2016 AUDI A3 airbag

Airbag syste m
-Always make sure that there is nothing on
the front passenger seat that w ill 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 signa l that it is occupied by some­
one who is heav ier than the person actually
sitting on the seat. The p resence of addi­
tional objects could cause the passenger
front airbag to be turned on when it shou ld
be off, or could cause the airbag to work in a
way that is different from the way it would
have worked without the ob ject on the seat.
Front airbags
Description of front airbags
The airbag system can provide supplemental
protection to properly restrained front seat occu­
pants.
F ig. 163 Location of driver airbag: in steering wheel
Fi g. 16 4 Locatio n of front passenger 's airbag: in the in·
strument panel
Your vehicle is equipped with an "Advanced Air ­
bag System" in comp liance with United States
Federa l Motor Vehicle Safety Standard
(FMVSS) 208, as well as Canada Motor Vehicle
Safety Standard (CMVSS) 208 as applicable at
188
the time your vehicle was manufactured. T he
safety belts for the seats have "pretensioners"
that he lp to take s lack out of the belt system .
The pretensioners are also activated by the elec­
tronic 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 stee ring wheel
hub
~ fig. 163 and the airbag for the front pas­
senger is in the instrument pane l
~fig. 164 . The
general locat ion of the airbags is marked "AIR­
BAG" .
There is a lot you need to know abo ut the airbags
i n your vehicle . We urge you to read the detai led
information about airbags , safety belts and ch ild
safety in this and the other chapters that make
up the ow ner's literature . Please be sure to heed
the WARNINGS -they are extremely important
fo r your safety and the safety of your passengers,
especially i nfants and small children .
.&, WARNING
-
Never rely on a irbags alone for prote ct io n.
- Even when they deploy, airbags p rovide only
supp lemental protection.
- Airbag work most effec tively when used
wit h properly worn safety be lts .
- Therefo re, always wear your safety be lts and
make sure that everybody in your veh icle is
properly restrained.
- Always hold the steering wheel w ith both
hands on the outside o f the steer ing whee l
rim at the 9:00 o'clock and 3:00 o'clock po­
si tions to help reduce the risk of personal i n­
jury if the driver's a irbag inflates.
- Never hold the stee ring wheel at the 12
o 'clock posi tion or with your hands any ­
where inside the steering wheel o r on the
steer ing whee l hub. Holding the steeri ng
wheel the wrong way increases the r isk of
severe injury to the arms, hands, and head if
the driver airbag deploys. .,,.

,....,
N
0 > co ,...., A WARNING
Objects between you and the airbag will in­
crease the risk of injury in a crash by interfer­
ing with the way the airbag unfolds and/or by
being pushed into you as the airbag inflates.
-Always make sure nothing is in the front air -
bag deployment zone that could be struck
by the airbag when it inflates .
- Objects in the zone of a deploying airbag
can become projectiles when the airbag de­
ploys and cause serious personal injury.
- Never hold things in your hands or on your
lap when the vehicle is in use .
-
-Never place accessories or other objects
(such as cup holders, telephone brackets,
note pads, navigation systems, or things
that are large, heavy, or bulky) on the doors;
never attach then to the doors or the wind­
shield; never place them over or near or at­
tach them to the area marked ,,AIRBAG" on
the steering wheel, instrument panel or the
seat backrests; never place them between these areas and you or any other person in
the vehicle .
- Never attach objects to the windshield
above the passenger front airbag, such as
accessory GPS navigation units or music players. Such objects could cause serious in­
jury in a collision, especially when the air­ bags inflate .
- Never recline the front passenger seat to
transport objects. Items can also move into
the deployment area of the side airbags or
the front airbag during breaking or in a sud­ den maneuver. Objects near the airbags can
fly dangerously through the passenger com­
partment and cause injury , particularly
when the seat is reclined and the airbags in­
flate.
