Safe AUDI A6 2015 Manual PDF

150 Airbag system
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 for your safety and
the safety of your passengers, especially in ­
fants 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 properly worn safety belts.
- Therefore, always wear your safety belts
and make sure that everybody in your ve­
hicle 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 positions to help reduce the risk
of personal injury if the driver's airbag in­
flates.
- 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 driver airbag deploys.
A WARNING
Objects between you and the airbag will
increase the risk of injury in a crash by in­
terfering with the way the airbag unfolds
and/or by being pushed into you as the air­
bag inflates.
-Always make sure nothing is in the front
airbag deployment zone that could be
struck by the airbag when it inflates.
- Objects in the zone of a deploying airbag
can become projectiles when the airbag
deploys and cause serious personal in­
Jury.
- Never hold things in your hands or on
your lap when the vehicle is in use .
-
-Never place 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 windshield; never place them over or
near or attach them to the area marked
.,AIRBAG" on the steering wheel, instru­
ment panel or the seat backrests; never place them between these areas and you
or any other person in the vehicle.
- Never attach objects to the windshield
above the passenger front airbag, such
as accessory GPS navigation units or mu­
sic players. Such objects could cause seri­
ous injury in a collision, especially when
the airbags inflate.
- Never recline the front passenger seat to
transport objects. Items can also move
into the deployment area of the side air­
bags or the front airbag during breaking
or in a sudden maneuver. Objects near
the airbags can fly dangerously through
the passenger compartment and cause
injury, particularly when the seat is re­
clined and the airbags inflate.
A WARNING
A person on the front passenger seat, es­
pecially infants and small children, will re­
ceive serious injuries and can even be kil­
led by being too close to the airbag when
it inflates.
- Although the Advanced Airbag System in
your vehicle is designed to turn off the front passenger airbag if an infant or a
small child is on the front passenger
seat, nobody can absolutely guarantee
that deployment under these special
conditions is impossible in all conceiva­
ble situations that may happen during
the useful life of your vehicle.
- The Advanced Airbag System can deploy
in accordance with the ,,low risk" option
for 3- and 6-year-old children under the

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,...., ..,., ,....,
U.S. Federal Standard if a child with elec­
trical capac itance greater than the com­
bined capacitance of a typical one-year
old infant restrained in one of the for­
ward fac ing or rearward-fac ing ch ild
seats w ith which your vehicle was certi­
fied is on the front passenger seat and
the other conditions for airbag deploy­ ment are met.
- Acc ident statist ics have shown that chil­
dren are generally safer in the rea r seat
area than in the front seating posit ion .
- For their own safety, all children, espe­
cially 12 years and younger, sho uld al­
ways ride in the back p roperly rest rained
for their age and size .
Advanced front airbag system
Your vehicle is equipped with a front Advanced
Airbag System in comp liance with Un ited
States Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208 as applicable at the time your vehicle was
manufactured.
The front Advanced Airbag System supple­ ments the safety belts to provide add it iona l
protection for the driver's and front passeng­
e r's heads and upper bodies in frontal crashes.
The airbags inflate only in frontal impacts
when the vehicle dece le rat io n is high enough.
The front Advanced A irbag System for the
front seat occupants is not a substitute for
your safety belts . Rather, it is part of the over­
all occupant rest raint system in your ve hicle.
A lways remember that the airbag system can
only help to pro tect you, if you are s itting up­
righ t, wearing your sa fety belt and wearing it
properly. This is why you and yo ur passengers
must always be properly restrained, not just
because the law requires you to be.
The Advanced Airbag System in your vehicle h as been certified to meet the " low r isk" re­
q ui rements for 3 and 6 year-o ld children on
the passenger s ide and very small adu lts on
the dr iver side. The low risk deployment crite­
ria are intended to he lp reduce the risk of i n­
j ury through interaction with the front airbag
A irbag system 15 1
that can occur, for examp le, by being too
close to the steering wheel and instr ument
panel when the airbag inflates .
In add ition, the system has been certified to
comply with the "s uppression" requirements
of the Safety Standard, to turn off the front
airbag for in fants 12 months o ld and younger
who are restrained on the front passenger
seat in child restraints that are listed in the
Standard
c> page 173, Child restraints and
Advanced front airbag system .
