2015 AUDI Q3 belt

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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 . •
•

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 •
•

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-If you must insta ll a rearward facing
child safety seat on the front passenger
seat because of exceptional circumstan­ ces and the
PAS SENGE R 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 position and
have the a irbag sys tem inspec ted by you r
authorized Audi dealer.
& WARNING
If, in exceptional c ircumstances, you mus t
install a forwa rd -facing child restraint on
the front passenger's seat:
- Always make sure the forward -fac ing
seat has been des igned and certified by
its manufacturer for use on a front seat
with a passenger front and side airbag.
- Never put the forward-facing child re­
straint up aga inst or very near the inst ru­
ment pane l.
- Always move t he passenger seat into its
rearmost position in the seat's fore and
aft adjustment range, as far away f rom
the a irbag as poss ible, before insta lling
the fo rward-facing child restraint. T he
backrest must be adjus ted to an upr ight
posit ion .
- Make su re that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
light comes o n and s tays on all the
t ime w henever the ign ition is switc hed
on.
Advanced Airbag System components
The fron t passenger seat in your vehi cle has a
l ot of very important par ts of the Advanced
Airbag System in it. These parts include t he
weight -sens ing mat, sensors, wiring, brack­
ets, and mo re. The function of the system in
the front passenger seat is checked by the e lectronic control un it when the ignit ion is on.
The control unit mon itors the Advanced Air­
bag System and tur ns the a irbag indicator
light on when a ma lfu nction in t he system
components is de tected. The func tion of the
a ir bag ind icator light is described in greater
detai l below . Because t he front passenge r
Airbag sys tem 119
seat contains important parts of the Ad ­
vanced Airbag System, you must take care to prevent it from being damaged. Damage to
the seat may prevent the Advanced Airbag for
the front passenger seat from do ing its job in
a crash.
The front Advanced Air bag System
consists of the following:
- Cras h sensors in the front of the vehicle that
measure vehicle acceleration/deceleration
to prov ide info rmat ion to the Adva nced Ai r­
bag System about the sev erity of the crash .
- An elect ronic control unit, with integrated
crash sensors fo r front and s ide impacts.
The control u nit "decides" whether to fi re
t he front a irbags based on t he informat io n
received from t he crash sensors. The con trol
unit also "decides" whe ther the sa fety belt
pretensioners sho uld be activated.
- An Adv anced A irbag w it h gas gene ra tor and
cont ro l valve fo r the d river inside the steer ­
ing wheel h ub.
- An Advance d Airbag w ith gas generator and
contro l valve inside the inst rument pane l for
the front passenger .
- A wei ght -sensing mat unde r the upho ls tery
padding of the front passenge r seat cushion
that measures the total weight on the seat .
The informat ion reg istered is sent continu­
ously to the electronic control unit to regu­
late deployment of the front Advanced Air­
bag on t he passenger side.
- An airbag monitoring system and ind icator
light in the instr ument cluster¢
page 123.
-A sensor in each front seat registers the dis­
tance between the respective seat and the
steer ing whee l or inst rument panel. The i n­
formation register ed is sent cont inuo usly to
t he ele ct ron ic cont ro l unit to regula te de­
ployment o f th e front Adva nced A irbags .
- The
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes
on and stays on in the center of t he i nstr u­
ment p anel
¢ page 123, fig. 120 and tells
you when the fron t Advanced Air bag on the
passenger side has been tu rned
off .
-A sensor below the s afety be lt latch fo r the
front seat passenger to meas ure t he tension
II>-
•
•

