2016 AUDI A7 airbag

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How supplemental side airbags work
Side airbags deploy instantly and can help re­duce the risk of upper torso injuries for occu­
pants who are properly restrained.
Fig. 164 Inflated side a irbags on left side of veh icle, rea r
side airbag
When the system is triggered, the airbag is filled
with propellant gas and breaks through a seam in
the seat surface area marked "AIRBAG". It ex­
pands between the side trim panel and the pas­
senger . In order to help provide this additional
protection, the side airbag must inflate within a
fraction of a second at very high speed and with
great force. The supplemental side airbag could
injure you if your seating position is not proper or
upright or if items are located in the area where
the supplemental side airbag expands. This ap­
plies especially to children
r:::.>page 167, Child
safety.
Supplemental side airbags inflate be­
tween the occupant and the door panel on the
side of the vehicle that is struck in certain side
coll ision
r:::.> fig. 164.
Although they are not a soft pillow, they can
"c ushion " the impact and in this way they can
help to reduce the risk of injury to the upper part
of the body.
A fine dust may develop when the airbag deploys .
This is normal and does not mean there is a fire
in the vehicle .
Airbag system
Important safety instructions on the side
airbag system
Airbags are only supplemental restraints. Always
properly wear safety belts and ride in a proper seating position .
There is a lot that you and your passengers must
know and act accordingly to help the safety belts
and airbags do their job to provide supplemental
protection.
A WARNING
An inflating side airbag can cause serious or
fatal injury. Improperly wearing safety belts
and improper seating positions increase the
risk of serious personal injury and death
whenever a vehicle is being used.
- In order to reduce the risk of injury when
the supplemental side airbag inflates:
- Always sit in an upright position and never
lean against the area where the supple­
mental side airbag is located.
- Never let a child or anyone else rest their
head against the side trim panel in the
area where the supplemental side airbag
inflates.
- Always make sure that safety belts are
worn correctly,
- Do not let anyone sitting in the front seat
put their hand or any other parts of their
body out of the window.
- Always make sure that the side airbag can
inflate without interference.
- Never install seat covers or replacemen t
upholstery over the front seatbacks that
have not been specifically approved by
Audi.
- Never use additional seat cushions that cover the areas where the side airbags de­ploy.
- Damage to the original seat covers or to
the seam in the area of the side airbag
module must always be repaired immedi­
ately by an authorized Audi dealer.
-
- Objects between you and the airbag can in­
crease the risk of injury in an accident by in­
terfering with the way the airbag unfolds or
~
163

Airb ag syst em
by being pushed into you as the airbag in­
flates.
- Never p lace or attach accessories or other
objects (such as cup holders, telephone brackets, or even large, bulky objects) on
the doors, over or near the area marked "AIRBAG" on the seat backrests.
- Su ch ob jects and ac cessories can become
dangerous projecti les and cause injury
when the supplemental side airbag de ­
p loys .
- Never carry any objects or pets in t he de ­
p loyment space between them and the
airbags or allow chi ldren or other passen­
gers to trave l in this position .
- Always use the built-in coat hooks only for
lightweight clothing . Never leave any heavy
or sharp-edged objects in the pockets that
may interfere with side airbag deployment
and can cause personal injury in an accident .
- Always prevent the side a irbags from be ing
damaged by heavy objects knocking against
o r hitting the sides of the seatbacks .
- The airbag system can only be triggered
once . If the airbag has been triggered, the
system must be rep laced by an authorized
Audi dealership.
- Damage (c racks, deep scratches etc.) to the
o rig inal seat covers or to the seam in the
area of the side airbag module must a lways
be repaired immedia tely by an authori zed
Audi dealer .
-If children a re seated improperly, their risk
of injury i ncreases in the case of an a cciden t
~ page 167, Child safety .
-Never a ttempt to modify any com po nents of
the a irbag sys tem in any way .
- In a side collision, s ide a irbags w il l not fu nc­
t ion prope rly if sensors canno t correc tly
measure increas ing air pressure inside the
doors when air escapes through larger, un­
closed openings in the door panel.
- Never drive w ith inter io r doo r tr im panels
removed .
