Driving safety
A WARNING
Heavy loads will influence the way your vehi
cle handles . To help reduce the risk of a loss
of control leading to serious personal injury:
- Always keep in mind when transporting
heavy objects, that a change in the center of
gravity can also cause changes in vehicle
handling:
- Always distribute the load as evenly as
possible.
- Place heavy objects as far forward in the
luggage compartment as possible.
- Never exceed the Gross Axle Weight Rating
or the Gross Vehicle Weight Rating specified
on the safety compliance sticker on th e driv
er's side B-pillar. Exceeding permissible
weight standards can cause the vehicle to
slide and handle differently .
- Please observe information on safe driving
<=) page 252.
A WARNING
To help prevent poisonous 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 drive with the rear lid
open, observe the following notes to reduce
the risk of poisoning:
- Close all windows,
- Close the sunroof*,
- Open all air outlets in the instrument pan-
el,
- Switch off the air recirculation,
- Set the fresh air fan to the highest speed .
A WARNING
Always make sure that the doors, all win
dows, the sunroof* and the rear lid are se
curely closed and locked to reduce the risk of
injury when the vehicle is not being used .
- After closing the rear lid , always make sure
that it is properly closed and locked.
258
-Never leave your vehicle unattended espe
cially with the rear lid left open. A child
could crawl into the vehicle through the lug
gage compartment and close the rear lid be
coming trapped and unable to get out . Be
ing trapped in a vehicle can lead to serious
personal injury.
- Never let children play in or around the vehi
cle .
- Never let passengers ride in the luggage
compartment . Vehicle occupants must al
ways be properly restrained in one of the
ve
hicle 's seating positions.
@ Note
If you are transporting large items with the
backrest folded down*, you should remove
the Rear Seat Entertainment (RSE)* and its
holder* to avoid damage.
© Tips
-Air circulation helps to reduce window fog
ging. Stale air escapes to the outside
through vents in the trim panel. Be sure to
keep these slots free and open .
- The tire pressure must correspond to the
load. The tire pressure label lists the recom
mended cold tire inflation pressures for the
vehicle at its maximum capacity weight and
the tires that were on your vehicle at the
time it was manufactured. For recommend ed tire pressures for normal load condi
tions, please see chapter
Q page 341 .
Tie-downs
The luggage compartmen t is equipped with four
t ie-downs to secure luggage and o ther i tems.
Use the tie-downs to secure your cargo properly
Qpage 257, L oading the luggage compartment.
In a collision , the laws of physics mean that even
smaller items that are loose in the vehicle will
become heavy missiles that can cause serious in
jury. Items in the vehicle possess ene rgy which
vary with vehicle speed and the weight of the
item . Vehicle speed is the mos t significant fac tor . ..,.
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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.
A 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 automobi le accidents.
For your protection and that of your passen
gers, always co rrect ly wea r safety be lts
w hen the veh icle is mov ing.
- Pregnant wome n, in ju red, o r physically im
paired persons mus t also use safety be lts.
Lik e al l vehicle oc cupan ts, they are mo re
li kely to be serio usly injured i f th ey do no t
wear safety be lts . The best way to protect a
fetus is to protect the mothe r - thro ughout
the ent ire pregnancy.
Number of seats
App lies to: Ve hicles w ith five seats: Your vehicle
has two front seats and three rear seats. Each
seating position has a safety belt .
App lies to: Ve hicles w ith seven seats: Your
ve hicles has two front seats, three seats in the
second row and two seats in the third row. Each
seating position has a safety belt .
A WARNING
Not wea ring safety bel ts or wear ing them im
properly increases the risk of ser io us pe rsonal
inju ry and death.
- Never st rap more tha n one person, i nclud
ing small c hildre n, into any be lt.
It is espe-
Safet y be lts
cially dangero us to p lace a safety be lt over a
child sitting on yo ur lap.
- Never let more peop le ride in the vehicle
than there are safety be lts available.
- Be s ure everyone riding in the vehicle is
proper ly restrained with a separate safety
be lt o r ch ild rest raint.
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.
F ig . 222 Safety belt wa rning lig ht in t he inst rume nt clus
ter - en larged
Before dr iving off , always :
~ Fasten your safety belt and ma ke sure you are
wearing it properly.
;?;
~ Make sure that you r passengers also b uckl e up
and properly wear their safety belts.
~ Protect children with a c hild restraint system
appropr iate for the size and age .
