2016 AUDI A4 Owners Manual

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-A loose-fitting safety be lt can cause serious
injuries by shifting its pos ition 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
c!) page 132.
Pregnant women must also be correctly
restrained
The bes t way to pro tec t the fe tus is to make sure
that expectant mothers always wear safety belts
correctly -throughout the pregnancy .
Fig . 14 9 Safe ty belt pos itio n dur ing pregn an cy
To provide max imum p rotection, safety belts
must always be positioned correctly on the wear­
er's body
c:> page 134.
.,. Adjust the front seat and head restraint cor­
rectly ¢
page 59 , Seats and storage .
.,. Make su re th e seatback of the rear seat bench
is in an upright position and secure ly latched in
place before using the belt.
.,. Hold the belt by the tongue and pull it even ly
across the chest and pelv is
c:> fig. 149, c:> ,& .
.,. Inse rt the tongue into the cor rec t buckle of
you r seat until you hea r it latch securely
,:!)page 133, fig . 147.
.,. Pull on the be lt to m ake sure that it is securely
latched in the bu ck le .
& WARNING
Improperly positioned safety be lts can cause
ser ious personal inj ury in an accident.
- Expectant mothers must a lways wear the
lap portion of the safety belt as low as pos­
sible across the pelvis and below the round­ ing of the abdomen .
Safety bel ts
-Always read and heed all WARNINGS and
other important informat ion ¢
A in Fasten­
ing safety belts on page 134.
Unfastening safety belts
Unbuckle the safety belt with the red release
button only o~er the vehicle has stopped.
.,
JJ
Fig. 150 Releasi ng t he to ngue from the buckle
.,. Push the red re lease but ton on the buck le
r:!) fig. 150 . The belt tongue w ill spr ing out of
t he buck le
c:> ,& .
.,. Let the belt wind up on the retra ctor as yo u
guide the belt tongue to its stowed posit ion.
& WARNING
Never unfasten safety belt whi le the vehicle is
moving . Do ing so will increase your r isk of be­
i ng 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 fi tted to the shoulder area, according to
body size .
Fig. 1 51 Safety belt height a dju stm ent fo r th e fro nt seat s
0 .... N 0
:i: .., co
... 0 0
0
6 ... co
-loop -a round fittings Ill>
135

Safety belts
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
c::> A in Safety belt position on
page 134.
"' Push
the loop -around fittings up c::> fig. 151 @ ,
or
"'squeeze together the (D button, and push the
loop-around fittings down@.
"'Pull the belt to make sure that the upper at­
tachment is properly engaged .
A WARNING
Always read and heed all WARNINGS and oth­ er important informat ion
c::> page 132.
(D Tips
With the front seats, the height adjustment of the seat can also be used to adjust the po­
sition of the safety belts.
Improperly worn safety belts
Incorrectly positioned safety belts can cause se­
vere injuries.
Wearing safety belts improperly can cause seri­
ous injury or death. Safety belts can only work
when they are correctly positioned on the body.
Improper seating positions reduce the effect ive­
ness of safety belts and will even inc rease the
risk of injury and death by mov ing the safety belt
to cr it ica l areas of the body. Improper seating
positions a lso increase the risk of serious injury
and death when an airbag deploys and strikes an
occupant who is not in the correct seating pos i­
tion. A driver is responsible for the safety of all
veh icle occupants and especially for children.
Therefore:
"' Never permit anyone to assume an incorrect
sitting position in the vehicle while traveling
c>_& .
A WARNING
Improperly worn safety belts increase the risk
of serious personal injury and death whenever
a vehicle is being used.
136
- Always make sure that all vehicle occupants
are correctly restrained and stay in a correct
seating position whenever the vehicle is be­
ing used.
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS and
other important informat ion
c::> page 132.
Belt tensioners
How safety belt pretensioners work
In front, side and rear-end collisions above a
particular severity, safety belts ore tensioned au­ tomatically.
The safety belts are equipped w ith safety belt
pretensioners . The system is activated by sensors
i n front, side and rear-end collisions of great se­
verity . This t igh tens the belt and takes up belt
s lack
c::> & in Service and disposal of safety belt
pretensioner on page 137.
Tak ing up the s lack
helps to reduce forward occupant movement dur­
ing a collis ion.
(D Note
Never let the belt remain over a rear seatback
that has been folded forward .
@ Tips
The safety belt pretensioner can only be acti­
vated once.
