Airbag syste m
The additiona l layers prevent the capacitive
passenger detection system from accurately
measuring the capac itance of the ch ild safe
ty seat and/or the person on the seat and
thus keep the Advanced Airbag System from
working p roperly .
- Never place or use any electrical device (such as a laptop, CD player, elect ronic
games dev ice, power inverte r or seat heater
for child seats) on the front passenger seat if the device is connected to the 12-vol t
socket or the cigarette lighter socket . S u ch
devices can infl uence the capacitance regis
tered by the capacitive passenger detection
system, so that incorrect information is pro
vided to the airbag control unit.
- If you must use a child restraint on the front
passenger seat and the child restraint man
ufacturer's instructions require the use of a
towel, foam cushion or something else to properly position the ch ild restraint, make
certain that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
~; light comes on and stays on whenever
the chi ld restraint is installed on the front
passenger seat .
-If the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF~; light
does not come on and s tay on, immedi ate ly
install child restra int in a rear seating posi
tion and have the airbag system inspected by your A udi dealer .
,&_ WARNING
If the front passenger seat gets wet, dry it im
mediately.
- If liquid soaks into the front passenger seat,
this can keep the a irbag system from work
ing prope rly and may, for instance, deact i
vate the passenger frontal airbag. If this happens, the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF~;
light will come on and stay on togethe r wi th
the a irbag ind icator light
m in the inst ru
ment cluster.
- If liquid is poo led on the seat, bu t has not
soa ked in, this may also keep the airbag sys
tem from wo rking properly and ca use the
passenge r frontal a irb ag to be enabled
(tu rned on), even though there is a properly
278
installed child restraint system on the seat .
Wet towels or other wet things on the seat
cushion can have the same effect. If the
front passenger fronta l airbag is turned on,
the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF~; light will
turn off.
How the Advanced Airbag System
components work together
The front Advanced A irbag System and the side
airbags supp lement the protection offered by the
front t hree-point safety belts and the adjustable
head restraints to he lp reduce the risk of injury in
a wide range of accident and crash situat ions. Be
sure to read the important i nformat ion about
safety and heed the WARNINGS in this chapter .
Deployment of the Advanced A irbag System and
the activation of the safety belt pretensioners de
pend on the dece leration measured by the crash
sensors and registered by the electronic contro l
u nit . Crash seve rity depe nds on speed and decel
eration as well as the mass and stiffness of the
vehicle or object involved in the cras h.
On the passenger side, regard less of safety be lt
use, the front passenge r frontal a irbag will be
turned off if t he e lectr ica l capacitance measured
by the capacitive passenge r detection system o n
t h e fron t pa ssenger sea t is less th an the amou nt
prog rammed in t he e lec tronic contro l unit. The
front passenger frontal airbag wi ll also be turned
off if the capacitance measured by the system for
the front passenger seat equals that of an infant
of about one year of age in one of the chi ld seats
that was used to certify the Advanced Airbag Sys
tem under Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard
208 . The
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF~; light
comes on a nd stays on to tell you when the front
Advanced Airbag System on the passenge r side
has been tu rned off<=?
page 281.
,&_ WARNING
T o reduce the ris k of injury when an airbag in
flates, always wear safety belts prope rly.
- If you are unres trained, leaning forward, si t
ting sideways or out of position in any way,
your r isk of injury is much highe r.
~
Airbag syste m
front seat p assenge r's frontal Ad vanced Airbag.
The PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF~; light:
-will come on if the front passenger seat is not
occupied;
- will come on if t he e lectr ica l capacitance meas
u red by the c apac it ive passenger detect ion sys
tem for the front passenger seat equals the
combined capacitance of an infant up to about
one year of age and one of the rearward -facing
or forward-facing chi ld rest raints listed in Fed
eral Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208 w ith
which the Advanced Airbag System in your veh i
cle was certif ied; For a list ing of the child re
straints that were used to cert ify your vehicle 's
compliance with t he U .S. Safety Standard
¢ page 293.
