, par­
ticularly the safety belt or airbag, are to
be disposed. We recommend you have
your authorized Audi dealer perform this
service for you.
Service and disposal of safety belt
pretension er
The safety belt pretensioners are parts of the safety belts on your Audi. Installing, remov­
ing, servicing or repairing of belt pretens ion­
ers can damage the safety belt system and
prevent it from working correctly in a colli­
sion.
There are some important things you have to know to make sure that the effectiveness of
the system will not be impaired and that dis-
Safety belts 111
carded components do not cause injury or pol­
lute the environment .
A WARNING
Improper care, servicing and repair proce­
dures can increase the risk of personal in­
jury and death by preventing a safety belt pretensioner from activating when needed
or activating it unexpectedly :
- The belt pretensioner system can be acti­
vated only once . If belt pretensioners
have been activated, the system must be
replaced.
- Never repair, adjust, or change any parts
of the safety be lt system.
- Safety belt systems including safety belt
pretensioners cannot be repaired . Spe­
cial 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 special equip­
ment necessary.
@ For the sake of the environment
Undeployed airbag modules and preten­
sioners might be classified as Perchlorate
Material -special handling may apply, see
www.dtsc.ca . gov/hazard o u swa ste/ per­
chlorate. When the vehicle or parts of the
restraint system including airbag modules
safety belts with pretensioners are scrap­
ped, all applicable laws and regulations
must be observed . Your authorized Audi
dealer is familiar with these requirements
and we recommend that you have your
dealer perform th is service fo r you. •
•

112 Airbag system
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
c:> page 95,
• Adjust the front passenger's seat properly
r=:; page 51,
• Wear safety be lts properly ¢ page 107,
• Always properly use the proper child re-
straint to protect children
c:> page 133.
In a collision airbags must inflate within the
blink of an eye and with considerable force.
The supplemental airbags can cause injuries if
the driver or the front seat passenger is not
seated properly . Therefore in order to help the
a ir bag to do its job, it is important, both as a
d river and as a passenge r to sit properly at all
times.
By keeping room between your body and the
steering wheel and the front of the passenger
compa rtment, the airbag can inflate fully and
comp letely and provide supplemental protec­
tion in certain frontal collisions
c:> page 95,
Proper occupant seating positions.
F or details
on the operat ion of the seat adjustment con­
trols
c:> page 51.
I t's especially important that children are
properly restrained
c:>page 133.
There is a lot that the driver and the passen­
gers can and must do to help the individual
safety features installed in your Audi work to­
gether as a system.
Proper seating pos ition is important so that
the front airbag on the driver side can do its
job. If you have a physical impairment or con- dition that prevents you
from sitting properly
on the driver seat with the safety belt properly
fastened and reaching the pedals, spec ial
modifications to your vehicle may be necessa­
ry.
Contact your authorized Audi dea ler, or call
Audi Customer Re lations at 1-800-822-2834.
When the airbag system dep loys , a gas gener­
ator will fi ll the airbags, break open the pad­
ded covers, and inflate between the steering
whee l and the driver and between the instru­
ment panel and the front passenger. The air­
bags will deflate immediately after deploy­
ment so that the front occupants can see
th rough the windshield aga in without inter­
ruption .
All of th is takes place in the blink of an eye, so
fast that many people don't even realize that
the a irbags have deployed . The airbags also
inflate with a great deal of force and nothing
should be in their way when they deploy.
Front airbags in combination with properly
worn safety belts slow down and limit the oc­
cupant's forward movement. Together they
help to prevent the driver and front seat pas­
senger from hitting parts of the inside the ve­
hicle while reducing the forces acting on the
occupant dur ing the crash. In this way they
help to reduce the risk of injury to the head
and upper body i n the crash . A irbags do not
protect the arms or the lower parts of the
body.
Both front a irbags will not inflate in all fronta l
collisions . The trigge ring of the a irbag system
depends on the vehicle dece lerat ion rate
caused by the collision and registered by the
elect ron ic control unit. If th is rate is below
the reference value programmed into the con­
trol unit, the airbags will not be triggered ,
even though the car may be bad ly damaged as
a result of the collision . Veh icle damage, re­
pair costs or even the lack of veh icle damage
is no t necessarily an indication of whether an
airbag should inflate or not.
It is not possib le to define a range of vehicle
speeds that w ill cover every possible kind and .,.

