
.... N
0 I-co ....
Important information
Importance of wearing safety belts and
sitting properly
Airbags are only supplemental restraints. For
airbags to do their job, occupants must always
properly wear their safety belts and be in a prop er seating position.
For your safety and the safety of your passen
gers, before driving off, always :
""Adjust the driver's seat and steering wheel
properly 9page
113,
""Adjust the front passenger's seat properly
9page 55,
.,. Wear safety belts properly 9 page 123,
.,. Always properly use the proper child restraint
to protect children
9 page 151.
In a collision airbags must inflate within the blink
of an eye and with considerable force. The sup
plemental airbags can cause injuries if the driver
or the front seat passenger is not seated proper
ly . Therefore in order to help the airbag to do its
job, it is important, both as a driver and as a pas
senger to sit properly at all times .
By keeping room between your body and the
steering wheel and the front of the passenger
compartment, the airbag can inflate fully and
completely and provide supplemental pro tection
in certain frontal collisions
o page 113, Correct
passenger seating positions .
For details on the
operation of the seat adjustment controls
o page 55.
It 's especially important that children are proper
ly restrained
9page 151.
There is a lot that the driver and the passengers
can and must do to help the individual safety fea
tures installed in your Audi work together as a
system.
Proper seating position is important so that the
front airbag on the driver side can do its job. If
you have a physical impairment or condition that prevents you from sitting properly on the driver
seat with the safety belt properly fastened and
Airbag system
reaching the pedals, special modifications to
your vehicle may be n ecessary.
Contact your authorized Audi dealer, or call Audi
Customer Relations at 1-800-822-2834.
When the airbag system deploys, a gas generator
will fill the airbags , break open the padded cov
ers, and inflate between the steering wheel and
the driver and between the instrument panel and
the front passenger. The airbags will deflate im
mediately after deployment so that the front oc
cupants can see through the windshield again
without interruption.
All of this takes place in the blink of an eye, so
fast that many people don't even realize that the airbags have deployed. The airbags also inflate
with a great deal of force and nothing should be in their way when they deploy. Front airbags in
combination with properly worn safety belts slow
down and limit the occupant's forward move
ment . Together they help to prevent the driver
and front seat passenger from hitting parts of
the inside the vehicle while reducing the forces
acting on the occupant during the crash. In this
way they help to reduce the risk of injury to the head and upper body in the crash. Airbags do not
protect the arms or the lower parts of the body.
Both front airbags will not inflate in all frontal
collisions. The triggering of the airbag system de
pends on the vehicle deceleration rate caused by
the collision and registered by the electronic con
trol unit . If this rate is below the reference value
programmed into the control unit, the airbags
will not be triggered, even though the car may be
badly damaged as a result of the collision . Vehi
cle damage, repair costs or even the lack of vehi
cle damage is not necessarily an indication of
whether an airbag should inflate or not.
It is not possible to define a range of vehicle
speeds that will cover every possible kind and an
gle of impact that will always trigger the airbags ,
since the circumstances will vary considerably be
tween one collision and another. Important fac
tors include, for example, the nature (hard or soft) of the object which the car hits, the angle of
impact, vehicle speed, etc . The front airbags will
IIJJ,
129

,-1 N
0 1-CX)
,-1 I.Cl U"I
,-1 I.Cl ......
Front airbags
Description of front airbags
The airbag system can provide supplemental
protection to properly restrained front seat occu
pants .
Fig. 131 Loca tion of driver airbag: in steering wheel
Fig. 132 Loca tion of fron t passenger's airbag: i n the in
st rument panel
Your veh icle is equipped with an "Advanced Air
bag System" in compliance with United States
Federa l Motor Vehicle Safety Standard
(FMVSS) 208, as well as Canada Motor Vehicle
Safety Standard (CMVSS) 208 as app licab le 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 belts also have load limiters to help reduce the forces applied to the body in a
crash.
The airbag fo r the driver is in the steering whee l
hub ¢
fig. 131 and the airbag for the front pas
senger is in the instrument panel¢
fig. 132. The
general location of the airbags is marked "AIR
BAG".
Airb ag sys tem
There is a lot you need to know about the airbags
in 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 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 a irbags alone fo r protect ion.
- Even when they deploy, airbags provide only supplemental protection.
-Airbag work most effectively when used with proper ly worn safety be lts .
- Therefore, always wear your safety belts and make sure that everybody in your vehicle is
properly restrained.
_&. WARNING
--A pe rson on the front passenger seat, espe
cially infants and small ch ild ren, w ill receive
se rious inj ur ies and can even be k illed by be
i ng 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 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 impossib le in
all conceivable situations that may happen
during the useful life of your vehicle .
