AUDI A3 SEDAN 2018 Owners Manual

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Tel.: 1-888-327-4236 (TTY:
1 -800-424-9153) or
1- 800-424-9393
or you may write to :
NHTSA
U .S . Department of Transporta­
tion 1 200 New Jersey Ave ., S.E .
West Building
Washington, DC 20590
You can also obta in other infor­
mation about motor vehicle safe­
ty from :
http:/ /www .safercar.gov
Applicable to Canada
If you live in Canada and you be­
lieve that your vehicle has a de­
fect that could cause a crash, in­
jury or death, you should immedi­ ately inform Transport Canada,
Defect Investigations and Recalls.
You should also notify Audi Cana ­
da .
Canadian customers who wish to
report a safety-related defect to
Transport Canada , Defect Investi­
gations and Recalls, may either
call Transport Canada toll -free at :
Driving saf ety
Tel.: 1-800-333-0510 or
T el.: 1-819-994-3328 (Ottawa re­
gion and from other countries)
TTY for hearing impaired: Tel. :
1-888 -67 5 -6863
or contact Transport Canada by mail at :
T ranspo rt Canada
Motor Vehicle Safety Investiga­
tions Laboratory
80 Noel Street
Gatineau, QC
J 8 Z 0A l
For additional road safety infor­
mation, please visit the Road
Safety website at:
http :/ /www.tc.gc.ca/eng/
roadsafety/menu .htm
259

Safety belts
Safety belts
General notes
Always wear safety belts!
Wearing safety belts correctly saves lives!
This chapter explains why safety belts 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 single most effective
means available to reduce the risk of serious
injury and death in automobile accidents.
For your protection and that of your passen­
gers, always correctly wear safety belts
when the vehicle is moving.
- Pregnant women, injured, or physically im­
paired persons must also use safety belts.
Like all vehicle occupants, they are more
likely to be seriously injured if they do not
wear safety belts. The best way to protect a
fetus is to protect the mother
-throughout
the entire pregnancy .
Number of seats
Applies to: vehicles without power top: Your Audi
has a total of five seating positions: two in the
front and three in the rear . Each seating position
has a safety belt .
Applies to: vehicles with power top: Your Audi
has a total of four seating positions: two in the
front and two in the rear. Each seating position
has a safety belt .
A WARNING
Not wearing safety belts or wearing them im­
properly increases the risk of serious personal
injury and death.
260
-Never strap more than one person, includ­
ing small children, into any belt. It is espe­
cially dangerous to place a safety belt over a
child sitting on your lap .
- Never let more people ride in the vehicle
than there are safety belts available.
- Be sure everyone riding in the vehicle is
properly restrained with a separate safety
belt or child restraint .
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.
Fig. 224 Safety belt warning ligh t in the instrument clus ­
ter
-enlarged
Before driving off, always:
"' Fasten your safety belt and make sure you are
wearing it properly.
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"'Make sure that your passengers also buckle up
and properly wear their safety belts .
"' Protect children with a child restraint system
appropriate for the size and age .
The warning light . in the instrument cluster
lights up when the ignition is on as a reminder to
fasten the safety belts. In addition , you will hear
a warning tone for a certain period of time.
Fasten your safety belt and make sure that your
passengers also properly put on their safety
belts.
A WARNING -
- Safety belts are the single most effective
means available to reduce the risk of serious
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injury and death in automobile accidents.
For your protect ion and that of your passen­
gers, always correctly wear safety belts
when the vehicle is moving .
- Failure to pay attention to the warn ing light
that come on, could lead to personal injury.
Why use safety belts?
Frontal collisions and the law of physics
Frontal crashes create very strong forces for peo­
ple riding in vehicles .
Fig . 225 Unbe lted occupants in a veh icle head ing fo r a wall
Fig . 2 26 The ve hicle c rashes into the wall
The physical principles are simple . Both the vehi­
cle and the passengers possess energy which var­
ies w ith veh icle speed and body we ight. Engi­
neers call this energy "k inetic energy ."
The higher the speed of the vehicle and the
greater the vehicle's we ight, the more energy
that has to be "absorbed" in the crash.
