Airbag system
& WARNING
Objects between you and the airbag will in
crease the risk of injury in a crash by interfer
ing with the way the airbag unfolds and/or by
being pushed into you as the airbag inflates.
-Always make sure nothing is in the front air -
bag deployment zone that could be struck
by the airbag when it inflates .
- Objects in the zone of a deploying airbag
can become projectiles when the airbag de
ploys and cause serious personal injury.
- Never hold things in your hands or on your
lap when the vehicle is in use .
- Never place accessories or other objects
(such as cup holders, telephone brackets,
note pads, navigation systems, or things
that are large, heavy, or bulky) on the doors;
never attach then to the doors or the wind
shield; never place them over or near or at
tach them to the area marked ,,AIRBAG" on
the steering wheel, instrument panel or the
seat backrests; never place them between
these areas and you or any other person in
the vehicle.
- Never attach objects to the windshield
above the passenger front airbag, such as
accessory GPS navigation units or music
players . Such objects could cause serious in
jury in a collision , especially when the air
bags inflate .
- Never recline the front passenger seat to
transport objects. Items can also move into
the deployment area of the side airbags or
the front airbag during breaking or in a sud
den maneuver. Objects near the airbags can
fly dangerously through the passenger com
partment and cause injury, particularly
when the seat is reclined and the airbags in
flate.
& WARNING
A person on the front passenger seat, espe cially infants and small children, will receive
serious injuries and can even be killed by be
ing too close to the airbag when it inflates.
-Although the Advanced Airbag System in
your vehicle is designed to turn off the front
140
-
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 impossible 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" option for 3-
and 6-year-old children under the U .S . Fed
eral Standard if a child with electrical capac
itance greater than the combined capaci
tance of a typical one-year old infant re
strained in one of the forward facing or rear
ward-facing child seats with which your ve
hicle was certified 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 seat area than
in the front seating position .
- For their own safety, all children, especially
12 years and younger, should always ride in
the back properly restrained for their age
and size.
Advanced front airbag system
Your vehicle is equipped with a front Advanced
Airbag System in compliance with United States
Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208, as
well as Canada Motor Vehicle Safety Standard
(CMVSS) 208 as applicable at the time your vehi
cle was manufactured.
The front Advanced Airbag System supplements
the safety belts to provide additional protection
for the driver's and front passenger's heads and upper bodies in frontal crashes. The airbags in
flate only in frontal impacts when the vehicle de
celeration is high enough.
The front Advanced Airbag System for the front
seat occupants is not a substitute for your safety belts. Rathe r, it is part of the overall occupant re
straint system in your vehicle . Always remember
that the airbag system can only help to protect
you, if you are sitting upright, wearing your safe
ty belt and wearing it properly . This is why you
and your passengers must always be properly .,.
-An Advanced Airbag with gas generator and
control valve for the driver inside the steering
wheel hub.
- An Advanced Airbag with gas generator and
control valve inside the instrument panel for
the front passenger.
- A capacitive passenger detection system under
neath the front passenger seat cover. This sys
tem measures the electrical capacitance of the
person in the seat. The information registered
is sent continuously to the electronic control
unit to regulate deployment of the front Ad
vanced Airbag on the passenger side .
- An airbag monitoring system and indicator
light in the instrument cluster
~ page 146.
-A sensor in each front seat registers the dis
tance between the respective seat and the
steering wheel or instrument panel. The infor
mation registered is sent continuously to the
electronic control unit to regulate deployment
of the front Advanced Airbags.
- The
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes on
and stays on in the center of the instrument
panel ~
page 147, fig. 157 and tells you when
the front Advanced Airbag on the passenger side has been turned off.
- 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 electronic control unit.
A WARNING
Damage to the front passenger seat can pre
vent the front airbag from working properly.
- Improper repair or disassembly of the front
passenger and driver seat will prevent the
Advanced Airbag System from functioning properly.
