13 2 Safety belts
occupant will slam violently into the steering
wheel, instrument panel, windshield, or what
ever else is in the way
c::> fig. 151. This impact
with the vehicle interior has all the energy
t hey had just before the crash.
Never rely on a irbags alone for protection.
Even when they deploy, airbags provide only
additional protection. Airbags are not sup
posed to deploy in all kinds of accidents. Al
though your Audi is equipped with airbags, all
vehicle occupants, including the driver , must
wear safety belts correctly in order to mini
mize the risk of severe injury or death in a
crash.
Remember too, that airbags will deploy only
once and that your safety belts are always
there to offer protection in those accidents in
which airbags are not supposed to deploy or
when they have already deployed . Unbelted
occupants can also be thrown out of the vehi
cle where even more severe or fatal injuries
can occur.
It is also important for the rear passengers to
wear safety belts correctly. Unbelted passen
gers in the rear seats endanger not only them
selves but also the driver and othe r passen
gers
~ fig. 152. In a frontal collision they will
be thrown forward violently, where they can
hit and injure the driver and/or front seat pas
senger .
Safety belts protect
People think it's possible to use the hands to
brace the body in a minor collision . It's simply
not true !
Fig. 153 Driver is co rr ect ly re strain ed in a sudd en brak
ing maneuve r
Safety belts used properly can make a big dif
ference. Safety belts help to keep passengers
in their seats, gradually reduce energy levels
applied to the body in an accident, and help
prevent the uncontrolled movement tha t can
cause serious injuries . In addition, safety belts
reduce the danger of being thrown out of the
vehicle .
Safety belts attach passengers to the car and
give them the benefit of being slowed down
more gently or "softly" through the "give" in
the safety belts, crush zones and other safety
features engineered into today's vehicles. By
"absorbing " the kinetic energy over a longer
period of ti me, the safety belts make the
forces on the body more "tolerable" and less
likely to cause injury.
Although these examples are based on a fron
tal collision, safety belts can also substantial
ly reduce the r isk of injury in other kinds of
crashes. So, whether you're on a long trip or
just going to the corner store, always buckle up and make sure others do, too. Accident sta
tistics show that vehicle occupants properly
wearing safety belts have a lower risk of being
injured and a much better chance of surviving
an accident. Properly using safety belts also
greatly increases the ability of the supplemen
tal airbags to do their job in a collision . For
this reason, wearing a safety belt is legally re
quired in most countries including much of
the United States and Canada.
Although your Audi is equipped with airbags,
you still have to wear the safety belts provid
ed. Front airbags , for example, are activated
only in some frontal collisions. The front air
bags are not activated in all frontal collisions,
in side and rear collisions, in roll overs or in
cases where there is no t enough decelera tion
through impact to the front of the vehicle .
The same goes for the other airbag systems in
your Audi . So, always wear your safety belt
and make sure everybody in your vehicle is
properly restrained!
136 Safety belts
Adjusting safety belt height
With the aid of the safety belt height adjust
ment, the three point safety belt strap rout
ing can be fitted to the shoulder area, accord
ing to body size .
Fig. 158 Safety belt height a dju stment for th e front
seats -loop -a rou nd fittin gs
The shoulder belt should lie as close to the
center of the collar bone as possible and
should fit well on the body¢.&.
in Safety belt
position on page 135 .
• Push
the loop -around fittings up ¢ fig. 158
@, or
• squeeze together the© button, and push
the loop-around fittings down @.
• Pull the belt to make sure that the upper at
tachment is properly engaged.
,&. WARNING
Always read and heed all WARNINGS and
other important information
¢page 133.
@ Tips
With the front seats, the height adjust
ment of the seat can also be used to adjust
the position of the safety belts.
Improperly worn safety belts
Incorrectly positioned safety belts can cause severe injuries.