Vehicle speed is the most signif icant facto r. If
the speed doubles from 15 to 30 mph (25 to
SO km/h), the energy increases 4 times!
Because the passengers of t his veh icle are not us­
ing safety
belts ~ fig. 225, they will keep mov ing
Safet y bel ts
at the same speed the vehicle was moving just
before the crash, until something stops them -
here, the
wall ~ fig. 226 .
The same p rinciples apply to people s itting in a
vehicle that is invo lved in a fronta l co llision. Even
at city speeds of 20 to 30 mph (30 to SO km/h),
the forces acting on the body can reach one ton (2,000 lbs, o r 1,000 kg) or more. At greater
speeds, these forces are even higher.
People who do not use safety belts are a lso not
attached to the ir vehicle . In a frontal col lis ion
they will also keep mov ing forward at the speed
their vehicle was travelling just before the crash. Of course, the laws of physics don't just apply to
frontal collisions , they determine wha t happens
in a ll kinds of accidents and co llisions .
What happens to occupants not wearing
safety belts?
In crashes unbelted oc cupants cannot stop
them selves from flying forward and being in­
jured or killed. Always wear your safety belts!
Fi g. 227 A driver not wear ing a safe ty belt is violen tly
throw n forward
Fig. 228 A rea r passe nge r not we aring a safety be lt w ill fly
forwa rd a nd strike t he drive r
Ill-
261

Safety belts
Unbelted occupants are not able to resist the tre­
mendous forces of impact by holding tight or
bracing themselves. Without the benefit of safe­
ty restraint systems, the unrestrained occupant
will slam violently into the steering wheel, in­
strument panel, windshield, or whatever else is
in the
way ¢ fig. 227. This impact with the vehi­
cle interior has all the energy they had just be­
fore the crash.
Never rely on airbags alone for protection . Even
when they deploy, airbags provide only add itional
protection . Airbags are not supposed to deploy in
all kinds of accidents. Although your Audi is
equipped with airbags, all vehicle occupants, in­
cluding the driver, 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 protection in those accidents in which
airbags are not supposed to deploy or when they
have already deployed. Unbelted occupants can
also be thrown out of the vehicle where even
more severe or fatal injuries can occur.
It is also important for the rear passengers to
wear safety belts correctly. Unbelted passengers
in the rear seats endanger not only themselves
but also the driver and other passengers
c> fig . 228 . In a frontal collision they will be
thrown forward violently, where they can hit a nd
injure the driver and/or front seat passenger.
262
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. 229 Driver is correctly res trained in a sudde n braking
maneuver
Safety belts used properly can make a big differ­
ence . Safety belts help to keep passengers in
their seats, gradually reduce energy levels ap­
plied to the body in an accident, 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 attach passengers to the car and give
them the benefit of being slowed down more gently or "softly" through the
"give" in the safety
belts, crush zones and other safety features engi­
neered into today's vehicles. By "absorbing" the
kinetic energy over a longer period of time, the
safety belts make the forces on the body more
"tolerable" and less likely to cause injury .
Although these examples are based on a frontal
collision, safety belts can also substantially re­
duce the risk of injury in other kinds of crashes.
So, whether you're on a long trip or just going to
the corner store, always buckle up and make sure
others do, too . Accident statistics 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 supplemental airbags to do their job in a col­ lision. For this reason, wearing a safety belt is le­
gally required in most countries including much
of the United States and Canada.
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Although your Audi is equipped with ai rbags, yo u
still have to wear the safety belts provided. Front
airbags, for examp le, are activated on ly in some
frontal coll is ions. The front a irbags are not acti­
vated in all frontal coll is ions, in side and rear col­
lisions, in roll overs or in cases where there is not
enough deceleration through impact to the front
of the vehicle. The same goes for the other airbag
sys tems in yo ur Audi . So, always wea r you r safety
be lt and ma ke sure eve rybody in yo ur 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 wea r sa fety be lts as i llust ra ted and de ­
scribed in this chapter.
~ Make sure that your safety belts are a lways
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 be lts can work only
when used correctly.
- Always fasten your safety belts correctly be­
fore dr iving off and make sure all passen­
gers are correct ly restrained.
