2017 AUDI S3 SEDAN Owners Manual

CX> CX> ... N .... N ... 0 N > a:,
Reporting Safety Defec ts
Applic able to U .S .A .
If you believe that your vehicle
has a defect which could cause a
crash or could cause injury or
death, you should immediately in­
form the National Highway Traffic
Safety Admin istration (NHTSA) in
addition to notifying Audi of
America, Inc.
If NHTSA receives similar com­
plaints, it may open an investiga­
tion, and if it finds that a safety
defects exists in a group of
vehicles, it may order a recall and
remedy campaign . However,
NHTSA cannot become involved in
individual problems between you,
your dealer, or Audi of America,
Inc.
To contact the NHTSA, you may either call :
Tel.: 1-888-327-4236 (TTY:
1 -800-424-9153) or
1- 800 -424-9393
or you may write to :
Driving safety
NHTSA
U .S. Department of Transporta­
tion 1200 New Jersey Ave., S .E.
West Building
Wash ington, DC 20590
You can also obtain other infor­
mation about motor vehicle safe­
ty from:
http:/ /www.safercar.gov
Applicable to Canada
If you live in Canada and you be­
lieve that your vehicle has a de­
fect that could cause a crash, in­
jury or death, you should immedi­
ately inform Transport Canada,
Defect Investigations and Recalls .
You should also notify Audi Cana­ da.
Canadian customers who wish to
report a sa fety-related defect to
Transpo rt Canada, Defect Investi­
gations and Recalls, may either
call Transport Canada toll-free at:
Tel.: 1-800 -333 -0510 or
Tel.: 1-819-994-3328 (Ottawa re­
gion and from other countries)
TTY for hearing impaired: Tel.:
1-888-675-6863
or contact Transport Canada by mail at:
255

Driving safety
Tran sp ort Canad a
M oto r V eh icle Saf ety Investiga­
ti ons La bor atory
80 No el Stre et
G atin eau, QC
J8Z OAl
For additional ro ad safet y infor­
m ation, pl eas e vi sit th e Road
S afet y web site at:
http: / /www .t c. gc .ca /e ng /
r oad safe ty/ menu .htm
Active rollover
protection system
Function
Applies to : vehicles with power top
The rollover protection system protects vehicle
occupants in the event of a rollover.
, ...... ----. • r-. 1 r I r
f i
F ig . 2 25 Rear seats : rollbar deployment range
----Fig. 2 26 Rear seats: deployed ro llbar
The active rollover protection system consists of:
256
-two rollbars
-the safety belts with bel t tensione rs
-the windshield frame
-the rollover sensors
The act ive rollover protection system provides
additional safety in the event of a rollover. With­
i n milliseco nds, sensors deploy two rollbars lo­
cated behind the head restra ints in the rear seats
¢fig. 226.
The rollbars, reinforced windshie ld frame and
belt tensioners help protect front and rear pas­
sengers in the event of a rollover .
The rollover protection system functions when
the power top is both open and closed .
A WARNING
Do not use the area behind the rear seat head
rest raints
¢fig. 225 as a storage a rea. This is
the area where the rollbars deploy. If the roll­
ove r prote ction system is tr iggered, objects
p la ce there can be prope lled through the ve­
hi cle and make it more diffic ult for the roll­
bars to deploy. This increases the risk for seri ­
ous or life-threateni ng inj uries.
When is rollover protection deployed?
Applies to: vehicles with power top
Rollover protection deploys in a collision or roll ­
over.
Depend ing o n the collision, sensors thro ughout
the ve hicle and the co ntrol modu le trigger the
rollover system to deploy .
Fo r safety reasons, ro llover protection also de­
ploys dur ing front, s ide and rear coll isions above
a certa in leve l of sever ity.

