Page 193 of 310

Cl co .... N ,....
N .... 0 ,....
Vl co
used to attach a child seat. Be sure to read the
important information about this feature
Qpage225.
.&_ WARNING
Improperly positioned safety belts can cause
serious injury in an accident
r=> page 191,
Safety belt position .
-Safety belts offer optimum protection only
when the seatback is upright and belts are
properly positioned on the body.
- Never attach the safety belt to the buckle
for another seat. Attaching the belt to the
wrong buckle will reduce safety belt effec
tiveness and can cause serious personal in
JUry.
-A passenger who is not properly restrained
can be seriously injured by the safety belt it
self when it
moves from the stronger parts
of the body into critical areas like the abdo
men .
- Always lock the convertible locking retractor
when you are securing a child seat in the ve
hicle
r=> page 226.
{D) Tips
For information on safety belt pretensioners,
refer to
q page 192.
Safety belt position
Correct belt position is the key to getting maxi
mum protection from safety belts.
....
"' ..... 9
I
Fig. 158 Safety belt positio n
Safety belts
.&_ WARNING
Improperly positioned safety belts can cause
serious personal injury in an accident.
- The shou lder belt should lie as close to the
center of the collar bone as possible and
should fit well on the body. Hold the belt
above the latch tongue and pull it evenly
across the chest so that it sits as low as pos
sible on the pelvis and there is no pressure
on the abdomen. The belt should always fit
snugly
¢ fig. 158. Pull on the belt to tighten
if necessary.
- A loose-fitting safety belt can cause serious
injuries by shifting its position on your body
from the strong bones to more vulnerable
I
soft tissue and cause serious injury .
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS and
other important information
q page 189.
Pregnant women must also be correctly
restrained
The best way to protect the fetus is to make sure
that expectant mothers always wear safety belts
correctly- throughout the pregnancy.
Fig. 159 Safety belt position during pregnancy
To provide maximum protect ion, safety belts
must always be positioned correctly on the wear
er's body
q page 191 .
"'Adjust the front seat properly ¢ page 46, Front
seats .
"' Pull the safety belt evenly across the chest so
that it sits as low as possible on the pelvis and
there is no pressure on the abdomen
q fig. 159, Q .&_ . ....
191
Page 194 of 310

Safe ty belts
,.. Inse rt the tongue into the correct buckle of
your seat until you hear it latch secure ly
¢ page 190, fig. 157 .
,.. Pull on the be lt to make sure that it is securely
latched in the buck le.
.,&. WARNING
Improperly positioned safety belts can cause
ser ious personal inju ry in an accident.
- Expectant mothers must always wear the
lap po rtion of the safety belt as low as pos
sible across the pelvis and below the round
ing of the abdomen .
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS and
othe r important information
Q .&. in Fasten
ing safety belts on page 191.
Unfastening safety belts
Unbuckle the safety belt with the red release
button only after the vehicle has stopped.
.,
F ig . 1 60 Releasi ng th e tongue fro m the buck le
,.. Push the red release button on the buckle
¢ fig. 160 . The belt tongue will spring out of
the buckle
¢ &_ .
,.. Let the belt wind up on the retractor as you
guide the belt tongue to its stowed posit ion.
.,&. WARNING
Never unfasten safety belt while the vehicle is
moving. Doing so will i ncrease you r risk of be
ing injured o r kill ed .
192
Improperly worn safety belts
Incorrectly positioned safety belts can cause se
vere injuries.
Wear ing safety belts improperly can cause seri
ous injury or death. Safety belts can only work
whe n they are correctly posit ioned on the body .
Imprope r seat ing positions reduce the effective
ness of safety bel ts and w ill even increase the
risk of inj ury and death by moving the safety be lt
to critical are as of the body . Imprope r seating
pos itions also increase the risk o f serious injury
and death when an airbag dep loys and strikes an
occupant who is not in the correct seating posi
tion. A driver is responsible for the safety of all
vehicle occupants and especially for chi ldren.
Therefore:
,.. Never pe rm it anyone to assume an incorrect
sitt ing pos ition in the vehicle while traveling
¢ &_ .
.,&. WARNING
Improperly worn safety belts increase the risk
of ser ious perso nal injury and death whenever
a veh icle is being used .
- Always make sure that all veh icle occu pants
are correctly restrained and stay in a correct
se ating position whenever the ve hicle is be
ing used.
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS and
other impo rtant
informat ion ¢ page 189 .
Safety belt tensioner
How safety belt pretensioners work
Pyrotechn ic safety belt preten sioners
Seat belts with pyrotechnic safety be lt preten
sioners are tensioned automatically in severe col lis ions, depending on the circumstances. This
helps to reduce the forward motion of the occu
pants .
.,&. WARNING
-It is poss ible for the pretens ioners to dep loy
incor rect ly.
~
Page 195 of 310