- For maximum protection, safety belts must
always be pos it io ned p roperly on the body .
- Never strap more tha n one person, includ­
ing small ch ildren, into any belt .
- Never place a safety be lt over a chi ld sitt ing
on your lap.
- Always keep feet in the footwell in front of
the seat w hile the vehicle is be ing driven.
- Never let any pe rson ride w ith their feet on
the instrument pane l or st icking out the
window or on the seat .
- Never remove a safety belt while the vehicle
is mov ing. Do ing so w ill inc rease your r isk of
being in ju red or k illed.
- Never wear belts twisted.
- Never wear belts over rigid o r breakab le ob-
jects in or on your clot hing, such as eye
Safet y be lts
g lasses, pens, keys, etc ., as t hese may ca use
in jur y.
- Never a llow safety belts to become dam ­
aged by be ing ca ught in door or seat hard­
ware.
- Do not wear t he shoulder part of the belt
under yo ur arm or otherwise o ut of pos ition.
- Several layers of heavy clothing may inter ­
fe re with co rrect pos ition ing of be lts and re ­
duce the ove rall effectiveness of the system.
- Always keep be lt buck les free of anything
that may prevent the buck le from latch ing
securely.
- Never use comfort cl ips or dev ices that cre­
ate s lack in t he shoulder belt. However, spe­
cial clips may be required for the proper use
of some child restraint systems.
- Torn or frayed safety be lts can tear, and
damaged be lt hardware ca n break in an acci­
dent. Inspect be lts regularly . If webb ing,
b indings, buckles, or retractors are dam­
aged, have belts rep laced by an author ized
Aud i deale r or q ualified wo rkshop.
- Safety belts that have been worn and loaded
i n an ac cident must be repla ced with the
cor rect replaceme nt sa fe ty belt by an a u­
thor ized A udi dealer. Rep lacement may be
necessary even if damage cannot be clea rly
seen . Anchorages t hat we re loaded must a l­
so be inspected.
- Neve r remove, modify, disassemble, o r try
to repair the safety belts yourse lf .
-A lways keep the belts clean. Dirty belts may
not wor k prope rly and ca n impair the func ­
tion of the inert ia reel
c> table Interior
cleaning on page 356.
263

Safe ty belts
Safety belts
Fastening safety belts
Safety first -everybody buckle up!
F ig. 230 Belt buckle and tong ue o n the dr iver's seat
N <D ;g
± ... a,
To prov ide max imum protection, safety belts
must always be positioned correctly on the wear ­
er's body .
"'Adjust the fro nt sea t and head restra int proper­
ly
¢ page 59 , Front seats .
"'Make su re 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. 230, ¢ .&_.
"'Insert the tongue into the correct buckle of
you r seat until you hear it latch securely .
"' Pull on the belt to make sure that it is securely
l atched in the buck le.
Autom atic safety belt retractors
Every safety belt is equipped with an automatic
belt retractor on the shoulder belt . This feature
locks the belt when the belt is pulled out fast,
du ring hard braking and in an accident . The be lt
may a lso lock when you drive up or down a steep
h ill or th rough a sharp curve. Dur ing no rma l dr iv­
i n g the bel t lets you move freely.
Safety belt pretensioners
Safety belts w ith pretensioners help to tighten
the safety belt and remove slack when the pre­ tensioners a re
activated ¢ page 267. The func­
tion of the pretens ioner is moni to red by a w arn­
ing
light¢ page 26.
264
Convertible lock ing retractor
Eve ry safe ty belt except the one on t he d river
seat is equipped with a convertib le lock ing retrac ­
tor that
mu st be used when the safety be lt is
used to attach a ch ild seat. Be sure to read the
i mportant information about this feature
¢ page 305 .
A WARNING
Improperly positioned safety belts can cause
serious inj ury in an
accident ¢ page 265,
Safety belt position .
- Safety belts offer optimum protection only
when the seatback is up right and belts are
properly posit ioned on the body .
- Always make sure that the rear seat back ­
rest to which the center rear safety belt* is
at tached is securely latched whenever the
rear cen ter safety belt is being used.