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angle of impact that will always trigger the
airbags, since the circumstances will vary con­
siderably between one collision and another.
Important factors 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 also not inflate in
side or rear collisions, or in ro ll-overs .
Alwa ys rem ember : Airbags will deploy only
once, and only in certa in kinds of collisions .
Your safety belts are always there to offer pro­
tection in those s ituations in which airbags
are not supposed to deploy , or when they have
a lready deployed ; fo r example , when yo ur ve­
h icle strikes or is struck by another after the
first collision .
This is just one of the reasons why an a irbag is
a supplementary restra int and is not a s ubst i­
tute for a safety belt . The airbag system
works most effectively when used with the
safety belts. Therefore, always properly wear
your safety belts¢
page 104 .
A WARNING
Sitting too close to the steer ing wheel or
instrument panel will decrease the effec­
tiveness of the airbags and will increase
the risk of pe rsonal injury in a co llision .
- Never sit closer than
10 inches (25 cm)
to the stee ring wheel or instrument pan­
el.
- If you cannot sit more than
10 i nches
(25 cm) from the steer ing whee l, investi­
gate whether adaptive equipment may
be available to help you reach the pedals
and increase your seating dis tance from
the steering wheel.
- All veh icle o ccupants and especia lly chil­
dren must be restrained properly when­
ever riding in a vehicle . An un restra ined
or improperly rest rained child could be
injured by striking the inter ior or by be­
ing ejected from the vehicle during a
s u dden maneuver or impact. An unre­
strained or improperly restrained child is
also at greater r isk of injury or death
thro ugh contact with an inflat ing airbag.
A irbag system 113
-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 higher.
- You will a lso receive se rious injuries and
could even be killed if you are up aga inst
the airbag or too close to it when it in­
f lates -even w ith an Advanced A irbag.
- To reduce the risk of injury when an air­
bag inflates, always wear safety belts
prope rly ¢
page 107, Safety belts .
-Always make certain that ch ildren age 12
or younger always ride in the rear seat . If
children a re not properly restrained , they
may be severe ly inju red or kill ed when an
a ir bag inf lates.
- Never let ch ildren ride un restra ined or
improperly restrained in the vehicle. Ad­
just the front sea ts p roperly .
- Never ride with the back rest reclined .
- Always sit as far as possible from the st eer ing whee l or the instrument pane l
¢page 95.
- Always sit upright with your back aga ins t
the backr est of your seat .
- Never place your feet on the instrument
panel or on the seat . Always keep both
feet on the f loor in front of the seat to
he lp preven t serio us in juries to the legs
and h ips if the airbag infla tes.
- Never re cline the front passenger 's seat
to transpo rt obje cts. Items c an a lso
move into the area of the s ide a irbag or
the front airbag during braking or in a
sudden maneuve r. Objects near the air ­
bags can become projectiles and cause
in jury when an airbag inflates.
A WARNING
A irbags that have deployed in a crash must
be replaced.
- Use on ly orig inal equipment airbags ap­
proved by Aud i and installed by a trained
technician who has the necessary too ls
a nd d iagnost ic equipment to properly re ­
place any airbag in your vehicle and as­
sure system effectiveness in a crash . •
•

114 Airbag sys te m
- Never permit salvaged or recycled air­
bags to be installed in your veh icle.
Child restraints on the front seat - some
important things to know
~ Be sure to read the important informat ion
and head the WARNINGS for important de­
ta ils about ch ildren and Advanced Airbags
c::>page 133.
Even though your vehicle is equ ipped with an
Advanced Airbag System, make certain that
a ll c hildren, especially those 12 years and
younger, a lways ride in the back sea t properly
restrained for their age and size . The airbag
on the passenger side makes the front seat a
potentially dangerous place for a chi ld 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 child in a rea rward-facing seat .
The Advanced Airbag System in your veh icle
has been certified to comply with the Requ ire­
ments of United States Federa l Motor Veh icle
Safety Standard 208 as applicable at the time
your veh icle was manufactured .
The Standard requires the front a irbag on the
passenger side to be turned off ("sup ­
pressed") if a ch ild up to about one yea r of
age restra ined in one of the rear-facing or fo r­
ward-facing infan t restra ints listed in Federal
M otor Vehicle Safety Standard 208 w ith w hic h
the Advanced A irbag System in your vehicle
was certified has been installed on the front
passenger seat. Fo r a listing of the child re­
straints that were used to certify compliance
with the US Safety Standard
c::> page 135.
The PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light in the in­
strument panel te lls you when the front Ad ­
vanced A irbag on the passenger side has been
turned off by the e lectronic control unit.
Each time yo u turn on the ignition, the
PAS­
SENGER AIR BAG OFF
li ght wi ll come on for a
few seconds and:
- will stay on if the front passenger seat is not
occupied, -
w ill s tay on i f there is a small ch ild or child
restraint on the front passenger seat,
- will go off i f the front passenger sea t is oc­
cupied by an adult as registered by the
weight-sensing mat
c::> page 123, Monitor­
ing the Advanced Airbag System.
T he PAS SENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes on
whe n the control unit detects a tota l weight
o n the front passenger seat that req uires the
front airbag to be turned off .
If the total weight on the front passenge r
seat is more than that of a typica l 1 year -old
c h ild b ut less than the weight of a small
adult, the front airbag on the passenger side
can deploy (the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
li ght does not come on). If the PASSENGER
AIR BAG OFF
light does not come on, the
front a irbag on the passenger side has not
been turned off by the elect ronic control unit
and can deploy if the cont rol uni t senses an
impact that meets the cond itions s tored i n its
memo ry .
For exampl e, th e ai rbag may deploy if;
- a small ch ild that is heav ier than a typical 1
year-old ch ild is on the front passenger seat
( r egardless of whether the child is in one of
the ch ild safety seats listed
c::> page 135) , or
- a child who has outgrown chi ld restraints is
on t he front passenger seat .
If the front passenger airbag is turned off, the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes on in
the instrument cluster a nd stays on .
The front airbag on the passenger side may
not deploy (the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light does not illum inate and stay lit) even if a
small adult o r teenager, or a passenger who is
not sitt ing up rig ht w ith their back against a
non- recl ined ba ck rest w it h their feet on the
vehicle f loor i n front o f the sea t is on t he front
passenge r seat
c::> page 95, Proper seating po ­
sition for the driver.
If the front passenger airbag dep loys, the
F edera l Standard req uires the airbag to meet
the "low risk" dep loyment criteria to red uce
t h e risk of injury t hro ugh interactio n with the ..,.

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airbag. "Low risk" deployment occurs in those
crashes that take place at lower decelerations
as defined in the electronic control unit
c:> page 123, PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light.
Always remember, a child safety seat or infant
carrier installed on the front seat may be
struck and knocked out of pos ition by the rap­
id ly inflating passenger's airbag in a frontal
collision. The airbag could greatly reduce the
effectiveness of the child restraint and even
seriously injure the child during inflat ion .
For this reason, and because the back seat is
the safest place for children -when properly
restrained accord ing to their age and size -we
strongly recommend that children always sit
i n the back seat
c:> page 133, Child Safety.
.&_ WARNING
-
A child in a rearward -facing child sa fety
seat insta lled on the front passenger seat
wi ll be seriously injured and can be ki lled if
the front airbag inflates -even with an Ad ­
vanced Airbag System .
- The inflating a irbag w ill hit the child
safety seat or infant carrier with great
force and will smash the child safety seat
and child against the backrest, center
armrest, door or roof.
- 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 because of exceptional circumstan­
ces and the
PAS SENGER AIR BAG OFF
light does not come on and stay on, im­
med iately install the rear-facing child
safety seat in a rear seating posit ion and
have the a irbag sys tem inspected by you r
authorized Aud i dealer.
- Forward-fac ing ch ild safety seats instal­
led on the fron t passenger's seat may in­
terfere with the deployment of the air­
bag and cause serious personal injury to
the chi ld .
A irbag system 11 5
.&_ WARNING
If, in exceptiona l circumstances, you must
install 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 manufacturer fo r use on a front seat
with a passenger front and s ide a irbag.
- Never put the forward-facing child re­
straint up against or ve ry near the instru­
ment panel.
- Always move the passenge r seat into its
rea rmost pos ition in the seat's fore a nd
aft ad justment range, as fa r away from
the airbag as possible before installing
the forward -fac ing chi ld restra int . The
backrest must be adj usted to an up right
position.
- Make sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
li ght comes on and stays on all the
time whenever the ignition is switched
on.
