Driving sa fe ty
-Never attempt to adjust head restraint
wh ile driving. If you have dr iven
off and
must adjust the driver headrest for any rea
son, first stop the vehicle safely before at
tempting to adjust the head restra int.
- Children must always be properly restrained
in a child restraint that is appropriate for
their age and size
¢ page 302.
Examples of improper seating positions
The occupant restraint system can only reduce
the risk of injury if vehicle occupants are properly
seated .
Improper seating positions can cause serious in
jury or deat h. Safety belts can only work when
they are properly positioned on the body . Im
proper seating positions reduce the effect iveness
of safety belts and w ill even increase the r isk of
i njur y and dea th by moving the safety be lt to crit
ical areas of the body. Impro per sea ting posit ions
a lso increase the risk of ser ious injury and dea th
when an airbag deploys and strikes an occupant
who is not in the proper seat ing position. A driver
is responsib le for the safety of all vehicle occu
pants and especially for children. Therefore :
~ Never allow anyone to assume an incorrect
seat ing pos ition when the vehicle is being used
c> .&, .
The fo llowing bulletins list only some sample po
sitions that will increase the risk of serio us inj ury
and death. Our hope is that these examp les will
make you more aware of seating posit ions that
are dangerous.
The ref ore, when ever th e vehicle i s moving:
- never stand up in the ve hicle
- never s tand on the seats
- never knee l on the seats
- never r ide with the seatback reclined
- never lie down on t he seats
- never lean up against the instrument pane l
- never sit on the edge of the seat
- never sit s ideways
- never le an out the w indow
- never put yo ur feet out the window
262
- never put your feet on the instrument panel
- neve r rest your feet on the seat c ushion or back
o f the seat
- neve r ride in the footwell
- neve r ride in the ca rgo area
A WARNING
I mp roper seating positions inc re ase the risk
of ser iou s personal inju ry and de ath whenever
a veh icle is being used.
- Always make sure that all veh icle occupants
s tay in a proper sea ting posit ion and are
pro perly restrained whenever the vehicle is
be ing used .
Driver's and front
passenger's footwell
Important safety instructions
A WARNING
A lways make sure that the knee airbag can in
flate w ithout interference. Objects between
yourself and the airbag can inc rease the risk
of injury in an accident by interfering with the
way the ai rbag dep loys o r by being pushed in
to you as the airbag dep loys.
- No persons (ch ild ren) or animals should ride
in the footwell in front of the passenger
seat . If the airbag deploys, this can res ult in
serio us or fat al injuries.
- No objects of any kind should be carried i n
the footwell area in front of the dr iver's or
passenger's seat. Bu lky objects (shopping
bags, for examp le) can hamper or prevent
proper dep loyment of the airbag . Sma ll ob
jects can be thrown thro ugh the vehicle if
the airbag deploys and injure you or your passengers.
Driving sa fe ty
Loose items in the luggage compartment can
shift s udden ly, changing vehicle handling charac
ter istics . Loose items can also increase the risk of
serious personal in jury in a sudden vehicle
ma
neuver or in a coll is ion.
.,. Distribute the load evenly in the luggage com
partment .
.,. Always place and properly secure heavy items in
the luggage compartment as low and as far for
ward as possible
c> fig . 230 .
.,. Secure luggage us ing the tie-downs provided
¢ page 79 .
.,. Make su re that the rea r seatbac k is securely
latched in place .
A WARNING
Improperly stored luggage or othe r items can
fly through the vehicle causing serious per
sonal injury in the event of hard braking or an
accident . To help reduce the risk of serious
personal injury :
- Always put objects, for example, luggage or
other heavy items in the luggage compart
ment.
- Always sec ure objects in the luggage com
partment using the tie-down eyelets and
s u itable straps.
A WARNING
Heavy loads will influence the way your vehi
cle handles . To he lp reduce the r isk of a loss
of contro l leading to serious pe rsonal i njury:
- Always keep in mind when transporting heavy objects, that a change i n the center of
grav ity can also cause changes in vehicle
hand ling:
- Always distr ibute the load as even ly as
possible.
- Place heavy objects as far forward in the
luggage compartment as poss ible.