If the
b ackrest is not sec urely latche d, the passen­
ger will move forward with the bac krest du r­
ing sudden b raking, in a sudden maneuver
and especia lly in a crash.
-Never attach the safety belt to the buckle
for another seat. Attaching the belt to the
wrong buckle will reduce safety be lt e ffec­
tiveness and can cause serio us personal in­
jury.
-A passenge r 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 cri tical areas like the abdo­
men .
- Always lock the convertible locking retractor when yo u are securing a c hild seat in the ve­
h icle
~ page 307.

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Safety belt position
Correct belt position is the key to getting maxi­
mum protection from safety belts .
~
"' ,-.
9 r
Fig. 231 Safety belt pos it ion
"' a,
Standard feat ures on your vehicle he lp you adjust
the position of the safety be lt to match your body
size .
- belt he igh t adjustmen t fo r the front seats *,
- height-adjustable front seats.
.8, WARNING
Improperly posit ioned safety be lts ca n ca use
ser ious personal inj ury in an accident .
- T he shoulder belt sho uld lie as close to the
center of the co llar bone as possible and
should fit we ll on the body. Hold the belt
above the latch tong ue a nd pu ll it evenly
across the chest so that it sits as low as pos­
sible on the pelvis and there is no press ure
on the abdomen . The belt should always fit
snugly
Q fig. 231. Pull on the belt to tighten
if necessary.
- The lap belt portion of the safety be lt must
be pos itioned as low as possible across pel ­
vis and never over the abdomen. Make sure
the belt lies flat and snug
Q fig . 231 . Pull on
th e belt to tighten if necessary.
- A loose-fitt ing safety be lt can cause ser ious
injuries by shifting its pos ition on you r body
fr om the st rong bones to more vu lne rable,
soft tiss ue a nd c ause ser ious injury.
- Always read and heed all WA RN INGS and
other importa nt inform ation¢
page 263.
Safet y bel ts
Pregnant women must also be correctly
restrained
The best way to protect the fetus is to make sure
that expectant mothers always wear safety bel ts
correctly
-throughout the pregnancy.
F ig . 2 32 Safe ty bel t pos ition durin g pregnancy
To provide maximum protect ion, safety belts
must always be positioned correctly on the wear­
er's
body ¢ page 265 .
.. Adjust the front seat and adjustable head re­
straint*
correctly¢ page 59, Front seats .
.,. Pull the safety belt evenly across the chest so
that it s its as low as possible on the pelvis and
there is no pressure on the abdomen
¢ fig. 232, Q .&, .
.,. Insert the tongue into the co rrect buckle of
your se at unt il yo u h ear i t latch secu rely.
.. Pull on the belt to make sure that i t is sec urely
latched in the buckle.
_& WARNING
Improperly positioned safety belts can ca use
serious pe rsonal injury in an acc ident.
-Expectant mothers m ust always wea r th e
lap portion 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
other important
i nformation¢ .&. in Fasten­
ing safety belts on page 264.
265

Safety belts
Unfastening safety belts
Unbuckle the safety belt with the red release
button only after the vehicle has stopped .
Fig. 233 Releasing the tongue from the buckle
.,. Push the red release button on the buckle
¢
fig. 233. 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 position.
A WARNING
Never unfasten safety belt while the vehicle is
moving. Doing so will increase your risk of be­
ing injured or killed.
Adjusting the safety belt latch tongue
Applies to: vehicles with adjustable latch tongue
Fig. 234 Safety belt: latch tongue cl ip (example)
.. Slide the clip so that you can easily reach the
belt latch when putting the safety belt on .
266
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Adjusting safety belt height
Applies to: vehicles with safety belt height adjustment
With the aid of the safety belt height adjust­
ment, the three point safety belt strap routing
can be fitted to the shoulder area, according to
body size .
Fig. 235 Safety belt heigh t adjustment for the front seats
-loop-around fittings
The shoulder belt shou ld lie as close to the center
of the collar bone as possible and shou ld fit well
on the body¢
A in Safety belt position on
page 265 .
.,. Push the loop-around fittings up q fig . 235 @,
or
.,. squeeze together the (D button, and push the
loop-a round fittings
down @.
.. Pull the belt to make sure that the upper at­
tachment is properly engaged.