A WARNING
To reduce the risk of ser ious injury, make
sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light w ill be displayed whenever a child re­
straint is installed on the front passenge r
seat and the ignition is sw itched on .
- If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not stay on, perform the checks de­
scribed
c:> page 123, Monitoring the Ad­
vanced Airbag System.
- Ta ke the chi ld restraint off the front pas­
senger sea t and install it prope rly at one
of the rear sea t positions if the
PASSEN­
GER AIR BAG OFF
light does not stay on.
- Have the airbag system in spe cted by
your author ized Audi dealer immed iate­
ly.
- Always carefully follow instr uctions from
child restraint manufacturers when in­
stalling child restraints.
•
•

116 Airbag system
A 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 the ir effect iveness or even
prevent them from p roviding any protec­
t ion.
- An improperly installed child restraint
can interfere with the a irbag as it de­
ploys and serious ly inju re or even kill the
c hild -even wi th an Advanced Airbag
System.
- Always ca refully fo llow the manufactur­
er's instructions provided with the child
safety seat or carrier.
- Never pl ace additional items on the seat
t hat can incre ase the to tal weight regis­
tered by the weight -sens ing ma t and can
cause injury in a crash.
Front airbags
Description of front airbags
The airbag system con provide supplemental
protection to properly restrained front seat
occupants.
Fi g. 11 7 Locatio n of driver air bag: in steer ing whee l
Fig. 118 Location of front passenger's air bag: in the in ­
s tr umen t pane l
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 . T he pre­
tens ioners are also act ivated by the elect ron ic
control unit for the airbag system.
The front safety belts also have load lim iters
to help reduce the forces appl ied to the body
i n a crash .
The airbag for the driver is in the steering
wheel hub¢
fig. 117 and the airbag for the
front passenger is in the instr ument panel
¢ fig . 118 . The gene ral locat ion of the a irbags
is marked "AIRBAG".
The re is a lot you need to know about the air ­
bags in your vehicle. We urge you to read the
detailed information about airbags, safety
belts and child sa fety in this and the other
c h ap ters that ma ke up the owner's liter ature.
Please be sure to heed the WARNINGS -they
are extremely important for your safety and
the safety of your passengers, especially in­
fants and small children.
A WARNING ,-
Never rely on airbags alone for protection.
- Even when they deploy, airbags provide
only s upplementa l protect ion.
- Airbag work most effective ly when used
with properly worn safety belts. ,.,.

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-Therefore, always wear your safety belts
and make sure that everybody in your ve­
hicle is properly restrained.
A WARNING
A person on the front passenger seat, es­
pecially infants and small children, will re­
ceive serious injur ies and can even be kil­
led by being too close to the airbag when
it inflates.
- Although the Advanced Airbag System in
your vehicle is designed to turn off the
front passenger a irbag if an infant or a
small ch ild is on the front passenge r
seat, nobody can absolutely guarantee
that deployment under these special
conditions is impossible in all conceiva­
ble s ituations that may happen during
the useful life of your vehicle.
- The Advanced A irbag System can deploy
in accordance with the "low risk" opt ion
under the U.S. Federa l Standard if a c hild
that is heavier than the typical one-year
old child is o n the front passenger seat
and the other cond itions for airbag de­
ployment are met .
- Acc ident statist ics have shown that chil­
dre n are generally safe r in the rea r seat
area than in the front seating posit io n.
- For their own safety, all children, espe­
cially 1 2 yea rs and younger, sho uld al­
ways ride in the b ack properly restrained
for their age and size .
Advanced front airbag system
-
Your vehicle is equipped w it h a front Advanced
Airbag System in comp liance with United
States Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard
208 as applicable at the time your vehicle was
manufactured.
The front Advanced Airbag System supp le ­
ments the safety belts to provide additiona l
protection for the driver's and front passeng­
er's heads and upper bodies in frontal crashes.
The airbags inflate only in frontal impacts
when the vehicle decelerat io n is high enough .
Airbag system 117
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 over­
all occupant restra int system in your vehicle.
Always remember that the airbag system can
only he lp to protect you, if you are sitting up ­
rig ht, wearing your safety belt and wear ing it
proper ly. This is why you and your passe ngers
mus t always be prope rly restrained, not jus t
because the law req uires you to be.
