2015 AUDI S3 SEDAN tow

Driving safet y
mats wi ll prevent them from sliding into posi ­
tions that cou ld interfere with the peda ls or im­
pa ir safe operation of your vehicle in other ways .
A WARNING
Pedals that cannot move freely can result in a
loss of vehicle control and increase the risk of
serious persona l injury .
- Always make sure that floor mats are prop­
erly secured .
- Never place or insta ll floor mats or other
floor coverings in t he veh icle that cannot be
properly secured in place to prevent them
from slipping and inte rfering w ith the ped­
als or the ability to control the veh icle .
- Never place or insta ll floor mats or other
floor coverings on top of already installed
floor mats. Additiona l floo r mats and other
c overings w ill reduce the si ze of the pedal
area and interfere w ith the pedal s.
- Always proper ly reinstall and secu re floor
mats that have been take n ou t for clean ing .
- Always make sure that objects cannot fa ll
in to the dr iver footwell while the veh icle i s
moving. Obje cts can be come trapped unde r
the brake pedal an d accelerator peda l caus ­
ing a loss of vehicle cont ro l.
Storing cargo correctly
Loading the luggage compartment
All luggage and other objects must be properly
s towed and secured in the luggage compart­
ment.
F ig . 11 5 Safe load pos it io nin g: place heavy objects as low
an d a s far for ward as possib le .
136
Loose items in the luggage compa rtment can
shift suddenly, changing vehicle handling charac ­
teristics. Loose items can also increase the r isk o f
serious persona l injury in a sudden vehicle ma­
neuver or in a collision.
.,. Distribute the load even ly in the luggage com­
partment.
.,. Always place and properly secure heavy items in
the luggage compartment as far forward as
possible .
.,. Secure luggage using the tie-downs prov ided
~ page 59.
.,. Ma ke s ure that the rear seatback is securely
la tc hed in place.
A WARNING
I mproperly stored luggage or other items can
fly through the vehicle causing serio us per­
sona l injury in the event o f hard braking or an
accident. To help reduce the risk of ser ious
personal injury:
- Always put objects, for example, luggage or
other heavy items in the luggage compart­
ment.
- Always secure objects in the luggage com­
partment using the tie-down hooks and
suitable straps.
A WARNING
H eavy loads wi ll influence the way your vehi­
cle handles . To help reduce the r isk of a loss
of contro l leading to se rio us pe rsonal injury:
-Always keep in mind when transpo rting
heavy objects, tha t a change i n the center of
grav ity can also cause changes in vehi cle
h a ndli ng:
- Always distribute the load as evenly as
possib le.
- Place heavy objects as far forward in the
luggage compartment as possib le.
- Never exceed the Gross Axle Weight Rating
or the Gross Vehicle Weight Rating specif ied
on the safety compliance sticker on the left
door jamb. Exceeding permissib le weight
standards can cause the veh icle to slide and
handle d ifferently. ,...

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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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-If you must use a child restraint on the front
passenger seat and the child restraint man­
ufacturer's instructions requ ire the use of a
towel, foam cushion or someth ing else to
properly position the child restraint, make
certain that the
P A SSENG ER AIR BAG OFF
light comes on and stays on whenever the
child restrain t is ins talled on the fron t pas­
senger seat.
- If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does
not come on and stay on, immed iately in­
sta ll child restra int in a rear seating position
and have the airbag system inspected by
yo ur Audi dealer .
&_ WARNING
If the front passenger seat gets wet, dry it im­
mediately.
-If liquid soaks into the front passenger seat,
this can keep the airbag system from work­ ing properly and may, for instance, deacti­
vate the passenger frontal a irbag. If th is
happens, the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light will come on and stay on together with
the a irbag indicator light
II in the inst ru­
me nt cluster.
- If liquid is poo led on the seat, but has not
soa ked in, this may a lso keep the airbag sys­
tem from wor king proper ly and cause the
passenger fron tal ai rbag to be ena bled
(turned on), even tho ugh there is a properly
installed chi ld restraint system on the seat .