- Never drive when parts have been re ­
moved from the ins ide door panel and the
open ings they leave hav e not bee n prope r­
ly closed.
164
- Never drive when loudspeakers in the
doors have been removed unless the
speaker ho les have bee n properly closed.
- Always make certain that openings are
covered or f illed if add itiona l speakers or
other equipment is installed i n the inside
doo r panels.
- Always have work o n the doors done by an
autho rized Aud i dea le r or q ualified work­
shop .
Side curtain airbags
Description of side curtain airbags
The side curtain airbag system can provide sup­
plemental protection to properly restrained oc­
cupants .
Fig. 16 5 Sid e curt ain airba gs, dr iver's s ide: side cur tain air­
bag loca tion
The side curtai n airbags are located on both sides
of the inter ior above the front and rear side win­
dows
~ fig. 165 . They are identif ied by the word
"AIRBAG" on the windsh ield frame and the cen ­
ter roof pi llar.
The side curtai n airbags contain features that
provide ejection mitigation to help prevent vehi ­
cle occupants or parts of their bodies from being
completely or partially ejected from the vehicle
interior in certa in side impacts and ve hicle roll­
ove rs.
The side c urtain airbag system supplements the
safety belts and can he lp to reduce the risk of in­
jury for occupan ts' heads and upper torso . The
side curtain airbag inflates in s ide impacts and
on ly when the ve hicle acceleration registered by
the control un it is h igh enough . If this rate is ..,.

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below the refe rence value p rogrammed into the
control unit, the side curtain airbag will not be
tr iggered, even though the car may be badly
damaged as a result of the co llision. It is not pos ­
sible to define an airbag triggering range that
will cover every poss ible angle of impact, since
the circumstances will vary considerably between one co llision and another. Important factors in­
clude, for example, the nature (hard or soft) of
the impacting object, the angle of impact, vehicle speed, etc.¢
page 165, How side curtain air­
bags work.
Aside from the ir normal safety function , safety
be lts work to help keep the dr iver or front pas­
senger in posit ion in the event of a co llision so
that the side curtain a irbags can provide protec­
tion.
The airbag system is not a s ubst itute for yo ur
safety belt. Rather, it is part of the overall occu­
pant restraint system in your vehicle . Always re­
member that the airbag system can only help to
protect you if you are wear ing your safety be lt
and wearing it properly. Th is is another reason
why you should always wear your sa fety bel ts,
not just because the law requires you to do so
¢ page 135, General information.
It is important to remember that while the side
curta in airbag system is designed to help reduce
the likelihood of serious injuries, other injur ies,
for example , swelling , b ruising, fr iction burns
and minor abras ions can also be associated with
these airbags upon deployment . Remember too,
these airbags will deploy only once and only in
certain k inds of accidents -your safety belts are
always there to offer protectio n.
The side curtain airbag system basically
consis ts of :
- The elec tronic contro l mod ule and externa l side
impact sensors
- The side c urtain a irbags above the front and
rear side windows with ejection mitigation fea­
tures
- T he airbag indicator light in the instrument
panel
The airbag system is monitored elect ron ically to
make certa in it is function ing properly a t all
Ai rb ag sy stem
times . Each time you switch on the ign ition, the
airbag system indicator light will come on for a
few seconds (self diagnostics).
Th e s ide curtain airbag is not activated:
- if the ignition is sw itched off,
- in side co llisions when the accele ration meas-
ured by the sensor is too low,
- in rear-end col lisions .
A WARNING
-Safety belts and the airbag system will only
p rovide p rotection when oc cupan ts are in
the proper seating position ¢
page 52, Gen­
eral information.
- If the airbag ind ic a tor light~ page 18
comes when the veh icle is being used, have
the system inspected immediately by your
authorized Audi dealer . It is possib le that
the airbag will inflate when it is not sup­
posed to, or will not inflate when it should.
How side curtain airbags work
Side curtain airbags con work together with side
airbags to help reduce the risk of head and upper
torso injuries for occupants who ore properly re­
strained .
