airbag off AUDI A6 2018 User Guide

Safe ty belts
Never rely on airbags alone for protection . Even
when they deploy, airbags provide only additiona l
protection. Airbags are not supposed to dep loy in
all kinds of accidents. A lthough your Audi is
equipped w ith airbags, all vehicle occupants, in­
cluding the dr iver, must wear safety belts cor ­
rectly in order to minimize the risk of severe in­
jury or death in a crash .
Remember too, that airbags will deploy only
once and that your safety belts are always there
to offer protect ion in those accidents in w hich
airbags are not supposed to deploy or when they
have a lready deployed. Unbel ted occupants can
a lso be thrown o ut of the ve hicle where eve n
mo re severe or fatal injur ies can occur .
It is also important for the rear passenge rs to
wear safety belts co rrectly. Unbel ted passengers
i n t he re ar seats endanger no t on ly themse lves
but also the drive r and other passengers
c::> fig . 144 . In a frontal collision they will be
thrown forward violently, where they can hit and
in jure the driver and/or front seat passenger .
Safety belts protect
People think it's possible to use the hands to
brace the body in a minor collision . It's simply
not true!
F ig . 14 5 Driver is co rrectly restrai ned in a sudde n brak ing
m aneuver
Safety belts used properly can make a b ig d iffer­
ence. Safety belts help to keep passengers in
their seats, gradually reduce energy levels ap­
plied to the body in an accident, and he lp prevent
the uncont rolled moveme nt that can cause seri­
ous injur ies. In addition, safety be lts reduce the
danger of being thrown out of the vehicle .
136
Safety belts attach passengers to the car and g ive
them the benefit of being s lowed down more
gently or "soft ly" thro ugh the "give" in the safety
belts, crush zones and other safety feat ures engi­
neered into today 's vehicles. By "absorbing" the
k inet ic energy over a longe r per iod of t ime, the
safety belts make the forces on the body more "tole rab le" and less likely to cause inju ry .
Although these examples are based on a frontal
collision, safety be lts ca n also substantially re­
duce the r isk o f injury in ot her kinds of crashes.
So, whethe r you're on a long trip or just going to
the cor ne r store, a lways b uckle up and make s ure
othe rs do, too. Ac ciden t st at ist ics show that veh i­
cl e occupants prope rly wearing safety bel ts have
a lowe r risk of be ing injured and a m uch better
chance of surviving an acc ident . Properly using
safety be lts also great ly increases the ability of
the supp lemental airbags to do their job in a col­
li sion. For this reason, wearing a safety belt is le­
gally required in most countries including much
of the United States and Canada.
Although your Aud i is equipped with airbags, you
still have to wear the safety belts provided. Front
airbags, for examp le, are activated only in some
frontal collisions. The front airbags are not act i­
vated in all frontal collisions, in side and rear co l­
li sio ns, in rollovers or in cases whe re there is not
eno ugh deceler ation throug h impa ct to the front
of the vehicle . The same goes for the other a irbag
systems in your Audi. So, always wear your safety belt and make sure everybody in your vehicle is
properly rest rained!
Important safety instructions about safety
belts
Safety belts must always be correctly positioned
across the strongest bones of your body.
.,. Always wear safety belts as illustrated and de­
scribed in this chapter.
.,. Make sure that your safety be lts are always
ready fo r use a nd a re not damaged .

Safe ty belt s
~ Push the loop -around fittings up ¢ fig. 150 @,
or
~ squeeze together the (D button, and push the
loop-around fittings
do wn@ .
~ Pull the belt to make sure that the upper at­
tachment is properly engaged .
A WARNING
Always read and heed all WARNINGS and oth­
er impo rtant informat io n
¢page 136.
(D Tips
With the front seats, the height adjustment
of the seat can also be used to adjust the po­
sition of the safety belts .
Improperly worn safety belts
Incorrectly positioned safety belts can cause se­
vere injuries .
Wearing safety belts improperly can cause seri­
ous injury or death. Safety belts can only work
when they are correctly pos itioned on the body .