"Suppression" requires the front a irbag on the
passenger side to be turned off if:
- a child up to abo ut one year of age is re­
strained on the front passenger seat in one
of the rear-fac ing or forward -facing infant
restraints listed in Federal Motor Vehicle
Safety Standard 208 with which the Ad ­
vanced Airbag System in your ve hicle was
cert ified . For a listing of the chi ld restraints
that were used to certify you r vehicle's com­
p lia nce w it h t he US Safety Standa rd
c>page 173,
-When a pe rson is detec ted o n the front pas ­
senge r seat that has an e lec trica l capa ci­
tance t hat is more than the tota l electrical
capacitance of a child that is about 1 year
old restrained in one of the rear-facing or
forward-facing infant restraints (listed in Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208
w ith which the Advanced A irbag System in
your vehicle was certified), the front airbag
on the passenger side may or may not de­
ploy.
The
PASSENG ER AIR BAG OFF light comes on
when the electron ic cont ro l unit detects a to ­
ta l elect rical capac itance on the front passen­
ger seat that requi res the front a irbag to be
turned off. If the
PAS SENGER AIR BAG OFF
light does no t come on, the front airbag on
the passenger side has not been turned off by
the contro l unit and can deploy if the control
u nit senses an impact that meets the condi­
tions stored in its memory.
If the total e lectr ica l capacitance registered
on the front passenger seat is more than that
ll>
•
•

152 Airbag sys te m
of a typ ica l 1 year -old, but less than the
weight of a sma ll adult, the front airbag on
the passenger side may deploy (the
PASSEN­
GER AIR BAG OFF
li ght does not come on).
For exa mple , the air bag m ay depl oy if:
- a small child that is heavier than a typical 1
year-o ld child is on the front p assenger seat
(regardless of whe ther the child is in one of
the chi ld seats listed
c':> page 173),
-a ch ild who has o utgrown child rest raints is
on the front passenger seat.
If the front passenger airbag is turned off, the
PA SSENGER AIR BAG OFF light in the cente r
of the instrument panel w ill come on and stay
on.
If the front passenger airbag deploys, the Federal Standard requires the a irbag to meet
the "low risk" deployment criteria to help re­
duce the risk of injury through interaction
with the airbag. " Low risk" deployment occurs
in those crashes that take place at lower de­
celerations as defined in the e lectronic control
un it
c':>page 157.
Alway s remember: Even tho ugh your vehicle
is equipped with Advanced Airbags, the safest
p lace for children is properly restrained on the
back seat. Please be sure to read the impor­
tant information i n the sect ions that follow
and be sure to heed a ll of the WARNINGS .
A WARNING
To reduce the risk of injury when an airbag
inf lates, a lways wear safety belts prope rly.
- If you are unrestrained, lean ing forward,
sitting sideways or out of position in any
way, your risk of injury is much higher.
- You w ill also receive serious in juries and
cou ld even be killed if you are up against
the a irbag or too close to it when it in­
fla tes -even with an Advanced Airbag
c':> page 145.
A WARNING
A child in a rearward -facing child seat in ­
stalled on the front passenger seat will be seriously injured and can be killed if the
front airbag inflates - even w
ith an Ad­
vanced Airbag System.
- Altho ugh the Advanced Airbag System in
your veh icle is designed to turn off the
front airbag when a rearward-facing
child restraint has been installed on the
front passenge r seat, nobody can abso­
lutely guarantee that dep loyment is im­
possible in all con ceivable s ituations that
may h appen dur ing the usefu l life of y our
veh icle .
- T he inflating airbag will h it the ch ild seat
or infant carrier wi th grea t force and will
smash the child seat an d child against
the backrest, center armrest, doo r, or
roof.
- Always install rearward-facing chi ld re­
straints on the rear seat.
- If you must install a rearward fac ing
child seat on the front passenger seat
because of exceptional circumstances
and the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not come on and stay on, immed i­
ately insta ll the rear-facing child seat in a
rea r seat ing pos ition and have the airbag
system inspected by you r Audi dealer.
A WARNING
If, in except iona l circumstances, you must
i nsta ll a forward-facing child restraint on
the front passenge r's sea t:
- Always make sure the forward-facing
seat has been designed and ce rtified by
its manufacture r fo r u se on a fron t seat
with a passenger fron t and s ide a irbag .
- Never p ut the fo rward-facing child re­
straint up agains t or ve ry near the instru­
ment panel.
- Always move the p assenge r seat into its
rearmost pos ition in the seat's fore and
aft ad justment range, as fa r away from
the airbag as possible, before installing
the forward-facing ch ild restra int. The
backrest must be ad justed to an upright
position.

