warning light AUDI Q7 2018 Owner´s Manual

Drivin g saf ety
Driving safety
Basics
Safe driving habits
Please remember -safety first!
The individua l safety features of your vehicle can
work together as a system to help protect you
and your passengers in a wide range of accidents.
These features cannot work as a system if they
are not always correctly adjusted and correctly
used .
This chapter contains important informat ion,
tips, instruct ions and warn ings that you need to
read and observe for your own safety, the safety
of you r passengers and others . We have summar­
ized here w hat you need to know about safety
be lts, a irbags, child restra ints as well as child
safety. Yo ur safety is for us priority number 1. Al­
ways observe the information and warnings in
this section -for your own safety as we ll as that
of your passengers.
The information in this section applies to all
model versions of your vehicle . Some of the fea­
tures described in this sections may be standard
equipment on some models, or may be optional
equ ipment on others. If you are not sure, ask
your author ized Audi dealer.
A WARNING
- Always make sure that you follow the in­
structions and heed the WARNINGS in th is
manual.
It is in your inte rest and in the in­
te rest of your passengers .
-
-Always keep all of the Owner's L iterature
manuals in yo ur Audi when you lend o r sell
yo ur vehicle so that this import ant informa­
t ion w ill alw ays be availab le to the dr iver
and passengers.
- Always keep the Owner 's Lite ra ture han dy
so that you can find it easi ly if yo u have
questions .
252
Important things to do before driving
Safety is everybody's job! Vehicle and occupant
safety always depends on the informed and care­
ful driver.
For your safety and the safety of your passen­
gers,
bef ore dri ving alw ays:
.. Make sure that a ll lights and signals are operat­
ing correctly .
.. Make sure that the tire pressure is correct.
.. Make sure that all windows are clean and afford
good vis ibility to the outs ide .
.. Sec ure all luggage and othe r items ca refully
¢ page
257 .
.. Make sure tha t noth ing ca n interfere wi th the
peda ls .
.. Adjust front seat, head restraint and mirrors
correctly for your height.
.. Instruct passengers to adjust the head re­
straints according to their he ight.
.. Make sure to use the right child restraint cor­
rectly to protect children¢ page 291, Child
safety .
• Sit proper ly in yo ur seat a nd make sure t hat
your passenge rs do the same ¢ page 54, Front
seats .
.. Fasten your sa fety belt and wear it p roperly . Al ­
so instruct your passengers to fasten their safe­
ty be lts properly ¢ page 261 .
What impairs driving safety?
Safe driving is directly related to the condition of
the vehicle, the driver as well as the driver's abili­
ty to concentrate on the rood without being dis­
tracted.
The driver is responsib le for the safety of the ve ­
hicle and a ll of its occupants. If your ability to
drive is impa ired, safety risks for everybody in the
vehicle increase and you a lso become a hazard to
everyone else on the road ¢
_&.. Therefore:
.. Do not let yourse lf be distracted by passenge rs
or by using a cellular telephone .
.. NEVER drive when your driving ability is im­
paired (by med ications, alcohol, drugs, etc .) .
.. Observe all traffic laws, rules of the road and
speed lim its and plain common sense . .,.

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~ ALWAYS adjust your speed to road, traffic and
weather conditions.
~ Take frequent breaks on long trips. Do not drive
for more than two hours at a stretch.
~ Do NOT drive when you are tired, under pres­
sure or when you are stressed .
A WARNING
Impaired driv ing safety increases the risk of
ser ious personal inju ry and death whenever a
vehicle is being used .
Correct passenger
seating positions
Proper seating position for the driver
The proper driver seating position is important
for safe, relaxed driving .
Fig. 219 Correc t seating pos ition
F or your own s afety and to reduce the risk of in­
jury in the event of an accident, we recommend
that you adjust the driver 's seat to the following
position:
~ Adjust the dr iver's seat so tha t you can easily
push the pedals all the way to the f loor wh ile
keeping your knee(s) s light ly bent
c::> _& .
