130 Safety belts
Safety belts
General notes
Always wear safety belts!
Wearing safety belts correctly saves lives!
This chapter explains why safety be lts are nec
essary, how they work and how to adjust and
wear them correctly .
.. Read a ll the information that fo llows and
heed all of the instructions and WARNINGS.
A WARNING
Not wearing safety belts or wearing them
improperly increases the risk of ser ious
personal in jury and death .
- Safety belts are the sing le most effective
means avai lab le to reduce the risk of se
r ious injury and dea th in a utomob ile acci
dents. For your protection and that of
yo ur passenge rs, always co rrectly wear
safety belts when the vehicle is moving.
- Pregnant women, injured, or physically
im paired perso ns m ust also use safety
belts. Lik e all veh icle occup ants, they are
more like ly to be ser iously injured if they
do not wea r safety be lts . The best way to
protect a fetus is to protect the mother -
throughout the entire pregnancy.
Number of seats
Your Audi has a total of four seating positions: two in the front and two in the rear. Each seat
ing position has a safety belt .
A WARNING
Not wearing safety belts or weari ng them
improp erly increases th e risk of ser ious
pe rsonal i njury and deat h.
- Never st rap more than one pe rson, in
cl uding small ch ild ren, into any belt.
It is
e speci ally dange rous to pla ce a safety
belt over a child s itting on yo ur lap.
- N ever le t mo re people ride in the ve hicl e
than there are s afe ty be lts avail able. -
Be s ure everyone riding in the vehicle is
properly restrained w ith a separate safe
ty belt or child restra int.
t Safety belt warning light
Your vehicle hos o warning system for the
driver and front seat passenger (on USA mod
els only) to remind you about the importance
of buckling-up .
Fi g. 14 8 Safety belt warni ng light in the instrument
cluster -en larged
Before driv ing off, alway s:
.. Fasten yo ur safety belt and make su re you
are wearing it properly .
.. Make s ure that your passengers also buck le
up and properly wear their safety be lts.
.. Protect childre n w ith a child restraint sys-
tem app ropriate for the s ize and age.
The warn ing light . in the instrument clus
ter lights up when the ign ition is on as a re
minder to fasten the safety be lts. In addition,
you w ill hear a warn ing tone for a ce rtai n pe ri
od of t ime.
Fasten you r safety belt and make sure that
your pass eng ers also properly put on the ir
s afety belt s.
A WARNING .....=-
-Safety b elts are the s ingle most eff ect ive
means avai lable to reduce t he ri sk of se
rio us inju ry and de ath in au tomobile a cci
dents. Fo r you r protection and that of
your passengers, a lways cor rectly wear
safety belts when t he vehicle is moving .
142 Airbag sys te m
If the front passenger airbag is turned off, the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes on in
the instrument cluster and stays on.
I f the front passenger airbag deploys, the
F ederal Standard requires the airbag to meet
the " low risk" deployment criteria to reduce
the r isk of injury through interaction with the
a irbag. "Low risk" deployment occurs in those
crashes that take place at lower decelerations
as defined in the electronic control un it
c::> page 152, PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light.
A lways remember, a chi ld seat or infant carri
er installed on the front seat may be struck
and knocked out of position by the rap idly in
flating passenger's a irbag in a frontal colli
sion . The airbag could greatly reduce the ef
fectiveness of the ch ild restraint and even se
rio usly inju re the child during inflat ion.
For this reason, and because the back seat is
the safest place for chi ldren - when properly
restra ined accord ing to their age and size - we
strongly recommend that children always sit in the back seat
c::> page 165, Child Safety.
_& WARNING
-
A child in a rearward -facing child seat in
stalled on the front passenger seat will be
seriously injured and can be killed if the
front airbag inflates - even with an Ad
vanced Airbag System.
- The inflating a irbag will hit the child seat
or infant carrier with great force and w ill
smash the ch ild seat and child against
the backrest, center armrest, door or roof.
- Always install rear-facing child seats on the rear seat.
