AUDI A5 COUPE 2015 Owners Manual

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Airbag system Important information
Importance of wearing safety belts and
sitting properly
Airbags are only supplemental restraints. For
airbags to do their job, occupants must always
properly wear their safety belts and be in a prop­
er seating position.
F or your safety and the safety of your passen­
ge rs, befo re drivi ng off, always:
.,. Adjust the dr iver's seat and steer ing wheel
properly
r::> page 113,
.,. Adjust the front passenger 's seat p roperly
9 page 55,
.,. Wea r sa fety be lts prope rly r::> page 123 ,
.. Always properly use the p roper child restra int
to protect children
r::> page 151.
In a coll is io n air bags must infl ate wi thin the b link
of an eye and with cons iderab le force . The s up­
p lemental a irbags can cause injuries if the drive r
or the front seat passenger is not seated p roper ·
Ly. Therefore in order to help the airbag to do its
job, it is importa nt, both as a dr iver and as a pas­
senger to sit 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 letely and provide supplemental protection
in certa in fronta l col lisions
r:> page 113, Correct
passenger seating positions .
For details on the
ope rat ion of the seat adjustment cont ro ls
r::> page 55.
It's especially importa nt that children are prope r­
ly rest rained
r:> page 151 .
There is a lot that the driver and the passengers
can and must do to help the ind ividual safety fea­
tures ins talled in your Aud i wo rk together as a
system.
Prope r seat ing pos ition is important so that the
fro nt airbag on the dr iver side can do its job . If
you have a physical impairment or cond ition tha t
p reven ts you from sitt ing p roperly on the d river
seat with the safety be lt properly fastened and
Airbag syste m
reaching the peda ls, specia l mod ificat ions to your
vehicle may be necessa ry .
Co nta ct you r auth orized Aud i de aler, or call Aud i
Cu stome r Re lations at 1-800-822- 2834 .
When the airbag syst em dep loys , a gas gene rato r
will fill the airbags, brea k open the padded cov­
ers , a nd infl ate between the stee ring wheel and
the driver and between the ins trumen t pane l an d
the front passenger. The ai rbags wi ll deflate im­
mediate ly after deployment so that the front oc ­
c u pants can see th ro ugh the w indshie ld aga in
without interruption .
All o f th is takes p lace in the b lin k of an eye, so
fast that many people don't even realize that the airbags have dep loyed . The airbags also inflate
with a great deal of force and nothing should be in the ir way when they dep loy. Fron t airbags in
combination with properly worn safety belts s low
down and lim it the occupant's forwa rd move­
ment . Togethe r they he lp to p revent the dr iver
and fron t seat passenge r from hi tting parts of
t h e inside the ve hicle while re ducin g the for ces
acting on the occupa nt dur ing the crash . In this
way they help to reduce the ris k of i njury to the
head and uppe r body in the crash. Airbags do not
protect the a rms or the lower parts of the body.
B oth fron t airbags w ill not inf late in all fronta l
collisions . The t riggering of the a irbag system de ­
pends on the vehicle deceleration rate caused by
the coll is ion and registe red by the e lectronic con ­
trol unit. If t his rate is below the reference value
programmed into the contro l unit, the airbags
will not be t rigge red, even t hough the car may be
badly damaged as a result of t he collis ion . Vehi­
cl e damage, r epai r costs or even the lack of vehi­
cl e damage is no t necessari ly an indica tion of
whethe r an a irb ag should infl ate o r not.
It is not possib le to defin e a range of vehicle
speeds t hat w ill cove r ev ery possib le kind and an­
gle of i mpact tha t will a lways trigger the a irbags,
s in ce the circumst ances w ill vary conside rably be­
tween one collision and anot her. Impo rtant fa c­
tors include, for example, the nat ure (hard or
soft) of the object w hich the car hits, the angle of
impact, vehicle speed, etc . The front airbags will .,,.
129

Airbag syste m
also not inflate in s ide or rear collisions, or in roll ­
overs.