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-Always make sure that there is nothing
on the front passenger seat that will
cause the capacitive passenger detection
system in the seat to s ignal to the A irbag
System that the seat is occupied by a person when it is not, or to signal that it
is occupied by someone who is heavier
than the person actu ally s itting on t he
sea t. The presence of additiona l objects
cou ld cause the passenger front airbag
to be t urned on when it sho uld be off, or
cou ld cause the airbag to work in a way
that is different from the way it wou ld
have worked without the object on the
seat .
- Make sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
light comes o n and stays on all the
t ime whenever the ignition is switc hed
on.
Advanced Airbag System components
The front passenger seat in your vehicle has a
l ot of very important parts of the Advanced
Ai rbag System in it. These parts incl ude the
capacitive passenger detect ion system, wir ­
i n g, brackets, and more . The control unit
monitors the system o n the front passenger
seat when the ign ition is switched on and
turns the airbag indicator light on when a
malfunct ion in the one of the system compo­
nents is detected ¢
page 158 . Because the
fro nt passenger seat contains important pa rts
of the Advanced Airbag System, you must
t ake care to p reven t it from being damaged.
D amage to the seat may preven t the Ad­
vanced A irbag System for the front passenger
seat from doing its job in a crash .
The front Advanced Airbag System
consists of the following:
-Crash sensors in the fro nt o f the veh icle that
measure vehicle acceleration/dece leration
to provide information to the Advanced Air­
bag System about the severity of the crash .
- An electronic co ntrol unit, with integrated
c rash sensors for front and side impacts .
The cont ro l unit "decides" whether to fire
A irbag system 153
the front a irbags based on the in format ion
received from the crash sensors. The contro l
un it also "decides" whether the sa fety be lt
pretens ioners sho uld be activated .
- An Advanced Airbag with gas generator and
contro l valve for the driver ins ide the steer­
ing wheel hub.
- An Advanced A irbag w ith gas gene rator and
cont ro l valve inside the instrument pane l for
the front passenger.
- A capacitive passenger detection system un­
derneath the front passenger seat cover.
This system measures the electrical capac i­
tance of the perso n in the seat. The informa­
tion registered is se nt cont inuous ly to the
el ectr onic contro l un it to regu late d eploy­
m ent of the front Advan ced A irbag on the
p assenger side .
- An airbag monitoring system and ind icator
light in the instr ument cluster ¢
page 157 .
-A sensor in each front seat registers the dis­
t ance be twee n the respec tive seat a nd the
s teer ing whee l or inst rumen t pa nel. The i n­
forma tion regis tered is sent cont inuo usly to
the electronic cont ro l unit to regulate de­
p loyment of the front Adv a need Airbags.
- The
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes
on and stays on in the center of the instr u­
ment panel ¢
page 158, fig . 160 and tells
you when the front Advanced Airbag on the passenger side has been turned off.
- A sensor in the safety be lt latch for the driv­
e r and for the front seat passenger that
senses whether that safe ty belt is latched or
not and transmits this information to the
elect ronic control un it .
.&_ WARNING
D amage to the front passe ng er seat ca n
p revent the front air bag from wor king
p roperly.
- I mp roper repa ir or d isassembly of the
fro nt passenge r and dr iver sea t will pre­
vent the Advanced Airbag System from
functioning p roperly.
- Repair s to t he fron t passenge r seat m ust
be pe rformed by qualified an d properly
-
trained workshop person ne l. 111>
•
•

154 Airbag system
-Never remove the front passenger or
driver seat from the vehicle.
- Never remove the upholstery from the
front passenger seat.
- Never disassemble or remove parts from
the seat or disconnect wires from it.
- Never carry sharp objects in your pockets
or put them on the seat. The capacitive
passenger detection mat in the front
passenger seat will not function properly
if it is punctured .
- Never carry things on your lap or carry objects on the front passenger seat.
Such objects can influence the capaci­
tance registered by the capacitive pas ­
senger detection system, so that incor­
rect information is provided to the airbag
control unit.
- Never store items under the front pas­
senger seat. Parts of the Advanced Air­
bag System under the passenger seat
could be damaged, preventing them and
the airbag system from working proper­
ly.
- Never place seat covers or replacement upholstery that have not been specifical­
ly approved by Audi on the front seats.