~ Adjust the ang le of the seatback so that it is in
an upright position so that your back comes in
full contact w ith it when you drive.
~ Adjust the steering wheel so that there is a dis­
tance of at least 10 inches (25 cm) between the
stee ring wheel and you r breast bone
c::> fig. 219.
If no t possib le, see you r autho riz ed Aud i dea le r
abo ut adapt ive eq uipment.
Dri ving safety
~ Adjust the steering wheel so that the steering
wheel and airbag
cover points at your chest and
not at yo ur face.
~ Grasp the top of the steering wheel with your
elbow(s) slightly bent.
~ Adjust the head restra int so the upper edge is
as
even as possible w ith the top of your head . If
that is not possib le, t ry to adjust the head re­
straint so that it is as close to this posit ion as
possible .
~ Fasten and wear safety belts correctly
c::>page 264.
~ Always keep both feet in the footwell so that
you are in contro l of the ve hicle at a ll times.
F or detailed information on how to adj ust the
drive r's seat, see
c::> page 54 .
A WARNING
-
Drivers who are unbelted, out of position or
too close to the airbag can be seriously in­
jured by an airbag as it unfolds. To help re­ d uce the risk of serious personal injury:
- Always ad just the driver's seat and the
steer ing whee l so that there are at least
10 inc hes (25 cm) between you r breastbone
and the steering wheel.
- Always hold the steering wheel on the out­
side of the steering wheel r im with your
hands at the 9 o'clock and 3 o' clock posi­
tions to help reduce the risk of personal in­
ju ry if the driver's airbag inflates.
- Never hold the stee ring wheel at the
12 o' clock position o r with you r hands at
o ther posi tions ins ide the s teer ing whee l
rim or on the steering wheel hub. Holding
the steering wheel the wrong way can cause
serio us injuries to the hands, arms and head
if the dr iver's airbag dep loys.
- Pointing the steering wheel toward your
face decreases the ability of the supplemen­ tal driver's airbag to protect you in a coll i­
sion.
- Always sit in an upright position and never
lean aga inst or place any part of your body
too close to the area where the airbags are located .
253

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Safety belts
General information
Always wear safety belts!
Wearing safety belts correctly saves lives!
This chapter explains why safety be lts 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 s ingle most effective
means ava ilable to reduce the risk of serious
injury and death in automobi le accidents.
For your protection and that of your passen­
gers, always co rrect ly wea r safety be lts
w hen the veh icle is mov ing.
- Pregnant wome n, in ju red, o r physically im­
paired persons mus t also use safety be lts.
Lik e al l vehicle oc cupan ts, they are mo re
li kely to be serio usly injured i f th ey do no t
wear safety be lts . The best way to protect a
fetus is to protect the mothe r - thro ughout
the ent ire pregnancy.
Number of seats
App lies to: Ve hicles w ith five seats: Your vehicle
has two front seats and three rear seats. Each
seating position has a safety belt .
App lies to: Ve hicles w ith seven seats: Your
ve hicles has two front seats, three seats in the
second row and two seats in the third row. Each
seating position has a safety belt .
A WARNING
Not wea ring safety bel ts or wear ing them im­
properly increases the risk of ser io us pe rsonal
inju ry and death.
- Never st rap more tha n one person, i nclud­
ing small c hildre n, into any be lt.
It is espe-
Safet y be lts
cially dangero us to p lace a safety be lt over a
child sitting on yo ur lap.
- Never let more peop le ride in the vehicle
than there are safety be lts available.
- Be s ure everyone riding in the vehicle is
proper ly restrained with a separate safety
be lt o r ch ild rest raint.
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.
F ig . 222 Safety belt wa rning lig ht in t he inst rume nt clus ­
ter - en larged
Before dr iving off , always :
~ Fasten your safety belt and ma ke sure you are
wearing it properly.
<D N
"' 0 ,:.
;?;
~ Make sure that you r passengers also b uckl e up
and properly wear their safety belts.
~ Protect children with a c hild restraint system
appropr iate for the size and age .