- The Advanced Airbag System can dep loy in
accordance with the "low risk" opt ion under
the U.S. Federal Standard if a ch ild that is
heavier than the typ ical 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 sea t area than
in the front sea ting pos ition.
- For their own safety, all c hildren, especially
12 yea rs and younger, should always ride in
the back properly restrained for their age and size .
133

Airbag system
The PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light is located in
the center of the instrument panel
r::;, fig. 134.
The PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light will come on
and stay on to tell you when the front Advanced
Airbag on the passenger side has been turned off
by the electronic control unit. Each time you turn
on the ignition, the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light will flash for a few seconds and:
- will stay on if the front passenger seat is not
occupied,
-will stay on if there is a small child or child re
straint on the front passenger seat,
- will go out if the front passenger seat is occu
pied by an adult as registered by the weight
sensing mat.
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 seat,
or
- a rearward-facing child restraint has been in
stalled on the front passenger seat , or
- a forward-facing child restraint has been instal
led on the front passenger seat, or
- the weight registered on the front passenger
seat is equal to or less than the combined
weight of a typical 1 year-old restrained in one
of the rear-facing or forward-facing infant re
straints 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 restraint is at one of the seating po
sitions on the rear seat
r::;, page 130, Child re
straints on the front seat -some important
things to know
and <=> page 151, Child safety.
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
tain that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
stays on continuously whenever the ignition is
on . If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does
140 not appear and not stay on all the
time, stop as
soon as it is safe to do so and
- reactivate the system by turning the ignition
off and then turning it on again ;
- remove and reinstall the child restraint. Make
sure that the child restraint is properly instal
led and that the safety belt for the front pas
senger seat has been correctly routed around
the child restraint as described in the child re
straint manufacturer's instructions;
- make sure that the convertible locking retrac
tor on the safety belt for the front passenger
seat has been activated and that the safety belt
has been pulled tight. The belt must not be
loose or have loops of slack so that the sensor
below the safety belt latch on the seat can do
its job
r::;, page 160 .
-make sure that things that may increase the
weight of the child and child safety seat are not
being transported on the front passenger seat;
- make sure that the safety belt tension sensor is
not blocked . Shake the safety belt latch on the
front passenger seat back and forth;
- If a strap or tether is being used to tie the child
safety seat to the front passenger seat, make
sure that it is not so tight that it causes the
weight-sensing mat to measure more weight
than is actually on the seat.
If the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light still does
not come on
and does not stay on continuously
(when the ignition is switched on),
- take the child restraint off the front passenger
seat and install it properly at one of the rear
seat positions. Have the airbag system inspect
ed by your authorized Audi dealer immediately.
- move the child to a rear seat position and make
sure that the child is properly restrained in a
child restraint that is appropriate for its size
and age.
The
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light should NOT
come on when the ignition is on and an adult is
sitting in a proper seating position on the front
passenger seat.
If the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light comes on and stays on or flashes for about
5 seconds while driving, under these circumstan-
ces, make sure that:
1111>

.... N
0 I-co ....
Important information
Introduction
The rear seat is generally the safest place in a
collision .
The physical principles of what happens when
your vehicle is in a crash apply also to children
c:> page 122, What happens to occupants not
wearing safety belts? .
But unlike adults their
muscles and bones are not fully developed. In
many respects ch ildren are at greater risk of seri
ous injury in crashes than adults.
Because children's bodies are not fully devel
oped, they require restraint systems especially
des igned for their size, we ight, and body struc
ture. Many countr ies and all states of the United
States and provinces of Canada have laws requir
ing the use of approved child restraint systems
for infants and small children .
I n a frontal crash at a speed of 20-3S mph
(30-56 km/h) the forces acting on a 13-pound
(6 kg) infant will be more than 20 times the
weight of the child. This means the weight of the
child would suddenly be more than 260 pounds (120 kg) . Under these conditions, only an appro
priate child restraint properly used can reduce
the risk of serious injury . Child restraints must be
used properly to be effective. Used improperly,
they can increase the risk of serious injury in an
accident.
Consult the child safety seat manufacturer's in
structions to be sure the seat is right for your
child's size
c:> page 154, Important safety in
structions for using child safety seats.
Please be
sure to read and heed all of the important infor
mation and WARNINGS about child safety, Ad
vanced Airbags, and the installation of chi ld re
straints in this chapter.
There is a lot you need to know about the Ad
vanced Ai rbags in yo ur vehicle and how they work
when infants and children in chi ld restraints are
on the front passenger seat. Because of the large
amount of important information, we cannot re
peat it all here. We urge you to read the detailed
Child safety
information in this owner 's manual about airbags
and the Advanced Airbag System in your vehicle
and the very important information about trans
porting children on the front passenger seat.
