2018 AUDI S4 airbag

Never rely on airbags alone for protection. Even
when they deploy, airbags provide on ly additional
protection. Airbags are not supposed to dep loy in
all kinds of accidents. A lthough your Audi is
equipped with airbags, all vehicle occupants, in­
cluding the dr iver, must wear safety belts cor ­
rectly in order to minimize the risk of severe in­
jury or death in a crash .
Remember too, that airbags will deploy only
once and that your safety belts are always there
to offer protect ion in those accidents in w hich
a ir bags are not supposed to deploy or when they
have already deployed. Unbelted occupants can
also be thrown o ut of the vehicle where even
more severe or fatal injur ies can occur.
It is also important for the rear passengers to
wear safety belts correctly . Unbelted passengers
in the rear seats endanger not only themse lves
but also the driver and other passengers
¢ fig. 231. In a frontal collision they will be
thrown forward violently, where they can hit and
injure the driver and/or front seat passenger .
Safety belts protect
People think it's possible to use the hands to
brace the body in a minor collision . It 's simply
not true!
Fig. 232 Driver is correct ly restra ined in a sudden b rak ing
maneuver
Safety belts used properly can make a big differ­
ence. Safety belts he lp to keep passengers in
thei r seats, gradually reduce energy leve ls ap­
plied to the body in an acciden t, and help prevent
the uncontrolled movement that can cause seri ­
ous injuries. In addition, safety belts reduce the
danger of being thrown out of the vehicle.
Safety belts
Safety belts attach passengers to the car and give
them the benefit of being slowed down more
gently or "softly" through the
"give" i n the safety
belts, crush zones and other safety features engi ­
neered into today's vehicles. By "absorbing" the
kinetic ene rgy over a longer period of time, the
safety belts make the forces on the body more
"tolerab le" and less likely to ca use injury .
Although these examples are based on a frontal collision, safety be lts can also substantially re ­
duce the r isk of injury in other k inds of crashes.
So, whether you're on a long trip or just go ing to
the corner store, always buckle up and make sure
others do, too. Acciden t statist ics show that vehi­
cle occupants properly wearing safety belts have
a lower risk of being injured and a much better
chance of surviving an accident . Properly using
safety belts also greatly increases the ability of
the supp lemental airbags to do their job in a col­
lision. For this reason, wearing a safety belt is le­
gally required in most count ries including much
of the United States and Canada .
Although your Aud i is equipped with airbags, you
still have to wear the safety belts provided. Front
airbags, for example, are activated only in some
frontal collisions. The front airbags are not act i­
vated in all frontal collisions, in side and rear col­
lisions , in rollovers or in cases where there is not
enough deceleration through impact to the front
of the vehicle. The same goes for the other air bag
systems in your Audi . So, always wear your safety
belt and make sure everybody in your vehicle is
properly restrained!
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.
265

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The shoulder belt should lie as close to the center
of the collar bone as possib le and should fit w ell
on the bod y ¢
A in Saf ety belt position on
page 267 .
.. Push the loop- around fittings up ¢ fig . 237 @,
or
.. sque ez e to gether the @ button, and push the
loop-around fit tings
do wn@ .
.. Pull the belt to make sure that the upper at­
tachment is p roperly engaged .
A WARNING
Always read and heed all WARNINGS and oth­
er important
i nformat ion ¢ page 265.
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 pos itioned on the body .
Improper seating positions reduce the effect ive­
n ess of safety be lts and will even inc rease the
ris k of injury and death by mov ing the safety bel t
to cr it ica l areas of the body. Imp roper seating
positions also increase the risk of serious inj ury
and death when an airbag deploys and strikes an
occ upant who is not in the co rrect s eat ing posi­
tion . A driver is respons ible for the safety of all
vehicle occupants and espec ia lly for children .
T herefore:
.. Nev er permit anyone to ass ume an incorr ect
s itting position in the veh icle wh ile traveling
¢ &, .