The warning lig ht . in the instrument cluster
lights up when t he ignit ion is switched on as a re­
minder to fasten the safety be lts. In addition,
you w ill hear a warn ing tone for a certain period
of time.
Fasten your safet y belt and make sure that your
passengers also properly put on their safety
b e lts .
A WARNING
-
-Safety belts are the sing le m ost effect ive
means available to red uce the risk of se riou s
i njur y and death in a utomo bile acci dents.
F or your p rotection and tha t of yo ur
261

Safe ty belts
passenge rs, a lways correct ly wear safety
belts when the vehicle is moving.
- Failure to pay attention to the warning light
that comes 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. 223 Unbe lted occupants in a vehicle heading for a wall
Fig. 22 4 The vehicle crashes into the wall
The physical princip les are simple . Both the vehi­
cle and the passengers possess energy which var­
ies with vehicle speed and body we ight . Engi­
neers call this energy "kinet ic energy."
The higher the speed of the vehicle and the
greater the vehicle's weight, the more energy
that has to be "absorbed" in the crash.
Veh icle speed is the most signific ant fac tor .
If
the speed doubles from 15 to 30 mph (25 to 50
km/h), the energy increases 4 times!
Because the passengers of th is veh icle are not us­
i n g safety bel ts
¢fig. 223, they will keep mov ing
at the same speed the ve hicle was moving j ust
262
before the crash, until something stops them -
here, the wall ¢
fig. 224.
The same principles apply to people s itting in a
vehicle that is invo lved in a fronta l collision . Even
at city speeds of 20 to 30 mph (30 to 50 km/h),
the forces acting on the body can reach one ton
(2,000 lbs . or 1,000 kg) o r more . At g reater
speeds, these forces are even higher.
People who do not use safety belts are a lso not
attached to their vehicle . In a frontal collision
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 what happens
i n a ll kinds of accide nts and co llisions .
What happens to occupants not wearing
safety belts?
In crashes unbelted occupants cannot stop
themselves from flying forward and being in­
jured or killed. Always wear your safety belts!
Fig. 225 A drive r not wearing a safety belt is violently
thrown forward
F ig . 22 6 A rear passe nger not wea ring a safety belt w ill fly
forwa rd and strike the driver
Unbelted occ upants a re not ab le to res ist the tre-
mendous forces of impac t by holdi ng tight o r
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• Make sure 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. 228, ¢ .&_ .
• Insert the tongue into the correct buckle of
your seat until you hear it latch securely.
• Pullon the belt to make sure that it is securely
latched in the buck le.
Automatic safety belt retractors
Every safety belt is equ ipped with an automatic
belt retractor on the shoulder belt. Th is feature
locks the belt when the belt is pu lled out fast,
during hard braking and in an accident . T he belt
may a lso lock when you drive up or down a steep
hill or thr ough a s harp curve. Dur ing normal dr iv­
ing the bel t lets you move freely.
Safet y belt pretensioners
Safety belts wit h pretensioners he lp to tighte n
the safety belt and remove s lack when the pre­
tensione rs a re activate d¢
page 267 . T he fu nc­
t ion of the pretensioner is moni to red by a warn­
ing light
q page 25.
Convertible locking retractor
E very safety belt except the one on the driver
seat is eq uipped w ith a co nvertible locking ret rac­
tor that
must be used when the safety bel t is
used to attach a child safe ty seat. Be sure to read
the impo rtant i nfo rmat ion about this feature
¢ page 302.
.&._ WARNING
Improperly posit ioned safety be lts can cause
ser ious injury in an accident
q page 265,
Safety belt position .
- Safety belts offer optimum protection only
when the seatback is upright and belts are
properly positioned on the body.
-Always ma ke sure that the rear seat bac k­
rest to wh ich the center rear safety be lt is
attached is secure ly latched whenever the
rear cente r safety belt is being used .
If the
backrest is not securely latched, the passen­
ger will move forward with the backrest dur-
Safet y bel ts
ing sudden braking, in a s udden ma neuver
and espec ia lly in a crash.