Wet towels or other wet things on the seat c u shion can have the same effect. If the
front passenger fronta l airbag is turned on,
the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light will go
o ut.
How the Advanced Airbag System
components work together
The fron t Advanced A irbag Sys tem and the s ide
ai rbags supplement the pro tect ion offered by the
front three-point safety be lts with pretensioners
and load limiters and the adjustable head re­
straints* to he lp red uce the risk of in jury in a
wide range of acc ident and cras h situations. Be
Airbag syste m
su re to read the important information about
safety and heed the WARNINGS in this chapter .
Deployment o f the Adv anced A irbag System and
the ac tivation of the sa fety belt pretensione rs de ­
pend on the dece lerat ion meas ured by the crash
sensors and registered by the e lectronic control
u nit . Cras h seve rity depends on speed and decel­
eration as we ll as the mass and stiffness of the
vehicle or object involved in the crash .
On t he passenger side, regardless of safety belt
u se, the front passenger fronta l airbag will be
turned off if the electrical capacitance meas ured
by the capacitive passenger detection system on
the front passenger seat is less than the amount programmed in the electronic control unit . T he
front passeng er fronta l airbag will a lso be turned
off if the capac itance meas ured by t he system for
the front passenger sea t eq uals tha t of an inf ant
of about one year o f age in one of t he chi ld seats
that was used to certify the Advanced Airbag Sys­
tem under Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard
208. The
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes
on and stays on to tell you when the front Ad­
vanced Airbag System on the passenger side has been turned
off c::>page 160 .
&_ WARNING
-To reduce the risk of in jury w hen an a irbag in-
flates, always wear safety belts prope rly .
- If you are unrestra ined, leaning forward, sit­
ting sideways or out of posit ion i n any way,
your r is k of injury is m uch higher.
- You will a lso receive se rious injur ies an d
could even be killed if you a re up aga inst th e
ai rbag or too close to i t when i t in flates -
even with an A dvan ced Airb ag
<=:> page 14 8.
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The PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light will show
the status of the front seat passenger's frontal
Advanced Airbag a few seconds after the igni·
tion is switched on and the airbag indicator
light goes off. The PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light:
- 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-fac ing
or forward-facing child restraints listed in Fed­
eral Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208 wit h
wh ich the Advanced Airbag System in your vehi­
cle was certified; For a listing of the child re­
stra ints that were used to certify your vehicle's
compliance with the U.S. Safety Standard
¢page 174.
-will go out if the front passenger seat is occu­
pied by an adult as registered by the capacitive
passenger detection system.
-The PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light must come
on and stay on if the ignition is on and ...
- a car bed has been installed on the front pas­
senger seat, or
- a rearward-facing chi ld restraint has been in­
stalled on the front passenger seat, or
- a forward-facing child restraint has been insta l­
led on the front passenger seat,
- and if the electr ical capacitance regis tered on
the front passenger seat is equa l to or less than
the combined capacitance of a typical 1 year ­
o ld infant and one of the rearward -facing or
forward-facing child restraints listed in Federal
Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208 with which
the Advanced Airbag System in your vehicle was certified .
If the front passenger seat is not occupied, the
front airbag will not deploy, and the
PASSENGER
AIR BAG OFF
light will stay on. Never install a
rearward -facing child restraint on the front pas ·
senger seat , the safest place for a child in any
kind of child restra int is at one of the seating po­
sitions on the rear seat ¢
page 149, Child re-
Airbag system
straints on the front seat -some important
things to know
and ¢ page 172 , Child safety.
If the PASSENGER AIR BAG light comes
on ...
If the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes on
when one of the conditions listed above is met,
be sure to check the light regularly to make cer­
ta in that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF li ght
stays on continuously whenever the ignition is
on . If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does
not appea r on and does not stay on all the time,
stop as soon as it is safe to do so and
- reactivate the system by turning the ign ition
off
for more than 4 seconds and then turning it on
aga in;
- remove and reinstall the child restraint. Make
sure that the child restraint is properly installed
and that the safety belt for the front passenger
seat has been correctly routed through the
child restraint as described in the chi ld restraint
manufacturer's instru ction s;
- make sure that the convertible locking retractor
on the s,;1fety belt fo r the front passenger seat
has been activated and that the sa fe ty belt has
been pu lled tight.
