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Sit properly in your seat and make sure that
your passengers do the same
¢page 63,
General information .
.. Fasten your safety belt and wear it properly. Al
so instruct your passengers to fasten their safe
ty belts properly¢
page 143 .
What impairs driving safety?
Safe driving is directly related to the condition of
the vehicle, the driver as well as the driver's abili
ty to concentrate on the road without being dis
tracted.
The driver is responsible for the safety of the ve
h icle and all of its occupants . If your ability to
drive is impaired, safety risks for everybody in the
veh icle increase and you also become a hazard to
everyone else on the road ¢,& .T herefo re:
.. Do not let yourself be distracted by passengers
o r by using a cellular telephone.
.. NEVER dr ive when your dr iv ing ability is im
paired (by medications, alcohol, drugs, etc.).
.. Observe a ll traff ic laws, rules of the road and
speed limits and plain common sense.
.. ALWAYS adjust your speed to road, traffic and
weather conditions.
.. Take frequent breaks on long trips. Do not drive
for more than two hours at a stretch.
.. Do NOT drive when you are tired, under pres
sure or when you are stressed.
A WARNING
Impai red dr iv ing safety increases the risk of
ser ious personal inju ry and death whenever a
vehicle is being used.
Dr iving safety
Correct passenger
seating positions
Proper seating position for the driver
The proper driver seating position is important
for safe, relaxed driving.
F ig. 151 Cor rect seating pos ition
For your own safety and to reduce the risk of in
jury in the event of an accident, we recommend
that you adjust the driver's seat to the fo llowing
pos ition:
.. Adjust the driver's seat so that you can easily
push the pedals all the way to the floor while
keep ing your knee(s) slightly bent¢,& .
.,. Adjust the angle of the seatback so that it is in
an upright position so that your back comes in
full contac t wi th it when you dr ive.
.. Adj ust the steer ing wheel so that there is a d is
tance of at least 10 inches (25 cm) between the steering whee l and your breast bone¢
fig. 151.
If not possible, see your author ized A udi dealer
about adaptive equipment.
.. Adjust the steering wheel so that the steering
wheel and airbag cover points at your chest and
not at your face .
.,. Grasp the top of the steering wheel with your
elbow(s) slightly bent .
.. Ad just the head res tra int so the upper edge is
as even as possib le w ith the top of yo ur head.
If
that is no t possib le, try to adjust the head re
straint so that it is as close to this position as
possible .
.. Fasten and wear safety belts correctly
¢page 146.
.. Always keep both feet i n the footwell so that
you are in control of the ve hicle at all t imes .
135

Driving safety
For detailed information on how to adjust the
driver's seat, see ¢
page 64.
A WARNING
Drivers who are unbelted, out of position or
too close to the airbag can be seriously in
jured by an airbag as it unfolds. To help re
duce the risk of serious personal injury:
- Always adjust the driver's seat and the
steering wheel so that there are at least
10 inches (25 cm) between your breastbone
and the steering wheel.
- Always hold the steering wheel on the out
side of the steering wheel rim with your
hands at the 9 o'clock and 3 o'clock posi
tions to help reduce the risk of personal in
jury if the driver's airbag inflates.
- Never hold the steering wheel at the
12 o'clock position or with your hands at
other positions 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.
- Pointing the steering wheel toward your
face decreases the ability of the su pplemen
tal driver's airbag to protect you in a colli
sion.
- Always sit in an upright position and never lean against or place any part of your body
too close to the area where the airbags are
located.
- Before driving, always adjust the front seats
and head restraints properly and make sure
that all passengers are properly restrained.
- Never adjust the seats while the vehicle is
moving . Your seat may move unexpectedly
and you could lose control of the vehicle.
- Never drive with the backrest reclined or
tilted far back! The farther the backrests are
tilted back, the greater the risk of injury due
to incorrect positioning of the safety belt
and improper seating position.
- Children must always ride in child safety
seats¢
page 171. Special precautions ap
ply when installing a child safety seat on the
front passenger seat
¢page 151.
136
-
Proper seating position for the front
passenger
The proper front passenger seating position is
important for safe, relaxed driving.
For your own safety and to reduce the risk of in
jury in the event of an accident, we recommend
that you adjust the seat for the front passenger
to the following position :
.,. Adjust the angle of the seatback so that it is in
an upright position and your back comes in full
contact with it whenever the vehicle is moving.
.,. Adjust the head restraint so the upper edge is
as even as possible with the top of your head. If
that is not possible, try to adjust the head re
straint so that it is as close to this position as
possible
¢ page 137.
.,. Keep both feet flat on the floor in front of the
front passenger seat.
.,. Fasten and wear safety belts correctly
¢page 146.
For detailed information on how to adjust the
front passenger's seat, see
¢ page 63.
A WARNING
Front seat passengers who are unbelted, out
of position or too close to the airbag can be
seriously injured or killed by the airbag as it
unfolds. To help reduce the risk of serious
personal injury:
- Passengers must always sit in an upright po
sition and never lean against or place any
part of their body too close to the area
where the airbags are located.
- Passengers who are unbelted, out of posi
tion or too close to the airbag can be seri
ously injured by an airbag as it unfolds with
great force in the blink of an eye.
- Always make sure that there are at least
10 inches (25 cm) between the front pas
senger's breastbone and the instrument
panel.
- Each passenger must always sit on a seat of
their own and properly fasten and wear the
safety belt belonging to that seat.
- Before driving, always adjust the front pas senger seat and head restraint properly.

