2016 AUDI S8 belt

is as close to this position as possible.
¢fig. 152.
Adjusting head restraints ¢page 64.
Crash -active head restraints
In the event of a rear -end collision, it is possible
that the crash-active head restraints on the driv­
er's seat and front passenger's seat
1> are trig­
gered. On head restraints that have been trig­
gered, the padding protrudes forwards by several
centimeters. Drive the vehicle to your authorized
Audi dealer without delay and have the function
of the active head restraints restored.
_& WARNING
Driving without head restraints or with head
restraints that are not properly adjusted in­
creases the risk of serious or fatal neck injury
dramatically. To help reduce the r isk of injury:
- Always drive with the head restraints in
place and properly adjusted .
- Every person in the vehicle must have a
properly adjusted head restraint.
- Always make sure each person in the vehicle
properly adjusts their head restraint. Adjust
the head restraint so the upper edge is as
even as possible with the top of your head.
If that is not possib le, try to adjust the head
restra int so that it is as close to this position
as possible.
- Never attempt to adjust head restraint
wh ile driving. If you have dr iven off and
must adjust the driver head rest for any rea­
son, first stop the vehicle safely before at­
tempting to adjust the head restra int.
- Children must always be properly restrained
in a child restraint that is appropriate for
their age and size¢
page 168.
-
l) Ve hicles w ith recl inin g rear seat: This functio n is not avai l­
able fo r th e fro nt passenger's seat .
Driving safety
Examples of improper seating positions
The occupant restraint system can only reduce
the risk of injury if vehicle occupants are properly
seated.
Improper seating positions can cause serious in­
jury or death . Safety belts can only work when
they are properly positioned on the body . Im­
proper seat ing positions reduce the effectiveness
of safety belts and will even increase the risk of
injury and death by moving the safety belt to cr it­
ical areas of the body. Improper seating positions
also increase the risk of serious injury and death
when an airbag deploys and strikes an occupant
who is not in the proper seating position. A driver
is responsible for the safety of all vehicle occu­
pants and especially for children . Therefore:
.,. Never allow anyone to assume an incorrect
seating position when the vehicle is being used
¢ .,& .
The following bulletins list only some sample po ­
sitions that will increase the risk of serious injury
and death . Our hope is that these examples will
make you more aware of seating positions that
are dangerous .
Therefore, whenever the vehicle is moving:
-never stand up in the vehicle
- never stand on the seats
- never kneel on the seats
- never ride with the seatback recl ined
- never lie down on the rear seat
- never lean up against the instrument panel
- never sit on the edge of the seat
- never sit sideways
- never lean out the window
- never put your feet out the window
- never put your feet on the instrument panel
- never rest your feet on the seat cushion or back
of the seat
- never ride in the footwell
- never ride in the cargo area
133

Safety belt s
Safety belts
General information
Always wear safety belts!
Wearing safety belts correctly saves lives!
This chapter explains why safety be lts are neces­
sary, how they work and how to adjust and wear
them correctly.
.. Read all the information that follows and heed
all of the instructions and WARNINGS.
&_ WARNING
Not wearing safety belts or wearing them im­
properly increases the risk of serious personal
injury and death.
- Safety belts are the s ingle most effective
means ava ilable to reduce the risk of serious
injury and death in automobile accidents.
For your protect ion and that of your passen­
gers, always co rrectly wear safety be lts
when the vehicle is moving .
- Pregnant women, injured, o r physically im­
paired persons must a lso use safety belts.
L ik e all vehicle occ upants, they are mo re
likely to be serio usly injured i f they do not
wea r safety be lts. The best way to protect a
fetus is to protect the mother -throughout
the ent ire pregnancy .
Number of seats
Your Audi has a total of five seating positions:
two in the front and three in the rear. In some
veh icles, there are four seating positions: two in
the front and two in the rear . Each seating posi­
tion has a safety belt .
&_ WARNING
Not wea ring safety belts or wearing them im­
properly incre ases the risk of ser io us personal
injury and dea th.
- Never st rap more tha n one person, includ­
ing small ch ild ren, into any be lt .
It is espe­
c ia lly da ngerous to place a safety belt over a
child sitting on your lap .
