2015 AUDI S3 SEDAN Owners Manual

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_& WARNING
Not wearing safety belts or wearing them im­
properly increases the risk of serious personal
injury and death. Safety belts can work only
when used correctly .
- Always fasten your safety belts correctly be­
fore driving off and make sure al l passen­
gers are correctly restrained.
- For maximum protection, safety belts must
always be pos itioned properly on the body.
- Never strap more than one person, includ­
ing small ch ildren, into any belt.
- Never place a safety belt over a child sitting
on your lap.
- Always keep feet in the footwell in front of
the seat while the vehicle is being driven.
- Never let any person ride with their feet on
the instrument panel or sticking out the
window or on the seat.
- Never remove a safety belt while the vehicle
is moving . Doing so will increase your risk of
being injured or killed.
- Never wear belts twisted.
- Never wear belts over rigid or breakable ob-
jects in or on your clothing, such as eye
glasses, pens, keys, etc., as these may cause
injury.
- Never allow safety belts to become dam­
aged by being caught in door or seat hard­
ware.
- Do not wear the shoulder part of the belt
under your arm or otherwise out of position.
- Several layers of heavy clothing may inter­
fere with correct positioning of belts and re­ duce the overall effectiveness of the system.
- Always keep belt buckles free of anything
that may prevent the buckle from latching
securely.
- Never use comfort clips or devices that cre­
ate slack in the shoulder be lt. However, spe­
cial clips may be required for the proper use
of some child restraint systems.
- Torn or frayed safety belts can tear, and
damaged belt hardware can break in an acc i­
dent. Inspect belts regularly. If webb ing,
bind ings, buckles, or retracto rs are dam-
Safety belts
aged, have belts replaced by an authorized
Audi dealer or qualified workshop.
- Safety belts that have been worn and loaded
in an accident must be replaced with the
correct replacement safety belt by an au­
thorized Audi dealer. Replacement may be
necessary even if damage cannot be clearly
seen. Anchorages that were loaded must al­
so be inspected.
- Never remove, modify, d isassemble, o r try
to repair the safety belts yourself.
-Always keep the belts clean. Dirty belts may not work properly and can impair the func­
tion of the inertia reel~
table Internal
cleaning on page 237.
Safety belts
Fastening safety belts
Safety first -everybody buckle up!
Fig. 122 Belt buck le and tongue on the d rive r's seat
To provide maximum protection, safety belts
must always be positioned correctly on the wear­
er's body.
.. Adjust the front seat and head restraint proper­
ly ¢
page 54, Front seats.
.. Make sure the seatback of the rear seat bench is
in an upright position and securely latched in
place before using the belt¢.&, .
.. Ho ld the belt by the tongue and pull it even ly
across the chest and pelvis ¢.&_ .
.. Insert the tongue into the correct buckle of
your seat until you hear it latch securely
¢ fig. 122 .
.. Pull on the belt to make sure that it is securely
latched in the buckle.
Ill>
143

Safety belts
Autom atic safet y belt retractors
Every safety belt is eq uipped w ith an automatic
be lt retractor on the shou lder belt. This feature
locks the belt when the be lt is pulled o ut fast,
during hard brak ing and in an accident . The belt
may also lock when you drive up or down a steep
hill or through a sharp curve. During normal driv­
ing the belt lets you move freely.
S afety belt p rete n sioner s
The safety be lts are equipped with a belt preten­
sioner that helps to t ighten the safety belt and
remove s lack when the pretensioner is activated
¢ page 146. The funct ion of the pretensioner is
mon itored by a warning light
<=:>page 20.
Converti ble lock ing r etra ctor
Every safety belt except the one on the driver
seat is equipped w ith a convertib le locking retrac­
tor that
must be used when the safety belt is
used to attach a child seat. Be sure to read the
important information about this feature
¢page 182 .
.&_ WARNING
Improperly positioned safety belts can cause
serious injury in an accident¢
page 144,
Safety belt posi tion.
- Safety belts offer optimum protection only
when the seatback is upright and belts are
properly positioned on the body.
- Always make sure that the rea r seat back­
rest to which t he center rear safety belt* is
attached is securely latched whenever the
rear center safety be lt is being used .
If the
backrest is not securely latched, the passen ­
ger wi ll move forward with the backrest dur­
ing sudden braking, in a sudden maneuver
and especially in a crash.
- Never attach the safety belt to the buck le
for another seat. Attaching the belt to the
wrong buckle will reduce safety be lt effec­
t iveness and can cause serious persona l in­
jury.