-will go out if the front passenger seat is occu
pied by an adult as reg istered by the capacitive
passenger detection system .
- T he
PASSEN GER AIR BAG OFF~; light must
come on and stay on if the ignition is on and . ..
- a car bed has been insta lled on the front pas
senger seat, o r
-a rearward-fac ing ch ild restrai nt has been in
stalled on the front passenger seat , or
- a forward-facing child restra int has been instal
l ed on the front passenger seat,
- and if the electrical capacitance registered on
the front passenger seat is equal to or less than
the comb ined capac itance of a typical 1 year
o ld infant a nd one of t he rearward-fac ing o r
fo rwa rd -fa cing ch ild restrain ts lis ted in Federal
Motor Ve hicle Safety Standard 208 with w hich
the Advanced Airbag System in your vehicle was
certified .
I f t he fron t passenger sea t is no t occ upied, the
fron t ai rbag w ill not dep loy, and the
PA SSENGER
AIR BAG OFF
"1 ; lig ht wi ll stay on.
Neve r install a rearward-fac ing ch ild rest rai nt on
t he fro nt passenge r sea t, the safest p lace for a
chi ld in any k ind of chi ld restraint is at one of t he
seating positions on the rear seat
¢ page 2 70,
Child restraints on the front seat -some impor
tant things to know
and ¢ page 291, Child safe
ty .
282
If the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF~; light
comes on . ..
If the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF~; light comes
on when one of the condit ions listed above is
met, be sure to check the light regularly to make
certain that the
PA SSENGER AIR BAG OFF~;
light stays on cont inuously whenever the ign ition
i s on . If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF~; light
does not appear on and does not stay on all the
t ime, stop as soon as it is safe to do so and
- reactivate the system by turn ing the ignit ion
off for more than 4 seconds and then tur ning it
on again;
- remove and re install the ch ild restraint . Make
sure that the child restra int is prope rly insta l
led and that the safety belt for the front pas
senge r sea t has bee n correct ly rou ted th rough
t he ch ild restraint as desc ribed in the c hild r e
straint man ufacturer's instructions;
- ma ke sure that t he convert ible loc king re tra c
tor on the safety belt for the front passenger
seat has been activated and that the safety belt has been pu lled tight .
- make sure that no e lectrica l device (s uch as a
laptop , CD p layer , e lectronic games d evice,
power inverte r or seat heater for chi ld seats) is
placed or used on the front passenger seat if
the device is connected to the 12-volt socket or
the c igarette lighter socket;
- make sure that no seat heater has been retro
fitted or otherw ise added to the front passen
ger seat;
- make sure that noth ing can interfere with the
safety belt buckles and that they are not ob
structed;
- make sure that there are no wet objects (such
as a wet towel) and no water or other liquids on
the front passenger seat cushion .
If the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF~; light still
does not come on ...
If the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF~; light still
does not come on and does not stay on cont in u
ous ly (when the ign ition is switched on),
- take the child restra in t off the front passenger
seat and install it properly at one of the rear ..,.
Child sa fety
A WARNING
Children on the front seat of any car even with
Advanced Airbags can be seriously injured or
even killed when an airbag inflates. A child in
a rearward-facing child safety seat installed
on the front passenger seat will be seriously
injured and can be killed if the front airbag in
flates.
- The inflating airbag will hit the child safety
seat or infant carrier with great force and
will smash the child safety seat and child
against the backrest, center armrest, o r
doo r.
- 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 in
exceptional c ircumstances and the
PASSEN
GER AIR BAG OFF~;
light does not come
on and stay on, immediately install the rear
facing child safety seat in a rear seating po sition and have the airbag system inspected
immediately by your Audi dealer.
A WARNING
- Forward-facing chi ld seats installed on the
front passenger seat may interfere with the
deployment of the a irbag and cause serious
personal injury to the child.
