seat adjustment AUDI A5 COUPE 2014 Owners Manual

Seats and storage
General recommen­
dations
Why is your seat adjustment so important?
The safety belts and the airbag system can
only provide maximum protection if the front
seats are 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 quick ly 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 offe r
maximum protection
¢ page 137.
In the following sections, you will see exactly
how you can best adjust your seats .
There are special regulations and instructions
for installing a child safety seat on the front passenger's seat. Always follow the informa­
tion regard ing child safety provided in
¢ page 161, Child Safety.
.&_ WARNING
-
Refer to ¢ page 119, Driving Safely for
important information, tips, suggestions
and warnings that you should read and fol­
low for your own safety and the safety of
your passengers.
.&_ WARNING
Incorrect seating position of the driver and
all other passengers can result in serious
personal injury.
- Always keep your feet on the floor when
the vehicle is in motion -never put your
feet on top of the instrument panel, out of the w indow or on top of the seat cush­
ion. This app lies especially to the passen-
S eat s an d sto rage 53
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 cou ld result in pe rsonal
in jury or even death.
- It is important for both the driver and front passenger to keep a distance of at least 10 inches (25 cm) between them­
selves and the steering wheel and/or in­
strumen t panel. If you're s itting any
closer than th is, the airbag system can ­
not protect you properly. In addition, the
front seats and head restraints m ust be
adj usted 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 or 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 control and
pe rsonal injury. If you adjust you r seat
while the veh icle is moving, you 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 follow ing manner:
.., Adjust the seat in fore and aft direction so
that you can easily push the pedals to the
floor wh ile keeping your knees slightly bent
¢ .&, in Why is your seat adjustment so im ­
portant? on page 53.
"" Adjust the seatback so that when you sit
w ith your back against the seatback , you can
s ti ll grasp the top of t he steering wheel.
... App lies to vehicles with adjustab le head re­
straints: Adjust the head restraint so the up­
per edge is as even as possible wit h the top
of your head. If that is not possib le, try to
adjust the head restraint so that it is as .,.

54 Seats and storage
close to this position as possib le
¢ page 56.
A WARNING
Never place any objects in the driver's foot­
well. An object could get into the pedal area and interfere with pedal function. In
case of sudden braking or an accident, you
wou ld not be ab le to brake or accelerate .
Front passenger's seat
Always move the front passenger seat into
the rearmost position .
To avoid contact with the airbag whi le it is de­
ploying, do not sit any closer to the instru­
ment panel than necessary and always wear
the three-point safety belt provided adjusted correctly . We recommend that you adjust the
passenger's seat in the following ma nner:
• Bring the backrest up to an (almost) upr ight
pos it ion. Do not ride with the seat reclined .
• Applies to vehicles with adjustable head re­
stra ints: Adjust the head restrain t so the up­
per edge is as even as possible with the top
of your head . If that is not possible, try to
adjust the head restra int so that it is as
close to this position as possible
¢ page 56.
• Place your feet on the floor in front of the
passenger's seat.
Front seats
Power seat adjustment
Applies to vehicles: with power adjustab le seats
Fig. 4 9 Fr ont seats: powe r seat adjustme nt
Controls
@ -Adjust ing the lumbar support *: press the
button in the corresponding position ¢ .&, .
@ -Moving the seat up/down: press the b ut­
ton up/down ¢ .&, .
@ -Moving the seat forward/back : press the
button forward/back ¢.&, .
©-Adjust ing the backrest angle : press the
button forward/back ¢.&, .
©-Raising/lowering * the head restraints:
press the button up/down¢.&, .
@ -Lengthening/shortening the upper thigh
s u pport* : lift the hand le. A spring moves the
front seat c ushion forward ¢ .&, .
A WARNING
--- Never ad just the driver's or front pas ­
senger's seat whi le the vehicle is moving.
If you do th is while the veh icle is moving,
you will be out of position . A lways ad just
the dr iver's or front passenger's s eat
when t he vehicle is not mov ing.