- Never exceed the Gross Axle Weight Rating
o r the Gross Vehicle Weight Rating specified
on the safety compliance sticker on the
front end of the driver's door. Exceeding permissible weight standards can cause the
vehicle to s lide and handle diffe rently .
264
-Please observe info rmation on safe driving
¢page 258 .
A WARNING
To he lp prevent po isonous exhaust gas from
being drawn into the vehicle, always keep the
rear lid closed while driving.
- Never transport objects larger than those
fitting completely into the luggage area be
cause the rear lid cannot be fully closed .
- If you absolutely must dr ive with the rear lid
open, observe the following notes to reduce
the risk of poisoning :
- C lose all windows,
- Close the s unroof*,
- Close the power top*,
- Open all a ir outlets in the instrument pan -
el,
- Switch off the air reci rculat ion,
- Set the fresh air fan to the highest speed.
A WARNING
-
Always make sure that the doors, all win
dows, the sunroof*, the power top * and the
rear lid are securely closed and locked to re
duce the risk of in jury when the veh icle is not
being used.
-After clos ing the rear lid, always make sure
that it is properly closed and locked .
- Never leave your veh icle unattended espe
cially wi th the rear lid left ope n. A child
could crawl into th e vehicle th rough the lug
gage compa rtment and close the rea r lid be
comi ng trapped and u nable to ge t out. Be
ing trapped in a vehicle can lead to ser ious
pe rsonal inj ury.
- Never let c hild ren p lay in o r around the vehi
cle.
- Never let passenge rs ride in the luggage
comp artment. Vehicle occu pants mus t
al
ways be proper ly restrained in one of the ve
hicle's seat ing pos itions.
(D Tips
- Air circu lation helps t o reduce w indow fog
ging . Stale air escapes to the o uts ide
Safety belt s
Safety belts
General information
Always wear safety belts!
Wearing safety belts correctly saves lives!
This chapter explains why safety be lts are neces
sary, how they work and how to adjust and wear
them correctly .
.. Read all the information that follows and heed
all of the instructions and WARNINGS.
&_ WARNING
Not wearing safety belts or wearing them im
properly increases the risk of serious personal
injury and death.
- Safety belts are the s ingle most effective
means ava ilable to reduce the risk of serious
injury and death in automobile accidents.
For your protect ion and that of your passen
gers, always co rrectly wear safety be lts
when the vehicle is moving .
- Pregnant women, injured, o r physically im
paired persons must a lso use safety belts.
L ik e all vehicle occ upants, they are mo re
likely to be serio usly injured i f they do not
wea r safety be lts. The best way to protect a
fetus is to protect the mother -thro ughout
the ent ire pregnancy .
Number of seats
Applies to: Coupe/Cab riolet: Your Audi has a to
tal of four seating positions: two in the front and
two in the rear. Each seat ing position has a safety
belt .
App lies to: Sportback: Your Audi has a total of
five seating positions: two in the front and three
in the rear . Each seating posit ion has a safety
belt .
&_ WARNING
Not wea ring safety belts or wearing them im
properly increases the risk of ser io us personal
injury and dea th.
268
- Never strap more than one person, includ
ing small 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 or ch ild restraint .
Safety belt warning light
Your vehicle has a warning system for the driver
and front seat passenger to remind you about the importance of buckling-up.
Fi g. 233 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 .
and properly wear the ir safety belts .
.. Protect children with a ch ild restraint system
app ropr iate for the size and age .
The warning light . in the instrument cluster
l ights up when the ig nition is switched on as a re
minder to fasten t he safety be lts . In addition,
you w ill hea r a wa rning tone for a ce rtain per iod
of time.
Fasten your saf ety b elt and make sure that your
pas sengers al so prop erly put on th eir safety
belts.
<( a, .... N ,....
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3 a,
Although these examples are based on a frontal
collision, safety belts can also substantially re
duce the risk of injury in other k inds of crashes.
So, whether you're on a long trip or just going to
the corner store, always buckle up and make sure
others do, too . Accident statistics show that vehi
cle occupants properly wearing safety belts have
a lower risk of being injured and a much better
chance of su rviving a n accident. Prope rly using
safety be lts al so greatly increases the ability of
the supplemental ai rbags to do the ir job in a col
lision. For t his reason, wearing a safety belt is le
ga lly required in most countr ies including much
of the Un ited States and Canada.