A WARNING
Improperly worn safety belts i ncrease the risk
of serious personal injury and death wheneve r
a vehicle is be ing used.
S afet y be lts
- Always make sure that all veh icle 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
i nformat ion¢ page 265.
Belt tensioners
How safety belt pretensioners work
Reversible safety belt pr etensioners
T he following fu nctions a re availab le w hen safety
bel ts w it h reversib le safety bel t tensione rs a re
f astened:
- In ce rtain driving situations , the safety belts
may tighten w it h a reversib le tensioning func ­
tion ¢ page 120.
-The safety be lts may also tighten with this re-
versible tens ion ing f un ct ion in m ino r colli sions.
Pyrotechnic safety belt pretens ioners
Seat belts with pyrotechnic safety belt preten ­
sioners are tensioned automatically i n severe col·
lisions , depending on the circumstances . This
helps to reduce the fo rwa rd motion of the o ccu­
pants.
A WARNING
r-----
- I t is poss ible for the pretensioners to dep loy
incorrectly .
- Any wo rk on the tens ioner system o r remov­
al and installation of system components
for other repairs m ust be performed by a
qualified wor kshop.
- The pyrote chnic system can only provide
protection for one collision. If the py rotech­
n ic pretens ioners deploy, the pretensioning
system must be replaced .
(D Tips
- A fine dust is re leased when the pyrotechnic
safety belt pretensioners dep loy. This is no r­
ma l and is not caused by a f ire in the veh i-
cle.
..,
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Safety belt s
- The relevant safety requirements must be
observed when the vehicle or components
of the system are scrapped. A qualif ied
dealership is familiar with these regulations
and will be p leased to pass on the informa­
tion to you .
Service and disposal of safety belt preten­
sioner
The safety be lt pretens ioners are pa rts of the
safety belts on your Audi. Installing, removing,
servicing or repair ing of belt pretensioners can
damage the safety belt system and prevent it
from wo rking co rrectly in a collision .
There are some important things yo u have to
know to make sure that the effectiveness of the
syst em will not be impaired and that discarded
components do not cause injury or pollute the
env ironment.
A WARNING
Improper care, serv icing and repair proce­
dures can increase the r isk of personal injury
and death by preventing a safety belt preten­
sioner from activating when needed or acti­
vating it unexpectedly :
- The pyrotechnic safety belt pretensioners
can on ly be act ivated once.
If pyrotechnic
safety belt pretensioners have been activat­ ed, the system must be rep laced .
- Never repair, adjust , or change any parts of
the safety be lt system.
- Safety belt systems in cl ud ing safety be lt
pretens ioners cannot be repaired. Special
procedures are req uired for removal, insta l­
lation and disposal of this system.
- For any wor k on the safety belt system, we
strongly recommend that you see your au­
tho rized Audi dea ler or q ualified technician
who has an Audi approved repair manual ,
training 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 -specia l handling may apply, see
www.dtsc .ca.gov/hazardouswaste/perchlo-
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r ate. When the vehicle or parts of the re­
straint system including airbag modu les safe­
ty belts with pretensioners are scrapped, all
applicable laws and regulations must be ob ­
served. Your authorized Audi dealer is familiar
with these requirements and we recommend
that you have your dealer perform this service
for you .

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Airbag system
Important information
Importance of wearing safety belts and
sitting properly
Airbags are only supplemental restraints. For
airbags to do their job, occupants must always
properly wear their safety belts and be in a prop­ er seating position.
For your safety and the safety of your passen­
gers, before driving off, always :
.,. Adjust the driver's seat and steering wheel
properly
9 page 255,
.,. Adjust the front passenger's seat properly
¢page 256,
.,. Wear safety belts properly¢ page 265,
.,. Always properly use the proper child restraint
to protect children ¢
page 295.
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 255, Correct
passenger seating positions .
