
142 Safet y belt s
A WARNING
Never unfasten safety belt while the vehi
cle is moving. Doing so will increase your
r isk of being injured or killed .
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. 156 Safety belt height adjustment for the front
sea ts - loop -around f ittings
The shoulder belt should lie as close to the
center of the collar bone as possible and
should fit well on the body¢
A in Safety belt
position on page 141.
,. Push
the loop-aro und fittings up ¢fi g. 156
@ , or
"'"squeeze together the@ button, and push
the loop-around fitt ings down @.
"'" Pull the belt to make sure t hat the upper at
tachment is p roperly engaged.
A WARNING
Always read and heed a ll WARNINGS and
other important information¢
page 139 .
@ Tips
With the front seats, the height adjust
men t of the seat can also be used to adjus t
the posit ion of the safety be lts.
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 o nly
work when they are correctly positioned on
the body . Improper seat ing pos itions reduce
the effectiveness of safety belts and will even
i ncrease t he risk of inju ry and death by mov
ing the safety be lt to crit ica l areas o f 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 respons ible 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
¢&_ .
A WARNING
Improperly worn safety belts increase the
r isk of ser ious persona l injury and death
whenever a vehicle is being used.
- Always ma ke sure that all vehicle occ u
pants are co rrectly restra ined and stay in
a correc t seating position whe never the
veh icle is being used .
- Always read and heed all WAR NINGS and
o ther important inform ation
¢page 139.

162 Airbag system
www .dtsc.ca.gov/hazardouswaste/per
chlorate. When the vehicle or parts of the
restraint system including airbag modules
and safety belts wit h pretens ioners are
scrapped, all applicable laws and regula
tions must be observed. Your authorized
Aud i dea ler is familiar wit h these requ ire
ments and we recommend that you have
your dea le r perfo rm this se rv ice for you.
Other things that can affect Advanced
Airbag performance
Changing the vehicle's suspension system can
change the way that the Advanced Airbag Sys
tem performs in a crash. For example, using
tire-r im combinations not approved by Aud i,
lowering the vehicle, changing the stiffness of
the suspension, including the springs, suspen
sion st ruts, shock absorbers etc. can change
the forces that are measured by the a irbag
sensors and se nt to the electron ic control
un it. Some suspension changes can, for exam
p le, increase the force levels meas ured by the
sensors and make the airbag system deploy in
crashes in which it would not deploy if the
changes had not been made. Other kinds of
changes may reduce the force levels meas ured by the sensors and prevent the a irbag
from deploying when it should.
A WARNING
Changing the vehicle's suspension includ
ing use of unapproved tire -rim combina
tions can change Advan ced A irbag per
formance and increase the risk of serio us
personal in jury in a crash.
- Never install suspension components
that do not have the same performance character istics as the components origi
nally installed on your vehicle.
- Never use tire-rim combinatio ns that
have not been approved by A udi.
Knee airbags
Description of knee airbags
Applies to vehicles: with knee airbags
The knee airbag system can provide supple
mental protection to properly restrained
front seat occupants.
F ig . 1 61 Driver's knee airbag
The driver knee airbag is in the ins trumen t
pane l underneath t he steering wheel
¢ fig. 161, the airbag for the passenger is at
about the same height in the instrument pan
el underneat h the glove compartment.
T he knee airbag offe rs additional p rotection
to the driver 's and passenger's knees and up
per and lower th igh areas and supplements
the protection provided by the safety belts.
If t he front airbags dep loy , the knee ai rbags
also dep loy in frontal coll isions when the de
ployment threshold stored in the contro l unit
is met
<=> page 155, More important things to
know about front airbags.
In addition to their norma l safety function,
safety belts help keep the dr iver or front pas
senger in position in a fronta l collision so that
the a irbags can provide supplemental protec
t ion .
The airbag system is not a substit ute for your
safety belt. Rather, it is part of the overa ll oc
cupant restra int system in your vehicle. Al
ways remember that the a irbag system can
o nly help to protect you if you are weari ng
your safety belt and wea ring i t properly. This
is why you should always wear your safety
belt, not just beca use the law requi res you to
do so
r::!;>page 136, General notes . ..,.