- If you must install a rearward facing
child seat on the front passenge r seat
because of exceptiona l circumstances
and the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not come on and stay on, immedi
ately install the rear-f acing chi ld seat in a
rear seating position and have the ai rbag
system inspected by your Aud i dealer. -
Forwa rd- facing child seats installed on
the front passenger's seat may interfere
with the dep loyment of the a irbag and
cause serious persona l injury to the
child.
_& WARNING
-If, i n except ional circumstances, you must
i nsta ll a forward-facing child restraint on
the front passenge r's sea t:
- Always make sure the forward-facing
seat has been designe d and certified by
its manufacture r fo r u se on a fron t seat
with a passenger fron t and s ide a irbag.
- Never p ut the fo rward -facing child re
s tra int up against or very near the instru
men t panel.
- Always move the passenge r seat into it s
rearmost pos ition in the seat's fore and
aft ad justment range, as fa r away from
the airbag as possible before installing
the forward-facing ch ild restra int . The
backrest must be ad justed to an upright
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 .
_& WARNING
-To reduce the risk of serious injury, make
sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light w ill be displayed whenever a child re
straint is installed on the front passenger
seat and the ignition is sw itche d on .
- If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not s tay on, perform the checks de
scribed
c::> page 151, 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 seat positions i f the
PASSEN
GER AIR BAG OFF
light does not stay on.
- Have the airbag system inspected by
your Aud i dea le r i mmediately.
M N
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-Always make sure that there is nothing
on the front passenger seat that will
cause the capacitive passenger detection
system in the seat to s ignal to the A irbag
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 s itting on the
seat . The presence of additiona l objects
cou ld cause the passenger front airbag
to be t urned on when it sho uld be off, or
cou ld cause the airbag to work in a way
that is different from the way it wou ld
have worked without the object on the
seat .
- Make sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
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
Ai rbag System in it. These parts incl ude the
capacitive passenger detect ion system, wir
i n g, brackets, and more . The control unit
monitors the system o n the front passenger
seat when the ign ition is switched on and
turns the airbag indicator light on when a
malfunct ion in the one of the system compo
nents is detected ¢ page
152 . Because the
fro nt passenger seat contains important parts
of the Advanced Airbag System, you must
t ake care to p reven t it from being damaged.
D amage to the seat may preven t the Ad
vanced A irbag System for the front passenger
seat from doing its job in a crash .
The front Advanced Airbag System
consists of the following:
-Crash sensors in the front o f the veh icle that
measure vehicle acceleration/dece leration
to provide information to the Advanced Air
bag System about the severity of the crash .
- An electronic co ntrol unit, with integrated
crash sensors for front and side impacts .
The contro l unit "decides" whether to fire
A irbag system 147
the front a irbags based on the in format ion
received from the crash sensors. The contro l
unit also "decides" whether the safety be lt
pretens ioners sho uld be activated .
- An Advanced Airbag with gas generator and
contro l valve for the driver ins ide the steer
ing wheel hub.
- An Advanced Airbag with gas gene rator and
cont ro l valve inside the instrument pane l for
the front passenger.
- A capacitive passenger detection system un
derneath the front passenger seat cover.
This system measures the electrical capac i
tance of the person in the seat. The informa
tion registered is se nt cont inuously to the
el ectr onic contro l un it to regu late deploy
ment of the front Advan ced A irbag on the
passenger side .
- An airbag monitoring system and ind icator
light in the instr ument cluster ¢page
151 .
-A sensor in each front seat registers the dis
tance be twee n the respec tive seat a nd the
s teer ing whee l or inst rument p anel. The i n
forma tion regis tered is sent cont inuo usly to
the electronic cont ro l unit to regulate de
p loyment of the front Adv a need Airbags.
- The
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes
on and stays on in the center of the instr u
ment panel ¢ pag e
152, fig. 162 and tells
you when the front Advanced Airbag on the passenger side has been turned off.
- A sensor in the safety belt latch for the driv
er and for the front seat passenger that
senses whether that safe ty belt is latched or
not and transmits this information to the
electronic control un it .