- Be ca reful when ad justing the seat
he ight . C hec k to see that no one is in the
way, or serio us inju ry co uld resu lt!
- Because the seats can be e lectrically ad­
justed w ith the ignition off o r with the
ig nit ion key removed, never le ave chil­
d ren una ttended in the veh icle. Unsuper ­
vised use of the elec tric seat adjust ­
ments may cause serious injury.
- T o reduce the risk of injury in t he c ase o f
sudden braking o r acciden t, front pas ­
sengers must never ride in a movi ng ve­
h icle with the back rest reclined. Safety
be lts and the airbag system only offer
maximum protection when the backrest
is upr ight and the safety belts are prop­
erly positioned on the bo dy. The more
the backrest is r eclined, the greater the
ris k of persona l inju ry from an incorrect
sea tin g po sit ion and improperly pos i­
tioned safety belts .

Power easy entry function
Applies to vehicles: with power ad justable seats
The easy entry function makes it easier for
the rear passengers to enter and leave the ve­
hicle.
F ig. 50 Comfort seats•: easy entry contro ls
Fi g. 51 Spor t seats •: easy e ntry co ntrols
.,. To fold the front seat b ackrests forw ard/
back,
lift t he latch @ c:::> fig. 50 or c:::> fig. 51
and fold the backrest fo rward.
.,. To move the front seats forward/back, press
and hold the @ button until the seat has
reached the desired position.
When the front seats are moved forward,
their origina l posit ion is stored . When it is
moved back, the seat automatically stops in
this posit ion. To move the seat even further
back, you have to re lease the switch @ and re­
activate it .
Applies to vehicles w ith ad justab le head re­
straints : T he head restraints from the front
seats, dependi ng on the seat he ight that has
been set, are au tomatically retrac ted when
the seatbacks are folded down . They return to
thei r origina l posi tion aga in whe n the seat ­
ba cks f or th e fron t seat s are raised .
Seats and storage 55
@ Tips
With the driver's or passe nger's door
closed, the c orresponding switch to move
the seat is inoperat ive.
Seat adjustments in MMI
Applies to vehicles: wit h seat memory and MMI
The passenger's seat can be adjusted to vari­
ous positions by the driver.
Convenience side view
.,. Select: !CAR l function b utton > Seat adjust­
ment > Passenger's seat > Convenience side
view.
O r
--... Select: I CA R I function button > Car systems*
control butto n > Vehicle settings > Seats >
Passenger's seat > Con venience side view .
.,. Continue to press t he control knob until the
ad justment process is comp lete .
Seat symmetry
.,. Select: Function button I CAR ! > Seat adjust ­
ment > Passenger's seat > Seat symmetry .
Or
.,. Select: !CAR ! function button> Car systems*
cont ro l button > Ve hicle settings > Seats >
Pa ssenger's seat > Align with driver's seat .
.,. Cont inue to press t he control knob until the
adj ustment p roces s is com plete .
U sing the
Convenience side view func tion, the
passenger 's seat is adjust ed so that the driv er
ha s the best poss ib le view to the right . Whe n
t h e Co nve nience s ide v iew is set, t he specif ic
pos ition of the d river 's seat is ta ken in to con ­
s ideration.
U si ng the
Seat symmetry fu ncti on, the pa s­
s enger 's seat c an be m oved to the sa m e po si­
tion as t he d river's seat . The settings for the
drive r's seat a re imported and set automati­
ca lly.

56 Seats and storage
Center armrest
The center armrest can be adjusted to several
levels.
Fi g. 52 Armrest between t he driver's/front passe nger's
seats .
Adju sting th e ce nter armr est
.. To adjust the angle, raise the armrest from
the start ing pos ition
¢ fig . 52 detent by de­
tent.
" To bring the armrest back into the starting
pos ition, raise it out of the top detent and
fold it back down .
The armrest can sl ide forward and back .
Head restraints
Front head restraints
Applies to vehicles: with a djustable head restrain ts
Head restraints that are adjusted according
to body size, along with the seat belt , offer
effective protection.