180 Child Safety -Always follow the manufacturer's in
structions provided with the child safety
seat or infant carrier.
- Always move the front passenger seat in
to the rearmost position of the passen
ger seat's fore and aft adjustment range,
and as far away from the airbag as possi ble 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 adjustment range.
-Always make sure the backrest is in an
upright 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 pas
senger seat if the device is connected to
the 12-volt socket or the cigarette light
er 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
other liquids on the front passenger seat
cushion.
- Never place objects on the seat (such as
a laptop, CD player, electronic games de
vice, 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.
- 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, immedi
ately install the forward-facing child seat
at a seating position on the rear seat and have the airbag system inspected by your
authorized Audi dealer. -
Take the child restraint off the front pas
senger seat and install it properly at one
of the rear seat positions if the
PASSEN
GER AIR BAG OFF
light does not stay on
whenever the ignition is switched on.
Booster seats and safety belts
Properly used booster seats can help protect
children weighing between about 40 lbs. and
80 lbs. (18 kg and 36 kg) who are less than 4
ft. 9 in . (57 inches/1 .45 meters) tall.
"' ....
"' 0 ±
o5
Fig. 171 Rear seat: child properly restrained in a boos
te r seat
The vehicle 's safety belts alone will not fit
most children until they are at least 4 ft . 9 in.
(57 inches/1.45 meters) tall and weigh about
80 lbs. (36 kg). Booster seats raise these chil
dren up so that the safety belt will pass prop
erly over the stronger parts of their bodies
and the safety belt can help protect them in a
crash.
.,. Do not use the convertible locking retractor
when using the vehicle's safety belt to re
strain a child on a booster seat.
.. The shoulder belt must lie as close to the
center of the child's collar bone as possible
and must lie flat and snug on the upper
body. It must never lie across the throat or
neck . The lap belt must lie across the pelvis
and never across the stomach or abdomen .
Make sure the belt lies flat and snug. Pull on
the belt to tighten if necessary .
.,. If you must transport an older child in a
booster seat on the front passenger seat,
you can use the safety belt height adjust
ment to help adjust the shoulder portion
properly. ..,.

206 Trailer towing
Make sure that the cooling system has enough
fluid .
Tire pressure
When towing a traile r, inflate the tir es of your
vehi cle to the cold tire pressure listed under
"Full load" on the label located on the driver's
side B-pillar (visible when the door is open) .
Inflate trailer t ires to trai ler and tire manufac
turers' specifications.
Lights
Check to make sure both vehicle and trailer
lights are working properly.
Safety chains
Be sure tra iler safety cha ins are properly con
nected from the trailer to the hitch on the ve
hicle. Leave enough slack in the chains to per
mit turning corners. When you install safety
cha ins, make sure they wi ll not drag on the
road when you are driving.
The chains should cross under the trailer
tongue to prevent it from dropping in case of
separation from the hitch.
Adjusting the Audi drive select
Make sure the vehicle is on a level su rface be
fore
hitching up the traile r and before adjust
ing the tongue weight. The vehicle must be in
auto or comfort driving mode and not raised
q page 100, q(D _
Make sure that the vehicle is lowered. In Info
tainment , se lect:
ICARI f unc tion button> Low
er
control button.
I f you must dr ive under poor road condit ions,
you can raise the vehicle
after coupling the
tra iler or
after adjusting the tongue weight
qpage 102.
-Changes in temperature or load can af
fect the height of the vehicle.
- Always se lect
auto or comfort mode.
Otherwise, the tongue load specified for
your vehicle will no longer be applicable.
Driving instructions
Driving with a trailer always requires extra
care and consideration .
To obtain the best possible handling of vehicle
and trailer, please note the follow ing:
.,. Do not tow a loaded trailer when your car it
self is not loaded.
.,. Be especially careful when passing other
veh icles.
.,. Observe speed limits .
.,. Do not dr ive at the max imum permissib le
speed.
.,. Always apply brakes early .
.,. Mon itor the temperature gauge.
Weight distribution
Towing a loaded trailer with an empty car re
su lts in a highly unstable distribution of
we ight. If this cannot be avoided, drive at very
low speeds only to avoid the risk of losing
steering control.
A "ba lanced " rig is easier to operate and con
t ro l. This means that the tow vehicle should
be load ed to the extent possible and permissi
ble , while keeping the trailer as light as possi
ble under the circumstances . Whenever possi
ble , transfer some cargo to the luggage com
partment of the tow veh icle while observing
tongue load requirements and vehicle load ing
considerations.
Speed
The higher the speed, the more difficult it be
comes for the driver to control the rig . Do not
drive at the maximum permissible speed. Re
duce your speed even more if load, weather or
wind conditions are unfavorable -particularly
whe n going downhill.
Red uce vehicle speed
immediately if the trail
er shows the slightest s ign of sway ing .
Do not
try to stop the swaying by accelerating.
Observe speed limits. In some areas, speeds
for vehicles towing tra ilers are lower than for
regular veh icles . .,.