A lthough your Audi is equipped with airbags, yo u
still have to wear the safety belts provided. Front
airbags, for examp le, are activated on ly in some
frontal collis ions. The front airbags are not acti
vated in all frontal coll is ions, in side and rear col
lisions, in rollovers 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 you r Audi . So, always wear your safety
be lt and make sure eve rybody in you r vehicle is
p roperly restrained!
Important safety instructions about safety
belts
Safety belts must always be correctly positioned
across the strongest bones of your body.
.,. Always wea r safety be lts as illust rated and de
scribed in this chapter.
.,. Make sure that your safety belts are a lways
ready for use and are not damaged .
A WARNING
Not wearing safety belts or wearing them im
properly increases the risk of serious personal
injury and death . Safety belts can work only
when used correctly.
- Always fasten your safety belts correctly be
fore driving off and make sure all passen
gers are cor rectly restrained.
- For maximum protection, safety belts must
always be posit ioned properly on the body .
Safet y be lts
- Never strap more than one person, includ
ing small children, into any belt.
- Never p lace a safety belt
over a child sitting
on your lap.
- Always keep feet in the footwe ll in front of
the seat while the veh icle is being driven.
- Never let any person ride with their feet on the instrument panel or stick ing 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 be lts twisted .
- Never wear be lts
over rigid or breakable ob -
jects in or on yo ur clothing, such as eye
g lasses, pens, keys, etc ., as these may cause
injury.
- Never a llow safety belts to become dam
aged by be ing ca ught in door or seat hard
ware.
- Do not wear the shoulder part of the belt
under your arm or otherwise out of pos ition.
- Several layers of heavy clothing may inter
fe re with co rrect positioning of be lts and re ·
duce the overall effectiveness of the system.
- Always keep be lt buck les 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 be lts can tear, and
damaged be lt hardware can break in an acci
dent. Inspect belts regularly. If webb ing,
b indings, buckles, or retractors are dam
aged, have belts rep laced by an authorized
Aud i deale r o r qualified workshop.
- Safety belts that have been worn and loaded
in an accident must be replaced with the
corre ct replacement safety belt by an au
thori zed Audi dealer. Rep lacemen t may be
necessary
even if damage cannot be clearly
seen . Anchorages that were loaded must al
so be inspected .
- Never
remove, mod ify, disassemble, or try
to repair the safety belts yourse lf .
271
Convertibl e lo ck ing r etr actor
Every safety be lt except the one on the driver
seat is equipped with a convertible locking 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 this feature
c::;,page 313.
_& WARNING
Improperly positioned safety belts can cause
ser ious injury in an accident
c::;, page 2 73,
Safety belt position.
-Safety belts offer optimum protection only
when the seatback is upright and belts are
properly pos itioned on the body.
-Always make sure that the rear seat back rest to wh ich the center rear safety belt is
attached is secure ly latched whenever the
rea r center safety belt is being used.
If the
backrest is not securely latched, the passen
ger will move forward with the backrest dur
ing sudden braking, in a sudden maneuver
and especially in a crash.
-Never attach the safety belt to the buckle
for another seat. Attaching the belt to the
wrong buck le wi ll reduce safety belt effec
t iveness and can cause serious 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 secur ing a child safety seat in
the vehicle
c::;, page 315 .
Safety bel ts
Safety belt position
Correct belt position is the key to getting maxi
mum protection from safety belts.
Fig. 24 1 Safety belt position
Standard features on your vehicle help you adjust
the position of the safety belt to match your body
size.
-be lt height adjustment for the front seats,
-he ight-adjustable fron t seats.
_& WARNING
Improperly positioned safety belts can cause
serious personal injury in an accident.
-The shou lder belt should l ie as close to the
center of the collar bone as possib le and
should fit well on the body . Ho ld the belt
above the latch tongue and pull it evenly
across the chest so that it sits as low as pos
sible on the pelvis and there is no pressure
on the abdomen. The belt should always fit
snugly
c::;, fig. 241. Pu ll on the belt to tighten
if necessary .