A WARNING
A person on the front passenger seat, espe­ cially infants and small children, will receive
serious injuries and can even be killed by be­
ing too close to the airbag when it inflates.
- Although the Advanced Airbag System in
your vehicle is designed to turn off the front
Airbag system
passenger airbag if an infant or a small child
is on the front passenger seat, nobody can
absolutely guarantee that deployment un­
der these special conditions is impossible in
all conceivable situations that may happen
during the useful life of your vehicle .
- The Advanced Airbag System can deploy in accordance with the .,low risk" option for 3-
and 6-year-old children under the U.S. Fed­
eral Standard if a child with electrical capac­
itance greater than the combined capaci­
tance of a typical one-year old infant re­
strained in one of the forward facing or rear­
ward-facing child seats with which your ve­
hicle was certified is on the front passenger
seat and the other conditions for airbag de­
ployment are met .
- Accident statistics have shown that children
are generally safer in the rear seat area than
in the front seating position.
- For their own safety, all children, especially
12 years and younger, should always ride in
the back properly restrained for their age
and size.
Advanced front airbag system
Your vehicle is equipped with a front Advanced
Airbag System in compliance with United States
Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208 , as
well as Canada Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (CMVSS) 208 as applicable at the time your vehi­
cle was manufactured.
The front Advanced Airbag System supplements
the safety belts to provide additional protection
for the driver's and front passenger 's heads and
upper bodies in frontal crashes. The airbags in­
flate only in frontal impacts when the vehicle de­
celeration is high enough.
The front Advanced Airbag System for the front seat occupants is not a substitute for your safety
belts. Rather, it is part of the overall occupant re­
straint system in your vehicle. Always remember
that the airbag system can only help to protect
you, if you are sitting upright, wearing your safe­
ty belt and wearing it properly . This is why you
and your passengers must always be properly .,..
189

Airbag syste m
restrained, not just because the law requires you
to be.
The Advanced Airbag System in your veh icle has
been cert ified to meet the "low r isk" require­
ments for 3 and 6 year-o ld children on the pas­
senger side and very sma ll adults on the driver
side . The low risk dep loyment cr iteria are intend­
ed to he lp reduce the risk of injury through inter­
action with the front airbag that can occur, for
example, by being too close to the steering wheel
a nd instrument panel when the airbag inflates .
In addition, the system has been certified to
comply w ith the "suppression" requirements of
the Safety Standard, to turn off the front a irbag
for i nfants 12 months old and younger who a re
restrained on the front passenger seat in ch ild re­
stra ints that are listed in the Standa rd
¢ page 211, Child restraints and Advanced front
airbag system.
" Suppression" requ ires the front a irbag on the
passenger side to be tu rned off if:
- a child up to about one year of age is restra ined
o n the fro nt passenger seat in one of the rear­
facing or forward-facing infant restraints listed
in Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208
with wh ich the Advanced Airbag System in your
vehicle was certified. For a listing of the ch ild
restraints that were used to certify your vehi ­
cle's compliance with the US Safety Standard
¢ page 211,
-When a person is detected on the front passen­
ger seat that has an electrica l capacitance t hat
is more than the tota l electrical capacitance of
a chi ld that is about 1 year old restrained in one
of the rear-facing or forward-fac ing infant re­
straints (listed in Federal Motor Vehicle Safety
Standard 208 w ith w hich the Advanced A irbag
System in your veh icle was certified), the front
airbag on the passenge r side may or may not
deploy.
The
P ASS ENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes on
when the e lectron ic cont rol un it detects a total
e lectr ica l capacitance on the front passenger seat
that requires the front a irbag to be turned off. If
the
PAS SENGER AIR BAG OFF light does not
come on, the front airbag on the passenger side
190
has not been turned off by the contro l uni t and
can deploy if the contro l unit senses an impact
that meets the cond itions stored in its memory.
If the total e lectr ica l capacitance registered o n
the front passenger seat is more than that of a
typica l 1 year-old, but less than the weight of a
small adu lt, t he front a irbag on the passenger
s ide may deploy (the
PA SS ENGER AIR BAG OFF
light does not come on).