Safe ty belts
-Failure to pay attention to the warn ing light
that come on, could lead to personal injury.
Why use safety belts?
Frontal collisions and the law of physics
Frontal crashes create very strong forces for peo
ple riding in vehicles.
F ig . 1 55 Unbe lted occupants in a veh icle headi ng for a wall
F ig . 1 56 The veh icle c rashes into the wall
The physical principles are simple . Both the vehi
cle and the passengers possess energy wh ich var
ies with vehicle speed and body weight. Engi
neers call this energy "kinet ic energy."
The higher the speed of the vehicle and the greater the vehicle's we ight, the more energy
that has to be "absorbed" in the crash .
Vehicle speed is the most significant fac tor. If
the speed doubles from 15 to 30 mph (25 to 50
km/h), the energy increases 4 times!
Because t he passengers of th is veh icle are not us
ing safety belts<=>
fig. 155, they will keep mov ing
at the same speed the vehicle was moving just
befo re the crash , u nti l something stops them -
here, the wall
r=> fig. 156.
144
The same principles apply to people sitting in a
veh icle that is invo lved in a frontal collision . Even
at city speeds of 20 to 30 mph (30 to 50 km/h),
the forces acting on the body can reach one ton
(2,000 lbs . or 1,000 kg) or more. At greater
speeds, these forces are even higher .
People who do not use safety belts are a lso not
attached to their vehicle. In a frontal collis ion
they will also keep mov ing fo rward at the speed
their vehicle was travelling just before the crash .
Of course, the laws of physics don't just apply to
frontal collisions, they determine what happens
i n a ll kinds of accide nts and co llisions .
What happens to occupants not wearing
safety belts?
In crashes unbel ted occupants cannot stop
themselves from flying forward and being in
jured or killed. Always wear your safety belts!
Fi g. 1 57 A driver not wear ing a safety be lt is vio len tly
throw n forward
Fi g. 158 A rea r passe nge r not we arin g a sa fety be lt w ill fly
forwa rd and str ike the drive r
Unbelted occ upants are not ab le to res ist the tre
mendous forces of impact by holding tig ht or
braci ng themselves . Without the benefit of safe
ty restraint systems , the unrestra ined occupant
will slam violently into the steering wheel,
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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
9 page 135,
""Adjust the front passenger's seat properly
9page 64,
.,. Wear safety belts properly 9 page 145,
.,. Always properly use the proper child restraint
to protect children
9 page 171.
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 protection in certain frontal collisions
o page 135, Correct
passenger seating positions .
For details on the
operation of the seat adjustment controls
opage 64.
It's especially important that children are proper
ly restrained
9page 171.
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 necessary.
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,
151

