2017 AUDI S3 SEDAN ESP

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
.,,.

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.

CXl CXl
Improper seating positions reduce the effective ­
ness of safety be lts and will even increase the
risk of injury and death by mov ing the safety belt
to critical 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 seat ing pos i­
tion . A driver is respons ible for the safety of a ll
vehicle occupants and espec ia lly for children.
Therefore:
"' Never permit anyone to assume an incorrect
s itting position in the veh icle wh ile trave ling
c:> & .
A WARNING
Improperly worn safety belts increase the risk
o f serious personal injury and death whenever
a vehicle is being used .
- Always make sure tha t all vehicle occupants
are correctly restrained and stay in a correct
seating position whenever the vehicle is be­
ing used.
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS and
other important information
c:> page 261.
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 .
Reversible safety belt ten sioners
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:
- In certain driving situations, the safety belts
may tighten with a reversible tens ion ing func­
t ion
i::>page 133 .
- The safety belts may a lso tighten with this re­
versib le tensioning function in minor collis ions.
Pyrotechnic safety b elt pr eten sion ers
;:::: The safety belts are equipped with sa fety belt r---
~ pretensioners . The system is activated by sensors 0
~ in front, side and rear-end co llisions of great se-oo
Safet y be lts
verity and in a rollover. This tightens the belt and
takes up belt
slack ¢&. in Service and disposal of
safety belt pretensioner on page 266.
Taking up
the slack helps to reduce forward occupant movement during a collision.
A WARNING Co---
- It is poss ible for the pretensioners to deploy
i n correctly.
- The pyrotechnic system can only provide
protection for one collision. If the pyrotech­
n ic pretens ioners deploy, the pretensioning
sys tem must be replaced.
@ Tips
The pyrotechn ic safety belt pretensioners can
o nly deploy once.
- The safety belt pretensioners do not deploy
in minor frontal, side and rear-end colli­
sions .
- A fine dust is re leased when the pyrotechnic
safety belt pretensioners deploy . This is nor­
mal and is not caused by a fi re in the ve hi­
cle.
- The relevant safety requirements must be
observed when the vehicle or components
of the system are scrapped. A q ualified
dealership is familiar with these regulat io ns
and wi ll be pleased to pass on the informa ­
tion to you.
- Be sure to observe all safety, envi ronment al
and other regulat ions if the vehicle or in di­
vidua l parts of the system, particularly the
safety belt or airbag, are to be disposed . We
recommend you have yo ur authorized Aud i
dealer perform this service for you.
Service and disposal of safety belt preten­
sioner
T he safety belt p retensioners are pa rts of the
safety belts on your Aud i. Insta llin g, removing,
servicing or repair ing of be lt pretens io ners can
damage the safety belt system and prevent it
from wo rking correctly in a co llision .
T he re are some important things you have to
k now to make s ure tha t the effectiveness of the
system will not be impaired and that discarded
IJI-
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Airbag system
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 248,
.,. Adjust the front passenger's seat properly
¢page 249,
.,. Wear safety belts properly ¢ page 261,
.,. Always properly use the proper child restraint
to protect children ¢
page 292.
In a collision, airbags must inflate within the
blink of an eye and with considerable force. The
supplemental airbags can cause injuries if the
driver or the front seat passenger is not seated
properly. Therefore in order to help the airbag to
do its job, it is important, both as a driver and as
a passenger 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 ¢ page 248, Correct
passenger seating positions .
For details on the
operation of the seat adjustment controls
¢page 61.
It's especially important that children are proper­
ly restrained
¢page 292.
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, or if you have concerns with
regard to the function or operation of the Ad­
vanced Airbag System, please contact your au­
thori zed Audi dealer or qualified workshop, or
call Audi Customer Relations at 1-800-822-2834
for possible modifications to your vehicle.
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 of 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.
Since the circumstances will vary considerably between one collision and another, it is not possi­
ble to define a range of vehicle speeds that will
cover every possible kind and angle of impact
that will always trigger the airbags . Important
factors 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
II>
267

