2017 AUDI TT ROADSTER ESP

Airbag system
Front airbags
Description of front airbags
The airbag system can provide supplemental
protection to properly restrained front seat occu­
pants.
Fig. 163 Location of dr iver airbag: in steering whee l
Fig. 164 Location of front passenger's airbag: in the in­
strument panel
Your vehicle is equipped with an "Advanced Air­
bag System" in compliance with Un ited 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
safety belts for the front seats have "pretension­
ers" that help to take slack out of the belt sys­
tem. The pretensioners are also activated by the
electronic control unit for the airbag system.
The front safety be lts also have load limiters to
help reduce the forces applied to the body in a
crash.
The airbag for the driver is in the steering wheel
hub<=>
fig . 163 and the airbag for the front pas­
senger is in the instrument panel
<=>fig. 164. The
general location of the airbags is marked "AIR­
BAG".
200
There is a lot you need to know about the airbags
in your vehicle . We urge you to read the detai led
i nformation about airbags, safety belts and ch ild
safety in this and the other chapters that make
up the owner's literature. 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 .
.&_ WARNING -
Never rely on airbags alone for protection.
- Even when they deploy, airbags provide only
supp lemental protection.
- Airbag work most effectively when used
with properly worn safety belts .
- Therefore, always wear your safety belts and make sure that everybody in your vehicle is
properly restrained.
- Always hold the steering wheel w ith 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 whee l 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.
.&_ WARNING
Objects between you and the airbag will in­
crease the r isk 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 zo ne 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
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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.
&_ WARNING
A person on the front passenger seat, espe­cially 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 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.
- For its own safety, a child should always ride
properly restrained for its age and si ze.
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.
T he front Advanced Airbag System supplements
the safety belts to provide additional protection
Airbag system
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 pas­
senger side and very small adults on the driver
side. The low risk deployment criteria are intend­
ed to help reduce the risk of injury through inter­
action with the front airbag that can occur, for
example, by being too close to the steering wheel
and instrument panel when the airbag inflates.
In addition, the system has been certified to
comply with the "suppression" requirements of
the Safety Standard, to turn off the front airbag
for infants 12 months old and younger who are res trained on the front passenger seat in child re­
straints that are listed in the Standard
¢ page 220, Child restraints and Advanced front
airbag system.
"Suppression" requires the front airbag on the
passenger side to be turned off if:
- a child up to about one year of age is restrained
on the front passenger seat in one of the rear­
facing or forward-facing infant restraints listed in Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208
with which the Advanced Airbag System in your
vehicle was certified . For a listing of the child
restraints that were used to certify your vehi­
cle's compliance with the US Safety Standard
¢page 220,
-When a person is detected on the front passen­
ger seat that has an electrical capacitance that
is more than the total electrical capacitance of
a child that is about 1 year old restrained in one .,.
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rearmost position in the seat's fore and aft
adjustment range, as far away from the air­
bag as possible, before insta lling the for­
ward-facing child restra int.
- lways make sure that the safety belt upper
anchorage is beh ind the child restraint and
not next to or in front of the child restraint
so that the safety belt will be properly pos i­
tioned.
-Always make sure that there is nothing on the front passenger seat that w ill cause the
c apacit ive passenger detection system in
the seat to signa l to the Airbag Sys tem tha t
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 person actua lly
sitting on the seat . The p resence of addi­
t ional 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 witho ut the object on the seat.
- Make sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF ~;
light comes on and stays on a ll the
t ime whenever the ignition is switched on.
Advanced Airbag System components
The front passenger seat in yo ur vehicle has a lot
of
very important parts of the Advanced Airbag
Sys tem in it . These pa rts in cl ude the capacitive
passenger detection system, w iring, brackets,
and mo re. The control un it monitors the system
on the front passenger seat when the ign ition is
switched on and turns the airbag indicator light
on when a malfunct ion in the one of the system
components is detected
c::> page 208 . Because
the fro nt passenger seat contains important
pa rts of the Advanced Airbag System, you must
take ca re to preven t it from being damaged.