138
-Never let more people ride in the vehicle
than there are safety be lts available .
- Be s ure everyone riding in the vehicle is
properly restrained with a separate safety
be lt or ch ild restraint.
~ Safety belt warning light
Your vehicle has a warning system for the driver
and front seat passenger to remind you about the importance of buckling-up .
F ig. 153 Safety belt wa rning lig ht in the instrument clus·
ter -en larged
Befor e dri ving off , al way s;
.. Fasten your safety belt and make sure you are
wearing it properly.
"' N .,, 0
"' .. m
.. Make sure that your passengers a lso buckle up
and properly wear the ir safety belts.
.. Protect children with a c hild restraint system
appropr iate for the size and age.
The warning light . in the instrument cluster
lights up when the ign ition is on as a reminder to
fasten the safety belts. In addition, you will hear
a war ning tone for a certain period of time.
Faste n your safety belt and make su re that your
passenge rs al so properl y put on thei r safety
b e lts .
&_ WARNING
-
-Safety belts are the single most effective
means available to red uce the risk of ser io us
inj ury and death in a utomobile accidents.
For your protection and that of yo ur passen­
gers, a lways correct ly wear safety belts
when t he vehicle is moving . ..,.

-Failure to pay attention to the warn ing light
that come on, could lead to persona l injury.
Why use safety belts?
Frontal collisions and the law of physics
Frontal crashes create very strong forces for peo­
ple riding in vehicles .
Fig. 154 Unbelted occupants in a vehicle heading for a wall
Fig. 155 The vehicle crashes into the wall
The physical principles are simple. Both the vehi­
cle and the passengers possess energy which var­ ies with vehicle speed and body weight. Engi­
neers call this energy "kinetic 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.
Veh icle speed is the most significant factor. If
the speed doubles from 15 to 30 mph (25 to 50
km/h), the energy increases 4 t imes!
Because the passengers of this vehicle are not us­
ing safety belts
¢fig. 154, they will keep moving
at the same speed the vehicle was moving just
before the crash, until something stops them -
here, the wall¢
fig. 155 .
Safety belts
The same p rinciples apply to people sitting in a
vehicle that is invo lved in a fronta l co llision. 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 the ir vehicle. In a frontal collis ion
they will also keep moving forward 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 in all kinds of accidents and collisions .
What happens to occupants not wea ring
safety belts?
In crashes unbelted occupants cannot stop
themselves from flying forward and being in­
jured or killed. Always wear your safety belts!
Fig. 156 A dr iver not wearing a safety belt is violently
thrown forward
Fig . 157 A rear passe nger not wearing a safety belt will fly
forwa rd and strike the driver
Unbelted occupants are not able to resist the tre­
mendous forces of impact by holding tight or
bracing themselves . Without the benefit of safe­
ty restraint systems, the unrestrained occupant
will slam v iolently into the steering wheel,
Ill>-
139

Safe ty belts
instrument panel, windshield, or whatever else is
in the way
r:!> fig. 156. This impact with the vehi­
cle interior has all the energy they had just be­
fore the crash.
Never rely on airbags alone for protection . Even
when they deploy, airbags provide only additional
protection. A irbags are not supposed to dep loy in
all kinds of accidents. A lthough your Audi is
equipped w ith airbags, all vehicle occupants, in­
cluding the driver, must wear safety belts cor­
rectly in order to minimize the risk of severe in­
jury or death in a crash .
Remember too, that airbags will deploy only
once and that your safety belts are always there
to offer protect ion in those accidents in wh ic h
airbags are not supposed to deploy or when they
have a lready deployed . Unbel ted occupants can
also be thrown o ut of the veh icle where eve n
mo re severe or fatal injuries can occur .
It is also important for the rear pass engers to
wear safety belts correctly. Unbelted passengers
i n t he re ar seats endanger no t on ly themse lves
but also the drive r and other passengers
~ fig . 157. In a frontal collision they will be
thrown forward violently, where they can hit and
in jure the driver and/or front seat passenger.
Safety belts protect
People think it's possible to use the hands to
brace the body in a minor collision . It's simply
not true!
