airbag AUDI A5 COUPE 2012 Owner's Manual

162 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 dr iver's seat and steering wheel
properly ¢
page 145,
• Adjust the front passenger's seat properly
¢page 62,
• Wear safety be lts properly ¢ page 15 7,
• Always properly use the proper child re-
stra int to protect children¢
page 186.
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 irbag to do its job, it is important, both as a
d river and as a passenge r to sit properly at all
times.
By keeping room between your body and the
steering wheel and the front of the passenger
compartment, the airbag ca n inflate fully and
comp letely and provide supp lemental p rotec­
tion in ce rtain frontal collisions¢
page 145,
Proper occupant seating positions .
For detai ls
on the operat ion of the seat adjustment con­
trols ¢
page 63.
It's especially important that children a re
properly restrained ¢
page 186.
There is a lot that the driver and the passen­
gers can and must do to help the individua l
safety features ins talled in your A udi work to­
gether as a system.
Prope r seat ing pos ition is important so that
the front airbag on the driver s ide can do i ts
job. If yo u have a physical impa irment or con- dition that prevents you from sitting properly
on the driver seat with the safety belt properly
fastened and reaching the peda ls , spec ial
modifications to your vehicle may be necessa­
ry.
Contact your a uthorized Audi dea ler, or call
Audi C ustomer Re lations at 1-800-822-2834 .
When the airbag system dep loys, a gas gener­
ator will f ill the ai rbags, break open the pad­
ded covers, and inf late between the steering
whee l and the dr iver and between the instru ­
ment pane l and the front passenger. The air­
bags will deflate immediately after dep loy­
ment so that the front occupants can see
th rough the w indshield aga in without inter­
ruption .
All of th is take s place in the blink of an eye, so
fast that many people don't even realize that
the a irbags have dep loyed . The airbags also
inflate with a g reat dea l of force and nothing
shou ld be in their way when they deploy.
F ront a irbags in combination with properly
worn safety bel ts slow down and lim it the oc ­
c u pant's forward movement. Together they
help to prevent the drive r and front seat pas­
senger from hitting parts of the inside the ve­
hicle 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 uppe r body i n the c rash . A irbags do not
protect the a rms or the lower parts of the
body.
Both front a irbags w ill not i nflate in all fronta l
collisions . The t rigge ring of the a irbag system
depends on the vehicle dece lerat ion rate
c aused by the co llision and reg istered by the
elect ron ic cont ro l u nit. If t his rate is below
the re ference value programmed into the con­
trol unit, the airbags will not be trigge red ,
even though the car may be bad ly damaged as
a res ult of the collision . Veh icle damage, re­
pair costs or even the lack of veh icle damage
is no t necessarily an indication of whether an
airbag should inflate or not .
It is not possib le to define a range of vehicle
speeds that w ill cover every possib le kind and .,.

angle of impact that will always trigger the
airbags, since the circumstances will vary con­
siderably between one collision and another.
Important factors include, for example, the nature (hard or soft) of the object which the
car hits, the angle of impact, vehicle speed,
etc. The front airbags will also not inflate in
side or rear collisions, or in ro ll-overs .
Alwa ys rem ember : Airbags will deploy only
once, and only in certa in kinds of collisions .
Your safety belts are always there to offer pro­
tection in those s ituations in which airbags
are not supposed to deploy , or when they have
a lready deployed ; fo r example , when yo ur ve­
h icle strikes or is struck by another after the
first collision .
This is just one of the reasons why an a irbag is
a supplementary restra int and is not a s ubst i­
tute for a safety belt . The airbag system
works most effectively when used with the
safety belts. Therefore, always properly wear
your safety belts
¢ page 154.
A WARNING
Sitting too close to the steer ing wheel or
instrument panel will decrease the effec­
tiveness of the airbags and will increase
the risk of pe rsonal injury in a co llision .
- Never sit closer than
10 inches (25 cm)
to the stee ring wheel or instrument pan­
el.
- If you cannot sit more than
10 i nches
(25 cm) from the steer ing wheel, investi­
gate whether adaptive equipment may
be available to help you reach the pedals
and increase your seating dis tance from
the steering wheel.
