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Unfastening safety belts
Unbuckle the safety belt with the red release
button only after the vehicle has stopped .
,
"\11
Fig . 159 Releas ing the tongue from the buck le
~ Push the red release button on the buckle
Q fig. 159 . The belt tongue will spring out of
the buckle
Q .,&.
~ Let the belt wind up on the retractor as you
guide the belt tongue to its stowed position.
&_ WARNING
Never unfasten safety belt while the vehicle is
moving. Doing so will increase you r risk of be
ing injured or k il led.
Improperly worn safety belts
0 ,-.. N 0 :i:
;ii
Incorrectly positioned 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 pos itioned on the body .
Improper seating positions reduce the effect ive
ness of safety belts and will even increase the
risk of injury and death by mov ing the safety belt
to crit ica l areas of the body. Imp roper seating
positions also increase the risk of se rious 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
ve hicle occupants and especia lly for children.
Therefore:
~ Never permit anyone to assume an incorrect
seated position in the vehicle while traveling
QA .
Safet y bel ts
&_ WARNING
-Improperly worn safety belts increase the risk
of ser ious personal injury and death whenever
a veh icle is being used .
- Always make sure that all ve hicle occupants
are correctly restrained and stay in a correct
seated position wheneve r the vehicle is be
i n g used.
- Always read and follow a ll WAR NINGS and
o ther impo rtant informat ion
Q page 192.
Safety belt tensioner
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 .
Pyrotechnic safety belt pretensioners
The safety belts for the front sea ting posit ions
are equipped with safety belt pretensioners. The
system is act ivated by sensors i n front, side and
rear-end collisions of g rea t seve rity and in a ro ll
over . This tightens the belt and takes up belt
s lack
Q &. in Service and disposal of safety belt
pretensioner on page 196.
Taking up the s lack
helps to reduce forward occupant movement dur
ing a collision.
&_ WARNING
-
- It is poss ible for the pretensioners to dep loy
incorrectly.
- The pyrotechnic system can only provide protection for one collision . If the pyrotech
n ic pretens ioners dep loy, the pre tensioning
system must be replaced.
(0 Tips
The pyrotechn ic safety belt pretensioners can
o nly dep loy once .
- The safety belt pretensioners do not deploy
in minor frontal, side and rear-end coll i
sions.
- A fine dust is re leased when the pyrotechnic
safety belt pretensioners dep loy. This is no r
ma l and is not caused by a fi re in the ve hi
cle.
195
Safety belts
-The relevant safety requirements must be
observed when the vehicle or components
of the system are scrapped. A qualif ied
dealership is familiar with these regulations
and will be pleased to pass on the informa
tion to you.
- Be sure to observe all safety, environmental
and other regulations if the vehicle or indi
v idual parts of the system, particularly the
safety belt or airbag, are to be disposed. We
re commend you have your author ized Audi
dealer perform this service for you.
Service and disposal of safety belt preten
sioner
The safety belt pretens ioners are parts of the
safety belts on your Audi. Installing, removing,
servicing or repairing of belt pretensioners can
damage the safety belt system and prevent it
from working correctly in a collision .
There are some important things you have to
know to make sure that the effectiveness of the
system will not be impaired and that discarded
components do not cause injury or pollute the
env ironment.
A WARNING
Improper care, servicing and repai r proce
dures can increase the ris k of personal injury
and death by preventing a safety belt preten
sioner from activating when needed or acti
vating it unexpectedly:
- T he be lt pretensioner system can be activat
ed only once. If belt pretensioners have
been activated, the system must be re
placed.
- Never repair, adjust, or change any parts of
the safety be lt system.
- Safety belt systems including safety belt
pretensioners cannot be repaired . Special
procedures are required for removal, instal
lat ion and disposal of this system.
- For any work on the safety belt system, we
strongly recommend that you see your au
thorized Aud i dealer or qualified technician
who has an Audi approved repair manual,
training and spec ial equipment necessary.
196
® For the sake of the environment
Undeployed airbag modules and pretension
ers might be classified as Perchlorate Materi
al -special handling may apply, see
www.dtsc.ca.gov/hazardouswaste/perchlo
rate . When the vehicle or parts of the re
straint system including airbag modules safe
ty belts with pretensioners are scrapped, all
applicable laws and regulations must be ob
served. Your authorized Aud i dealer is familiar
with these requirements and we recommend
that you have your dealer perform this service
for you.
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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 181,
.,. Adjust the front passenger's seat properly
¢page 182,
.,. Wear safety belts properly ¢page 192,
.,. Always properly use the proper child restraint
to protect children
¢ page 221.