- If except ional circumstances require the use
of a forward-facing child restraint on the
front passenger's seat, the child's safety
and well-being require the following special
precautions to be taken:
- Always make sure that the forward-facing
seat has been designed and cert ified by its
manufacturer for use on a front passenger
seat with a front and s ide a irbag.
- Always carefully follow the manufacturer's instructions provided with the child seat
or infant carrier.
- Never install a child restraint without a
properly attached top tether strap if the
child restraint manufacturer's instructions
require the top tether strap to be used.
292
- Never put the forward-facing child re
straint up aga inst or very near the instru
ment panel.
- Always set the safety belt upper anchor
age to the adjustment position that per
mits proper installation in accordance
with the child restraint manufacturer's in
str uctions .
- Always move the front passenger seat to
the h ighest position in the up and down
adjustment range and move it back to the
r earmost position in the seat's fore and
aft ad justmen t range, as far away from
the airbag as possible, before installing
the forward- facing child restra int .
- Always make s ure tha t the safety belt up
per anchorage is behind the chi ld restraint
and not next to or in front of the child re
straint so that the safety belt will be prop
erly pos itioned.
- Always make sure that nothing prevents
the f ront passenger's seat from being
moved to the rearmost position in its fore
and aft adjustment range.
- Never place objects on the seat (such as a
laptop, CD player, elect ronic games de
v ice, power inverter or seat heater for
ch ild seats) . These may influence the elec
trical capacitance measu red by the capaci
tive passenger detection system and can
also fly a round in an acciden t and cause
se rious personal injury.
- Never place or use any elect rical device
(such as a laptop, CD player, electronic
games device, powe r inverter or sea t heat
er for child seats) on the front passenger
seat if the device is connected to the 12-
vo lt socket or the cigarette lighter socket.
- If a seat heater has been retrofitted or
otherwise added to the front passenger
seat, never install any child restraint sys
tem on this seat.
- Make su re that there a re no wet objects
(such as a wet towe l) and no water or oth
er liquids on the front passenger seat
cush ion .
- Always make sure that the
PASSENGER
AIR BAG OFF~;
light comes on and stays
Child sa fety
- The chi ld and the passenger can a lso in
jure each other in an accident .
- Never install rear-facing child safety seats
or infant carriers on the front passenger
seat. A child will be serious ly injured and
can be killed when the passenger airbag in
flates - even with an Advanced Airbag Sys
tem .
- The 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 bac krest, center armrest, doo r
o r roof.
- Always install rear-facing child safety seats
o r infant carr iers on the rear seat.
- Before you carry a ch ild in a rea r-facing child
sa fety seat on the rear seat, remove the
Rear Seat Entertainment (RS E)* and its
holder* from the ba ckres t of the front seat.
- Make s ure there is enough space in fron t of
the ch ild in the ch ild se at.
If necessary, ad
just the angle and posit ion of the seat in
front of the child seat .
- Forward-facing ch ild safety seats installed
on the front passenger's seat can interfere
with the airbag when it inflates and cause
serious injury to the child. A lways insta ll for
ward-facing child safety seats on the rear
seat.
- If except ional circumstances require the use
of a forward-facing child restraint on the
front passenger's seat, the child 's safety
and we ll-being require that the following
special p recautions be taken:
- Ma ke sure the forward -fac ing seat has
been designed and certified by its manu
facturer for use on a front seat with a pas
senger front and side airbag .
- Always carefully follow the manufacturer's
instructions provided with the child safety
seat or ca rrie r.
- 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 airbag as possible, before installing
the forward-fac ing ch ild rest raint .
296
-Always make s ure that the safety belt up
per anchorage is behind the chi ld restraint
and not next to or in front of the child re
straint so that the safety belt wi ll be prop
erly pos itioned.
- Always make sure that nothing prevents
the front passenger's seat from being
moved to the rearmost position in its fore
and aft adjustment range.
