2018 AUDI A8 Owners Manual

lL t:0 ....
"' ......
"' .... 0 0 :c ' during hard braking and in an accident. The belt
may a lso lock when you drive up or down a ste ep
h ill or through a sharp curve . Dur ing normal driv­
ing the belt lets you move freely .
Safety belt pretension ers
The safety belts are equipped with a belt pre ten­
sioner that helps to tighten the safety belt and remove slack when the pretens ioner is activated
c:> page 225. The function of the p retensioner is
monitored by a warn ing light
c:> page 23.
Conv ert ible loc king retractor
Every safety belt except the one on the driver
seat is equipped with a convertible locking retrac­
tor that
must be used when the safety belt is
used to attach a child seat. Be sure to read the important information about this feature
c:> page 259 .
A WARNING
Improperly posit ioned safety belts ca n cause
ser ious injury in an accident
c:> page 223 ,
Safety belt position.
- Safety belts offer optimum protection only
when the seatback is upright and belts are
prope rly pos itioned on the body.
- Never attach the safety belt to the buckle
for another seat . Attaching the belt to the
wrong bu ckle w ill reduce safety belt effec­
t iveness and can cause serious persona l in­
jury .
- A passenger who is not p roperly restrained
can be seriously injured by the safety be lt it­
sel f when it moves from the stronger parts
of the body into critical areas like the abdo­
men.
- Always lock the convert ible lock ing retractor
when you are secur ing a child seat in the ve­
hicle
c> page 261.
@ Tips
For information on safety be lt pretensione rs,
refer to
c:> page 225.
Safet y bel ts
Safety belt position
Correct belt position is the key to getting maxi­
mum protection from safety belts .
Fig . 2 26 Safet y be lt po sit ion
U se the height adjustment to change the position
of the shoulder belt of the front safety belts.
.&_ WARNING ~
Improperly positioned safety belts can ca use
serious personal injury in an acc ident.
- 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 a lways fit
snug ly
c:> fig. 226. Pu ll on the bel t to tighten
if necessary.
- A loose-fit ting safety belt can cause serious
in jur ies by shi fting its position on your body
from the strong bones to mo re v ulnerable,
soft tissue and cause se rious in jury.
- Always read and heed all WARN INGS and
o ther impor tant informat ion
c:> page 221.
223

Safe ty belts
Pregnant women must also be correctly
restrained
The best way to protect the fetus is to make sure
that expectant mothers always wear safety belts
corre ctly
-throughout the pregnancy.
F ig. 227 Safety belt pos ition during pregnancy
To prov ide max imum protection, safety belts
must always be posit ioned correctly on the wear­
er's body
¢ page 223 .
~ Adjust the front seat and head restraint cor­
rectly¢ page 54, Seats and storage.
~ Pull the safety belt evenly across the chest so
that it sits as low as possible on the pelv is and
there is no press ure on the abdomen
¢fig. 227, ~ .&_ .
~ Inse rt the tongue into the cor rect buckle of
yo ur seat until you hea r it latch secure ly
¢ page 222, fig. 225 .
~ Pull on the be lt to make sure that it is securely
l atched in the buck le .
A WARNING
Improperly pos it ioned safety belts can cause
ser ious persona l injury in an accident.
- Expectant mothers must a lways wear the
lap portion of the safety belt as low as pos­
sible across the pelvis and below the round­ ing of the abdomen.
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS and
other important
information ¢.&. in Fasten­
ing safety belts on page 223.
224
Unfastening safety belts
Unbuckle the safety belt with the red release
button only ofter the vehicle hos stopped.
.,,
Fig . 22 8 Releasing the tongue from the buckle
~ Push the red re lease but ton on the buck le
¢
fig. 228. The belt tongue w ill spring out of
the buck le
¢ ,A .
~ Let the belt wind up on the retractor as yo u
guide the belt tongue to its stowed position.
A WARNING
Never unfasten safety be lt wh ile the vehicle is
moving . Do ing so will increase your r isk of be­
ing inj ured or killed.
Adjusting safety belt height
You con adjust the height of the driver's and
front passenger's safety belts.