Al wa ys rem ember : Airbags will deploy on ly once,
and only in certain kinds of collis ions . Your safety
be lts are a lways there to offer p rotection in those
situations in which airbags are not supposed to
deploy, or when they have already deployed; for
examp le, when your vehicle s trikes or is struck by
ano ther a fter the firs t collision .
This is just one of the reasons why an airbag is a
supp lementary restra int and is not a substitute
for a safety belt. The airbag system works mos t
e ff ectively when used w it h the safety belts.
Therefore, always properly wear your safety belts
r=;, page 121 .
A WARNING
Sitting too close to the steering wheel or in­
strument panel wil l decrease the effect ive ­
ness of the airbags and will inc rease the risk
o f personal injury in a collision .
- Never sit closer than 10 inches (25 cm) to
the steering wheel or instrument panel.
- If you cannot sit more than 10 inches
( 2 5 cm) from the steer ing whee l, investi­
gate whether adaptive equipment may be
available to help you reach the pedals and
increase yo ur seating distance from the
steering wheel.
- If you are unrestrained, leani ng forward, s it­
ting sideways o r out of position in any way,
yo ur risk of in jury is much higher.
- You wi ll also receive serio us injuries and
could even be killed if you are up against the
airbag or too close to it when it inf lates -
even with an Advanced Airbag.
- To reduce the r isk of injury when an airbag
inflates, always wear safety belts properly
c> page 124, Safety belts .
- Always make certain that children age 12 or
younger always r ide in the rear seat. If chil­
dren are not properly restrained, they may
be severely injured or killed when an airbag
inflates .
- Never let children ride unrestrained or im ­
properly restrained in the vehicle. Adjust the
front seats properly.
130
-
- Never ride with the backrest reclined .
- Always sit as far as possible from the steer -
ing wheel or the instrument panel
c> page 113.
-Always sit upright with yo ur back against
the backrest of yo ur seat .
- Never p lace your feet on the instrumen t
panel or on the seat. Always keep both feet
on the floor in front of the seat to help pre­
vent serious injur ies to the legs and hips if
the airbag inflates.
- Never recline the front passenger 's seat to
transport objects. Items can also move into
the area of the side airbag o r the front air­
bag during braking or in a sudden maneu ­
ver . Objects n ear the airbags can become
projectiles and cause in ju ry when an airbag
inflates.
A WARNING
A irbags that have deployed i n a crash mus t be
replaced.
- Use o nly orig inal equ ipmen t airbags ap­
proved by Audi and installed by a trained
technician who has the necessary too ls and
diagnostic equipment to properly rep lace
any airbag in yo ur vehicle and assure system
effectiveness in a crash.
'
- Never permit salvaged or recycled airbags to
be installed in your vehicle .
Child restraints on the front seat - some
important things to know
""Be sure to read the importa nt information and
head the WARNINGS for importa nt details
about ch ild ren and Advanced Airbags
r=;, page 151 .
Even thoug h your veh icle is equipped w ith an Ad ­
vanced Airbag Sys tem, make ce rtain tha t all chil­
dren, especially those 12 years and younge r, a l­
ways ride in the ba ck seat p roperly res trained fo r
their age and size. The a irbag on the passenger
s ide makes the front seat a potent ially dangero us
place for a child to r id e. T he front seat is not the
safest p lace for a chi ld in a forward-fac ing chi ld ..,.

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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 ve hicle has
been certified to comp ly w ith the Req uirements
of United States Federa l Motor Veh icle Safety
Standard 208 as applicable at the time your vehi­
cle was manufactured.
The Standard requires the fron t airbag on the
passenger side to be turned off ("supp ressed") if
a child up to about one year of age restrained in
one of the rear-fac ing or forward-facing infant re­
straints listed in Federal Motor Vehicle Safety
Standard 208 with which the Advanced A irbag
System in your vehicle was certified has been in ­
stalled on the front passenger seat . For a listing
of the ch ild restra ints that were used to certify
comp liance with the US Safety Standard
¢ page 153.
The PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light in the instru­
ment panel tells you when the front Advanced
A irbag on the passenger side has been turned off
by the ele ctron ic cont ro l unit.
E ach t ime you turn on the ignit ion , the
PASS EN­
GER AIR BAG OFF light wi ll come on for a few
seconds and:
- will stay on if the front passenger seat is not
occupied,
- will s tay on if there is a small child or c hild re­
stra int on the front passenger seat,
- will go off if the front passenger seat is occu­
pied by an adult as registered by the weight ­
sensing mat¢
page 139, Monitoring the Ad­
vanced Airbag System .
The PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes on
when the control un it detects a total weight on
the front passenger seat that requires the front
ai rbag to be turned off .
If the total weigh t on the front passenger seat is
more than that of a typical 1 year -old child but
less than the weight of a small adult, the front
ai rbag on the passenger side can deploy (the
PA SSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does not come
on). If th e
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does
not come on, the front a irbag on the passenger
side has not been turned off by the electronic
Airbag syste m
control unit and can dep loy i f the control unit
senses an impact that meets the conditions stor­
ed in its memory .
For exampl e, the a irbag ma y deplo y if:
- a small ch ild that is heav ier than a typical 1
yea r-old ch ild is on the front passenge r seat ( re­
ga rdless of whether the chi ld is in one of the
child sa fe ty se ats liste d ¢
page 153), or
- a child who has outgrown ch ild restraints is on
t he fron t passenger se at.
If the front passenger a irbag is turned off, the
P A SSENGER AIR B AG OFF light comes on in the
i nst rument cl uste r and stays on.
The front airbag on the passenge r side may
not
deploy (the PA SSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does
not ill uminate and stay lit) even if a small adu lt
o r teenager, or a passenge r who is no t sitting up­
rig ht w ith their b ack against a non-re clined back­
rest with the ir feet on the vehi cle floor in front of
t h e seat is on the front passenger seat
¢ page 113, Proper seating position for the driv ­
er.
If the fron t passenger airbag dep loys, the Fede ral
Standard requires the airbag to meet the "low
risk" deployment criteria to reduce the risk of in­
jury through interaction with the a irbag. "Low
risk" deployment occurs in those crashes that
take place at lower decelerations as defined in
the e lectronic control uni t¢
page 139, PASSEN­
GER AIR BAG OFF light .
Always remember, a child safety seat or infant
carr ier installed on the front seat may be struck
and knocked out of pos ition by the rapidly inflat ­
i ng passenge r's airbag in a frontal collision . The
airbag could greatly reduce the effectiveness of
t h e chi ld restraint and even ser iously injure the
c hi ld d uring in flat ion.
For t his reason, and because the back seat is the
safest p lace for children -when prope rly rest ra in­
ed a ccord ing to t heir age and size -we strong ly
recommend that children always si t in the back
seat ¢
page 151, Child safety. Ill>-
13 1

Airbag syste m
A WARNING
A child in a rearward-facing child safety seat
installed on the fr ont passenger seat will be
ser iously injure d and can be killed if the front
airbag inflates - ev en w ith an Advanced Airbag
System.
- 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 or roof .
- Always insta ll rear-facing child sa fety seats
on the rear seat.
- If you must install a rearward facing child
safety seat on the front passenger seat be­ ca use of exceptional c ircumstances and the
PASSENGER A IR BAG OFF light does not
come on and stay on, immediately 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 cause serio us pe rsonal injury to the child .
A WARNING
If, in exceptional c ircumstances, you must in­
stall a forward-facing chi ld restraint on the
front passenger's seat:
- Always make sure the forward-fac ing seat
has been designed and ce rtified by its man­
ufact urer for use on a front seat with a pas­
senger front and side airbag.
- Never put the forwa rd-facing child rest raint
up against or ve ry nea r the instrument pan­
el.