- Always make s ure that the backrest is in
the up right pos ition.
- Never place or use any electrical device (such as a laptop, CD player, electronic
games device, powe r inverter or seat heat
er for child seats) on the fro nt passenger
seat if the devi ce is connec ted to the 12-
vo lt socke t or the cigarette ligh ter soc ket.
- If a seat heate r has been retrofitted o r
othe rwise added to the fron t passenger
seat, neve r install any child restraint sys
tem on this seat .
- Make sure that there a re no wet objects
(such as a wet towe l) and no water or oth
er liquids on the front passenger seat
cush ion.
- Never place objects on the seat (such as a
laptop, CD player, elect ronic games de
v ice, power inverte r or seat heater for
ch ild seats) . These may influence the elec
trical capacitance measured by the capaci
tive passenger detection sys tem and can
also fly a round in an accident and cause
se rious personal injury.
- Always buckle the child safety seat fi rmly in
place even if a ch ild is not sitt ing in it . A
loose child safety seat can fly a round dur ing
a sudden s to p or in a collision .
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS when
eve r us ing a child restrained in a vehicle is
be ing used~
page 261, Safe ty belts,
~ page 269, Airbag system and
~ page 291, Child safety.
_&. WARNING
To reduce the ris k of serious injury, make sure
that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF 'I,;; light ~
Child sa fety
should ride only in special restraints in which the
chi ld faces the back of the vehicle. These infant
seats support the baby's back, neck and head in a
crash
c::> fig. 242.
The airbag on the passenger side makes the front
seat a potentially dangerous p lace for a child to
ride . The front seat is not the safest place for a
child in a forward -facing child seat. It is a very
dangerous place for an infant or a larger child in
a rearward -facing seat .
A WARNING
Not using a ch ild safety seat, using the wrong
child safety seat o r improperly install ing a
child restra int increases the r is k of se rious
personal inju ry and death in a crash.
- Never install rear-facing chi ld safety seats
o r infant carr iers on the front passenger
seat -even with an Advanced A irb ag Sys
tem . A child w ill be seriously injured and can
be ki lled when the inflating airbag hits the
child safety seat or infant carrier with great
force and smashes the child safety seat and
child against the backrest, center armrest,
door or roof c::> page 2 70, Child restraints on
the front seat -some important things to
know .
- Always install rear-facing child safety seats
or infant carr iers on the rear seat.
- Never install a rear-facing child restra int in
the forward-facing direct ion . Such restraints
are designed for the spec ial needs of infants
and very sma ll children and cannot protect
them properly if the seat is forward-fa cing.
- If you must install a rearward fac ing ch ild
sa fety seat on the front passenger seat be
ca use of exception al circumst ances and the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF,;; light does not
come on and stay on, immediate ly install
the rear-facing chi ld safety seat in a rear
seat ing pos ition and have the airbag system
inspected by your Audi dealer.
- Never place or use any electrical device
(such as a laptop, CD player, elect ronic
games dev ice, powe r inverter or seat heater
for child seats) on the front passenger seat
298
if the device is connected to the 12-volt
socket or the ciga rette lighte r socket.
- If a seat heater has been ret rofitted or oth
erwise added to the front passenger seat, never install any child restra int system on
this seat.
- Make sure that there are no wet objects (such as a wet towel) and no water or other
liquids on the front passenger seat cush ion .
- Never p lace objects on the seat (such as a
laptop, CD p layer, electron ic games device,
power inverte r or seat heater for ch ild
seats). These may influence the elect rical
capacitance measu red by the capacitive pas
senger detect ion system and can also fly
a round in an accident and cause se rious per
sonal injury .
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS when
eve r us ing a child restrained in a vehicle is
be ing used
c::> page 261, Safety belts,
c::> page 269, Airbag system and
¢ page 291 , Important information .
