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area because the rear lid cannot be fully
closed.
-If you absolutely must drive with the rear
lid open, observe the following notes to
reduce the risk of poisoning:
- Close all windows,
- Close the power top,
- Open all air outlets in the instrument
panel,
- Switch off the air recirculation,
- Set the fresh air fan to the highest
speed.
A WARNING
Always make sure that the doors, all win
dows, the power top and the rear lid are
securely closed and locked to reduce the
risk of injury when the vehicle is not being
used.
-After closing the rear lid, always make sure that it is properly closed and locked.
- Never leave your vehicle unattended es
pecially with the rear lid left open. A
child could crawl into the vehicle through
the luggage compartment and close the
rear lid becoming trapped and unable to
get out. Being trapped in a vehicle can
lead to serious personal injury.
- Never let children play in or around the
vehicle.
- Never let passengers ride in the luggage
compartment. Vehicle occupants must
always be properly restrained in one of
the vehicle's seating positions.
(D Tips
- Air circulation helps to reduce window
fogging. Stale air escapes to the outside
through vents in the trim panel. Be sure
to keep these slots free and open.
- The tire pressure must correspond to the
load. The tire pressure is shown on the
tire pressure label. The tire pressure la bel is located on the driver's side B-pillar.
The tire pressure label lists the recom mended cold tire inflation pressures for
the vehicle at its maximum capacity
.
Driving Safely 119
weight and the tires that were on your
vehicle at the time it was manufactured.
For recommended tire pressures for nor
mal load conditions, please see chapter
¢page 217.
Tie-downs
Applies to vehicles : wi th t ie-downs
The luggage compartment is equipped with
four tie-downs to secure luggage and other
items.
Use the tie-downs to secure your cargo prop
erly
¢ page 118, Loading the luggage com
partment .
In a collision, the laws of physics mean that
even smaller items that are loose in the vehi
cle will become heavy missiles that can cause
serious injury. Items in the vehicle possess en
ergy which vary with vehicle speed and the
weight of the item. Vehicle speed is the most significant factor.
For example, in a frontal collision at a speed
of 30 mph (48 km/h), the forces acting on a 10-lb (4.5 kg) object are about 20 times the
normal weight of the item . This means that
the weight of the item would suddenly be
about 200 lbs. (90 kg). You can imagine the injuries that a 200 lbs. (90 kg) item flying
freely through the passenger compartment
could cause in a collision like this.
A WARNING
Weak, damaged or improper straps used
to secure items to tie-downs can fail dur ing hard braking or in a collision and cause
serious personal injury.
- Always use suitable mounting straps and
properly secure items to the tie-downs in
the luggage compartment to help pre
vent items from shifting or flying for
ward as dangerous missiles.
- When the rear seat backrest is folded
down, always use suitable mounting
straps and properly secure items to the
tie-downs in the luggage compartment
to help prevent items from flying
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_& WARNING
Improperly positioned safety belts can
cause serious personal injury in an acci
dent .
- Expectant mothers must a lways wear the
lap portion of the safety belt as low as
poss ible across the pelv is and be low the
rounding of the abdomen.
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS and
other important information
¢ &. in Fas
tening safety belts on page 12
7.
Unfastening safety belts
Unbuckle the safety belt with the red release
button only after the vehicle has stopped .
Fig. 14 8 Re lea sing the to ngue from the buckle
... Push the red re lease but ton on the buc kle
¢
fig. 148 . The belt tongue wi ll spring out
of the buckle
¢ ,&. .
0 .... N 9 :r
~
... Let the belt wind up on the retractor as you
gu ide the belt tongue to its stowed position.
_& WARNING
Never unfasten safety belt while the veh i
cle is moving. Doing so will increase your
r isk of being inju red or killed .
Improperly worn safety belts
Incorrectly posi tioned safety bel ts can cause
severe injuries .