D amage to the seat may p revent the Advanced
Ai rbag System for the front passenger seat from
doi ng its job i n a crash.
The front Advanced Airbag System consists
of the follow ing :
- C rash sensors in the front of the vehicle that
measure vehicle accelerat ion/dece leration to
Airb ag sys tem
provide information to the Advanced A irbag
System about the severity of the cras h.
- An elect ronic contro l unit, with integrated
cras h sensors for front and side impacts . The
control un it "decides" whether to fire the front
airbags based on the information rece ived from
the crash sensors . The control unit also "de­
cides" whether the safety belt pretensioners
should be activated.
- An Advanced A irbag w ith gas generator for the
driver inside the steeri ng wheel hub .
- An Advanced A irbag w ith gas generator inside
the instrument panel for the front passenger.
-A capacit ive passenger detection system under­
neath the front passenger seat
cover. This sys­
tem measures the e lectr ica l capacitance of the
person in the seat. The information registered
is sent continuously to the elect ronic contro l
un it to reg ulate dep loyment of the front Ad­
vanced Airbag on the p assenger side.
- An airbag monitoring system and indicator
light
El in the inst rument cl uste r.
- A sensor in each front seat registe rs the d is­
t ance betwee n the respective seat and the
steer ing whee l o r ins trumen t pa nel. The infor­
mat ion registered is sent con tinuous ly to the
electronic contro l unit to regu late dep loyment
of the front Advanced Airbags .
- The
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF~; lig ht comes
on and stays on in the headliner
c::> poge 208,
fig. 166 and tells you when the front Advanced
Airbag on the passenger side has been turned off.
- A sensor in the safety belt latch for the driver
and for the front seat passenger that senses
whether that safety be lt is latched or not and
transmits this information to t he electronic
cont rol un it .
A WARNING
Damage to the front passenge r seat can pre­
vent the front airbag from working prope rly.
- Imp roper repair or d isassembly of the front
passenger and driver seat will p revent the
Advanced Airbag Sys tem from f unct ion ing
p roper ly. ...,
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Airbag syste m
Front airbag s will not deploy:
- if the ignit ion is switched off when a crash oc -
curs,
- in s ide collisions,
- in rear-end collisions,
- in rollovers,
- when the crash deceleration measured by the
airbag system is less than the minimum thresh­
old needed for airbag deployment as registered
by the electronic contro l unit.
Th e front p asse nger airb ag w ill also not
depl oy:
- when the front passenger seat is not occupied,
- when the electrical capacitance measured by
the capacitive passenger detect ion system for
the front passenger seat indicates that the pas­
senger side frontal airbag must be switched off
by the electronic contro l unit (the
PASSENGER
AIR B AG OFF ~;
light~ page 208 and how
they work comes on and stays on) .
A WARNING
Sitting in the wrong position can increase the
risk of serious injury in crashes.
- To reduce the risk of injury when the airbags inflate, the driver and passengers must al­
ways sit in an upright position, must not
lean against or place any part of their body
too close to the area where the airbags are
located.
- Occupants who are unbelted, out of position
or too close to the a irbag can be seriously
injured by an airbag as it unfolds with great
force in the blin k of an eye~
page 197.
A WARNING
A child in a rearward-facing chi ld seat insta l­
led on the front passenger seat will be ser i­
ously inju red and can be killed if the front air­
bag inf lates - even with an Advanced Airbag
System.
- T he inflating a irbag w il l hit the child seat or
infant carrier with great force and will
smash the chi ld seat and child against the
backrest, center armrest, door or roof.