- Repairs to the front passenger seat must be
performed by qualified and properly trained
workshop personnel.
- Never remove the front passenger or driver
seat from the vehicle.
- Never remove the upholstery from the front
passenger seat.
- Never disassemble or remove parts from the
seat or disconnect wires from it.
Airbag system
-Never carry sharp objects in your pockets or
put them on the seat. The capacitive pas
senger detection mat in the front passenger
seat will not function properly if it is punc
tured.
- Never carry things on your lap or carry ob
jects on the front passenger seat. Such ob
jects can influence the capacitance regis
tered by the capacitive passenger detection
system, so that incorrect information is pro
vided 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 place 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 Air
bag System from recognizing child re
straints or occupants on the front passenger
seat and prevent the side airbag in the seat
backrest from deploying properly.
- If a seat heater has been retrofitted or oth
erwise added to the front passenger seat,
never install any child restraint system on
this seat.
- Never use cushions, pillows, blankets, or
similar items on the front passenger seat.
The additional layers prevent the capacitive
passenger detection system from accurately
measuring the capacitance of the child safe
ty seat and/or the person on the seat and
thus keep the Advanced Airbag System from
working properly.
- Never place or use any electrical device
(such as a laptop, CD player, electronic
games device, power inverter or seat heater
for child seats) on the front passenger seat if the device is connected to the 12-volt
socket or the cigarette lighter socket. Such
devices can influence the capacitance regis
tered by the capacitive passenger detection
system, so that incorrect information is pro
vided to the airbag control unit.
- If you must use a child restraint on the front
passenger seat and the child restraint
~
143
Airbag system
restraints that were used to certify your vehi
cle's compliance with the U.S . Safety Standard
~ page 161.
-will go out if the front passenger seat is occu
pied by an adult as registered by the capacitive
passenger detection system.
- The
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light must come
on and stay on if the ignition is on and ...
- a car bed has been installed on the front pas
senger seat, or
- a rearward -facing child restraint has been in
sta lled on the front passenger seat, or
- a fo rwa rd-facing child restraint has been instal
led on the front passenger seat,
- and if the electrica l capacitance registered on
the front passenger seat is equa l to or less than
the comb ined capacitance of a typica l 1 year
o ld infant and one of the rearward-facing or
forward-facing child restraints listed in Federal
Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208 with which
the Advanced Airbag System in your vehicle was
certified.
If the front passenger seat is not occupied, the
front airbag w ill not deploy, and the
PASSENGER
AIR BAG OFF light will stay on. Never install a
rearward-fac ing ch ild restraint on the front pas
senger seat, the safest place for a child in any
kind of child restraint is at one of the seating po
sitions on the rear seat~
page 136, Child re
straints on the front seat -some important
things to know
and ¢ page 159, Child safety .
If the PASSENGER AIR BAG light comes
on ...
If the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes on
when one of the conditions listed above is met,
be sure to check the light regularly to make cer
tain that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
stays on continuous ly whenever the ign ition is
on. If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does
not appear on and does not stay on all the time,
stop as soon as it is safe to do so and
- reactivate the system by turning the ignition off for more than 4 seconds and then turning it
on again;
- remove and reinstall the child restraint. Make
sure that the child restraint is properly instal-
148
led and that the safety belt for the front pas
senger seat has been correctly routed through
the child restraint as described in the child re
straint manufacturer's instructions;
- make sure that the convertible locking retrac
tor on the safety belt for the front passenger
seat has been activated and that the safety belt
has been pulled tight.
- make sure that no electrical device (such as a laptop, CD player, electron ic games device,
power inverter or seat heater for child seats) is
placed or used on the front passenger seat if
the device is connected to the 12-volt socket or
the cigarette lighter socket;
- make sure that no seat heater has been retro
fitted or otherw ise added to the front passen
ger seat;
- make sure that noth ing can interfere with the
safety belt buckles and that they are not ob
structed;
- make sure that there are no wet objects (such
as a wet towe l) and no water or other liquids on
the front passenger seat cushion.