Retracting rollover protection
Applies to: vehicles with power top
Fig. 227 Deploye d rollb ar w ith re le ase loop .
Fig. 228 Deploye d rollb ar w it h powe r top fram e faci ng up­
wa rd.
If the ro llover protection has triggered bu t the
vehicle was not invo lved in a n accident, you can
retract the rollover protection yourself in an
em ergency. Drive to an authorized Audi dea ler or
author ized Audi Service Facility immed iate ly to
have the malfunction corrected.
Wi th th e po we r top op en
• Pull the loop upward in the direction of the ar­
row and hold it in place r:!> fig. 22 7.
• Slide the rollbar down.
• Release the loop just before the rollbar reaches
its end position
(1-2 in./ 3-5 cm) .
• Press the rollbar down until it stops .
• Make sure the rollbar is secure before re leas ing
i t .
• Close the cove r@ ¢ fig. 228 .
• Repeat the p rocedure on the other rol lbar .
With the power top closed
gi • Switch the ignition on .
..... ~ • Press the power top switch to adj ust the power
8 top frame until it is vertical r::!> fig. 228 .
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Driving safety
• Pull the loop upward in the direction of the ar­
row and ho ld it in place r::!> fig. 22 7.
• Slide the ro llbar down.
• Release the loop just before the rollbar reaches
its end position
(1-2 in ./ 3-5 cm).
• Press the rollbar down until it stops .
• Make sure the rollbar is secure before releasing
it.
• Close the cover @¢ fig. 228.
• Repeat the procedure on the othe r rollbar.
• You can now close the power top again .
_&. WARNING
--Make sure your head or other parts of your
body are not located in the area above the
rollbar when pressing the rollbar down. If
the rollbar is not secured correctly, it could deploy aga in as soon as you release it and
cause injur ies .
- Have the rollover protection system checked
by and authorized Audi dealer or authorized
Aud i Serv ice Facility if it ma lfunctions. Oth­
erwise the system may not dep loy correctly
in a co llision .
- Mod ifying the rollover protect ion system or
i n dividual components is not pe rm itted.
- Work on the rollover p rotection system
should only be performed by an authorized
Aud i deale r o r autho rized Audi Serv ice Facili ­
t y. Otherwise the system may no t function
correct ly in a collision or it could dep loy un­
expectedly .
- H ave the sys tem inspec ted a t service inte r­
va ls. This ensures the system will a lways be
ready for use. Have an authorized Aud i deal­
er or author ized Audi Service Facility check
the rollover protection system every two
years at the latest.
257

Safety belt s
Safety belts
General notes
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 acc idents.
For your protect ion and that of your passe n­
gers, always co rre ctly wea r safety be lts
when the vehicle is moving.
- Pregnant wome n, injured, o r physically im­
paired persons mus t also use safety be lts.
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
Applies to: veh icles w ithout power top: Your Audi
has a total of five seating positions: two in the
front and three in the rear . Each seating position
has a safety belt .
App lies to: veh icles w ith powe r top: Your Audi
has a total of four seating positions: two in the
front and two in the rear . Each seat ing pos ition
has a safety belt .
&_ WARNING
Not wearing safety belts or wearing them im­
properly in creases the risk of ser io us personal
injury and dea th.
258
- Never strap more than one person, includ­
ing sma ll children, into any belt. It is espe­
cially dangerous to place a safety be lt over a
child sitting on your lap .
- Never let more people r ide in the vehicle
than there are safety be lts available.
- Be sure everyone riding in the vehicle is
proper ly restrained with a separate safety
be lt o r 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.
Fi g. 229 Safety belt warn ing lig ht in th e in st rument clus ­
ter -enlarged
Befor e dri ving off, alway s:
.. Fasten your safety belt and make sure you are
wearing it properly .
"' 0 ..:, .. Make sure that your passengers also buckle up
and properly wear t heir safety belts .
.. Protect children with a ch ild rest raint system
app ropr iate for the size and age .
The warning light . in the instrument cluster
li ghts up when the ig nition is o n as a rem inder to
fasten the safety belts . In addition, you wi ll hear
a war ning tone for a certain period of time.
Fasten your safety bel t and make sure that your
passengers al so prop erly put on th eir safety
belts .
&_ WARNING
-
-Safety belts are the sing le most effective
means available to red uce the risk of ser io us
.,,.