.&_ WARNING
D amage to the front passe nger seat can
p revent the front air bag from wor king
properly.
- I mp roper repa ir or d isassembly of the
fro nt pa ssenge r and dr iver seat will pre
vent the Advanced Airbag System from
functioning p roperly.
- Repair s to t he front passenge r seat m ust
be pe rformed by qualified and p roperly
-
trained workshop person ne l. 111>
•
•
148 Airbag system
-Never remove the front passenger or
driver seat from the vehicle.
- 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 put them on the seat. The capacitive
passenger detection mat in the front
passenger seat will not function properly
if it is punctured .
- Never carry things on your lap or carry objects on the front passenger seat.
Such objects can influence the capaci
tance registered by the capacitive pas
senger detection system, so that incor
rect information is provided to the airbag
control unit.
- Never store items under the front pas
senger seat. Parts of the Advanced Air
bag System under the passenger seat
could be damaged, preventing them and
the airbag system from working proper
ly.
- Never place seat covers or replacement
upholstery that have not been specifical
ly approved by Audi on the front seats.
- Seat covers can prevent the Advanced Airbag System from recognizing child re
straints or occupants on the front pas
senger seat and prevent the side airbag
in the seat backrest from deploying prop
erly.
- If a seat heater has been retrofitted or
otherwise added to the front passenger
seat, never install any child restraint sys
tem on this seat .
- Never use cushions, pillows, blankets, or similar items on the front passenger
seat. The additional layers prevent the
capacitive passenger detection system
from accurately measuring the capaci
tance of the child safety seat and/or the
person on the seat and thus keep the Ad
vanced Airbag System from working properly.
- Never place or use any electrical device
(such as a laptop, CD player, electronic games device, power inverter or seat
heater for child seats) on the front pas
senger seat if the device is connected to
the 12-volt socket or the cigarette light
er socket . Such devices can influence the
capacitance registered by the capacitive passenger detection system, so that in
correct information is provided to the air
bag control unit.
- If you must use a child restraint on the
front passenger seat and the child re
straint manufacturer's instructions re
quire the use of a towel, foam cushion or
something else to properly position the
child restraint, make certain that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes
on and stays on whenever the child re
straint is installed on the front passen
ger seat.
- If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not come on and stay on, immedi
ately install child restraint in a rear seat
ing position and have the airbag system
inspected by your Audi dealer.
,8. WARNING
If the front passenger seat gets wet, dry it
immediately.
- If liquid soaks into the front passenger
seat, this can keep the airbag system
from working properly and may, for in
stance, deactivate the passenger frontal
airbag. If this happens, the
PASSENGER
AIR BAG OFF
light will come on and stay
on together with the airbag indicator light
fl in the instrument cluster .
- If liquid is pooled on the seat, but has
not soaked in, this may also keep the air
bag system from working properly and
cause the passenger frontal airbag to be
enabled (turned on), even though there is a properly installed child restraint sys
tem on the seat . Wet towels or other wet
things on the seat cushion can have the
same effect. If the front passenger fron
tal airbag is turned on, the
PASSENGER
AIR BAG OFF
light light will go out.
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caused by airbags when they inflate, particu
l arly when the occupant sitting next to it is
not seated properly. The s ide a irbag for the
front passenger seat can be used with proper ly installed chi ld restraints. Please be sure to
read the important information and warnings
whenever us ing a child restraint in a veh icle :
Safety belts
c::;, page 130, A irbag system
c::;, page 139, Child safety ~ page 165.
The side airbag system basically con sists of:
- the e lectronic control module and external
s ide impact sensors
- the two airbags located in the sides of the
front backrests and the two airbags* located
in the rear backrest
- the airbag warning light in the instrument
cluster.
The airbag system is monito red elect ron ica lly
to make certain that it is functioning properly
at all times. Each time you switch on the igni
tion, the airbag system indicator light will
come on for a few seconds (self diagnostics) .