Cl 00 .-< N r-N .-< 0 r-Vl 00
-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 on ly prov ide
protection for one col lision. If the pyrotech
nic pretensioners deploy, the pretens ion ing
system must be replaced .
(D Tips
-A fine dust is released when the pyrotechnic
safety be lt pretens ioners deploy. This is nor
mal and is not caused by a fire in the vehi
cle.
- The re levant safety req uirements must be
observed when the veh icle or components
of the system are sc rapped. A qualified
dealersh ip is familiar w ith these regu lations
and will be p leased to pass on the informa
tion to you.
Service and disposal of safety belt preten
sioner
The safety belt pretens ioners are parts of the
safety belts on your Audi. Installing, removing,
servicing or repa iring of belt pretensioners can
damage the safety belt system and prevent it
from work ing cor rectly 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
e nvir onment.
A WARNING -
Improper care, serv icing and repa ir proce
dures can increase the r is k of personal injury
and death by preventing a safety be lt preten
sioner from activating when needed or acti
vating it unexpectedly:
- The be lt pretensioner system can be activat
ed only once. If belt pretensioners have
been activated, the system must be re
placed.
- Never repair, adjust, or change any parts of the safety be lt system .
Safet y be lts
- Safety belt systems including safety belt
pretensioners cannot be repaired. Spec ial
procedures are required for removal, instal
lation and disposal of this system.
- For any work on the safety belt system, we
strong ly recommend that you see your au
thor ized Audi dealer or qualified techn ician
who has an Audi app roved repa ir manual,
tra ining and special equipment necessa ry.
@ For the sake of the environment
Undeployed airbag modules and pretension
ers might be classif ied as Perchlorate Materi
al -special handling may apply, see
www.dtsc.ca. gov/hazard ouswaste/ perch lo
r a te. When the vehicle or pa rts of the re
straint sys tem including ai rbag modu les safe
ty belts with pretensioners are scrapped, all
applicable laws and regu lations 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.
193
Page 196 of 310

Airbag system
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 ~ page 180,
.,. Adjust the front passenge r's seat properly
~ page 181,
.,. Wear safety belts p roperly ~ page 189,
.. Always properly use the proper child restraint
to protect chi ldren
~ page 216.
In a coll is ion airbags must inflate within the blink
of an eye and with considerable force. The sup
p lemental airbags can cause 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 your 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
coll isions ¢ page 180, Correct
passenger seating positions .
For details on the
operation of the seat adjustment controls
¢page 46.
It's especially important that children are proper
ly restrained
¢page 216 .
There is a lot that the driver and the passenger
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 driver 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
194 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 dea ler or qualified workshop, or
ca ll Audi Customer Relations at 1-800-822-2834
for poss ible modifications to your vehicle .
When the airbag system dep loys, 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 . Th e a irbags w ill deflate im
med iate ly after deployment so that the front oc
cupants can see t hrough the windsh ield aga in
without interruption.
All of th is takes place in the blink of an eye, so
fast that many people don't even realize that the
a irbags have deployed. The airbags also inflate
with a great deal of force and nothing should be
in the ir 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 passenger from hitting parts of the inside
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 lowe r parts of the body.
Both front airbags will not inflate in all frontal
collisions . The triggering of t he a irbag system de
pends on the vehicle deceleration rate caused by
the collis ion and regis tered by the electronic con
trol unit . If this rate is be low the refe rence value
programmed into the control unit, the airbags
will not be triggered, even tho ugh t he car may be
badly damaged as a resu lt of the co llision . Vehi
cle damage, repair costs or even the lack of vehi
cle damage is not necessarily an indication of
whether an a irbag should inflate or not.
Since the circumstances wi ll vary considerab ly
between one collision and another, it is not possi
ble to define a range of veh icle speeds that will
cover every poss ible kind and angle of impact
that w ill always trigger the airbags . Important
factors include, for example, the nature (hard or
soft) of the object which the car hits, the angle of
im pact , vehicle speed, etc. The front airbags will
..,.
Page 197 of 310