Wearing safety be lts improperly can cause se
rious injury or death. S afety belts can only
work when they are correct ly positioned on
the body . Improper seating positions reduce
the effect iveness of safety belts and w ill even
Safety belts 129
increase the risk of injury and death by mov
ing the safety be lt to critica l areas of the
body. Improper seating positions a lso 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
t ion. A driver is respo ns ible for the safety of
all vehicle occupants and especially for chil
dren. Therefore:
... Never perm it anyone to assume an incorrect
sitt ing pos ition in the vehicle while traveli ng
¢ ,&. .
_& WARNING
Improperly worn safety bel ts increase the
r isk of ser ious persona l injury and death
whenever a vehicle is being used .
- Always ma ke s ure that all vehi cle occu
pants are correctly restrained and stay in
a co rrect seating position whenever the
veh icle is being used .
- Always read and heed a ll WARNI NGS and
other important information
¢ page 126.
Safety belt preten-
• s1oners
How safety belt pretensioners work
In front, side and rear-end collisions above a
particular severity, safety belts are tensioned automatically.
T he safety belts are equipped with safety belt
pretensioners . The system is act ivated by se n
sors i n fro nt, side and rear -end co llisions of
great seve rity . This tightens the belt and takes
up belt slack¢
& in Service and disposal of
safety b elt pretension er on page 130.
Taking
up the slack he lps to reduce fo rward occupant
movement during a collision .
(D Note
Never let the belt remain ove r a rear seat
back that has been fo lded forward .
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Airbag system Important things to know
Importance of wearing safety belts and
sitting properly
Airbags are only supplemental restrain ts . For
airbags to do their job , occupants m ust 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 dr iver's sea t and steeri ng wheel
p roperly
¢ page 113,
"" Adjust the front passenger's seat properly
¢ page 61,
""Wear safety be lts properly ¢ page 126,
"" Always properly use the proper child re-
stra int to protect ch ildren
r::::> page 152.
In a collision airbags must inflat e within th e
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 properly . T herefore in order to help the
a irbag to do its job, it is important, both as a
driver 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 inflate fully and
comp lete ly and provide supp lemen tal protec
tion in ce rtain frontal collisions
r::::> page 113,
Proper occupant seating positions .
For deta ils
on the operation of the seat adjustment con
trols
¢ page 61.
It's espe cially important that children a re
p roperly restrained
r::::> page 15 2.
There is a lot that the d river and the passen
gers 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 13 1
dition that prevents yo u from sitting properly
o n the driver seat with the safety belt properly
fastened and reach ing the peda ls, spec ial
modifications to yo ur vehicle may be necessa
ry.
Contact your a uthorized Audi dea ler, or call
Audi C ustome r Re lations at 1-800 -822-2834 .
When the airbag system dep loys, a gas gene r
ator will fi ll the ai rbags, break open the pad
ded covers, and inf late between t he steering
whee l and the dr iver and between the instru
ment panel and the front passenger. The air
bags will deflate immediately after deploy
ment so that the front occupa nts can see
t hr ough the w indshield aga in witho ut 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 wi th a g reat dea l of force and noth ing
shou ld be in their way when they deploy.
Fron t airbags in combin ation wi th properly
worn safety belts slow down and lim it the oc
cupan t'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 t he risk of injury to the head
and upper body i n the c rash . A irbags do not
protect the a rms o r the lower parts of the
body .
Both front a irbags w ill not inflate in all fronta l
collisions . The t riggering of the a irbag system
depends on the vehicle dece le rat ion rate
ca used by the co llision and registered by the
ele ctron ic co ntro l unit. If thi s rate is below
t he reference value programmed into the con
trol unit, the airbags will not be trigge red,
even though the car may be bad ly damaged as
a resu lt of the co llision . Veh icle damage, re
pair costs or even the lack of ve hicle damage
is no t necessarily an indication of whether an
airbag s hou ld inflate o r not .
It is not possib le to define a range of vehicle
speeds that w ill cover every possib le kind and ..,.
