child seat AUDI A6 2018 User Guide

Drivin g saf ety
Tie-downs
The luggage compartment is equipped with four
tie-downs to secure luggage and other items .
Use the tie-downs to secure your cargo proper ly
¢ page 130, Loading the luggage compartment.
In a collision, the laws of p hysics mean that even
sma ller items that are loose in the vehicle will
become heavy missiles that can cause ser ious in­
jury . Items in the ve hicle possess energy which
vary with vehicle speed and the weight of the item . Veh icle speed is the most s ignificant factor .
For examp le, in a frontal collision at a speed of
30 mph (48 km/h), the forces act ing o n a 10-lb
(4 .5 kg) object are about 20 t imes the normal
weight of the item . Th is means that the weight
of the item would suddenly be about
200 lbs . (90 kg). You can imagine the injuries
t ha t a 200 lbs . (90 kg) item flying free ly th rough
the passenger compartment could ca use in a co l­
lision like this.
A WARNING
Weak, damaged or improper straps used to
secure items to tie-downs can fail d uring ha rd
brak ing or in a collision and cause serious per­
sonal injury .
- Always use suitab le mounting straps and
properly secure items to the tie-downs in
the luggage compartment to help p revent
items from shifting or flying forward as dan­
gerous missiles .
- When the rear seat backrest is folded down, always use suitab le mounting straps and
prope rly secure items to the tie-downs in
the luggage compartmen t to help p revent
items from flying forw ard as dangerous
missiles into the passenger compartment .
- Never a ttach a child safe ty se at tether strap
to a tie-down.
132
-
Reporting Safety Defects
Applicable to U.S.A.
If you belie ve that your vehicle
ha s a defect whi ch could cau se a
c rash or could cau se injur y or
death, you should immedi atel y in­
form the N atio nal Highw ay Traffic
Sa fe ty Admini stration (NHTSA) in
a ddition to n otif yin g Audi of
Am eri ca , Inc.
If NHTS A re cei ves s imilar com­
pl aint s, it m ay o pe n an in vestiga­
tion , and if it find s that a saf ety
defe cts ex is ts in a group of
ve hicle s, it m ay ord er a re call and
remed y campaign. However,
NHTSA cann ot become in volved in
indi vidu al probl em s between you,
your dealer, or Audi of Am erica,
Inc.
To conta ct the NHT SA, you ma y
either call:
T el.: 1-888-327-4236 (TTY :
1-800-424- 9153) or
1-800-424- 9393
or you may write to:

Safety belts
Safety belts
General information
Always wear safety belts!
Wearing safety belts correctly saves lives!
This chapter explains why safety be lts are neces­
sary, how they work and how to adjust and wear
them correctly.
.,. Read all the information that follows and heed
all of the instructions and WARNINGS.
A WARNING
Not wearing safety belts or wearing them im­
properly increases the risk of serious personal
injury and death.
- Safety belts are the single most effective
means available to reduce the risk of serious
injury and death in automob ile acc idents.
For your protection and that of your passen­
gers, always correctly wear safety belts
when the vehicle is moving.
- Pregnant women, injured, or physically im­
paired persons must also use safety belts.
Like all vehicle occupants, they are more
likely to be serious ly injured if th ey do not
wear safety belts. The best way to protect a
fetus is to protect the mother
-throughout
the entire pregnancy.
Number of seats
Your Audi has a total of five seating positions:
two in the front and three in the rear. Each seat­
ing position has a safety belt.
A WARNING
Not wearing safety belts or wearing them im­
properly increases the risk of serious personal
inju ry and death.
- Never strap more tha n one person, includ­
i ng small children, into any belt. It is espe­
cially dangerous to place a safety belt over a
child sitting on you r lap.
- Never let more people ride in the vehicle
than there are safety belts available.
134 -
Be sure everyone riding in the vehicle is
proper ly restrained with a separate safety
belt or child restraint.
~ Safety belt warning light
Your vehicle has a warning system for the driver
and front seat passenger (on USA models only) to remind you about the importance of buckling­
up .
Fig. 140 Safety belt warn ing lig ht in the instrument clus ­
ter
-enlarged
Before driving off , always:
.,. Fasten your safety belt and make sure you are
wearing it properly .
U) N
"' 9 N .,. Make sure that your passengers a lso buckle up
and properly wear their safety belts .
.,. Protect children with a ch ild restraint system
appropr iate for the size and age .
The warning light . in the instrument cluster
lights up when the ign it ion is on as a reminder to
fasten the safety belts . In addition , you will hear
a war ning tone for a certain period of time.
Fasten your safety belt and make sure that your
passengers also properly put on their safety
belts.
A WARNING
-
- Safety belts are the single most effective
means available to reduce the risk of serious
inj ury and death in automobile accidents.
Fo r your protection and that of your passen­
gers, a lways correct ly wear safety belts
when t he vehicle is moving .
- Fai lure to pay attention to the warning light
that come on, cou ld lead to personal injury.