Imp roper seating posit ions reduce the effect ive­
ness of safety be lts and will even inc rease the
risk of injury a nd deat h by mov ing the safety bel t
t o cr it ica l areas of the body. Imp roper sea ting
positions a lso increase the risk of serio us inj ury
and death when an airbag deploys and strikes an
occupant who is not in the correct seating posi ­
tion. A driver is responsible for the safety of all
ve hicle occupants and especia lly for children.
Therefore:
~ Never permit anyone to ass ume an inco rrect
s itting position in the vehicle wh ile trave ling
¢A .
A WARNING
Improperly wor n safety be lts increase the risk
of se rious personal injury a nd death wheneve r
a vehicle is be ing used.
- Always make sure that a ll vehicle occupa nts
are co rrect ly restra ined and stay i n a co rrect
sea ting pos it ion wheneve r the veh icle is be­
ing used.
140
- Always read and heed all WARNI NGS and
other impo rtant
informat ion¢ page 136.
Belt tensioners
How safety belt pretensioners work
Reversible safety belt tensioners*
The following functions a re availab le when safety
belts w ith reversib le safety belt tensioners a re
fastened:
- Automatic tens ioners: at the start of a drive,
the safety belts automat ica lly adjust to t he
passenger after a ce rtain time per iod or ve hicle
speed. To switch t he a utomat ic tens ioners off,
select the follow ing in t he M MI :
!CARI function
button
> ( Car )* sy stem s > Vehicle settings >
Seats > Driver 's seat or Passenger' s seat > Au­
tomatic belt tensione r
> Off.
-In certain driving situations, the safety belts
may tighten wit h a reversib le tensioning func ­
tion
c> page 94.
- The safety be lts may also tighten with this re -
vers ible tension ing funct ion in m inor collisions.
Pyrotechnic safety belt pretensioners
Seat bel ts with py rotechnic safety be lt p reten ­
s ione rs are tensioned automati cally in severe col ­
li sions, depending on the circumstances . This
helps to reduce the forwa rd motion of the occu ­
pants.
A WARNING
- It is possible for the pretensioners to dep loy
incorrect ly.
- Any work on the tens ioner system or remov ­
al and installation of system components
for other repairs m ust be performed by a
qua lified workshop.
- The pyrotechnic system can only provide
protection for one collis ion. If t he py rotech­
n ic pretens ione rs deploy, the pretensioning
system must be rep laced.

Airbag system
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.
For your safety and the safety of your passen­
gers, before driving off, always:
.,. Adjust the dr iver's seat and steering wheel
properly~ page 126,
.,. Adjust the front passenge r's seat properly
~page 47 ,
.,. Wear safety belts p roperly ~page 136,
.. Always properly use the proper child restraint
to protect chi ldren
~page 166 .
In a coll is ion, airbags must inflate within the
blink of an eye and with considerable force. The
supp lemental airbags can cause injuries if the
driver or the front seat passenger is not seated
properly. Therefore in order to he lp the airbag to
do its job, it is important, both as a dr iver and as
a passenger to sit properly at all t imes.
By keeping room between your body and the
steering whee l and the front of the passenger
compartment, the air bag can inflate fully and
completely and provide supplemental protect ion
in certain frontal
coll isions¢ page 126, Correct
passenger seating positions .
For details on the
operation of the seat adjustment controls
¢ page 47.
It's especially important that children are proper­
ly restrained
¢pag e 166.
There is a lot that the driver and the passengers
can and must do to help the ind iv idual safety fea­
tures installed in your Audi work together as a
system.
Proper seating posit ion is important so that the
front airbag on the driver side can do its job. If
you have a physical impairment or cond ition that
prevents you from s itting properly on the driver
seat with the safety be lt properly fastened and
142
reaching the pedals, or if you have concerns with
regard to the function or operation of the Ad­
vanced Airbag System, please contact your au­
thorized Audi dea ler or qualified workshop, or
ca ll Audi Customer Relations at 1-800-822-2834
for poss ible modifications to your vehicle .