206
-
- Never install a rearward facing chi ld safety
seat on the front passenger seat unless the
PAS SEN GER AIR BA G OFF ~; light comes
on and stays on . If the
PA SSE NGER AIR
BAG OFF~;
light does not come on and stay
on, the inflat ing airbag will hit the chi ld
safety seat or infant carrie r with great force
and will smash the child safety seat and
child against the bac krest, door or roof.
Have the airbag system inspected immedi­
ately by your authorized Audi dealer .
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 or by be­
ing pushed into you as the airbag inflates.
- Never hold things in your hands or on your
lap when the vehicle is in use.
- Never transport items on or in the area of
the front passenger seat. Objects could
move into the area of the front airbags dur­
ing braking or other sudden maneuver and
become dangerous projectiles that can
cause serious persona l injury if the airbags
inflate.
- Never place or attach accessories o r other
objects (such as cup holders, telephone
brackets, large, heavy or bulky objects) on
the doo rs, ove r or near the area ma rked
"AIRBAG" on the steering wheel, instru ­
ment panel, seat backrests or between
those areas and yourself. These objects
could cause injury in a crash, especially
when the a irbags inf late.
- Never recline the front passenger's seat to
transport objects. Items can also move into
the area of the side a irbag or the front air­
bag during brak ing or in a sudden maneu­
ver . Objects near the airbags can become
projecti les and cause injury, part icularly
when the seat is reclined.
- Never p lace or t ransport objects on the
-
front passenger sea t. Objects on the front
p assenger sea t could ca use the capaci tive
sensor in the seat to signal to ai rbag system
that the seat is occ upied by a person when it ..,

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in fact is not, or that the person on the seat
is heavier than he or she actually is. The
change in electric capacitance because of
such objects can cause the passenger front
airbag to be turned on when it should be
off, or can cause the a irbag to work in a way
that is diffe rent from the way it would have
wor ked witho ut objects on the seat.
- 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 that it is occupied by some­
one who is heavier than the person actua lly
sitting on the seat. The presence of an ob­
ject could cause the passenger front a irbag
to be t urned on when it should be off, or
cou ld cause the ai rbag to work in a way that
is d ifferent from the way it wou ld have
wor ked witho ut the ob je ct on the seat.
A WARNING
The fine dust create d when air bags deploy can
cause breathing problems for peop le w ith a
history of asthma or other breathing condi­
tions .
- T o reduce the risk of breathing problems,
those with asthma or other respiratory con ­
ditions should get fresh air right away by
gett ing out of the veh icle or opening w in­
dows o r doors.
- If you are in a collision in which airbags de­
ploy, wash your hands and face with mild
soap and water before eat ing.
- Be careful not to get the dust into your eyes,
or into any cuts or scratches.
- If the resid ue should get into your eyes,
flush them with water.
Airb ag sys tem
Monitoring the
Advanced Airbag System
Airbag monitoring indicator light
Two separate indicators monitor the function of
the Advanced Airbag System: the
El light and
the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF "1; ON @ light.
T he Advanced A irbag System as well as the side
airbags with e jection m itigation features (i nclud­
i ng the e lectron ic cont rol unit, senso rs and sys­
tem wiring) are all monito red contin uous ly to
make sure that they are functioning properly
whenever the ignition is on. Every t ime you turn
on the ignition, the a irbag system indicator light
El w ill come on for a few seconds (function
check).
The system mu st be in spected wh en the
i ndicator light
E,I:
- does not come on when the ignition is switched
on,
- does not go out a few seconds after you have
sw itched on the ignition, or
- comes on while driv ing.
If an airbag system mal func tion is detected, the
indicator light will come on to serve as a constant
reminder to have the system inspected immedi­
ately.
If a ma lfunction occurs that turns the front air ­
bag on the passenger side off, the
PASSENGER
AIR BAG O FF
"1 ; light will come on and stay on
whenever the ignition is on.
A WARNING
An a irbag system that is not functioning prop­
erly cannot prov ide supplemental protect ion
i n a fronta l crash.