Airbag syste m
also not inflate in s ide or rear collisions, or in
ro ll-overs.
Al wa ys rememb er: Airbags will deploy only once,
and 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 vehicle after the first coll is 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.
Therefore, always properly wear your safety belts
r=;, page 258.
A WARNING
Sitting too close to the steering wheel o r 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 si t 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.
- All veh icle occupants and especially children
must be restrained properly whenever riding
in a vehicle. An unrestrained or improperly
restra ined child could be injured by striking
the interior or by being ejected from the ve­
hicle during a sudden maneuver or impact.
An unrestrained or imp roperly restrained
child is also at greate r risk of inju ry or death
through contact with an inflating airbag.
- If you are unrestrained, leaning fo rwa rd, s it­
t ing s ideways or o ut o f pos ition in any way,
yo ur risk of in ju ry is much h igher.
- Yo u will also receive serious injuries and
c ould even be killed if you are up aga inst the
air bag or too close to it when it inflates
-
even with an Advanced Airbag.
2 6 8
-
- To reduce the ris k of i njury when an a irbag
inflates, always wea r safety belts properly
r=;, page 262, Safety belts.
- Always make certa in that children age 12 or
younger always ride in the rear seat. If chil­
dren are not properly restrained, they may be severely injured or killed when an airbag
inflates.
- Never let ch ildren ride unrestra ined or im­
properly restrained in the vehicle. Ad just the
front seats properly.
- Never ride with the back rest recl ined .
- Always sit as far as possible from the steer-
ing wheel or the instrument panel
r=;, page 248.
- Always sit upright w ith your back against
the backrest of your seat .
- Never p lace your feet on the instrument
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 in to
the area of the s ide a irbag or the front air­
bag du ring brak ing o r in a sudden maneu­
ver. Obje cts nea r the airbags can become
projecti les and cause injury when an airbag
inflates.
A WARNING
A irbags that have deployed in a crash must be
replaced.
- Use on ly original equipment airbags ap­
proved by Audi and installed by a trained
technician who has the necessary tools and
diagnostic equipment to properly replace
any airbag in your vehicle and assure system
effectiveness in a crash.
- Never perm it salvaged or recycled airbags to
be installed in your vehicle.
Child restraints on the front seat - some
important things to know
.,. Be s ure to read the impo rtant info rmat ion and
heed the WARN INGS for important deta ils
.,.

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about children and Advanced Airbags
c::>page292 .
Even though yo ur vehicle is equipped with an Ad­
vanced Airbag System, make certain that all chil­
dren, especially those
12 years and younger, a l­
ways ride in the back seat properly restrained for
their age and size. The airbag on the passenger
side makes the front seat a potentially dangerous
place for a child to ride. The front seat is not the
safest place for a child in a forward-facing child
safety seat .
It can be a very dangerous place for
a n infant or a child in a rearward-fac ing seat.
The Advanced Airbag System in your veh icle has
been certified to comply with the requirements
of United States Federal Motor Vehicle Safety
Standa rd (FMVSS)
208, as well as Canada Motor
Veh icle Safety Standa rd (CMVSS)
208 as applica­
b le a t the time your veh icle was m an ufact ured.
Accord ing to requirements, the front Advanced
Airbag System on the passenger side has been
certified for "suppression" for infants of about
12 month old and younger and for "low risk de­
ployment" for children aged 3 to 6 years old (as
defined in the standard) .
The
PASSENGER AIR BAG O FF light in the instru­
ment panel tells you when the front Advanced
Airbag on the passenger side has been turned
off
by the electronic control unit.
Each time yo u switch on the ignition, the
PAS ·
S ENGER AIR BAG OFF
light will come on for a
few seconds and:
- will stay on if the front passenger seat is not
occupied,
- will stay on if the electrical capacitance meas ­
ured by the capac itive passenger detection sys­
tem for the front passenger seat equals the combined capacitance of an infant up to about
one year of age and one of the rearward-facing
or forward-facing child restraints listed in Fed ­
era l Moto r Vehicle Safety Standard
208 w it h
which the Advanced Airbag System in your veh i­
cl e was certified . Fo r a listing of the child
re­
strain ts th at were used to ce rtify you r vehicle's
compliance with the U.S. Safety Standard
c::>page295 .
Airbag sys tem
-wi ll stay on if there is a small child or c hild re­
straint on the front passenger seat,
- will go
off if the front passenge r seat is occu ­
pied by an adult as registered by the capac itive
passenger detection system
c::, page 2 79, Mon­
itoring the Advanced Airbag System.
T he PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF lig ht comes on
when e lectrica l capacitance registered on the
front passenger seat is equal to or less t han the
combined capacitance of a typical
1 year-old in­
fant and one of the rearward-facing or forward­
facing child restraints listed in Federal Motor
Ve­
hicle Safety Standard 208 w ith which the Ad ­
vanced Airbag System in your vehicle was certi­
fied.
If the total e lectr ica l capacitance reg istered on
t h e front passenger seat is more than that of a
typ ical 1 year-old ch ild but less than the weight
of a sma ll adult, the front airbag on the passen­
ger side can deploy (the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
light does not come on).
If the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does not
come on, the front airbag on the passenger side
has not been turned off by the electron ic con trol
u ni t and can dep loy if the control unit senses an
impact that meets the cond itions s tored in its
memory .
For example , th e airbag may deplo y if:
- a small ch ild that is heav ier than a typ ical 1
year-o ld child is on the front passenger seat
(regardless of whethe r the child is in one of the
child safety seats listed
c::, page 295), o r
- a child who has outgrown c hild rest raints is on
the front passenge r seat.
If the front passenger airbag is turned off, the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes on in the
inst rument cluste r and stays on .
If the front passenger airbag deploys, the Feder­
al Standard requires the airbag to meet the " low
risk" deployment cr iteria to reduce the r isk of
in­
jury through interact ion w ith the airbag . "Low
r isk" dep loymen t occurs in those crashes tha t
t ak e place at lowe r decelerations as defined in
the e lectronic cont rol unit
c::, page 2 79, PASSEN -
GER AIR BAG OFF light.
Ill>
269