When the airbag system dep loys, a gas generator
will fill the airbags, break open the padded cov­ ers, and infla te between the steering wheel and
the driver and between the instrument panel and
the front passenger. The a irbags w ill deflate im­
med iate ly after deployment so that the front oc­
cupants can see through the windsh ield aga in
without interruption.
All of th is takes place in the blink of an eye, so
fast that many people don't even realize that the
a irbags have deployed. The airbags also inflate
with a great deal of force and nothing should be
in the ir way when they deploy. Front airbags in
combination with properly worn safety belts slow
down and limit the occupant's forward move­
ment. Together they help to prevent the driver
and front seat passenger from hitting parts of
the ins ide of the vehicle while reduc ing the forces
acting on the occupant dur ing the crash . In th is
way they help to reduce the risk of injury to the
head and upper body in the crash . Airbags do not
protect the arms or the lower parts of the body.
Both front airbags will not inflate in all frontal
collisions. The triggering of t he a irbag system de­
pends on the veh icle deceleration rate caused by
the collis ion and registered by the electronic con­
trol unit. If this rate is be low the refe rence value
programmed into the control unit, the airbags
will not be triggered, even tho ugh t he car may be
badly damaged as a resu lt of the co llision . V ehi­
cle damage, repair costs or even the lack of vehi­
cle damage is not necessarily an indication of
whether an a irbag should inflate or not.
Since the circumstances wi ll vary considerab ly
between one co llision and another, it is not possi ­
ble to define a range of veh icle speeds that will
cover every poss ible kind and angle of impact
that w ill always trigger the airbags. Important
factors include, for example, the nature (hard or
soft) of the object which the ca r hits, the angle of
im pact, vehicle speed, etc. The front airbags will
..,.

a co .... N
" N .... 0 0 \.J ' also not inflate in side or rear co llisions, or in
ro llovers .
Always re memb er: Airbags will deploy only o nce,
and on ly in ce rtain k inds of coll is ions. Yo ur safety
be lts are always there to offer protection in those
situations in which airbags are not supposed to
deploy, or when they have already deployed; for
examp le, when your vehicle str ikes or is struck by
another vehicle after the first coll is ion.
This is just one of the reasons why an airbag is a
supp lementary restraint and is not a substitute
for a safety belt. The airbag system works most
effect ively when used with the safety belts.
Therefore, always properly wear your safety belts
<=:> page 134 .
A WARNING
Sitting too close to the steer ing whee l o r i n­
st rument panel w ill decrease the effe ct ive­
ness of the airbags and will inc rease the risk
of persona l injury in a co llision.
- Never si t close r than 10 inches (25 cm) to
the stee ring w heel or instr ument panel.
- If you cannot sit mo re than 10 inches
(25 cm) from the s teeri ng wheel, invest i­
gate whethe r adaptive equipment may be
availab le to he lp you reach the pedals and
increase your seating distance from the
steering wheel.
- All ve hicle occupants and especia lly children
must be restrained proper ly whenever riding
in a vehicle. An unrestrained or improperly
restra ined child could be injured by striking
the interior or by being ejected from the ve­
hicle during a sudden maneuver or impact.
An unrestra ined o r imp roperly restrained
c hild is also at greate r risk of inju ry o r death
t h rough contact with an inflating airbag.
- If you are unrestrained, lean ing fo rwa rd, s it­
ti ng s ideways or o ut of pos it ion in any way,
yo ur risk of i njury is m uch higher.
- Yo u will also receive se rious injur ies and
c ou ld eve n be killed if you are up aga inst the
air bag o r too close to it w hen it in flates -
even with an Advanced Airbag.
-
Airbag syste m
-To reduce the r is k of injury when an airbag
inf lates, always wear safety belts prope rly
r=;, page 137, Safety belts.
- Always make certain that children age 12 or
younge r always ride in the rear seat. If chil­
dren are not properly restrained, they may be severely injured or killed when an airbag
i n flates.