- Th e safety belt pretensioners do not deploy
in minor frontal, side and rear-end colli­
sions.
- In the case of a side crash, the safety belt
pretensioners will activate on the driver's or
front passenger's sides only, depending on
wh ich side of the vehicle the crash occurs.
- When the safety belt pretensioners are acti­
vated, a fine dust is released. This is normal
and is not caused by a fire in the vehicle.
- The relevant safety requirements must be
observed when the vehicle or components
of the system are scrapped. An authorized
Audi dealer or qualified workshop is familiar
with these regulations and will be pleased
to pass on the information to you. .,_

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0 ::..:: co ..... ..... -Be sure to observe all safety, environmental
and other regulations if the vehicle or indi­
v idual parts of the system, particularly the
safety be lt or airbag, are to be disposed. We
recommend you have your author ized Audi
dealer perform this serv ice for you.
Service and disposal of safety belt preten­
sioner
The safety belt pretens ione rs are parts of the
safety be lts on yo ur Audi. Installing, removing,
servicing or repairing of belt pretensioners can
damage the safety belt system and prevent it
from work ing correctly in a collision .
There are some important things you have to
know to make sure that the effectiveness of the
system wi ll not be impaired and that discarded
components do not cause injury or poll ute the
environment.
A WARNING
Improper care, serv icing and repa ir proce­
dures can increase the r isk of personal injury
and death by preventing a safety be lt preten­
sioner from activating when needed or acti­
vating i t unexpectedly:
- The be lt pretensione r system can be act ivat­
ed only once.
If belt pretensione rs have
been ac tiva ted, the system must be re­
placed.
- Never repair, adjust, or change any parts of
the s afety be lt system.
- Safe ty bel t systems in cl ud ing safe ty belt
pretens ioners cannot be repaired. Specia l
procedu res are req uired for removal, insta l­
lat ion and disposa l of this system.
- For any wor k on the safety belt system, we
strongly recommend that you see your au ­
thorized Audi dea ler o r qualified technician
who has an Audi approved repair manual,
train ing and special equipment necessary.
@ For the sake of the environment
Undep loyed airbag modu les and pretension ­
ers might be classified as Perch lorate Materi­
al -special handling may apply, see
www.dtsc.ca.gov/hazardouswaste/perchlo-
S afet y be lts
rate. When the vehicle or parts of the re­
straint system including airbag modu les safe­
ty belts with pretensioners are scrapped, all
applicable laws and regu lations 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.
137

Airbag syste m
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
ge rs , before driving off, always :
"' Adjust the driver's seat and steering wheel
properly ¢
page 122,
"'Adjust the front passenge r's seat properly
¢ page 60,
"'Wear safety belts p roperly ¢ page 132 ,
"'Always properly use the proper child restraint
to protect children
¢ page 158.
In a coll is io n airbags must inflate wi thin the b link
of an eye and with cons iderable force . The sup­
p lemental airbags can cause injuries if the driver
or the front seat passenger is not s eated proper ·
Ly. T herefore in order to help the airbag to do its
job, it is important, both as a dr iver and as a pas­
senger to sit properly at all t imes .
By keeping room between your body and the
steering whee l and the front of the passenger
compartment, the a irbag can inflate fully and
completely and provide supplemental protect ion
in certain frontal collisions¢
page 122, Correct
passenger seating positions .
For details on the
operation of the seat adjustment con trols
¢ page 60.
It's especially important that children are proper ­
ly restra ined
¢ page 158 .
There is a lot that the driver and the passengers
can and must do to help the ind iv idual safety fea­
tures installed in your Audi work together as a
system .
Proper seating posit ion is important so that the
front airbag on the drive r side can do its job. If
you have a physical impairment or cond ition that
prevents you from s itting properly on the driver
seat with the safety be lt properly fastened and
138
reaching the peda ls, special modifications to
your vehicle may be necessary.
Contact yo ur aut ho rized Aud i dea le r, or call A udi
C u stomer Rela tions a t 1-800-822-2834.
When the airbag sys tem dep loys, a gas generator
will fill the a irbags, b reak open the padded cov­
e rs, and inflate betwee n the steering wheel and
the driver and between the inst rument pa nel and
the front passenger . The a irbags w ill deflate im­
mediate ly after dep loyment so t hat the front oc­
cupants can see th ro u gh the windsh ie ld again
without interruption.
