2016 AUDI A5 COUPE ESP

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General information
Always wear safety belts!
Wearing safety belts correctly saves lives!
This chapter explains why safety belts are neces­
sary, how they work and how to adjust and wear
them correctly. "' Read all the information that follows and heed
all of the instructions and WARNINGS.
A WARNING
Not wearing safety belts or wearing them im­
properly increases the risk of serious personal
injury and death.
- Safety belts are the single most effective
means available to reduce the risk of serious
injury and death in automobile accidents.
For your protection and that of your passen­
gers, always correctly wear safety belts
when the vehicle is moving.
- Pregnant women, injured, o r physically im­
paired persons must also use safety belts.
Like all vehicle occupants, they are more
likely to be seriously injured if they do not
wear safety belts. The best way to protect a
fetus is to protect the mother -throughout
the entire pregnancy.
Number of seats
Your Audi has a total of four seating positions:
two in the front and two in the rear. Each seating position has a safety belt.
A WARNING
Not wearing safety belts or wearing them im­
properly increases the risk of serious personal
injury and death.
- Never strap more than one person, includ­
ing small children, into any belt.
It is espe­
cially dangerous to place a safety belt over a
child sitting on your lap.
- Never let more people ride in the vehicle
than there are safety belts available.
Safety belts
-Be sure everyone riding in the vehicle is
properly restrained with a separate safety
belt or child restraint.
Safety belt warning light
Your vehicle has a warning system for the driver
and (on USA models only) front seat passenger
to remind you about the importance of buckling­
up .
Fig. 121 Safety belt warning light in the instrument clus ­
te r -enlarged
Before driving off, always:
.. Fasten your safety belt and make sure you are
wearing it properly.
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"' Make sure that your passengers also buckle up
and properly wear their safety belts.
"' Protect your children with a ch ild restraint sys­
tem appropr iate for the size and age of the chil­
dren .
The. warning light in the instrument cluster
lights up when the ignit ion is switched on as a re­
minder to fasten the safety be lts. In addition,
you w ill hear a warn ing tone for a certain period
of time.
Fasten your safety belt now and make sure that
your passengers also properly put on their safe­
ty belts.
121

Safe ty belts
Pregnant women must also be correctly
restrained
The best way to protect the fetus is to make sure
that expectant mothers always wear safety belts
corre ctly -throughout the pregnancy.
Fig. 129 Safety be lt pos itio n during preg nan cy
To prov ide maximum protection , safety belts
must always be posit ioned correctly on the wear­
er's body
¢ page 125.
... Adjust the front seat and head restraint cor­
rectly¢
page 54, Seats and storage .
... Make sure the seatback of the rear seat bench
is in an upright position and securely latched in
place before using the belt .
... Hold the be lt by the tongue and pull it even ly
ac ross the chest and pe lv is
c::> fig. 129 , c::> &_.
... Inser t the tong ue into the cor rec t buckle of
you r seat until you hear it latch secure ly
¢ page 124, fig. 127 .
... Pu ll on the be lt to make sure that it is securely
latched in the buck le.
A WARNING
Improperly pos itioned safety be lts can cause
ser ious persona l injury in an accident.
- Expectant mothers must a lways wear the
lap po rtion of the safety belt as low as pos­
sible across the pelvis and below the ro und­
i ng of the abdomen .
- Always read a nd heed all WARNINGS and
othe r important information
c::> .&. in Fasten­
ing saf ety belts on page 125.
126
Unfastening safety belts
Unbuckle the safety belt with the red release
button only ofter the vehicle hos stopped.
.,,
Fig . 130 Releasing the tongue from the buckle
... Push the red re lease button on the buck le
c::> fig. 130. The belt tongue wi ll spring out of
the buck le
c::> A .
... Let the belt wind up on the retractor as yo u
guide the belt tongue to its stowed position .
A WARNING
Never unfasten safety belt while the vehicle is
moving . Do ing so will increase your r isk of be­
ing inj ured or killed .
Improperly worn safety belts
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Incorrectly positioned safety belts con cause se­
vere injuries.
Wear ing safety belts improperly can cause seri­
ous injury or deat h. Safety belts can only work
whe n they are correct ly posit ioned on the body .