- Never let c hildren r ide unrestra ined or im­
properly restrained in the vehicle . Ad just the
front seats properly.
- Never ride w ith the backrest recl ined .
- Always sit as far as possible from the steer-
ing wheel or the instrument pane l
r=;, page 126.
-Always sit upright w ith your back against
the backrest of your seat .
- Never p lace your feet on the instrument
panel or on the seat. Always keep bot h feet
on the floor in front of t he seat to help pre­
vent ser ious injur ies to the legs and hips if
the airbag inflates.
- Never recl ine t he fron t passenger's seat to
transpo rt objects . Items can also move into
the area of the s ide airbag or the front air­
b ag d uring brak ing o r in a sudden ma neu ­
ve r. Obje cts near the a irbags can be come
p rojecti les and cause injury when an airbag
inf lates .
A WARNING ,..__ -
Airbags that have deployed in a cras h m ust be
replaced.
- Use on ly original eq uipment airbags ap ­
proved by A udi and insta lled by a trained
technician who has the necessary tools and
d iagnostic equipment to properly replace
any airbag in yo ur vehicle and assure system
effect iveness in a crash.
- Never permit salvaged or recycled airbags to
be installed in you r vehicle.
Child restraints on the front seat - some
important things to know
.. Be s ure to read the impo rtant info rmat io n and
heed the WARN INGS for important deta ils
143

Airbag syste m
about children and Advanced Airbags
¢page 166 .
Even tho ugh yo ur vehicle is equ ipped with an Ad­
vanced Ai rbag System, make certain that all chi l­
dren, especially those 12 years and younger, al­
ways ride in the back seat properly restrained for
their age and size. The airbag on the passenger
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 forward-facing child
seat . It ca n be a very dangerous place for an in­
fant or a c hild in a rea rwa rd-fac ing seat.
The Advanced Airbag System in your veh icle has
been cert ified to comply with the requ irements
of United States Federal Moto r Vehicle Safety
Standard ( FMVSS) 208, as well as Canada Motor
Ve hicle Safety Standa rd (CMVSS) 208 as applica­
b le at the time your veh icle was ma nufactu red.
Acco rding to requi rements, the front Advanced
Airbag System on the passenger side has been
certifi ed for "suppression" for infants of about
12 month old and younger and for "low risk de­
p loyment" for children aged 3 to 6 years o ld (as
defined in the standard) .
Th e
PASSENGER AIR BAG O FF light in the instru ­
ment panel tells you when the front Advanced
Airbag on the passenger side has been turned off by the electronic control un it .
Each time yo u switch on the ignition, the
PAS·
S ENGER AIR BAG OFF
light will come on for a
few seconds and:
- will stay on if the front passenger seat is not
occupied,
- will stay on if the electrical capacitance meas ­
u red by the capacitive passenger detection sys ­
tem for the front passenger seat equals the combined capacitance of an infant up to about
one year of age and one of the rearward-facing
or forward-facing child restraints listed in Fed­
eral Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS)
208 with wh ich the Advanced Airbag System in
yo ur vehicle was ce rt ified. For a listing of the
c hi ld rest raints t hat we re used to ce rtify yo ur
vehicle 's compliance with the Safety Standard
¢ page 168 .
144 -
w ill stay on if there is a sma ll child o r chil d re ­
straint on the front passenger seat,
- w ill go off if the front passenger seat is occu ­
pied by an adu lt as registered by the capacitive
passenger detection system ¢
page 154, Mon­
itoring the Advanced Airbag System.
The PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF lig ht comes on
when e lectrica l capacitance registered on the
front passenger seat is equal to or less t han the
combined capacitance of a typical
1 year-old in­
fant and one of the rearward-facing or forward­
facing child restrai nts listed in Federa l Motor Ve­
hicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 208 with which
the Advanced A irbag System in yo ur vehicle was
ce rt ified.
If the to tal e lectr ica l capacitance registered o n
the front passenger seat is more than that of a
typ ical 1 yea r-old ch ild but less than the weight
of a sma ll adult, the front airbag on the passen­
ger side can deploy (the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
light does no t come on).