M N
0 <.J 'SI: ,...., \!) 1.1'1 ,...., 1.1'1 ,....,
-If you notice unusual vibration or if the vehicle pulls to one side when driving, al
ways stop as soon as it is safe to do so and check the
wheels and tires for dam age.
(D Note
-Please note that summer and winter tires are de
signed for the conditions
that are typical in those sea
sons. Audi recommends using winter tires during the
winter months. Low tem peratures significantly de
crease the elasticity of
summer tires, which affects
traction and braking ability.
Tires and wheels 239
If summer tires are used in
very cold temperatures, cracks can form on the tread bars, resulting in perma
nent tire damage that can
cause loud driving noise and unbalanced tires. Audi is not
responsible for this type of
damage .
-Burnished, polished or chromed rims must not be used in winter road condi
tions. The surface of the
rims does not have suffi
cient corrosion protection
for this and could be perma
nently damaged by road salt
or similar substances.
•
•
'
Glossary of tire and loading terminology
Accessory weight
means the combined weight (in
excess of those standard items
which may be replaced) of auto matic transmission, power
steering, power brakes , power
windows, power seats, radio, and heater, to the extent that
these items are available as fac
tory-installed equipment (whether installed or not).
Aspect ratio
means the ratio of the height to
the width of the tire in percent. Numbers of 55 or lower indi
cate a low sidewall for im proved steering response and
better overall handling on dry
pavement.

M N
0 I.J "". rl I.O
"' rl
"' rl
_&. WARNING
Sudden tire failure can lead
to loss of control, a crash and serious personal injury!
-Never drive a vehicle when the tread on any tire is worn down to the wear indica
tors.
-
-Worn tires are a safety haz ard, they do not grip well on
wet roads and increase your risk of "hydroplaning" and
loss of control.
-Always keep chemicals that can cause tire damage, such
as grease, oil, gasoline and brake fluid away from tires .
-Tires age even if they are not being used and can fail
suddenly, especially at high
speeds. Tires that are more
than 6 years old can only be used in an emergency and
then with special care and at lower speeds.
-Never mount used tires on your vehicle if you are not sure of their "previous history." Old used tires may have
been damaged even though
the damage cannot be seen
that can lead to sudden tire
Tires and wheels 257
failure and loss of vehicle control.
New tires and replacing
tires and wheels
New tires and wheels hove to
be broken in.
Fig. 199 Tire specification codes on
the sidewall of a tire
No. Description
CD Passenger car tire (where
applicable)
0 Nominal width of tire in
millimeters
® Ratio of height to width
(aspect ratio)
© Radial
® Rim diameter code