Wearing safety belts improperly can cause se
rious injury or death. Safety belts can only
work when they are correctly positioned on
the body. Improper seating positions reduce the effectiveness of safety belts and will even increase the risk of injury and death by mov- ing the safety be
lt to critical areas of the
body. Improper seating positions also in
crease the risk of serious injury and death
when an airbag deploys and strikes an occu
pant who is not in the correct seating posi
tion . A driver is responsible for the safety of
all veh icle occupants and especially for chil
dren . Therefore:
• Never permit anyone to assume an incorrect
sitting position in the vehicle while traveling
¢,&. .
,&. WARNING
Improperly worn safety belts increase the
risk of serious personal injury and death
whenever a vehicle is being used.
- Always make sure that all vehicle occu
pants are correctly restrained and stay in
a correct seating position whenever the
vehicle is being used.
-Always read and heed all WARNINGS and
other important information
¢ page 133.
Safety belt preten
sioners
· How safety belt pretensioners work
In front, side and rear-end collisions above a
particular severity and in a rollover, safety belts are tensioned automatically .
Reversible safety belt tensioners
The safety belts on the front seats are equip
ped with power reversible tensioners . The fol
lowing functions are available when the driv
er's/front passenger's safety belts are fas
tened :
- Automatic tensioners : at the start of a drive,
the safety belts automatically adjust to the passenger after a certain time period or ve
hicle speed. To switch the automatic ten
sioners off, select the following in the MMI: .,.
M N
0:: <.J 'SI: .-I \!) ..,.,
.-I ..,., .-I
I CARI funct ion button > (Car)* system s > Ve
hicle sett ings
> Seats > Driver 's seat or Pas
s enger 's seat
> Automatic belt ten sione r >
Off.
-In certain driving situations, the safety belts
may t ighten with a reversib le tensioning
function
c:> page 184.
- The safety belts may also tighten with this
revers ible tensioning f unction in minor colli
s ions.
Pyrotechnic safety b elt preten sioner s
The safety be lts are equipped with safety belt
pretensioners. The system is activated by sen
sors in front, side and rear-end collisions of
great severity and in a rollover. Th is tightens
the belt and takes up be lt slack
c:> &. in Service
and disposal of safety belt pre tensioner on
page 137 .
Taking up the slack helps to reduce
forward occupant movement during a co lli
sion.
_& WARNING
- It is possib le for the pre tensioners to de
ploy incorrect ly.
- T he pyrotechnic sys tem c an only provide
pro tection for one co llision.
If t he pyro
technic p retensioners dep loy, t he p reten
sioning system must be replaced .
@ Tips
The pyro te c hni c safety belt pretens ioners
can only deploy once.
- The safety belt pretensione rs do not de
ploy in mi no r frontal and side col lisions,
i n rear-end collisions, in rollove rs and in
collisions invo lving very little impact
fo rce.
- A f ine dust is released whe n the pyro
technic safety belt pretensioners deploy.
This is normal and is not ca used by a fire
i n the veh icle.
- The relevant safety requirements must
be observed when the vehicle or compo
nents of the system are scrapped. A
qualified dea lership is familiar with
these reg ulations and w ill be pleased to
pass on the informat io n to you .
Safety belts 13 7
- Be sure to observe all safety, env iron
menta l and other regu lations if the veh i
cle or ind ividual parts of the system, par
t icu larly the safety belt or airbag, are to
be disposed. We recommend you have
your authorized Audi dealer perform this service fo r you .
Service and disposal of safety belt
pretensioner
The safety belt pretens ione rs are parts o f the
safety belts on your Audi . Insta lling, remov
ing, servicing or repairing of be lt pretension
ers can damage the safety belt system and
prevent it from working correctly in a co lli
s io n.
There are some important t hings you have to
know to make sure that the effectiveness of
the system w ill not be impaired and that dis
carded components do not cause injury or pol
lute the environment .
_& WARNING
Impro per care, serv ic ing and repair p roce
d ur es can i ncrease the risk of pe rsonal in
ju ry and death by preventing a safety belt
p retensioner from activ ating w hen neede d
or activa ting i t unexpectedly :
- T he bel t pretensione r system can be a cti
v ated only once. If be lt pre tensioners
have been activated, t he system m ust be
re placed .
- Never repair, adjus t, or change any pa rts
of the safety be lt system .