- If you are unrestrained, lean ing fo rward,
sitting sideways or out of position in any
way, yo ur risk of inj ury is much highe r.
- You w il l also receive serio us inju ries and
cou ld even be killed if you are up against
the airbag or too close to it when it in ­
flates -even with an Advanced Airbag.
- To reduce the r isk o f injury when an air ­
bag inflates, a lways wear safety belts
proper ly ¢
page 157, Safety belts .
Airbag system 163
-Always make certain that chi ld ren age 12
or younger a lways ride in the rear seat. If
children are not properly restrained, they may be severe ly inju red or killed when an
airbag inf lates .
- Never let ch ildren ride unrestra ined or
improperly restrained in the vehicle . Ad ­
just the front seats prope rly.
- Never ride with the backrest reclined.
- Always sit as far as possible from the
steer ing whee l or the instrument pane l
¢page 145.
-Always sit upright with your back against
the backrest of your seat.
- Never p lace your feet on the instrument
panel or on the seat. Always keep both
feet on the f loor in front of the seat to
he lp prevent serio us in juries to the legs
a nd h ips if the airbag inflates.
- Never recline the front passenger 's seat
to tra nsport objects. Items can a lso
move i nto the area of the s ide a irbag or
the front a irbag du ring bra king or in a
sud den maneuve r. Obje cts ne ar the air­
bags can become projectiles and cause
injury when an airbag inflates.
_&. WARNING ~
A irbags that have de ployed in a crash must
be replaced.
- Use on ly original equipment airbags ap­
proved by Audi and installed by a trai ned
technician who has the necessary too ls
and d iagnost ic equipment to properly re­
place any airbag in your vehicle and as­
sure system effectiveness in a crash .
- Never perm it salvaged or recycled air­
bags to be installed in your vehicle .
Child restraints on the front seat - some
important things to know
.,. Be su re to read t he important information
and head the WARNINGS fo r important de­
tails about children and Advanced Airbags
¢ page 186. ..,.
•
•

164 Airbag sys te m
Even though your vehicle is equipped with an
Advanced Airbag System, make certain that
all c hildren, especially those 12 years and
younger, a lways ride in the back seat properly
restra ined for their age and size. The airbag
on the passenger side makes the front seat a potentially dangerous place for a ch ild to r ide.
The front seat is not the safest place for a
child in a fo rward-facing ch ild safety seat. It
can be a very dangerous place for an infant or
a child in a rearward-facing seat.
The Advanced Airbag System in your veh icle
has been certified to comp ly with the Requ ire­
ments of United States Federa l Mo tor Veh icle
Safety Standard 208 as applicable at the time
your vehicle was manufactured.
The Standard requires the front a irbag on the
passenger side to be turned off ("sup­
pressed") if a ch ild up to about one year of
age restrained in one of the rear -facing or for ­
ward -facing infant restraints listed in Federal
Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208 with which
the Advanced A irbag System in your vehicle
was certified has been installed on the front passenger seat . For a listing of the child re ­
strai nts that we re used to certify compliance
with the US Safety Standard
r=v page 188.
The PASSENGE R AIR BAG OFF light in the in­
strument panel te lls you when the front Ad­
vanced A irbag on the passenger side has been
turned off by the e lectronic control unit.
Each t ime you turn on the ignition, the
PAS ­
SENGER AIR BA G OFF
light will come on for a
few seconds and:
- will stay on if the front passenger seat is not
occupied,
- wi ll stay on if there is a small child or child
restraint on the front passenger seat,
- wi ll go off if the front passenger seat is oc ­
cupied by an adult as registered by the
weight-sensing mat
r=v page 173, Monitor­
ing the Advanced Airbag System .
The PASSENGE R AIR BAG OFF light comes on
when the control un it detects a total weight
on the front passenger seat that requires the
front airbag to be turned off.
If the total weight on the front passenge r
seat is more than that of a typica l 1 year -old
chi ld but less than the weight of a small
adult, the front airbag on the passenger side
can deploy (the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
li ght does not come on). If the PAS SENGER
AI R BAG OFF
light does not come on, the
front a irbag on the passenger side has not
been tu rned off by the elect ronic con trol unit
and can deploy if the control unit se nses an
impact that meets the cond itions stored in its
memory .