- Never attach the safety belt to the buckle
for another seat. Attach ing the be lt to the
wrong buckle will reduce safety be lt effec­
tiveness and can cause serio us personal i n­
jury .
- A passenger who is not properly rest rai ned
can be seriously injured by the safety belt it­
self when it moves from the st ronge r parts
of the body into c ritical areas like the abdo­
men .
- Always loc k the convertible locking retractor
when yo u are s ecu ring a c hild safety seat in
the vehicle
q page 304.
Safety belt position
Correct belt position is the key to getting maxi ­
mum protection from safety belts .
Fig. 22 9 Safet y belt pos it ion
Standard features on your vehicle help you adjust
the position of the safety belt to matc h your body
s ize .
- be lt height adjus tment for the front seats,
- he igh t-a djust able fro nt seat s.
.&_ WARNING
Im properly posi tioned sa fe ty belts can ca use
se rious pe rsonal injury in an acc ident .
- Th e shou lde r belt should lie as close to the
center of t he collar bone as possib le and
should fit well on the body . Ho ld the belt
above the latch tongue and pull it evenly
across the chest so that it sits as low as pos-
sible on the pe lvis and there is no pressure ..,.
265

Airbag syste m
the electronic control unit c> page 281, PASSEN­
GER AIR BAG OFF-,,;, ON@ light.
Always remember, a child safety seat o r infa nt
carrier insta lled on the front seat may be st ru ck
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 dur ing inflation.
F or 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 si ze -we strong ly
recommend that children always sit in the back
seat
c> page 291, 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 front
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 wi th 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 fac ing 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 iate ly 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 circumst ances, you must in­
stall a forward-f acing chi ld res train t on the
front passenger's seat:
- Always make sure the forward-f acing se at
h as been designed and ce rt ified by its man-
272 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 ins tall ing the for­
ward-facing chi ld restraint.
- Always make sure that the safety belt upper
anchorage is behind the ch ild rest raint and
not next to o r in fron t of the child rest raint
so th at the s afety be lt will be p roperly posi­
tioned.
- Ma ke sure th at the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF -,,;,
light comes on and stays on all the
time wheneve r the ign it ion is swi tched on .
A WARNING
To reduce the risk o f serious injury, ma ke 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
PA SSENGER AIR BAG OFF-,,;, light
does not stay on, perform the checks descri­
bed
c> page 281, 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
I f, 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:
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The front Advanced Airbag System for the front
seat occupants is not a substitute for your safety be lts. Rather, it is part of the overa ll occupant re­
stra int system in your vehicle. A lways remember
that the airbag system can on ly help to protect
you, if you are sitting upr ight, wear ing your safe ­
ty belt and wear ing it properly . This is why you
and your passengers must always be prope rly re­
stra ined, not just beca use the law req uir es yo u to
be.
The Advanced Airbag System in your ve hicle has
been ce rt ified to meet the " low r isk" requ ire­
ments fo r 3 and 6 yea r-o ld children o n the pas­
senger side and very sma ll adul ts on the d rive r
side . The low r is k dep loymen t cr iteria are intend ­
ed to he lp reduce t he ris k of injury through inter­
action with the front airbag that can occ ur, for
examp le, by being too close to the steering whee l
and instrument pane l when the airbag inflates .
I n addition, the system has been certified to
comp ly with the "suppression" requirements of
the Safety Standard, to t urn off the front a irbag
for infants 12 months old and younger who are
restrained on the front passenger seat in c hild re­
stra ints that are listed in the Standard
<=:>
page 293, Child restraints and Advanced Air­
bags.