120 Airbag sys te m
on the safety belt. The tension on the safety
belt and the weight registered by the
we ight-sensing mat help the control un it
"decide" whether the front a irbag for the
front passenger seat should be turned off or
not ¢
page 114, Child restraints on the
front seat -some important things to
know .
-A sensor in the safety belt latch for the dr iv ­
er and for the front seat passenger that
senses whether that safety belt is latched or
not and transm its this informa tion to the
electron ic cont ro l unit.
& WARNING
Damage to the front passenger seat can
prevent the front airbag from working
properly.
- Improper repair or disassembly of the front passenger and driver seat wi ll pre­
vent the Advanced Airbag System from
functioning properly.
- Repairs to the front passenger seat must
be performed by q ualified and properly
trained workshop personnel.
- Never
remove the front passenger or
dr iver seat from the veh icle.
- Never
remove the upholstery from the
front passenger seat .
- Never disassemble or
remove parts from
the seat or disconnect wires from it .
- Never carry sharp objects in your pockets
or place them on the seat .
If the weight­
sensing mat in the passenger seat is punctured it cannot work properly.
- Never carry things on your lap or carry
objects on the passenger seat. Such
items can increase the weight registered
by the weight-sens ing mat and send the
wrong information to the airbag control
unit.
- Never store items under the front pas­ senger seat. Parts of the Advanced Ai r­
bag System under the passenge r seat
cou ld be damaged, prevent ing them and
t h e a irbag sys tem from wo rking proper­
ly .
-
- Never p lace seat covers or rep lacement
upho lstery that have not been specifica l­
ly approved by Audi on the front seats.
- Seat
covers can prevent the Advanced
Airbag System from recognizing chi ld re­
straints or occupants on the front pas­
senger seat and prevent the side airbag
in the seat backrest from deploying prop­
erly.
- Never use cushions, pillows, blankets or similar items on the front passenger
seat. T he additional padding w ill prevent
the we igh t-sensing mat in the sea t from
accurately regis tering the child rest rain t
or pe rson on the seat and prevent the
Advanced Airbag System from function­ ing p roperly.
- If you m ust use a child restraint on the
front passenge r seat and the child re­
straint manufacture r's instructions re­
quire the use of a towel, foam cushion or
someth ing e lse to properly pos ition the
child restraint, make certain that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes
on and stays on whenever the ch ild re­
s traint is i nstalled on the front passen­
ge r seat.
- If the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not come on and st ay on, immed i­
ately install child rest raint in a rear seat­
ing position and have the ai rbag system
inspected by your authorized Audi dealer.
How the Advanced Airbag System
components work together
The front Advanced Airbag System and the
s ide a irbags supp lement the protect ion of­
fered by the front three-point safety belts
with pretensioners and load limiters a nd the
adjus table head rest rain ts to help reduce the
r isk of in jury in a wide range of accident and
c rash situations . Be s ure to read the impor ­
tant information about safety and heed the
WARNINGS in this chapter .
Deployment o f the Adv a need A irbag System
and the activation of the safety belt preten­
sioners depend on the deceleration measured
1111-

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by the crash senso rs and registered by the
e lectronic control unit. Crash severity depends
on speed and deceleration as well as the mass
and stiffness of the vehicle or object involved in the crash .
On the passenger side, regard less of safety
be lt use, the airbag will be turned off if the
weight on the passenger seat is less than the
amount programmed in the electronic control
un it . The front ai rbag on the passenger side
will also be turned off if one of the ch ild safe­
ty seats that has been certified unde r Federa l
Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208 has been
recog nized on the sea t. T he
PA SSENGER AIR
BAG OFF
ligh t comes on and stays on to tell
you when the front Advanced Airbag on the
passenger side has been turned off
c::> page 114, Child restraints on the front seat
- some important things to know.
A WARNING
To reduce the risk of injury whe n an airbag
inflates, a lways wear safety belts properly.
- If you are unrestrained, lean ing forward,
sitting sideways or out of position in any
way, your risk of in jury is much highe r.
- You w ill also rece ive serious inj uries and
cou ld eve n be killed if you are up against
the a irbag or too close to it when it in·
fla tes · even with an Advanced Airbag
c::> page 112.
More important things to know about
front airbags
Fi g. 119 Inf lated fro nt air bags
Safety belts are impo rtant to help keep front
seat occupa nts in t he p roper seated pos ition
so that airbags ca n unfo ld prope rly and pro·
A irba g sy stem 121
vide supplementa l protection in a fron tal col ­
lision .
T he front airbags a re des igned to provide ad­
d it ional p rotec tion fo r the ches t and fa ce of
the d river and the front seat passenger when :
- safety belts are wo rn properly,
- the seats have been positioned so that the
occupan t is properly seated as far as poss i·
b le from the airbag,
- and the head restraints have been properly
adjusted.
Because airbags inflate in the bli nk of an eye
with great force, th ings you have on your lap
o r have p laced on the seat co uld become dan·
gerous p ro jectiles , and be pushed in to you if
the a irbag inf lates .
When an airbag deploys, fine dust is re leased.
T his is norma l and is not ca used by a fi re in
the ve hicle. This dust is made up mostly of a
powde r used to lubricate the air bags as they
deploy.
It could irr itate skin .
It is important to remembe r that wh ile the
supplementa l airbag system is designed to re·
d uce the like lihoo d of se rious injur ies, ot he r
injur ies, for ex ample swe lling, br uis ing and
minor ab rasions, can also happen when air­
bags inflate. Airbags do not protect the arms
or the lower parts of the body. Front airbags
on ly supplement the three point safety be lts
in some fronta l co llisions in which the vehicle
deceleration is high enough to deploy the air ­
bags.
Front a irbags will not depl oy :
- if the ignition is switched off when a crash
occurs,
- in side co llisions,
- in rear -end co llisions,
- in rollove rs,
- when the crash dece leration measu red by
t he air bag system is less than the min imum
t hreshold needed fo r airbag deploymen t as
reg istered by the electronic cont ro l unit. ..,.