- A passenger who is not properly restrained can be se riously in jured by the safety belt it­
self when it moves from the stronger parts
144
of the body into critical areas like the abdo­
men.
- Always lock the convertible locking retractor
when you are secur ing a child seat in the ve­
hicle
¢page 184.
(D Tips
For information on safety belt pretensioners,
refer to
¢page 146.
Safety belt position
Correct belt position is the key to getting maxi­
mum protection from safety belts .
Fig. 123 Safety belt posit ion
Use the height adjustment to change the posit ion
of the shoulder belt of the front safety belts.
.&_ WARNING
I mp roperly posit ioned safety be lts can cause
serio us pe rsonal injury in an accident.
- The shou lder belt should lie as close to the
center of the collar bone as possib le and
should fi t well on the body. Ho ld the bel t
above the latch to ng ue and pull it evenly
across the chest so that it sits as low as pos ­
sible on the pe lvis and there is no pressure
on the abdomen. The belt should always fit
snug ly¢
fig. 123. Pull on the belt to tighten
if necessary.
- The lap be lt portion of the safety belt must
be positioned as low as poss ible across pel­
vis and never over the abdomen. Make sure
the belt lies flat and snug
c::> fig. 123. Pu ll on
the belt to tighten if necessary.
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-A loose-fitting safety belt can cause serious
injuries by shifting its position on your body
from the strong bones to more vulnerable,
soft tissue and cause serious injury.
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS and
other important information ¢
page 142.
Pregnant women must also be correctly
restrained
The best way to protect the fetus is to make sure
that expectant mothers always wear safety belts
correctly -throughout the pregnancy .
Fig. 124 Safety belt position during pregnancy
To provide maximum protection, safety belts
must always be positioned correctly on the wear­
er's body
c:> page 144.
• Adjust the front seat and adjustable head re­
straint* correctly¢
page 54, Front seats.
• Hold the belt by the tongue and pull it evenly
across the chest and pelvis ¢
fig. 124, c:> .&_.
• Insert the tongue into the correct buckle of
your seat until you hear it latch securely
¢page 143, fig. 122 .
•Pullon the belt to make sure that it is securely
latched in the buckle.
_& WARNING
Improperly positioned safety belts can cause
serious personal injury in an accident.
- Expectant mothers must always wear the
lap portion of the safety belt as low as pos­
sible across t he pelvis and below the round­
ing of the abdomen .
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS and
other important information
¢ .&. in Fasten­
ing safety belts on page 144.
Safety belts
Unfastening safety belts
Unbuckle the safety belt with the red release
button only a~er the vehicle has stopped .
J-L
Fig. 125 Releasing the tongue from the buckle
• Push the red release button on the buckle
¢
fig. 125. The belt tongue will spring out of
the buckle
c:> .&_ .
• Let the belt wind up on the retractor as you
guide the belt tongue to its stowed position .
_& WARNING
-Never unfasten safety belt while the vehicle is
moving. Doing so will increase your risk of be­
ing injured or killed.
Adjusting the safety belt latch tongue
Fig. 126 Safety belt: la tch tongue cl ip (example)
.,.. Slide the clip so that you can easily reach the
belt latch when putting the safety belt on .
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145

Safety belts
Adjusting safety belt height
With the aid of the safety belt height adjust­
ment, the three point safety belt strap routing
can be fitted to the shoulder area, according to
body size.
F ig . 127 Safety belt height ad justment for t he front seats
- loop -a round f itt ings
The shou lder belt should lie as close to the center
of the collar bone as possib le and should fit well
on the body¢ .&.
in Safety belt position on
page 144 .
... Push
the loop-around fittings up ¢ fig . 127 @,
or
... squeeze together the (D button, and push the
l oop-around fit tings
down @.
... Pull the belt to make sure t hat the upper at ­
tachment is properly engaged .
A WARNING
Always read and heed all WARNINGS and oth­
er important information
¢ page 142.
(D Tips
With the front seats, the height adjustment
of the seat can a lso be used to adjust the po­
sition of the safety belts.
Improperly worn safety belts
Incorrectly positioned safety belts con cause se­ vere injuries.
Wearing safety be lts imprope rly can cause seri­
ous injury or death . Safety belts can on ly work
when they are correctly positioned on the body.
Improper seating positions reduce the effective­
ness of safety be lts and will
even i ncrease the risk
146
of injury and death by moving the safety belt to
critical areas of the body . Improper seating posi­
tions also increase the risk of serious in jury and
death when an airbag deploys and strikes an oc­
cupant who is not in the correct seating position.