"Suppress ion" requ ires the front a irbag on the
passenger side to be turned
off if:
- a ch ild up to about one year of age is restra ined
on the front passenger seat in one of the rear­
facing or forward-fac ing infant restra ints listed
in Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208
with wh ic h the Advanced Airbag System in your
vehicle was ce rt ified. For a listing of the c hild
r estra in ts tha t were used to certify your ve hi­
cl e's comp lian ce wi th t he US S afety St andard
<=:>
page 293,
- When a person is de te cte d on the fron t passen ­
ger sea t th at has an electr ica l capaci tance t hat
is mo re t han t he tota l electrical capac itance of
a chi ld that is about 1 year old restrained in one
of the rea r-facing or forward-facing infant re ­
straints (listed in Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208 w ith which the Advanced A irbag
System in your ve hicle was certified), the front
Airbag syste m
airbag on the passenger side may or may not
dep loy.
T he
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF~; ligh t comes on
whe n the elect ronic con trol uni t detec ts a t otal
electrica l capacitance on the front passenger seat
that requires the front airbag to be turned
off. If
the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF~; light does not
come on, the front airbag on the passenger side
has not been turned
off by the contro l unit and
can deploy if the contro l unit senses a n impact
t h at meets the cond it ions stored in its memory .
If the total electr ica l capacitance reg istered on
the front passenger seat is more t han that of a
typ ical 1 year-old , but less than the weight of a
small ad ult, the front a irbag on the passenger
s ide may dep loy (the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
~; light does not come on).
For example, the airbag may deploy if :
-a small ch ild that is heav ier than a typica l 1
year-o ld child is on the front passenger seat
(regardless of whether the child is in one of t he
child safety seats listed<=:>
page 293),
- a child who has outgrown c hild restraints is on
the front passenger seat.
If the front passenge r ai rbag is t urned off, the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF~; light in the head ­
liner w ill come on and stay on.
If the front passenge r airbag deploys, the Feder ­
al Standard requi res t he airbag to meet the " low
risk" deployment criteria to he lp reduce the r is k
of i njury through interaction with the a irbag.
"Low risk" deployment occurs in those crashes
that take place at lower decelerations as defined
i n the electronic co ntro l unit .
<=:>page 281
Always remember : Even though your vehicle is
equipped with Advanced Airbags, the safest place
for ch ildre n is properly restra ined o n the back
seat . Please be s ure to read the impo rtant in for­
mation in the sect ions that fo llow and be sure to
heed all of the WAR NIN GS.
_&. WARNING
To redu ce th e r is k of injury when an air bag in -
fl ates, always wea r sa fe ty be lts properly . ...,
275

Airbag syste m
-If you are unrestrained, leaning forward, sit­
t ing s ideways or out of pos ition in any way,
your risk of injury is much h igher.
- You 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¢
page 269.
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 front
airbag inflates - even w ith an Advanced Ai rbag
System.
- Although the Advanced A irbag System in
yo ur vehicle is designed to tu rn off the front
airbag when a rearward-facing child re­
straint has been insta lled on the front pas ­
senger seat, nobody can absolutely guaran­
tee that deployment is impossible in all con­
ceivable s ituations that may happen during
the useful life of your vehicle.
- The inflating a irbag w ill hit the child safety
seat or infant carrier with great force and
will smash the chi ld safety seat and child
against the backrest, center armrest, door,
o r roof .
- Always install rearward -facing ch ild re ­
straints on the rear seat .
- If you must install a rearward fac ing ch ild
safety seat on the front passenger seat be ­
cause of exceptional circumstances and the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF~; light does not
come on and s tay on, immed iate ly install
the rear-fac ing ch ild safety sea t in a rear
seat ing pos ition and have the airbag system
inspected by your authorized Audi dea ler.
A WARNING
If, in exceptional circumstances, you must in­
stall a forward-facing chi ld restraint on the
front passenger's seat :
- Always make sure the forward-facing seat
has been designed and cert ified by its man­
ufacturer for use on a front seat with a pas­
senger front and side a irbag.
276
- 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 fo re and aft
ad justment range, as far away from the a ir­
bag as poss ible, before installing the for­
ward-f acing chi ld restrain t.
- Always make sure that the safety be lt upper
anchorage is behind the ch ild rest raint and
not next to o r in fron t of the child rest raint
so that the safety be lt will be p roperly posi­
tioned.
