child restraint AUDI A7 2013 User Guide

Important safety instructions about
safety belts
Safety belts must always be correctly posi­
tioned across the strongest bones of your
body.
~ Always wear safety belts as illustrated and
described in this chapter.
~ Make sure that your safety belts are always
ready for use and are not damaged.
A WARNING
Not wearing safety belts or wearing them
improperly increases the risk of serious
personal injury and death. Safety belts can
work only when used correctly.
- Always fasten your safety be lts correctly
before driving off and make sure all pas­
sengers are correctly restrained.
- For maximum protection, safety belts must always be positioned properly on
the body .
- Never strap more than one person, in­
cluding small children, into any belt.
- Never place a safety belt over a child sit­ ting on your lap.
- Always keep feet in the footwell in front
of the seat while the vehicle is being d riv­
en .
- Never let any person ride with their feet
on the instrument panel or sticking out
the window or on the seat.
- Never remove a safety belt while the ve­
hicle is moving. Doing so will increase
your risk of be ing injured or killed.
- Never wear belts twisted.
- Never wear belts over rigid or breakable
objects 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 door or seat
hardware .
- Do not wear the shoulder part of the belt
under your arm or otherwise out of posi ­
tion . Safety belts
143
- Several layers of heavy clothing may in­
terfere with correct positioning of belts and reduce the overall effectiveness of
the system .
- Always keep belt buckles free of anything
that may prevent the buckle from latch­
ing securely .
- Never use comfort clips or devices that
create slack in the shoulder belt . Howev­
er, special clips may be requ ired for the
proper use of some child restraint sys­
tems .
- Torn or frayed safety belts can tear, and
damaged belt hardware can break in an
accident. Inspect belts regularly.
If web­
bing , bindings, buckles, or retractors are
damaged, have belts replaced by an au­
thorized Audi dealer or qualified work­
shop.
- Safety belts that have been worn and
loaded in an accident must be replaced
with the correct replacement safety belt
by an authorized Audi dealer. Replace­
ment may be necessary even if damage
cannot be clearly seen . Anchorages that
were loaded must also be inspected.
- Never remove, modify, disassemble, or
try to repair the safety belts yourself.
- Always keep the belts clean. Dirty belts
may not work properly and can impair
the function of the inertia reel
c::> page 223, Safety belts .
Safety belts
Fastening safety belts
Safety first -everybody buckle up!
Fig. 155 Bel t b uckle and to ngue on the drive r's seat

Airbag system Important things to know
Importance of wearing safety belts and
sitting properly
Airbags are only supplemental restraints. For
airbags to do their job , occupants must al­
ways properly wear their safety belts and be
in a proper seating position.
For your safety and the safety of your passen­
gers, before driving off, always:
"" Adjust the dr iver's seat and steering wheel
properly ¢
page 131,
"" Adjust the front passenger's seat properly
¢page 53 ,
"" Wear safety be lts properly ¢ page 143,
"" Always properly use the proper child re-
straint to protect chi ldren ¢
page 175.
In a collision, airbags must inflate within the
blink of an eye and with considerable force .
The supplemental airbags can cause injuries if
the driver or the front seat passenger is not
seated properly . T herefore in order to help the
a irbag to do its job, it is important, both as a
driver and as a passenge r to s it properly at all
times.
By keeping room between your body and the
steer ing wheel and the front of the passenger
compartment, the airbag can inflate fully and
comp letely and provide supplemental protec­
tion in certain frontal collisions ¢
page 131,
Proper occupant seating positions.
F or detai ls
on the operation of the seat adjustment con­
trols ¢
page 53.
It's especially important that children a re
properly restrained ¢
page 175.
There is a lot that the driver and the passen­
gers can and must do to help the individual
safety features installed in your Aud i work to­
gether as a system.
Proper seat ing pos ition is important so that
the front airbag on the driver s ide can do its
job. If yo u have a physical impa irment or con-
A irbag system 149
dition that prevents yo u from sitting properly
on the driver seat with the safety belt properly
fastened and reach ing the peda ls, or if you
have concerns with regard to the function or
operation of the Advanced Airbag System,
please contact your author ized Audi dealer or
qualified workshop, or call Audi Customer Re­
l ations at 1-800-822-2834 for poss ible modi­
ficat io ns to your veh icle.
When the airbag system dep loys, a gas gener ­
ator will fill the a irbags, break open the pad­
ded covers, and inflate between the steer ing
whee l and the dr iver and between the instru­
ment pane l and the front passenger. The a ir­
bags will deflate immediately after dep loy­
ment so that the front occupants can see
through the windshield again without inter­ ruption .
All of th is takes place in the blink of an eye, so
fast that many people don't even realize that
the airbags have deployed. The airbags a lso
inflate with a great dea l of force and nothing
should be in their way when they deploy.
Front airbags in combination with properly
worn safety belts slow down and lim it the oc ­
cupant's forward movement . T ogether they
help to prevent the driver and front seat pas­
senger from h itti ng pa rts of the inside of the
vehicle while reducing the forces acting on the
occupant during the crash . In this 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 fronta l
collisions . The triggering of the airbag system
depends on the vehicle de ce leration rate
caused by the collision and regis te red by the
electron ic control unit. If th is rate is below
the reference value programmed into the con ­
trol unit, the airbags will not be trigge red ,
even though the car may be bad ly damaged as
a res ult of the co llision . Ve hicl e damage, re­
pair costs or even the lack of veh icle damage
is not necessarily an indication of whether an
airbag should inflate or not . .,. •
•