If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does not
come on, the front airbag on the passenger s ide
has not been turned off by the electroni c con trol
u nit a nd can dep loy if the con trol unit senses an
i mpact t hat meets the cond itions stored in its
memory.
For exampl e, the airbag ma y deplo y if:
- a small ch ild that is heav ier than a typ ical 1
year-old child is on the front passenger seat (regard less of whethe r the child is in one of t he
child seats listed
¢ page 168), or
- a child who has outgrown c hild rest raints is on
the front passenge r seat.
If the front passenger a irbag is turned off, the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes on in the
i nst rument cluster and stays on .
If the front passenger a irbag deploys, the Feder­
al Standard requires the airbag to meet the "low
risk" deployment cr iteria to reduce the r isk of in­
j u ry th rough interact ion w ith the airbag .
"Low
risk " dep loyment oc curs in t hose crashes tha t
t a ke place at lowe r decele ra tions as defined in
t h e e lec tronic co ntro l unit
¢ page 154 , PASSEN-
GER AIR BAG OFF light.
..,_

a co .... N
" N .... 0 0 \.J ' Always remember, a child seat or infant carrier
insta lled on the front seat may be struck and
knocked out of position by the rapidly inflating
passenger's a irbag in a frontal collision . The air­
bag could greatly reduce the effectiveness of the
child restraint and even seriously i njure the ch ild
during inflation .
For this reason, and because the back seat is the
safest place for children - when properly restra in­
ed according to the ir age and size
-we strongly
recommend that children always sit in t he back
seat
¢ page 166, Child safety.
.&_ WARNING
A child in a rearward-facing chi ld seat insta l­
led on the front passenger seat will be ser i­
ously in jured and can be k illed if the front air­
bag inflates -even with an Advanced Airbag
System.
- The inflating a irbag w ill hit the child sea t or
infant carrier with great force and will
smash the child seat and child against the
backrest, cente r arm rest, door or roof.
- Always install rear-facin g child seats on t he
rea r seat.
- If you must install a rearward facing chil d
seat on the front passenger seat because of
exceptiona l circumstances and the
PASSEN­
GER AIR BAG OFF
light does not come on
and stay on, immediately insta ll the rear­
facing child seat in a rea r seat ing position
and have the airbag system inspected by
yo ur Audi dealer.
- Forward-fac ing ch ild seats installed on the
front passenge r's seat may interfere with
t h e deployment of the airbag and cause se­
rious person al injury to the child.
.&_ WARNING
If, in e xcept ional circumstan ces, you mus t in­
stall a forward-facing chi ld restraint on the
front passenger's seat:
- Always ma ke sure the forwar d-f a ci ng seat
has been designed and ce rtified by its man ­
ufact urer for use on a front seat with a pas­
senger front and s ide air bag .
Airbag syste m
- Never put the fo rwa rd-facing child restraint
up aga inst or very nea r the instr ument pan­
el.
- Always move the front passenger seat to
the highest posit ion in the up and down ad­
justment range and move it back to the
rearmost posit ion in the seat's fore and aft
ad justmen t range , as far away from the air­
bag as possible, before installing the for­
ward-fa cing ch ild restraint.
- Always make sure that the safety be lt upper
anchorage is behind the c hild rest raint and
not next to o r in front of the child res tra int
so th at the s afety be lt will be p roperly posi­
tioned.
- Make sure th at the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
li ght comes on and stays on all the time
wheneve r the ignit ion is switched on .
.&_ WARNING
= -
To reduce the risk of serious injury, make sure
that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light will
be d isplayed whenever a child rest raint is in­
stalled on the front passenger seat and the i gnition is switched on.
- If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does
not stay on, perform the checks described
¢ page 154, Monitoring the Advanced Air­
bag System.
- Take the child restra int off the front passen­
ge r seat and install it properly at one of the
rear sea t positions if the
PASSENGER AIR
BAG OFF
light does no t stay o n.