- The lap belt portion of the safety belt must
be positioned as low as possible across pel
vis and neve r over the abdomen. Make s ure
the belt lies flat and
snug~ fig. 241. Pull on
the bel t to tig hte n if necessary.
-A loose-fitting safety belt can cause serious
inj uries by shifting its position on your body
from the stro ng bones to mo re vulnerable,
soft tissue and cause se rious inj ury.
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS and
o ther important informat ion
c::;, page 271.
273
<( a, .... N ,....
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on the body ¢.&. in Safety belt position on
page 273.
.,. Push the loop-a round fitt ings up ¢ fig. 244 @,
or
.,. squeeze together the @ button, and push the
loop-around f ittings
do wn@ .
... Pull the belt to make sure that the upper at
tachment is proper ly engaged .
A WARNING
Always read and heed all WARNINGS and oth
er important
i nformat ion ¢ page 271 .
(D Tips
With the front seats, the height adjustment
of the seat can also be used to adjust the po
sition of the safety belts.
Improperly worn safety belts
Incorrectly posi tioned safety belts can cause se
vere injuries.
Wearing safety belts improperly can cause seri
ous injury or death. Safety belts can only work
when they are correctly positioned on the body.
Improper seating positions reduce the 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 serio us inj ury
and death when an airbag deploys and str ikes an
oc cupant who is not in the correct seating posi
tion . A driver is respons ible for the safety of a ll
vehicle occupants and especia lly for children.
Therefore:
.,. Never permit anyone to assume an incorrect
sitting position in the veh icle whi le traveling
¢ .&_ .
A WARNING
Improperly worn safety belts increase the risk
of serious personal injury and death whenever
a vehicle is be ing used.
- Always make sure that a ll vehicle occupants
are correctly restra ined and stay in a correct
S afet y be lts
seating position whenever the vehicle is be
ing used.
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS and
other important
i nformat ion ¢ page 271 .
Belt tensioners
How safety belt pretensioners work
Re ver sible safety belt pr etension ers
The following fu nctions a re available when safety
belts w ith reversib le safety belt tensioners are
fastened:
- In certain driving situations, the safety belts may tighten w it h a reversible tensioning func
tion
¢ page 125.
- The safety belts may also tighten with this re-
versible tens ion ing funct ion in m ino r collisions .
Pyr otechnic s afety belt p reten sioners
Seat belts with pyrotechnic safety be lt preten
s ioners are tensioned automatically in severe col
lis ions, depending on the circumstances . This
helps to reduce the forward motion of the occu
pants .
A WARNING
-It is poss ible for the pretensioners to dep loy
incor rec tly.
- Any wo rk on the tens ioner system or remov
al and installation of system components
for o ther repairs m ust be performed by a
qualified workshop.
- The pyro technic system can only provide
protection for one collision. If the pyrotech
n ic pretens ioners deploy, the pretensioning
system must be replaced .
(D Tips
-A fine dus t is re leased when the pyro technic
safety belt pretensioners dep loy. This is nor
ma l and is not caused by a fire in the veh i
cle .
- The relevant safety requirements must be
observed when the vehicle or components
of the system are scrapped. A qualified
275
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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 259,
.,. Adjust the front passenger's seat properly
¢page 260,
.,. Wear safety belts properly ¢page 271,
.,. Always properly use the proper child restraint
to protect children
¢ page 302.
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 259, Correct
passenger seating positions .
For details on the
operation of the seat adjustment controls
¢page 71.
It 's especially important that children are proper
ly
restrained ¢ page 302.
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>
277
Airbag syste m
also not inflate in s ide or rear collisions, or in
ro llovers.
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
c::>page 268.
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 you reach the pedals and
increase your seating distance from the
steering wheel.
- All vehicle 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
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.
278
-
- To reduce the risk o f injury when an a irbag
inflates, always wear safety belts properly
c::> page 272, 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 backrest recl ined .
- Always sit as far as possible from the steer-
ing wheel or the instrument panel
c::> page 259.
- 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
pro jecti 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 yo ur 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 rtan t in format ion and
heed the WARN INGS for impor tant deta ils
.,..