The warning lig ht . in the instrument cluster
lights up when t he ignit ion is switched on as a re
minder to fasten the safety be lts. In addition,
you w ill hear a warn ing tone for a certain period
of time.
Fasten your safet y belt and make sure that your
passengers also properly put on their safety
b e lts .
A WARNING
-
-Safety belts are the sing le m ost effect ive
means available to red uce the risk of se riou s
i njur y and death in a utomo bile acci dents.
F or your p rotection and tha t of yo ur
261
Safety belts
Important safety instructions about safety
belts
Safety belts must always be correctly positioned
across the strongest bones of your body.
• Always wear safety belts as illustrated and de
scribed in this chapter .
• Make sure that your safety belts are always
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 correctly restrained.
- For maximum protection, safety belts must
always be positioned properly on the body.
- Never strap more than one person, includ
ing small children, into any belt.
- Never place a safety belt over a child sitting
on your lap.
-Always keep feet in the footwell in front of
the seat while the vehicle is being driven .
- Never let any person ride with their feet on
the instrument panel or sticking out the
window or on the seat.
- Never remove a safety belt while the vehicle is mov ing. Doing so will increase your risk of
being injured or killed.
- Never wear belts twisted.
- Never wear belts over rigid or breakable ob-
jects in or on your clothing, such as eye glasses, pens, keys, etc., as these may cause
injury.
- Never allow safety belts to become dam
aged by being caught in door or seat hard
ware.
- Do not wear the shoulder part of the belt
under your arm or otherwise out of position.
- Several layers of heavy clothing may inter
fere with correct positioning of belts and re duce the overall effectiveness of the system.
264
- Always keep belt buckles 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 belts can tear, and
damaged belt hardware can break in an acci
dent. Inspect belts regularly.
If webbing,
bindings, buckles, or retractors are dam
aged, have belts replaced by an authorized
Audi dealer or qualified workshop.
- Safety belts that have been worn and loaded
in an accident must be replaced with the
correct replacement safety belt by an au
thorized Audi dealer. Replacement may be
necessary even if damage cannot be clearly
seen. Anchorages that were loaded must al
so be inspected.
- Never remove, modify, disassemble, or try
to repair the safety belts yourself.
-Always keep the belts clean. Dirty belts may
not work properly and can impair the func
tion of the inertia reel
c:> table Interior
cleaning on page 353.
Safety belts
Fastening safety belts
Safety first -everybody buckle up!
Fig. 228 Belt bu ckle and tongue on the driver's seat
To provide maximum protection, safety belts
must always be positioned correctly on the wear
er's body.
• Adjust the front seat and head restraint proper-
ly
c:> page 54, Front seats. ..,.
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• Make sure the seatback of the rear sea t bench
is in an upright position and secure ly latched in
place before using the belt¢.&_ .
• Pull the safety belt evenly across the chest and
pelvis ¢
fig. 228, ¢ .&_ .
• Insert the tongue into the correct buckle of
your seat until you hear it latch securely.
• Pullon the belt to make sure that it is securely
latched in the buck le.
Automatic safety belt retractors
Every safety belt is equ ipped with an automatic
belt retractor on the shoulder belt. Th is feature
locks the belt when the belt is pu lled out fast,
during hard braking and in an accident . T he belt
may a lso lock when you drive up or down a steep
hill or thr ough a s harp curve. Dur ing normal dr iv
ing the bel t lets you move freely.
Safet y belt pretensioners
Safety belts wit h pretensioners he lp to tighte n
the safety belt and remove s lack when the pre
tensione rs a re activate d¢
page 267 . T he fu nc
t ion of the pretensioner is moni to red by a warn
ing light
q page 25.
Convertible locking retractor
E very safety belt except the one on the driver
seat is eq uipped w ith a co nvertible locking ret rac
tor that
must be used when the safety bel t is
used to attach a child safe ty seat. Be sure to read
the impo rtant i nfo rmat ion about this feature
¢ page 302.
.&._ WARNING
Improperly posit ioned safety be lts can cause
ser ious injury in an accident
q page 265,
Safety belt position .
- Safety belts offer optimum protection only
when the seatback is upright and belts are
properly positioned on the body.
-Always ma ke sure that the rear seat bac k
rest to wh ich the center rear safety be lt is
attached is secure ly latched whenever the
rear cente r safety belt is being used .
If the
backrest is not securely latched, the passen
ger will move forward with the backrest dur-
Safet y bel ts
ing sudden braking, in a s udden ma neuver
and espec ia lly in a crash.
