a
co
...... N r--. N .-< 0 0 ::, co
from the strong bones to more vulnerable,
soft tissue and cause serious injury.
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS and
other important information
9 page 108.
Pregnant women must also be correctly
restrained
T he best way to protect the fetus is to make sure
tha t expec tan t mothers always wear safe ty bel ts
correctly -throughou t the pregnancy .
Fig. 10 9 Safety be lt pos itio n durin g p reg nancy
To p rov ide max imum p rotection, safety belts
must always be positioned correctly on the wear
e r's body
c::> page 110 .
• Adjus t the front seat and head restra int cor
rec tly
c::> page 42 , Front seats .
• Make s ure the seatback of the rear seat bench
is in a n upright position and secure ly latched in
place before using th e belt.
• Pull the safety belt evenly across the chest so
that it sits a s low as possible on the pelv is and
there is no pressure on the abdomen
c::> fig . 109, c::> .&_ .
• Inse rt the to ngue into the cor rec t buckle of
you r seat until you hea r it latch secure ly .
• Pullon the belt to m ake sure that it is secu rely
latched in the bu ckle.
_& WARNING
Improperly posit ioned safety be lts ca n cause
serious personal inj ury in an accident .
- E xpec tant mot hers mus t always wear the
lap portion of the safety belt as low as pos
sible across the pelvis and below the ro und
ing of the abdomen .
Safety bel ts
-Always read and heed all WARNINGS and
other important informat ion
c::> A in Fasten
ing safety belts on page 110.
Unfastening safety belts
Unbuckle the safety belt with the red release
button only o~er the vehicle has stopped.
Fig. 1 10 Releasi ng t he to ngue from t he bu ckle
.,. Push the red re lease but ton on the buck le
c::> fig. 110 . The belt tongue w ill spr ing out of
t he buck le
c::> _&. .
• Let the belt wind up on the retra ctor as yo u
guide the belt tongue to its stowed posit ion.
_& WARNING
Never unfasten safety belt whi le the vehicle is
moving . Do ing so will increase your r isk of be
i ng injured or killed .
Adjusting safety belt height
With the aid of the safety belt height adjust
ment, the three point safety belt strap rout ing
can be fi tted to the shoulder area, according to
body size .
Fig. 11 1 Safety belt height a dju stm ent fo r th e fro nt seat s
... 0 0
0
6 ... a,
-loop -a ro und fitt ings Ill>
111
Safety belts
The shou lder belt should lie as close to the center
of th e collar bone as possib le and should fit well
on the body
c::> A in Safety belt position on
page 110.
"' Push
the loop -a round fittings up c::> fig. 111 @ ,
or
"'squeez e together the (D button, and push the
loop-around fittings down@.
"'Pull the belt to m ake sure that the upper at
tachment is properly engaged .
A WARNING
Always read and heed all WARNINGS and oth er important informat ion
c::> page 108.
(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 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 positioned on the body.
Improper seating positions reduce the effect ive
ness of safety belts and will even inc rease the
risk of injury and death by mov ing the safety belt
to cr it ica l areas of the body. Improper seating
positions a lso increase the risk of serious injury
and death when an airbag deploys and strikes an
occupant who is not in the correct seating pos i
tion . A drive r is responsible for the safety of all
veh icle occupants and especially for children.
Therefore :
"' Never permit anyon e to assume an incorrect
sitting position in the vehicle while traveling
c>_& .
A WARNING
Improperly worn safety belts increase the risk
of serious personal injury and death whenever
a vehicle is being used.
112
- Always make sure that all vehicle occupants
are correctly restrained and stay in a correct
seating position whenever the vehicle is be
ing used.
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS and
other important informat ion
c::> page 108 .
Belt tensioners
How safety belt pretensioners work
Seat belts with pyrotechnic safety be lt preten
sioners are tensioned automatically in severe col
lisions, depending on the circumstances . This
helps to reduce the forward motion of the occu
pants.