- If the airbag ind icator light
~page 14
comes when the veh icle is being used, have
the system inspected immediately by your
author ized Audi dealer.
It is possib le that
the airbag will inflate when i t is not sup­
posed to, or w ill not inf late w hen it should.
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-Never install seat covers or replacement
upholstery over the front seatbacks that
have not been specifically approved by
Audi.
- Never use additional seat cushions that
cover the areas where the side airbags in­
flate.
- Damage to the original seat covers or to
the seam in the area of the side airbag module must always be repaired immedi­
ately by an authorized Audi dealer.
- The airbag system can deploy only once. Af­
ter an airbag has been deployed, it must be
replaced with new replacement parts de­
signed and approved especially for your
Audi model version. Replacement of com­ plete airbag systems or airbag components
must be performed by qualified workshops
only. Make sure that any airbag service ac­
tion is entered in your Audi Warranty
&
Maintenance booklet under AIRBAG RE­
PLACEMENT RECORD.
- For safety reasons in severe accidents, the
alternator and starter are separated from
the vehicle battery with a pyrotechnic circuit interrupter.
- Work on the pyrotechnic circuit interrupt­
er must only be performed by a qualified
technicians who have the experience, in­
formation and special tools necessary to
perform the work safely.
- If the vehicle or the circuit interrupter is
scrapped, all applicable safety precautions must be followed.
@ 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 and
safety belts with pretensioners are scrapped,
all applicable laws and regulations must be
observed. Your authorized Audi dealer is fa­
miliar with these requirements and we recom­
mend that you have your dealer perform this
service for you.
Airbag system
Other things that can affect Advanced
Airbag performance
Changing the vehicle's suspension system can
change the way that the Advanced Airbag System
performs in a crash. For example, using tire-rim
combinations not approved by Audi, lowering the
vehicle, changing the stiffness of the suspension, including the springs, suspension struts, shock
absorbers etc . can change the forces that are
measured by the airbag sensors and sent to the
electronic control unit. Some suspension changes
can, for example, increase the force levels meas­
ured by the sensors and make the airbag system
deploy in crashes in which it would not deploy if
the changes had not been made. Other kinds of
changes may reduce the force levels measured by
the sensors and prevent the airbag from deploy­ ing when it should.
A WARNING
-Changing the vehicle's suspension including use of unapproved tire-rim combinations can
change Advanced Airbag performance and in­
crease the risk of serious personal injury in a
crash.
- Never install suspension components that
do not have the same performance charac­
teristics as the components originally instal­
led on your vehicle.
- Never use tire-rim combinations that have
not been approved by Audi.
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How knee airbags work
The risk of injury to the leg area can be reduced
by fully inflated kn ee airbags.
Fig . 168 Inflated airbags protecting in a fronta l collision
The knee airbag system has been designed so
that the airbags for the driver and front passen­ ger deploy in certain but not all frontal collisions .
If the front airbags dep loy, the knee ai rbags also
deploy in fronta l co llisions when the dep loyment
threshold stored in the contro l unit is met.
When the sys tem dep loys, the airbags fill with a
propellan t gas, and inf late between the lowe r
part of the instrument panel and the driver and
the lower pa rt of the instrument panel and the
front passenger ¢
page 205, fig. 165.
Although they are not a soft pi llow, they can
"c ushion" the impact and in this way they can
he lp to reduce the risk of injury to the lower ex­
tremities.
All of this ta kes place in t he b lin k of an eye, so
fast that many people don't even realize that the
airbags have dep loyed . The airbags also inflate
with a great deal of force and it is important for
occupant safety that nothing should be in their
way when they deploy .
F u lly inflated airbags in combination with proper­
ly worn safety belts slow down and limit the oc­
cupant 's forward movement and help to reduce
the r isk of injury.
Airb ag sys tem
Important safety instructions on the knee
airbag system
Airbags are only supplemental restraints . Always
wear safety belts correctly and ride in a proper
seating position .