For e xample , the ai rbag ma y deplo y if:
- a small ch ild that is heav ier than a typica l 1
year-old child is on the front passenger seat
(regard less o f whether the child is in one o f the
child seats listed
¢ page 211),
-a child who has outgrown child restraints is on
the front passenger seat.
If the front passenger a irbag is t urned off, the
PA SSENGER AIR BAG O FF light in the center of
the instr ument pane l will come on and stay on .
If the front passenger a irbag deploys, the Feder­
al Standard requ ires the airbag to meet the "low
r isk" dep loyment criteria to he lp reduce the r isk
of inju ry through interaction with the airbag .
"Low risk" deployment occurs in those crashes
that take p lace at lower decelerations as defined
in the electronic contro l unit ¢
page 196.
Alwa ys remembe r: Even though your vehicle is
equipped with Advanced Airbags, the safest place
for children is properly restrained on the back
seat. Please be sure to read the important infor­
mation in the sections that fo llow and be sure to
heed all of the WARNINGS.
A WARNING
To reduce the risk of injury when an airbag in­
flates, always wea r safety belts prope rly.
- If you are unrestrained, leaning forward, sit­
ting sideways or out of position in any way,
your r isk of injury is much highe r.
- You will also receive ser ious injuries and
could even be killed if you are up against the
airbag or too close to it when i t inflates -
even with an Advanced Airbag
¢page 184.

,....,
N
0 > co ,...., A WARNING
A child in a rearward-facing child seat instal­
led on the front passenger seat will be seri­
ously injured and can be killed if the front air­
bag inflates - even with an Advanced Airbag
System.
-Although the Advanced Airbag System in
your vehicle is designed to turn off the front
airbag when a rearward-facing child re­
straint has been installed on the front pas­
senger seat, nobody can absolutely guaran­
tee that deployment is impossible in all con­ ceivable situations that may happen during
the useful life of your vehicle.
- The inflating airbag will hit the child seat or
infant carrier with great force and will
smash the child seat and child against the backrest, center armrest, door, or roof.
-Always install rearward-facing child re­ straints on the rear seat.
- If you must install a rearward facing child
seat on the front passenger seat because of
exceptional circumstances and the
PASSEN­
GER AIR BAG OFF light does not come on
and stay on, immediately install the rear­
facing child seat in a rear seating position and have the airbag system inspected by
your Audi dealer.
A WARNING
If, in exceptional circumstances, you must in­
stall a forward-facing child restraint on the
front passenger's seat:
- Always make sure the forward-facing seat
has been designed and certified by its man­
ufacturer for use on a front seat with a pas­
senger front and side airbag.
- Never put the forward-facing child restraint
up against or very near the instrument pan­
el.
- Always move the passenger seat into its
rearmost position in the seat's fore and aft
adjustment range, as far away from the air­
bag as possible, before installing the for­
ward-facing child restraint. The backrest must be adjusted to an upright position.
Airbag system
-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 some­
one who is heavier than the person actually
sitting on the seat. The presence of addi­
tional 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.
- Make sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF light comes on and stays on all the time
whenever the ignition is switched on.
Advanced Airbag System components
The front passenger seat in your vehicle has a lot
of very important parts of the Advanced Airbag
System in it . These parts include the capacitive
passenger detection system, wiring, brackets,
and more. The control unit monitors the system
on the front passenger seat when the ignition is
switched on and turns the airbag indicator light
on when a malfunction in the one of the system
components is detected
¢ page 196. Because
the front passenger seat contains important
parts of the Advanced Airbag System, you must
take care to prevent it from being damaged.
Damage to the seat may prevent the Advanced
Airbag System for the front passenger seat from
doing its job in a crash.
The front Advanced Airbag System consists
of the following:
-Crash sensors in the front of the vehicle that
measure vehicle acceleration/deceleration to
provide information to the Advanced Airbag
System about the severity of the crash.