Fig. 166 Illust rat ion of pr incip le : I n flated si de curtai n air­
bags o n th e le ft side
The side curtain airbags inflate betwee n the oc­
cupant and the w indows on the side of the veh i-
cle that is struck in a side collision ¢
fig. 166 .
When the system is triggered, the side curtain
airbag is filled wi th propellant gas and breaks
t h rough a seam above the front and rear side
windows identified by the A IRBAG label. In order
ll>-
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Airbag syste m
to help provide this additiona l protection, the
side curtain airbag must inflate within the blink
of an eye at very high speed and with great force .
The side curtain airbag could injure you if your seating position is not p roper or upright or if
items are located in the area where the supp le ­
mental side curta in a irbag inflates . Th is applies
especia lly to children
c::> page 167 .
Although they a re not a soft pillow, side curtain
airbags can "cushion" the impact and in this way
they can help to reduce the risk of injury to the
head and the upper part of the body.
A fine dust may develop when the airbag deploys.
This is quite normal and does not mean there is a
fire in the veh icle .
Important safety instructions on the side
curtain airbag system
Airbags are only supplemental restraints . Always
properly wear safety belts and ride in a proper
seating position.
There is a lot that you and your passengers must
know and do to help the safety be lts and airbags
do their job to provide supp lemental p rotection.
,& WARNING
Improperly wear ing safe ty belts and imp roper
seating positions increase the risk of serious
perso nal injury and death whenever a vehicle
is being used.
- Never let occ upants p lace any parts of their
bodies in the area from which the side cur­
ta in a irbag inflate.
- Always make sure that the side curtain air­
bags can inflate witho ut interference .
- Use the built-in coat hooks only for lig ht­
weight clothing. Never leave any heavy or
sharp-edged objects in the pockets that may
interfere with airbag deployment and can
cause personal injury in a co llision.
- Never use hangers to hang clothes on the hooks.
- Only use factory- insta lled sun shades or, if
shades installed after the vehicle leaves the
factory, use on ly genu ine Audi su n shades.
166
- Never swing the sun visors over to the s ide
w indows if things such as pens, garage door
openers, hands-free speakers, etc. are at­
tached to the sun v isors. They could come
loose and cause serious injury if the side cur­
tain airbag inflates.
- A deploying airbag inflates in a fraction of a second and with great force.
- Never attach objects to the cover or in the
deployment zone of a s ide curtain airbag .
- The a irbag deployment zones must be kept
clear at al l times. Make sure there are no ob­
jects, pets, or other persons in the space be­
tween any vehicle occupant and any a irbag
at anyti me.
- Do not attach any accesso ries to the doors.
,& WARNING
- The a irbag system can deploy on ly once. If
the airbag has been t rigge red, the system
m ust be repl aced by an aut ho rized Aud i
dea le r o r qualified wor kshop.
- Always have wor k involving the side cu rtain
ai rbag system, removal and installation o f
the airbag componen ts, or other rep air s per ­
formed by a qualified dea le rship . Othe rwise
the airbag system may not work correctly .
- Never attempt to mod ify any components of
the airbag system in any way .

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Child safety
Important information
Introduction
The rear seat is generally the safest place in a
collision .
The physical principles of what happens when
your veh icle is in a crash apply also to children
c:> page 136, What happens to occupants not
wearing safety belts? .
But unlike adults and
teenagers, the ir muscles and bones are not fu lly
developed. In many respe cts c hildren are at
g reater risk of serio us i njur y in crashes than
a d ul ts.
Because ch ildren's bod ies are not fully deve loped,
they requ ire rest ra int systems especially de­
signed fo r their size, weight, and body st ru ct ure.
M any countr ies and a ll states of the Uni ted
States and p rovinces of Canada have laws requi r­
ing the use of approved c hil d restraint systems
for infants and small chi ldren.
I n a front al crash at a speed o f 20 -35 mph
(30 -56 km/h) the forces acting on a 13 -po und
(6 kg) infa nt wi ll be more than 20 t imes t he
weight of the child . Th is means the weight of the
chi ld would sudden ly be more than 260 pounds
(120 kg). Under these conditions, only an appro­
p riate ch ild restra int properly used can reduce
the r isk of se rious i nju ry. Ch ild restra ints, like
ad ult safety belts, must be used prop erly to be
effective . U sed improperly, they can increa se the
ris k of serious injury in an accident.