For details on the
operation of the seat adjustment controls
¢page 65.
It's especially important that children are proper­
ly restrained
¢page 295.
There is a lot that the driver and the passengers
can and must do to help the individual safety fea­
tures installed in your Audi work together as a
system.
Proper seating position is important so that the
front airbag on the driver side can do its job. If
you have a physical impairment or condition that prevents you from sitting properly on the driver
seat with the safety belt properly fastened and
Airbag system
reaching the pedals, or if you have concerns with
regard to the function or operation of the Ad­
vanced Airbag System, please contact your au­
thori zed Audi dealer or qualified workshop, or
call Audi Customer Relations at 1-800-822-2834
for possible modifications to your vehicle.
When the airbag system deploys, a gas generator
will fill the airbags, break open the padded cov­ ers, and inflate between the steering wheel and
the driver and between the instrument panel and
the front passenger. The airbags will deflate im­
mediately after deployment so that the front oc­
cupants can see through the windshield again
without interruption.
All of this takes place in the blink of an eye, so
fast that many people don't even realize that the airbags have deployed. The airbags also inflate
with a great deal of force and nothing should be
in their way when they deploy. Front airbags in
combination with properly worn safety belts slow
down and limit the occupant's forward move­
ment . Together they help to prevent the driver
and front seat passenger from hitting parts of
the inside of the vehicle while reducing the forces
acting on the occupant during the crash . In this
way they help to reduce the risk of injury to the
head and upper body in the crash. Airbags do not
protect the arms or the lower parts of the body.
Both front airbags will not inflate in all frontal
collisions . The triggering of the airbag system de­
pends on the vehicle deceleration rate caused by
the collision and registered by the electronic con­
trol unit . If this rate is below the reference value
programmed into the control unit, the airbags
will not be triggered, even though the car may be badly damaged as a result of the collision. Vehi­
cle damage, repair costs or even the lack of vehi­
cle damage is not necessarily an indication of
whether an airbag should inflate or not.
Since the circumstances will vary considerably between one collision and another, it is not possi­
ble to define a range of vehicle speeds that will
cover every possible kind and angle of impact
that will always trigger the airbags . Important
factors include, for example, the nature (hard or
soft) of the object which the car hits, the angle of
impact, vehicle speed , etc. The front airbags will
II>
271

Airbag syste m
also not inflate in s ide or rear collisions, or in
ro llovers.
Al wa ys rememb er: Airbags will deploy only once,
and on ly in ce rtain k inds of coll is ions. Yo ur safety
be lts are always there to offer protection in those
situations in which airbags are not supposed to
dep loy, or when they have already deployed; for
examp le, when your vehicle str ikes or is struck by
another vehicle after the first coll is ion.
This is just one of the reasons why an airbag is a
supp lementary restraint and is not a substitute
for a safety belt. The a irbag system works most
effect ively when used with the safety belts.
Therefore, always properly wear your safety belts
c::>page 263.
A WARNING
Sitting too close to the steering wheel o r in­
st rument panel will decrease the effective­
ness of the airbags and will inc rease the risk
of personal injury in a co llision.
- Never sit closer than 10 inches (25 cm) to
the steering wheel or instrument panel.
- If you cannot si t mo re than 10 inches
(25 cm) from the steering wheel, invest i­
gate whether adaptive equipment may be
available to help you reach the pedals and
increase your seating distance from the
steering wheel.
- All vehicle occupants and especially children
must be restrained properly whenever riding
in a vehicle. An unrestrained or improperly
restra ined child could be injured by striking
the interior or by being ejected from the ve­
hicle during a sudden maneuver or impact.
An unrestrained or imp roperly restrained
child is also at greate r risk of inju ry or death
through contact with an inflating airbag.
- If you are unrestrained, leaning fo rwa rd, s it­
t ing s ideways or o ut o f pos ition in any way,
yo ur risk of in ju ry is much h igher.