A WARNING
- It is possible for the pretensioners to deploy
incorrectly .
- Any work on the tensioner system or remov
al and installation of system components
for other repairs must be performed by a qualified workshop .
- The pyrotechnic system can only provide
protection for one collision.
If the pyrotech
nic pretens ioners deploy, the pretensioning
system must be replaced.
(D Note
Never let the belt remain over a rear seatback
that has been folded forward.
(D Tips
- A fine dust is released when the pyrotechnic
safety belt pretensioners deploy . This is nor
mal 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
dealership is familiar with these regulations
and will be pleased to pass on the informa
tion to you.
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Service and disposal of safety belt preten
sioner
The safety belt pretens ioners are parts of the
safety be lts 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 w ill not be impaired and that discarded
components do not cause injury or pollute the
environment.
A WARNING
-
Improper care, serv icing and repa ir proce
dures can increase the r isk of personal injury
and death by preven ting a safety be lt preten
sioner from activating when needed or acti
vating it unexpectedly:
- T he be lt pretensione r system can be act ivat
ed only once.
If belt pretensioners have
been ac tiva ted, the system must be re
placed.
- Never repair, adjust, or ch ange any parts of
the safety be lt system .
- Safety belt systems in cl ud ing safety belt
pretens ioners cannot be repaired. Specia l
procedures are req uired for removal, insta l
lation and disposa l of this system.
- For any work on the safety bel t system, we
strongly recommend that you see your au
thorized Aud i dea ler or qualified technician
who has an A udi approved repair manual,
train ing and spec ial equ ipment necessary.
@ For the sake of the environment
Undep loyed airbag modu les and pretension
ers might be classified as Perch lorate Materi
al -spec ia l handling may apply, see
www.dtsc.ca.gov/hazardouswaste/perchlo rate. When the veh icle or parts of the re
straint system including air bag modules safe
ty belts with pretensioners are scrapped, all
app licabl e laws and regula tions must be ob
served. Your authorized Audi dealer is familiar
w it h these req uirements and we recommend
S afet y be lts
that you have your dealer perform this service
for you .
113
Airbag syste m
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
ge rs , before driving off, always :
"' Adjust the driver's seat and steering wheel
properly ¢
page 98,
"'Adjust the front passenge r's seat properly
¢ page 99,
"'Wear safety belts p roperly ¢ page 108 ,
"'Always properly use the proper child restraint
to protect children ¢
page 134.
In a coll is io n ai rbags must inflate wi thin the b link
of an eye and with cons iderable force . The sup
p lemental airbags can ca use injuries if the driver
or the front seat passenger is not seated proper·
Ly. T herefore in order to help the airbag to do its
job, it is important, both as a dr iver and as a pas
senger to sit properly at all t imes .
By keeping room between yo ur body and the
steering whee l and the front of the passenger
compartment, the a irbag can inflate fully and
completely and provide supplemental protect ion
in certain frontal collis ions ¢
page 98, Correct
passenger seating positions .
For details on the
operation of the seat adjustment controls
¢ page 42.
It's especially important that children a re proper
ly restra ined
¢ page 134 .
There is a lot that the driver and the passengers
can and must do to help the ind iv idual safety fea
tures installed in your Audi work together as a
system .
Proper seating posit ion is important so that the
front airbag on the drive r side can do its job. If
you have a physical impairment or cond ition that
prevents you from s itting properly on the driver
seat with the safety be lt properly fastened and
114
reaching the peda ls, special modifications to
your vehicle may be necessary.
Contact yo ur autho rized Aud i dea le r, or call A udi
C u stomer Rela tions at 1-800 -82 2-2834.
When the airbag system dep loys, a gas generator
will fill the airbags, b reak open the padded cov
ers, and inflate betwee n the steeri ng wheel and
the driver and between the inst rument panel and
the front passenger . The a irbags w ill deflate im
mediate ly after dep loyment so t hat the front oc
cupants can see through the windsh ie ld again
without interruption.