A driver is responsible for the safety of all vehicle
occupants and especially for ch ildren . Therefore:
... Never permit anyone to assume an incorrect sit-
ting posit ion in the vehicle while traveling
¢ &_ .
A WARNING
Improperly worn safety belts increase the r isk
of serious personal inju ry and death wheneve r
a veh icle is being used.
- Always make sure that all vehi cle occupants
are correctly restrained and stay in a correct
seating position wheneve r the vehicle is be­
ing used .
- Always read and heed a ll WARNINGS and
o ther important informa tion
¢ page 142.
Belt tensioners
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.
R ev ersib le safety belt t ensione rs
The safety belts on the front seats are equipped
with power reversib le tensioners. The fo llow ing
functions are availab le when the driver's/front
passenger's safety belts are fastened:
- Automatic tensio ners: at the start of a drive,
the safety belts automat ica lly adjust to the
passenger after a certain t ime period or vehicle
speed.
- In certain driving situations, the safety belts
may tighten with a reversible tensioning func­
tion
¢page 103.
-The safety belts may a lso tighten with this re-
vers ible tensioning function in minor collisions.
Pyrotechn ic safet y belt pretens ioner s
The safety belts are equipped with safety belt
pretensioners. The system is activated by sensors ..,.

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in front, side and rear-end collisions of great se­
verity and in a rollover. This tightens the belt and
takes up belt slack¢.&.
in Service and disposal of
safety bel t pretensioner on page 147.
Taking up
the slack helps to reduce forward occupant movement during a collision.
A WARNING
- It is possible for the pretensioners to deploy
incorrectly .
- The pyrotechnic system can only provide protection for one collision . If the pyrotech­
nic pretensioners deploy, the pretensioning
system must be replaced.
(D Tips
The pyrotechnic safety belt pretensioners can
only deploy once .
- The safety belt pretensioners do not deploy
in minor frontal and side collisions, in rear­
end collisions, in rollovers and in collisions
involving very little impact force.
-A fine dust is released when the pyrotechnic
safety belt pretensioners deploy. This is nor­
mal and is not caused by a fire in the vehi­
cle.
- The relevant safety requirements must be
observed when the vehicle or components
of the system are scrapped. A qualified
dealership is familiar with these regulations
and will be pleased to pass on the informa­
tion to you.
- Be sure to observe all safety, environmental
and other regulations if the vehicle or indi­
vidual parts of the system, particularly 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 preten­
sioner
The safety belt pretensioners are parts of the
safety belts on your Audi. Installing, removing,
servicing or repairing of belt pretensioners can
damage the safety belt system and prevent it
from working correctly in a collision.
Safety belts
There are some important things you have to
know to make sure that the effectiveness of the
system will not be impaired and that discarded
components do not cause injury or pollute the
environment.
A WARNING
= -
Improper care, servicing and repair proce­
dures can increase the risk of personal injury
and death by preventing a safety belt preten­
sioner from activating when needed or acti­
vating it unexpectedly:
- The belt pretensioner system can be activat­
ed only once. If belt pretensioners have
been activated, the system must be re­ placed.
- Never repair, adjust, or change any parts of
the safety belt system.
- Safety belt systems including safety belt
pretensioners cannot be repaired. Special
procedures are required for removal, instal­
lation and disposal of this system.
- For any work on the safety belt system, we
strongly recommend that you see your au­
thorized Audi dealer or qualified technician
who has an Audi approved repair manual,
training and special equipment necessary .
@ For the sake of the environment
Undeployed airbag modules and pretension­
ers might be classified as Perchlorate Material
-special handling may apply, see
www.dtsc.ca.gov/hazardouswaste/perchlo­
rate. When the vehicle or parts of the re­
straint system including airbag modules safe ­
ty belts with pretensioners are scrapped, all
applicable laws and regulations must be ob­
served. Your authorized Audi dealer is familiar
with these requirements and we recommend
that you have your dealer perform this service
for you.
147

Airbag system
Airbag system
Important information
Importance of wearing safety belts and
sitting properly
Airbags are only supplemental restraints . For
airbags to do their job, occupants must always
properly wear their safety belts and be in a prop­ er seating position.
For your safety and the safety of your passen­
gers, befo re driving off, always:
"' Adjust the driver's seat and steering wheel
properly
Q page 131,
"'Adjust the front passenger's seat properly
Qpage 54,
"'Wear safety be lts properly C? page 142,
"'Always properly use the proper child restraint
to protect children
Qpage 172.
In a coll is ion, airbags must inflate within the
blink of an eye and with considerable force. The
supp lemental airbags can cause injuries if the
driver or the front seat passenger is not seated
properly . Therefore in order to he lp the airbag to
do its job, it is important, both as a driver and as
a passenger to sit properly at all times.