- Yo u will also receive serious injuries and
could even be killed if you are up aga inst the
airbag or too close to it when it inflates -
even with an Advanced Airbag.
272
-
- To reduce the risk o f injury when an a irbag
inflates, always wear safety belts properly
c::> page 266, Safety belts.
- Always make certa in that children age 12 or
younger always ride in the rear seat. If chil­
dren are not properly restrained, they may be severely injured or killed when an airbag
inflates.
- Never let ch ildren ride unrestra ined or im­
properly restrained in the vehicle. Ad just the
front seats properly.
- Never ride with the backrest recl ined .
- Always sit as far as possible from the steer-
ing wheel or the instrument panel
c::> page 255.
- Always sit upright w ith your back against
the backrest of your seat .
- Never p lace your feet on the instrument
panel or on the seat. Always keep both feet
on the floor in front of the seat to help pre­
vent serious injur ies to the legs and hips if
the airbag inflates.
- Never recl ine the front passenger's seat to
transpo rt objects . Items can also move in to
the area of the s ide a irbag or the front air­
bag du ring brak ing o r in a sudden maneu­
ver. Obje cts nea r the airbags can become
pro jecti les and cause injury when an airbag
inflates.
A WARNING
A irbags that have deployed in a crash must be
replaced.
- Use on ly original equipment airbags ap­
proved by Audi and installed by a trained
technician who has the necessary tools and
diagnostic equipment to properly replace
any airbag in yo ur vehicle and assure system
effectiveness in a crash.
- Never perm it salvaged or recycled airbags to
be installed in your vehicle.
Child restraints on the front seat - some
important things to know
.,. Be s ure to read the impo rtan t in format ion and
heed the WARN INGS for impor tant deta ils
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about children and Advanced Airbags
¢page 295 .
Even though yo ur vehicle is equipped with an Ad­
vanced Airbag System, make certain that all chil­
dren, especially those 12 years and younger,
a l­
ways ride in the back seat properly 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 dangerous place for
a n infant or a child in a rearward-fac ing seat.
The Advanced Airbag System in 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
Veh icle Safety Standa rd (CMVSS) 208 as applica­
b le a t the time your veh icle was m an ufact ured.
Accord ing 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
ployment" for children aged 3 to 6 years old (as
defined in the standard) .
The
PASSENGER AIR BAG O FF ~ ; 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
PASSEN ­
GER AIR BAG OFF
~; ON @ light will come on
for a few seconds and:
- PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF ~; will come on if
the front passenger seat is not occupied
- PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF ~; will come on if
the e lectrica l capacitance measured by the
ca­
pacitive passenger detection system for the
front passenger seat equa ls 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 i n Federa l Moto r
Vehicle Safety Standard ( FMVSS) 208 with
wh ich the Advanced Airbag System i n your veh i­
cl e 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 297 .
Airb ag sys tem
-PAS SENGER 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 ad ult as
registered by the capacit ive passenger detec­
tion system
¢ page 283, Monitoring the Ad­
vanced Airbag System .
The PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF ~; light comes on
when e lectrical 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 restrai nts listed in Federal Motor Ve­
hicle Safety Standard ( FMVSS) 208 with wh ich
the Advan ced Airbag System in yo ur 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 ical 1 year -old ch ild but less than the weight
of a sm all adult, the front air bag on the passen­
ger side can deploy (the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF ~; light does not come on) .
If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF ~; light does
not come on, the front airbag on the p assenger
s ide has not been turned off by the electronic
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 , the airbag may deploy if :
-a small c hild that is heav ier than a typ ica l 1
year -o ld child is on the front passenger se at
(regardless o f whethe r the child is in one o f the
child sa fe ty seats listed
¢ page 29 7), o r
- a child who has outgrown c hild rest raints is on
t he front passenge r seat .
If the front passenge r airbag is t urned off, the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF ~; light comes on i n
t h e headliner a nd stays o n.