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Even though your vehicle is equipped with an
Advanced Airbag System, make certain that
all ch ildren, especially those 12 years and
younger, a lways ride in the back seat properly
restrained for their age and size. The airbag
on the passenger side makes the front seat a potentially dangerous place for a child to r ide.
The front seat is not the safest place for a
child in a fo rward-facing child safety seat.
It
can be a very dangerous place for an infant or
a child in a rearward-facing seat.
The Advanced Airbag System in your veh icle
h as been certified to comp ly w ith the Requ ire
ments of United States Federa l Moto r Veh icle
Safety Standard 208 as applicable at the time
your vehicle was manufactured.
The Standard requires the front a irbag on the
passenger side to be t urned off ("sup
p ressed") if a ch ild up to about one year of
age restrained in one of the rear -facing or for
ward -facing infant restraints listed in Federal
Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208 with wh ich
the Advanced Airbag System in your vehicle
was certified has been installed on the front passenger seat . For a listing of the child re
straints that were used to certify compliance
with the US Safety Standard
Q page 154.
The PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light in the in
strument panel tells you when the front Ad
vanced A irbag on the passenger side has bee n
turned off by the e lectronic control unit.
Each t ime you turn on the ignition, the
PAS
SENGER AIR BA G OFF
light w ill come on for a
few seco nds and :
- will stay on if the front passenger seat is not
occupied,
- will stay on if there is a small child or child restraint on the front passenger seat,
- will go off if the front passenger seat is oc
cupied by an adult as registered by the
weight-sensing mat
Q page 141, Monitor
ing the Advanced Airbag System .
The PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes on
when the control un it detects a total weight
on the front passenger seat that requires the
fro nt airbag to be turned off.
A irbag system 133
If the total weight on the front passenger
seat is more than that of a typical 1 year-o ld
c hi ld but less than the weight of a small
adult, the front airbag on the passenger side
can deploy (the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light does not come on). If the PASSENG ER
AIR BAG OFF
light does not come on, the
front a irbag on the passenger side has not
been tu rned off by the elect ronic con trol unit
and can deploy if the co ntrol unit senses an
impact that meets the cond itions stored in its
memory .
For exampl e, the air ba g may deplo y if:
-a small ch ild that is heav ie r than a typical 1
year-old ch ild is o n the front passenger seat
( r egard less of whether the child is in one of
the child safety seats listed
Q page 154), or
- a child who has outgrown child restraints is
on the front passenger seat.
If the front passenger airbag is turned off, the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes on in
the instrument cluster and stays on.
The front airbag on the passenger side may
not deploy (the P A SSENGER AIR B AG OFF
light does not illum inate and stay lit) even if a
small adult o r teenager, or a passenger who is
not sitting uprig ht with their back against a
non- re cli ned back rest w it h thei r feet on the
vehicle floor in front of the sea t is on t he front
passenger seat
~ page 113, Proper seating
position for the driver.
If the fron t passenger a irbag dep loy s, the
Federa l Standard req uires the airbag to meet
the "low risk" dep loyment criteria to reduce
the risk of injury thro ugh interact ion w it h the
airbag . "Low risk" dep loyment occ urs in those
crashes that take place at lower dece lerat ions
as defined in the electronic control unit
Q page 142, PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light .
Always remember, a child safety seat or infant
carr ier installed on the front seat may be
struck and knocked out of posit ion by the rap
idly inflat ing passenger's airbag in a frontal
collision . T he ai rbag could greatly reduce the
effectiveness of the ch ild restraint and even
seriously inj ure the child dur ing inflation. •
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-Never place additional items on the seat
that can increase the total weight regis
tered by the weight-sensing mat and can
cause injury in a crash.
Front airbags
Description of front airbags
The airbag system can provide supplemental
protection to properly restrained front seat
o ccupan ts.