By keeping room between your body and the
steering whee l and the front of the passenger
compartment, the airbag can inflate fully and
completely and provide supplemental protection
in certain frontal collisions
c> page 131, Correct
passenger seating positions.
Fo r details on the
operation of the seat adjustment controls
c>page54.
It's especially important that children are proper­
ly restrained
Qpage 172.
There is a lot that the driver and the passengers
can and must do to help the individual safety fea­
tures installed in your Audi work together as a
system .
Proper seat ing position is important so that the
front airbag on the driver side can do its job. If
you have a phys ical impairment or condition that
prevents you from sitt ing properly on the dr iver
seat with the safety be lt properly fastened and
148
reaching the pedals, or if you have concerns with
regard to the function or operation of the Ad­
vanced Airbag System, please contact your au­
thori zed Audi dea ler or qualified workshop, or
call Audi Customer Relations at 1-800-822-2834
for possible modifications to your vehicle.
When the airbag system dep loys, a gas generator
will fill the airbags, break open the padded cov­
ers, and inflate between the steering wheel and
the driver and between the instrument panel and
the front passenger . The air bags w ill deflate im­
med iate ly after deployment so that the front oc­
cupants can see through the windshield again
without interruption.
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 inf late
with a grea t deal of force and nothing should be
in their way when they dep loy. Front airbags in
combination with properly worn safety belts s low
down and limit the occupant's forward move­
ment . Together they he lp to prevent the driver
and front seat passenger from hitting parts of
the inside of the vehicle while reducing the forces
acting on the occupant during the crash . In this
way they help to reduce the risk of injury to the
head and upper body in the crash . Airbags do not
protect the a rms or the lower parts of the body.
Both front a irbags w ill not inflate in all fronta l
collisions . The triggering of the airbag system de­
pends on the veh icle deceleration rate caused by
the collis ion and registered by the electronic con ­
trol unit. If th is rate is below the reference val ue
programmed into the control unit, the airbags
will not be triggered , even though the car may be
badly damaged as a result of the collision . Vehi ­
cle damage, repair costs or even the lack of vehi­
cle damage is not necessarily an indication of
whether an a irbag should inflate or not.
Since the circumstances will vary considerably between one co llision and another, it is not possi­
ble to define a range of vehicle speeds that will
cover every possible kind and angle of impact
that w ill always trigger the airbags . Important
factors include, for example, the nature (hard or
soft) of the object wh ic h the car hits, the angle of
i mpact, vehicle speed, etc. The front airbags will .,.

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1.1'1
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also not inflate in side or rear co llisions, or in roll­
overs .
Alwa ys rememb er: Airbag s wi ll deploy on ly once,
and on ly in cer tain kinds of collisions. Your safety
b e lts a re a lways there to offer protection in those
situations in which airbags are not supposed to
deploy, or when they have already deployed; for
examp le, when your vehicle str ikes or is struck by
another vehicle after the first collision.
This is just one of the reasons why an airbag is a
supp lementary restraint and is not a substitute
for a safety belt. The airbag system works most
effectively when used w ith the safety belts.
Therefore, always properly wear your safety belts
c::>page 140.
A WARNING
Sitting too close to the steer ing whee l o r in­
strument panel will decrease the effect ive­
ness of the airbags and will increase the risk
o f persona l injury in a coll is ion .
- Never sit closer than 10 inches (25 cm) to
the steering wheel or instrument panel.
- If you cannot sit more than 10 inches
(25 cm) from the steer ing whee l, investi­
gate whethe r adaptive equipment may be
available to help yo u reach the peda ls and
increase your seating distance from the
steering wheel.
- All veh icle occupants and especially children
must be restrained properly whenever riding
in a vehicle. An unrestrained or improperly
restrained child cou ld be injured by striking
the inte rior or by being ejected from the ve­
hicle during a sudden maneuver or impact.
An unrestrained or improperly restrained
child is also at greater risk of injury o r death
thro ugh contact wi th an infla ting airbag.
- If you are unrestrained, lean ing fo rward, sit­
t ing s ideways o r ou t of position in any way,
yo ur risk of in jury is much highe r.
- You w ill also receive serio us inju ries and
c ou ld even be killed if you are up against the
airbag or too close to it when it in flates -
even with an Advanced Ai rbag .
-
Airbag syste m
- To reduce the risk of injury when an a irbag
inflates, always wear safety belts properly
c::> page 143, Safety belts.