Cl 00 .-< N r--N .-< 0 r--Vl 00
also not inflate in side or rear co llisions, or in
ro llovers .
Alwa ys re memb er: Airbags will deploy only o nce,
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 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 airbag system works most
effect ively when used with the safety belts.
Therefore, always properly wear your safety belts
<=:> page 187 .
A WARNING
Sitting too close to the steer ing whee l o r i n
st rument panel w ill decrease the effe ct ive
ness of the airbags and will inc rease the risk
of persona l injury in a co llision.
- Never si t close r than 10 in (25 cm) to t he
steering wheel o r inst rument pane l.
- If you cannot sit mo re than 10 in (25 cm)
from the steer ing whee l, invest iga te wheth
er adaptive eq uipme nt may be avai lab le to
held you reach the pedals and increase you r
seating distance from the steering wheel.
- If you are unrestrained, leaning fo rwa rd, s it
ting sideways or o ut of position in any way,
your risk of inj ury is much higher .
- Yo u will also receive serious injuries and
cou ld even be killed if you are up against the
airbag or too close to it when it inf lates -
even with an Advanced Airbag.
- To reduce the risk of inj ury when an airbag
inflates, a lways wear safety be lts proper ly
¢ page 190, Safety belts.
- If children are not properly restrained, they
may be severely in jured or killed when an
airbag inflates.
- Never let children ride unrestrained or im properly restrained in the veh icle. Adjust the
front seats properly.
- Always sit as far as poss ible from the steer
ing w heel or the inst rument panel
¢ page 180.
-
Airbag syste m
- 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 bot h 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.
A WARNING
-
A irbags that have deployed in a cras h must be
r eplaced.
- Use o nly orig inal equipment airbags ap
proved by Audi and installed by a trained
technicia n who has the necessary tools and
d iagnost ic equipment to prope rly replace
a ny a irbag i n yo ur vehicle and ass ure system
effe ct iveness in a crash .
- Neve r pe rmit salvaged or recycled airbags to
be inst alled in you r vehicle.
Child restraints on the front seat - some
important things to know
.,. Be sure to read the important information and
head the WARNINGS for important detai ls
about ch ildren and Advanced A irbags
¢page 216 .
The airbag on the passenger side makes the front
seat a potent ially dangerous place for a child to
ride. The front seat is not the safest place for a
child in a forward -fac ing child safety seat . It can
be a very dangerous place for an infant or a ch ild
in a rearward-fac ing seat.
The Advanced A irbag System in your vehicle has
been certified to comply with the requirements
of United States Federal Motor Ve hicle Safety
Standard (FMVSS) 208, as we ll as Canada Moto r
Vehicle Safety Standard (C MVSS) 208 as appl ica
ble at the time you r vehi cle was manuf actured.
According to requirements , the front Advanced
Airbag System on the passenger side has been
certified for "suppression" for infants of abo ut
12 month o ld and younger and for " low risk de
ployment" for chi ldren aged 3 to 6 years old (as
defined in the standard).
Iii>
195
Page 198 of 310

Airbag system
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.
E ach time you turn on the ignition, the
PASSEN
GER AIR BAG OFF
"1; 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
t h e e lectrica l capacitance measured by the ca
pacitive passenger detection system for the
front passenger seat equa ls the combined ca
pacitance of an infant up to about one year of
age and one of the rearward-facing or forward
facing child restraints listed in Federal Motor
Vehicle Safety Standard 208 w ith which the Ad
vanced Airbag System in your vehicle was certi
fied. For a listing of the ch ild restraints that
were used to cert ify your vehicle 's compliance
with the U.S. Safety Standard
¢page 218.
- PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF~; will come on if
there is a small child or ch ild rest raint on the
front passenger seat,
-PASSENGER AIR BAG ON @w ill go off if the
front passenger seat is occupied by an adult as
registered by the capacitive passenger detec
tion system ¢
page 205, Monitoring the Ad
vanced Airbag System .
The PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF~; light comes on
when electrical capacitance registered on t he
front passenger seat is equa l to or less than the
combined capacitance of a typica l 1 year -o ld in
fant and one of the rearward-facing or forward
facing ch ild restraints listed in Federal Motor Ve
h icle Safety Standard 208 with wh ich the Ad
vanced A irbag System in your vehicle was cert i
f ie d.
If the tota l electrical capac itance registered on
the front passenger seat is more than that of a
typical 1 year-old child but less than the we ight
of a small adult, the front a irbag on the passen
ge r side ca n deploy (the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
"1; light does not come on).
If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF "1; light does
not come on, the front a irbag on the passenger
196
side 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 typica l 1
year-old child is on the front passenger seat
(regard less of whethe r the child is in one of the
child sa fety seats listed ¢
page 218), or
- a child who has outgrown child restraints is on
the front passenger seat.
If the front passenger a irbag is turned off, the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF~; light comes on in
the headliner and stays on.
If the front passenger airbag deploys, the Feder
al Standard requires the airbag to meet the "low
r isk" dep loyment cr iteria to reduce the r isk of in
jury through interaction w ith the airbag. "Low
risk" deployment occurs in those crashes that
take place at lower decelerations as defined in
the e lectronic contro l unit ¢
page 206, PASSEN
GER AIR BAG
OFF~; ON~ light.
A lways remember, a child seat or infant carrier
installed on the front seat may be struck and
knocked out of position by the rapidly inflating
passenger's airbag in a frontal col lision. The air
bag could great ly reduce the effectiveness of the
c hi ld restraint and even ser iously injure the child
during inflat io n.
A WARNING
A child in a rearward-facing child seat instal
led on the front passenger seat will be seri
ously injured and can be killed if the front air
bag inflates
-even with an Advanced Airbag
System.
- The inflat ing airbag will hit the child seat or
infant carrier with great force and will
smash the child seat and child against the
backrest, center armrest, door or roof.
- Forward-facing child seats installed on the
front passenger's seat may interfere with
the deployment of the airbag and cause se
r ious personal injury to the ch ild.
Page 199 of 310