F ig . 1 58 Driver is co rrectly restrai ned in a sudde n brak ing
m aneu ver
Safety belts used properly can make a b ig d iffer­
ence. Safety belts help to keep passengers in
their seats, gradually reduce energy levels ap-
140
plied to the body in an accident , and help prevent
the uncontrolled movement that can cause seri­
ous injuries. In add ition, sa fety belts red uce the
danger of being thrown out of the vehicle.
Safety be lts attach passengers to the car and g ive
them the benefit of being s lowed down more
gently or "soft ly" thro ugh the "give" in the safety
belts, crush zones and other safety feat ures engi­
neered into today's vehicles. By "absorbing" the
k inet ic energy over a longer per iod of t ime, the
safety belts make the forces on the body more
"tolerab le" and less likely to cause inju ry .
Although these examples are based on a frontal
collision, safety be lts ca n also substantially re ­
duce the r isk o f injury in ot her kinds of crashes .
So, whethe r yo u're on a long trip or just goi ng to
the cor ne r store, a lways b uckle up and make s ure
othe rs do, too. Ac ciden t st at ist ics show that veh i­
cle o ccupants prope rly wearing safety bel ts have
a lowe r risk of being injured and a m uch better
chance of surviving an acc ident . Properly using
safety be lts also great ly increases the ability of
the supp lemental airbags to do their job in a col­
li sion. For this reason, wearing a safety belt is le­
gally required in most countries including much
of the United States and Canada .
Although your Aud i is equipped with airbags, you
still have to wear the safety belts provided. Front
airbags, for examp le, are activated only in some
frontal collisions. The front airbags are not act i­
vated in all frontal collisions, in side and rear co l­
li sions, in roll overs or in cases where the re is not
eno ugh deceler ation throug h impa ct to the front
of the vehicle . The same goes for the other a irbag
systems in your Audi. So, always wear your safety
belt and make sure everybody in your vehicle is
properly rest rained!
Important safety instructions about safety
belts
Safe ty belts must always be correctly positioned
acros s the strongest bones of your body .
.,. Always wear safety belts as illustrated and de ­
scribed in this chapter.
.,. Make sure that your safety be lts are always
ready fo r use a nd are not damaged .

A WARNING
Not wearing safety belts or wearing them im­
properly increases the risk of serious personal
injury and death . Safety belts can work only
when used correct ly.
-Always fasten your safety belts correctly be­ fore driving off and make sure all passen­
gers are cor rect ly restrained.
- For maximum protection, safety belts must
always be posit ioned properly on the body .
- Never strap more than one person, includ­
ing small ch ildren, into any belt .
- Never place a safety belt over a child sitting
on your lap.
- Always keep feet in the footwell in front of
the seat wh ile the vehicle is being driven.
- Never let any person ride w ith their feet on
the instrument panel or sticking out the
window or on the seat .
- Never remove a safety belt while the vehicle
is moving . Do ing so will increase your risk of
being injured or k illed.
- Never wear belts twisted.
- Never wear belts over rigid or breakable ob-
jects in or on your clothing, such as eye
glasses, pens, keys, etc., as these may cause
injury.
- Never allow safety belts to become dam­
aged by being caught in door or seat hard­
ware.
- Do not wear the shoulder part of the belt
under your arm or otherwise out of position .
- Several layers of heavy clothing may inter­
fere with correct positioning of belts and re­
duce the overall effectiveness of the system.
- Always keep belt buckles free of anything
that may prevent the buckle from latching
securely .
- Never use comfort clips or devices that cre­
ate slack in the shoulder be lt . However, spe­
cial clips may be requ ired for the proper use
of some child restraint systems.
- Torn or frayed safety belts can tear, and
damaged belt ha rdware can break in an acc i­
dent. Inspect belts regularly.
If webbing,
bind ings, buckles, or re tractors are dam-
Safet y bel ts
aged, have belts rep laced by an authorized
Aud i dea ler or qualified workshop.
- Safety belts that have been worn and loaded
in an accident must be replaced with the
correct replacement safety belt by an au­
thor ized Audi dealer. Replacement may be
necessary even if damage cannot be clearly
seen. Anchorages that were loaded must al­
so be inspected.
- Never remove, mod ify, d isassemble, or try
to repair the safety belts yourse lf.