Consult the child safety seat manufacturer's in­
structions in orde r to be s ure the seat is right fo r
your chi ld's si ze
c:> page 170, Important safety
instructions for using child safety seats .
Please
be sure to read an d heed a ll of th e importa nt in ­
formation and WAR NINGS about c hild safety, Ad­
vanced Ai rbags, and the installation of child re­
straints in th is chapter.
There is a lot you need to know abou t the Ad ­
vanced Airbags in yo ur vehicle and how they work
when infa nts and children in child rest raints a re
on the front passenger seat. Because of the large
amo unt of important informat ion, we cannot re-
Child sa fety
pea t it all he re . We urge you to read the detailed
information in this owner's ma nual about airbags
and the Advanced Airbag System in yo ur veh icle
and the very important information about trans­
porting children on the front passenger seat.
Please be sure to heed the WARNINGS -they are
extremely importa nt for your safety and t he safe­
ty of you r passengers, especially infants and
small ch ild ren .
& WARNING
-Accident st atistics have shown th at children
a re generally safer in the rear sea t area than
in the front seatin g position. Always restra in
any child age 12 and under in the rea r.
- All vehicle occupants and es pecially children
m ust be restrained properly whenever ri ding
in a vehicle. An un rest rained or improperly
restrained ch ild could be injured by striking
the inter ior or by be ing ejected from the ve ­
h icle dur ing a sudden maneuve r or impact .
An unrestra ined o r improperly restrained
child is a lso at greate r risk of in ju ry or death
through conta ct with an inflating airbag .
- A suitable ch ild restraint properly installed
an d used at one of the rear seating posit ions
p rovi des the highest deg ree of prote ction
for infan ts and small children in most a cci­
dent situat ions.
& WARNING f"-"----
Children on the front sea t of any car even with
Advanced Air bags can be ser iously injured or
even kil led when an a irbag inflates. A chi ld in
a rearward-facing child safety seat installed
on the front passenger seat will be serious ly
i njured and can be k illed if the front a irbag 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, cent er armrest, o r
door.
- Always install rear-fac ing ch ild safety seats
on the rear sea t.
- If you must ins tall a rearwa rd fac ing child
safety seat on th e front passenger s eat in
167

Child safet y
exceptional circ umstances and the
PA SSENGE R AIR BAG OFF light does not
come on and stay on, immediately install
the rear-fac ing ch ild safety seat in a rear
seat ing pos ition and have the airbag system
inspected immediately by your Aud i dealer .
A WARNING
-Forward-facing ch ild seats insta lled on the
front passenger seat may interfere with the deployment of the a irbag and cause serious
persona l injury to the ch ild .
-If exceptiona l circumstances require the use
of a forwa rd-facing child rest raint on the
front passenger's seat, the child 's safety
and we ll-being requ ire the following specia l
precautions to be taken :
- Always make sure that the forward -facing
seat has been designed and certified by its manufacturer for use on a front passenger
seat with a front and side airbag.
- Always carefu lly follow the manufacturer's
instructions provided w ith the child seat
or infant car rier.
- Never install a chi ld restraint without a
properly attached top tether strap if the
child restraint manufacturer's instructions req uire the top tether strap to be used .
- Never put the fo rward-facing child re­
straint up against or very near the instru­
ment panel.
- Always set the safety belt upper anchor­
age to the adjustment position that per­mits proper insta llation in accordance with
the child restraint manufacturer's instruc­ tions.
- Always move the passenger seat into its
rearmost position in the seat's fore and aft
adjustment range, as far away from the
airbag as possible before installing the
child restraint . The backrest must be ad ­
justed to an upr ight position .
- Always make sure that nothing prevents
the front passenger's seat from being moved to the rea rmost pos ition in its fore
and aft adjustment range.
168
- Never place objects on the seat (such as a
laptop, CD player, electronic games device,
power inverter or seat heater for child
seats) . These may influence the electrical
capac itance measured by the capac itive
passenger detection system and can also
fly around in an accident and cause se rious
personal injury .