In a collision airbags must inflate within the blink
of an eye and with considerable force. The sup
plemental airbags can cause injuries if the driver
or the front seat passenger is not seated proper
ly. Therefore in order to help the airbag to do its
job, it is important, both as a driver and as a pas
senger to sit properly at all times.
By keeping room between your body and the
steering wheel and the front of the passenger
compartment, the airbag can inflate fully and
completely and provide supplemental protection in certain frontal collisions¢
page 181, Correct
passenger seating positions.
For details on the
operation of the seat adjustment controls
¢page 44.
It's especially important that children are proper
ly restrained
¢page 221.
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 ve
hicle.
When the airbag system deploys, a gas generator
will fill the airbags, break open the padded cov ers, and inflate between the steering wheel and
the driver and between the instrument panel and
the front passenger. The airbags will deflate im mediately after deployment so that the front oc
cupants can see through the windshield again
without interruption .
All of this takes place in the blink of an eye, so
fast that many people don't even realize that the
airbags have deployed. The airbags also inflate
with a great deal of force and nothing should be in their way when they deploy. Front airbags in
combination with properly worn safety belts slow
down and limit the occupant's forward move
ment. Together they help to prevent the driver
and front seat passenger from hitting parts of
the inside the vehicle while reducing the forces
acting on the occupant during the crash. In this
way they help to reduce the risk of injury to the
head and upper body in the crash. Airbags do not
protect the arms or the lower parts of the body.
Both front airbags will not inflate in all frontal
collisions . The triggering of the airbag system de
pends on the vehicle deceleration rate caused by
the collision and registered by the electronic con
trol unit. If this rate is below the reference value
programmed into the control unit, the airbags
will not be triggered, even though the car may be badly damaged as a result of the collision . Vehi
cle damage, repair costs or even the lack of vehi
cle damage is not necessarily an indication of
whether an airbag should inflate or not .
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
II>
197
Airbag syste m
impact, veh icle speed, etc. The front airbags will
also not inflate in side or rear co llisions, or in
roll -overs.
A lwa ys re memb er: Airbags will deploy only once,
and only in certain kinds of coll isions. Your safety
be lts are always there to offer protection in those
situations in which airbags are not supposed to
deploy, or when they have already deployed ; for
example, when your vehicle strikes or is struck by
another vehicle after the first collision .
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
effectively when used with the safety belts.
Therefore, always properly wear your safety belts
c::> page 189 .
A WARNING
Sitting too close to the steering whee l o r i n
strument panel will decrease the effective
ness of the airbags and will increase the risk
of persona l injury in a co llision.
- Never sit closer than 10 in (25 cm) to the
steering wheel or instr ument pane l.
- If you cannot si t mo re than 10 in (25 cm)
from the steering wheel, inves tigate wheth
er adaptive equipment may be avai lab le to
held yo u reach the pedals and increase your
seating distance from the steering wheel.
- If you are unrestrained, leaning forward, s it
ting sideways or out of position in any way,
your risk of injury is much higher.
- Yo u will also receive serious injuries and
could even be killed if you are up aga inst the
airbag or too close to it when it inflates -
even with an Advanced Airbag.
- To reduce the risk of injury when an airbag inflates, always wear safety belts properly
¢ page 193, Safety belts .
-Always make certain that chi ldren age 12 or
younger always ride in the rear seat. If chil dren are not properly restra ined, they may
be severely injured or k illed when an airbag
inflates .
- Never let children ride unrestrained or im prope rly rest ra in ed in the vehicle . Adjust the
front seats properly .
198
-
-Never ride with the back rest recl ined.
-Always sit as far as possible from the steer -
ing wheel or the instrument panel
¢ page 181.
-Always sit upright with 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
transport objects. Items can also move into
the area of the s ide a irbag or the front air
bag during brak ing or in a sudden maneu
ver. Objects near the airbags can become proje cti les and cause injury when an airbag
inflates.
A WARNING
A irbags that have deployed in a crash m ust be
replaced.
- Use o nly orig inal eq uipment airbags ap
p roved by A ud i and inst alled by a trained
technician who has the ne cessary tools and
diagnostic equipment to properly replace
any airbag in yo ur vehicle and assure system
effectiveness in a crash.
'
- Never permit salvaged or recycled airbags to
be installed in your vehicle .
Child restraints on the front seat - some
important things to know
.,. Be sure to read the important informat ion and
head the WARNINGS fo r important details
about c hildren and Advanced A irbags
c::> page 221 .
Even though your veh icle is equipped w ith an Ad
vanced Airbag Sys tem, make certa in that a ll chil
dre n, especia lly those 12 yea rs and younger, al
ways ride i n the b ack seat prope rly res trained fo r
their age and size. The airbag on the passenger
s ide makes the front seat a potentially dange rous
place for a child to r ide . The front seat is not the
safest place for a chi ld in a forward-fac ing chi ld ...,.