- Always make sure that there is noth ing on
the front passenger seat tha t will cause the
capacitive passenger detection system in
the seat to signal to the Airbag System that
the seat is occup ied by a person when it 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 airbag to be turned on when it should
be off, or could cause the airbag to work in a
way that is differen t from the w ay it wou ld
have worked without the object on the seat .
- Ma ke sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
"I,;; light comes on and stays on all the
time wheneve r the ignition is switched on .
Advanced Airbag System components
The front passenger seat in your vehicle has a lot
of very important parts of the Advanced Airbag
System in it. These pa rts include the capacitive
passenger detection system, wir ing, brackets,
and more . T he control unit monitors the system
o n the front passenger seat when the ignit ion is
switched on and turns the airbag indicato r light
o n when a malfunction in the one of the system
components is detected ¢
page 281. Because
t h e fron t passenger sea t contains impo rtant
parts of the Advanced Ai rbag System , you must
take care to prevent it from being damaged .
Damage to the seat may prevent the Advanced .,.

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Airbag System for the front passenger seat from
doing its job in a crash.
The front Ad vanced Airbag System con sists
o f the follo wing :
-Cras h sensors in the front of the vehicle that
measure vehicle acceleration/deceleration to
provide information to the Advanced Airbag
System a bout the severity of the crash.
- An electronic control unit, with integrated
crash sensors for front and side impacts. The
contro l unit "decides" whether to fire the front
airbags based on the information received from
the crash sensors . The control unit also "de ­
c ides" whether the safety belt pretens ione rs
shou ld be activated .
- An Advanced Airbag with gas generator and
contro l valve for the d river ins ide the steer ing
whee l hub.
- An Advanced Airbag with gas generator and
contro l valve inside the instrument pane l for
the fron t passenger.
- A capac itive passenger detect ion system under­
neath the front passenger seat cover. This sys­
tem measures the elect ric al capac ita nce of the
person in the seat. The informat ion registe red
is sent contin uous ly to the e lectron ic control
unit to regulate deployment of the front Ad ­
vanced Airbag on the passenger side.
- An airbag monitoring system and indicator
light
m in the instrument cluster.
- A sensor in eac h front seat registers the dis ­
tance between the respective seat and the
stee ring wheel or instrument pane l. The infor ­
mation reg istered is sent continuously to the
electronic control unit to regulate deployment
of the front Adv a need A irbags .
- The
PA SSENG ER AIR BAG OFF~; ON @ light
comes on in the headliner
c:> page 281,
fig . 236 and tells you the status of the Ad ­
vanced Airbag o n the passenge r side .
- A sensor i n the safety belt latch for the driver
and for the front seat passenger that senses
whethe r that safety belt is latched or not and
t ransm its this info rmat io n to the elect ronic
c ontro l unit.
Airbag syste m
A WARNING ~ -
Damage to the front passenger seat can pre­
vent the front airbag from working properly .
- Improper repair or disassembly of the front
passenger and driver seat will p revent the
Advanced A irbag System from f unct ion ing
p roperly .
- Repa irs to the front passenger seat must be
pe rformed by qualified a nd p roperly tra ined
wo rkshop personne l.
- Never remove the front passenger or driver
seat from the vehicle .
- Never remove the upholstery from the front
passenger sea t.
- Never d isassemble or remove parts from the
seat o r disconnect w ires from it .
- Never carry sharp objects in your pockets or
put them on the seat . The capacit ive pas­
senger de tec tion mat in the front passenger
seat will not funct ion p roperly if i t is punc­
tured.
- Never carry things on your lap or carry ob­
jects on the front passenge r seat. S uch ob­
jects ca n infl uence the capaci tance reg is­
t ered by the cap aci tive passenge r detection
sys tem, so that incorrect in forma tion is pro ­
vided to the ai rbag control unit.
- Neve r store i tems unde r the front p assenger
seat . Parts of the Advanced Airbag System
under the passenger seat cou ld be dam ­
aged, p reventing them and the airbag sys ­
tem from wor king p roper ly.