- Always make certain that ch ildren age 12 or
younger always ride in the rear seat. If chil­
dren a re not properly restrained, they may
be severe ly injured or killed when an a irbag
inflates.
- Never let ch ildren ride unrestrained or im­
properly rest rained in the vehicle . Ad just the
front seats p roperly .
- Never ride with the backrest reclined.
- Always sit as far as possible from the steer-
ing wheel or the instrument panel
c::> page 131.
- 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 pre­
vent serious injur ies to the legs and hips if
the airbag inflates.
- Never recli ne the front passenger 's seat to
transport objects. Items can also move into
the area of the side airbag or the front air­
b ag during bra king or in a sudden maneu­
ver . Ob je cts near the airbags can become
p rojectiles and ca use inj ury when an airbag
inflates.
A WARNING
Airbags that have deployed i n a crash must be
replaced.
- Use on ly original equipment airbags ap­
proved by Aud i and installed by a trained
technician who has the necessary too ls and
d iagnostic equipment to properly rep lace
any airbag in your vehicle and assure system
effectiveness in a crash.
- Never permit salvaged or recycled airbags to
be installed in you r vehicle.
Child restraints on the front seat - some
important things to know
.,. Be s ure to read the importa nt information and
heed the WARNI NGS for important detai ls
149

Airbag system
about children and Advanced Airbags
¢page 172.
Even though your vehicle is equipped with an Ad­
vanced Airbag System, make certain that all chi l­
dren, especially those 12 years and younger, al­
ways 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 ride. The front seat is not the
safest place for a child in a forward-facing child
seat . It can be a very dangerous place for an in­
fant or a child in a rearward-facing seat.
The Advanced Airbag System in your veh icle has
been certified to comply w ith the requirements
of United States Federal Motor Veh icle Safety
Standard
208 as applicable at the time your vehi­
cle was manufactured.
The Standard requires the front airbag on the
passenger side to be turned off ("suppressed") if
a child up to about one year of age restrained in
one of the rear-facing or forward -facing infant re­
s traints listed in Federal Motor Vehicle Safety
Standard 208 with which the Advanced Airbag
System in your vehicle was certified has been in ­
stalled on the front passenger seat. For a listing
of the ch ild restraints that were used to certify
compliance with the US Safety Standard
¢page 174.
The PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light in the instru­
ment panel tells you when the front Advanced
Airbag on the passenger side has been turned off by the electron ic control unit .
Each time yo u switch on the ignit ion, the
PAS·
SENGER AIR BAG OFF
light will come on for a
few seconds and:
- will stay on if the front passenger seat is not
occupied,
- will stay on if the electrical capacitance meas ­
ured by the capacitive passenger detection sys­
tem for the front passenger seat equals the combined capacitance of an infant up to about
one year of age and one of the rearward-facing
or forward-facing child restraints listed in Fed ­
eral Motor Vehicle Safety Standard
208 with
which the Advanced Airbag System in your vehi­
cle was cert ified. For a listing of the child re-
150
straints that were used to certify yo ur vehicle's
compliance with the U.S. Safety Standard
¢page 174.
-wi ll stay on if there is a small chi ld or child re­
straint on the front passenger seat,
- wi ll go off if the front passenger seat is occu ­
pied by an adu lt as registered by the capacitive
passenger detection system
¢ page 160, Mon­
itoring the Advanced Airbag System.
The PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes on
when electrical capacitance registered on the
front passenger seat is eq ua l to or less than the
combined capacitance of a typical
1 year-o ld in­
fant and one of the rearward-facing or forward­
facing child restraints listed in Federal Motor Ve­
hicle Safety Standard
208 with wh ich the Ad­
vanced Airbag System in your vehicle was certi­
fied.
If the total e lectr ica l capacitance registered on
the front passenger seat is more than that of a
typ ica l 1 year-old child but less than the weight
of a sma ll adult, the front airbag on the passe n­
ger side can deploy (the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
light does not come on).
If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does not
come on, the front airbag on the passenger side
has not been turned off by the electronic contro l
unit and can deploy if the control un it senses an
impact that meets the cond itions stored in its
memory.
For example, the airbag may deploy if:
-a small ch ild that is heavier than a typical 1
year-old chi ld is on the front passenger seat (re­
gardless of whethe r the child is in one of the
child seats listed
¢page 174), or
- a child who has outgrown chi ld 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
i nst rument cluster and stays on.
If the front passenger airbag dep loys, the Federal
Standa rd requires the airbag to meet the "low
risk" deployment criteria to reduce the risk of in­
jury through interaction with the airbag. "Low
risk" deployment occurs in those crashes that