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seat. It can be a very dangerous place for an
infant or a child in a rearward-facing seat .
The Advanced Airbag System in your veh icle has
been certified to comply with the Requirements
of United States Federal Motor Vehicle Safety
Standard 208 as applicab le at the time your vehi
cle was manufactured.
The Standard req uires the front airbag on the
passenger side to be turned
off ("suppressed") if
a child up to about one year of age restrained in
one of the rear-facing or forward-facing infant re
stra ints listed in Federa l Motor Vehicle Safety
Standard 208 with which the Advanced Airbag
System in your vehicle was certified has been in
stalled on the front passenger seat. For a listing
of the ch ild restraints that were used to ce rtify
comp liance with the US Safety Standard
c>page 223.
The PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF~; light in the
h eadliner tells you when the front Advanced A ir
bag on the passenger side has been turned
off by
the elect ronic control unit.
E ach t ime you tur n on the ignit ion, the
PA SSEN
GER AIR BAG OFF ~; ON @ light will come on
for a few seconds and:
- PAS SENGER AIR BAG OFF~; will come on if
the front passenger seat is not occupied,
- PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF~; will come on if
the electr ical capacitance measured by the ca
pacit ive passenger detection system for the
front passenge r seat equa ls the comb ined ca
pacitan ce of an infant up to abou t one ye ar of
age and one of the rea rwa rd-facing or forward
f acing child restraints listed in Federa l Moto r
Vehicle Safety Standard 208 with which the Ad
vanced Airbag System in your vehicle was certi
fied. For a listing of the child restraints that
were used to cert ify your vehicle's compliance
with the U.S. Safety Standard
c> page 223.
-PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF~; will come on if
there is a small child or child restraint on the
front passenger seat,
- PASSENGER AIR BAG ON @will go off if the
front passenger seat is occupied by an adult as
reg istered by the capacitive passenger detec-
Airb ag sys tem
tion system c> page 209, Monitoring the Ad
vanced Airbag System.
T he PAS SENGER AIR BAG OFF~; ligh t comes on
whe n electrica l capacitan ce regis tered on the
front passenge r seat is equal to or less than 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 ce rti
fied.
If the total e lectr ica l capacitance reg istered on
the front passenger seat is more than that of a
typ ical 1 year-old child but less than the weight
of a small 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 fro nt airbag on the passenger
s ide has not been t urned
off by the electro nic
c ontro l unit and can deploy if the contro l uni t
senses an impac t that meets t he conditions stor
ed in its memory.
For example , the airbag may deplo y if:
- a small ch ild that is heav ier than a typical 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 223), o r
- a child who has outgrown c hild restraints is on
the front passenge r seat.
If the front passenger airbag is turned off, the
PA SSENGER AIR BAG OFF~; light comes on i n
the headliner and stays on.
If the front passenger airbag deploys, the Feder
al Standard requires the airbag to meet the "low
risk" deployment criteria to reduce the risk of i n
jury through interact ion w ith the airbag. "Low
risk" deployment occurs in t hose crashes that
ta ke place at lowe r decele rations as defined in
t h e e lectronic co ntrol un it
c> page 209, PASS EN
GER A IR BAG OFF~; ON@ light.
Always remembe r, a ch ild seat or infant ca rr ier
insta lled on the front seat may be st ruck and
k nocked out of pos it io n by the rap idly inflat ing
passenge r's airbag in a fron tal coll is ion. The ..,_
199
Airbag syste m
airbag cou ld g reatly reduce the effectiveness of
the child restraint and even serious ly injure the
child dur ing inflation.
F or this reason, and because the bac k seat is the
safest place for chi ldren -when properly restrain
ed according to their age and si ze -we strong ly
recommend that children a lways sit in the back
seat
¢ page 221 , Child safety.
A WARNING
A child in a rearward-facing chi ld seat instal
led on the front passenger seat will be ser i
ously injured and can be k illed if the front air
bag inflates -even with an Advanced Airbag
System.
- The inflating a irbag w ill hit the child seat or
infant carrier w ith great force and will
smash the ch ild seat and child against the
backrest, cente r arm rest, door or roof.
- Always install rear-facing child seats on the
rea r seat.
- If you must install a rearward fac ing ch ild
seat on the front passenger seat because of
exceptional circum$tances and the PASSEN
GER AIR BAG OFF,;;
light does not come
on and stay on, immediately install the rear
facing child seat in a rear seating position
and have the airbag system inspected by
your Audi dealer.
- Forward-facing chi ld seats installed on the
front passenge r's seat may interfere with
the deployment of the airbag and cause se rious persona l injury to the child .
