Seat s and sto rage
Seats and storage
General information
Why is your seat adjustment so important?
The safety belts and the airbag system can only
provide maximum protection if the front seats are correctly adjusted .
There are various ways of adjusting the front
seats to provide safe and comfortable support
for the dr iver and the front passenger . Adjust
your seat properly so that:
- you can easily and quickly reach all the switches
and controls in the instrument panel
- your body is properly supported thus reducing
physical stress and fatigue
- the safety belts and a irbag system can offer
maximum protection
¢ page 129.
In the following sections, you will see exact ly
how you can best adjust your seats.
There are spec ial regulat ions and instr uctions for
installing a c hild safety seat on the front pas
senger 's seat . Always fo llow the information re
garding child safety provided inc::>
page 151,
Child safety.
A WARNING
Refer to ¢ page 112, Driving safety for im
portant information, tips, suggestions and
wa rnings that you should read and follow for
your own safety and the safety of yo ur pas
senge rs.
A WARNING
In correct seating position of the driver and all
other p assenge rs can result in serious person
al injury .
- Always keep you r fee t on the floor when the
vehicle is in motion -never put your feet on
top o f the instr ument pane l, o ut o f the win
dow or on top of the seat cushion. This ap
plies espec ially to the passenge rs. If your
seat ing pos ition is inco rrect, you increase
the risk of injury in the case of sudden brak
ing o r an accident. If the airbag inflates and
54
the seating position is incorrect, this could
result in personal injury or even death.
- It is important for both the driver and front
passenger to keep a distance of at least
10 inches (25 cm) between themselves and
the steering wheel and/or instrument pan
el. If you're sitt ing any closer than this, the
airbag system cannot protect you properly .
In addition , the front seats and head re
straints must be adjusted to your body
he igh t so that they can g ive you maximum
protection.
- Always try to keep as much distance as pos
sible between yourself and the s teer ing
wheel or instrument pane l.
- Do not adjust the driver's or fron t passeng
er 's sea t while the vehicle is moving. Yo ur
seat may move unexpectedly, causing sud
den loss of vehicle contro l and personal in
jury. If you ad just yo ur seat while the veh icle
is moving, you are out of pos ition.
Driver's seat
The correct seat position is important for safe
and relaxed driving.
We recommend that you adjust the dr iver's seat
in the following manner:
.. Adjust the seat in fo re and aft direction so tha t
you c an ea sily push the ped als to the floor
while keeping your knees slight ly bent
c::> A in
Why is your seat adjustment so important? on
page 54.
.. Adjust the seatback so that when you sit with
your back against the seatback, you can still
grasp the top of the steering wheel.
.. App lies to veh icles w ith adjustable head re
straints : Adjust the head restraint so the upper
edge is as even as possible with the top of your
head.
If t h at i s not poss ible , try to a djust the
he ad rest raint so tha t it is as close to this pos i
tion as possible
c::> page 57.
A WARNING
N eve r place any objects in the dr iver's foot
well. An object could get into the pedal area and interfere with pedal function. In case of
-
Driving
Driving
Steering
Manually adjustable steering wheel
The steering wheel position is fully adjustable up
and down and forward and back .
Fig. 75 Lever under the steering column
First, adjust the driver's seat correctly.
• Pull the lever¢
fig. 75 ¢ .&_ .
• Move the steering wheel to the desired posi
tion.
• Push the lever against the steering column un-
til it locks.
There must be at least 10 inches (25 cm) be tween your chest and the center of the steering
wheel. If you cannot sit more than 10 inches (25
cm) from the steering wheel, see if adaptive
equipment is available to help you reach the ped
als and increase the distance from the steering
wheel.
For detailed information on how to adjust the
driver's seat, see
¢page 55.
A WARNING
Improper use of steering wheel adjustment
and improper seating position can cause seri
ous personal injury.
- Adjust the steering wheel column only when
the vehicle is not moving to prevent loss of
vehicle control.