For exampl e, th e airbag ma y deploy if:
-a small ch ild that is heav ier than a typical 1
year-old ch ild is on the front passenger seat
( r egard less of whether the child is in one of
t he child safety seats listed
r=v page 188), or
- a child who has outgrown ch ild restraints is
on the front passenger seat.
If the front passenger airbag is turned off, the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes on in
the instrument cluster and stays on.
The front airbag on the passenger s ide may
not deploy (the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light does not illum inate and stay lit) even if a
small adult or teenager, or a passenger who is
not sitt ing up rig ht w ith their back against a
non- recl ined ba ck res t w it h thei r feet on the
vehicle floor in front of the sea t is on the front
passenger seat
r=v page 145, Proper seating
position for the driver.
If the front passenger a irbag dep loys, the
F ede ra l Standard req uires the airbag to meet
the "low risk" dep loyment criteria to reduce
the risk of injury t hro ugh interaction wit h the
airbag. "Low risk" dep loyment occ urs in those
crashes that take place at lower dece lerat ions
as defined in the electronic control unit
r=v page 173, PASSENGER AIRBAG OFF light.
Always remember, a ch ild safety seat or infant
carr ier installed on the front seat may be
struck and knocked out of posit ion by the rap­
idly inflat ing passenger's airbag in a fronta l
collision . T he a irbag could greatly reduce the
effectiveness of the ch ild restraint and even
seriously injure t he ch ild during inflation .

For this reason, and because the back seat is
the safest place for children - when properly restrained according to their age and size - we
strongly recommend that children always sit in the back seat
Q page 186, Child Safety.
A WARNING
-
A child in a rearward-facing child safety
seat installed on the front passenger seat
w ill be seriously injured and can be k illed if
the front a irbag inflates - even with an Ad­
vanced Airbag System.
- T he inflating a irbag w ill hit the child
safety seat or infant carrier w ith great
force and w ill smash the ch ild safety sea t
and child against the backrest, cente r
armrest, door or roof .
- Always install rear -facing child safety
seats on the rear seat.
- If you mus t inst all a rearward facing
child safety seat on the front passenger
seat beca use of exceptional circumstan­
ces and the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light does not come on and stay on , im­
med iately install the rear-facing child
safety seat in a rear seating posit ion and
have the a irbag system inspected by your
authorized Aud i dealer .
- Forward-fac ing ch ild safety seats instal­
led on the front passenger's seat may in­
terfe re with the deployment of the air­
bag and cause se rious personal injury to
the ch ild.
A WARNING
If, in exceptional c irc umstances, you mus t
install a forwa rd-facing child restra int on
the front passenger's seat:
- Alw ays make sure the forw ard -fac ing
sea t has been des igned and certified by
its manufacturer for use on a front seat
with a passenger front and side airbag.
- Never put the forward -facing child re ­
straint up aga inst or very near the instru­
ment pane l.
- Always move the passenger seat into its
rearmost position in the seat's fore and
A irbag system 165
aft ad justment range, as far away from
the airbag as possible before installing
the forward-fac ing ch ild restraint. The
backrest must be adj usted to an upright
position .
- Make sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
li ght comes on and stays on all the
time wheneve r the ignit ion is switched
on.
A WARNING
T o reduce the risk of ser ious injury, make
su re that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light w ill be displayed whenever a child re­
straint is installed on the front passenger
seat and the ignition is switched on.
- If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not s tay on, per form the checks de ­
scribed
Q page 17 3, Monitoring the Ad ­
vanced Airbag System.
- Take the chi ld restraint off the front pas­
senger seat and install it properly at one
of the rear seat positions if the
PASSEN ­
GER AIR BAG Off light does not stay on.
- Have the airbag system inspected by
your author ized Audi dealer immed iate­
ly .
-Always carefu lly follow instr uctions from
child restraint manufacturers when in­
stall ing ch ild restra ints .
A WARNING
If, in except iona l circumstances, you must
install a forward or rearward-facing child
restra int on the front passenger's seat :
- Improper instal lation of ch ild restraints
can reduce their effectiveness o r even
prevent them from providing any protec­
tion.
- An improper ly installed ch ild restra int
can interfere with the airbag as it de­
ploys and seriously i njure o r even kill the
child -even with an Advanced Airbag
System.