- Always move the passenger seat into its
rearmost posi tion in the sea t's fore and aft
adjus tment range, as far away from the air ­
bag as possib le before installing the for­
ward-facing ch ild restraint . The backrest
must be adjusted to an up right posit ion.
- Make sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
light comes on and stays on all the t ime
whenever the ignition is switched on.
132
A WARNING
-
To reduce the risk of ser ious injury, make sure
that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF li ght will
be d isp layed wheneve r a ch ild restraint is in­
stalled on the front passenger seat and the ig nit ion is switched on.
- If the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does
not stay on, pe rform the checks desc ribed
~ page 139, Monitoring the Advanced Air­
bag System.
- Ta ke the child restraint off the front passen­
ge r seat and inst all it properly at one of the
rea r 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 carefu lly follow instr uctions from
child res traint manufa cturers when instal­
ling child restraints .
A WARNING
If, in exceptiona l circumstances, you must in ­
stall a forwa rd or rearward-facing ch ild re­
straint on the front passenger's seat:
- Improper installation of chi ld restraints can
red uce their effectiveness or even prevent
them from providing any protect ion.
- An improperly installed chi ld restra int can
interfere w ith the airbag as it deploys and
serious ly injure or even kill the child - even
w ith an Advanced A irbag System.
-Always carefully fo llow the man ufacturer's
instructions provided w ith the child safety
seat or ca rrie r.
- Never p lace add itiona l items on the seat
that can increase the total weight reg istered
by the weight-sensing mat and can cause in­
jury in a crash.

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Front airbags
Description of front airbags
The airbag system can provide supplemental
protection to properly restrained front seat occu­
pants.
Fig . 132 Location of driver airbag: in steering wheel
Fig . 133 Location of front passenger's airbag: in the instru­
ment panel
Your vehicle is equipped with an "Advanced Air­
bag System" in compliance with United States
Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard
(FMVSS) 208 as applicable at the time your veh i­
cle was manufactured. The safety belts for the
seats have "pretensioners" that help to take slack
out of the belt system. The pretensioners are also
activated by the electronic control unit for the
airbag system .
The front safety belts also have load limiters to he lp reduce the forces applied to the body in a
crash.
The airbag for the driver is in the steer ing wheel
hub
c::> fig . 132 and the airbag for the front pas­
senger is in the instrument panel
~fig. 133. The
general location of the airbags is marked "AIR­
BAG".
Ai rb ag system
There is a lot you need to know about the airbags
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 the owner's literature. Please be sure to heed
the WARNINGS -they are extremely important
for your safety and the safety of your passengers, especially infants and small children.
_&. WARNING
Neve r rely on airbags alone for protection.
- Even when they deploy, airbags provide only
supp lemental protection.
- Airbag work most effectively when used
with properly worn safety belts.
- Therefore, always wear your safety belts and
make sure that everybody in your vehicle is properly rest rained.
_&. WARNING
--A pe rson on the front passenger seat, espe­
cially infants and small ch ildren, will rece ive
se rious inj uries and can even be k illed by be­
i ng too close to the airbag when it inflates.
- Altho ugh the Advanced Airbag System in
your veh icle is designed to turn off the front
passenger airbag if an infant or a small child
is on the front passenger seat, nobody can
absolutely guarantee that deployment un­
der these special conditions is impossible in
all conceivable situations that may happen
during the useful life of your vehicle.
- The Advanced Airbag System can deploy in
accordance with the "low r isk" option under
the U.S. Federal Standard if a ch ild that is
heav ier than the typical one-year old child is
on the front passenger seat and the other
conditions for airbag deployment are met.
-Accident statistics have shown that children are generally safer in the rear seat area than
in the fron t seating position.
- For their own safety, all ch ildren, especially
12 years and yo unger, should a lways ride in
the back properly restrained for their age and size .
133

Airbag syste m
Advanced front airbag system
Your vehicle is equipped w ith a front Advanced
A irbag System in compl iance with Un ited States
F ederal Motor Vehicle Sa fety Standard 208 asap­
plicab le at the time your vehicle was manu fac­
tured .