- Safety belt systems incl uding safety belt
pretens ioners cannot be repaired. Spe
cial procedures are require d for removal,
installation and d isposa l of th is system.
- For any wo rk on the safety be lt system,
we strongly recommend t hat you see
your author ized Audi dealer or qualif ied
technician who has an Audi approved re
pa ir manua l, trai ning and spec ial eq uip
men t necessa ry . •
•
140 Airbag sys tem
Since the cir cumstances will vary considerab ly
between one collision and anot her, it is not
possib le to def ine a range of vehicle speeds
that will cover every possible k ind and angle
of impact t hat will always trigger the a irbags.
Important factors include, for example, the
nature (hard or soft) of the object which the
car h its, the ang le of impact, vehicle speed,
etc. The front airbags will also not inflate in
side or rea r collisions, or in ro ll-overs .
Always remember : Airbags will deploy only
once, and only in certa in k inds of co llisions.
Your safety belts are always there to offer pro
tection in those s ituations in which airbags
a re not supposed to deploy, or when they have
a lready deployed; for example, when your ve
hicle strikes or is struck by another vehicle af
ter the first co llision.
This is jus t one of the reasons why an a irbag is
a supplementary restra int and is not a substi
tute fo r a safety belt . The airbag system
works most effect ively when used with the
safety belts. Therefore, always properly wear
your safety belts¢
page 130.
A WARNING
Sitting too close to the steer ing whee l or
instrument panel will dec rease the effec
t iveness of the airbags and will increase
the risk of personal injury in a collision .
- Never sit closer than 10 inches (2S cm)
to the stee ring wheel or instrument pan
el.
- If you cannot sit more than 10 inches
( 2 5 cm) from the s teer ing whee l, investi
gate whethe r adap tive equipmen t may
be available to help you reach the pedals
and increase your seating distance from
the steering wheel.
- If you are unrestrained, lean ing fo rward,
sitting sideways or out of position in any
way, your risk of in jury is much higher.
- You will also receive serio us injuries and
cou ld even be killed if you are up against
the airbag or too close to it when it in
flates - even with an Advanced Airbag. -
To reduce the risk of injury when an a ir
bag inflates, always wear safety be lts
properly ¢
page 133, Safety belts.
-Always make certain that ch ildren age 12
or younger always ride in the rear seat. If
children are not properly restrained, they
may be severe ly injured or killed when an
ai rbag inflates.
- Never let children ride unrestrained or
improperly restrained in the vehicle. Ad
just the front seats prope rly .
- Never ride with the back rest reclined.
- Always sit as far as possible from the
steer ing whee l or the instrument pane l
¢page 121.
-Always sit upright with your back against
the backrest of your seat .
- Never p lace your feet on the instrument
panel or on the seat. Always keep both
feet on the floor in front of the seat to
help prevent serio us in ju ries to the legs
and h ips if the airbag inflates.
- Never recline the front passenger 's seat
to transport objects , Items can a lso
move into the a rea of the s ide airbag or
the front a irbag du ring bra king or in a
sudden maneuve r. Objects nea r the air
bags can become projectiles and cause
in jur y when an airbag inflates.
A WARNING ~
Airbags that have deployed in a crash must
be replaced.
- Use on ly orig ina l equipment airbags ap
proved by Aud i and installed by a trained
technician who has the necessary too ls
and d iagnost ic equipment to properly re
p lace any airbag in your vehicle and as
sure system effectiveness in a crash .
- Never permit salvaged or recycled air
bags to be installed in your vehicle.
M N
0:: <.J 'SI: ,...., \!) 1.1'1 ,...., 1.1'1 ,....,
Child restraints on the front seat - some
important things to know
.. Be sure to read the important informat ion
and heed the WARNINGS for important de
tai ls about chi ldren and Advanced Airbags
~ page 165.
Even though your vehicle is equipped with an
Advanced Airbag System, make certain that
a ll chi ldren, especially those 12 years and
younger, a lways ride in the back seat properly
restra ined for their age and si ze. 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 fo r a
chi ld in a fo rward-facing chi ld seat. It can be a
very dange ro us p lace for an infant or a ch ild in
a rearward -facing seat.