- Always carefu lly follow the manufact ur­
er 's ins tructions p rov ided with the ch ild
safety seat or carrier . •
•

166 Airbag system
-Never place additiona l items on the seat
that can increase the total weight regis­
tered by the weight-sensing mat and can
cause injury in a crash.
Front airbags
Description of front airbags
The airbag system can provide supplemental
protection to properly restrained front seat
occupants.
F ig . 175 Location of driver airbag: in steer ing whee l
Fig. 176 Location of front passenger's airbag: in the in ­
strument panel
Your veh icle is equipped with an "Advanced
A irbag System" in compliance with United
States Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard ( FM VSS) 208 as app licab le at the time your
ve hicl e was manufac tured. The system senses
the position of the front seats and controls
front airbag inflation with a valve, depending
on the distance between the respect ive seat
and the steering wheel or instrument panel.
The safety belts for the seats have "preten­
sioners" that he lp to take slack out of the belt
system . The pretensioners a re also activated
by the electron ic cont ro l unit for the ai rbag
system. T
he front safety belts also have load limiters
to help reduce the forces applied to the body
i n a crash .
T he airbag for the drive r is in the stee ring
whee l hub¢
fig. 175 and the airbag for the
front passenger is in the instrument panel
~ fig. 176. The general locat ion of the a irbags
is marked "AIRBAG".
T here is a lot you need to know about the ai r­
bags in your vehicle. We urge you to read the
detailed information about airbags, safety
belts and child safety in this and the other
chapters that make up th e owner's literature.
P lease be sure to heed the WARNINGS -they
are extremely importa nt for your safety and
the safety of your passengers, especially in­
fants and small chi ldren.
_&. WARNING
Neve r rely on airbags alone for p rotection.
- Even w hen they deploy, airbags provide
only s upplement al pro te ctio n.
- Airbag work most effect ive ly when used
with p roperly wor n safety bel ts.
- Therefore, always wea r you r safety belts
a nd make sure tha t eve rybody in your ve­
h icle is properly res trained.
_&. WARNING
A pe rson on the front passenger seat, es­
pe cial ly infa nts and sm all ch ildren, w ill re­
ceive serio us inju ries and can even be kil­
l ed by being too close to the airbag when
it inflates .
- Although t he Advanced Airbag System in
your veh icle is designed to tur n off the
front passenger airbag if an infant or a
small child is on the front passe nger
seat, nobody can absolutely guarantee
that deployment under these special
conditions is imposs ible in all conceiva­
b le sit uat ions that may happen dur ing
the useful life of your vehicle.
- The Advanced Airbag System can dep loy
i n acco rdance with the "low risk" option
unde r the U.S . Feder al Standa rd if a child
th at is heav ie r than the typical one -year
-
.

old child is on the front passenger seat
and the other conditions for airbag de­
ployment are met.
- Accident statistics have shown that chil­
dren are generally safer in the rear seat
area than in the front seating position.
- For their own safety, all children, espe­ cially 12 years and younger, should al­
ways ride in the back properly restrained
for their age and size.
Advanced front airbag system
Your vehicle is equipped with a front Advanced
Airbag System in compliance with United
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 additional
protection for the driver's and front passeng­
er's heads and upper bodies in frontal crashes.
The airbags inflate only in frontal impacts
when the vehicle deceleration is high enough .
The front Advanced Airbag System for the
front seat occupants is not a substitute for
your safety belts. Rather, it is part of the over­
all occupant restraint system in your vehicle.
Always remember that the ai rbag system can
only help to protect you, if you are sitting up­ right, wearing your safety belt and wearing it
properly . This is why you and your passengers
must always be properly restrained, not just
because the law requires you to be.
T he Advanced Airbag System in your vehicle
has been certified to meet the "low risk" re ­
quirements for 3 and 6 year-old children on
the passenger side and very small adults on
the driver side. The low risk deployment crite­
ria are intended to help reduce the risk of in­
jury through interaction with the front airbag
that can occur , for example , by being too
close to the steering wheel and instrument panel when the airbag inflates.