F ig . 149 Location of driver airbag: in steering wheel
Fig. 150 Location of front passenger's airbag: in the in
st rument panel
Your veh icle is equipped w ith an "Advanced
Ai rbag System" in compliance with United
States Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (F MVSS) 208 as app licab le at the time your
ve hicle w as manufac tured. The safety be lts
for the seats have "pretensione rs" that help
to take slack out of the belt system . The pre
tensioners are a lso activated by the electronic
contro l unit for the airbag system.
The front safety belts a lso have load limiters
to help reduce the forces applied to the body
in a crash.
The airbag fo r the driver is in the s teer ing
wheel hub
~ fig. 149 and the airbag for the
A irba g sy stem 135
front passenger is in the instr ument panel
~ fig. 150 . The general location of the airbags
is marked "AIRBAG".
T he re is a lot you need to know about t he a ir
bags in your vehicle . We urge you to read the
detailed information about airbags, safety
belts and child safety in this and the other
chapters that make up the owner's literature.
Please be sure to heed the WARNINGS - they
are extremely important for your safety and
the safety o f your passengers, especially in
fants and small children .
.&_ WARNING
Neve r rely on airbags alone for p rotec tion.
- Even w hen they deploy, airbags provide
only suppleme nta l protect ion.
- Airbag work most effectively w hen used
with p roperly worn safety belts.
- Therefore, always wear your safety belts and make sure that eve rybody in your ve
hicle is p rope rly r est rained .
.&_ WARNING
A person on the front passenger seat, es
pe cially infants and sma ll children, w ill re
ceive ser io us i njuries and can even be kil
led by being too close to the airbag when it inflates .
- Altho ugh the Advan ced A irbag Sys tem in
your veh icle is designed to turn off the
fro nt passenge r airbag if a n infant or a
sma ll child is on the front passenger
seat , nobody can absolutely gua rantee
that deployment under these special conditions is impossible i n all conceiva
ble sit uat ions that may happen during
the useful life of your vehicl e.
- The Advanced Airbag System can dep loy
in acco rdance with the "low risk" option
un der the U.S . Fede ral S tanda rd if a child
that is heavie r th an the typical one-yea r
old child is on the front passenge r seat
a nd the ot her condit ions for a irbag de
ployment are met .
-
136 Airbag sys te m
- Accident statistics have shown that chi l
dren are generally safer in the rear seat
area than in the front seating posit ion.
- For their own safety, all children, espe
cially 12 years and younger, should al
ways ride in the back properly restrained
for their age and size.
Advanced front airbag system
Your veh icle is equipped with a front Advanced
A irbag System in compl iance with Un ited
States Federal Motor Vehicle Safety S tandard
208 as applicable a t the t ime yo ur vehicle was
manufactured .
The front Advanced Airbag System supple ments the safety belts to provide addit ional
protection fo r the driver's and front passeng
er 's heads and upper bodies in fronta l crashes.
The airbags inflate only in fronta l impacts
when the vehicle dece leration is high enough .
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 restraint system in your vehicle .
A lways remember that the airbag system can
only help to protect you, if you are s itting up
right, wear ing you r safety belt and wearing it
properly . This is why you and your passenge rs
must always be properly restra ined, not just
because the law requires you to be .
The Advanced Airbag System in your veh icle
has been certified to meet the " low r isk" re
qu irements for 3 and 6 year-o ld children on
the passenge r side and very small adu lts on
the dr iver side. The low ris k deploymen t crite
ria are intended to he lp red uce the risk of in
ju ry through interaction with the front airbag
that can occur, for example , by being too
close to the steering whee l and instrument
panel when the airbag inflates.
I n addition, the system has been certif ied to
comp ly w ith the "suppression" requi rements
of the Safety Standard, to turn
off the front
a irbag for infants 12 months old and yo unger
who are restra ined on the front passenger seat in child restrain
ts that are listed in the
Standard
¢ page 154, Child restraints and
Advanced Airbags.