- An electronic control unit, with integrated
crash sensors for front and side impacts. The
control unit "decides" whether to fire the front
airbags based on the information received from
the crash sensors. The control unit also "de­
cides" whether the safety belt pretensioners
should be activated.
111-
191

Airbag syste m
-An Advanced Airbag with gas generator for the
driver inside the steering wheel hub .
- An Advanced Airbag with gas generator ins ide
the instr ument pane l for the front passenger.
- A capacitive passenger detect io n system unde r­
neath the front passenger seat cover . This sys­
tem measures the electrical capacitance of the person in th e seat. The information registered
is sent continuously to the electron ic control
unit to regula te deployment of the front Ad­
vanced Airbag on the passenger s ide .
- An airbag monitoring system and indicator
light in the instrument cluster
¢ page 196.
-A sensor in each front seat registers the dis­
tance between the respective seat and the
steering wheel or instrument panel. The infor­
mation reg istered is sent continuously to the
electronic control un it to regulate deployment
of the fro nt Advanced A irbags.
- The
PASSENGER AIR BA G OFF light comes on
and stays on in the center of the instrument
panel ¢
page 236 and tells you when the front
Advanced Airbag on the p assenge r side has
been turned off .
- A sensor in the safety belt la tch for the driver
and for the front seat passenger that senses
whethe r that safety belt is latched or not and
transmits this information to the electronic contro l unit.
.&_ WARNING
Damage to the front passenger seat can pre­
vent the front airbag from working properly.
- Improper repa ir or disassemb ly of the front
passenger and driver seat w ill prevent the
Advanced Airbag System from functioning properly .
- Repairs to the front passenger seat must be
performed by qua lified and prope rly trained
workshop personnel.
- Never remove the front passenger or dr iver
seat from the vehicle.
- Never remove the upho lstery from the front
passenger seat.
- Never disassemble or remove parts from the
seat or disconnect wires from it.
192
- Never carry sharp objects in your pockets or
put them on the seat. The capacit ive pas­
senger detection mat in the front passenger
seat will not function properly if it is punc­
tured .
- Never carry things on your lap or carry ob­
jects on the front passenger seat . Such ob­
jects ca n influence the capacitance regis­
tered by the capacitive passenger detection
sys tem, so tha t incorrect informat io n is pro­
vided to the a irb ag cont rol unit.
- Never store items under the front passenger
se at. Parts of the Advanced Airbag System
un der the passenger seat could be dam­
aged, p reventing them and the airbag sys ­
tem from wor king p roper ly .
- Never p lace seat covers or replacement up­
holstery that have not been specifically ap­
proved by Audi on the front seats .
- Seat covers can prevent the Advanced A ir­
bag System from recognizing chi ld re­
straints or occupants on the front passenger
seat and prevent the side airbag in the seat
backrest from deploying properly.
- If a seat heater has been retrofitted or oth­
erwise added to the front passenger seat,
never install any child restra int system on
this seat.
- Never use cushions, p illows, blankets, or
sim ila r items o n the front passenger seat .
The additional layers prevent the capacit ive
passenge r detection sys tem from accurately
measuring the capacitance of the child safe­
ty seat and/or the person on the sea t and
t hus keep the Advanced A irbag System from
wo rking properly.
- Never p lace or use any e lectr ic al device
(such as a lap top, CD player, e lectronic
games device , power inve rter or seat heater
for child seats) on the front passenger seat if the device is connected to the 12 -volt
socket or the cigarette lighte r socket. Such
dev ices can influence the capac itance regis­
tered by the capaci tive passenger detection
system, so that incorrect informat io n is pro-
vided to the airbag cont rol unit.
~

,....,
N
0 > co ,...., -If you must use a child restraint on the front
passenger seat an d the child restraint man­
ufacturer's instructions require the use of a
towel, foam cushion or something else to
properly pos ition the ch ild rest raint, make
certain that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light comes on and stays on whenever the
child res trai nt is insta lled on the fron t pas­
senger seat.