If the PASSENGER AIR BAG light still does
not come on ...
If the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light still does
not come on and does not stay on continuously
(when the ignition is switched on),
- take the child restra int off the front passenger
seat and insta ll it p roperly at one of the rear
seat positions. Have the airbag system inspect
ed by yo ur Audi dealer immediate ly.
- move the child to a rear seat position and make
sure that the child is properly restrained in a
child restraint that is appropriate for its size
and age .
The PASSENGER AIR BAG light should NOT
come on .. .
The PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light should NOT
come on when the ignition is on and an adu lt is
sitting in a proper seating position on the front
passenger seat. If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light comes on and stays on or flashes for about
5 seconds while dr iv ing, under these c ircumstan-
ces, make sure that: ..,.
Child safety
exceptional circumstances and the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does not
come on and stay on, immediately install
the rear-facing child safety seat in a rear
seating position and have the airbag system inspected immediately by your Audi dealer .
A WARNING
-Forward-facing child seats installed on the
front passenger seat may interfere with the deployment of the airbag and cause serious
personal injury to the child.
- If exceptional circumstances require the use
of a forward-facing child restraint on the
front passenger's seat, the child's safety
and well-being require the following special
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 carefully follow the manufacturer's
instructions provided with the child seat
or infant carrier.
- Never install a child restraint without a
properly attached top tether strap if the
child restraint manufacturer's instructions require the top tether strap to be used.
- Never put the forward-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 per
mits proper installation in accordance
with the child restraint manufacturer's in
structions.
- 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 upright position .
- Always make sure that nothing prevents
the front passenger's seat from being moved to the rearmost position in its fore
and aft adjustment range .
160
-Never place objects on the seat (such as a
laptop, CD player, electronic games de
vice, power inverter or seat heater for
child seats) . These may influence the elec
trical capacitance measured by the capaci
tive passenger detection system and can
also fly around in an accident and cause
serious personal injury.
- Never place or use any electrical device
(such as a laptop, CD player, electronic
games device, power inverter or seat heat
er for child seats) on the front passenger
seat if the device is connected to the 12-
volt 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 restraint 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
cushion.
- Always make sure that the
PASSENGER
AIR BAG OFF
light comes on and stays on
all the time whenever the ignition is
switched on.
- If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not come on and stay on, immediate ly install the forward-facing child seat in a
rear seating position and have the airbag
system inspected by your authorized Audi
dealer.
- Always buckle the child seat firmly in
place even if a child is not sitting in it. A
loose child seat can fly around during a
sudden stop or in a collision.
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS
whenever using a child restraint in a vehi
cle
¢ page 12 7, Safety belts, ¢ page 135,
Airbag system
and ¢ page 159, 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 collision situation.
Child safety
-Make sure the forward-facing seat has
been designed and certified by its manu
facturer for use on a front seat w ith a
passenger front and side airbag .
- Always carefully follow the manufacturer 's
instructions provided with the child safety
seat o r carrier .
- Always move the front passenger seat into
the rearmost position of the passenger
seat's fore a nd aft adjustment range, and
as far away from the airbag as possible be
fore insta lling the child restraint.
- Always make sure that nothing prevents
the front passenge r's seat from be ing
moved to the rearmost posit ion in its fore
and aft adjustment range.
- Always make sure that the back rest is in
the upr ight position .
- Never place or use any e lectr ica l device
(such as a laptop , CD player , e lectron ic
g ames device, power inve rter or sea t heat
er for ch ild seats) on the front passenger
seat if the device is connected to the 12 -
volt socket or the cigarette lighter socket.
- If a seat heater has been retrofitted or
otherwise added to the front passenger
seat, never install any chi ld restraint sys
tem on th is seat .
- Make sure that there are no wet objects
(such as a wet towel) and no water or oth
er liqu ids on the front passenger seat
cushion .