The Advanced Airbag System i n your veh icle
h as been cert ified to comp ly with the require
men ts of Uni ted States Federa l Mo to 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 turne d off ("sup
p ressed") if a chi ld up to about one year of
age restrained in one of the rear -facing or for
ward -facing infant restraints listed i n Federal
Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208 with wh ich
the Advanced Airbag System in your vehicle
was certified has been installed o n the front
passenger seat . For a listing of the child re
straints that we re used to certify compliance
with the US Safety Sta ndard
~ page 167.
The PASS ENGER 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 u nit.
Each t ime you sw itch on the ignit ion, the
PAS
SENGER AIR BAG OFF
l ight w ill come on for a
few seconds a nd:
- will stay on if the front passenger seat is not
occup ied ,
- will stay on if the electrical capacitance
measured by the capacitive passenger de
tection system for the front passenge r seat
A irbag sys tem 141
equa ls the combined capacitance of an in
fant up to about one year of age and one of the rearwa rd-facing o r forward-fac ing ch ild
restraints listed in Federal Motor Vehicle
Safety Standard 208 with which the Ad
vanced Airbag System in your ve hicle was
cert ified . Fo r a listing of the child restraints
that were used to certify your vehicle's com p lia nce w ith the U.S. Safety Standard
~ page 167.
-w ill stay on if t he re is a small ch ild or child
restrai nt on the front passenge r seat,
- w ill go off if the front passenger seat is oc
cupied by an adult as registered by the ca
pacitive passenger det ection sys tem
~ page 151, Monitoring the Advanced Air
bag System.
T he PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF lig ht comes on
when e lec tric al capacitan ce registe red on the
fron t passenger seat is eq ua l to or less than
the combined capacitance of a typical 1 year
o ld infant and one of the rearward-facing or
f orward -facing chi ld restraints listed in Feder
al Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208 with
which the Advanced Airbag System in your ve
hicle was certified .
If the total e lectr ica l capacitance registered
on the front passenger seat is more than that
of a typical 1 year-o ld child but less than the
weight of a small adu lt, the front airbag on
the passenger side can deploy (the
PASSEN
GER AIR BAG OFF
light does not come on) .
If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does
not come on, the front airbag on the passen
ger side has not been turned off by the e lec
tron ic cont ro l unit and ca n deploy if the con
t rol unit senses an impact tha t mee ts the co n
di tions s to red in its memo ry.
For example, th e airbag may deploy if:
- a small ch ild that is heav ier than a typical 1
year-old chi ld is o n the front passenger seat
(regard less of whether the child is in one of
the ch ild seats listed
~ page 167), or
- a child who has outgrown child restraints is
on the front passenge r seat.
IIJ,
•
•
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.
"' N
a:: I.J "". rl I.O
"' rl
"' rl
-Always carefully follow instructions from
child restraint manufacturers when in
stalling child restraints.
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 their effectiveness or even
prevent them from providing any protec
tion.
- An improperly installed child restraint
can interfere with the airbag as it de
ploys and seriously injure or even kill the
child - even with an Advanced Airbag
System.
- Always carefully follow the manufactur
er's instructions provided with the child
seat or carrier .
- Always make sure that there is nothing
on the front passenger seat that will
cause the capacitive passenger detection
system in the seat to signal to the Airbag
System that the seat is occupied by a person when it is not, or to signal that it
is occupied by someone who is heavier
than the person actually sitting on the
seat . The presence of additional objects
could cause the passenger front airbag
to be turned on when it should be off, or
could cause the airbag to work in a way
that is different from the way it would
have worked without the object on the
seat .
Airbag system 143
Front airbags
Description of front airbags
The airbag system can provide supplemen tal
protection to properly restrained front seat occupants.
Fig. 159 Locat io n of drive r airbag : in steering wheel
Fig. 160 Locat ion of fron t pa ssenger' s airbag: in the in·
st rument panel
Your vehicle is equipped with an "Advanced
Airbag System" in compliance with United
States Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard
(FMVSS) 208 as applicable at the time your
vehicle was manufactured. The safety belts
for the seats have "pretens ioners " that help
to take slack out of the belt system. The pre
tensioners are also activated by the electronic
control unit for the airbag system.