150 Airbag sys te m
Since the cir cumstances will vary considerab ly
between one collision and anot her, it is not
possib le to def ine a range of vehicle speeds
that will cover every possible k ind and angle
of impact t hat will always trigger the airbags.
Important factors include, for example, the
nature (hard or soft) of the object which the
car h its, the ang le of impact, vehicle speed,
etc. The front airbags will also not inflate in
side or rea r collisions, or in ro ll-overs .
Always rememb er: Airbags will deploy only
once, and only in certa in k inds of co llisions.
Your safety belts are always there to offer pro­
tection in those s ituations in which airbags
a re not supposed to deploy, or when they have
a lready deployed; for example, when your ve­
hicle strikes or is struck by another vehicle af­
ter the first co llision.
This is just one of the reasons why an airbag is
a supplementary restraint and is not a substi­
tute 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 140.
A WARNING
Sitting too close to the steer ing wheel or
instrument panel will dec rease the effec­
t iveness of the airbags and will increase
the risk of personal injury in a collision .
- Never sit closer than 10 inches (2S cm)
to the stee ring wheel or instrument pan­
el.
- If you cannot sit more than 10 inches
( 2 5 cm) from the s teer ing whee l, investi­
gate whethe r adaptive equipmen t may
be available to help you reach the pedals
and increase your seating distance from
the steering wheel.
- If you are unrestrained, lean ing fo rward,
sitting sideways or out of position in any
way, your risk of in jury is much higher.
- You will also receive serio us injuries and
cou ld even be killed if you are up against
the airbag or too close to it when it in­
flates - even with an Advanced Airbag. -
To reduce the risk of injury when an a ir­
bag inflates, always wear safety be lts
properly ¢
page 143, Safety belts.
-Always make certain that ch ildren age 12
or younger always ride in the rear seat. If
children are not properly restrained, they
may be severely injured or killed when an
airbag inflates.
- Never let children ride unrestrained or
improperly restrained in the vehicle. Ad­
just the front seats prope rly .
- Never ride with the back rest reclined.
- Always sit as far as possible from the
steer ing whee l or the instrument pane l
¢page 131.
-Always sit upright with your back against
the backrest of your seat .
- Never p lace your feet on the instrument
panel or on the seat. Always keep both
feet on the floor in front of the seat to
help prevent serio us in ju ries to the legs
and h ips if the airbag inflates.
- Never recline the front passenger 's seat
to transport objects , Items can a lso
move into the a rea of the s ide airbag or
the front a irbag d uring bra king or in a
sudden maneuve r. Objects nea r the air ­
bags can become projectiles and cause
in jur y when an airbag inflates.
A WARNING ~
Airbags that have deployed in a crash must
be replaced.
- Use on ly orig inal equipment airbags ap­
proved by Aud i and installed by a trained
technician who has the necessary too ls
and d iagnost ic equipment to properly re­
p lace any airbag in your vehicle and as­
sure system effectiveness in a crash .
- Never permit salvaged or recycled air­
bags to be installed in your vehicle.