- Never place objects on the seat (such as a laptop, CD p layer, electron ic games de
vice, power inverter or seat heater for
child seats). These may influence the elec
trical capacitance measured by the capaci tive passenge r detection system and can
a lso fly around in an accident and cause
serio us personal in jury.
- Always bu ckle the child safety seat firmly in
place even if a child is not s itting in it. A
loose child safety seat can fly around during
a sudden stop or in a collisio n.
- Always re ad a nd heed all WARN INGS when
ever using a child restrained in a vehicle is
being used
¢ page 12 7, Safety belts,
164
c::> page 135 , Airbag system and
c::> page 159 , Child safety .
A WARNING
To reduce the risk of serious injury, make sure
that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
comes on and stays on whenever a ch ild re
stra int is installed on the front passenger seat
and the ign ition is switched on .
- Take the child restra int off the front passen
ge r seat and install it prope rly at one of the
rear seat positions if the
PASSENGER AIR
BAG OFF
light does no t stay on.
- Have the airbag system inspected by your
author ized Audi dealer immed iate ly.
Secure unused safety belts on the rear seat
~ - --,..---.-- --,,. N
Fig. 16 4 Schem ati c overv iew: keep unused safety belts
away from child re n in c hild safety seats. @· ou te r rear
s afety belt
"' ~
If a child safety seat is used on the rear bench,
especially with LATCH universal lower anchorag
es, the unused safety belts
must be sec ured so
that the c hild in the child rest raint cannot reach
them
c::> _&. .
- Guide the safety belt webbing @ behind the
head rest raint of the seat where the child re
st raint is installed
c::> fig . 164. When doing so,
do not engage the convert ib le loc king re trac·
to r! Yo u should not he ar a "cl icking " so und
when winding up the safety bel t.
- Let the belt retracto r wind up the safety belt
webbing.
Child safety
seating position and have the airbag system inspected by your Audi dealer.
- Never place
or use any electrical device
(such as a laptop, CD player, electronic
games device, power inverter or seat heater
for child seats) on the front passenger seat
if the device is connected to the 12-volt
socket or the cigarette lighter socket.
- If a seat heater has been retrofitted or oth
erwise added to the front passenger seat,
never install any child restraint system on
this seat .
- Make sure that there are no wet objects
(such as a wet towel) and no water or other
liquids on the front passenge r seat cushion .
- Never place objects on the seat (such as a
laptop, CD player, electronic games dev ice,
power inverter or seat heater for child
seats). These may influence the e lectr ical
capacitance measured by the capacitive pas
senger detection system and can also fly
around in an accident and cause serious per
sonal in jury .
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS when
ever using a child restrained in a vehicle is
being used
c:;, page 12 7, Safety belts,
c:;, page 135 , Airbag system
and
c:;, page 159, Important information.
Convertible child safety seats
Properly used convertible child safety seats can
help protect toddlers and children over age one
who weigh between 20 and 40 lbs. (9 and 18 kg)
in a crash.
Fig. 166 Schemat ic ov erv iew : in stallat ion of the at tac h
m ents app licabl e to a LATCH seat
166
Fig. 167 Schem at ic ove rv iew: installat ion of t he seat usin g
t he vehicle's sa fety bel t system
.,. When using the vehicle safety belt to install a
child safety seat, you must first activate the
convertible locking retractor on the safety belt
to prevent the child safety seat from moving
c:;, page 169 or install the seat using the LATCH
attachments .
.,. Push the child safety sea t down with your full
weight to get the safety belt really tight so that
the seat cannot move forward or sideways
more than one inch (2 .5 cm)
¢ page 169.
.,. If the child safety seat is equipped with a tether
strap, attach it to the tether anchors
c:;, page 175.
.,. Secure unused safety belts on the rear seat
c:;, page 164.
A toddler o r child is usually too large for an in
fant restraint if it is more than one year old and
weighs more than 20 lbs. (9 kg).