The safety belt he ight ad justers for the front
seats can be used to adjust the height of the
sho ulder portion of the safety belt so that it is
pos it ione d correct ly.
0 ,._ N 0 :i:
"' m
The shoulder be lt shou ld lie as close to the center
of the collar bone as poss ible and shou ld fit well
o n the body
¢ .&. in Safety belt position on
page 223 .
Power safety belt he ight adjustment*
You can adjust the he ight of the safety be lts us­
ing the multif unction button on the driver or
front passenger seat
¢ page 54 .

u. co .... N
" N .... 0 0 :c ' A WARNING
Always read and heed all WARNINGS and oth­er important
i nformation¢ page 221.
(D Tips
You can a lso adjust the height of the front
seats to change the position of the safety
be lts.
Improperly worn safety belts
Incorrectly positioned safety belts can cause se ­
vere injuries.
Wearing safety be lts improperly can cause seri ­
ous injury or death. Safety belts can on ly 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 cr it ica l areas of the body. Improper seating
positions also increase the r isk of serious i njur y
a n d death when an airbag deploys a nd str ikes an
occupant who is not in the correct seating pos i­
tion . A driver is responsible for the safety of a ll
ve hicle occupants and especia lly for children.
Therefore:
.. Never permit anyone to ass ume an incorrect
sitting position in the vehicle w hil e trave ling
¢A .
A WARNING
Improperly worn safety be lts increase the risk
of serious personal injury and death whenever
a vehicle is be ing used.
- Always ma ke sure that a ll vehicle occupants
are correctly restra ined and stay i n a correct
sea ting pos it ion whenever the ve hicle is be­
ing used .
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS and
ot her important information
¢ page 221.
Safet y be lts
Belt tensioners
How safety belt pretensioners work
Rev ersible safety belt tension ers
T he following fu nctions a re available when safety
belts w it h reversib le safety belt tensione rs a re
faste ned:
- Automatic tens ioners: at the start of a drive,
the safety belts automatically ad just to the
passenger after a certain time period or veh icle
speed. To switch the a utomat ic tens ioners off,
select the following in t he M MI:
!CARI fu nction
button
> Car systems > Vehicle settings >
Seat s > Driver 's seat or Passenger 's seat > Au­
tomatic belt tensioner
> Off .
- In ce rtain driving situations, the safety belts
may tighten wit h a reve rsib le tensioning func ­
tion
r=;, page 217.
- The safety be lts may also tighten with this re -
versible tensioning function in minor collisions.
Pyrotechnic safety belt pretensioners
Seat be lts wi th py ro technic s afety be lt preten ­
s io ners are tensioned au toma tically i n seve re col ­
li sions, depending on t he circumstances . This
helps to reduce the forward motion of the occu ­
pants .
A WARNING
= -
- It is poss ib le for the pretensioners to dep loy
incor rectly.
- Any work on the tens ioner system or remov­
al and installation of system components
for other repairs m ust be performed by a
qualified workshop.
- The pyrotechnic system can only p rovide
protection fo r one collision. If the py rotech­
n ic pretens ioners deploy, the pretensioning
system must be rep laced.
(D Tips
- A fine dust is re leased when the pyrotechnic
safety belt pretensioners dep loy. Th is is no r­
ma l and is not caused by a f ire in t he ve hi­
cle.
- The relevant safety requirements must be
observed when the vehicle or componen ts
225

Safety belts
of the system are scrapped. A qualified
dealership is familiar with these regulations
and will be pleased to pass on the informa­
tion to you.
Service and disposal of safety belt preten­
sioner
The safety belt pretensioners 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
environment.
A WARNING -
Improper care, servicing and repair proce­
dures can increase the risk of personal injury
and death by preventing a safety belt preten­
sioner from activating when needed or acti­
vating it unexpectedly:
- The belt 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 belt system.
- Safety belt systems including safety belt
pretensioners cannot be repaired. Special
procedures are required for removal, instal­
lation and disposal of this system.
- For any work on the safety belt system, we
strongly recommend that you see your au­
thorized Audi dealer or qualified technician
who has an Audi approved repair manual,
training and special equipment necessary.