F ig . 53 Front seat: adj usting th e manual head re ­
st raints
Fig. 54 Front seat: adjust ing the power head rest rai nt
Adjust the head restraint so the upper edge is
as even as possible with the top of your head.
If that is not possible, t ry to adjust the head
rest raint so that it is as close to this position
as possib le
¢ page 56 .
.,. To adjust the height of the manual head re­
straint*, gr ip the head rest raint on the sides
w ith both hands and slide it up/down until it
locks in to p lace
¢fig. 53.
.. To adjust the height o f the power head re­
straint*, press the button up/down
¢ fig. 54.
Refer to¢ page 122, Proper adjustment of
head restraints
for guidelines on how to ad­
just the height of the front head restraints to s ui t the occupant's body size.
A WARNING
- Driving without head restraints or with
head restra ints that are not properly ad­
justed increases the risk of ser ious or fa­
tal nec k inju ry dramatica lly.
- Read and heed all WARNINGS
¢ page 122, Proper adjustment of head
restraints.
@ Tips
- To prevent the head restraints from run­
ning into the headliner, they retract au­
toma tically when moving the seat for­
ward or upward .
- Correctly adjusted head restraints a nd
safety belts are an extremely effective
combination of safety featu res.

Rear head restraints
Fig. 55 Rear seats : head restraints
Fig. 56 Rear head restra ints: re lease
Adjusting the head restraints
• To move the head restraint up, hold it at the
s ides with both hands and slide it upward
until you feel it click into place¢.,& .
• To move the head restraint down, press the
button @¢
fig. 55 and slide the head re­
stra int downward .
Removing the head restraints
• Fold the backrest forward ¢ page 63.
• Move the head restraint upward as far as it
can go.
• Press the release@¢
fig. 56 with the me­
chanical key¢
page 34 and the button @
¢ fig. 55 . Pull the head restraint out of the
backrest at the same time¢.,& .
Installing the head restraints
• Slide the posts on the head restraint down
into the guides until you feel the posts click
into place .
• Press the button@¢
fig. 55 and slide the
head restraint al l the way down. You shou ld
not be able to pull the head restra int out of
the backrest.
Seats and storage 57
So that the driver can have a better view to
the rear, the head restraints should be pushed
down completely when the rear seats are not
occupied.
A WARNING
- Read and heed all WARNINGS
¢ page 122, Proper adjustment of head
restraints .
-Only remove the rear seat head restraints
when necessary in order to install a child seat ¢
page 169 . Install the head re­
straint again immediately once the child
seat is removed . Driving without head re­
straints or with head restraints that are
not properly adjusted increases the risk
of serious or fatal neck injury dramatical­
ly.
- Vehicles with a pass through in the cen­
ter conso le have seating for four. The
long center console between the two
rear seats is
not a seating position.
Therefore, a safety belt is not provided .
.
@ Tips
Correct ly adjusted head restraints and
safety belts are an extreme ly effective
combination of safety features.
Seat memory
Description
Applies to vehicles: with memory function
The memory function allows you to quickly
and easily store and recall personal seating
profiles for the driver . The memory function is
operated through the master key and the
memory buttons in the driver's door .
The driver's seating profile is stored and as ­
s ig ned to the master key each time the vehicle
is locked. When you open the door, the seat
profile is automatically recalled. If two people
use one vehicle, it is recommended that each
person always uses "their own" master key .
Up to 2 seat profi les can be stored in the
memory buttons in the driver's door . Once

58 Seats and storage
they are stored, these seat profiles can be
se lected at any time .
I n addition to the driver 's sea t set tings, you
can also s tore and access the exterior mir ror
adj ustment settings* using the remote con­
trol key or memory button .
Remote control key
Applies to vehicles: with seat memo ry
To assign the driver's seat settings to the re­
mote control key when locking the vehicle, the
function must be activated in the radio or
MMI*
.. Se lect :
ICAR I function button> Seat adj ust ­
ment
> D riv er's s eat > Remote control key >
on .Or
> Select: ~ I C~ A~ Rc-, 1 funct ion button > Car sy st e m s*
control button > Vehicle setting s > Seat s>
Driv er' s s eat > Remot e control key > On .