- Never place or use any electrical device
(such as a laptop, CD player, e lectronic
games device, powe r inverter o r seat heat­
er for child seats) on the front passenger
seat if the device is connected to the 12-
vo lt socket or the cigarette lighter socket .
- If a seat heater has been retrofitted or otherwise added to the front passenger seat, never install any child restra int sys­
tem on this seat.
- Make sure that there are no wet objects
(such as a wet towel) and no water or oth­
er liquids on the front passenger seat
cush ion.
- Always make sure that the
PAS SENGER
AIR BAG O FF
light comes on and stays on
all the time whenever the ignition is
switched on .
- If the
PAS SENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not come on and stay on, immediate­ ly install the forward-fac ing child seat in a
rear seating position and have the airbag
system inspe cted by your authorized Audi
dealer.
- Always buc kle the ch ild seat firmly in
place even if a child is not s itting in it. A
l oose ch ild seat can fly around du ring a
sudden stop or in a collis ion .
- Always read and heed all WAR NINGS
whenever using a ch ild restraint in a vehi­
cle ¢
page 135, Safety belts, ¢ page 143,
Airbag system
and ¢ page 167, Impor­
tant information .
(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 co llision situation.

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Advanced front airbag system and children
Your vehicle is equipped wit h a front "Advanced
A irbag System" i n compliance w it h United States
F ederal Motor Vehicle Safe ty Standard ( FMVSS)
208 as applicable at the time your vehicle was
manufactured .
The Advanced Airbag system in your ve hicl e has
been certified to mee t the " low -risk" requ ire­
ments for 3 -and 6-year o ld children on the pas ­
senger side and small adults on the driver side.
T he low risk deployment criteria are intended to
reduce the r isk of injury through interaction with
the airbag that can occur, for example, by being
too close to the steering whee l and instrument
panel when the a irbag inflates . In add it io n, the
system has been cert ified to comply with the
"suppression" requiremen ts of the Safety Stand­
ar d, to turn off t he front airbag for infa nts up to
12 months who are restra ined on the front pas­
senger seat in child restraints that are listed i n
the Standard.
E ven though yo ur vehicle is equ ip ped with an Ad­
vanced A irbag sys tem, all children, especia lly
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 potent ially dangerous p lace for
a
chi ld to r ide. The fro nt seat is not the safes t place
for a child in a forward-facing child safety seat . It
can be a very dangerous place for a n infant or a
l arger child in a rea rward-facing seat .
T he vehicle's Advanced Airbag System has a ca­
pacitive passenger detect ion system in the front
passenger seat cush ion that ca n detec t the p res­
e n ce of a baby o r a child in a c hild restra int sys­
tem on this seat.
The capacit ive passenger detection system regis ­
ters the changes that result in an electrical field
when a ch ild, a child rest raint, and a baby b la nk et
a re on the fron t passenger sea t. T he change in
the meas ured c apac it a nce due to the presence of
a child,
a chi ld restraint, and a baby blanket on
the front passenger seat is re lated to the child re­
straint system resting on the seat . The measu red
capacitance of a chi ld restraint system va ries de-
Child sa fety
pending on the type of sys tem and specific make
and mode l.
T he elec trical c apacit a nce of the va rious types,
makes, and mo dels o f child restra ints specifie d
by the U.S.National Highway Traff ic Sa fety Ad ­
ministration (NH TSA) in the relevant safety
standard are stored in the Advanced Airbag Sys­
tem control unit together w it h the capacitances
typ ica l of infants and a 1-year old child. When a
c h ild restra int is used on the front passenger seat
with
a typ ica l 1 year-old in fant, the Advanced Air­
bag System compa res the capacitance measu red
by the capacitive passenge r dete ction system
wi th t he dat a stored in the elec tronic con trol
u ni t.