- Have the ai rbag system inspected by your
Au di deale r immediately.
- Always carefully follow ins tructions from
child restrain t manufacture rs when instal­
ling child restra ints .
.&_ WARNING
-
If, in exceptional c ircums tances, you must in­
st all a forw ard or re arw ard-fa cing child re­
stra int on t he fron t passenger 's seat:
- I mp roper installat ion of child res traints can
reduce the ir effectiveness or even preven t
them from provi ding any pro tect ion .
145

Airbag system
-An improperly installed child restraint can
interfere with the airbag as it deploys and
seriously injure or even kill the child
-even
with an Advanced Airbag System .
-Always carefully follow the manufacture r's
instructions provided with the child seat or
carrier .
-Always make sure that there is nothing on
the front passenger seat that will cause the
capacit ive passenger detection system in
the seat to signal to the Airbag System that
the seat is occupied by a person when it is
not, or to signa l that it is occupied by some­
one who is heav ier than the person actually
sitting on the seat. The presence of addi­
tional objects could cause the passenger
front airbag to be turned on when it should be off, or could cause the airbag to work in a
way that is different from the way it would
have worked without the object on the seat .
Front airbags
Description of front airbags
The airbag system can provide supplemental
protection to properly restrained front seat occu­
pants.
Fig. 151 L ocation of d river airbag : in stee ring w heel
146
Fig. 152 Locat io n of fro nt passenge r's airbag : in th e in ·
s trumen t pan el
Your vehicle is equipped with an "Advanced Air­
bag System" in compliance with United States
Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard
(FMVSS) 208, as well as Canada Motor Vehicle
Safety Standard (CMVSS) 208 as applicable at
the time your vehicle was manufactured .
The airbag for the driver is in the steering wheel
hub
q fig. 151 and the airbag for the front pas­
senger is in the instrument panel
q fig. 152 . The
general location of the airbags is marked
"AIR·
BAG".
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.
A WARNING
-Never rely on airbags alone for protection.
-Even when they deploy, airbags provide only
supplemental 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 veh icle is
properly restrained.
- Always hold the steering wheel with both
hands on the outside of the steering wheel
rim at the 9:00 o'clock and 3:00 o'clock po·
sitions to help reduce the risk of personal in-
jury
if the dr iver's airbag inflates. ~

a co .... N
" N .... 0 0 \,;J ' -Never hold the steering wheel at the 12
o'clock position or with your hands any­
where inside the steering wheel or on the steering wheel hub . Holding the steering
wheel the wrong way increases the risk of severe injury to the arms, hands, and head if
the driver airbag deploys.
A WARNING
Objects between you and the airbag will in­
crease the risk of injury in a crash by interfer­
ing with the way the airbag unfolds and/or by
being pushed into you as the airbag inflates.
- Always make sure nothing is in the front air-
bag deployment zone that could be struck
by the airbag when it inflates.
-
- Objects in the zone of a deploying airbag
can become projectiles when the airbag de­
ploys and cause serious personal injury.
- Never hold things in your hands or on your
lap when the vehicle is in use.
- Never place accessories or other objects
(such as cup holders, telephone brackets,
note pads, navigation systems, or things
that are large, heavy, or bulky) on the doors;
never attach then to the doors or the wind­
shield; never place them over or near or at­
tach them to the area marked
,,AIRBAG" on
the steering wheel, instrument panel or the seat backrests; never place them between
these areas and you or any other person in
the vehicle.
- Never attach objects to the windshield
above the passenger front airbag, such as
accessory GPS navigation units or music
players. Such objects could cause serious in­
jury in a collision, especially when the air­ bags inflate.
- Never recline the front passenger seat to
transport objects. Items can also move into
the deployment area of the side airbags or
the front airbag during breaking or in a sud­ den maneuver. Objects near the airbags can
fly dangerously through the passenger com­ partment and cause injury, particularly
when the seat is reclined and the airbags in­
flate.