Imprope r seating positions red uce the effective­
ness of safety belts and w ill even increase the
risk of inj ury and dea th by moving the safety be lt
to c rit ic al are as of the body . Imprope r seating
pos itions also increase the ris k of serious injury
and death when an airbag dep loys and strikes a n
occupant who is not in the correct seating posi­
tion. A driver is responsible for the safety of all
vehicle occupants and especially for chi ldren .
Therefore:
... Never permit anyone to assume an incorrect
sitt ing position in the vehicle while traveling
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0 I-­co .... .... 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
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

Airbag syste m
also not infl ate in s ide or rear collisions, o r in
ro ll-overs.
Al wa ys rememb er: Airbag s will depl oy on ly once ,
a nd on ly in ce rtain k inds of coll is ions. Yo ur safety
be lts are always there to offer protection in those
situations in which airbags are not supposed to
dep loy, or when they have already 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 a irbag system works most
effect ively when used with the safety belts.
There fore, always properly wear your safety belts
r=;, page 121.
A WARNING
Sitting too close to the steering wheel or in­
st rument panel will decrease the effective­
ness of the airbags and will inc rease the risk
of personal 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
(25 cm) from the steering wheel, invest i­
gate whether adaptive equipment may be
available to help yo u reach the pedals and
increase your seating distance from the
steering wheel.
- If you are unrestrained, leaning forwa rd, s it­
ting sideways or o ut of pos ition in any way,
your risk of in jury is much h igher.
- Yo u will also receive serious injuries and
could even be killed if you are up aga inst the
airbag or too close to it when it inflates -
even with an Advanced Airbag.
- To reduce the risk of injury when an airbag inflates, a lways wear safety belts properly
c> page 124, Safety belts.
-Always make certain that chi ldren age 12 or
younger always ride in the rear seat. If chil­ dren are not properly restra ined, they may
be severe ly injured or k illed when an airbag
inflates.
- Never let children ride unrestrained or im­ prope rly restrained in the vehicle . Adjust the
front seats properly.
130
-
- Never ride with the back rest recl ined.
-Always sit as far as possible from the steer -
ing wheel or the instrument panel
c>page 113.
-Always sit upright with your back against
the backrest of your seat.
- Never p lace your feet on the ins trument
panel or on the seat. Always keep both feet
on the floor in front of the seat to help pre­
vent serious injur ies to the legs and hips if
the airbag inflates.
- Never recl ine 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 du ring brak ing or in a sudden maneu­
ver. Objects near the airbags can become
proje cti les and cause injury when an airbag
inflates.
A WARNING
A irbags that have deployed in a crash m ust be
replaced.
- Use on ly orig inal equipment airbags ap­
proved by A udi and inst alled by a trained
technician who has the ne cessary tools and
diagnostic equipment to prope rly replace
any airbag in yo ur vehicle and assure system
effectiveness in a crash.
'
- Never permit salvaged or recycled airbags to
be installed in your 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 fo r important details
about c hildren and Advanced A irbags
r=;, page 151 .
Even thoug h your veh icle is equipped w it h an Ad­
vanced Airbag Sys tem, make certa in that a ll chil­
dre n, espec ia lly those 12 yea rs and younger, al­
ways ride i n the b ack seat prope rly res trained fo r
their age and size. The airbag on the passenger
s ide makes the front seat a potentially dange rous
p lace for a child to r ide . The front seat is not the
safest place for a chi ld i n a forward-fac ing chi ld ...,.

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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 syste m
greater detail below. Because the front passen ­
ger seat contains important parts of the Ad­
vanced Airbag System, you must take care to pre ­
vent it from being damaged. Damage to the seat m ay prevent the Advanced Airbag for the front
passenger seat from doing its job in a crash .
The front Advanced Airba g Sy stem con sists
of the follo wing :
-Crash sensors in the front of the vehicle that
measure vehicle acceleration/deceleration to
provide information to the Advanced Airbag
System about the seve rity of the crash .
- An electronic control un it, with integrated
crash sensors for front and side impacts . The
contro l unit "decides " whethe r to fire the front
airbags based on the information received from
the crash sensors. The control unit a lso "de­
cides" whether the safety be lt pretensioners
shou ld be activated.