- make sure that no electrical device (such as a
laptop, CD player, electronic games device,
power inverter or seat heater fo r child seats) is
placed or used on the front passenger seat if
the device is connected to the 12-volt socket or
the ci garette lighter socket;
- make sure that no seat heater has been retrofit ­
ted or otherwise added to the front passenger
seat;
- make sure that nothing can interfere with the
safety belt buckles and that they are not ob­
structed;
- make sure that there are no wet objects (such as a wet towel) and no water or other liquids on
the front passenger seat cush ion.
If the PASSENGER AIR BAG light still does
not come on ...
If the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light still does
not come on and does not stay on continuously
(when the ignition is sw itched on),
111-
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exceptional circumstances and the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does not
come on and stay on, immediately install
the rear-facing child safety seat in a rear
seating position and have the airbag system
inspected immediately by your Audi dealer .
A WARNING
-Forward-facing child seats installed on the
front passenger seat may interfere with the deployment of the airbag and cause serious
personal injury to the child.
-If exceptional circumstances require the use
of a forward-facing child restraint on the
front passenger's seat, the child's safety
and well-being require the following special
precautions to be taken:
-Always make sure that the forward-facing seat has been designed and certified by its manufacturer for use on a front passenger
seat with a front and side airbag.
-Always carefully follow the manufacturer's
instructions provided with the child seat
or infant carrier.
- Never install a child restraint without a
properly attached top tether strap if the
child restraint manufacturer's instructions require the top tether strap to be used.
- Never put the forward-facing child re­
straint up against or very near the instru­
ment panel.
- Always set the safety belt upper anchor­
age to the adjustment position that per­
mits proper installation in accordance with
the child restraint manufacturer's instruc­
tions.
- Always move the passenger seat into its
rearmost position in the seat's fore and aft
adjustment range, as far away from the
airbag as possible before installing the
child restraint . The backrest must be ad ­
justed to an upright position .
- Always make sure that nothing prevents
the front passenger's seat from being moved to the rearmost position in its fore
and aft adjustment range.
Child safety
-Never place objects on the seat (such as a
laptop, CD player, electronic games device,
power inverter or seat heater for child
seats) . These may influence the electrical
capacitance measured by the capacitive
passenger detection system and can also
fly around in an accident and cause serious
personal injury.
- Never place or use any electrical device
(such as a laptop, CD player, electronic
games device, power inverter or seat heat­
er for child seats) on the front passenger
seat if the device is connected to the 12-
volt socket or the cigarette lighter socket.
- 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.
- Make sure that there are no wet objects
(such as a wet towel) and no water or oth­
er liquids on the front passenger seat
cushion.
- Always make sure that the
PASSENGER
AIR BAG OFF
light comes on and stays on
all the time whenever the ignition is
switched on.
- If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not come on and stay on, immediate­
ly install the forward-facing child seat in a
rear seating position and have the airbag
system inspected by your authorized Audi
dealer.
- Always buckle the child seat firmly in
place even if a child is not sitting in it. A
loose child seat can fly around during a
sudden stop or in a collision.
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS
whenever using a child restraint in a vehi­
cle
¢ page 140, Safety belts, ¢ page 148,
Airbag system
and ¢ page 172, Impor­
tant information.
(D Tips
Always replace child restraints that were in­
stalled in a vehicle during a crash. Damage to
a child restraint that is not visible could cause
it to fail in another collision situation.
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-Make sure the forward-facing seat has
been designed and certified by its manu­
facturer for use on a front seat with a pas­
senger front and side airbag.
- Always carefully follow the manufacturer's
instructions provided with the child safety
seat or carrier.