Airbag system
A WARNING
r--
A person on the front passenger seat, espe-
cially infants and small children, will receive
serious injuries and can even be killed by be­ ing too close to the airbag when it inflates .
- Although the Advanced Airbag System in your vehicle 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 risk" option for 3-
and 6-year-old children under the U.S. Fed­
eral Standard if a child with electrical capac­ itance greater than the combined capaci­
tance of a typical one-year old infant re­
strained in one of the forward facing or rear­
ward-facing child seats with which your ve­ hicle was certified is on the front passenger
seat and the other conditions for airbag de-
ployment are met.
- Accident statistics have shown that children
are generally safer in the rear seat area than
in the front seating position.
- For their own safety, all children, especially
12 years and younger, should always 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
well as Canada Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (CMVSS) 208 as applicable at the time your vehi­
cle was manufactured.
The front Advanced Airbag System supplements
the safety belts to provide additional protection
for the driver's and front passenger's heads and
upper bodies in frontal crashes . The airbags in­
flate only in frontal impacts when the vehicle de-
celeration is high enough.
.,.
147

Airbag syste m
The front Advanced Airbag System for the front
seat occupants is not a substitute for your safety
be lts. Rather, it is part of the overa ll occupant re­
stra int system in your vehicle. Always remember
that the airbag system can on ly help to protect
you, if you are sitting upr ight, wearing your safe ­
ty belt and wearing it properly . This is why you
and your passengers must always be properly re­
stra ined, not just because the law requ ires you to
be.
The Advanced Airbag System in your veh icle has
been cert ified to meet the " low r isk" requ ire­
ments for 3 and 6 yea r-o ld children o n the pas­
senge r side and very sma ll adul ts on the d river
side . The low r isk dep loymen t cr iteria are intend ­
ed to he lp reduce t he risk of injury through inter­
action with the front airbag that 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 younger who are
restrained on the front passenger seat in ch ild re­
stra ints that are listed in the Standard
c::> page 168, Child restraints and Advanced front
airbag system.
"Suppression" requ ires the front a irbag on the
passenger side to be turned off if:
- a chi ld up to about one year of age is restra ined
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 wh ich the Advanced Airbag System in your
vehicle was ce rt ified . For a listing of the ch ild
r estra ints tha t were used to certify your veh i­
cle's compl ian ce with the US Safety Standard
c::> page 168,
-When a person is detected on the fron t passen ­
ger seat th at has an electr ica l capacitance t hat
is mo re than the tota l electrical capac itance of
a chi ld that is about 1 year old restrained in one
of the rear -facing or forward-facing infant re­
straints (listed in Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208 with w hich the Advanced A irbag
System in your veh icle was certified) , the front
148
airbag on the passenger side may or may not
dep loy.
The
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF lig ht comes o n
whe n the ele ct ronic control unit detec ts a t otal
e lectrica l capacitance on the front passenger seat
that requires the front airbag to be turned off. If
t h e
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does not
come on, the front airbag on the passenger side
has not been turned off by the contro l unit and
can deploy if the contro l unit senses an impact
that meets the cond itions stored in its memory .
If the total e lectr ica l capacitance registered on
the front passenger seat is more than that of a
typ ica l 1 year-old, but less than the weight of a
small adult, the front a irbag on the passenger
s ide may deploy (the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
li ght does not come on).
For e xample, th e airb ag may deploy if :
- a small ch ild that is heav ier than a typica l 1
year-old child is on the front passenger seat (regard less of whether the child is i n one of the
child seats listed
c::> page 168),
-a child who has outgrown c hild restraints is on
the front passenger seat .
If the front passenger airbag is turned off, the
PAS SENGER AIR BAG O FF light in the center of
the instrument panel will come on and stay on.
If the front passenger airbag dep loys, the Feder ­
al Standard requires the airbag to meet the "low
risk" dep loyment criteria to help reduce the r isk
of injury t hrough interaction with the airbag.
"Low risk" deployment occurs in those crashes
that take p lace at lower decelerations as defined
i n the elect ronic co ntrol unit
c::> page 154 .