- Seat covers can prevent the Advanced Airbag System from recognizing child re­
straints or occupants on the front pas­
senger seat and prevent the side airbag
in the seat backrest from deploying prop­
erly.
- 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 .
- Never use cushions, pillows, blankets, or similar items on the front passenger
seat. The additional layers prevent the
capacitive passenger detection system
from accurately measuring the capaci­
tance of the child safety seat and/or the
person on the seat and thus keep the Ad­
vanced Airbag System from working properly.
- Never place or use any electrical device
(such as a laptop, CD player, electronic games device
, power inverter or seat
heater for child seats) on the front pas­
senger seat if the device is connected to
the 12-volt socket or the cigarette light­
er socket . Such devices can influence the
capacitance registered by the capacitive passenger detection system, so that in­
correct information is provided to the air­
bag control unit.
- If you must use a child restraint on the
front passenger seat and the child re­
straint manufacturer's instructions re­
quire the use of a towel, foam cushion or
something else to properly position the
child restraint, make certain that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes
on and stays on whenever the child re­
straint is installed on the front passen­
ger seat.
- If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not come on and stay on, immedi­
ately install child restraint in a rear seat­
ing position and have the airbag system inspected by your Audi dealer.
,8. WARNING
If the front passenger seat gets wet, dry it
immediately.
- If liquid soaks into the front passenger
seat, this can keep the airbag system
from working properly and may, for in­
stance, deactivate the passenger frontal
airbag. If this happens, the
PASSENGER
AIR BAG OFF
light will come on and stay
on together with the airbag indicator light
fl in the instrument cluster .
- If liquid is pooled on the seat, but has
not soaked in, this may also keep the air­
bag system from working properly and
cause the passenger frontal airbag to be
enabled (turned on), even though there is a properly installed child restraint sys­
tem on the seat . Wet towels or other wet
things on the seat cushion can have the
same effect. If the front passenger fron­
tal airbag is turned on, the
PASSENGER
AIR BAG OFF
light light will go out.

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How the Advanced Airbag System
components work together
The front Advanced Airbag System and the
side airbags supplement the protection of­
fered by the front three -point safety be lts
with pretensioners and load limiters and the
adjustable head restra ints* to help reduce the
risk of injury in a wide range of acc ident and
crash situat ions. Be sure to read the impor­
tant information about safety and heed the
WARNINGS i n this chap ter.
Dep loyment of the Advanced Airbag System
and the activat ion of the safety be lt pre ten­
sioners depend on the dece lerat ion meas ured
by the c rash senso rs and registered by the
e lectronic control u nit. Cr ash severity depends
on speed and dece leration as well as the mass
and stiffness of the vehicle or object involved
in the crash.
On the passenge r side, reg ard less of safety
be lt use, the fron t passenger fronta l airbag
will be t urned off i f the electrical capacitance
measured by the capac itive passenger detec­
tion system on the front passenger seat is less
than the amount programmed in the e lectron­
ic control unit. The front passenger frontal air­
bag will also be turned off if the capac itance
measured by the system for the front passen­
ge r seat equa ls that of an infant of about one
year of age in one of the child seats that was
used to cert ify the Advanced Airbag Sys tem
u nder Fede ral Motor Vehicle Safety Standard
208 . The
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
comes on and stays on to tell you when t he
front Advanced Airbag System on the passen­
ger s ide has been turned off¢
page 158.
A WARNING
To reduce the risk of injury when an airbag
inf lates, a lways wear safety belts properly.
- If you are unrestrained, lean ing forward,
sitting sideways or out of position in any
way, yo ur r isk of inj ury is much hig he r.
- You w ill also receive serious injuries and
cou ld eve n be killed if you are up against
the a irbag or too close to it when it in-
A irba g sy stem 155
flates -even w it h an Advanced A irbag
¢page 145.
More important things to know about
front airbags
Fi g. 1 59 In flated front airbags
Safety be lts are important to he lp keep front
seat occupants in the proper seated position
so that airbags can unfold properly and pro­
vide supplementa l protect ion in a frontal col­
li s ion.
The front airbags are des igned to provide ad­
ditional protection for the chest and face of
the driver and the front seat passenger when:
- safety belts are worn proper ly,
- t he seats have been positioned so that the
occupant is properly seated as far as poss i­
ble from the airbag,
- and for ad justab le head restra ints: the head
restraints have been properly adj usted .