Child restraints on the front seat - some
important things to know
.. Be sure to read the important information
and heed the WARNINGS for important de­
tails about chi ldren and Advanced Airbags
~ page 175.
Even though your vehicle is equipped with an
Advanced Airbag System, make certain that
a ll chi ldren, especially those 12 years and
younger, always 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 r ide .
The front seat is not the safest place fo r a
chi ld in a fo rward-facing chi ld seat. It can be a
very dange ro us p lace for an infant or a ch ild in
a rearward -facing seat.
The Advanced Airbag System i n your veh icle
has been cert ified to comp ly with the require­
men ts of United States Federa l Mo tor Veh icle
Safety Standard 208 as applicable at the time
your vehicle was manufactured.
The Standard requires the front a irbag on the
passenger side to be t urned off ("sup­
p ressed") if a child up to about one year of
age restrained in one of the rear -facing or for­
ward -facing infant restraints listed i n Federal
Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208 with wh ich
the Advanced Airbag System in your vehicle
was certified has been installed o n the front
passenger seat. For a listing of the child re­
straints that were used to certify compliance
with the US Safety Standard ~
page 177.
The PASS ENG ER AIR BAG OFF light in the in­
strument panel tells you when the front Ad­
vanced A irbag on the passenger side has been
turned off by the e lectronic control u nit.
Each t ime you sw itch on the ignit ion, the
PAS­
SENGER AIR BAG OFF
light w ill 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
measured by the capacitive passenger de­
tection system for the front passenger seat
A irbag sys tem 151
equa ls the combined capacitance of an in­
fant up to about one year of age and one of the rearward-facing or forward-facing ch ild
restraints listed in Federal Motor Vehicle
Safety Standard 208 with which the Ad­
vanced Airbag System in your ve hicle was
cert ified. For a listing of the child restraints
that were used to certify your vehicle's com­ p lia nce w ith the U.S. Safety Standard
~page 177.
-w ill stay on if t he re is a small ch ild or child
restrai nt on the front passenge r seat,
- w ill go off if the front passenger seat is oc­
cupied by an adult as registered by the ca­
pacitive passenger de tection system
~ page 161, Monitoring the Advanced Air­
bag System.
T he PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF lig ht comes on
when e lec trica l capacitance registe red on the
front passenger seat is equa l to or less than
the combined capacitance of a typical 1 year ­
o ld infant and one of the rearward-facing or
forward -facing chi ld restraints listed in Feder­
al Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208 with
which the Advanced Airbag System in your ve­
hicle was certified.
If the total e lectr ica l capacitance registered
on the front passenger seat is more than that
of a typical 1 year-o ld child but less than the
weight of a small adu lt, the front airbag on
the passenger side can deploy (the
PASSEN­
GER AIR BAG OFF
light does not come on).
If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does
not come on, the front airbag on the passen­
ger side has not been turned off by the e lec­
tron ic contro l unit and can deploy if the con­
t rol unit senses an impact that mee ts the co n­
di tions s to red in its memo ry.
For example, th e airbag may deploy if:
-a small ch ild that is heav ier than a typical 1
year-old chi ld is on the front passenger seat
(regard less of whether the child is i n one of
the ch ild seats listed~
page 177), or
- a child who has outgrown child restraints is
on the front passenger seat.
IIJ,
•
•

152 Airbag sys te m
If the front passenger airbag is turned off, the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes on in
the instrument cluster and stays on.
I f the front passenger airbag deploys, the
F ederal Standard requires the airbag to meet
the " low risk" deployment criteria to reduce
the r isk of injury through interaction with the
a irbag. "Low risk" deployment occurs in those
crashes that take place at lower decelerations
as defined in the electronic control unit
c::> page 162, PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light.
A lways remember, a chi ld seat or infant carri­
er installed on the front seat may be struck
and knocked out of position by the rap idly in ­
flating passenger's a irbag in a frontal colli­
sion . The airbag could greatly reduce the ef­
fectiveness of the ch ild restraint and even se­
rio usly inju re the child during inflat ion.
For this reason, and because the back seat is
the safest place for chi ldren - when properly
restra ined accord ing to their age and size - we
strongly recommend that children always sit in the back seat
c::> page 175, Child Safety .
& WARNING
-
A child in a rearward-facing child seat in ­
stalled on the front passenger seat will be
ser iously injured and can be killed if the
front airbag inflates - even with an Ad­
vanced Airbag System.
- The inflating a irbag will hit the child seat
or infant carrier with great force and w ill
smash the ch ild seat and child against
the backrest, center armrest, door or roof.
- Always install rear-facing child seats on
the rear seat.
- If you must install a rearward facing
child seat on the front passenge r seat
because of except iona l circumstances
and the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not come on and stay on, immedi­
ately install the rear-f acing chi ld seat in a
rear seating position and have the ai rbag
system inspected by your Aud i dealer. -
Forward-facing child seats installed on
the front passenger's seat may interfere
with the deployment of the a irbag and
cause serious persona l injury to the
child.
& WARNING
-If, in except ional circumstances, you must
i nstall a forward-facing child restraint on
the front passenge r's seat:
- Always make sure the forward-facing
seat has been designed and certified by
its manufacture r fo r use on a fron t seat
with a passenger fron t and s ide a irbag.
- Never p ut the fo rward -facing child re­
s tra int up agains t or very near the instru­
men t panel.
- Always move the passenge r seat into its
rearmost pos ition in the seat's fore and
aft ad justment range, as fa r away from
the airbag as possible before installing
the forward-facing ch ild restra int . The
backrest must be ad justed to an upright
position.
- Make sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
li ght comes on and stays on all the
time whenever the ignition is switched on .
& WARNING
-To reduce the risk of serious injury, make
sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light w ill be displayed whenever a child re­
straint is installed on the front passenger
sea t and the ignition is sw itche d on .
- If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does no t stay on, perform the checks de­
scribed
<>page 161, Monitoring the Ad­
vanced Airbag System.
- Ta ke t he chi ld restraint off the front pas­
senger sea t and install it prope rly at one
of the rear seat positions i f the
PASSEN­
GER AIR BAG OFF
light does not stay on.
- Have the airbag system inspected by
your Aud i dea le r i mmediately.