Child sa fety
restraint in place~ page 58. Install the
head restraint again immediately once the
child seat is removed. Driving without head
restra ints or w ith head restraints that are
not properly adjusted increases the risk of
serious or fatal neck injury dramatically .
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS when
ever using a child restrained in a veh icle is
being used
~ page 261, Safety belts,
~ page 269, Airbag system and
~ page 291, Important information.
A WARNING
If exceptional circumstances require the use
o f a forward- facing child restra int on the
front passenger's seat, the child's safety and
well-being require that the following special
precaut ions be taken:
- Make s ure the forward-facing seat has been
designed and cert ified by its manufact urer
for use on a front seat with a passenger
front and side airbag.
- Always follow the manufacturer's instruc tions prov ided with the ch ild safety seat or
infant carrier.
- 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 tra int.
- Always make sure that the safety belt upper
anchorage is beh ind the child restrain t and
not next to or in front o f the child restrain t
so that the safety belt will be properly pos i
tioned.
- Always make sure that nothing prevents the
front passenger's seat from being moved to
the rearmost position in its fore and aft ad
justment range.
- Always make sure the backrest is in an up
right position .
- Never place or use any electrical device (such as a laptop, CO player, elect ronic
games dev ice, power inverte r or seat heater
for child seats) on the front passenger seat
300
if the device is connected to the 12-volt
socket or the cigarette lighte r socket.
- If a seat heater has been ret rofitted or oth
erwise added to the front passenger seat, never install any child restra int system on
this seat.
- Make sure that there are no wet objects (such as a wet towel) and no water or other
liquids on the front passenger seat cush ion .
- Never p lace objects on the seat (such as a
laptop, CO p layer, electron ic games device,
power inverte r or seat heater for ch ild
seats) . These may influence the elect rical
capacitance measu red by the capacitive pas
senger detect ion system and can also fly
around in an accident and cause se rious per
sonal injury .
- Ma ke sure th at the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
1-f; light comes on and stays on all the
time wheneve r the ign it ion is switched on .
- If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF 1-f; light
does not come on and stay on, immediately
install the forward -facing child seat at a
seating position on the rear seat and have
the airbag system inspected by your author ized Audi dealer.
- Take the child restra int off the front passen
ge r seat and install it prope rly at one of the
rear seat positions if the
PASSENGER AIR
BAG OFF
1-f; light does not stay on whenever
the ignition is switched on.
Cl a:, ...... N
" N ...... 0
0
::r '
t h e ch ild restraint is installed is in an up
rig ht position and securely latched into
place a nd ca nnot f old forward. Otherwise,
t h e sea tback with the ch ild safe ty s eat at
tach ed to it could fly forward in the event of
an acc ident or o ther emergency situation.
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS when
ever using a child restrained in a veh icle is
being used¢
page 291. Specia l pre caut ions
apply when ins talling a child s afety seat on
the front passenger seat¢
page 2 70, Child
restraints on the front seat -some impor
tant things to know.
Deactivating the convertible locking
retractor
The convertible locking retractor for child re
straints will be deactivated automatically when
the belt is wound all the way back into the re
tractor .
~ Press the red button on the safety be lt b uck le.
The belt tongue w ill pop out of the buckle.
~ Guide the safety be lt all the way back into its
stowed pos ition .
Always let the safety belt retract complete ly into
its stowed position. The safety belt can now be
used as an ordinary safety belt without the con
vert ible lock ing retractor for child restra ints .
If the convert ible lock ing retractor should be ac
tivated inadve rtently, the safety belt must be un
fastened and guided completely back into its
stowed position to deact ivate this feature .
If the
convert ib le lock ing re tractor is not deact ivated,
the safety belt w ill gradually become tighte r and
u ncomfo rtable to we ar.
_& WARNING
-
Improperly ins talled chi ld safety seats in
crease the risk of serio us personal injury and
death in a collision.