- Never p lace seat covers or replacement up ­
holstery that have not been specifically ap­
proved by Audi on the front seats.
- Seat covers can prevent the Advanced Air ­
bag System from recognizing chi ld re­
stra ints or occupants on the front passenger
seat and preven t the side airbag in the seat
backrest from deploy ing properly .
- If a seat heater has bee n retrofitted or oth­
erwise added to the front passe nger seat,
neve r ins tall any child restra int system on
t his seat.
- Never use cushions, p illows , blankets, or
sim ila r it ems o n the front passenge r seat .
277

Airbag syste m
The additiona l layers prevent the capacitive
passenger detection system from accurately
measuring the capac itance of the ch ild safe­
ty seat and/or the person on the seat and
thus keep the Advanced Airbag System from
working p roperly .
- Never place or use any electrical device (such as a laptop, CD player, elect ronic
games dev ice, power inverte r or seat heater
for child seats) on the front passenger seat if the device is connected to the 12-vol t
socket or the cigarette lighter socket . S u ch
devices can infl uence the capacitance regis­
tered by the capacitive passenger detection
system, so that incorrect information is pro­
vided to the airbag control unit.
- If you must use a child restraint on the front
passenger seat and the child restraint man­
ufacturer's instructions require the use of a
towel, foam cushion or something else to properly position the ch ild restraint, make
certain that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
~; light comes on and stays on whenever
the chi ld restraint is installed on the front
passenger seat .
-If the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF~; light
does not come on and s tay on, immedi ate ly
install child restra int in a rear seating posi ­
tion and have the airbag system inspected by your A udi dealer .
,&_ WARNING
If the front passenger seat gets wet, dry it im­
mediately.
- If liquid soaks into the front passenger seat,
this can keep the a irbag system from work­
ing prope rly and may, for instance, deact i­
vate the passenger frontal airbag. If this happens, the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF~;
light will come on and stay on togethe r wi th
the a irbag ind icator light
m in the inst ru­
ment cluster.
- If liquid is poo led on the seat, bu t has not
soa ked in, this may also keep the airbag sys­
tem from wo rking properly and ca use the
passenge r frontal a irb ag to be enabled
(tu rned on), even though there is a properly
278
installed child restraint system on the seat .
Wet towels or other wet things on the seat
cushion can have the same effect. If the
front passenger fronta l airbag is turned on,
the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF~; light will
turn off.
How the Advanced Airbag System
components work together
The front Advanced A irbag System and the side
airbags supp lement the protection offered by the
front t hree-point safety belts and the adjustable
head restraints to he lp reduce the risk of injury in
a wide range of accident and crash situat ions. Be
sure to read the important i nformat ion about
safety and heed the WARNINGS in this chapter .
Deployment of the Advanced A irbag System and
the activation of the safety belt pretensioners de­
pend on the dece leration measured by the crash
sensors and registered by the electronic contro l
u nit . Crash seve rity depe nds on speed and decel­
eration as well as the mass and stiffness of the
vehicle or object involved in the cras h.
On the passenger side, regard less of safety be lt
use, the front passenge r frontal a irbag will be
turned off if t he e lectr ica l capacitance measured
by the capacitive passenge r detection system o n
t h e fron t pa ssenger sea t is less th an the amou nt
prog rammed in t he e lec tronic contro l unit. The
front passenger frontal airbag wi ll also be turned
off if the capacitance measured by the system for
the front passenger seat equals that of an infant
of about one year of age in one of the chi ld seats
that was used to certify the Advanced Airbag Sys­
tem under Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard
208 . The
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF~; light
comes on a nd stays on to tell you when the front
Advanced Airbag System on the passenge r side
has been tu rned off<=?
page 281.
,&_ WARNING
T o reduce the ris k of injury when an airbag in ­
flates, always wear safety belts prope rly.
- If you are unres trained, leaning forward, si t­
ting sideways or out of position in any way,
your r isk of injury is much highe r.
~