Bec ause airbags infl ate in the bli nk of an eye
wi th great force, th ings you have on your lap
o r have p laced on the seat co uld become dan ­
gerous projectiles, and be p ushed into you if
the a irbag inf lates.
When an airbag deploys, fine dust is re le ased.
This is norma l and is not caused by a fi re in
the ve hicle . This dust is made up mostly of a
powder used to lubricate the airbags as they
deploy. It could irr itate skin.
It is important to remembe r that wh ile the
supplementa l airbag system is designed to re­
duce the like lihood of serious injur ies, other
i njur ies, for example swelling, bruis ing and
minor abrasions, can also happen when air-
bags inflate. A irbags do not protect the arms .,_

156 Airbag sys te m
or the lower parts of the body. Front airbags
supp lement the three-point safety belts only
in some frontal collisions in which the vehicle
dece leration is high enough to deploy the air­
bags.
F ront airbag s will not d eplo y:
-if the ignition is switched off when a crash
occurs,
- in side collisions,
- in rear-end collisions,
- in ro llovers,
- when the crash deceleration measured by
the a irbag system is less than the minimum
t h reshold needed for airbag deployment as
registered by the electron ic control uni t.
The f ront pas senger airbag also will not
deploy:
- when the front passenger seat is not occu­
pied,
- when the electrical capac itance measured by
the capacitive passenger detect io n sys tem
for the front passenger seat indicates that
the passenger side fronta l airbag must be
switched off by the e lectronic control unit
(the
PA SSENGER AIR BA G OFF light
c> page 158 and how they work comes on
and stays on).
A WARNING
Sitting in the wrong position can increase
the risk of serious injury in crashes.
- To reduce the r isk of injury when the air­
bags inflate, the driver and passengers
must always sit in an upright position,
must not lean against or place any part
of the ir body too close to the area where
the a irbags are located.
- Occupants who a re unbelted, out of posi­
t ion or too close to the airbag can be se­
riously injured by an airbag as it un folds
with great force in the blin k of an eye
i=>page
147.
A WARNING
A child in a rearward-facing child seat in­
stalled on the front passenger seat will be
-
seriously injured and can be killed if the
front airbag inflates -even w ith an Ad­
vanced Airbag System.
- The inflating airbag will h it the ch ild seat
or infant carrier with great force and will
smash the child seat and child against
the backrest, center armrest, door or
roof.
- Always install rear-fac ing ch ild seats on
the rear seat .
- If you must install a rearward fac ing
child seat on the front passenger seat because of exceptional circumstances
and the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not come on and stay on, immed i­
ately insta ll the rear-facing child seat in a
rea r seat ing pos ition and have the airbag
system inspected by yo ur Audi dealer.
A WARNING
c'-----
Objects between you and the airbag will
increase the r isk of injury in a crash by in­
terfering with the way the airbag unfolds
or by be ing p ushed into you as the airbag
inflates.
- Never hold things in yo ur hands or on
your lap when the veh icle is in use.
-
- Never transport items on or in the area
of the front passenger seat. Objects
could move into the area of the front air­ bags during braking or other sudden ma­
neuvers and become dangero us projec­
tiles that can cause ser ious perso nal in­
jury if the a irbags inflate.
- Never p lace or attach accesso ries o r oth­
er objects (such as cup holders, te le­
p hone bra ckets, large, heavy or bulky ob­
jects) on the doors, over o r near the area
marked "AIRBAG" on the steering whee l,
instr ument panel, seat bac krests o r be­
tween those areas and yourself. These
objects could ca use in jury in a crash, es­
pecially when the airbags inflate.
- Never recline the front passenger 's seat
to transport objects. Items can a lso
move into the a rea of the s ide airbag or
the front airbag during braking or in a

158 Airbag system
& WARNING
An airbag system that is not funct ioning
properly cannot provide supplemental pro­
tect ion in a frontal crash.
- If the airbag indicator light
c:> page 19
comes when the vehicle is be ing used,
hav e the system inspected immed iate ly
by you r aut ho rized Aud i dea le r.
It is pos­
sible that t he a irbag will inf late when it
i s n ot s upposed to, or w ill not in flate
when it sho uld .
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
Fig . 160 Section from th e in strument panel: PASSEN ­
GER AIR BAG OFF ligh t
The PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light is located
i n the center of the instrument panel
c> fig.160 .
The PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light will come
on and stay on to tell you when the front Ad­
vanced A irbag on t he passenger side has been
turned off by the e lectronic control unit. If the
bulb for the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
bu rns out, the a irbag ind icator light
II w ill
come on to s ignal a malfunction in the Ad­
vanced A irbag System . Although the burned­
ou t bu lb will no t change the way the front
passenger's frontal ai rbag wor ks, it w ill no
l onger be possib le to use the
PASSENGER AIR
BAG OFF
light to make sure tha t the airbag
on/off stat us is correct for the occupant on
the front passenger seat. Have the airbag sys­
tem inspected immed iate ly by your author­
ized A udi dealer.
The PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light will blink
for about S se conds when:
- the ignition is switched on and
- t he capa citi ve passenger detection system,
which switc hes the front sea t passenger's
frontal Advanced Airbag on and off, detects a change in the status of the front passen­
ger seat.
As soon as the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
li ght stops b linking, a lways make sure that
the a irbag status (on or off) as shown by the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OF F light is proper for
the age, size and e lectrical capacitance of the
person occupy ing the front passenger seat.
Always make sure that the safety belt for the
front passenger seat is prope rly fastened .
The PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF l ight will
show the status of the front seat passenger 's
frontal Advanced Airbag a few s econds after
th e ignition i s switched on and the airbag in­
dicator light goes off. The PASSENGER AIR
BAG OFF light :
- will stay on if the front passenger seat is not
occupied;
- will stay on if the electr ical capacitance
meas ured by the capacitive passenger de­
tect ion system for th e front passenger s eat
equa ls the combined capacitance of a n in­
fa nt up to abou t one ye ar of age and one o f
the rearward -facing or forw ard-f acin g ch ild
restraints listed i n Fede ral Motor Vehicle
Safety Standard 208 with which the Ad­
vanced Airbag System in your vehicle was
cert ified; For a listing of the child restraints
that were used to certify your vehicle's com­
pliance w ith the U.S . Safety Standard
c>page 173.
-will go out if the fro nt passenger seat is oc­
cupied by an adult as registered by the ca ­
pacitive passenge r detection system .
- The
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light must
come on and stay on if the ignition is on
and . ..
- a car bed has been installed on the front
passe nger seat, or
- a rearward -facing child restraint has been
installed on the front passenger seat, or
- a forward-fac ing ch ild restra int has been in-
stalled on the front passenger seat, ..,_

M N
0 <.J 'SI: ,...., \!) 1.1'1 ,...., 1.1'1 ,....,
-and if the e lectr ica l capacitance registered
on the front passenger seat is equal to or l ess than the combined capacitance of a typ­
ical 1 year-old infant and one of the rear­
ward-facing or forward-facing child re­
stra ints listed in Federal Motor Veh icle Safe ­
ty Standard 208 w ith which the Advanced
Airbag System in your vehicle was certified.
If the front passenger seat is not occupied,
the front airbag will not deploy, and the
PA S­
SENGER AIR B AG OFF
light w ill stay on . Nev­
er insta ll a rearward-fac ing ch ild restra int on
the front passenger seat, the safest place for
a child in any kind of child restraint is at one
of the seating positions on the rear seat
¢ page 147, Child restraints on the front seat
- some important things to know
and
¢ page 171, Child Safety.
If the PASSENGER AIR BAG light com es
on ...
If the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes
on when one of the conditions listed above is met, be sure to check the light regularly to
make certa in that the
PA SSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
light stays on cont inuously whenever the
i gnit io n is on . If the
PASSENGER AIR B AG
OFF
light does not appear on and does not
stay on all the time, stop as soon as it is safe
to do so and
- react ivate the system by turning the ignition
off for more than 4 seconds and then turn­
i ng it on again;
- remove and reinstall the child restraint .
Make su re that the child rest raint is prope rly
installed and that the safety be lt fo r the
fron t passenger seat has been corre ct ly
ro uted through the child restraint as descri­
bed in the chi ld restraint man ufacturer's in­
structions;
- make sure that the convertible locking re­
tractor on the safety belt for the front pas­
senger seat has been act ivated and that the
safety belt has been pulled tight.
- make sure that no electrica l device (such as
a laptop, CD player, electronic games device,
power inver ter or seat heater for child seats)
is p laced or used on the front passenger
A irbag system 159
seat if the device is connected to the 1 2-volt
socket or the cigarette lighter socket;
- make sure that no seat heater has been ret­
rofitted o r otherwise added to the front pas­
senger seat;
- make s ure that nothing can interfere with
the safety belt buck les and that they are not
obstructed ;
- make sure that there are no wet objects
(s uch as a wet towe l) and no water or other
liquids on the front passenger seat cushion .