- If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does
not come on and stay on, immedia tely in­
sta ll child res traint in a rear se ating 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 liqu id soaks into the front passenger seat,
this can keep the airbag system from work­ ing properly and may, for instance, deact i­
vate the passenger frontal airbag. If this happens, the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light will come on and stay on togethe r with
the a irbag ind icator light
fl (USA mod els)/
fll (Ca nada models) i n the ins trument clus­
t er.
- If liquid is poo led on t he seat, but has not
soa ked in, this may also keep the a irbag sys ­
tem from wo rking properly and ca use the
passenger frontal ai rbag to be enabled
(turned on), even though the re is a properly
installed ch ild restraint system on the seat.
Wet towe ls or other wet t hings on the seat
cushion can have the same effect. If the
fro nt passenger frontal airbag is t urned on,
the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF l ight will go
o ut.
How the Advanced Airbag System
components work together
The front Advanced Airbag System an d the side
ai rbags s upplement the protection offered by the
front three -point safety be lts with p retensioners
and load limiters and the adjustable head re­
stra ints* to help reduce the risk of injury in a
wide range of accident and crash situat ions. Be
Airb ag sys tem
su re to read the important in format ion about
safety and heed the WARNINGS in this chapter.
D eployment of the Adv anced A irbag System and
the ac tivation of the safety belt pretensioners de ­
pend on the dece le ration measured by the crash
sensors and registered by the electronic contro l
u nit . Crash severity depends on speed and dece l­
eration as well as the mass and stiffness of the
vehicle or object involved in the crash.
On the passenger side, regard less of safety be lt
u se, the front passenge r frontal airbag will be
turned off if the e lectr ica l capacitance measured
by the capacitive passenger detection system on
the front passenger seat is less than the amou nt
programmed in t he e lectron ic co ntrol unit. The
front passenge r frontal a irbag w ill also be turned
off if the capaci tance measu red by the sys tem for
the fron t passenger se at equals th at of a n in fan t
of about one year of age in one of t he ch ild seats
that was used to certify the Advanced Airbag Sys ­
tem under Fe d era l 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
r=:> page 196 .
,&_ WARNING
-To reduce the risk of injury when an airbag in-
flates, always wea r safe ty be lts prope rly.
- If you are u nrestra ined, leaning forward, si t­
ting sideways or ou t of posi tion in a ny way,
your r is k of injury is much hig he r.
- You will a lso receive ser ious injuries and
could even be killed if you a re up against the
a ir bag or too close to it when i t in flates -
even with an Advan ced Airb ag
<=:>page 184.
193

Airbag system
More important things to know about front
airbags
Fig. 165 In fla ted fro nt airb ags
Safety belts are important to help keep front
seat occupants in the proper seated position so
that airbags can unfold properly and provide sup­ p lemental protection in a frontal collision.
The front airbags are designed to provide addi­
tional protection for the chest and face of the
driver and the front seat passenger when:
- safety belts are worn properly ,
- the seats have been positioned so that the oc-
cupant is properly seated as far as possible
from the airbag,
- and for adjustable head restraints: the head re-
straints have been properly adjusted .
Because airbags inflate in the blink of an eye with
great force, thing s you have on your lap or have
placed on the seat could become dangerous pro­
jectiles , and be pushed into you if the airbag in­
flates .
When an airbag deploys, fine dust is released.
This is normal and is not caused by a fire in the
veh icle. This dust is made up mostly of a powder
used to lubricate the airbags as they deploy . It
could irritate sk in .
It is important to remember that while the sup ­
plemental a irbag system is designed to reduce
the likel ihood of serious injur ies , other injuries,
for example swel ling , bruising and m inor abra­
sions, can a lso happen when airbags inflate. Air­
bags do not protect the arms or the lower parts
of the body. Front airbags supplement the three ­
point safety belts only in some fronta l co llisions
194
in which the vehicle decele ration is high enough
to deploy the airbags.