Tires and wheels 259
characteristics, and safety of This contains the following in-•
the vehicle. The table formation: • '
(¢ page 244) lists specifica-p Indicates the tire is for pas-
tions of the tires approved for senger cars (where applica-
the Audi models covered by ble)
your Owner's Literature .
255 Nominal tire width in mm
The tire pressure label located of the tire from sidewall
on driver's side B-pillar edge to sidewall edge. In
( ¢
page 244~ fig. 196) lists the
general, the larger the num-
specifications of the original ber, the wider the tire
equipment tires installed on
40 Height/width ratio in per-
your vehicle at the time it was cent (aspect ratio)
manufactured.
R Tire construction: Radial
Federal law requires tire manu-
19 Rim diameter code (in in-
facturers to place standardized ches)
information on the sidewall of
100 Load rating code
all tires ¢
fig. 199. This infor-H Speed rating letter code
mation identifies and describes
XL (or "xl", "EXTRA LOAD" or
the fundamental characteris- "RF
") Indicates that the tire
tics, the quality grade of the is a "Reinforced" or an "Extra
tire and also provides a tire Load" tire
identification number for safety
M+S (or "M/5") Indicates that
standard certification and in the tire has some mud and
case of a recall. snow capability
Tire specifications The tires could also have the in-
Knowledge of tire specifications formation of direction of rota-
tion
c:::> page 238.
makes it easier to choose the
correct tires
. Radial tires have
Tire manufacturing date
the tire specifications marked
The manufacturing date is also
M on the sidewall, for example: indicated on the tire sidewall N
0 <.J
255/40 R 19 100 H XL (possibly only on the inner side 'SI: ,...., \!)
of the wheel): 1.1'1 .... ,...., 1.1'1 ,....,

26 6 T ire s and whee ls
Wheel bolts
Wheel bolts must always be tightened to the
correct torque .
The design of wheel bolts is matched to the
factory installed rims. If different rims are fit
ted, the correct wheel bolts with the right
length and correctly shaped bolt heads must
be used. This ensures that wheels are fitted
secure ly and that the brake system functions
correctly .
In ce rtain circumstances, you may not use
wheel bolts from a different vehicle -even if it
is the same mode l
~page 294.
_& WARNING
Improperly tig htened o r maintained whee l
bolts can become loose ca using loss of
contro l, a co llision and serious persona l in
jury.
- Always keep the wheel bolts and the
threads in the wheel hubs clean so the
wheel bolts can turn easily and be prop
erly t ightened.
- Never grease or oil the wheel bo lts and
the threads in the wheel hubs. They can
become loose while driving if greased or
oiled, even if tightened to the specif ied
torque.
- Only use wheel bolts that belong to the
rim being installed.
- Never use different wheels bolts on your
vehicle.
-Always maintain the correct tighten ing
torque for the wheel bolts to reduce the
risk of a wheel loss. If the tightening tor
que of the wheel bolts is too low, they
can loosen and come out when the veh i
cle is moving. If the tightening torque is
too high, the whee l bolts and threads
can be damaged and the wheel can be
come loose.
@ Note
The spec ified torq ue fo r the wheel bo lts is
90 ft lb (120 Nm) w ith a toleran ce of± 7,4
ft lb(± 10 Nm). Torque wheel bo lts diago- nally
. After changing a whee l, the torque
must be checked as soon as possible with a
torque wrench -preferably by an author
i zed Audi dealer or qualified workshop.
Low aspect ratio tires
Your Audi is factory-equ ipped w ith low aspect
r atio tires . These tires have been tho roughly
tested and been se lected specifically for your
model for their superb perfo rmance, road fee l
and hand ling under a variety of d riving cond i
tions . As k your au thor ized A udi dealer for
more de tails .
T he low aspect ratio of these t ires is ind icated
by a numera l of
55 or less in the tire's s ize
designation. The nume ra l represen ts the ra tio
of the tire's sidewall height in relation to its
tread width expressed in percentage . Conven
tiona l tires have a he ight/width ratio of 60 or
more.
The performance of low- aspect-r atio tires is
p ar ticu la rly s ens iti ve to improper infl ation
p re ss ure. I t is th erefore im portant th at low
as pect ratio tires are inflated to the specified
pressure and that the inflation pressu re is
r e gularl y che cked and mainta ined. Tir e pre s
su res should be ch ecked at least onc e a
month and alwa ys bef ore a long trip
~ page 249, Checking tire pressure.
What you can do to a void tire and rim
damage
Low aspect ratio tires can be damaged more
easily by impact w it h potholes, curbs, gull ies
o r r idges on the road, pa rticularly if the tire is
u nderinfla ted .
In order to minimize the occurrence of impact
damage to the tires of you r vehicle, we recom
mend that you observe the follow ing p recau
tions:
- Always ma inta in recommended inflation
pressures. Check your tire pressure eve ry
2,000 miles (3,000 km) and add air if neces
sary .
- Dr ive carefully on roads with potholes, deep
gullies o r ridges. The impact from dr iv ing ..,.