There is a lot that you and yo ur passenger must
know and do to help the safety belts and ai rbags
to provide supp lemental protect ion.
A WARNING ~
An inflat ing knee a irbag can cause se rious in-
jury. Wearing safety be lts incorrectly and im­
proper seating positions increase the risk of
serious personal injury and death whenever a
vehicle is being used.
- The knee airbag system cannot protect yo u
proper ly if yo u are seated too close to any of
the airbag locations. When adjusting t heir
seat pos itions, it is important that both the
driver and the front passenger keep their
uppe r bodies and knees at the fo llow ing
m inim um safe d istan ces:
- at least 10 in (25 cm) between the chest
and t he steering wheel/instrument panel.
- at least 4 in (10 cm) between the knees
and t he lower part of the instrument pan­
el.
- The risk of personal inj ury increases if you
lean forward or to the side, or if the seat is
improperly positioned and you are not wear­
ing your safety belt. The risk increases even
more should the airbag deploy .
- Always make sure that the knee a irbag can
inflate w ithout interference. Objects be­
tween you and the airbag can increase the risk of injury in an accident by inte rfe ring
wit h the way the airbag deploys or by bei ng
pushed into yo u as the ai rbag deploys.
- Never let anybody, especially children or
anima ls r ide in the footwell in front of the
passenger seat. If the airbag deploys, this
can result in serious or fatal i njuries .
- Never carry objects of any kind in the foot­
well a rea in front of the driver's or pas­
senger's seat. Bulky objects (shopp ing
bags, fo r example) ca n in terfere with or
~
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with deployed side airbags. Remember too, side
airbags will deploy on ly once and on ly in certain
kinds of acc idents -your safety be lts are always
there to offer protection .
Vehicle damage, repair costs or even the lack of
vehicle damage are not necessarily an indication
of over-sensitive or failed airbag activation. In
some collisions, both front and side airbags may
inflate. Remember too, that airbags will deploy
only once and only in certain kinds of coll isions -
your safety belts are always there to offer protec­
tion in those acc idents in which airbags are not
supposed to deploy or when they have a lready
deployed.
The side airbag system will not deploy:
-when the ign ition is switched off
- in side collisions when the acceleration meas-
ured by the sensor is too low
- in front-end collisions
- in rear-end collisions
- in rollovers.
I n some types of accidents the front airbags and
side airbags may be triggered together.
_& WARNING
-Safety belts and the airbag system will only
provide protection when occupants are in
the proper seating position ¢
page 216.
-If the airbag indicator light q page 14
comes when the vehicle is being used, have
the system inspected immediate ly by your
authorized Audi dealer. It is possible that
the airbag will inflate when it is not sup­
posed to, or will not inflate when it shou ld.
Airbag system
How supplemental side airbags work
Side airbags deploy instantly and can help re­
duce the risk of upper torso injuries for occu­
pants who are properly restrained.
Fig. 170 Inflated side a irbags on lef t side of vehicle
When the system is triggered, the airbag is filled
with propellant gas and breaks through a seam in
the seat surface area marked "AIRBAG". It ex­
pands between the side trim panel and the pas­
senger . In order to help provide this addit ional
protect ion, the side airbag must inflate w ith in a
fraction of a second at very high speed and with
great force . Th e supp lemental s ide airbag could
injure you if you r seating position is not proper or
u pr ight or if items are located in the area where
the supp lemental side airbag expands. This ap­
plies especially to children
c> page 218, Child
safety.
Supplemental side airbags inflate be­
tween the occupant and the door panel on the
side of the vehicle that is struck in certain side collision
c> fig . 170.
Although they are not a soft pillow, they can
"cushion" the impact and in this way they can
help to reduce the risk of injury to the upper part
of the body .
A fine dust may develop when t he airbag deploys .
This is normal and does not mean there is a fire
in the veh icle.
215