Toddlers and children who are older than one
year up to about 4 years old and weigh more than
20 lbs (9 kg) up to 40 lbs. (18 kg) must always be
properly restrained in a child safety seat certified
for their size and we ight
c:;, fig . 166 and
¢ fig. 167.
The airbag on the passenger side makes the front
seat a potent ially dangerous place for a child to
ride . The front seat is not the safest place for a
ch ild in a forward-fac ing ch ild safety seat .
It is a
very dangerous place for an infant or a larger
child in a rearward-facing seat .
& WARNING
Not using a child safety seat, using the wrong
chi ld safety seat or improperly insta lling a ..,.
child restraint increases the risk of serious
personal injury and death in a collision or oth
er emergency situation.
- Children on the front seat of any car, even
with Advanced Airbags, can be seriously in
jured or even killed when an airbag inflates. A child in a rearward-facing child safety seat
installed on the front passenger seat wi ll be
seriously injured and can be killed if the
front airbag inflates - even with an Ad
vanced Airbag System.
- T he inflating a irbag will hit the child safety
seat or infant carrier with great force and
will smash the ch ild safety seat and chi ld
against the backrest, center arm rest, door
or roof.
- Always install rear-facing child safety seats
on the rear seat.
- If you must install a rearward fac ing ch ild
safety seat on the front passenger seat be
cause of exceptiona l circumstances and the
PA SSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does not
come on and stay on, immed iate ly install
the rear-fac ing ch ild safety seat in a rear
seating pos it ion and have the airbag system
inspected by your Audi dealer.
- The rear side of the child safety seat should
be pos it ioned as close as poss ible to the
backrest on the vehicle seat.
- For adjustable head restraints : adjust or re
move the rear seat head restraint if it is d if
ficult to install the child seat with the head
restra int in place ¢
page 56. Install the
head restraint again immediately once the
child seat is removed. Driving w ithout head
restraints or with head restraints that are
not proper ly adjusted increases the risk of
serious or fatal neck injury dramatically.
- Always read and heed all WARN INGS when
ever using a child restrained in a vehicle is
being used ¢
page 12 7, Safety belts,
¢ page 135, Airbag system and
¢ page 159, Important information.
A WARNING
If exceptional circumstances require the use
of a forward-facing child restra int on the
Ch ild safety
front passenger's seat, the ch ild's safety and
well-being requ ire that the following special
precautions be taken:
- Make sure the forward-fac ing seat has been
des igned and certified by its manufacturer
for use on a front seat with a passenger
front and side airbag.
- Always follow the manufacturer's instruc
tions provided with the child safety seat or infant carrie r.
- Always move the front passenger seat into
the rearmost pos ition of the passenger
seat's fore and aft adjustment range, and as
fa r away from the airbag as possib le befo re
installing the ch ild rest raint.
- 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 ad
justment range.
- Always make sure the backrest is in an up
right position.
- Never p lace or use any electr ica l device
(such as a lap top, CD player, e lectron ic
g ames device, power inve rter or sea t heater
for child sea ts) on the front passenger seat
if the device is connected to the 12-volt
socket or the cigarette lighter socket.
- If a seat heater has been retrofitted or oth
erwise added to the front passenger seat,
never install any child restra int system on
this seat.
- Make sure that there are no wet objects
(such as a wet towel) and no water or other
liquids on the front passenger seat cush ion.
- Never p lace objects on the seat (such as a
laptop, CD p laye r, electronic games device,
power inverter or seat heater for ch ild
seats). These may influence the electrical
capacitance measu red by the capacitive pas
senger detect ion system and can also fly
aro und in an accident an d cause se rious per
sonal injury.
- Make sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
li ght comes on and st ays on a ll the time
wheneve r the ignit ion is swit ched on.
- I f the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does
not come on and stay on, immedia tely in
stall the forward-fac ing ch ild seat at a
167