In addition, the system has been certified to
comply with the "suppression" requirements
Airbag system 167
of the Safety Standard, to turn off the front
airbag for infants 12 months old and younger
who are restrained on the front passenger
seat in child restraints that are listed in the
Standard ¢
page 188 , Child restraints and
Advanced Airbags .
"Suppression" requires the front airbag on the
passenger side to be turned off if:
- a child up to about one year of age is re­
strained on the front passenger seat in one
of the rear-facing or forward-facing infant restraints listed in Federal Motor Vehicle
Safety Standard 208 with which the Ad­
vanced Airbag System in your vehicle was
certified . For a listing of the child restraints
that were used to certify your vehicle's com­ pliance with the US Safety Standard
¢page 188,
-weight less than a threshold level stored in
the control unit is detected on the front pas­
senger seat.
When a person is detected on the front pas­
senger seat, weighing more than the total
weight of a child that is about 1 year old re­
strained in one of the rear-facing or forward­
facing infant restraints (listed in Federal Mo­
tor Vehicle Safety Standard 208 with which
the Advanced Airbag System in your vehicle
was certified), the front airbag on the passen­ ger side may or may not deploy.
The
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes on
when the electronic control unit detects a to­
tal weight on the front passenger seat that re­
quires 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 control unit and can deploy if the control unit senses
an impact that meets the conditions stored in
its memory.
If the total weight on the front passenger
seat is more than that of a typical 1 year-old ,
but less than the weight of a small adult, the
front airbag on the passenger side may deploy
(the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does not
come on). ..,. •
•

168 Airbag sys tem
For exa mple , the ai rb ag ma y depl oy if:
-a small child that is heavier than a typical 1
year-o ld child is on the front passenger seat
(regardless of whe ther the child is in one of
the chi ld safety seats listed
¢ page 188),
-a ch ild who has outg rown 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.
The front a irbag on the passenger side may
not deploy (the PAS SENGER AIR BAG OFF
light does not ill uminate and stay lit) if:
- a small adult or teenager is on the front pas­
senger seat
- a passenger who is not sitt ing upright wit h
their back against a non-reclined backrest
with their feet on the veh icle floo r in front
of the seat is on the front passenger seat.
If the front passenge r airbag deploys, the
Federal Standard requires the airbag to meet
the "low risk" deployment criteria to help re­
d uce the risk of inj ury 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.
¢ page 173
Alw ays remember : Even though you r 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 in 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, always wear safety belts properly.
- If you are unrestrained, lean ing forward,
sitting sideways or out of position in any
way, your risk of in jury is much higher.
- You w ill also receive serious injuries and
cou ld even be killed if you are up against
the a irbag or too close to it when it in- f
lates - even with an Advanced A irbag
¢page 162.
A WARNING
-A child in a rearward-fac ing ch ild safety
seat installed on the front passenger seat
will be serious ly injured and can be killed if
the front airbag inflates - even with an Ad­
vanced A irbag System .
- Although the Advanced Airbag System in your veh icle is designed to turn off the
front airbag when a rearward-facing child restraint has been instal led on the
front passenger seat, nobody can abso­
lutely g uarantee that dep loyment is im ­
possible in all conceivable situations that
may happen during the usefu l life of your
veh icle.
- The inflating airbag will hit the c hild
safety seat or infant carrier with great
force and will smash the child safety seat
and child aga inst the backrest, center
armrest, door, or roof.
-Always install rearward -facing ch ild re ­
straints in the back seat.
- If you must install a rearward fac ing
child safety seat on the front passenger
seat because of exceptiona l circumstan­
ces and the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light does not come on and stay on, im­
mediately insta ll th e rear-fac ing c hild
safety sea t in a rear seating position and
have the airbag system inspected by your
authorized Audi dealer .
A WARNING
If, in exceptional circumstances, you m ust
insta ll a forward -facing child restraint on
the front passenger's seat:
- Always make sure the forward-facing
seat has been designed and certified by
its manufacturer for use on a front seat
with a passenger front and s ide a irbag.
- Never p ut the forward-facing child re­
straint up against or very near the instru-
ment panel.
~

-Always move the passenger seat into its
rearmost position in the seat's fore and
aft adjustment range, as far away from
the a irbag as poss ible, before installing
the forward-facing child restraint. The backrest must be adjusted to an upr ight
posit ion.