T he side airbag system supplements the safe
ty belts and can help to reduce the risk of in
jury to the driver's, front and rear passenger's upper torso on t he side of the vehicle that is
struck in a side collision . The airbag deploys
only in s ide impac ts and on ly when the veh icle
acceleration registered by the control u nit is
hi gh enough . If this rate is below the refer
e nce va lue progr ammed i nto the con trol un it,
the side airbags will not be triggered, even
though the ca r may be badly damaged as a re
sult of the collision . It is not possible to de
f ine an a irbag trigger ing range that will cover
eve ry possible angle of impact, since the cir
cumstances will vary considerably between
one co llision and another . Important facto rs
in clude, for examp le, the natu re (hard o r soft)
of the impacting objec t, the ang le of impact ,
ve hicl e speed, etc. ~
page 1 60, Impor tan t
safety instructions on the side airbag sy stem.
Aside from the ir no rmal safety function, safe
ty belts wor k to he lp keep the d river or front
passenger in posi tion in the event of a side
Airbag system 159
collision so that the side airbags can provide
protection.
T he airbag system is
not a substi tute fo r your
s af ety belt . Ra ther, it is part o f the over all oc
cupant restra int system in you r vehicle . A l
ways remember that the side airbag system
can on ly help to protect yo u if you are wearing
your safety be lt and wearing it proper ly. This
is another reason why you should always wear
your safety be lts, not just because the law re
quires you to do so c::;,
page 130, General
notes.
It is important to remember that wh ile the
suppleme nta l side airbag system is desig ned
to r educe the likelihood of ser ious injuries,
othe r injur ies, for exampl e, swelling, bru is ing ,
friction bur ns and m ino r abrasions can a lso be
associ ated w ith dep loye d side airbags. Re
member too, si de a irbags w ill dep loy o nly
once an d only in ce rtain kinds of accidents -
yo ur safety be lts a re a lways there to offer p ro
tection .
Vehicle damage, repair costs o r even the lack
of ve hicle damage are not necessarily a n indi
cation of ove r-sensitive or failed airbag activa
tion. In some coll is ions, both front and side
a irbags may inflate. Remember too, that air
bags will deploy only once a nd only in certain
ki nds of col lisions - you r safety belts a re a l
ways t he re to offe r protection in those acc i
dents i n which a irbags are not supposed to
deploy or when they have a lready deployed .
The side airbag system will not deploy:
-when the ignit io n is switched off
- in side co llisions whe n the acceleration
meas ured by t he sensor is too low
- in front-end collisions
- in rear -end co llisions
- in rollove rs .
In some types of accidents the front airbags,
s ide cu rtain airbags and s ide a irbags may be
t rigge red together. .,,. •
•
M N
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,...., ..,., ,....,
@ Tips
Your vehicle may be equipped with Audi
connect. Your use of certain Aud i connect
features req uires wireless serv ices that are
provided by a third party wireless telecom
municat ions provider. For details regard
ing how information obtained through
Aud i connect is collected, processed,
transmitted, used, and shared, please see
your contra ct w ith the wire less telecom
municat ions provider and the "About A udi
connect" tab in your vehicle's MMI:
!MENU !
button > Audi connect > About Audi con·
nect .
Electronic Stabilization
Control (ESC)
Description
ESC helps to improve road holding and vehicle
dynamics to help reduce the probability of
skidd ing and loss of veh icle control. It works
only when the eng ine is running. ESC detects
certain difficult driv ing s ituations, including
when the vehicle is beginning to spin (yaw)
out of cont ro l and helps you to get the vehicle
back under control by select ively brak ing the
wheels, and/or red ucing engine powe r and
p roviding steering assistance to help hold the
ve hicle on the driver's intended course . The in
dicator light
m in the instrument cluster
blinks when ESC is taking action to help you
control the vehicle.
ESC has limitations.
It is important to remem
ber that ESC cannot overcome the laws of
phys ics. It will not a lways be able to help out
under all conditions you may come up against.
For example, ESC may not always be able to
h elp you master situat ions where there is a
sudden change in the coefficient of fr iction of
the road surface. When there is a sect io n of
d ry road that is s udden ly cove red with water,
slush o r snow, ESC canno t perform the same
way it would on the dry su rface.