If the PASSENGER AIR BAG light still
doe s not c ome on ...
If the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light still
does not come on and does not stay on con­
tinuously (when the ignition is switched on),
- take the child rest raint off the front passen -
ger seat and install it proper ly at o ne of the
rear seat positions. Have the airbag system
inspected by your Audi dealer immed iate ly.
- move the child to a rear seat position and
make sure that the child is properly restra in­
ed in a ch ild restra int that is appropriate for
its size and age.
Th e PASSENGER AIR BAG light should
NOT come on ...
The PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light should
NOT come on when the ignit io n is on and an
adult is s itting in a proper seating position on
the front passenge r seat . If the
PASSENGER
AIR BAG OFF
light comes on and stays on o r
flashes fo r about S seconds wh ile d riving, un­
der these circumstances, make sure that:
- the adult on the front passenger seat is
prope rly seated on the cente r of the seat
cushion with his o r her back up aga inst the
backrest and the backrest is no t recli ned,
- the adult i s not tak ing weight off the seat by
holding on to the passenger assist handle
above the fron t passenger door or s upport ­
ing their weight on the armrest,
- the sa fe ty belt is bei ng properly wo rn and
tha t the re is not a lot o f slack in the safety
be lt webbing,
- there are no aftermar ket seat covers or
cushions or other things (s uch as blankets)
IJI>
•
•

160 Airbag sys te m
on the front passenger seat that might
cause the capacitive passenger detection
system to miscalcu late electrical capac i­
tance.
Important safety instructions on
monitoring the Advanced Airbag System
_&. WARNING
- If the status of the Adv a need Airbag Sys­
tem has changed while the vehicle is
moving, the
PA SSE NGER AIR BAG O FF
light blinks for about 5 seconds to catch
the driver's attent ion. If this happens, al­
ways stop as soon as it is safe to do so
and check the steps described above.
- If the
PA SSE NGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not go off when an adult who is not
very small is sitting on the front passen­ ger seat after taking the steps descr ibed
above, make sure the adult is properly
seated and restrained at one of the rear
seating positions. Have the a irbag sys­
tem inspected by your authorized Audi dealer before transporting anyone on the
front passenger seat.
_&. WARNING
An airbag system that is not funct ioning
properly cannot provide supplemental pro­
tect ion in a frontal crash .
- If the airbag indicator light
c:> page 19
comes when the vehicle is be ing used,
have the system inspected immediate ly
by you r autho rized Aud i dea le r.
It is pos­
sible that the airbag will inflate when it
is not s upposed to, or w ill not inflate
when it should.
_&. WARNING
If the front air bag infla tes, a ch ild witho ut
a child restra int, or in a rearward -fac ing
child safety seat, o r in a forward-facing
child restraint that has not been properly
installed will be serious ly injured and can
be killed. -
Even tho ugh you r vehicle is equipped
with an Advanced A irbag System, make
certain that all children, especially 12
years and younger, always ride on the
back seat p roperly restrained for their
age and size .
- Always install forward o r rear-facing
child seats on the rear seat -even with
an Advanced A irbag System.
- If you must install a rearwa rd-facing
child seat on the front passenger seat
because of ex ceptional circumstan ces
and the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not appear and s tay on, immediate­
ly install the rear -facing child seat in a
rea r seating position and have the airbag
system inspected by you r Audi dealer.
- If, in exceptiona l circumstances, you
m ust install a forward-facing child re­
straint on the front passenger seat, al­
ways move the seat into its rearmost po­ sition in the seat's fore and aft adjust­
ment range, as far away from the a irbag
as poss ible. The backrest must be adjust­
ed to an upright pos ition. Make su re that
the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
comes on and stays on all the time when ­
eve r the ignit ion is swit ched on.
_&. WARNING
=
- If the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not go out when an ad ult is sitting
on the front passenger seat after taking
the steps described above, make sure the
adu lt is properly seated and restra ined at
one of the rea r seat ing pos itions.
- Have the airbag system inspected by
your Aud i dea ler before t ransporting
anyone on the front passenger seat.
(D Tips
If the capac itive passenger detection sys­
tem determ ines that the front passenger
seat is empty, the fronta l airbag on the
passenger side will be turned off, and the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF l ight will stay
on.