A WARNING
Always read and heed all WARNINGS and oth­
er important information¢
page 263.
(l} Tips
With the front seats, the height adjustment
of the seat can also be used to adjust the po­
sition of the safety belts.
Improperly worn safety belts
Incorrectly positioned safety belts can cause se­ vere injuries.
Wearing safety belts imp roper ly can cause seri-
ous injury or death. Safety belts can only work
when they are correct ly positioned on the body.
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Im proper seating posi tions reduce the effective ­
ness of safety be lts and wi ll even increase the
risk of injury a nd death by mov ing the safety belt
to crit ica l areas of t he body. Improper seating
posi tions also increase the risk of serious injury
a nd death when an airbag deploys and str ikes an
occupant who is not in the correct seat ing pos i­
tion . A driver is respons ible for the safety of a ll
ve hicle occupants a nd espec ia lly for children.
Therefo re:
.,. Never permit anyone to assume an incorrect
s itting position in the veh icle wh ile travel ing
¢ & .
.&_ WARNING
Improperly worn safety belts increase the risk
o f serious personal injury and death whenever
a vehicle is being used .
- Always ma ke sure that a ll vehicle occupants
are correctly restrained and stay in a correct
seating position whenever the vehicle is be­
ing used .
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS and
other important information
¢ page 263.
Belt tensioners
How safety belt pretensioners work
Reversible safety belt tensioners
The follow ing funct ions are ava ilable when safety
be lts with reve rsible safety belt tensioners are
fastened:
- In certai n driving situat ions, the safety belts
may tighten with a revers ible tens ion ing func­
t ion
r=;, page 130 .
-The safety belts may a lso tighten with this re -
versible tensioning function in minor coll is ions .
Pyrotechnic safety belt pretensioners
Seat belts w ith pyrotechn ic safety belt preten­
sioners are tens ioned automat ica lly in severe col­
lisions, depend ing o n the c ircumstances . Th is
h elps to reduce t he forward mot ion of the occu ­
pants .
Safet y be lts
.&_ WARNING
--
- It is poss ible for the pretensioners to dep loy
incor rectly .
- The pyrotechnic 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
mal and is not caused by a fi re in the veh i­
cle.
- The relevant safety requirements must be
observed when the vehicle or components
of the sys tem are scrapped . A q ual ified
dealership is familiar with these regulat ions
a nd w ill be pleased to pass on the informa­
t ion to you.
Service and disposal of safety belt preten­
sioner
The safety belt pretensione rs are parts of the
safety belts on your Aud i. Installing, removing,
servicing or repair ing of belt pretens ione rs can
damage the safety belt system and prevent it
from wo rking co rrectly in a co llision.
There are some important things you have to know to make sure that the effective ness of the
system will not be impa ired and that d iscarded
components do no t cause inju ry or pollute the
enviro nment .
.&_ WARNING -
Improper care, servicing and repair proce­
d ur es can inc rease the risk of personal in jury
and death by p reventing a safety belt preten­
sione r from activating when needed or act i­
vating it unexpectedly:
- The belt pretensioner system can be activat­
ed only once. If belt pretens ioners have
been activated, the system must be re­
p laced.
- Never repair, adjust, or change any parts o f
the safety belt system.
267

Safe ty belt s
-Safety belt systems including safety be lt
pretens ioners cannot be repaired. Special
procedures are requ ired for removal, insta l­
lat ion and disposal of this system .
- For any work on the safety belt system, we
strongly recommend that you see your au­
thorized Aud i dealer or qualified technician
who has an A udi approved repair manual,
t raining and spec ial equ ipment necessary.
@ For the sake of the environment
Undep loyed airbag modu les and pretension­
ers might be classified as Perchlorate Materi­
al -special handl ing may apply, see
www.dtsc.ca.gov/hazardouswaste/pe rchlo­
rate. When the vehicle o r parts of the re­
s traint system including air bag modules safe­
ty belts with pretens ioners are scrapped, all
app licab le laws and regulations m ust be ob­
served. Your authorized Audi dealer is familiar
w ith these req uirements and we recommend
that you have your dealer perform this service
for you .
268