A ll of th is takes p lace in the blink of an eye, so
fast that many people don't even rea lize that the
airbags have deployed. The airbags a lso inflate
with a great deal of force and nothing should be i n the ir way when they deploy. Front airbags in
combination with properly worn safety belts slow
down and lim it t he occupant's forward move­
ment . T ogether they he lp to prevent the driver
and front sea t passenger from h itti ng pa rts of
t h e i nside the veh icle w hile reducing the fo rces
acti ng on the occupant dur ing the cras h. In th is
way they help to reduce the risk of inju ry to the
head and uppe r body i n the crash. Airbags do not
protect the arms or the lower parts of the body.
Both front airbags will not infla te in all frontal
collisions . The trigge ring of the airbag system de ­
pends on the vehicle deceleration rate caused by
the coll is ion and registered by the electronic con­
tro l unit . If this rate is be low the reference value
programmed into the contro l unit, the airbags
will not be triggered, even though the car may be
badly damaged as a resu lt of the co llision. Vehi­
cle damage, repa ir costs or even the lack of vehi­
cl e damage is not ne cessari ly an indication of
whethe r an a irbag should infla te o r not.
It is not possib le to define a range of vehicle
speeds that w ill cove r every possible k ind and an­
gle of impa ct that will always tr igger the airbags ,
s in ce the circumst ances w ill vary cons iderably be ­
tween one collision and anot her. Important fac­
tors include, for examp le, the natu re (hard or
soft) of the object which the car hits, t he angle of
i mpact, vehicle speed, etc . The front airbags will ..,_

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0 ::..:: co ..... ..... also not inflate in side or rear collisions, or in
ro ll-overs.
A lwa ys rememb er: Airbags will deploy only o nce,
and on ly in certain kinds of coll is ions. Your safety
be lts are always there to offer protection in those
situations in which airbags are not supposed to
deploy, or when they have a lready deployed; for
examp le, when your vehicle str ikes or is struck by
another after the first collis ion.
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 effect ively when used with the safety belts.
Therefore, always properly wear your safety belts
r:::;,page 130.
A WARNING
Sitting too close to the steer ing whee l or in­
st rument panel will decrease the effect ive­
ness of the airbags and will inc rease the risk
o f persona l injury in a co llision.
- Never sit closer than 10 inches (25 cm) to
the steering wheel or instrument panel.
- If you cannot sit mo re than 10 inches
( 2 5 cm) from the steering wheel, inves ti­
gate whethe r adaptive equipment may be
available to help you reach the pedals and
increase your seating distance from the
steering wheel.
- If you are unrest rained, leaning forward, s it­
ting s ideways or out of position in any way,
your risk of in jury is much h igher.
- Yo u will also receive serious injur ies and
cou ld even be killed if you are up against the
airbag or too close to it when it inf lates -
even with an Advanced Airbag.
- To reduce the risk of in jury when an airbag
inflates, a lways wear safety belts p roperly
i=> page 133, Safety belts .
-Always make certain that ch ild ren age 12 or
younger always ride in the rear seat. If chil­ dren are not properly restra ined, they may
be severe ly injured o r kill ed when an airbag
inflates .
- Never let children ride unrestrained or im­ prope rly restrained in the veh icle. Adjust the
fro nt sea ts properly .
-
Airb ag sys tem
-Never ride with the back rest recl ined.
-Always sit as fa r as possible from the steer-
ing wheel o r the instrument panel
r:::;,page 122.
-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 ser ious injuries to the legs and hips if
the airbag inflates.
- Never recline the front passenger's seat to transpo rt objects. Items can also move into
the area of the s ide a irbag or the front air­
bag during braking or in a sudden maneu­
ver. Objects nea r the airbags can become
p roje ct il es and cause injury when an airbag
inflates.
A WARNING
A irbags tha t h ave deployed in a cr ash m ust be
r e p laced.
- Use o nly orig inal equipment airbags ap ­
p roved by A udi a nd insta lled by a trained
technici an who has the necessary tools and
diagnostic equipment to properly replace
any airbag in yo ur vehicle and assu re system
effect iveness 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 sure to read the important i nformat ion and
head the WARNINGS for important deta ils
about ch ildren and Advanced A irbags
r:::;, page 158.