@ 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/ perchlorate. When the vehicle or parts of the restraint system including airbag modules
226
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.

u. co .... N
" N .... 0 0 :c ' Airbag system Important information
Importance of wearing safety belts and
sitting properly
Airbags are only suppl em ental 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
ge rs, before dr iving off, always:
.,. Adjust the dr iver's seat and steer ing wheel
prope rly~ page 209,
.,. Adjust the fro nt passenge r's seat prope rly
~page 54,
.,. We ar safety bel ts p roperly~ page 221,
.. Always properly use the proper c hild restraint
to protect chi ld ren
r=>page 249.
In a coll is io n, a irbags mus t infla te wi thin t he
b link of an eye and with consi derab le force . The
supp lemental airbags can cause injuries if the
d river or the front seat passenger is not seated
properly. Therefore in order to he lp the airbag to
do its job, it is important, both as a dr iver and as
a passenger to sit properly at a ll times.
By keeping room between yo ur body and t he
steer ing whee l and the front of the passenger
compa rtment, the airbag can inflate fully and
comp lete ly and prov ide supplemental protect io n
in certa in frontal coll is ions
r=> page 209, Correct
passenger seating positions.
Fo r de tails on the
operat ion of the seat ad justment cont rols
r=>page5 4.
It's especially important that children a re proper­
ly restra ined
r=>page 249.
There is a lot that the driver and the passengers
can and must do to help the ind ividual safety fea­
tures installed in your Audi work togethe r as a
sys tem.
Proper seating posit ion is important so that the
front airbag on the driver side can do its job. If
you have a physical impairment o r cond it ion that
p revents yo u from s itting properly on the driver
seat with the safety be lt prope rly fastened and
Airbag syste m
reaching the peda ls, o r if yo u have concerns w it h
r egard to the functio n or operatio n of the Ad ­
vanced Airbag System, please co ntact you r au­
thorized Audi dea le r or q ua lified workshop, or
ca ll Audi Customer Re lations at 1-800-822-2834
for poss ible modifications to your vehicle .
When the a irbag system dep loys, a gas generator
will fill the airbags, break open the padded cov­ ers, and inflate betwee n the stee ring wheel and
the driver and between the inst rument panel and
the fron t passenger . The a irbags w il l deflate im­
med iate ly after deployment so that the front oc­
c u pants can see t hrough the winds hield aga in
wi thou t interru ption.
All of t his takes place in the bl ink of an eye, so
fast that many peop le don't even real ize that the
airbags have deployed. The airbags a lso infla te
wi th a g re at deal of for ce and n othing should be
i n the ir way when t hey dep loy . Front airbags in
combination with properly worn safety belts slow
down and limit the occupant's forward move ­
ment. Together they he lp to prevent t he driver
and front seat passenger from hitting pa rts of
the ins ide of the vehicle whi le red ucing the forces
acting on the occupa nt dur ing the crash. In th is
way they help to red uce the risk of in jury to the
head and uppe r body in the crash. Airbags do no t
pro te ct the arms or the lower pa rts of t he bo dy.
Both front airbags will not inflate in all frontal
collisions. The t rigge ring of t he a irbag system de­
pends on the veh icle decelerat ion rate caused by
t h e coll is io n an d regis tered by the ele ct ronic con ­
t ro l unit. If this rate is be low the refe re nc e v alue
programmed in to the co ntro l unit, t he a irbags
will not be t riggered, even tho ugh t he car may be
badly damaged as a res ult of the co llision. Vehi ­
cle damage, repa ir costs or even the lack of vehi­
cle damage is not necessari ly an indication of
whethe r an a irbag should inflate o r not.
S ince the circumstances will vary cons iderably
between one co llision and another, it is not possi ­
ble to define a range of ve hicle speeds that will
cove r every poss ible kind and angle of impact
t h at w ill always trigge r th e a irbags. Importa nt
factors include, for examp le, the nat ure (hard or
soft) of the object which t he ca r hits, t he angle of
im pact, vehicle speed, etc. The front airbags will
.,.
227

Airbag syste m
also not inflate in side or rear co llisions, or in
ro ll- overs.