The front Advanced Airbag System supplements
the safety belts to provide add itiona l protect ion
for the driver's and front passenger's heads and
upper bodies in frontal crashes. The airbags in­
flate only in fronta l impacts when the vehicle de­
celeration is high enough.
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 overall occupant re ­
straint system in your veh icle. Always remember
that the airbag system can only help to protect
you, if you are sitting upright, wearing your safe ­
ty belt and weari ng it properly . This is why you
and your passengers must always be p roper ly re­
strained, not just because the law requires you to
be.
The Advanced Airbag System in your veh icle has
been ce rtified to meet the "low risk" require­
ments for 3 and 6 yea r-old ch ild ren o n the pas ­
senger side and very small ad ults on the drive r
side . The low risk deployment c riteria a re intend­
ed to he lp red uce the risk of injury through inter­
action with the front airbag t hat can occur, for
examp le, by being too close to the steering wheel
and instrument panel when the airbag inflates.
I n addition, the system has been certified to
comp ly with the "suppression" requirements of
the Safety Standard, to turn off the front airbag
for infants 12 months old and yo unger who are
restrained on the front passenger seat in ch ild re­
straints that are listed in the Standard
c::> page 153, Child restraints and Advanced Air­
bags.
"Suppression" requires the front airbag on the passenger side to be turned off if:
- a chi ld up to about one year of age is restrained
on the front passenger seat in one of the rear­
facing or forward-fac ing infant restraints listed
i n Federa l Motor Veh icle Safety Standard 208
134 with which the Advanced Airbag System in you
r
vehicle was certified. For a listing of the child
restraints that were used to certify your vehi ­
cle 's compliance with the US Safety Standard
c::> page 153,
- weight less than a thresho ld level stored in the
control unit is detected on the front passenger
seat.
When a person is detected on the front passen­
ger seat, weighing more than the tota l we ight of
a child that is about
1 year old restrained in one
of the rear-facing or forward-facing infant re­
stra ints (listed in Federal Motor Vehicle Safety
Standard 208 with which the Advanced Airbag
System i n your vehicle was certified), the front
a irbag on the passenger s ide may or may not de­
ploy.
The
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes on
whe n the elect ron ic cont ro l unit detects a total
weight on the fro nt passenger seat that requires
the front airbag to be tu rned off. If the
PASSEN ­
GER 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 dep loy if
the control unit senses an impact that meets the cond it ions stored in its memory.
If the total weight on the front passenger seat is
more than that of a typical 1 year-o ld, but less
than the weight of a small adult, the front airbag
on the passenger s ide may deploy (the
PASSEN­
GER AIR BAG O FF
light does not come on).
For ex ample , the air b ag ma y deplo y if:
-a small ch ild that is heavier than a typical 1
year -old chi ld is on the front passenger seat (re ­
gardless of whether the chi ld is in one of the
child safety seats listed
c::, page 153),
- a child who has outgrown chi ld restraints is on
the front passenger seat.
If the fron t passenger airbag is turned off, the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light in the center of
the i nstr ument pane l will come on and stay on.
The front airbag on the passenger side may
not
deploy (the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does
not ill uminate and stay lit) if: .,..

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-a small adu lt or teenager is on the front pas­
senger seat
- a passenger who is not sitting upright w ith
their back against a non-reclined backrest with
their feet on the vehicle floor in front of the
seat is on the front passenger seat.
I f the front passenger airbag deploys, the Federa l
Standard requires the airbag to meet the " low
risk" deployment criteria to help reduce the risk
of injury through interact ion with the airbag .
"Low risk" deployment occurs in those crashes
that take place at lower decelerations as defined
in the electron ic control unit.
c:> page 139
Alway s remember: Even though your vehicle is
equ ipped w ith Advanced A irbags, the safest place
for children is properly restrained on the back
seat. Please be sure to read the important infor­ mat ion in the sections that follow and be sure to
h eed a ll of the WARNINGS.