injury and death in automobile accidents.
For your protection and that of your passen­
gers, always correctly wear safety belts
when the vehicle is moving .
- 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 .
Fig . 230 Unbe lted occupants in a veh icle head ing fo r a wall
Fig . 23 1 The ve hicle c rashes into the wa ll
The physical principles are simple . Both the vehi­
cle and the passengers possess energy which var­
ies with vehicle speed and body we ight. Engi­
neers call this energy "k inetic energy ."
The higher the speed of the vehicle and the
greater the vehicle's weight, the more energy
that has to be "absorbed" in the crash.
Vehicle speed is the most significant facto r. If
the speed doubles from 15 to 30 mph (25 to
a, 50 km/h), the energy increases 4 times! a, .....
~ Because the passengers of t his veh icle are not us-
"' 8 ing safety belts ~ fig. 230, they will keep mov ing N > 00
Safet y bel ts
at the same speed the vehicle was moving just
before the crash, until something stops them -
here, the wall
~ fig. 231 .
The same p rinciples apply to people s itting in a
vehicle that is invo lved in a fronta l co llision. Even
at city speeds of 20 to 30 mph (30 to SO 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 coll is ion
they will also keep mov ing 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 wha t happens
in a ll kinds of accidents and co llisions .
What happens to occupants not wearing
safety belts?
In crashes unbelted oc cupants cannot stop
themselves from flying forward and being in­
jured or killed. Always wear your safety belts!
Fi g. 232 A driver not wear ing a safe ty belt is violen tly
throw n forward
F ig. 233 A re ar passe nge r not we aring a safety be lt w ill fly
forward and strike t he driver
Ill-
259

Safe ty belts
Unbelted occupants are not able to resist the tre­
mendous fo rces of impact by holding tight or
bracing themselves. Without the benefit of safe­
ty restra int systems, the unrestrained occupant
will slam violently into the steering whee l, in­
strument panel, windsh ield, or whatever else is
i n the way
¢ fig . 232. This impact with t he ve hi­
cle interior has all the ene rgy they had just be­
fore the crash.
Never rely on airbags alone for protection . Even
when they deploy, airbags provide only add itional
protection . Airbags are not supposed to dep loy in
all kinds of accidents. A lthough your Audi is
eq uipped w ith airbags, all veh icle occupants, in­
cluding the dr iver, must wear safety belts cor­
rectly in order to minimize the risk of severe in­
jury or death in a crash.
Remember too, that ai rbags will deploy on ly
once and that your safety belts are a lways there
to offer protection in those accidents in which
airbags are not supposed to deploy or when they
have a lready deployed. Unbelted occupants can
also be thrown out of the ve hicle where eve n
more severe or fatal injuries can occur.
It is also important for the rear passengers to
wear safety belts correctly . U nbelted passengers
in the rear seats endanger not only themselves
but also the driver and other passengers
¢ fig . 233 . In a frontal collision they will be
thrown fo rward violently, where they can hit a nd
inj ure the driver and/or front seat passenge r.
260
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!
Fi g. 234 D river is corre ctly res trained in a sudde n brak ing
maneuver
Safety belts used properly can make a big differ­
ence . Safety belts help to keep passengers in
thei r seats, gradually reduce energy levels ap­
plied to the body in an accident, and help prevent
the u ncon trolled movemen t that can cause ser i­
ous injuries. In add ition, sa fe ty belts reduce the
danger of being thrown out of the vehicle .
Safety be lts attach passenge rs to the car a nd g ive
them the benefit of be ing s lowed down more
gently or "soft ly" th rough the "give" in the safety
belts, crush zones and other safety features 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
"tole rab le" and less likely to cause injury .
Although these examples are based on a frontal collision, safety be lts can also substantially re­
duce the r isk of injury in other kinds of crashes.
So, whether you're on a long trip or just going to
the cor ner store, a lways buckle up and make s ure
others do, too . Acc ident sta tist ics show that veh i­
cle occupants properly wea ring safety bel ts have
a lowe r risk of be ing injured and a m uch better
c h ance of surviv ing an accident . Properly us ing
safety belts 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.
liJI,