If the vehicle
hydroplanes (rides on a c ush ion of wate r in
stead of the road surface), ESC wi ll not be
ab le to he lp you steer the veh icle because con-
Int ellig ent technolog y 187
tact with the pavement has been interrupted
and the vehicle cannot be braked or steered .
D uring fast corner ing, particular ly on wind ing
roads, ESC cannot always deal as effectively
with difficult dr iv ing s ituations than at lower
speeds.
A lways adjust your speed and driving style to
road, traffic and weather condit ions. ESC can
not override the vehicle's physical lim its, in
crease the availab le tract ion, or keep a veh icle
o n the road if road departu re is a result of
drive r inattent io n. Instead, ESC imp roves the
poss ibility of keep ing the vehicle unde r con
trol and on the road dur ing extreme maneu
vers by using the driver's steering inp uts to
help keep the vehicle going in the intended di
rection . If you are traveling at a speed that
causes you to run off the road before ESC can
provide any assistance, you may not experi
ence the benefits of ESC.
ESC is switc hed on all the time . In certain sit
uat ions when you need less traction, yo u can
switch off ASR by pressing the button
[&I
c::> page 189, fig. 180. Be sure to switch ASR
o n again when you no longer need less t rac
t ion.
The following systems are integrated in the
ESC:
Anti-lock bra king sy stem (ABS )
ABS prevents the whee ls from locking up
whe n brak ing. The vehicle can sti ll be stee red
even dur ing hard braking. App ly steady pres
s u re to the brake pedal. Do not pump the ped
al. A pulsing in the brake pedal indicates that
the system is helping you to brake the vehicle.
Brake as sist sy stem
The brake assist system can decrease braking
distance. It increases brak ing power when the
driver presses the brake peda l quickly in emer
gency s ituations. You must press and hold the
brake pedal until the situation is over. In
vehicles with adapt ive c ruise control*, the
brake assist system is more sensitive if the
distance detected to the vehicle ahead is too
small.
•
•
214 Check ing and filling
Using the proper engine o il is important for
the functionality and service life of the en
g ine . Your engine was factory-filled with a
hi gh-quality oil which can usua lly be used
throughout the enti re year.
0 Note
Y our Limited New Vehicle Warranty does
not cover damage or ma lf u nctions due to
fa ilure to follow recommended mainte
nance and use requ irements as set forth in
the Audi Owner's Manual and Warranty
&
Ma intenance boo klet.
- Use only a high quality eng ine oi l that ex
pressly complies w ith the Audi o il quality
sta ndard spec ified for your veh icle's en
gine . U sing any other oil can cause seri
ous eng ine damage.
- Do not mix any l ubr ica nts o r othe r addi
tives into the eng ine o il. Doing so c an
ca use eng ine dam age.
I f you need to add oi l and there is no ne
availab le tha t mee ts the Audi o il qua lity
s tandar d your engine requires, yo u may
ad d a tota l of no more than 0 .5 quart/liter
of a high-quality "synthetic"oil that meets
the following specifications.
- ACEA A3 or API S M with a viscosity grade
of SAE 0W-30, SAE SW-30 or
SAE SW -40.
- Fo r more information abo ut engine oi l
that has been app roved for your vehicle,
please contact either your a uthori zed
Audi dealer or Audi Customer Relations
at 1 (800) 822 -2834 or visit our web site
at www.audiusa .com or
www .aud icanada .ca .
Engine oil consumption
The engine in your vehicle depends on an ade
quate amount of oil to lubricate and cool all
of its moving parts.
In order to provide effective lubrication and
cooling of i nternal engine components, a ll in
ternal comb ustion eng ines consume a certa in amount of oil. Oil consumpt
ion varies from
engine to engine and may change significant ly
over the life of the engine . Typically, engines
with a spec ified break-in period (see
<=> page 196) consume more oil during the
break -in pe riod than they consume after o il
co nsump tion has stabilized.