Please be sure to heed the WARNINGS - they are
extremely important for your safety and the safe
ty of you r passengers, especially infants and
small ch ildren.
,&. WARNING
-Accident statistics have shown that children
are generally safer in the rear seat area than
in the front seating position. Always restrain
any child age 12 and under in the rear.
- All vehicle occupants and especially children
m ust be restrained properly whenever riding
in a vehicle. An unrestrained or improperly
restrained child could be injured by striking
the interior or by be ing ejected from the ve
hicle dur ing a sudden maneuver or impact.
An unrestrained or improperly restrained
child is also at greater r isk of injury or death
through contact w ith an inf lating a irbag.
- A suitable child restraint properly installed and used at one of the rear seating positions
provides the h ighest degree of protect ion
for infants and small children in most acci
dent situations.
,&. WARNING
Children on the front seat of any car even with
Advanced Airbags can be seriously injured or
even killed when an airbag inflates . A child in
a rearward-facing chi ld safety seat installed
on the front passenger seat will be seriously
i njured and can be killed if the front airbag in
flates.
- The inflating airbag will h it the ch ild safety
seat or infant carr ier with great force and
will smash the child safety seat and child
aga inst the backrest, center armrest or
door .
- Always install rearward-facing child safety
seats on the rear seat.
- If you must install a rearward facing child
safety seat on the front passenger seat in
151

.... N
0 I-co ....
recorded by the Event
Data Recorder and
vehicle control modules
E ve nt Dat a Record er
This vehicle is equipped wi th an Event Data Re
corder (EDR) . The main purpose of an EDR is to
record, in certain crash or near crash-like situa
tions, such as an a irbag deployment or hitting a
road obstacle, data that will assist in understand
ing how a vehicle's systems performed. The EDR
is designed to record data related to vehicle dy
namics and safety systems for a short period of
time, typically 30 seconds or less. The EDR in this
ve hicle is designed to reco rd such data as:
- How various systems in your vehicle were oper
at ing;
- Whether or not the driver and passenger safety
belts were buckled/fastened;
- How far (if at all) the dr iver was depressing the
accelerator and/or brake pedal; and,
- How fast the vehicle was traveling.
These data can he lp provide a better understand
ing of the c ircumstances in which crashes and in
juries occur. NOTE: EDR data are recorded by your
veh icle only if a non-trivia l crash situation occurs;
no data are recorded by the EDR under normal
driving conditions and no personal data (e .g.,
name, gender, age, and crash location) are re
corded. However, other parties, such as law en
forcement, cou ld combine the EDR data w ith the
type of personally identifying data routine ly ac
quired during a crash investigation.
To read data recorded by an EDR, specia l equip
ment is req uired, a nd access to the ve hicle or the
E DR is needed. In add it ion to the vehicle manu
facturer, other parties, such as law enforcement,
that have the specia l equipment, can read the in
formation if they have access to the vehicle or the
EDR .
Some state laws restrict the retr ieval or down
l oading of data stored by ED Rs insta lled in a vehi
cle for the express purpose of retrieving data af-
Intellig ent Technology
ter an accident or crash event without the own
er's consent.
Audi will not ac cess the EDR and/or sim ilar data
o r give it to others -
- unless the vehicle owne r (or lessee if the vehi
cle has been leased) agrees; o r
- upon the official request by the police; or
- upon the order of a court of law or a govern-
ment agency; or
- for the defense of a lawsuit through the judic ial
discovery process.
- Aud i may a lso use the data for research about
veh icle operation and safety performance or
prov ide the data to a third party for research
purposes without identify ing the specific veh i
cle or info rmat io n about the ident ity of its own
er or lessee and only afte r the reco rded veh icle
data has been accessed.
Vehicle control modules
Your vehicle is also equ ipped w ith a number of
electronic control modules for va rious vehicle
systems, such as engine management, emiss io n
contro l, airbags, and s afety be lts.
These electronic control modules record data dur ing norma l vehicle operation that may be
needed by trained tech nicians for diagnost ic and
r epa ir purposes. The re cording capab il ity of these
modules is lim ited to data (no sound is record
ed). Only a sma ll amount of data is actua lly re
corded over a very limited period of time, or stor
ed when a system fault is detected by a control
module . Some of the data stored may relate to
vehicle speed, direction, or braking, as well as re
straint system use and performance in the event
of a crash. Stored data can also on ly be read a nd
down loaded w ith specia l equipment that is d i
rectly connected to the vehicle.