.&, WARNING
To reduce the risk of injury whe n an airbag in­
flates, always wear sa fety belts proper ly.
- If you are unres trained, lean ing fo rward, sit­
t ing s ideways or out of position in any way,
yo ur risk of in jury is much higher.
- You w ill also receive serious inju ries and
cou ld even be killed if you are up against the
airbag or too close to it when it inflates -
even with an Advanced Airbag
c> page 129.
.&_ WARNING
A child in a rearward-facing child safety seat
installed on the front passenger seat will be
ser iously injured and can be killed if the front
airbag inflates -even with an Advanced A irbag
System .
- Although the Advanced Airbag System in
your vehicle is designed to turn off the front
airbag when a rearward-facing child re­
straint has been installed on the front pas­ senger seat, nobody can abso lutely g uaran­
tee that deployment is impossible in a ll con­
c eivable s ituations that may happen dur ing
the useful life of you r vehicle .
- The inflating a irbag w ill hit the child safety
sea t or infan t carrier wi th grea t fo rce and
Airbag syste m
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 be­
cause of except iona l circumstances and the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does not
come on and stay on, immediately install
the r ear-facing child safety seat in a rear
seati ng position and have the airbag system
i n spected by yo ur authori zed Audi dealer.
.&_ WARNING
If, in except iona l circumstances, you m ust in­
stall a forwa rd-facing child rest ra in t on the
front passenger's seat:
- Always make sure the forward- facing se at
has been des igned and certif ied by its man ­
ufacturer for use on a front seat with a pas­
senger front and s ide a irbag .
- Never p ut the fo rward-facing child restraint
up against or very near the inst rument pan ·
el.
-Always move the passenger seat into its
rea rmost position in the seat's fore and aft
ad justment range, as far away from the a ir­
bag as possible, before installing the for­
ward-facing child restraint. The backrest must be adjusted to an upr ight position .
- Make sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
li ght comes on and stays o n all the time
whenever the ignit ion is switched on.
Advanced Airbag System components
The front passenger seat in you r vehicle has a lot
of ve ry impo rtant parts of the Advanced A irbag
System i n it. These parts in cl ude the we igh t­
sensing mat, sensors, w iring, b racke ts, and more.
T he function of the system in the front passenger
seat is checked by the electronic control unit
whe n the ignition is on . The control unit monitors
the Advanced Airbag System and turns the airbag indicator light on when a malfunct ion in the sys­
tem components is detected . The function of the
airbag indicator light is described in greater
II>
1 3 5

Airbag syste m
detail below . Because the front passenger seat
contains important parts of the Advanced Airbag
System, you must 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 Ad vanced Airb ag System con sis ts
of the follow ing :
-Crash sensors in the front of the veh icle that
measure veh icle acceleration/decelerat ion to
provide information to the Advanced Airbag
System about the severity of the crash .
- An electronic control unit, with integrated crash sensors for front and side impacts. The
control un it "decides" whether to fire the front
airbags based on the informa tion rece ived from
the crash sensors. The con trol un it also "de­
cides" whether the safety be lt pretensioners
shou ld be activated.
- An Advanced Airbag wi th gas generator and
control valve for the driver inside the steering
whee l hub.
- An Advanced Airbag with gas generator and
control va lve inside the instrument panel for
the front passenger.
- A weight -sensing mat under the upholste ry
padding of the front passenger seat cushion
that measures the total weight on the seat. The information registered is sent continuously to
the electronic control un it to regu late dep loy­
ment of the front Advanced Airbag on the pas­
senger side.
- An airbag monitoring system and indicator
light in the instrument cluster
r=> page 139.
-A sensor in each front seat registers the dis­
tance between the respect ive seat and the
steering wheel or instrument panel. The infor­
mation registered is sent cont inuously to the
electron ic co ntro l unit to regulate deployment
of the front Advanced Airbags.