"Suppress ion" requires the fron t airbag on the
passenger side to be turned
off if :
- a child up to about one year of age is re
s trained on the front p assenger sea t in one
of the rear -fac ing or fo rward -facing infan t
restraints listed in Federal Motor Vehicle
Safety Standard 208 with which the Ad
vanced Airbag System in your veh icle was
cert ified. For a listing of the child restraints
that were used to certify your vehicle's com
plia nce w ith the US Safety Standard
¢page 154,
-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
we ight of a ch ild that is about
1 year old re
stra ined in one of the rear-facing o r forward
facing infant restraints ( listed in Fede ral Mo
tor Vehicle Sa fety Standa rd 208 w it h which
t h e Advan ced Airbag Sys tem in yo ur vehicle
was certif ied), the front airbag on the passen
ger side may or may not deploy .
T he
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes on
when the electro nic contro l unit de tects a to
ta l we ight on the front passenger seat that re
quires the front airbag to be t urned
off . If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does not
come on, the front a irbag on the passenger
s ide has not been t urned
off by the contro l
unit and ca n dep loy if the control u nit senses
an impact that meets the cond itions stored in
its memory.
If the total weight on the front passenger
seat is more than that of a typical 1 year-old, but less than the we ight of a small adult, the
front a irbag on the passenger side may dep loy
(the
PAS SENG ER AIR BAG OFF light does not
come on) .
For example, the airbag may deploy if: ..,_
138 Airbag sys te m
the forward-facing child restraint. The
backrest must be adjusted to an upr ight
position.
- Make sure that the
PASSENG ER AIR BA G
OFF
light comes on and stays on all the
t ime whenever the ignition is switched
on.
Advanced Airbag System components
The front passenger seat in your vehicle has a
l ot of very important parts of the Advanced
A irbag System in it. These parts include the
weight-sens ing mat , sensors, w iring, brack
ets, and more. The function of the sys tem in
the front passenger seat is checked by the
e lectronic control unit when the ignition is on .
T he control unit mon itors the Advanced Air
bag System and turns the airbag indicator
light on when a malfunction in the system
components is detected . The function of the
a irbag ind icator light is described in greater
deta il be low . Because the front passenge r
seat conta ins important parts of the Ad
v a nce d Airbag System, you m ust ta ke care to
prevent it from be ing dam aged. Damage to
the seat may prevent the Advanced Airbag for
the front passenger seat from doing its job in
a crash .
The front Advanced Airbag System
consis ts o f the following :
-Crash sensors in the front of the veh icle that
measure veh icle acceleration/dece leration
to provide information to the Advanced Air
bag System about the severity of the crash .
- An electronic control unit, with integrated crash sensors for front and side impacts.
The contro l unit "decides" whether to fire
the front airbags based on the information
received from the crash senso rs. The co ntro l
u nit a lso "dec ides " whet he r the safety be lt
pre tensione rs should be a ctivated.
- An Advanced Airbag with gas generator and
control valve for the d river inside the s teer
i ng w hee l hub . -
An Advanced A irbag w ith gas generator and
cont ro l valve inside the instrument pane l for
the front passenger .
- A we ight -sensing mat under t he up ho lstery
padding of the front passenger seat cushion
that measures the total weight on the seat.
The informat io n registered is sent continu
ously to the electronic control unit to regu
late deployment of the front Advanced Air
bag on the passenger side .
- An airbag monitoring system and indicator
light in the instr ument cluster
q page 141.
- A sensor in each front seat registers the dis
tance betwee n the respective seat a nd the
s teer ing whee l o r i nstrument panel. The in
formation registered is sent cont inuous ly to
t he ele ct ro nic c ontro l uni t to regula te de
p loyment o f the front Adv anced A irbags .
- The
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes
on and stays on in the cen ter o f the instr u
ment panel
q page 142, fig. 152 and tells
you when the fron t Advanced Airbag on the
passenger side has been tu rned off .