(D Tips
Your vehicle may be equipped w ith Aud i con
nect. Your use of certain Aud i connect fea
tures requi res wire less serv ices that are pro
v ided by a third party wireless telecomm uni
cations provi der. For de tails regarding how in
formation obtained through Aud i connect is
collected, processed, transmitted, used, and ..,.
169

Intelligent Technology
Clean off accumulated salt coating from
brake discs and pads with a few caref ul
brake app lications.
- If you damage the front spoiler, or if yo u in
stall a d ifferent spoiler, be sure the air flow
to the front brakes is not obstructed. Other
wise the brake system could overheat reduc
ing the effectiveness of the entire b rake sys
tem.
- Failure of one brake c ircuit will impair the
bra king capability res ult in g in an increased
stopp ing distance. Avoid driving the vehicle
and h ave i t towe d to the ne arest author ized
Audi dealer or quali fied workshop.
- Never let the vehicle roll to a s to p wi th the
eng ine shut off.
- I f the bra ke booste r is not wor kin g, the
bra ke pe dal m ust be presse d considerably
harder to make up for the lac k of b oos ter
assistance .
Electro-mechanical
power assist, dynamic
steering
The electro-mechanical power assist helps the
driver when steering.
Power steering adapts electronically based on
the vehicle speed .
Indicator lights and mess ages
• Steering defective! Do not dri ve vehicle!
If thi s ind icator light tu rns on and stays o n and
this message appears, t he power steering may
have fa iled.
D o
not conti nue d riving. See yo ur autho riz ed
Aud i dea ler o r a q ua lified repair facility fo r assis
tance.
l;r-ij Dynamic steering : Sy stem fault! You can
c ontinue driving
If t he i ndicator lig ht t urns on and the message
appears, the steering may be more difficult to
move or mo re sens it ive than usual. The steer ing
wheel may also be a t an an gle when dr iv ing
s tra ight .
174
Drive slowly to your a uth orized Audi dea ler or
qualified workshop to have the malfunction cor
r ected.
'I-ij Dynamic steering: initializing
If this d rive r message appea rs and t he in dicator
li ght is flashing on the instr ume nt pa nel, dynam
ic steer ing * is being re ini tiali zed. After s tarting
the e ngine, t he s teer ing whee l w ill move sligh tly.
Re -initializa tion might be necessary if the steer
ing whee l was moved hard to the left and right
whi le the vehicle was not moving . T he d isp lay
goes out as soon as initiali zation is comp lete.
A WARNING
-
H ave the dynamic steering* system malfunc-
tion repaired as soon as poss ible by an au
thor ized Audi dealer or qualified workshop -
risk of acc ident!
@ Tips
- If the . or 'I-ij indicator light only stays on
for a sho rt time, you may cont inue driving.
- The dynamic steerin g* stab ility systems a re
not ava ilable in the event of a system mal
function .
- For add itiona l information on dynamic
steeri ng*, refer to
<=> page 102.
Driving with your
quattro
Applies to vehicles: with all-whee l dr ive
With all-wheel drive, all four wheels are driven.
General informat ion
With a ll-w heel d rive, power is distri buted to a ll
fo ur wheels. This happens automat ica lly depend
i ng on your d riving style a nd the roa d conditions
at the t ime . See also
c> page 170.
A center d ifferen tial d istr ibu tes the dr iving powe r
variab ly to the front and rear ax le.
It works to
gether w it h select ive whee l torque contro l, w hich
ac tiv ates w hen d rivi ng thro ugh curves
<=> page 171. With the spo rt different ial *, power
distribution to the rear wheels is variable and can
be adjusted with drive select<::>
page 102. .,.

.... N
0 Ico ....
er's glycol-basedcoo lant additive Gl3 antifreeze
with anticorrosion additives (50% for USA mod
e ls; 60% for Canadian models). This m ixture
both assures the necessary frost protection and
protects metal components in the engine's cool
ing system from corrosion and scaling.
It also
raises the boiling point of the coolant .
Do not reduce the concentration of the coolant in
the summer by adding plain water.
Th e propor
tion of coolant addit ive must be at l eas t 50° /4
but not more th an 60 %
to maintain antifreeze
p rotection and cooling efficiency. If the coolant
frost protec tion is too low, the coolant co uld
freeze and damage the vehicle heating and en
gine cooling system.
F or yea r-round driving, antifreeze is added at the
factory for temperatures down to:
- -31 °F (- 35 °C) USA
- -40 °F ( - 40 °C) Canada.
If you must add coolant, use a mixture of water
and coolant addit ive. Mixing the coolant additive
with distilled water is recommended.