If the front passenger a irbag deploys, the Feder­
al Standard requi res the airbag to meet the "low
r isk " dep loymen t criteria to redu ce the r isk of
in­
j u ry through interaction w it h t he airbag. "Low
risk" deployment oc curs in those crashes that
take place at lowe r decelerations as defined in
Ill>
273

Airbag syste m
the electronic control unit¢ page 283, PASSEN­
GER AIR BAG
OFF~; ON@ light.
A lways remember, a child safety seat or infant
carrier installed on the front seat may be struck
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 during inflation.
For 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 size
-we strong ly
recommend that children always sit in the back
seat ¢ page 295, 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 fron t
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 with 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 facing 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 iately 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 circumstances, you must i n­
stall a forward -facing chi ld res train t on the
front passenger's seat:
- Alw ays make sure the forward-facing seat
has been designed and ce rt ified by its man-
274
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 installing the for­
ward-facing chi ld restraint.
- Always make sure that the safety be lt upper
anchorage is behind the ch ild rest raint and
not next to o r in front of the child rest raint
so th at the safety be lt will be p roperly posi­
tioned.
- Ma ke sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
~; light comes on and stays on all the
time wheneve r the ign it ion is switched on .
A WARNING
To reduce the risk of serious injury, make 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
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF ~; light
does not stay on, perform the checks descri­
bed
¢ page 283, 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
If, 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:
..,.

-Improper installation of child restraints can
reduce their effect iveness or even prevent
them from providing any protection.
- An improper ly installed ch ild restraint can
interfere w ith the airbag as it deploys and
seriously injure or even kill the child
-even
with an Advanced Airbag System .
- Always carefu lly follow the manufacturer's
instructions provided with the child safety
seat or carrier.
- Always make sure that there is nothing on
the front passenger seat that will cause the
capacit ive passenger detection system in
the seat to signa l to the Airbag System that
the seat is occupied by a person when it is
not, or to signa l tha t it is occ upied by some ­
one who is heavier than the person actua lly
sitting on the seat. The p resence of addi ­
t ional objects could cause the passenge r
front airbag to be turned on when it shou ld
be off, or could cause the airbag to work in a
way that is different from the way it would have worked without the object on the seat .
Front airbags
Description of front airbags
The airbag system can provide supplemental
protection to properly restrained front seat occu ­
pants.
F ig. 238 Location of driver airbag: in steering whee l
Airb ag sys tem
Fig. 239 Location of front passenger's airbag: in the in·
st rument pane l
Your vehicle is equipped with an "Advanced Air­
bag System" in compliance with United States
Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard
(FMVSS) 208, as well as Canada Motor Veh icle
Safety Standard (CMVSS) 208 as applicable at
the time your veh icle was manufactured.
The airbag for the driver is in the steering wheel
hub
¢ fig. 238 and the airbag for the front pas­
senger is in the instrument panel
~ fig . 239. The
general locat ion of the airbags is marked ''AIR·
BAG".
There is a lot you need to know about the airbags
i n your vehicle. We urge you to read the deta iled
information abo ut airbags, safety belts and child
safe ty in this and the othe r chapte rs that make
u p the owner's li terature . Please be sure to heed
the WARNINGS
-they are ex tremely important
for your sa fety and the safety of your passengers,
especially infants and small children.
A WARNING
-
Never rely on ai rbags alone for protection .
- Even w hen they deploy, airbags provide only
supp lemental protection .
- Airbag wor k most effec tively when used
with p roper ly worn safety be lts.
- Therefo re, always wea r you r safety be lts and
make sure that everybody in your ve hicl e is
p roper ly restrained.
- Always hold the steering w heel with both
hands on the outside of the steering wheel
rim at the 9:00 o'clock and 3:00 o'clock po­
sitions to help reduce the risk of personal in-
jury if the driver's a irbag inflates.
~
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