- Never attach the safety belt to the buckle
for another seat. Attach ing the be lt to the
wrong buckle will reduce safety be lt effec
tiveness and can cause serio us personal i n
jury .
- A passenger who is not properly rest rai ned
can be seriously injured by the safety belt it
self when it moves from the st ronge r parts
of the body into c ritical areas like the abdo
men .
- Always loc k the convertible locking retractor
when yo u are s ecu ring a c hild safety seat in
the vehicle
q page 304.
Safety belt position
Correct belt position is the key to getting maxi
mum protection from safety belts .
Fig. 22 9 Safet y belt pos it ion
Standard features on your vehicle help you adjust
the position of the safety belt to matc h your body
s ize .
- be lt height adjus tment for the front seats,
- he igh t-a djust able fro nt seat s.
.&_ WARNING
Im properly posi tioned sa fe ty belts can ca use
se rious pe rsonal injury in an acc ident .
- Th e shou lde r belt should lie as close to the
center of t he 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 pe lvis and there is no pressure ..,.
265
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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 ~
page 253,
.,. Adjust the front passenger's seat properly
~page 254,
.,. Wear safety belts properly~ page 264,
.. Always properly use the proper child restraint
to protect children ¢
page 291.
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 253, Correct
passenger seating positions .
For details on the
operation of the seat adjustment controls
¢page 54.
It's especially important that children are proper
ly restrained ¢
page 291.
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 .,.
269
Airbag syste m
also not inflate in side or rear co llisions, or in
ro llovers .
Always 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
deploy, or when they have already deployed; for
examp le, when your vehicle str ikes or is struck by
another vehicle after the first col lision.
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
¢ page 261.
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 adaptive equipment may be
available to help yo u 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 infla ting 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
c ould even be killed if you are up aga inst the
air bag or too close to it when it inflates -
even with an Advanced Airbag.
270
-
- To reduce the r is k of i njury when an a irbag
inflates, always wear safety belts prope rly
¢ page 264, Safety belts.
- Always make certa in that children age 12 or
younge r 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 r ide unrestra ined or im
properly 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
¢page 253.
-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 mo ve into
the area of the s ide airbag 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
Airbags that have deployed in a crash m ust 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 re ad the impo rtan t in format ion an d
hee d the WAR NINGS for impo rtant deta ils ..,.
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¢page 291.
Even though yo ur vehicle is equ ipped with an Ad
vanced Airbag System, make certain that a ll chil
dren, especially those 12 years and younger, al
ways ride in the back seat proper ly restrained for
their age and size. The airbag on the passenger
side makes the front seat a potentially dangerous place for a child to ride. The front seat is not the
safest place for a child in a forward-facing child
safety seat . It can be a very dange rous place for
a n in fant or a child in a rearward-fac ing seat.
The Advanced Airbag System i n your veh icle has
been certified to comply with the requirements
of United States Federal Motor Vehicle Safety
Standa rd (FMVSS) 208, as well as Canada Motor
Ve hicle Safety Standa rd (CMVSS) 208 as applica
b le at the time your veh icle was man ufactu red.
According to requirements, the front Advanced
Airbag System on the passenger side has been
certified for "suppression" for infants of about 12 month old and younger and for "low risk de
p loyment" for children aged 3 to 6 years o ld (as
defined in the standard) .
The
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF ~ ; light in the
headliner tells you when the front Advanced Air
bag on the passenger side has been turned off by
the electronic control unit.
Each time yo u turn on the ignition, the
PAS SEN
GER AIR BAG OFF
- PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF~; will come on if
the front passenger seat is not occupied
- PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
pacitive passenger detection system for the
front passenger seat equals the comb ined ca
pacitance of an infant up to about one year of
age and one of the rearward-facing or forward
facing child restra ints listed in Federal Motor
Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 208 with
wh ich the Advanced Airbag System in your ve hi
cle was certified. Fo r a listing of the child re
straints that were used to ce rtify you r vehicle 's
compliance with the Safety Standard
¢ page 293.
Airbag syste m
- PASSEN GER AIR BAG OFF~; will come on if
there is a small chi ld or child restraint on the
front passenger seat
- PASSENGER AIR BAG ON@ will come on if the
front passenger seat is occupied by an adu lt as
registered by the capacitive passenger detec
tion system ¢
page 281, Monitoring the Ad
vanced Airbag System.