T he Advanced A irbag System in your vehicle
has been ce rtified to meet the "low risk" re­
quirements for 3 and 6 yea r-old ch ildren o n
the passenger side and very small ad ults o n
the driver side . The low risk deployment crite­
ria are intended to help reduce the risk o f in ­
jury through interaction with the front 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 "s uppression" requirements
of the Safety Standard, to turn off the front
airbag for infants
12 months old and younger
who are restrained on the front passenger
seat in child rest raints that are listed in the
Standard ¢
page 135, Child restraints and
Advanced Airbags.
"Suppress ion" requires the front a irbag on the
passenger side to be turned off if:
- a child up to about one year of age is re­
strained on the front passenger seat in one
of the rear -fac ing or forward-facing infant
restrai nts listed in Federal Motor Vehicle
Safety Standard 208 with which the Ad­
vanced Ai rbag System in your ve hicl e was
cert ified . For a listing of t he chi ld res traints
tha t were used to certify you r vehicle's com ­
pliance with the US Safety Standard
¢ page 135,
-weight less than a thresho ld level stored in
the control unit is detected on the front pas­
senger seat .
When a person is detected on the front pas­ senger seat, weighing more than the total
weight of a chi ld that is about 1 year old •
•

118 Airbag sys te m
restrained in one of the rear -facing or for­
ward -facing infant restraints (listed in Federal
Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208 with which
the Advanced Airbag System in your vehicle
was certified), the front airbag on the passen­
ger side may or may not dep loy .
The
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes on
when the electronic control unit detects a to­
tal weight on the front passenger seat that re­
quires the front airbag to be turned off . If the
P A SSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does not
come on, the front airbag on the passenger
side has not been turned off by the control
un it and can deploy if the contro l unit senses
an impact that meets the conditions stored in
its memory .
I f the total we ight on the front passenger
seat is more than that of a typical
1 year-o ld,
but less than the weight of a small adu lt, the
front airbag on the passenger side may deploy
(the
PAS SENGER AIR BAG OFF light does not
come on).
F o r e xample , th e ai rbag m ay depl oy if:
-a small child that is heavier than a typical 1
year-o ld child is on the front passenger seat
(regardless of whether the ch ild is in one of
the chi ld safety seats listed
¢ page 135),
-a ch ild who has o utgrown child rest raints is
on the front passenger seat.
If the front passenger airbag is turned off, the
PA SSENGER AIR BAG OFF light in the center
of the instrument pa nel w il l come on and stay
on.
The front a irbag on the passenger side may
not deploy (the PAS SENGER AIR BAG OFF
light does not ill uminate and stay lit) if:
- a small adult or teenager is on the front pas ­
senger seat
- a passenger who is not sitt ing upright with
their back against a non-reclined backrest
with their feet on the veh icle floo r in front
of the seat is on the fro nt passenger seat.
If the front passenger airbag deploys, the Federal Standard requires the airbag to meet
the "low risk" deployment cr iteria to help re- duce the risk o
f injury through interaction
with the airbag . "Low risk" deployment occurs
in those crashes that take place at lower de­
ce lerat ions as defined in the electronic control
unit.¢
page 123
Alw ays remembe r: Even though your vehicle
is equ ipped w ith Advanced A irbags, the safest
place for ch ildren is properly restrained on the
back seat . Please be sure to read the impor­
tant information in the sections that follow and be su re to heed all of the WARNINGS.
A WARNING ,.__
To reduce the risk of in jury when an a irbag
i nflates, always wear safety be lts p roperly.
- If you are unrestra ined, leaning forward,
sitt ing s ideways or out 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 you a re up aga inst
the airbag o r too close to it when it in­
f lates - even with an Advanced A irbag
¢ page 112.
A WARNING
= -
A child in a rearward -facing chi ld safety
seat installed on the front passenger seat
will be serious ly injured and can be killed if
the front airbag inflates -even with an Ad­
vanced A irbag System.
-Altho ugh the Advanced Airbag System in
your veh icle is designed to turn off the
front airbag when a rearward-facing
child restraint has been installed on the
front passenge r seat, nobody can abso­
lutely g uarantee that dep loyment is im­
possible in all con ceivable situations that
may happen dur ing the usefu l life of your
vehicle .
- The infla ting airbag will h it the c hild
safety seat or infant carrier wi th great
force and will smash the child safety seat and child against the backrest, center
armrest, door, or roof.
- Always install rearward-facing chi ld re­
straints in the back seat .