Alwa ys rem ember : 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
deploy, or when they have already deployed; for
examp le, when your vehicle str ikes or is struck by
another vehicle after the first collision.
This is just one of the reasons why an airbag is a
supplementary 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 219 .
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 1 0 inches ( 25 cm) to
the steering wheel or instrument panel.
- If you cannot sit mo re than 10 inches
( 2 5 cm) from the steering wheel, invest i­
gate whether adap tive equipment may be
available to help yo u reach the pedals and
increase your seating distance from the
steering wheel.
- If you are unrestrained, leaning forward, sit­
ting sideways or out of position in any way,
your risk of in jury 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.
- To reduce the risk of injury when an airbag inflates, a lways wear safety belts properly
c> page 222, 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 severe ly injured or k illed when an airbag
inflates.
- Never let children ride unrestrained or im­ prope rly restrained in the vehicle . Adjust the
front seats properly.
228
-
- Never ride with the back rest recl ined .
-Always sit as far as possible from the steer -
ing wheel or the instrument panel
c>page209.
- 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 nea r the airbags can become
pro jecti les and cause injury when an airbag
inflates.
A WARNING
A irbags tha t have deployed in a cr ash m ust be
replaced.
- Use on ly orig inal equipment airbags ap­
proved by Audi and insta lled by
a trained
technician who has the necessary tools and
diagnostic equipment to prope rly 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
heed the WARNINGS fo r important deta ils
about ch ild ren and Advanced A irbags
r;:;, page 249 .
Even thoug h your veh icle is equ ipped w it h an Ad ­
vanced Airbag Sys tem, make certa in that a ll chil­
dre n, espec ia lly those 12 yea rs and younger, al­
ways ride i n the b ack seat prope rly res train ed fo r
t h eir age and size. The ai rbag on the passenger
s ide makes t he front seat a potentia lly dange rous
place for a child to ride . The front seat is not the
safest p lace for a c hild in a forward-fac ing c hild
.,.

seat. It ca n be a very dangerous place fo r an
infant or a child in a rearward-facing seat .
The Advanced Airbag System in your ve hicle has
been ce rt ified to comp ly with the requ irements
of United States Federa l Motor Vehicle Safety
Standard (FMVSS) 208, as well as Canada Motor
Ve hicle Safety Standard (CMVSS) 208 as applica ­
b le at the time your veh icle was man ufactu red.
Accord ing to requ irements, the front Advanced
Airbag System o n the passenger s ide has been
cert ified for "suppression" for infants of about
12 month old and yo unger and fo r
"low risk de­
p loyment " for children aged 3 to 6 years o ld (as
defined in the standa rd).
The
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light in the instru­
ment panel tells you w hen the front Advanced
A irbag on t he passenger side has been tu rned off
by the elect ronic con trol unit.
E ach t ime you sw itch on t he ignit ion, the
PAS­
SENGER AIR BAG OFF
l ight will come on fo r a
few seconds a nd:
- wi ll stay on if the front passenger seat is not
occup ied,
- will stay on if there is a small c hild or chi ld re­
straint on the front passenge r seat,
- will go off if the front passenger seat is occu­
pied by an adult as reg istered by the weight­
sensing mat
c> page 23 7, Monitoring the Ad­
vanced Airbag System .
The PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes on
when the control unit detects a total we ight on
the fro nt passenge r seat that requ ires the front
a ir bag to be t urn ed off .
If the total weigh t on the front passenger seat is
mo re t han that of a typical 1 year -old child but
less t han the weight of a small adult , the front
a ir bag on the passenger side can deploy (the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does no t come
on). If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does
no t come on, the front a irb ag on the passenger
side has not been turned o ff by the e lectronic
control unit and can dep loy if the control unit
~ senses an impact that meets the condit ions sto r-
.... ~ ed in its memory.
N ....
g For e xample, the airbag may deploy if:
:c ' Airbag syste m
- a sma ll ch ild that is heav ier than a typ ica l 1
year -o ld child is on the front passenger seat
(regard less o f whethe r the child is in one o f the
child seats listed
c> page 251), or
- a child who has outgrown c hild rest raints is on
the front passenge r seat.