- T he
PA SSENGER AIR B AG OFF light comes on
and stays on in the center of the instrument
pane l
c>page 139, fig . 135 and tells you when
the front Advanced A irbag on the passenger
side has been turned off.
- A sensor below the safety belt la tch for the
front seat passenge r to measure the tension on
136 the safety belt
. The tension on the safety be lt
and the weight registered by the weight-sens ­
ing mat help the control unit "decide" whether
the front a irbag for the front passenger seat
should be turned
off or not c> page 130, Child
restraints on the front seat -some important
things to know.
- A sensor in the safety belt latch for the driver
and for the front seat passenger that senses
whether that safety belt is latched or not and transm its this info rmat ion to the elect ro ni c
cont ro l unit .
_&. WARNING
Damage to the fron t passenger seat can pre­
vent the front a irbag from working properly.
- I mproper repa ir or d isassembly of the front
passenger and driver seat will p revent the
Advanced Airbag System from functioning properly.
- Repairs to the front passenge r seat must be
performed by qualified and properly trained
wo rkshop personne l.
- Never remove the front passenger o r driver
seat from the vehicle .
- Never remove the upho lstery from the front
passenger seat.
- Never d isassemble o r remove par ts from the
seat or disconnect w ires from it.
- Never carry sharp obje cts in yo ur pocke ts or
place them on the seat. If the weight-sens­
ing mat in the passenger seat is p unctured
it cannot work properly.
- Never carry things on you r lap or carry ob­
jects on the passenger seat. S uch items can
increase the weight registe red by the
weight-sensing mat and send the wrong in­ formation to the airbag contro l unit.
- Never store items under the front passenger
seat. Parts of the Advanced Airbag System
under the passenger seat could be dam­
aged, preventing them and the airbag sys­
tem from wo rking prope rly.
- Never p lace seat covers or rep lacement 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 recogniz ing ch ild

M N
0 l­oo
rl I.O
"' N
"' rl
restraints or occupants on the front passen­
ger seat and prevent the side airbag in the
seat backrest from deploying properly.
- Never use cushions, pillows, blankets or
similar items on the front passenger seat.
The additional padding will prevent the
we ight-sensing mat in the seat from accu­
rately registering the child rest raint or per­
son on the seat and prevent the Advanced
Airbag System from functioning properly.
- If you must use a child restra int on the front
passenge r seat and the child rest rain t man­
ufac turer's instructions requ ire the use of a
towel, foam c ushion or someth ing e lse to
properly position the child restraint, make
certain that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light comes on and stays on whenever the
child restraint is installed on the front pas­
senger seat.
- If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does
not come on and stay on, immediately in­
stall child restra int i n a rear seating position
and have the a irbag system inspected by
your authorized Aud i dealer.
How the Advanced Airbag System
components work together
The front Advanced Airbag System and the s ide
a irbags supplement the protect ion offered by the
front three-point safety belts with pretensioners
and load limiters and the adjustable head re­
straints to help reduce the risk of injury in a wide
range of accident and crash situations . Be sure to
read the important information about safety and
heed the WARNINGS in this chapter.
Dep loyment of the Advanced Airbag System and
the act ivation of the safety belt pretensioners de­
pend on the deceleration measured by the crash
sensors and registered by the electronic control
un it . Crash sever ity depends on speed a nd decel­
e rat ion as well as the mass and st iff ness of the
ve hicle or objec t involved in the crash.
On the passenger s ide, regard less of safety belt
use, the a irbag w ill be turned off if the weight on
the passenge r seat is less than the amount pro­
grammed in the electronic con trol un it . The front
Ai rb ag system
airbag on the passenger side will also be turned
off if one of the child safety seats that has been certified under Federal Motor Vehicle Safety
Standard 208 has been recogni zed on the seat .
The
P A SSENGER AIR B AG OFF light comes on
and stays on to tell you when the front Advanced
Airbag on the passenger side has been turned off
q page 130, Child restraints on the front seat -
some important things to know .