- Never unfasten the sa fe ty belt to deactivate
the conve rt ible locking retractor for child re
straints while the ve hicle is moving . You
Ch ild saf ety
wou ld not be rest rained and could be seri
ously injured in an accident.
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS when
ever using a child restrained in a vehicle is
be ing used¢
page 291. Special p recautions
apply when install ing a child safety seat on
the front passenge r seat ¢
page 2 70, Child
restraints on the front seat -some impor
tant things to know.
LATCH system (lower
anchorages and tethers
for children)
Child Restraint System anchors and how
are they related to child safety
T o p rovide a simp ler and more practicab le way to
attach the ch ild rest raint on the vehicle seat,
Federal regulations require spec ia l lower ancho
rages in vehicles and devices o n new c hild re
straints to attach to the vehicle anc horages .
In the United States, the combination of the
tethe r anchorages and the lower anchorages is
now generally called t he LATCH system for
" Lower Anchorages and Tethers for Childre n". In
Canada, the terms "top tether" with "lower un i
versa l anchorages" (o r "lowe r universa l anchor
age bars") a re used to descr ibe the system .
In other co untries the term "ISOFIX" is used to
desc ribe the lower anchorages .
Forward-facing chi ld restraints manufactured af
ter September 1, 1999, are requ ired by U.S . fed
era l regulations to comply with new child head
movement pe rformance requ iremen ts. These
new pe rformance req uir ements make a tether
necessary on most new ch ild seats.
Installing a c hild restraint t hat requires a top
tethe r withou t one can se riously impa ir the per
fo rmance of the ch ild rest rai nt and its ab ility to
pro tect the ch ild in a co llision. I nstalling a ch ild
r estr aint tha t requi res a top tether wi tho ut the
top tether may be a vio lat ion o f state law.
Child restra int manufactu rers offe r LATCH lowe r
an chorages on t heir child sea ts w it h hook-on or ..,
305
0 a, .... N
" N .... 0
0
l: ..
& WARNIN G
Please note the important safe
ty precautions regarding tire
pressure
c:::> page 340 and load
limits
c:::>poge 343.
Tires and vehicle load limits
There are limits to the amount of
load or weight that any vehicle
and any tire can carry. A vehicle
that is overloaded will not handle
well and is more difficult to stop.
Overloading can not only lead to
loss of vehicle control, but can al
so damage important parts of the
vehicle and can lead to sudden
tire failure, including a blowout
and sudden deflation that can
cause the vehicle to crash .
Your safety and that of your pas sengers also depends on making
sure that load limits are not ex
ceeded . Veh icle load includes ev
erybody and everything in and on
the vehicle . These load limits are
technically referred to as the vehi
cle's
Gross Vehicle Weight Rat
ing ("GVWR").
The "GVWR" includes the weight
of the basic vehicle, all factory in
stalled accessories, a full tank of
fuel, oil, coolant and other fluids
Wheels
plus maximum load . The maxi
mum load includes the number of
passengers that the vehicle is in
tended to carry ("seating capaci
ty ") with an assumed weight of
150 lbs. (68 kg) for each passen
ger at a designated seating posi
tion and the total weight of any
luggage in the vehicle . If you tow
a trailer, the weight of the trailer
hitch and the tongue weight of
the loaded trailer must be includ ed as part of the vehicle load .
The
Gross A xle Weight Rating
(" GAWR ") is the maximum load
that can be applied at each of the
vehicle's two axles.
T he fact that there is an upper
limit to your vehicle 's Gross Vehi
cle Weight Rating means that the
total weight of whatever is being
carried in the vehicle (including
the weight of a trailer hitch and
the tongue weight of the loaded
trai ler) is lim ited. The more pas
sengers in the vehicle or passen
gers who are heavier than the
standard weights assumed mean
that less weight can be carried as luggage.
The Gross Vehicle Weight Rating and the Gross Axle Weight Rating .,.
34 3