- Adjust the driver's seat or steering wheel so
that there is a minimum of 10 inches (25
cm) between your chest and the steering
wheel
¢page 113, fig. 118 . If you cannot
72
maintain this minimum distance, the airbag
system cannot protect you properly.
- If physical limitations prevent you from sit
ting 10 inches (25 cm) or more from the
steering wheel, check with your authorized
Audi dealer to see if adaptive equipment is
available.
- If the steering wheel is aligned with your
face, the supplemental driver's airbag can
not provide as much protection in an acci
dent. Always make sure that the steering
wheel is aligned with your chest.
- Always hold the steering wheel with your
hands at the 9 o'clock and 3 o'clock posi
tions to reduce the risk of personal injury if
the driver's airbag deploys.
- Never hold the steering wheel at the 12
o'clock position or with your hands inside
the steering wheel rim or on the steering
wheel hub. Holding the steering wheel the
wrong way can cause serious injuries to the
hands, arms and head if the driver's airbag
deploys.
Ignition lock
Starting engine with the key
Applies to vehicles: wit h ignition lock
The ignition is switched on and the engine start
ed with the ignition key .
Fig. 76 Ignition key
Starting the engine
• Insert the key into the ignition lock.
• Manual transmission: Fully depress the clutch
pedal and move the shift lever to the neutral
position. ..,.
.... 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
Child safety
exceptional circumstances and the PASSEN·
GER AIR BAG OFF
light does not come on
and stay on, immediately install the rear
ward-facing child safety seat in a rear seat
ing position and have the airbag system in
spected immediately by your authorized
Audi dealer.
_& 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.
- Always follow the manufacturer's instruc
tions provided with the child safety seat or
carrier.
- 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 child
restraint. The backrest must be adjusted to
an upright position.
- Always make sure that the
PASSENGER AIR
BAG OFF
light comes on and stays on all the
time whenever the ignition is switched on.
(D Tips
Always replace child restraints that were in
stalled in a vehicle during a crash. Damage to
a child restraint that is not visible could cause
it to fail in another collision situation.
Advanced front airbag system and children
Your vehicle is equipped with a front "Advanced
Airbag System" in compliance with United States
Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS)
208, as well as Canada Motor Vehicle Safety
Standard (CMVSS) 208 as applicable at the time
your vehicle was manufactured.
The Advanced Airbag system in your vehicle has
been certified to meet the "low-risk" require
ments for 3- and 6-year old children on the pas
senger side and small adults on the driver side.
152 The low risk deployment criteria are intended
to
reduce the risk of injury through interaction with
the airbag that can occur, for example, by being
too close to the steering wheel and instrument
panel when the airbag inflates. In addition, the
system has been certified to comply with the "suppression" requirements of the Safety Stand
ard, to turn off the front airbag for infants up to
12 months who are restrained on the front pas
senger seat in child restraints that are listed in
the Standard.
Even though your vehicle is equipped with an Ad
vanced Airbag system, all children, especially
those 12 years and younger, should always ride
in the back seat properly restrained for their age
and size. The airbag on the passenger side makes
the front seat a potentially dangerous place for a child to ride. The front seat is not the safest place
for a child in a forward-facing child safety seat. It can be a very dangerous place for an infant or a
larger child in a rearward-facing seat.
· Advanced Airbags and the weight -sensing
mat in the front seat
The Advanced Airbag System in your vehicle de
tects the presence of an infant or child in a child
restraint on the front passenger seat using the
weight-sensing mat in the seat cushion and the
sensor below the safety belt latch on the front
passenger seat that measures the tension on the
safety belt .
The weight-sensing mat measures total weight of the child and the child safety seat and a child
blanket on the front passenger seat. The weight
on the front passenger seat is related to the de
sign of the child restraint and its ' 'footprint", the
size and shape of the bottom of the child re- straint as it sits on the seat. The weight of a child
restraint and its "footprint" vary for different
kinds of child restraints and for the different
models of the same kind of child restraint of-
fered by child restraint manufacturers.
The weight ranges for the individual types,
makes and models of child restraints that the
NHTSA has specified in the Safety Standard to
gether with the weight ranges of typical infants .,.