-Always carefully follow instru ctions from
c hild restraint manufacturers when in­
sta lling child restraints.
A WARNING
If, in exceptional circumstances, you must
install a forward or rearward-facing child
restraint on the front passenger's seat:
- Improper installation of child restraints
can reduce their effectiveness or even
prevent them from providing any protec­
tion.
- An improperly installed child restraint
can interfere with the airbag as it de­
ploys and seriously injure or even kill the
child - even with an Advanced Airbag
System.
- Always carefully follow the manufactur­
er'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 capacitive 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 signal that it
is occupied by someone who is heavier
than the person actually sitting on the
seat. The presence of additional 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 .
Airbag system 153
Front airbags
Description of front airbags
The airbag system can provide supplemental
protection to properly restrained front seat occupants.
Fig. 160 Loc ation of driver airbag: in steering w heel
Fig. 161 Loc ation of front passenger's a irbag: in the in·
strument panel
Your vehicle is equipped with an "Advanced
Airbag System" in compliance with United
States Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard
(FMVSS) 208 as applicable at the time your
vehicle was manufactured. The system senses
the position of the front seats and controls
front airbag inflation with a valve, depending
on the distance between the respective seat
and the steering wheel or instrument panel.
The safety belts for the seats have "preten­
sioners" that help to take slack out of the belt
system. The pretens ioners are also activated
by the electronic control unit for the airbag
system .
The front safety belts also have load limiters
to help reduce the forces applied to the body
in a crash.
The airbag for the driver is in the steering
wheel hub
q fig. 160 and the airbag for the
front passenger is in the instrument panel

-The Advanced Airbag System can deploy
in accordance with the .,low risk" opt ion
for 3- and 6-year-old children under the U.S. Federal Standard if a child w ith elec­
trical capac itance greater than the com­
bined capacitance of a typical one-year
old infan t restra ined in one of the for­
ward fac ing or rearward-fac ing ch ild
seats with which you r vehicle was cer ti­
fied is on the front passenger seat and
the other conditions for airbag deploy­ ment are met.
- Accident statistics have shown that chil­
dren are generally safer in the rear seat
area than in the front seating position.
- For their own safety, all children, espe­
cially 12 years and younger, sho uld al­
ways ride in the back properly restrained
for their age and size.
Advanced front airbag system
Your veh icle is equipped w ith a front Advanced
A irbag System in compliance with Un ited
States Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard
208 as applicab le at the time your vehicle was
manufactured.
The front Advanced Airbag System supple­ ments the safety belts to provide add it ional
p rotection fo r the driver's and front passeng­
e r' s heads and upper bodies in frontal crashes.
The airbags inflate only in frontal impacts
when the vehicle dece leration is high enough .
The front Advanced Airbag System for the
front sea t occ upants is no t a substit ute for
your safety bel ts. Rather, it is par t of the over­
all occupant restraint system in your veh icle.
A lways remember that the airbag system can
only help to protect yo u, if you are s itting up­
right, wearing yo ur safety belt and wearing it
properly . This is why you and your passengers
must always be properly restrained, not just
because the law requires you to be .
The Advanced Airbag System in your veh icle
has been certified to meet the "low r isk" re­
qu irements for 3 and 6 year-o ld children on
the passenge r side and very small adults on
A irbag system 15 5
the driver side . The low risk deployment crite­
ria are intended to help reduce the risk of in­
j u ry through interaction with the front airbag
that can occur, for example, by being too close to the steering wheel and instrument
panel when the airbag inflates.
In add ition, the system has been certified to
comply with the "s uppression" requirements
of the Safety Standard, to turn off the front
airbag for infants 12 months old and younger
who are restrained on the fro nt passenger
seat in child restraints that are l isted in the
Standard
¢ page 177, Child restraints and
Advanced front airbag system.
"Suppress ion " requires the front a irbag on the
passenger side to be turned off if:
- a child up to about one year of age is re­
strained on the front passenger seat i n one
of the rear-fac ing or forward-facing infant
restraints listed in Federal Motor Vehicle
Safety Standard 208 with wh ich the Ad­
vanced Airbag System in your ve hicl e was
certified. For a listing of the chi ld restraints
tha t were used to certify your vehicle's com ­
pliance with the US Safety Standard
¢ page 177,
-When a person is detected on the front pas ­
senger seat that has an electrical capaci­
tance that is more than the tota l electrical
capacitance of a child that is about 1 year
old restrained in one of the rear-facing o r
forward -facing infant restraints (listed in
Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208
w ith which the Advanced A irbag System in
your veh icle was certified), the front airbag
on the passenger side may or may no t de­
p loy.
T he
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes on
whe n the elect ro ni c cont ro l unit de tects a to­
ta l elec trical c apac itance on the front passen­
ger seat that requi res the front airbag to be
turned off . If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light does not come on, the front airbag on
the passenger side has not been turned off by
the control unit and can deploy if the control unit senses an impact that meets the condi -
tions stored in its memory .
IJJ,,
•
•