If the front passenge r airb ag is t urned off, the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes on in the
inst rument cluste r and stays on.
T he front airbag on the p assenger side may
not
deploy (the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does
not ill uminate and stay lit) even if a small adu lt
o r teenager, or a passenge r who is not sitting up ­
right w ith their bac k against a non-recl ined back­
res t with the ir feet on the vehicle floor i n front of
the seat is on the fron t passenger seat
c> page 209, Proper seating position for the driv ­
er .
If the front passenger a irbag deploys, the Feder­
al Standard requires t he airbag to meet the
"low
risk" deployment cr iteria to reduce the r isk of in ­
j ury throug h interact ion w it h the airbag . "Low
risk" deployment occurs in t hose cr'1s hes th'1t
tak e place at lowe r decele rations as defined in
t h e e lec tron ic co ntrol un it
c>page 237, PASSEN ­
GER A IR BAG O FF light.
Always remembe r, a ch ild seat o r infant ca rr ie r
i n sta lled on the front seat m ay be s truck and
k nocked out of pos it io n by the rap idly inf lat ing
passenge r's airbag in a fron tal coll is ion . The a ir ­
bag cou ld great ly reduce the effectiveness of the
c h ild rest raint and even seriously injure the child
during inflat ion.
F o r thi s reason, an d beca use the back seat is the
safest p lace for children
-w hen proper ly restrain ­
ed according to their age and size
-we strongly
recommend that chi ldren always sit in the back
seat
c> page 249, Child safety .
A WARNING "---
A child in a rearward-fac ing child seat instal­
l ed on the fron t passenger seat will be se ri­
ously injured a nd ca n be killed if the fron t air­
b ag inflates
-even with an Advanced Airbag
S ys tem.
229

Airbag syste m
-The inflating airbag will hit the child seat or
infant carrier w ith great force and will
smash the ch ild seat and c hild against the
backrest, center armrest , door or roof .
- Always install rear-facing child seats on the
rear seat.
- If you must install a rearward fac ing ch ild
seat on the front passenger seat because of exceptional c ircumstances and the
PA SSEN­
GER AIR BAG OFF
light does not come on
and stay on, immediately insta ll the rear­
facing child seat in a rea r seating position
and have the airbag system inspected by
yo ur Audi dealer.
- Forward-facing ch ild seats insta lled on the
front passenge r's sea t may in terfe re 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 restraint on the
front passenger's seat :
- Always make sure the forward -facing seat
has been designed and cert ified by its man­
ufact urer for use on a front seat with a pas­
senger front and side a irbag.
- Never put the forward-facing child restraint up against or very near the instrument pan­
el.
- Always move the front passenger seat to the h ighest position in the up and down ad­
justment range and move it back to the
rearmost position in the seat's fore and aft
adjustment range, as fa r away from the air­
bag as possib le, before insta lling the for­
ward-facing child res trai nt.
- Always make sure that the safety belt upper
anchorage is beh ind the child restraint and
not next to or in front o f the child restrain t
so tha t the safety belt will be properly pos i­
tioned.
- Make s ure tha t the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
light comes on and stays on all the time
whenever the ignition is switched on.
230
A WARNING
To reduce the risk of serious injury, make sure
that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light will
be d isplayed whenever a ch ild restraint is in­
stalled on the front passenge r seat and the
ignit ion is switched on.
- If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does
not stay on, perform the checks desc ribed
~ page 23 7, Monitoring the Advan ced Air­
bag System.
- Take the child restra int off the front passen­
ge r seat an d install it prope rly at one of the
rear sea t positions if the
PASSENGER AIR
BAG OFF
light does not stay on .
- Have the ai rb ag system inspec ted by your
Aud i dea ler immediately.
- Always carefully follow ins truc tions from
child restrain t manufacture rs 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 restra int can
inter fere with the airbag as it deploys and
serious ly injure or even kill the child - even
w ith an Advanced A irbag System.
- Always carefully follow the manufacturer's instructions provided with the child seat or
car rier.
- Never p lace add itiona l items on the seat
that can increase the tota l weight registered
by the weight -sensing mat and can cause in ­
jury in a crash.