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 143.
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 146, 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.
152
-
- 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 135.
- 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 171 .
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. 165 Loca tion of driver airbag: in steering wheel
Fig. 166 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. 165 and the airbag for the front pas
senger is in the instrument panel¢
fig. 166. 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 deploy 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 .
-
155

Airbag syste m
Advanced front airbag system
Your vehicle is equippe d with a fr ont Adva nce d
A irbag System in compl iance with Un ited States
F edera l Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208, as
well as Canada Motor Vehicle Safety Standard
(CMVSS) 208 as applicable at th e tim e your vehi
cle was manufactured .
The front Advanced Airbag System supp lements
the safety belts to provide additional protection
for the driv er's and front passenger's heads and
upper bodies in frontal crashes . The airbags in
flate only in front al impacts when the veh icle de
celerat ion is high enough.
The front Advanced Airbag System for the front
seat occupants is not a substitute for your safety be lts . Rather, it is part of the overall occupant re
stra int system in your vehicle. Always remember
that the airbag system can on ly help to protect
you, if you are sitt ing upr ight, wear ing your safe
ty belt and wear ing it prope rly . This is why you
and your passengers must always be prope rly re
s trai ned, not just because the law req uires yo u to
be .
The Advanced Airbag System in your veh icle has
been ce rtified to meet the " low r isk" requ ire
men ts for 3 and 6 yea r-old children on the pas
senger side and very sma ll adults on the driver
side . T he low risk dep loyment criteria are intend
ed to he lp reduce the risk of injury through i nter
action with the front a irbag that can occur, for
examp le, by being too close to the steering wheel
and ins trument pane l when the airbag inflates.
In addition, the system has been certified to
comply w ith the "suppression" requirements of
the Safety Standard, to turn
off the front a irbag
for i nfants 12 months old and younger who are
restrained on the front passenger seat in c hild re
stra ints that are listed in the Standa rd
¢ page 173, Child restraints and Advanced Air
bags.
"Suppression" requ ires the front a irbag on the
passenger side to be t urned
off if:
- a chi ld up to about one year of age is restra ined
on the fro nt passenger seat in one of the rear
facing or forward -facing infant restraints listed
156
in Federal Motor Veh icle Safety Standard 208
with which the Advanced Airbag System in your
veh icle was certified . For a list ing of the child
restraints that were used to cert ify your vehi
cle's compliance with the US Safety Standard
¢ page 173,
-weight less than a threshold leve l stored in the
control un it is detected on the front passenger
seat .
When a person is detected on the front passen ger seat , weighing more than the total weight of
a chi ld that is about 1 year old restrained in one
of the rear -facing or forward -fac ing infant re
straints (listed in Federal Motor Vehicle Safety
Standard 208 w ith w hich the Adva nced Ai rbag
System i n your veh icle was certified), the front
a irbag on the passenge r side may or may not de
ploy .
The
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF lig ht comes o n
whe n the elect roni c control unit detects a tota l
weight on the front passe nger seat th at req uires
the front airbag to be turned
off . If the PASSEN
GER AIR BAG OFF
light does not come on, the
front airbag on the passenger side has not been
turned
off by the control unit and can dep loy i f
the control unit senses an impact that meets the
cond it ions stored in its memory .
If the total weight on the front passenger seat is
more than that of a typ ica l 1 year-old, but less
than the weight of a small adult, the front airbag
o n the passenger s ide may deploy (the
PASSEN
GER AIR BAG OFF
light does not come on) .
For example , the ai rb ag ma y deploy if :
- a small ch ild that is heav ier than a typica l 1
year-old child is on the front passenger seat (regard less of whether the child is in one of the
child safety seats listed¢
page 173),
-a child who has outgrown c hil d rest raints is on
the front passenger seat.
If the front passenger a irbag is t urned
off, the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light in the center of
the instr ument panel will come on and stay on .
The fro nt airbag on the passenge r side may
not
deploy (the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does
not illuminate and stay lit) if : ..,.

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
c> page 161 .
-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 161 , fig . 168 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
158
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 152, 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 fron t 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