CXl CXl .... N ,.__
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Although your Audi is equipped with airbags, you
still hav e to wear the safety belts provided. Front
airbags, for example, are activated only in some
frontal collisions. The front airbags are not acti­
vated in all frontal collisions, in side and rear col­ lisions, in roll overs or in cases where there is not
enough deceleration through impact to the front
of the vehicle . The same goes for the other airbag
systems in your Audi . So, always wear your safety
belt and make sure everybody in your vehicle is
properly restrained!
Important safety instructions about safety
belts
Safety belts must always be correctly positioned
across the strongest bones of your body.
.,. Always wear safety belts as illustrated and de­
scribed in this chapter.
.. Make sure that your safety belts are always
ready for use and ar e not damag ed.
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 correctly.
- Always fasten your safety belts correctly be ­
fore driving off and make sure all passen­ gers are correctly restrained .
- For maximum protection, safety belts must always be positioned properly on the body.
- Never strap more than one person, includ­
ing small children, 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 while the vehicle is being driven.
- Never let any person ride with 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. Doing so will increase your risk of
being injured or killed.
- Never wear belts twisted.
- Never wear belts over rigid or breakable ob- jects in or on your clothing, such as eye
Safety belts
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 belt. However, spe­
cial clips may be required for the proper use
of some child restraint systems .
- Torn or frayed safety belts can tear, and
damaged belt hardware can break in an acci­
dent . Inspect belts regularly.
If webbing,
bindings, buckles, or retractors are dam­
aged , have belts replaced by an authorized
Audi dealer 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
thorized Audi dealer. Replacement may be
necessary even if damage cannot be clearly
seen. Anchorages that were loaded must al­
so be inspected.
- Never remove, modify, disassemble, or try
to repair the safety belts yourself.
- Always keep the belts clean. Dirty belts may
not work properly and can impair the func­
tion of the inertia reel
¢ table Interior
cleaning on page 349.
261

Safe ty belts
Safety belts
Fastening safety belts
Safety fir st -everybody bu ckle up!
Fig. 235 Belt buckle an d tongue o n the driver's seat
To prov ide max imum protection, safety belts
must always be positioned correctly on the wear­
er's body .
• Adjust the front seat and head restra int proper­
ly ¢
page 61 , Front seats .
• Make sure the seatback of the rear seat bench
is in an upright position and secure ly latched in
place before us ing the
belt ¢,&. .
• Pull the safety belt evenly across the chest and
pelv is
¢fig. 235, ¢ ,&. .
• Insert the tongue into the correct buckle of
your seat until you hear it latch securely .
• Pull on the belt to make sure that it is securely
latched in the buck le.
Autom ati c safet y belt retr actors
Every safety belt is equipped with an automatic
belt retractor on the shoulder belt . This feature
locks the belt when the belt is pulled 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 th rough a sharp curve. Dur ing no rmal driv­
ing the bel t lets you move freely.
Safe ty belt pret ension ers
The safety belts are equipped with a belt preten­
sioner that helps to t ighten the safety belt and
remove slack when the pre tensioner is activated
¢ page 265. T he fu nction of the pretensioner is
monitored by a warning light ¢
page 29.
262
Convertibl e lock ing r etractor
Every safety belt except the one on the driver
seat is equipped with a convertib le lock ing retrac­
tor that
mu st be used when the safety belt is
used to attach a child safety seat . Be sure to read
the important information about thi s feature
¢ page 303.
A WARNING
Improperly positioned safety belts can cause
serious injury in an accident ¢
page 263,
Safety belt position .
- Safety belts offer optimum protection only
when the seatback is upright and belts are properly posit ioned on the body .
- Always make sure that the rear seat back ­
rest to which the center rear safety belt* is
attached is securely latched whenever the
rear center safety belt is being used.
If the
backrest is not sec urely latched, the passen ­
ger will move forward with the back rest du r­
ing sudden braking, in a sudden maneuver
and especia lly in a crash.
- Never attach the safety belt to the buckle for another seat. Attaching the belt to the
wrong buckle will reduce safety be lt effec­
tiveness and can cause serio us personal in­
jury.
-A passenger who is not properly restrained
can be seriously injured by the safety belt it­
self when it moves from the stronger parts
of the body into critical areas like the abdo­
men .
-Always lock the convertible locking retractor
when you are securing a c hild safety seat in
the vehicl e
¢page 305.