Cl 00 .-< N r-N .-< 0 r-Vl 00
A WARNING
If, in exceptional circumstances, you must in
stall a forward-facing child restraint on the
front passenger's seat:
- Always make sure the forward-fac ing seat
has been designed and certified by its man
ufacturer for use on a front seat with a pas
senger front and s ide a irbag.
- Never put the forward-facing child restraint
up against or ve ry near the instrument pan
el.
- Always move the front passenger seat to
the highest position in the up and down ad
justment range and move it back to the
re ar most position in the se at'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 restraint .
-Always make sure that the safety belt upper
anchorage is behind the child restraint and
not next to or in front of the chi ld restraint
so that the safety belt will be properly pos i
t ioned.
- Make sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF ~; light comes on and stays on a ll the
t ime whenever the ignition is switched on.
A WARNING
To red uce the risk of serious in jury, make s ure
that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF ~; light
w ill be displayed whenever a child restra int is
installed on the front passenge r seat and the
ign ition is swi tched on.
-If the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF ~; light
does not stay on, perfo rm the che cks descri
bed
¢ page 205, Monitoring the Advanced
Airbag System .
-Have the airbag system inspe cte d by your
Audi dealer imme diately.
- Always caref ully follow instru ctions from
ch ild res tra int m anufa ctu rers when instal
ling child restraints .
Airbag syste m
A WARNING
--
If, in exceptional c ircumstances, you must in
stall a forward or rearward-facing child re
stra int on the fron t passenger 's seat :
- Imp roper installat ion of child restraints can
reduce the ir effectiveness or even prevent
them from providing any pro tect ion .
- An improperly installed child restra int can
interfere wi th the airbag as it deploys and
serio usly injure or even kil l the chi ld -even
wit h an Advanced A irbag System.
- Always carefully follow the manufacturer's
instr uctions provided with the child seat or
earner.
- Always make sure that there is noth ing on
the front passenge r seat tha t will cause the
capacitive p assenge r de te ction system in
the sea t to signal to the Airb ag System th at
the seat is occup ied by a person when i t is
not, or to signal that it is occupied by some
one who is heavier than the person actually
sitt ing on the seat. The presence of addi
tional objects could cause the passenger
front ai rbag to be turned on when it should
be off, or cou ld cause the ai rbag to work in a
way that is different from the way it wou ld
h ave wo rked withou t the objec t on the seat.
197
Page 200 of 310

Airbag system
Front airbags
Description of front airbags
The airbag system can provide supplemental
protection to properly restrained front seat occu
pants.
Fig. 161 location of driver airbag: in steering wheel
Fig. 162 location of front passenger's airbag: in the in
strument panel
Your vehicle 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. 161 and the airbag for the front pas
senger is in the instrument panel
~fig. 162. The
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 th e 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 extremely important
198
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
properly restrained.
- Always hold the steering wheel 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 airbag inflates.
- Never hold the steering wheel at the 12
o'clock position or with your hands any
where inside the steering wheel or on the
steering wheel hub. Holding the steering
wheel the wrong way increases the risk of
severe injury to the arms, hands, and head if
the dr iver airbag deploys .
.&_ WARNING
Objects between you and the airbag will in
crease the r isk of injury in a crash by interfer
ing with the way the airbag unfolds and/or by
being pushed into you as the airbag inflates.
-Always make sure nothing is in the front air-
bag deployment zone that cou ld be struck
by the airbag when it inflates.
-
- Objects in the zone of a deploying airbag
can become projectiles when the airbag de
ploys and cause serious personal injury.
- Never hold things in your hands or on your
lap when the vehicle is in use.
- Never p lace accessories or other objects
(such as cup holders, telephone brackets,
note pads, navigation systems, or things
that are large, heavy, or bulky) on the doors;
never attach then to the doors or the wind
shield; never place them over or near or at
tach them to the area marked ,,AIRBAG" on the steering wheel, instrument panel or the
.,..