- A senso r below the safety be lt latch for the
front seat passenger to meas ure t he tension
on t he safety be lt . T he tension on the safety
be lt and the weight registered by the
weight-sens ing mat he lp the control unit
"decide" whether the front airbag for the
front passenger seat should be turned off or no t
q page 132, Child restraints on the
front s eat -some important things to
k now.
- A senso r in the safety be lt latch fo r th e d riv
er and fo r the front seat passenger tha t
s enses w het he r th at safety bel t is latche d or
no t and transmi ts this information to t he
elect ronic con trol un it.
A_ WARNING
D amage to the front passenger seat can
prevent the front airbag from work ing
properly.
- Imp roper repai r or d isassembly of the
front passenge r and dr iver seat will pre
vent the Advanced Airbag System from
functioning properly .
-
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-Occ upants who are unbelted, out of posi
t ion or too close to the airbag can be
seriously injured by an airbag as it un
folds with great force in the blink of an
eye
¢ page 132.
A WARNING
-
A child in a rearward-facing child safety
seat insta lled on the front passenger seat
w ill be seriously injured and can be k illed if
the front a irbag in flates - even with an Ad
vanced Airbag System .
- The inflating a irbag w il l hit the child
sa fety sea t or infant carrier w ith g reat
f orce and w ill smash the ch ild safety seat
and child against the backrest , cente r
armrest, door or roof .
- Always install rear -facing child sa fety
seats on the rear seat .
- If you mus t install a rearward facing
child safety seat on the front passenger
seat because of exceptional circ umstan
ces and the
PASSENGER 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 a nd
have the a irbag system inspected by you r
authori zed Au di dealer .
A WARNING
Objects betwee n you and t he a irbag will
increase the risk of in jury in a crash by in
t erfering wi th the way the air bag un folds
or by being pushed into you as the a irbag
inflates.
- Never hold th ings in your hands or on
yo ur lap when the vehicle is in use.
- Never transport i tems on or in the area
of the front passenge r seat . Objects
cou ld move into the area of the front air
bags dur ing braking or other s udden ma
neuver and become dangerous projec
t il es that can cause serious personal in
jury if the airbags inflate .
- Never place or attach accessories or oth
er objects (such as cupholders, te le
phone brackets, large, heavy or b ulky ob -
-
Airbag system 141
jects) on the doors, ove r o r near the area
marked "AIRBAG" on the steering wheel,
instrument panel, seat backrests or be
tween those areas and yourself . These
objects could cause in ju ry in a c rash , es
pecia lly when the airbags infla te .
- Never recline the front passenger 's sea t
to transport objects. Items can a lso
move into the area of the s ide a irbag or
the front a irbag du ring bra king or in a
sudden maneuve r. O bje cts ne ar the air
bags can become projec tiles and cause
in jur y, partic ula rly when the seat is re
clined .
A WARNING
The fine dust create d when air bags deploy
can cause breathing prob lems for people
with a history of asthma or other breath ing cond itions .
- To reduce the risk of breath ing problems,
those with asthma or other respiratory conditions shou ld get fresh air r ight
away by getting o ut o f the veh icle or
open ing windows or doors.
- If you are in a collision in which airbags
deploy, was h your hands and face with
mild soap and wate r before ea ting.
- Be ca reful not to get the dust into your
eyes, o r into any c uts or sc ratches .
- If the resid ue should get into your eyes,
f lush them w ith wate r.
Monitoring the
Advanced Airbag
System
Airbag monitoring indicator light
T wo separate indicators monitor the function
of the Advanced Airbag System: the airbag
monitoring indicator light and the
PASSEN·
GER AIR BAG OFF
light.
T he Advanced A irbag System ( incl uding the
electron ic co ntro l unit , se nsor circu its and sys
tem wir ing) is mo nitore d continuously to
m ake su re that it i s fu nc tioni ng properly •
•