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-An improper ly installed ch ild restraint can
interfere with the airbag as it deploys and
seriously injure or even kill the child
-even
with an Advanced Airbag System.
- Always carefu lly follow the manufacturer 's
instructions provided w ith the child safety
seat or carrier.
- Always make sure that there is nothing on
the front passenger seat that w ill cause the
capacit ive passenger detection system in
the seat to signa l to the Airbag System that
the seat is occupied by a person when it is
not, or to signa l tha t it is occ upied by some ­
one who is heavier than the person actua lly
sitting on the seat . The presence of addi ­
tional objects could cause the passenger
front airbag to be turned on when it shou ld
be off, or could cause the airbag to work in a
way that is different from the way it would have worked without the object on the seat .
Front airbags
Description of front airbags
The airbag system can provide supplemental
protection to properly restrained front seat occu­
pants.
Fig. 2 41 Location of driver airbag: in ste.e ring wheel
Airb ag sys tem
Fig. 242 Location of front passenger's airbag: in the in­
st rument pane l
Your vehicle is equipped with an "Advanced Air­
bag System" in compliance with United States
Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard
(FMVSS) 208, as well as Canada Motor Veh icle
Safety Standard (CMVSS) 208 as applicable at
the time your veh icle was manufactured. The
safe ty belts fo r the seats have "pretensioners"
that help to take slack out of the bel t system.
T he pretensioners are also activated by the e lec ­
tronic control unit for the airbag system .
The front safety belts also have load limiters to
help reduce the fo rces applied to the body in a
c rash .
The airbag for the driver is in the steering wheel
hub
¢ fig. 241 a nd the airbag for the front pas­
senger is in the instrument pane l
~fig. 242. The
general lo cation of the airbags is marked "A IR­
BAG".
There is a lot you need to know about the airbags i n your vehicle. We urge you to read the deta iled
information about airbags, safety be lts and c hild
safety in this and the other chapters that make
u p the owner's literatu re . 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.
A WARNING
Never rely on airbags alone for protect ion.
- Even when they deploy, airbags provide only
supplemental protection.
-Airbag work most effectively when used
with properly worn safety be lts .
271

Airbag system
-Therefore, always wear your safety belts and
make sure that everybody in your vehicle is
properly restrained.
- Always hold the steering wheel with both
hands on the outside of the steering wheel
rim at the 9:00 o 'clock and 3 :00 o'clock po­
sitions 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 any­
where inside the steering wheel or on the steering wheel hub. Holding the steering
wheel the wrong way increases the risk of
severe injury to the arms, hands, and head if
the driver airbag deploys.
A 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 .
272
-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.
A 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
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
facing child safety seats with which your ve­
hicle was certified is on the front passenger
seat and the other conditions for airbag de­
ployment 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
..,.