- Always move the front passenger seat into
the rearmost position of the passenger
seat's fore and aft adjustment range, and
as far away from the airbag as possible be­
fore installing the child restraint.
- Always make sure that nothing prevents
the front passenger's seat from being
moved to the rearmost position in its fore
and aft adjustment range .
- Always make sure that the backrest is in
the upright position.
- Never place or use any electrical device
(such as a laptop, CD player, electronic
games device, power inverter or seat heat­
er for child seats) on the front passenger
seat if the device is connected to the 12-
volt socket or the cigarette lighter socket.
- 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.
- Make sure that there are no wet objects
(such as a wet towel) and no water or oth­
er liquids on the front passenger seat
cushion.
- Never place objects on the seat (such as a
laptop, CD player, electronic games device,
power inverter or seat heater for child
seats). These may influence the electrical
capacitance measured by the capacitive
passenger detection system and can also
fly around in an accident and cause serious
personal injury.
- Always buckle the child safety seat firmly in
place even if a child is not sitting in it. A
loose child safety seat can fly around during
a sudden stop or in a collision .
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS when­
ever using a child restrained in a vehicle is
being used
¢ page 140, Safety belts,
Child safety
¢ page 148, Airbag system and
¢ page 172, Child safety.
A WARNING
-
To reduce the risk of serious injury, make sure
that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
comes on and stays on whenever a child re­
straint is installed on the front passenger seat
and the ignition is switched on.
- Take the child restraint off the front passen­ ger seat and install it properly at one of the
rear seat positions if the
PASSENGER AIR
BAG OFF
light does not stay on.
- Have the airbag system inspected by your
authorized Audi dealer immediately.
Secure unused safety belts on the rear seat
Fig. 138 Schematic overview: keep unused safety belts
away from children in c hild safety seats. @-outer rear
safety belt, @ -ce nter rear safety belt*
If a child safety seat is used on the rear bench,
especially with LATCH universal lower anchorag­
es, the unused safety belts
must be secured so
that the child in the child restraint cannot reach
them ¢_& .
- Guide the safety belt webbings @and
®* be­
hind the head restraint of the seat where the
child restraint is installed
¢ fig. 138. When do­
ing so, do not engage the convertible locking
retractor! You should not hear a "clicking "
sound when winding up the safety belt.
- Let the belt retractor wind up the safety belt
webbing.
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the rear-facing ch ild safety seat in a rear
seating pos it ion and have the airbag system
inspected by your Audi dealer.
- Never place or use any electrical device
(such as a laptop, CO player, electron ic
games dev ice, power inverter or seat heater
for child seats) on the front passenger seat if the dev ice is connected to the 12-volt
socket or the c igarette lighter socket.
- If a seat heater has been retrofitted or oth­
erwise added to the front passenger seat,
never i nstall any ch ild restra int system on
this seat.
- Make sure that there are no wet objects
(such as a wet towel) and no wa ter or othe r
liquids on the front passenger seat c ushion.
- Never place objects on the seat (such as a
laptop, CD playe r, e lectronic games dev ice,
power inverter or seat heater for chi ld
seats). These may influence the e lectr ica l
capacitance measured by the capacitive pas·
senger detection system and can a lso fly
around in an accident and cause serious per­
sonal injury.
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS when·
ever using a child restrained in a vehicle is
being used
c:::> page 140, Safety belts,
¢ page 148, Airbag system and
c::> page 172, Important information.
Convertible child safety seats
Properly used convertible child safety seats can
help protect toddlers and children over age one
who weigh between 20 and 40 lbs. (9 and 18 kg)
in a crash.
F ig . 140 Schemat ic overview : installat ion of t he atta ch­
ments applicab le to a LATCH seat
Chil d sa fe ty
Fig. 141 Schemat ic overv iew: installat io n of the seat us ing
the vehicle's sa fety belt system
.. When using the vehicle safety belt to install a
child safety seat, you must first activate the
convert ible lock ing retractor on the safety belt
to prevent the child safety seat from moving
c::> page 182 or install the seat using the LATC H
attachments .