The front safety belts also have load limiters
to help reduce the forces applied to the body
in a crash.
The airbag for the driver is in the steering
wheel hub~
fig. 159 and the airbag for the
front passenger is in the instrument panel
¢ fig. 160. The general location of the airbags
is marked "AIRBAG".
There is a lot you need to know about the a ir
bags in your vehicle. We urge you to read the .,..
M N
0:: <.J 'SI: ,...., \!) ..,.,
,...., ..,., ,....,
U.S. Federal Standard if a child with elec
trical capac itance greater than the com
bined capacitance of a typical one-year
old infant restra ined in one of the for
ward fac ing or rearward-fac ing ch ild
seats w ith which your vehicle was certi
fied is on the front passenger seat and
the other conditions for airbag deploy ment are met.
- Acc ident statist ics have shown that chil
dren are generally safer in the rea r seat
area than in the front seating posit ion .
- For their own safety, all children, espe
c ially 12 years and younger, sho uld al
ways ride in the back p roperly rest rained
for their age an d size .
Advanced front airbag system
Your veh icle is equipped w ith a front Advanced
Airbag System in comp liance with Un ited
States Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208 as applicable at the time your vehicle was
manufactured.
The front Advanced Airbag System supple ments the safety belts to provide add it iona l
protection for the driver's and front passeng
e r's heads and upper bodies in frontal crashes.
The airbags inflate only in frontal impacts
when the vehicle dece le rat io n is high enough.
The front Advanced A irbag System for the
fro nt seat occupants is not a substitute for
your safety belts . Rather, it is part of the over
all occupant rest raint system in your ve hicle.
A lways remember that the airbag system can
only help to pro tect you, if you are s itting up
righ t, wearing yo ur sa fety belt and wearing it
properly. This is why you and yo ur passengers
must always be properly restrained, not just
because the law requires you to be.
The Advanced Airbag System in your veh icle
h as been certified to meet the " low r isk" re
q uir ements for 3 and 6 year-o ld children on
the passenger s ide and very small adu lts on
the dr iver side. The low risk deployment crite
ria are intended to he lp reduce the risk of i n
j ury through interaction with the front airbag
A irbag system 145
that can occur, for examp le, by being too
close to the steering wheel and instr ument
panel when the airbag inflates .
In add ition, the system has been cert ified to
comply with the "s uppression" requirements
of the Safety Standard, to turn off the front
airbag for in fants 12 months o ld and younger
who are rest rained on the front passenger
seat in child restraints that are listed in the
Standa rd
c> page 167, Child restraints and
Advanced front airbag system .
"Suppression" requires the front a irbag on the
passenger side to be turned off if:
- a child up to abo ut one year of age is re
strained on the front passenger seat in one
of the rear-fac ing or forward -facing infant
restraints listed in Federal Motor Vehicle
Safety Standard 208 with which the Ad
vanced Airbag System in your ve hicle was
cert ified . Fo r a listing of the chi ld restraints
that were used to certify you r vehicle's com
p lia nce w it h t he US Safe ty Stand ard
c>page 167,
-When a pe rson is detec ted o n the front pas
senge r seat that has an e lec trica l capa ci
tance t hat is more than the tota l elect rical
capacitance of a child that is about 1 year
old restrained in one of the rear-facing or
forward-facing infant restraints (listed in Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208
w ith which the Advanced A irbag System in
your vehicle was certified), the front airbag
on t he passenger side may or may not de
ploy.
The
PASSENG ER AIR BAG OFF light comes on
when the electron ic cont ro l unit de tects a to
ta l elect rical capac itance on the front passen
ger seat that requi res the front a irbag to be
turned off. If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
li gh t does no t come on, the front airbag on
the passenger side has not been turned off by
the contro l unit and can deploy if the control
u nit senses an impact that meets the condi
tions stored in its memory.
If the total e lectr ica l capacitance registered
on the front passenger seat is more than that
ll>
•
•