- Make sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
light comes on and stays on all the
t ime w henever the ignition is sw itched
on.
Advanced Airbag System components
The fron t passenger seat in your vehicle has a
lot of very important parts of the Advanced
Airbag System in it. These parts include the
weight-sensing mat, sensors, wiring, brack ­
ets, and more. The function of the system in
the front passenger seat is checked by the
e lectronic control u nit when the ignit ion is on .
The control un it mon itors the Advanced Air­
bag System and turns the airbag indicator
l ight on whe n a ma lfunction in t he sys tem
components is de tected. The function of the
airbag indicator light is described in greater
detai l below . Because the front passenger
seat contains important parts of the Ad ­
vanced A irbag System, you m ust take care to
prevent it from being damaged. Damage to
the seat may prevent the Advanced Airbag for
the front passenger seat from doing its job in
a crash .
The front Advanced Airb ag Sy stem
consists of the following:
- Crash sensors in the front of the veh icle that
measure veh icle acceleration/decele ration
to provide information to the Advanced Air­
bag System about the seve rity of the crash.
- An electronic co ntrol unit, with integrated
c rash se nsors for front and side impacts .
T he cont ro l unit " decides " whethe r to fire
the front airbags based on the inform ation
received from the crash senso rs . The contro l
unit a lso "decides" whether the safety belt
pretensioners should be activated .
Airbag system 169
-An Advanced A irbag w ith gas gene rator and
contro l valve fo r the driver ins ide the steer ­
ing wheel h ub.
- An Advanced Airbag w ith gas gene rator and
contro l valve inside the instrument pane l for
the front passenger.
- A weight-sensing mat under the upholstery
padding of the front passenger seat cushion
that measures the total weight on the seat.
The informat ion reg istered is sent continu­
ously to the electronic control unit to regu­
late deployment of the front Advanced Air­
bag on the passenger side.
- An airbag monitor ing system and ind icator
light in the instrument cluster
q page 173 .
-A sensor in each front seat registers the dis­
tance between the respective seat and the
steer ing whee l o r inst rument panel. The in­
forma tion registered is sent cont inuo usly to
t he elect ron ic cont ro l uni t to regula te de ­
ployment o f the front Advance d Airbags .
- The
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF ligh t comes
on and st ays on in the cen ter o f th e instr u­
ment panel
q page 1 73, fig . 178 and tells
you whe n the front Advanced Airbag on the
passenger side has been tu rned
off .
-A sensor below the safety be lt latch fo r the
front seat passenger to measure the tension on the safety be lt . The tension on the safety
be lt and the weight registered by the
weight-sensing mat he lp the control unit
"decide" whether the front a irbag for the
front passenge r seat should be turned
off or
not
~ pag e 163, Child restraints on the
front seat -some important things to
know.
- A senso r in the safety belt latch fo r the d riv­
er a nd fo r the fro nt sea t passenger tha t
senses w hethe r that safe ty belt is latched or
no t and transmi ts this informa tion to the
electronic control unit.
_&. WARNING
Damage to the front passenger seat can
prevent the front airbag from work ing
properly.
-
•
•

1 70 Airbag sys tem
-Improper repair or disassembly of the
front passenger and driver seat will pre­
vent the Advanced A irbag System from
functioning properly.
- Repairs to the front passenger seat must
be performed by qualified and properly
trained workshop personnel.
- Never remove the front passenger or
dr iver seat from the veh icle .
- 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 place them on the seat. If the weight­
sensing mat in the passenger seat is punctured it cannot work properly.
- Never carry things on your lap or carry
objects on the passenger seat. Such
items can increase the weight registered
by the weight-sens ing mat and send the
wrong info rmation to the airbag control
unit.
- Never store items under the front pas·
senger seat. Parts of the Advanced Ai r­
bag System under the passenge r seat
cou ld be damaged, prevent ing them and
the airbag system from wo rking proper­
ly .
- Never place seat covers or replacement upholstery that have not been specifical­
ly approved by A udi 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 deploy ing prop­
erly.
- Never use cush ions, pillows, blankets or
similar items on the front passenger
seat. The add itiona l padd ing will prevent
the weight-sensing mat in the seat from
accu rately reg iste ring the c hild restra int
or person on the seat and prevent the
Advanced Airbag System from function­ ing properly .