a co ,...,
N
" N ,...,
0 0 \,;J ' _& WARNING
Not wearing safety belts or wearing them im­
properly increases the risk of serious personal
injury and death . Safety belts can work only
when used correctly.
-Always fasten your safety belts correctly be­ fore driving off and make sure all passen­
gers are cor rect ly restrained.
-For maximum protection, safety belts must
always be posit ioned properly on the body .
-Never strap more than one person, includ­
ing small ch ildren, into any belt .
-Never place a safety belt over a child sitting
on your lap.
- Always keep feet in the footwell in front of
the seat wh ile the vehicle is being driven.
- Never let any person ride w ith their feet on
the instrument panel or st icki ng out the
window o r on the seat.
- Never remove a safety belt while the vehicle
is moving . Do ing so will increase your risk of
being injured or k illed.
- Never wear belts twisted.
- Never wear belts over rigid or breakable ob-
jects in or on your clothing, such as eye
glasses, pens, keys, etc ., as these may cause
injury.
- Never allow safety belts to become dam­
aged by being caught in doo r or seat hard­
ware.
- Do not wear the shoulder part of the belt
under your arm or otherwise out of position .
- Several layers of heavy clothing may inter­
fere with correct positioning of belts and re­ duce the overall effectiveness of the system.
- Always keep belt buckles free of anything
that may prevent the buckle from latching
securely .
-Never use comfort clips or devices that cre­
ate slack in the shoulder be lt . However, spe­
c ial clips may be requ ired for the prope r use
of some child restraint systems.
-Torn or frayed safety belts can tear, and
damaged belt ha rdware can break in an acc i­
dent. I nspect belts regularly.
If webbing,
bind ings, buckles, or re tractors are dam-
Safet y bel ts
aged, have belts rep laced by an authorized
Aud i dea ler or qualified workshop.
- Safety belts that have been worn and loaded
in an accident must be replaced with the
correct replacement safety belt by an au­
thor ized Audi dealer. Replacement may be
necessary even if damage cannot be clearly
seen. Anchorages that were loaded must al­
so be inspected.
- Never remove, mod ify, d isassemble, or try
to repair the safety belts yourse lf.
-Always keep the belts clean . Dirty belts may
not work properly and can impair the func­
tion of th e inert ia reel
q table on page 223.
Safety belts
Fastening safety belts
Safety first -everybody buckle up!
F ig. 146 Belt buckle and tongu e on t he d river' s seat
To provide maximum protect ion, safety belts
must a lways be positioned correctly on the wear­
er 's body .
.. Adjust the front seat and head restraint proper­
ly
q page 47, Seats and storage.
.. Make sure the seatback of the rear seat bench
is in an upright posit ion and securely latched in
p lace before using the belt
q ,&. .
.. Pull the safety belt evenly across the chest and
pe lvis
q fig . 146, q ,&. .
.. Insert the tongue in to the co rrect buck le of
your seat unt il you hear it latch securely.
.. Pull on the belt to make sure that it is sec urely
latched in the buckle.
..,
1 37

Safe ty belts
Autom ati c s afet y belt retractors
Every safety be lt is equ ipped with an automatic
be lt retractor on the shoulder belt. This feature
locks the belt when the belt is pu lled out fast,
during hard braking and in an accident. The belt may a lso lock when you drive up or down a steep
hill or through a sharp curve. Dur ing normal driv­
ing the belt lets you move freely.
Safety belt p ret en sione rs
Safety belts w ith pretensioners he lp to tighten
the safety belt and remove s lack when the pre­
tensioners are activated
c;, page 140 . The func­
tion of the pretensioner is monitored by a warn­
ing light
c;, page 16 .
Convertibl e loc king r etracto r
Every safety belt except the one on the driver
seat is equipped w ith a convertible locking retrac­
tor that
must be used when the safety belt is
used to attach a child seat. Be sure to read the
important information about this feature
¢ page 177 .
.&_ WARNING
Improperly pos itioned safety be lts can cause
ser ious injury in an
accident ¢ page 138,
Safety belt position.
- Safety belts offer optimum protection only
when the seatback is upright and belts are
properly positioned on the body.
- Always make sure that the rear seat bac k­
rest to which the center rea r safety be lt* is
attached is securely latched whenever the
rear center safety belt is being used. If the
backrest is not securely latched, the passen­
ger will move forward with the backrest dur­
ing sudden braking, in a sudden maneuver
and especially in a crash.
- Never attach the safety belt to the buckle for another seat. Attaching the belt to the
wrong b uckle wi ll reduce safety belt effec­
t iveness and can cause serious person-a l in­
jury.
- A passenger who is not proper ly restrained
can be seriously in jured by the safety be lt it­
self when it
moves from the stronger parts
138
of the body into critical areas like the abdo­ men.
- Always lock the convertible locking retractor
when you are securing a child seat in the ve­
hicle
,=;, page 179 .
(D Tips
For information on safety belt pretensioners,
refer to
c;, page 140 .
Safety belt position
Correct belt position is the key to getting maxi­
mum protection from safety belts .
Fig. 147 Safety belt posit ion
Use the height adjustment to change the posit ion
of the shoulder belt of the front safety belts .
.&_ WARNING
Imp roperly positioned safety belts can cause
serio us pe rsonal injury in an a cc ident.
- The shou lde r belt should lie as close to the
center of the collar bone as possib le and
should fi t well on the body. Ho ld the belt
above the latch to ngue and pull it evenly
across the chest so that it sits as low as pos ­
sible on the pe lvis and there is no pressure
on the abdomen. The belt should a lways f it
snug ly
c;, fig. 147. Pull on the belt to tighten
if necessary.
- A loose-fitting safety belt can cause serious
injuries by sh ifting its position on your body
from the strong bones to more vulnerable,
soft tissue and cause serious i nju ry .
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS and
other important informat ion
c;, page 136 .

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. ~