A ll of th is takes p lace in the blink of an eye, so
fast that many people don't even realize that the
airbags have deployed. The airbags a lso inflate
with a great deal of force and nothing should be i n the ir way when they deploy. Front airbags in
combination with properly worn safety belts slow
down and lim it the occupant's forward move
ment . T ogether they he lp to prevent the driver
a nd front seat passenger from h itti ng pa rts of
t h e inside the veh icle w hile reducing the fo rces
acti ng on the occupant dur ing the cras h. In th is
way they help to reduce the risk of inju ry to the
head and uppe r body i n 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 trigge ring of the airbag system de
pends on the vehicle deceleration rate caused by
the collis ion and registered by the electronic con
tro l unit . If this rate is below the reference value
programmed into the contro l unit, the airbags
will not be trigge red, even though the car may be
badly damaged as a resu lt of the co llision . Vehi
cle damage, repa ir costs or even the lack of vehi
cl e damage is not necessari ly an indica tion of
whethe r an a irbag should inflate o r not.
It is not possib le to define a range of vehicle
speeds that w ill cove r every possible k ind and an
gle of impa ct that will always tr igger the airbags,
s ince the circumst ances w ill vary cons iderably be
tween one collision and another. Important fac
tors include, for example, the natu re (hard or
soft) of the object which the car hits, the angl e of
i mpact, vehicle speed, etc . The front airbags will ..,_
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00
also not inflate in side or rear coll isions, or in
ro ll-overs.
A lwa ys rememb er: Airbags will deploy only o nce,
and on ly in certain kinds of coll is ions. 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 a lready deployed; for
examp le, when your vehicle str ikes or is struck by
another after the first collis 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 airbag system works most effect ively when used with the safety belts.
Therefore, always properly wear your safety belts
r:::;,page 106.
A WARNING
Sitting too close to the steer ing whee l or in
st rument panel will decrease the effect ive
ness of the airbags and will inc rease the risk
o f persona l injury in a co llision.
- Never sit closer than 10 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, inves ti
gate whethe r adaptive equipment may be
available to help you reach the pedals and
increase your seating distance from the
steering wheel.
- All veh icle occupants and especially children
must be restrained properly whenever riding
in a vehicle. An unrestrained or improperly
restra ined child could be injured by stri king
the inte rior or by being ejected from the ve
hicle d uring 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 unrest rained, leaning fo rwa rd, s it
t ing s ideways or o ut of pos ition in any way,
yo ur risk of in jury is mu ch h igher.
- Yo u will also receive serious injur ies and
c ou ld even be killed if you are up ag ainst the
airbag or too close to it w hen it inf lates -
even with an Advanced Ai rbag.
-
Airb ag sys tem
-To reduce the r is k of injury when an airbag
inflates, always wear sa fety belts prope rly
r:::;, page 109, Safety belts.
-Always make certain 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 children r ide unrestrained or im
p roperly restrained in the vehicle. Ad just the
front seats properly.
- Never ride with the back rest recl ined .
- Always sit as far as possible from the steer-
ing wheel or the instrument panel
r:::;, page 98.
-Always sit upright with your back against
the backrest of your seat .
- Never p lace your feet on the instrument
panel or on t he seat. Always keep both feet
on the floor in front of the seat to help pre
vent ser ious injuries to the legs and hips if
the airbag inflates.
- Never recl ine the front passenger's seat to
transpo rt objects , Items can also mo ve in to
the area of the s ide a irbag or the front air
b ag d uring braking o r in a sudden maneu
ver. Obje cts ne ar the airbags can be come
p roject iles and cause injury when an airbag
inflates .
A WARNING ,.___ -
Airbags that have deployed in a crash m ust be
replaced.
- Use on ly original equipment airbags ap
proved by A udi and installed by a t rained
technician who has the necessary tools and
d iagnostic equipment to properly replace
any airbag in yo ur vehicle and assure system
effect iveness 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 s ure to read the impo rtan t in format ion and
he ad the WARN INGS for impo rtant deta ils
115
Airbag system
Front airbags
Description of front airbags
The airbag system can provide supplemental
protection to properly restrained front seat occu
pants.