A WARNING
If, in exceptional circumstances, you must in
stall a forward-facing chi ld restrain t on the
front passenger's seat :
- Always make sure the forward -facing seat
has been desig ned and ce rt ified by its man
ufact urer for use on a front seat with a pas
senger fron t and si de a irbag .
- Never put the forward-facing child restraint
up against or ve ry near the ins trumen t pan
el.
- Always move the front passenger seat to
the highest position in the up and down ad-
200
-
justment range and move it back to the
rearmost posit ion in the seat's fore and aft
adjustment range, as far away from the a ir
bag as poss ible, before installing the for
ward-facing chi ld restraint .
- Always make sure that the safety be lt upper
anchorage is behind the ch ild restraint and
not next to o r in front of the child rest raint
so that the safety be lt will be p roperly posi
tioned.
- Make sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF ,;;
light comes on and stays on all the
time wheneve r the ign it ion is swi tched on.
A WARNING
T o redu ce the ris k of serious injury, ma ke sure
that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF,;; light
will be disp layed whenever a chi ld restraint is
installed on the front passenger seat and the
ignit ion is switched on.
- If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF,;; light
does not stay on, perform the checks descri
bed
¢ page 209, Monitoring the Advanced
Airbag System .
-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 not stay on .
- Have the airbag system inspected by your
Aud i dea ler immediately.
-Always carefully follow instructions from child restraint manufacturers when instal
ling child restra ints.
A WARNING
If, in exceptional ci rcumstances, you must in
stall a forward or rearward-fac ing child re
stra int on the front passenger's seat:
- Improper installat ion of child restraints can
reduce the ir effectiveness or even prevent
them from provid ing any protect ion.
- An improperly installed child res tra int can
inte rfere with the airbag as it deploys and
serio usly injure or even kil l the child - even
w it h a n Advan ced Airb ag System .
-Always carefully follow the manufacturer's
instructions provided w ith the child seat or
carrier.
- Always make sure that there is nothing on
the front passenger seat that will cause the
capacitive passenger detection system in
the seat to signal to the Airbag System that
the seat is occupied by a person when it is
not, or to signa l that it is occ upied by some
one who is heavier than the pe rson actua lly
s itting on the seat. The p resence of addi
tional objects could cause the passenger
fro nt 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.
F ig . 160 Locat ion of driver a irbag: in stee ring wheel
Fig . 1 61 Locat ion of front passenger's airbag: i n the in -
CD st rume nt panel CD ,-t N
" ~ Your veh icle is equipped with a n "Adva nced Air-
~ bag System" in compl iance wi th Un ited States
co
Airb ag sys tem
Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standa rd
(FMVSS) 208, as well as Canada Motor Vehicle
Safety Standard (CMVSS) 208 as applicable at
the time your ve hicle was manufactured. The
safety belts for the front seats have "pretension
ers" that help to take slack out of the belt sys
tem . The pretens ioners are also activated by the
electronic 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
crash.
The airbag for the driver is in the steering wheel
hub ¢
fig. 160 and the airbag for the front pas
senger is in the instrument panel¢
fig . 161. The
general locat io n of the a irbags is marked "AIR
BAG" .
There is a lot you need to know about the airbags
in you r vehicle. We urge you to read the deta iled
information about airbags, safety be lts and c hild
safety in this and the other chapte rs that make
u p the ow ner's literature. Please be sure to heed
the WARNINGS - they are ex tremely important
for yo ur safety and the safety of your passengers,
especially infants and small children.
A WARNING
-
Never rely on airbags alone fo r protect ion .
- Even when they deploy, airbags provide only
supp lemental protection .
- Ai rbag work most effectively when used
with proper ly worn safety be lts.
- T herefo re, always we ar you r safe ty be lts and
make sure that everybody in your vehicle is
proper ly restrained.
- Always hold the stee ring w heel with both
hands on the outside o f 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 a irbag inflates.
- Never ho ld the steering wheel at the 12
o'clock position or with your hands any
where inside the steering wheel o r on the
steer ing whee l hub. Holding the steering
wheel the wrong way increases the r is k of
seve re injury to the arms, hands, and head if
the dr iver airbag deploys.
~
201
Airbag system
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.
- 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
202
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 under
the U.S. Federal Standard if a child that is
heavier than the typical one-year old child 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 (FMVSS)
208, as well as Canada Motor Vehicle Safety
Standard (CMVSS)
208 as applicable at the time
your vehicle 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. Rather, 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 re
strained, not just because the law requires you to be.
The Advanced Airbag System in your vehicle has
been certified to meet the "low risk" require-
ments for 3 and 6 year-old children on the ..,.