Even though your veh icle is equipped wit h an Ad ­
vanced Airbag System, make certa in that a ll chil­
dre n, espec ia lly those 1 2 yea rs and yo unger, al­
ways r ide in the back se at prope rly res train ed fo r
their age and size. The ai rbag on t he p asse nger
s ide makes t he fron t seat a potentia lly dange rous
place for a child to ride. The front seat is not the
sa fest p lace for a child in a forward-facing child .,.
139

Airbag syste m
safety seat. It can be a very dangerous p lace for
an infant or a child in a rearward-facing seat.
The Advanced Airbag System i n your veh icle has
been ce rt ified to comp ly with the requirements
of United States Federal Motor Vehicle Safety
Standard (FMVSS)
208, as well as Canada Motor
Veh icle Safety Standard (CMVSS)
208 as applica ­
b le at the time your vehicle was manufactured.
According to requirements, the front Advanced
Airbag System on the passenger s ide has been
certified for "suppression " for infants of about
12 month old and younger and for "low risk de­
p loyment " for children aged
3 to 6 years o ld (as
defined in the standard).
The
PA SSENGER AIR BAG OFF light in the instru­
ment panel tells you when the front Advanced
Ai rbag on the passenger side has been tu rned off
by the elect ronic cont rol unit.
Each t ime you tur n on the ignit ion , the
PASSEN­
GER AIR BAG OFF
light will come on fo r a few
seconds and :
- will stay on if the front passenger seat is not
occupied,
- will s tay on if there is a small c hild or child re­
straint on the front passenger seat,
- will go off if the front passenger seat is occu­
pied by an adult as reg istered by the weight ­
sensing mat¢
page 148, Monitoring the Ad­
vanced Airbag System .
The PAS SENGER AIR BAG O FF light comes on
when the control unit detects a total we ight on
the front passenger seat that requires the front
airbag to be turned off.
If the tota l weight on the front passenger seat is
more than that of a typical 1 year -old child but
less than the we ight of a small adult, the front
a irbag on the passenger side can deploy (the
PAS SENGER AIR BAG OFF light does not come
on) .
If the PAS SENGER AIR BAG OFF light does
not come on, the front a irbag on the passenger
side has not been turned off by the electronic
control unit and can deploy if the control unit
senses an impact that meets the condit ions stor ­
ed in its memory.
For e xample, the airbag may deploy if:
140
- a small chi ld that is heavier than a typica l 1
year-o ld child is on th e front passenger seat
(regard less of whether the child is in one of the
child safety seats listed ¢
page 160), or
- a child who has outgrown c hild restraints is on
the front passenger seat.
If the front passenger a irbag is t urned off, the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes on in the
instrument cluster and stays on.
The fro nt airbag on the passenge r side may
not
deploy (the PAS SENGER AIR BAG OFF light does
not ill uminate and stay lit) even if a small adu lt
or teenager, or a passenger who is not sitting up­
right with thei r back against a non-recl ined back­
rest with the ir fee t on the vehicle floor in front of
the sea t is on the fron t passenger sea t
<=> page 122, Proper seating position for the driv ­
er .
If the front passenger a irbag deploys, the Feder­
al Standard requires the airbag to meet the "low
risk" deployment cr iteria to reduce the r isk of in ­
jury through interaction w ith the airbag . '' low
risk " deployment occurs in those crashes that
take place at lowe r de cele rations as defined in
the e lec tronic co ntro l unit ¢
page 148, PASSEN­
GER AIR BAG OF F light.
Always remembe r, a chi ld safety seat or infant
c ar rie r ins talled on the front seat may be s truck
and knocked ou t of posit ion by t he rap idly i nflat­
i ng passenge r's airbag in a frontal coll is ion . The
airbag could greatly red uce the effectiveness of
the child restraint and even seriously injure the child during inflation.
Fo r th is reason, and beca use the back seat is the
safest place for children -when properly restrain ­
ed according to their age and size -we strongly
recommend that children always sit in the back
seat
c> page 158, Child safety .
A WARNING
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
a ir bag inflates - even with an Advanced Airbag
Sys tem.
Ill>

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0 ::..:: co ..... ..... -The inflating airbag will hit the child safety
seat or infant carrier with great force and
will smash the chi ld safety seat and child
against the backrest, center armrest, door
or roof .
- Always install rear-facing child safety seats
on the rear seat.
- If you must install a rearward fac ing ch ild
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, immed iate ly install
the rear-fac ing ch ild safety seat in a rear
seating pos it ion and have the airbag system
inspected by your a uthorized Audi dea le r.