-If you must use a child restra int on the
front passenger seat and the ch ild re- straint manufacturer's instructions
re­
qu ire the use of a towel, foam cushion or
something e lse to properly pos ition the
child restraint, make certain that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes
on and stays on whenever the ch ild re·
straint is installed on the front passen­
ger seat.
- If the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not come on and stay on, immed i­
a tely insta ll child restrain t in a rear se at­
ing position and have the airbag system
inspected by your authorized Audi dealer.
How the Advanced Airbag System
components work together
The front Advanced Airbag System and the
s ide airbags supp lement the protection of­
fered by the front three-point safety belts
with pretensioners and load limiters and the
adjustable head restraints to help redu ce the
risk of inju ry in a wide range of accident and
c rash situations. Be s ure to read the impor ­
tant information about safety and heed the
WARNINGS in this chapter.
Deployment of the Adv a need A irbag System
and the activation of the safety belt preten­
sioners depend on the deceleration measured
by the crash sensors and registered by the
electron ic control unit. The amount of infla­
tion of the front airbags can a lso be adapted
to the front seat pos ition, depending on the
distance between the respect ive front seat
and the steer ing w heel or instrument panel as
registered by sensors in the seats. Crash se·
verity depends on speed and deceleration as
well as the mass and st iffness of the vehicle
o r object involved in the crash .
On the passenger side, regardless of safety
belt use, the ai rbag w ill be tu rned off if the
we ight on the passenger seat is less than the
amount programmed in the e lectronic control
u nit. The front airbag on the passenger side
will a lso be turned off if one of the child safe -
ty seats that has been certified under Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208 has been
recogni zed on the seat . The
PAS SENGER AIR .,..

BAG OFF light comes on and stays on to tell
you when the front Advanced Airbag on the
passenger side has been turned
off
c:> page 163, Child restraints on the front seat
- some important things to know.
A WARNING
To reduce the risk of injury whe n an airbag
inflates, always wear safety belts properly .
- If you are unrestrained, lean ing forward,
sitting sideways or out of position in any
way, yo ur risk of injury is much highe r.
- You w ill also receive serious injuries and
could even be killed if you are up against
the a irbag or too close to it when it in·
flates · even with an Advanced Airbag
c:>page 162.
More important things to know about
front airbags
Fi g. 177 Inflated front a irbags
Safety belts are important to help keep front
seat occupants in the proper sea ted pos ition
so that airbags c an u nfo ld properly and pro­
vide supp lemental protection in a fronta l co l­
lision.
The front a irbags are designed to provide ad­
d itiona l protection for the chest and face of
the dr iver and the front seat passenge r when:
- safety belts are worn properly,
- the seats have been posit io ned so that the
occupant is p roperly seated as far as possi­
ble from the a irbag,
- and the head restraints have been properly
adjusted.
Because airbags inflate in the blink of an eye
with great force, things you have on your lap
A irba g sy stem 1 71
or 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 leased.
T his 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
injuries, for example swelling, bruis ing and
minor abrasions, can also happen when air­
bags inflate . A irbags do not protect the arms
o r the lower parts of the body. Front a irbags
on ly supp lement the three point safety belts
in some fronta l co llisions in which the vehicle
decelera tion is high e no ugh to deploy the air­
bags .
Front airbags will not deploy :
-if the ignition is sw itched off when a crash
occu rs,
- in side collisions,
- in rear-end collisions,
- in rollovers,
- when the crash deceleration measured by
the airbag system is less than the minimum
threshold needed for a irbag deployment as
reg istered by the electronic control unit .
The front pa sse n ger ai rbag will also not
deplo y:
- when the front passenger seat is not occu­
pied,
- when the weight on the front passenger seat as sensed by the Advanced Airbag Sys·
tern ind icates that the front airbag on the
passe nger side has to be turned off by the
electronic control unit (the
PAS SENGER A IR
BAG OFF
light comes on and stays on) .
A WARNING
Sitting in the wrong position can increase
the r is k of se rious inj ury in crashes.
- To reduce the risk of injury when the air ­
bags inflate, the drive r and passenge rs