@ Tips
If you do not want another driver's set­
tings to be assigned to the remote key,
switch off the memory fu nction us ing t he
radio or MMI* or the
ION/OFF I button
qpage58.
Memory buttons
Applies to vehicles: with seat memo ry
F ig. 57 D river's door: memory functio n buttons
The memory buttons are located in the driv­
er's door.
Swit ching the memory fun ction on /off
.. Press the !ON/O FF I button to switch the
memory function on/off. The word
OFF
lights up when the memo ry function is
switched off . Seat profiles are neither stored
nor recalled.
Storing a seat profile
.. Press the ISET I button. Whe n the word SET
lights up, the memory is ready to store set­
tings .
.. Press a memory button
dil or III) briefly . A
tone confirms that the sett ings were stored.
Accessing a seat pr ofile
.. If the driver's door is open and the ignition
is swi tched off, press the memory button.
.. If the driver's door is closed or the ignition is
switched on, press and ho ld the memory
button until the seat adjustment is com­
plete.
A WARNING
- For safety reasons, the seat setting can
only be recalled when the vehicle is sta­
tionary - ot herwise you risk hav ing an ac­
cide nt.
- In an emergency the recall p rocedure can
be cancelled by pressing the
I ON/OFF !
switch or by tapping the memory bu t­
tons.
Ashtray
F ig . 58 Center console: ashtray
Opening /cl os ing
.. To open the ashtray, slide the cover up
qfig. 58.
.. To close the ashtray, press down on the cov­
er.

122 Driving Safely
-Passengers must always sit in an upright
position and never lean against or place
any part of their body too close to the
area where the airbags are located.
- Passengers who are unbelted, out of po­
sition or too close to the airbag can be
seriously injured by an airbag as it un­
folds with great force in the blink of an
eye.
- Always make sure that there are at least
10 inches (25 cm) between the front
passenger's breastbone and the instru­
ment panel.
- Each passenger must always sit on a seat
of their own and properly fasten and
wear the safety belt belonging to that
seat.
- Before driving, always adjust the front
passenger seat and head restraint prop­
erly.
- Always keep your feet on the floor in
front of the seat. Never rest them on the
seat, instrument panel, out of the win­
dow, etc. The airbag system and safety
belt will not be able to protect you prop­
erly and can even increase the risk of in­
jury in a crash.
- Never drive with the backrest reclined or
tilted far back! The farther the backrests
are tilted back, the greater the risk of in­
jury due to incorrect positioning of the
safety belt and improper seating posi­
tion.
- Children must always ride in child safety
seats<=:>
page 161 . Special precautions
apply when installing a child safety seat
on the front passenger seat <=:>
page 13 7.
Proper seating positions for passengers
in rear seats
Rear seat passengers must sit upright with
both feet on the floor consistent with their
physical size and be properly restrained
whenever the vehicle is in use.
To reduce the risk of injury caused by an incor­
rect seating position in the event of a sudden
braking maneuver or an accident, your pas- sengers on the
rear bench seat must always
observe the following:
" Make sure that the seatback is securely
latched in the upright position <=:>
page 63.
"Keep both feet flat in the footwell in front of
the rear seat.
" Fasten and wear safety belts properly
<=:>page 132.
"Make sure that children are always properly
restrained in a child restraint that is appro ­
priate for their size and age ¢
page 161.
,&. WARNING
Passengers who are improperly seated on
the rear seat can be seriously injured in a
crash.
- Each passenger must always sit on a seat
of their own and properly fasten and
wear the safety belt belonging to that
seat.
- Safety belts only offer maximum protec­
tion when the seatback is securely latch­
ed in the upright position and the safety
belts are properly positioned on the body. By not sitting upright, a rear seat
passenger increases the risk of personal
injury from improperly positioned safety
belts!