Front airbags will not deploy:
- if the igni tion is sw itched off when a crash oc-
curs,
- in side collisions ,
- in rear-end co llisions,
- in rollovers,
- when the crash deceleration measured by the
airbag system is less than the minimum thresh­
old needed for airbag deployment as registered
by the electronic control un it .
The front passenger airbag also will not
deploy:
- when the front passenger seat is not occupied,
- when the electrical capacitance measured by
the capacit ive passenger detection system for
the front passenger seat ind icates that the pas ­
senger s ide frontal a irbag must be switched off
by the electronic control un it (the
PASSENGER
AIR BAG OFF
light ~ page 196 and how they
work comes on and stays on).
.&, WARNING
Sitting in the wrong position can increase the
risk of serious injury in cras hes .
- To reduce the risk of in jury w hen the airbags
inflate, the driver and passengers must al­
ways sit in an upright position, must not
lean against or place any part of their body
too close to the area where the airbags are
located.
- Occupants who are unbe lted, out of posit ion
or too close to the airbag can be seriously injured by an airbag as it unfolds with great
force in the blink of an eye
c?) page 185 .
A WARNING
A child in a rearward-facing child seat instal ­
led on the front passenger seat will be seri­
ously injured and can be killed if the front air­
bag inflates -
even with an Advanced Airbag
System.
- The inflating airbag will hit the child seat or
infant carrier with great force and will

,....,
N
0 > co ,...., smash the child 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 passenger seat because of
exceptional circumstances and the
PASSEN­
GER AIR BAG OFF
light does not come on
and stay on, immediately install the rear­
facing child seat in a rear seating position
and have the airbag system inspected by
your Audi dealer.
A WARNING
Objects between you and the airbag will in­
crease the risk of injury in a crash by interfer­
ing with the way the airbag unfolds or by be­
ing pushed into you as the airbag inflates.
- Never hold things in your hands or on your
lap when the vehicle is in use.
- Never transport items on or in the area of
the front passenger seat . Objects could
move into the area of the front airbags dur­
ing braking or other sudden maneuvers and
become dangerous projectiles that can
cause serious personal injury if the airbags
inflate.
- Never place or attach accessories or other objects (such as cup holders, telephone
brackets, large, heavy or bulky objects) on
the doors, over or near the area marked "AIRBAG" on the steering wheel, instru­
ment panel, seat backrests or between
those areas and yourself. These objects
could cause injury in a crash, especially
when the airbags inflate.
- Never recline the front passenger's seat to
transport objects. Items can also move into
the area of the side airbag or the front air­ bag during braking or in a sudden maneu­
ver. Objects near the airbags can become
projectiles and cause injury, particularly
when the seat is reclined.
- Never place or transport objects on the front passenger seat. Objects on the front passenger seat could cause the capacitive
sensor in the seat to signal to airbag system
Airbag system
that the seat is occupied by a person when it
in fact is not, or that the person on the seat
is heavier than he or she actually is. The
change in electric capacitance because of
such objects can cause the passenger front
airbag to be turned on when it should be
off, or can cause the airbag to work in a way
that is different from the way it would have
worked without objects on the seat.
- 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 some­
one who is heavier than the person actually
sitting on the seat. The presence of an ob­
ject 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.
_LD. WARNING
The fine dust created when airbags deploy can cause breathing problems for people with a
history of asthma or other breathing condi­
tions.
- To reduce the risk of breathing problems,
those with asthma or other respiratory con­
ditions should get fresh air right away by
getting out of the vehicle or opening win­
dows or doors.
- If you are in a collision in which airbags de­ ploy, wash your hands and face with mild
soap and water before eating .
- Be careful not to get the dust into your eyes,
or into any cuts or scratches.
- If the residue should get into your eyes, flush them with water .
195