Under normal cond itions, the rate of oil con
sumption depends on the q ua lity and viscos ity
of the oil, the RPM (revolut ions per minute) at
wh ich the engine is operated, t he ambie nt
temperature and road conditions . Fur ther fac
tors a re the amount of oil dilut ion from wa ter
condensation or f ue l resid ue and the oxid a
t ion level of the o il. As any engine is subjec t to
wear as m ileage builds up, t he oil consump
tion may increase over time until replacement of wo rn components may become necessary.
W it h a ll these variab les coming into play, no
standard rate of oil consumption can be es
tablished or specified. There is no alte rnative
to regu lar and frequent check ing of the o il lev
el, see
Note .
If
the yellow engine oil level warning symbo l
in the instrument cluster
I!!! lights up, you
shou ld check the oil leve l as soon as possib le
<=> page 215. Top off the oil at your earliest
convenience
<=> page 215.
A WARNING
-Before you chec k anythi ng in the engine
com partment, always read a nd heed all
WAR NIN GS¢
& in Working in th e engine
compar tment on page 211.
{(D Note
Driving w it h an insufficient o il level is like
ly to cause severe damage to the engine .
(D Tips
- The oil pressure warn ing display. is
not an indicator of the oil level. Do not
rely on it . Instead, check the oil lev el in
your engine at regular intervals , pref
erably each time you refuel, and alway s
before going on a long trip. .,.
"' N
a:: I.J "". rl I.O
"' rl
"' rl
-If you have the impression your engine
consumes excessive amounts of oi l, we
recommend that yo u consult your Audi
dealer to have the cause of your concern
properly diagnosed. Keep in mind that
the accurate measurement of oil con
sumption requires great care and may
take some time . Your Audi dealer has in
str uctions abou t how to measure oil con
sump tion accurately.
Checking the engine oil level
F ig. 189 Di splay : oil lev el indicato r
.,. Park your vehicle on a level surface .
.,. Shut the engine off when it is warm.
.,. Switch only the ignition back on .
.,. Wa it approximately two minutes .
.,. Se lect :
I C ARI funct ion button > ( Car )* sys
tems
con trol button > Ser vici ng & ch ecks >
Oil level.
.,. Check the oil leve l in the display ¢ fig. 189.
Add engine oil if the bar of the oil level indi
cator is near "min"
r:!;> page 215.
Depending on t he way the veh icle is driven
and the operating conditions, oil consumption
can be up to 1 qua rt per 600 mi les (0 .8 liter
per 1,000 km) . Consumption may be higher
within the firs t 3,000 miles (5,000 km) .
@ Tips
The oil level indicator in the MMI Display is
only an in formation disp lay.
If the oil leve l
is low, a minimum o il warning appears in
the instrument cluster. Add oi l
¢page 215. If the hood has been opened,
the c urre nt oil level is shown in the instru- Checkin
g and fillin g 215
ment cluster the next t ime the igni tion is
switched on .
Adding engine oil~
Fig. 19 0 En gin e co mpa rtm ent: cov er on th e engi ne oi l
filler neck
Before you check anyth ing in the engine com
partmen t,
always read and heed all WARN
INGS¢ A in Working in the engine compart
ment on page 211 .
.,. Shut the eng ine off .
.,. Unscrew the cap
¢ fig . 190, ¢page 213, fig.188 .
.,. Carefully top off with 0.5 quarts (0.5 liters)
of the appropr iate oil¢
page 213 .
.,. Check the oi l level again after two mi nutes
¢ page 215, Che cking the engine oil level .
.,. Top off the o il aga in, if necess ary .
.,. Screw the cap back on the fi lling hole.
A WARNING
- Wh ile topping off, the o il m ust not come
in contact with hot engine parts - f ire
hazard!
- The oi l filler cap must be properly se
cured to prevent oil from being sprayed
o n the hot engine and exhaust system
when the engine is runni ng -fire hazard!
- If your s kin has come in contact with the
e ngine o il, you must subsequently
cleanse it thoroughly .
(D Note
-Check the oil level using the MMI. If the
message
Please reduce oil level appears,
contact you r aut hori zed Aud i dea ler or
Ill>-