Always remember : Even though your vehicle is
equipped with Advanced Airbags, the safest place
for ch ildre n is properly restra ined on the back
seat. Please be su re to read the impo rtant info r­
mation in the sect ions that fo llow and be sure to
heed all of the WARNINGS.
_&. WARNING
T o redu ce the r is k of injury when an air ba g i n-
flates, always wear safety be lts prope rly.
II)>

a co .... N
" N .... 0 0 \,;J ' -If you are unrestrained, leaning forward, sit ­
t ing s ideways or out of pos ition in any way,
your risk of injury is much higher.
- You will also receive serious injur ies and
cou ld even be killed if you are up aga inst the
airbag or too close to it when it inflates -
even with an Advanced Airbag
¢page 142 .
A WARNING
A ch ild in a rearward-facing ch ild seat instal­
led on the front passenger seat w ill be ser i­
ously in jured and can be k illed if the front air­
bag inflates - even with an Advanced A irbag
System.
- Alt hough the Advanced A irbag System in
yo ur vehicle is des igned to t urn off t he front
airbag when a re arwa rd-faci ng ch ild re ­
straint has been insta lled on the front pas ­
senger seat, nobody can abso lutely guaran ­
tee that deployment is impossible in a ll con­
ceivable s ituations that may happen during
the useful life of your vehicle.
- The inflating a irbag w ill hit the child seat or
infant carrier w ith great force and will
smash the c hild seat and child against the
backrest, ce nter armrest, door, or roof .
- Always install rearward-fac ing ch ild re­
straints on the rear seat.
- If you must install a rearward fac ing c hild
seat on the front passenger seat because of
exceptiona l circumstances and the
PA SSEN­
GER AIR BAG OFF
light does not come o n
and stay on, immediately insta ll the rear­
facing child seat in a re ar seat ing pos ition
and have the a irbag sys tem inspected by
yo ur Audi dealer .
A WARNING
If , in except ional circumstances, you mus t in­
sta ll a forward-facing chi ld restraint on the
front passenger's seat:
- Always make sure the forward -facing seat
has been designed and certified by its man ­
ufact urer for use on a front seat with a pas­
senger front and s ide a irbag.
Airbag syste m
- Never p ut the fo rward-facing child restraint
up aga inst or very near the instr ument pan ­
el.
-Always move the front passenger seat to
the highest posit ion in the up and down ad­
justment range and move it back to the rearmost posit ion in the seat's fore and aft
ad justment range, as far away from the a ir­
bag as poss ible, before installing the for­
ward-fac ing ch ild rest raint.
- Always make sure that the safety be lt upper
a nchorage is behind the c hild rest raint and
not next to o r in front of the ch ild res trai nt
so th at the s afety be lt will be p roper ly posi ­
tioned.
- Always make su re th at there is not hing o n
the front passenger seat that will cause the
capacitive passenger detection system in
the seat to signal to the Airbag System that
the seat is occup ied by a person when it is
not, or to signal that it is occupied by some­
one w ho is heavier than the person actually
sitt ing on the seat. The presence of add i­
tional objects cou ld cause the passe nger
front a irbag to be t urned on when it should
be off, o r cou ld cause t he air bag to work in a
way th at is d ifferen t from the way it wo uld
have worked withou t the object on the seat .
- Mak e sure that t he
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
li ght comes on and stays on all the time
whenever t he ignition is switched on .
Advanced Airbag System components
The front passenger seat in your ve hicle has a lot
of very important parts of t he Advanced Airbag
System in it. These parts include the capacitive passenger detection system, wir ing, brackets,
and more . The control unit monitors the system
on the fro nt passenger seat when the ignition is
switched on and turns the airbag indicator l igh t
o n when a malfunction in the one of the system
components is
detec ted ¢ page 154. Because
the fron t passenger sea t contains impo rtan t
parts of the Advanced Ai rbag System, you m ust
take care to prevent it from being damaged .
Damage to the seat may prevent the Advanced
..,_
149