-Always keep the belts clean . Dirty belts may
not work properly and can impair the func­
tion of the inert ia reel~
table Cleaning inte­
rior on page 208 .
Safety belts
Fastening safety belts
Safety first -everybody buckle up!
Fig. 159 Be lt buckle and tongue on the driver 's seat
To provide maximum protect ion, safety belts
must always be positioned correctly on the wear­
er's body .
.. Adjust the front seat and head restraint proper­
ly¢
page 58, General information.
.. Hold the belt by the tongue and pull it evenly
across the chest and pelvis
¢ /J:::.. .
.. Insert the tongue into the correct buckle of
your seat unt il yo u hear i t latch secu rely
¢ fig. 159 .
.. Pull on the belt to make sure that it is secure ly
latched in the buckle.
Automatic safety belt retra ctors
E ve ry safety belt is equipped with an automatic
belt ret ractor on the shoulder belt. This feat ure .,..
141

Safe ty belts
locks the belt when the belt is pu lled out fast,
during hard braking and in an accident. The belt
may a lso lock when you drive up or down a steep
h ill or through a sharp curve. Dur ing normal driv­
ing the belt lets you move freely.
Safety belt p reten sion ers
The safety belts are equipped with a belt preten­
sioner that helps to tighten the safety belt and
remove slack when the pretensioner is activated
c> page 144. The function of the pretensioner is
monitored by a warning light
c::> page 18.
Con vertibl e loc king r etracto r
Every safety belt except the one on the driver
seat is equipped with a convertible locking retrac­
tor that
must be used when the safety belt is
used to attach a child seat. Be sure to read the
important information about this feature
c>page 177.
_&. WARNING
Improperly pos it ioned safety be lts can cause
ser ious injury in an accident
c::> page 142,
Safety belt position.
- Safety belts offer optimum protection only
when the seatback is upright and belts are
prope rly positioned on the body.
- Never a ttach the safety belt to the buck le
for ano ther seat. Attaching the belt to the
wrong b uck le wi ll reduce safe ty belt effec­
t iveness and can cause ser ious persona l in­
jury.
- A passenger who is not p roper ly restrained
can be seriously injured by the safety be lt it­
self when it moves from the stronger parts
of the body into critical areas like the abdo­
men.
- Always lock the convert ible lock ing retractor
when you are securing a child seat in the ve­
hicle
c::> page 179.
@ Tips
For information on safety be lt pretensioners,
refer to
c::> page 144.
142
Safety belt position
Correct belt position is the key to getting maxi­
mum protection from safety belts .
Fig. 160 Safety belt position
Use the height adjustment to change the positio n
of the shoulder belt of the front safety belts.
_&. WARNING
Improperly positioned safety belts can cause
serious personal injury in an accident.
- The shou lder belt should lie as close to the
center of the collar bone as possib le and
should fit well on the body. Hold the belt
above the latch tongue and pull it evenly
across the chest so that it s its as low as pos­
sible on the pe lvis and there is no p ressure
on the abdome n. T he belt sho uld a lways fit
snug ly
c::> fig. 160. Pu ll on the bel t to tigh ten
if necess ary.
- A loose-fit ting safety belt can ca use serious
in ju ries by s hifting its posi tion on yo ur body
from the strong bones to mo re v ulnerab le,
so ft tissue and cause serious in jury.
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS an d
other impor tan t information
c::> page 140 .

Pregnant women must also be correctly
restrained
The best way to protect the fetus is to make sure
that expectant mothers always wear safety belts
corre ctly -throughout the pregnan cy.
F ig. 161 Safety belt pos itio n dur ing pregnancy
To provide max imum protection, safety belts
must always be posit ioned correctly on the wear­
er 's body
¢ page 142.
.,. Adjust the front seat and head restraint cor­
rectly
c> page 58, General information .
.,. Hold the belt by the tongue and pull it evenly
across the chest and pelvis
c> fig. 161, c> ,&. .
.,. Insert the tongue into the correct buckle of
your seat until you hea r it latch secure ly
c> page 141, fig . 159.
.,. Pull on the be lt to ma ke sure that it is securely
latched in the buckle .
A WARNING
Improperly positioned safety be lts can cause
serious personal inju ry in an accident.