_&. WARNING
To reduce the risk of inju ry when an airbag i n­
flates, a lways wear safety belts properly.
- If you are unrestra ined, leaning forward, sit­
ting sideways or out of posi tion in any way,
your risk of injury is m uch higher.
- You will a lso 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
qpoge 129.
More important things to know about front
airbags
Fi g. 1 34 Inflated fro nt a irbags
-.... N 0 :i:
~
Safety be lts are important to he lp keep front seat
occupants in the proper seated position so that
airbags can unfold properly and provide supple­
mental protection in a frontal coll ision.
T he front airbags a re des igned to provide addi­
tiona l protection for the chest and face of the
driver and the front seat passenger when:
- safety belts are worn properly,
- t he seats have bee n positioned so tha t the oc-
cupant is properly seated as far as possible
from the airbag, ..,
137

Airbag syste m
-and the head restraints have been properly ad-
justed .
Because airbags inflate i n the blink of an eye with
g rea t force, things you have on yo ur lap or have
p laced on the seat cou ld become dangerous pro­
jectiles, and be pushed into you if the airbag in­
flates.
When an a irbag deploys , fine dust is released.
This is normal and is not caused by a fire in the
vehicle . This dust is made up most ly of a powder
used to lubricate the airbags as they deploy.
It
could irr itate sk in.
I t is important to remember that while the sup­
p lemental airbag system is designed to reduce
the likelihood of serious injuries, other injuries,
for example swel ling, bruising and m inor abra­
sions, can also happen when a irbags inflate. Air­
bags do not protect the arms or the lower parts
of the body. Front airbags only supplement the
three point safety belts in some fronta l collisions
i n which the veh icle deceleration is h igh enough
to deploy the airbags.
F ront airbags w ill not deplo y:
- if the ignit ion is switched off when a crash oc -
curs,
- in s ide collisions,
- in rear-end collisions,
- in ro llovers,
- when the crash deceleration measured by the
airbag system is less than the minimum thresh­
o ld needed for airbag deployment as registered
by the electronic control un it.
Th e front pas seng er airbag will a lso not
depl oy:
-when the front passenger seat is not occupied,
- when the weight on the front passenger seat as
sensed by the Advanced Airbag System indi­
cates that the front airbag on the passenger
s ide has to be turned off by the e lectronic con­
trol unit (the
PAS SENGE R AIR BAG O FF ligh t
comes on and stays on).
A WARNING
Sitting in the wrong position can increase the
r is k of serious injury in crashes .
138
-To reduce the risk of injury when the airbags
inflate, the driver and passengers must al­
ways sit in an upright pos ition, must not
lean aga inst or place any part of thei r body
too close to the area where the a irbags are
located.
- Occupants who are unbelted, out of position
or too close to the airbag can be seriously
injured by an a irbag as it unfolds with great
force in the blink of an eye
c:> page 130.
A WARNING
A child in a rearward-facing ch ild safety seat
installed on the front passenge r seat w il l be
seriously inju red and can be killed if the front
ai rbag inflates -even with an Advanced Airbag
System.
- The inflating airbag will hit the chi ld safety
seat or infant carrier with great force and
w ill smash the child safety seat and child
aga inst the backrest, center armrest, door
or roof.
- Always install rear-fac ing ch ild 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
PAS SENGER AIR BAG OFF light does not
come on and stay on, immediately install
the rear-facing child safety seat in a rear
seating posi tion and have the airbag system
inspected by your au thori zed Audi dealer .
A WARNING
Objects between you and the airbag will in­
crease the risk of inj ury in a crash by inte rfe r­
ing with the way the airbag unfolds or by be­
ing p ushed into you as the airbag inflates.
- Never hold things in your hands o r on your
lap when the vehicle is in use .
- Never transpor t items on or in the a rea of
the front passenger seat. Objects could move into the area of the front ai rbags dur­
ing brak ing or other sudden maneuver and
become dangerous project iles that can
cause serious persona l injury if the airbags
inflate.