- An Advanced Airbag with gas generator and
contro l valve for the driver ins ide the steering
whee l hub .
- An Advanced Airbag with gas generator and
contro l valve inside the instrument pane l for
the front passenger .
- A weight -sensing mat under the upho lstery
padding of the front passenger seat cushion
that measures th e total weight on the seat . T he
information registered is sent continuously to
the e lec tronic control unit to regu la te dep loy­
ment of the front Advanced A irbag on the pas ­
senger side .
- An airbag monitoring system and indica tor
l ight in the instrument cluster
r=> page 139.
-A sensor in each front sea t registers the dis­
tance between the respective seat and the
steering wheel or instrument panel. The infor­ mation reg istered is sent continuous ly to the
electronic control u nit to regulate deployment
of the front Advanced A irbags.
- T he
PASSEN GE R AIR B AG OFF light comes on
and stays on in the center of the inst rument
pane l
c> page 139, fig . 134 and tells you when
the front Advan ced Airbag on the passenger
side has been turned off .
- A sensor below the safety belt la tch fo r the
front seat passenger to meas ure the tension on
136
the safety belt. The tension on the safety belt
and the weight reg istered by the weight-sens­
ing mat help the contro l unit "decide" whether
the front airbag for the front passenger seat
should be turned
off or not c> page 130, Child
restraints on the front seat -some important
things to know .
-A sensor in the safety belt latch for the driver
and for the front seat passenger that senses
whether that safety belt is latched or not and
transmits this information to the e lectronic
cont rol u nit.
_&. WARNING
Damage to the front passenge r seat can pre­
vent the front airbag from work ing properly .
- Improper repair or disassembly of the front
passenger and driver seat will prevent the
Advanced Airbag System from f unctioning
proper ly.
- Repairs to the front passenger seat mus t be
performed by qualified and proper ly trained
wo rkshop personne l.
- Never remove the front passenger or driver
seat from the vehicle.
- Never remove the upholstery from the front
passenger seat.
- Never d isassemble or remove pa rts from the
seat o r disconnect wi res from it.
- Never carry sharp objects in your pocke ts or
place them on the seat. If the weight-sens­
ing mat in the passenger seat is p unctured
it cannot work proper ly.
- Never carry things on your lap or carry ob­ jects on the passenger seat. Such items can increase the weight reg istered by the
weight-sensing mat and send the wrong in­
formation to the airbag control unit.
- Never store items under the front passenger
seat . Parts of the Advanced Airbag System
under the passenger seat could be dam­
aged, preventing them and the airbag sys­
tem from working properly .
- 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 child

- Never place or attach accessories or other objects (such as cupholders, telephone
brackets, la rge, heavy or bulky objects) on
t h e doors, over or near th e area marked
"AIRBAG" on t he s teering wheel, instru­
ment pane l, seat backrests or between
those areas and you rself. These objects
cou ld cause injury in a crash, especially
when the airbags inflate.
- Never re cline the front passenger's seat to
transport objects. Items can also move into
the area of the side airbag or t he front a ir ­
bag during braking or in a sudden maneu­
ver . Objects near the airbags can become
projectiles and cause injury, particular ly
when the seat is reclined.
A WARNING
The fine dust created when airbags deploy can
cause breathing problems for people w ith a
history of asthma or other breathing condi­
tions.
-To reduce the risk of breathing problems, those w ith asthma or other respiratory con­
ditions should get fresh air right away by
gett ing out of the veh icle o r opening w in­
dows or doo rs.
- If you are in a collision in which airbags de­
ploy, wash your hands and face with mild
soap and wa ter before eat ing.
- Be careful not to get the dust into your eyes,
o r in to any cuts or s cratches.
- If the resid ue should get into your eyes,
flush them with water.
Monitoring the
Advanced Airbag System
fA (USA models) /!f (Canada models)
Airbag monitoring indicator light
Two separate indicators monitor the function of
the Advanced Airbag System: the airbag moni­
toring indicator light and the
PASSENGER AIR
,..., BAG OFF
light. N
0
~ The Advanced Airbag System ( includ ing the elec-,...,
~ tro nic control un it, senso r cir cuits and system
~ w iri ng) is monitored continuously to make su re ......