- Expectant mothers must a lways wear the
lap po rtion of the safety belt as low as pos­
sible across the pelvis and below the round­
ing of the abdomen .
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS and
other important information
¢ .&. in Fasten­
ing safety belts on page 142.
Safet y bel ts
Unfastening safety belts
Unbuckle the safety belt with the red release
button only o~er the vehicle hos stopped .
J-L
Fig . 1 62 Re leasing t he tong ue from the buckle
.. Push the red re lease button on the buck le
¢ fig . 162. The belt tongue w ill spring out of
the buck le¢ ,&..
.,. Let the belt wind up on the retractor as you
guide the belt tongue to its stowed position .
_& WARNING ,-
Never unfasten safety belt wh ile the vehicle is
moving . Do ing so will increase your r isk of be­
in g injured or killed .
Adjusting safety belt height
You con adjust the height of the driver's and
front passenger's safety belts .
The safety belt height adjusters for the front
seats can be used to adjust the height of the
shoulder portion of the safety belt so that it is
pos itioned correctly .
0 ..... N
0
:i:
"' CD
The shoulder belt shou ld lie as close to the center
of the collar bone as possible and s hou ld fit well
on the body
¢ .&. in Safety belt position on
page 142 .
Power safety belt height adjustment*
You can adjust the he ight of the safety be lts us­
ing the multifunction button on the driver or
front passenger seat¢
page 60 .
143

Safety belts
A WARNING
Always read and heed all WARNINGS and oth­
er important informat ion
c:> page 140 .
(D Tips
You can also adjust the height of the front
seats to change the position of the safety
belts.
Improperly worn safety belts
Incorrectly posit ioned safety belts can cause se­
vere injuries.
Wearing safety belts improperly can cause seri­
ous injury or death. Safety belts can only work
when they are correctly positioned on the body.
Improper seating positions reduce the effective­
ness of safety belts and will even increase the
risk of injury and death by moving the safety belt
to cr it ica l areas of the body . Improper seating
positions also increase the risk of serious injury
and death when an airbag deploys and strikes an
occupant who is not in the correct seating posi­
tion. A driver is responsible for the safety of all
vehicle occupants and especia lly for children.
Therefore:
... Never permit anyone to assume an incorrect
sitting position in the vehicle whi le traveling
c:> & .
A WARNING
Improperly worn safety belts increase the risk
of serious personal injury and death whenever
a vehicle is being used.
- Always make sure that all vehicle occupants
are correctly restrained and stay in a correct
seat ing pos ition whenever the veh icle is be­
ing used.
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS and
other important information
c:> page 140.
144
Belt tensioners
' How safety belt pretensioners work
In front, side and rear-end collisions above a
particular severity and in a rollover, safety belts
are tensioned automatically.
Rever sible safety belt tensioners
The safety belts on the front seats are equipped
with power reversible tensioners. The following
functions are available when the driver's/front
passenger 's safety belts are fastened:
- Automatic tensioners: at the start of a drive,
the safety belts automatically adjust to the
passenger after a certain time period or vehicle
speed. To switch the automatic tensioners off,
select the following in the MMI:
!CARI function
button
> Car systems > Vehicle settings >
Seats > Driver's seat or Passenger's seat > Au­
tomatic belt tensioner
> Off.
-In certa in driving situations , the safety belts
may tighten with a reve rsib le tensioning func­
tion
c:> page 187.
- Th e safety be lts may also tighten with this re-
vers ible tensioning funct ion in minor collisions.
Pyrotechnic safety belt pretensioners
The safety belts are equipped w ith safety belt
pretensioners . The system is activated by sensors
i n front, side and rear-end collisions of great se­
verity and in a rollover. This tightens the belt and
takes up belt slack
c:> .&. in Service and disposal of
safety belt pretensioner on page 145.
Taking up
the slack helps to reduce forward occupant
movement during a collision.
A WARNING
- It is possible for the pretensioners to deploy
incorrectly.
- The pyrotechnic system can only provide protection for one collision. If the pyrotech­
nic pretens ioners deploy, the pretensioning
system must be replaced.
(1) Tips
The pyrotechnic safety belt pretensioners can
only deploy once. ..,_