- Always adjust the head restraint properly
so that it can give maximum protection .
Proper adjustment of head restraints
-
Applies to vehicles: with adjustable head restraints
Correctly adjusted head restraints are an im­
portant part of your vehicle's occupant re­
straint system and can help to reduce the risk
of injuries in accident situations .
Fig. 120 Head restraint : v iewed from the front

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.
For your safety and the safety of your passen­
gers, before driving off, always:
"" Adjust the driver's seat and steering wheel
properly ¢
page 120,
"" Adjust the front passenger's seat properly
¢page 54,
""Wear safety be lts properly ¢ page 132,
"" Always properly use the proper child re-
straint to protect chi ldren
r::::> page 161.
In a collision airbags must inflate within th e
blink of an eye and with considerable force.
The supplemental airbags can cause injuries if
the driver or the front seat passenger is not
seated properly . Th erefore in order to help the
a ir bag to do its job, it is important, both as a
driver and as a passenge r to s it properly at all
times.
By keeping room between your body and the
steer ing whee l and the front of the passenger
compartment, the airbag can inflate fully and
comp lete ly and provide supplemental protec­
tion in certain frontal collisions
r::::> page 120,
Proper occupant seating positions.
F or details
on the operation of the seat adjustment con­
trols
¢ page 54.
It's especially important that children are
properly restrained
r::::> page 161.
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 Aud i work to­
gether as a system.
Proper seating pos ition is important so that
the front airbag on the driver side can do its
job. If you have a physical impairment or con-
Airbag system 137
dition that prevents you from sitting properly
on the driver seat with the safety belt properly
fastened and reaching the pedals, spec ial
modifications to yo ur vehicle may be necessa­
ry.
Contact your authorized Audi dea ler, or call
Audi Customer Re lations at 1-800-822-2834.
When the airbag system dep loys, a gas gener­
ator will fi ll the airbags, break open the pad ­
ded covers, and inf late between the steering
whee l and the driver and between the instru­
ment panel and the front passenger. The air­
bags will deflate immediately after deploy­
ment so that the front occupants can see
through the windshield aga in without inter­
ruption .
All of th is takes place in the blink of an eye, so
fast that many people don't even realize that
the air bags have deployed . The airbags also
inflate with a great deal of force and noth ing
shou ld be in their way when they deploy.
Front airbags in combination with properly
worn safety belts slow down and limit the oc ­
cupant's forward movement. Together they
help to prevent the driver and front seat pas­
senge r 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 t he 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 air bags w ill not inflate in all frontal
collisions . The triggering of the airbag system
depends on the vehicle deceleration rate
caused by the collision and registered by the
electron ic control unit. If this rate is below
the reference value programmed into the con­
trol unit, the airbags will not be triggered,
ev en though the car may be bad ly damaged as
a resu lt of the co llision . Vehicle damage, re­
pair costs or even the lack of ve hicle damage
is no t necessarily an indication of whether an
airbag should inflate o r not .
It is not possib le to define a range of vehicle
speeds that w ill cover every possible kind and ..,.
•
•

144 Airbag sys tem
-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 insta lling
the forward-facing child restraint. The backrest must be adjusted to an upr ight
posit io n.
- Make sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
light comes on and stays on all the
t ime w henever the ignition is switched
on.
Advanced Airbag System components
The fron t passenger sea t in your vehicle h as a
lot of very important par ts of the Advanced
Airbag System in it. These parts include t he
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 unit mo nitors the Advanced Air­
bag System and turns the airbag indicator
l ight on when a ma lfunction in t he system
components is detected. The func tion of the
a ir bag ind icator light is described in greater
detai l be low . Because the front passenger
seat contains important parts of the Ad­
vanced A irbag System, you m ust take care to
prevent it from be ing 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/deceleration
to provide information to the Advanced Air­
bag System abou t the seve rity of the crash.
- An electron ic co ntrol unit, with integ rated
crash sensors for front and side impacts .