Fig. 112 Location of driver airbag: in steering whee l
Fig. 113 Location of front passenger's airbag: in th e in
strument panel
Your veh icle 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 airbag for the driver is in the steer ing whee l
hub~
fig. 112 and the airbag for the front pas
senger is in the instrument panel
~fig. 113. Th e
general location of the airbags is marked "AIR
BAG" .
There is a lot you need to know about the airbags
in your vehicle . We urge you to read the detailed
information about airbags, safety belts and child
safety in this and the other chapters that make
up the owner 's literature. Please be sure to heed
the WARNINGS - they are extreme ly important
118
for your safety and the safety of your passengers,
especially infants and small children.
A WARNING -
Never rely on airbags alone for protection.
- Even when they deploy, airbags provide only
supplemental protection.
- Airbag work most effectively when used with proper ly worn safety belts.
- Therefore, always wear your safety be lts and
make sure that everybody in your veh icle is
proper ly restrained.
A WARNING
A person on the front passenger seat, espe
cially infants and small chi ldren, 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 veh icle 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 dep loy in
accordance with the "lo w risk" option under
the U.S. Federal Standard if a child that is
heavier than the typical one-year old chi ld 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 seat ing position.
- For their own safety, all children, especially
12 years and younger, should always ride in
the back properly restrained for their age and size.
Advanced front airbag system -
Your vehicle is equipped with a front Advanced
Airbag System in compliance with United States
Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208, as
well as Canada Motor Vehicle Safety Standa rd
(CMVSS) 208 as applicable at the time your vehi
cle was manufactured .
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00
The front Advanced Airbag System supp lements
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 veh icle de
celerat ion 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 a irbag system can only help to protect
you, if you are sitting upr ight, wear ing your safe
ty belt and wear ing it properly. This is why you
and your passengers m ust always be properly re
stra ined, not just because the law requ ires you to
be .
The Advanced Airbag System i n your veh icle has
been certified to meet the " low r is k" requ ire
ments for 3 and 6 year-o ld children on the pas
senger side and very sma ll adults on the driver
side . The low risk dep loyment criteria are intend
ed to he lp reduce the risk of injury through inter
action with the front a irbag that can occur, for
examp le, by being too close to the steering wheel
and instrument panel when the airbag inflates .
In addition, the system has been certified to
comp ly w ith the "suppression" requirements of
the Safety Standard, to turn off the front a irbag
for infants 12 months old and younger who are
restrained on the front passenger seat in c hild re
stra ints that are listed in the Standard
~ page 136, Child restraints and Advanced Air
bags.
"S uppress ion" requ ires the front a irbag on t he
passenger side to be turned off if:
- a ch ild up to about one year of age is restra ined
on the front passenger seat in one of the rear
facing o r forward-fac ing infant restra ints listed
in Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard
208
with wh ich the Advanced Airbag System in your
vehicle was ce rtified. For a l isti ng of the ch ild
restraints that were used to certify your vehi
cle's compliance with the US Safety Standard
~ page 136,
Airb ag sys tem
-weight less than a threshold leve l stored in the
control unit is detected on the front passenger
seat.
When a person is detected on the front passen ger seat, weigh ing more than the total weight of
a chi ld that is about 1 year old restrained in one
of the rear -facing or forward-fac ing infant re
straints (listed in Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard
208 with which the Advanced A irbag
System in your veh icle was certified), the front
airbag on the passenger side may or may not de
ploy.
The
PAS SEN GER AIR BA G OFF light comes on
when the electronic control unit detects a tota l
we ight on the front passenger seat that requ ires
the front a irbag to be turned off. If the
P A SSEN ·
GER AIR BAG OFF
light does not come on, the
front airbag on the passenger side has not been
turned off by the con trol unit and can dep loy i f
the control unit senses an impact that meets the
conditions stored in its memory.