The PAS SEN GER AIR BAG OFF~; light comes on
when e lectrica l capacitance registered on the
front passenger seat is equal to or less than the
combined capacitance of a typical
1 year-old in
fant and one of the rearward-facing or forward
facing child restra ints listed in Federal Motor Ve
hicle Safety Standard (F MVSS) 208 with wh ich
t h e Advanced Airbag System in you r vehicle was
ce rtified.
If the total electr ical capacitance reg istered on
t h e front passenger seat is mo re than that of a
typ ica l 1 yea r-old ch ild but less than the weight
of a sm all adul t, the front airbag on the passen
ger side can deploy (the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
not come on, the fro nt airbag on the passenge r
side has not been t urned off by the e lectronic
contro l unit and can deploy if the contro l unit
senses an impact that meets the conditions stor
ed in its memory.
For example , th e ai rb ag ma y deplo y if:
- a small c hild that is heav ier than a typ ica l 1
year -o ld child is on the front passenger seat
(regard less of whethe r the child is in one of t he
child sa fe ty seats listed¢
page 293), or
- a child who has outgrown c hild rest raints is on
the front passenger seat .
If the front passenge r a irbag is tu rned off, the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF~; light comes on in
t h e headliner a nd stays o n.
If the front passenger a irbag deploys, the Feder
al Standard requ ires t he a irbag to meet the " low
r isk" deployment cr ite ria to redu ce the r isk of in
j u ry throug h interact ion w it h t he airbag. "Low
risk" deployment occurs in t hose crashes that
take place at lower decelerations as defined in ..,.
271
Airbag syste m
the electronic control unit c> page 281, PASSEN
GER AIR BAG OFF-,,;, ON@ light.
Always remember, a child safety seat o r infa nt
carrier insta lled on the front seat may be st ru ck
and knocked out of position by the rapid ly inflat
ing passenger's airbag in a fronta l co llision . The
airbag cou ld greatly reduce the effect iveness of
the child restraint and even seriously injure the
child dur ing inflation.
F or this reason, and because the back seat is the
safest place for ch ildren -when properly restra in
ed according to the ir age and si ze -we strong ly
recommend that children always sit in the back
seat
c> page 291, Child safety .
A WARNING
A child in a rearward-facing child safety seat
installed on the front passenger seat w ill be
ser iously injured and can be killed if the front
airbag infla tes -even w ith an Advanced Ai rbag
System.
- T he inflating a irbag w ill hit the child safety
seat or infant carrier wi th great force and
will smash the chi ld safety seat and child
against the backrest, center armrest, door
or roof.
- Always install rear -facing child safety seats
on the rear seat .
- If you must install a rearward fac ing ch ild
safety seat on the front passenger seat be
cause of exceptiona l circumstances and the
PA SSENGER AIR BAG OFF,;; light does not
come on and stay on, immed iate ly install
the rear-fac ing ch ild safety seat in a rear
seat ing pos ition and have the airbag system
inspected by your authorized Audi dea ler .
- Forward-facing ch ild safety seats installed
on the front passenger's seat may interfere
with the deployment of the airbag and ca use serio us pe rsonal injury to the child.
A WARNING
If, in except ional circumst ances, you must in
stall a forward-f acing chi ld res train t on the
front passenger's seat:
- Always make sure the forward-f acing se at
h as been designed and ce rt ified by its man-
272 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
ad justment range, as far away from the a ir
bag as poss ible, before ins tall ing the for
ward-facing chi ld restraint.
- Always make sure that the safety belt upper
anchorage is behind the ch ild rest raint and
not next to o r in fron t of the child rest raint
so th at the s afety be lt will be p roperly posi
tioned.
- Ma ke sure th at the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF -,,;,
light comes on and stays on all the
time wheneve r the ign it ion is swi tched on .
A WARNING
To reduce the risk o f serious injury, ma ke sure
that the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF-,,;; light
will be disp layed whenever a ch ild restraint is
installed on the front passenger seat and the
ignit ion is switched on.
- If the
PA SSENGER AIR BAG OFF-,,;, light
does not stay on, perform the checks descri
bed
c> page 281, Monitoring the Advanced
Airbag System .
-Take the child restra int off the front passen
ger seat and install it properly at one of the rear seat positions if the
PASSENGER AIR
BAG OFF,;;
light does not stay on .
- Have the airbag system inspected by your author ized Audi dealer immed iate ly.
- Always carefully follow instructions from
child restraint manufacturers when instal
ling child restra ints.
A WARNING
I f, in exceptional ci rcumstances, you must in
stall a forward or rearward-fac ing child re-
stra int on the fron t passenger's seat:
Ill>