Child restraints and Advanced front airbag
system
Regardless of the c hild restra int that you use,
make sure that it has been cert ified to meet Unit­
ed States Federa l Moto r Veh icle Safety Standa rds
and has been ce rtified by its manufacture r fo r
u se with an a irbag. Always b e sur e t hat t he c hild
r est rain t is prope rly insta lled a t one of the rear
sea ting pos itions. If in excep tional circ ums tan ces
yo u m ust use it on the front passenge r seat, care ­
fully read a ll of the information on chi ld safety
and Advanced Airbags and heed all of the appli ­
cable WARNINGS. Make certain that the child
and child restra int are correctly recogni zed by the
capacit ive passenger detection system i n the
front passenger seat, that the front passe nger
airbag is turned off, and that the a irbag status is
always cor rect ly signa led by the
PASSENGER AIR
BAG OFF
light .
Many types and models of child rest raints have
been available ove r the years, new mode ls a re in­
t rod uced regu larly in co rporating new and im­
proved de signs and older mode ls are take n ou t of
produ ct io n. Ch ild restra ints are not s tandar dized.
Child rest rain ts of the same type typ ically have
different weights and sizes and different "foot­
prints", the size and shape of t he bottom of the
c hi ld restra int that sits on the seat, when they
are installed on
a vehicle seat. These d ifferences
make it virtua lly impossib le to cert ify compliance
with the requirements for advanced airbags with .,.
169

Child safety
each and every child restraint that has ever been
sold in the past or will be sold over the course of
the useful life of your vehicle.
F or this reason, the Uni ted States Nat iona l H igh­
way Traffic Sa fety Administration has p ublished a
list of specific type, makes and models of c hild
restraints that m ust be used to certify comp li­
ance of the Advanced Airbag System in your vehi­
cle with the suppression requirements of Federal
Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208 . These ch ild
restra ints are:
Subpart A - Car bed child restr aint s
Model Manufactured on or
after
Angel Guard Angel September 25, 2007
Ride AA2403FOF
Subpa rt B -Rear-facing child restraints
Model Manufactured on or
after
Century SmartFit 4543 December 1, 1999
C osco Arriva
September 25, 2007
22-013PAW and base
22-999WHO
E venflo Discovery Ad -
December 1, 1 999
jus t Right 2 12
Evenflo F irst Cho ice December 1, 1999
204
Graco Infant 8457 December
1, 1999
G raco Snugride Sept ember 25, 2007
Peg Perego P rimo V iag- September 25, 2007
gio SIP IMU NOOUS
Subp art C - Forward-facing and convertible
child restraints
Model Manufactured on or
after
Brit ax Ro undabout September 25, 2007
E9L 02xx
Cosco Tour iva 02519 December 1, 1999
C osco Summ it Del uxe September 25, 200 7
H igh Back Booste r
22- 262
170
Model Manufactured on or
after
Cosco H igh Back Boos- September 25 , 2007
ter 22-209
E ven flo Tribute V September 25, 20 07
379xxxx
Evenflo Meda llion 254 December 1, 1999
Evenf lo Generations September 25, 2007
352xxxx
Graco Comfo rtSport September 25 , 2007
Graco Todd ler Safety September 25, 2007
Seat Step 2
Gr aco Platinu m Cargo Se pte mber 25, 200 7
_& WARNING
To reduce the risk of ser io us injury , ma ke s ure
that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF lig ht
comes on and stays on whenever a ch ild re­
straint is installed on the front passenger seat
and the ig nition is switched o n.
- Ta ke the child restraint off the front passen­
ger seat and install it properly at o ne of the
rea r seat positions if the
PASSENG ER AIR
BAG OFF ligh t does not s tay on.
- Have the airbag system inspected by your
author ized Audi dealer immed iate ly.
(D Tips
The child seats listed in categor ies A to C have
been statically tested by Audi only for the Ad­
vanced A irbag function.
Important safety instructions for using
child safety seats
Correct use of child safety seats substantially re­
duces the risk of injury in an accident!
As the dr iver, you are responsib le for the safety of
everybody in the veh icle, especially ch ildren:
.. Always use the right ch ild safety seat for each
child and always use it properly
c::;, page 173 .
.. Always carefully fo llow the child safety seat
manufact urer's instructions on how to ro ute
the saf ety belt properly through the c hild safe­
ty seat.