If the to tal weight on the front passenger sea t is
more than that of a typ ica l 1 year-old, but less
than the weight of a small adult, the front airbag on the passenger side may deploy (the
PASSEN
GER AIR BAG O FF
light does not come on).
For e xample , the air bag ma y deplo y if:
- a small ch ild that is heav ier than a typ ica l 1
yea r-o ld child is on the front passenger seat
(regardless of whethe r the child is in one of the
child safety seats liste d
~page 136),
-a child who has outgrown c hild rest raints is on
t he front passenge r seat.
If the front passenger a irbag is turned off, the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light in the center of
t h e in str ument pane l wi ll come on and s tay on.
The front airbag on the passenger side may
not
deploy (the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does
not ill umi nate and s tay lit) if:
- a small adult or teenager is on the front pas
senger seat
- a passenger who is not s itting upright with
their back against a non -reclined backrest with
their feet on the vehicle floor in front of the
seat is on the front passenger seat . .,,.
119
Airbag syste m
If the front passenger airbag deploys , the Feder
al Standard requires the airbag to meet the "low risk" deployment criteria to help reduce the risk
of injury through interaction with the airbag.
"Low risk" deployment occurs in those crashes
that take place at lower decelerations as defined in the electronic control unit . ~
page 124
Alway s rem ember: Even though you r veh icle is
equipped with Advanced Airbags, the safest place
for children is properly restrained on the back
seat. Please be sure to read the important infor
mat io n in the sections that follow and be sure to
heed a ll of the WARN INGS .
_& WARNING
To reduce the risk of inj ury when an airbag in
flates, a lways wear safety belts properly .
-If you are unrestrained, leaning forwa rd, s it
t ing s ideways or o ut of pos ition in any way,
yo ur risk of injury is much higher .
- Yo u will also receive serious injur ies 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 r:!> page 114.
_& WARNING
A child in a rearward-facing child safety seat
installed on the front passenger seat wi ll be
ser iously injured and can be killed if the front
airbag inflates -even w ith an Advanced Airbag
System .
- Although the Advanced A irbag System in
your vehicle is designed to turn off the front
airbag when a rea rward-facing child re
straint has been insta lled on the front pas
senger seat, nobody can absolutely guaran
tee that deployment is impossible in all con
ceivable s ituations that may happen during
the useful life o f you r vehicle .
- T he inflating a irbag w ill hit the child safety
seat or infant carrier with great force and
will smash the chi ld safety seat and child
against the backrest, center armrest, door,
or roof.
- Always install rearward-facing chi ld re
straints in the back seat.
120
- If you must install a rearwa rd facing child
safety seat on the front passenger seat be
cause of exceptional circumstances and the
PA SS EN GER AIR BAG OFF light does not
come on and stay on, immediately install
the rea r-facing child safety seat in a rear
seating position and have the ai rbag system
inspected by your authori zed Aud i dealer.
_& WARNING
If, in exceptional ci rcums tances , you must in
stall a forward-facing child restraint on the
front passenger's seat :
- Always make sure the forward-facing sea t
has been des igned and certified by its man
ufacturer for use on a front seat with a pas
senger front and side airbag.
- Never put the forward -facing child restraint
up against or very near the instrument pan
el.
- Always move the front passenger seat to
the highest posit ion in the up and down ad
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 restrain t.
- 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.
- Always move the passenge r seat into its
rearmost posit ion i n the seat's fo re and aft
ad justmen t range, as far away from the a ir
bag as poss ible, before install ing the for
ward-facing chi ld restraint. The backrest
must be adjusted to an upright position.
- Ma ke sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
li ght comes on and stays on all the time
whenever the ign it ion is switched on.
' Advanced Airbag System components
The front passenger seat in your veh icle has a lot
of very impo rtant parts of the Advanced A irbag
System in it . These parts include the weight-
sensing mat, sensors , wir ing, brackets, and .,.