Airb ag sys tem
that it is functioning properly whenever the igni­
tion is on . Every time you turn on the ignition, the
airbag system indicator light
fl (USA models)/
El (Canada models) will come on for a few sec­
onds (function check).
The system must be in spected when the
indicator light
II (USA models) , m
(Canada models ):
- does not come on when the ignition is sw itched
on,
- does not go out a few seconds after you have
sw itched on the ignit ion, or
- comes on while driv ing .
If an airbag system malfunction is detected, the
indicator light will first start flashing to catch the
driver's attention and then stay on continuously
to serve as a constant rem inder to have the sys­
tem inspected immediately.
If a malfunction occurs that turns the front air­
bag on the passenger side off, the
PAS SENGER
AIR BAG OFF
lig ht will come on and stay on
whenever the ignition is on .
A WARNING
f-
An airbag system that is not functioning prop-
e rly cannot provide supplemental protect ion
in a fronta l crash.
-If the ai rbag ind icator light~ page 19
comes when the veh icle is being used, have
the system inspec ted immedia tely by your
author ized Audi dealer. It is possi ble that
the air bag will inflate when it is not sup ­
posed to, or w ill not inflate when it should.
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
Fig. 1 34 Sect ion from the instrument panel: PASSENGER
AIR BAG O FF light ...
139

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ly seated on the center of the seat cushion with
his or her back up against the backrest and the
backrest is not reclined
9page 113, Correc t
passenger seating positions,
- the adult is not taking weight off the seat by
holding on to the passenger assis t handle
above the front passenger door or suppor ting
their weight on the armrest,
- the safety bel t is being properly worn and that
there is not a lot of slack in the safety belt web­
bing,
- accessory seat covers or cushions or other
things that may cause an incorrect reading or
impression on the weight-sensing mat under
the upholstery of the seat have been removed
from the front passenger seat,
- a safety belt extender has not been left in the
safety belt latch for the front passenger seat.
In addition to the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light in the center of the instrument panel, the
message
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF or PASSEN­
GER AIR BAG ON
will briefly appear in the instru­
ment cluster display . This is to inform the driver
of the current front passenger airbag status.
Important safety instructions on
monitoring the Advanced Airbag System
A WARNING
An airbag system that is not functioning prop­ erly cannot provide supplemental protection
in a frontal crash .
- If the airbag indicator light
9 page 19
comes when the vehicle is being used, have
the system inspected immediately by your
authorized Audi dealer. It is possible that
the airbag will inflate when it is not sup­
posed to, or will not inflate when it should.
A WARNING
If the front airbag inflates, a child without a
child restraint, in a rearward-facing child safe­
ty seat or in a forward-facing child restraint
that has not been properly installed will be
seriously injured and can be killed.
Airbag system
-Even though your vehicle is equipped with
an Advanced Airbag System, make certain
that all children, especially 12 years and
younger, always ride on the back seat prop­ erly restrained for their age and size .
- Always install forward or rear-facing child
safety seats on the rear seat -even with an
Advanced Airbag System .
- If you must install a rearward-facing child
safety seat on the front passenger seat be­
cause of exceptional circumstances and the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does not
appear and stay on, immediately install the
rear-facing child safety seat in a rear seating
position and have the airbag system in­
spected by your authorized Audi dealer.
-A tight tether or other strap on a rearward­
facing child restraint attached to the front passenger seat can put too much pressure
on the weight-sensing mat in the seat and
register more weight than is actually on the
seat . The heavier weight registered can
make the system work as though an adult
were on the seat and deploy the Advanced
Airbag when it must be suppressed causing
serious or even fatal injury to the child.
- If, in exceptional circumstances, you must
install a forward-facing child restraint on
the front passenger seat, always move the
seat into its rearmost position in the seat's
fore and aft adjustment range, as far away
from the airbag as possible. The backrest must be adjusted to an upright position .
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
-- If the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does
not go out when an adult is sitting on the
front passenger seat after taking the steps
described above, make sure the adult is
properly seated and restrained at one of the rear seating positions.
- Have the airbag system inspected by your
authorized Audi dealer before transporting
anyone on the front passenger seat .
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