steering wheel adjustment AUDI S3 2015 Owners Manual

56 Seat s a nd s tor ag e
Seats and storage
General information
Important information
& WARNING
Refer to the chapter Driving Safely
r::!>poge 125, Driving safety for important
information, t ips, suggestions and warn­
ings that you should read and follow for
your own safety and the safety of your pas­ sengers.
Why is your seat adjustment so important?
The safety belts and the airbag system con
only provide maximum protection if the front
seats ore correctly adjusted.
There are various ways of adjusting the front
seats to provide safe and comfortable support
for the driver and the front passenger. Adjust
your seat properly so that :
- you can easily and quickly reach all the
switches and controls in the instrument
panel
- your body is properly supported thus reduc­
ing physical stress and fatigue
- the safety belts and airbag system can offer
maximum protection
r::!> page 144 .
In the following sections, you will see exactly
how you can best adjust your seats .
There are special regulations and instructions
for insta lling a child seat on the front pas­
senger's seat. Always follow the information regarding child safety provided in
r::!> page 170, Child Safety .
& WARNING
Incorrect seating position of the dr iver and
all other passengers can result in serious
personal in jury.
- Always keep your feet on the f loor when
the vehicle is in motion - never p ut your
feet on top of the instrumen t panel, out of the window or on top of the seat c
ush­
ion. This applies espec ially to the passen­
gers. If your seating position is incorrect,
you increase the risk of injury in the case
of sudden braking or an accident .
If the
airbag inflates and the seating position is incorrect, this could result in pe rsonal
inj ury or even death.
- It is important for both the drive r and
front passenger to keep a distance of at least 10 inches ( 25 cm) between them­
selves and the steering wheel and/or in ­
strument panel. If you're sitting any
closer than this, the airbag system can­ not protect you properly. In addition, the
front seats and head restraints must be
adjusted to your body height so that they
can give you max imum protect ion.
- Always try to keep as much distance as
possible between yourself and the steer­
ing wheel o r instrument panel.
- Do not adjust the driver's or front pas­
senger's seat whi le the vehicle is moving.
Your seat may move unexpectedly, caus­
ing sudden loss of veh icle cont ro l and
pe rsonal injury. If you adjust yo ur seat
while the veh icle is moving, yo u are ou t
of posit ion .
Driver's seat
The correct seat position is important for safe
and relaxed driving.
We recommend that you adjust the dr iver's
seat in the fo llow ing manne r:
.. Adjust the seat in fore and aft direction so
that you can easily push the peda ls to the
floor wh ile keeping your knees sl ightly bent
c::> &. in Why is your seat adjustment so im­
portant? on page 56.
.. Ad just the bac krest so tha t when you sit
w ith your back against the backrest, you can
still grasp the top of the steering wheel.
.. For adjustab le head restraints: adjust the
head restra int so the upper edge is as even
as poss ible with the top of your head. If that
is not possible, try to adjust the head ..,.

144 Airbag sys tem
Airbag system
Important things to know
Importance of wearing safety belts and
sitting properly
Airbags are only supplemental restraints. For
airbags to do their job , occupants must al­
ways properly wear their safety belts and be
in a proper seating position.
F or your safety and the safety of your passen­
gers, before driving off, a lways:
• Adjust the driver's seat and steering wheel
properly ¢
page 126,
• adjust the front passenger's seat properly
¢ page 57,
• Wear safety be lts properly ¢ page 138,
• Always properly use the proper child re-
stra int to protect children¢
page 170.
In a collision, airbags must inflate within the
blink of an eye and with considerable force .
The supplementa l airbags can cause injuries if
the dr iver or the front seat passenger is not
seated properly . Therefore in order to he lp the
a ir bag to do its job, it is important, both as a
d river and as a passenge r to sit prope rly at all
times.
By keeping room between your body and the
steering wheel and the front of the passenge r
compartment, the airbag ca n inflate fully and
comp letely and provide supp lemental protec­
tion in ce rtain frontal collisions¢
page 126,
Proper occupant seating positions .
For detai ls
on the operation of the seat adjustment con­
t rols ¢
page 57.
It's especially important that children a re
properly restrained ¢
page 170.
There is a lot that the driver and the passen­
gers can and must do to help the individua l
safety features installed in your A udi work to­
gether as a system.
P rope r seat ing pos ition is important so that
the front airbag on the drive r side can do its
job. If yo u have a physical impa irment or con- dition that prevents yo
u from sitting properly
o n the driver seat with the safety belt properly
fastened and reaching the pedals , or if you
have concerns with regard to the function or
operation of the Advanced Airbag System ,
please contact your author ized Audi dealer or
qualified workshop, o r call Audi Customer Re­
lations at 1-800-822-2834 fo r poss ible modi­
fica tions to your ve hicle.
When the airbag system deploys, a gas gener ­
ator will f il l the a irbags, break open t he pad­
ded cove rs, and inflate between the steering
whee l and the dr iver and between the instru­
ment pane l and the fron t passenger. The a ir­
bags will deflate immediately after dep loy­
ment so tha t the front occupants can see
t hr ough the windshie ld again witho ut inter­
ruption .
All of th is takes p lace in the b link o f an eye, so
fast that many peop le don't even realize tha t
the airbags have deployed. The airbags a lso
inflate with a great dea l of force and nothing
shou ld be in their w ay when they deploy.
Front a irbags in combination with properly
wor n safety belts slow down and lim it the oc ­
cupant's forward movement . T ogether they
help to prevent the drive r and front seat pas­
senger from hitting pa rts of the inside of t he
vehicle while reducing the forces acting on the
occupant dur ing the crash . In this way they
help to reduce the risk of injury to the head
and upper body in the crash. A irbags do not
protect the arms or the lower parts of the
body.
Both front airbags wi ll not inflate in all fronta l
collisions . The triggering of the airbag system
depends on the vehicle dece lerat ion rate
ca used by the co llision and registered by the
electron ic control unit. If th is rate is below
the reference value programmed into the con ­
t rol unit , the airbags will not be trigge red,
even though the car may be badly damaged as
a res ult of the co llision . Ve hicl e damage, re­
pair costs o r even the lack of ve hicle damage
is not necessari ly an indication of whe ther an
airbag shou ld inflate or not .
IJll-