A WARNING
Before you check anything in the engine com
partment, always read and heed all WARN
INGS
Q &. in Working in the engine compart
ment on page 191.
(D Note
- Before winter sets in, have the coolant
checked to see if the coolant additive in your
vehicle is sufficient to meet the climate con
dit ions. This is especially important if you
li ve in a reg ion where the w inte r is ext reme
l y co ld. If ne cessary, in cre ase the proport io n
of coo lant add itive to 60%.
- When addi ng coolant addit ive to you r cool
i ng system, remember:
- We recommend using only coolant addi
tive Gl2++ or Gl3 for your ve hicle. T his
coolant additive is available at authorized
Audi dea lers. Othe r types of antifreeze can
significant ly reduce cor ros ion p rotection .
Check ing and Filling
The resulting co rrosion can cause a loss of
coolant and serious engine damage.
- Do not add any type of radiator lea k sealant
to your vehicle's engine coolant. Adding ra
diator repair fluid may adversely affect the
function and performance of your cooling
system and could resu lt in damage not cov
ered by your New Veh icle Limited Warranty.
Checking the engine coolant level
The engine coolant level can be checked with a
quick glance.
F ig. 163 Engine compa rtment: Cover on the coolant ex
pans ion tank
.. Before you check anything in the engine com
partment,
al ways read and heed all WARN
INGS
q ..&. in Working in the engine compart
ment on page 191.
.. Park your ve hicle on a leve l sur face .
.. Tu rn off the ignit io n .
.. Read the eng ine coolan t level from the coo la nt
expansion tank
qfig . 163, Qpage 193,
fig. 160 .
With a cold engine, the coolant level
should be between the " MIN" and "MAX" mark
ings. When the engine is warm, the level may
be slightly above the "MAX" marking.
The location of the coolant expansion tank can be
seen in the engine compartment illustration
qpage 193.
To obtain an accurate reading, the engine must
be switched off.
T he expansion ta nk in your veh icle is eq uipped
with an electric coo lant level senso r.
When the coolant leve l is too low, the warning
light i n the Auto-Check System
Q page 17 will
197

,-1 N
0 1-CX)
,-1 I.Cl U"I
,-1 I.Cl ......
-To avoid being burned, do not spill anti
freeze or coolant on the exhaust system or hot engine parts. Under certain condi
tions, the ethylene glycol in engine cool ant can catch fire.
- Antifreeze is poisonous. Always store anti
freeze in its original container and well out
of the reach of children.
- If you drain the coolant, it must be caught
and safely stored in a proper container
clearly marked "poison".
(D Note
-Do not add coolant if the expansion tank is
empty . Air could enter the cooling system
and damage the engine.
If this is the case,
do not continue driving. Seek professional
assistance.
- Coolant pollutes the environment and could
cause an engine fire. Excess coolant will be
forced out through the pressure relief valve
in the cap when the engine becomes hot.
-If, in an emergency, only water can be add
ed, the correct ratio between water and an
tifreeze c::>
page 196 must be restored as
soon as possible.
@) For the sake of the environment
Drained coolant should not be reused. Always
dispose of used coolant while observing all
environmental regulations.
Radiator fan
The radiator fan switches on automatically by it
self.
The radiator fan is driven by the engine via the V
belt . The viscous clutch regulates the speed of
the fan according to the temperature of the cool
ant.
An auxiliary electric radiator fan* switches on and
off depending on coolant temperature and other
vehicle operating conditions.
After you switch the engine off, the auxiliary fan
can continue running for up to 10 minutes -even
Checking and Filling
with the ignition off. It can even switch on again
later by itself c::>
&, if
- the temperature of the engine coolant rises due
to the heat build-up from the engine in the en
gine compartment, or
- the engine compartment heats up because the
vehicle is parked in intense sunlight.
A WARNING
-To reduce the risk of personal injury never
touch the radiator fan.
- The auxiliary electric fan is temperature
controlled and can switch on suddenly even
when the engine is not running.
- The auxiliary radiator fan switches on auto
matically when the engine coolant reaches a
certain temperature and will continue to run
until the coolant temperature drops.
Brake fluid
Checking brake fluid level
The broke fluid level con be checked with o quick
glance .
Fig. 164 Engine compartmen t: Cover on the brake flui d
re servoir
Before you check anything in the engine compart
ment,
always read and heed all WARNINGS
c::> _.& in Working in the engine comportment on
page 191.
.,. Read the brake fluid level from the brake fluid
reservoir c::>fig.164,
c::>poge 193, fig .160 . The
brake fluid level must be between the "MIN"
and "MAX" markings.
199