- Forward-fac ing ch ild safety seats installed
on the front passenger's seat may interfere
with the deployment of the airbag and
cause serious personal injury to the child.
~ WARNING
If, in except ional circumstances, you must in­
stall a forward-facing chi ld restraint on the
front passenger 's seat:
- Always ma ke sure the forward-fac ing seat
has been designed and certified by its man­
ufacturer for use on a front seat with a pas­
senger front and s ide a irbag.
- 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 fa r away from the air­
bag as possib le befo re installing the for­
wa rd- facing child restra int. The bac krest
must be adjusted to an up right posit ion.
- Make sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
light comes on and stays on all the time
whenever the ignition is switched on.
A WARNING
To red uce the risk of serious in jury, make s ure
t hat the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light w ill
be displayed wheneve r a child restraint is in­
stalled on t he front passenger seat and t he
ign ition is switched on.
Airb ag sys tem
-If the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does
not stay on, perform the checks described
¢ page 148, Monitoring the Advanced Air­
bag System .
-Take the child restra int off the front passen­
ger seat and install it prope rly at one of the
rear seat positions if the
PASSENGER AIR
BAG OFF
light does no t stay on.
- Have the airbag system inspected by your
author ized Audi dealer immed iately .
- Always carefully follow instructions from
child restraint manufacture rs when instal ­
ling child restra ints .
A WARNING
-If, in exceptional c ircumstances, you must in-
stall a forward or rearward-facing child re­
stra int on t he fron t passenger 's seat:
- Imp roper installat ion of child res traints can
reduce the ir effectiveness or even prevent
them from provi ding any pro te ct ion.
- An imprope rly installed child restra int can
interfere wi th the airbag as it deploys and
serio usly injure or even kil l the c hild -eve n
with an Advanced A irb ag Sys tem.
- Always carefully follow the manufacturer's
instr uctions provided wi th the child sa fe ty
seat or ca rr ie r.
- Never p lace add ition al it ems on the se at
that can increase the total weight registered
by the weight -sensing mat and can cause in ­
jury in a crash .
141

Airbag syste m
Front airbags
Description of front airbags
The airbag system can provide supplemental
protection to properly restrained front seat occu­
pants.
Fig. 152 Location of driver airbag: in steering whee l
Fig. 153 Location of front passenger's airbag: in the in­
strument panel
Your veh icle is equipped with an "Advanced Air­
bag System" in compliance with Un ited States
Federa l Motor Vehicle Safety Standard
(FMVSS) 208, as well as Canada Motor Vehicle
Safety Sta ndard (CMVSS) 208 as app licable at
the time your vehicle was manufactured. The
safety belts for the seats have "pretensioners"
that help to take slack out of the belt system.
The pretensioners are also activated by the elec­
tronic control unit for the airbag system.
The front safety be lts also have load limiters to
help reduce the forces applied to the body in a
crash.
The airbag for the driver is in the steering wheel
hub
<=>fig . 152 and the airbag for the front pas­
senger is in the instrument panel
<=>fig. 153. The
general location of the airbags is marked "AIR­
BAG".
142
There is a lot you need to know about the airbags
in your vehicle . We urge you to read the detailed
i nformation about airbags, safety belts and child
safety in this and the other chapters that make
up the owner's literature. Please be sure to heed
the WARNINGS -they are extremely important
for your safety and the safety of your passengers,
especially infants and small children .
.&_ WARNING -
Never rely on airbags alone for prote ct ion.
- Even when they deploy, airbags provide only supp lemental protection.
- Airbag work most effectively when used with properly worn safety be lts.
- Therefore, always wear your safety belts and make sure that everybody in your veh icle is
properly restrained .
.&_ WARNING
A person on the front passenger seat, espe­
cially infants and small ch ildren, wi ll receive
serious inju ries and can even be killed by be­
ing too close to the airbag when it inf lates.
- Although the Advanced Airbag System in
-
your vehicle is designed to turn off the front passenger airbag i f 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 under
the U.S. Federal Standard if a child that is
heav ier than the typical one-year old ch ild is
on the front passenger seat and the other
conditions for airbag deployment are met.
- Accident statistics have shown that children are generally safer in the rear seat area than
in the front seat ing pos ition.
- For their own safety, all chi ld ren, especially
12 years and younger, should always ride in
the back proper ly restrained for their age
and size .