T he cont ro l unit "dec ides " w het her to fire
the front airbags based on the information
received from the crash senso rs . The contro l
unit a lso "decides" whethe r the safety be lt
pretensioners should be activated . -
An Advanced A irbag w ith gas generator and
cont ro l valve for the d river inside the steer­
ing wheel h ub.
- An Advanced A irbag with gas ge nerator and
contro l valve inside the instrument pane l for
the front passenger.
- A weight-sensing mat under the up ho lstery
pad ding of the front passenger seat cushion
that measures the total weight on the seat.
The informat ion registered is sent continu­
ously to the electronic contro l unit to regu­
late deployment of the front Advanced Air­ bag on the passenger side .
- An airbag monitor ing system and i ndicator
light in the i nstr ument cluster ~
page 147 .
-A sensor in each front seat registers the dis­
tance between the respective seat a nd the
steer ing whee l o r i ns trument panel. The i n­
formation registered is sent cont inuo usly to
t he ele ctr onic cont ro l uni t to regula te de­
p loyment 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 the instr u­
ment panel~
page 148, fig . 135 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 for 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 airbag for the
front passenger seat should be turned off or
not
~ pag e 138, Child restraints on the
front seat -some important things to
know.
- A senso r in the safety belt latch fo r th e d riv­
er and fo r the front sea t passenger tha t
senses w het he r th at safety bel t is latched or
not and transmi ts this information to the
electronic control unit.
A WARNING
Damage to the front passenger seat can
p revent the front airbag from work ing
properly.
-

162 Child Safety
-If you must install a rearward facing
child safety seat on the front passenger
seat in exceptional circumstances and
the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does
not come on and stay on, immediately
install the rearward-facing child safety
seat in a rear seating position and have
the airbag system inspected immediately
by your authorized Audi dealer.
.&, WARNING
If, in exceptional circumstances, you must
install 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 side airbag.
- Always follow the manufacturer's in­
structions provided with the child safety
seat or carrier.
- Always move the passenger seat into its
rearmost position in the seat's fore and
aft adjustment range, as far away from
the airbag as possible before installing
the child restraint. The backrest must be adjusted to an upright position .
- Always make sure that the
PASSENGER
AIR BAG OFF
light comes on and stays
on all the time whenever the ignition is
switched on.
(D Tips
Always replace child restraints that were
installed in a vehicle during a crash. Dam­
age to a child restraint that is not visible
could cause it to fail in another collision
situation.
Advanced front airbag system and children
Your vehicle is equipped with a front "Ad­
vanced Airbag System" in compliance with
United States Federal Motor Vehicle Safety
Standard (FMVSS) 208 as applicable at the
time your vehicle was manufactured . The
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 small adults on the driver side. The low risk deployment criteria
are intended to reduce the risk of injury
through interaction with the 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 "sup­
pression" requirements of the Safety Stand­
ard, to turn off the front airbag for infants up
to 12 months who are restrained on the front
passenger seat in child restraints that are list­
ed in the Standard.
Even though your vehicle is equipped with an
Advanced Airbag system, all children, espe­
cially those 12 years and younger, should al­
ways ride in the back seat properly restrained
for their age and size. The airbag on the pas ­
senger side makes the front seat a potentially
dangerous place for a child to ride . The front
seat is not the safest place for a child in a for­
ward-facing child safety seat.
It can be a very
dangerous place for an infant or a larger child
in a rearward-facing seat.
Advanced Airbags and the weight­
sensing mat in the front seat
The Advanced Airbag System in your vehicle detects the presence of an infant or child in a
child restraint on the front passenger seat us­
ing the weight-sensing mat in the seat cush­
ion and the sensor below the safety belt latch
on the front passenger seat that measures the
tension on the safety belt.
The weight-sensing mat measures total
weight of the child and the child safety seat
and a child blanket on the front passenger
seat. The weight on the front passenger seat
is related to the design of the child restraint
and its "footprint", the size and shape of the
bottom of the child restraint as it sits on the
seat. The weight of a child restraint and its "footprint" vary for different kinds of child re -
straints and for the different models of the .,.