.. Push the ch ild safety seat down with your full
weight to get the safety belt rea lly t ight so that
t he seat cannot move forward or sideways more
than one inch (2.5 cm)
c::> page 182.
.. If the child safety seat is equipped with a tether
strap, attach it to the tether anchors
c::> page 188 .
.. Secure unused safety belts on the rear seat
c::>page 177.
A toddler or child is usua lly too large for an in­
fant restraint if it is more than one year old and
weighs more than 20 lbs. (9 kg).
Toddlers and children who are older than one
year up to about 4 years old and weigh more than 20 lbs (9 kg) up to 40 lbs. (18 kg) must always be
properly restrained in a child safety seat certif ied
for their size and we ight
c:::> fig . 140 and
c::> fig . 141.
The airbag on the passenger side makes the front
seat a potent ially dangerous p lace for a child to
ride . The front seat is not the safest place for a
child i n a forward-fac ing child safety seat. It is a
very dangerous place for an infant or a larger
c h ild in a rearward-facing seat.
_&. WARNING
No t using a child sa fety seat, us ing the wrong
child safety seat or improper ly installing a
child restraint increases the risk of serious
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179

Child safety
personal injury and death in a collision or oth­
er emergency situation.
- Children on the front seat of any car, even
with Advanced Airbags, can be seriously in­
jured or even killed when an airbag inflates.
A child in a rearward-facing child safety seat
installed 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 airbag will hit the child safety
seat or infant carrier with great force and
will smash the child safety seat and child
against the backrest, center arm rest, door
or roof.
- Always install rear-facing child safety seats
on the rear seat.
- If you must install a rearward facing child
safety seat on the front passenger seat be­ cause of exceptional circumstances and the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does not
come on and stay on, immediately install
the rear-facing child safety seat in a rear
seating position and have the airbag system inspected by your Audi dealer .
- The rear side of the child safety seat should
be positioned as close as possible to the
backrest on the vehicle seat .
- For adjustable head restraints: adjust or re­
move the rear seat head restraint if it is dif­
ficult to install the child seat with the head
restraint in place
Q page 56 . Install the
head restraint again immediately once the
child seat is removed. Driving without head
restraints or with head restraints that are
not properly adjusted increases the risk of
serious or fatal neck injury dramatically.
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS when­
ever using a child restrained in a vehicle is
being used
Q page 140, Safety belts,
Q page 148, Airbag system and
Q page 172, Important information.
A WARNING
If exceptional circumstances require the use
of a forward-facing child restraint on the front
passenger's seat, the child's safety and well-
180
being require that the following special pre­
cautions be taken :
- Make sure the forward-facing seat has been
designed and certified by its manufacturer
for use on a front seat with a passenger
front and side airbag .
- Always follow the manufacturer's instruc­
tions provided with the child safety seat or infant carrier .
- Always move the front passenger seat into
the rearmost position of the passenger
seat's fore and aft adjustment range, and as
far away from the airbag as possible before installing the child restraint .
- Always make sure that nothing prevents the
front passenger's seat from being moved to
the rearmost position in its fore and aft ad­
justment range.
- Always make sure the backrest is in an up­
right position .
- 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 passenger seat
if the device is connected to the 12-volt
socket or the cigarette lighter socket.
- If a seat heater has been retrofitted or oth­
erwise added to the front passenger seat, never install any child restraint system on
this seat.
- Make sure that there are no wet objects
(such as a wet towel) and no water or other
liquids on the front passenger seat cushion.
- Never place objects on the seat (such as a
laptop, CD player, electronic games device,
power inverter or seat heater for child
seats). These may influence the electrical
capacitance measured by the capacitive pas­
senger detection system and can also fly
around in an accident and cause serious per­
sonal injury.
- Make sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
light comes on and stays on all the time
whenever the ignition is switched on.
- If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does
not come on and stay on, immediately in­
stall the forward-facing child seat at a seat-
ing position on the rear seat and have the
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