156 Airbag sys te m
If the tota l electrical capacitance registe red
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 side may deploy (the
PA SSE N­
GER AIR BAG OFF
li ght does not come on).
For e xample , the airbag m ay deploy if :
-a small child that is heavier than a typical 1
year-o ld child is on the front passenger seat
(regardless of whether the child is in one of
the chi ld seats listed
¢ page 177),
-a chi ld who has outgrown child restraints is
on the front passenger seat.
If the front passenger airbag is turned off, the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light in the center
of the instrument panel wi ll come on and stay
on.
If the front passenger airbag deploys, the
F ederal Standard requires the airbag to meet
the " low risk" deployment criteria to help re­
d uce the risk of injury through interaction
with the airbag. "Low risk" deployment occurs
in those crashes that take place at lower de­
celerations as defined in the electronic control un it
¢ page 161.
Alw ays rem ember : Even though your vehicle
is equipped with Advanced Airbags, the safest
place for children is properly restrained on the
back seat . Please be sure to read the impor­
tant information in the sect ions that follow
and be sure to heed a ll of the WARNINGS.
.&_ WARNING
To reduce the risk of injury when an airbag
inflates, a lways wear safety belts prope rly.
- If you are unrestrained, lean ing fo rward,
sitting sideways or out of position in any
way, your risk of injury is much higher.
- You w ill also receive serio us injuries and
cou ld even be killed if you are up against
the a irbag or too close to it when it in ­
flates - even with an Advanced Airbag
¢page 149.
.&_ WARNING
A child in a rearward-fac ing ch ild seat in­
stalled on the front passenger seat will be
seriously injured and can be killed if the
front airbag inflates - even w ith an Ad­
van ced A irbag System.
- Altho ugh the Advanced Airbag System in
your veh icle is designed to turn off the
front airbag when a rearward-facing
child restraint has been instal led on the
front passenger seat, nobody can abso ­
lutely g uarantee that dep loyment is im­
possible in all conceivable situations that
may happen dur ing the usefu l life of your
veh icle.
- The inflating airbag will h it the ch ild seat
or infant carrier with great force and will
smash the child seat and child against
the backrest, center armrest, door, or roof.
- Always install rearward-facing ch ild re­
straints on the rear seat .
- If you must install a rearward fac ing
child seat on the front passenger seat because of exceptional circumstances
and the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not come on and stay on, immed i­
a tely insta ll the rear-facing child seat in a
rear seat ing pos ition and have the airbag
system inspected by your Audi dealer.
.&_ WARNING ,..___
If, in except iona l circumstances, you m ust
install a forward -facing child restraint on
the front passenger's seat:
- Always make sure the forward-facing
seat has been designed and certified by
its manufacturer for use on a front seat
with a passenger front and s ide a irbag.
- Never p ut the forward-facing child re­
straint up against or very near the instru­
ment panel.
- Always move the passenger seat into its
rearmost pos ition in the seat's fore and
aft ad justment range, as far away from
the airbag as possible, before install ing
the forward-fac ing ch ild restra int. The
-

158 Airbag system
-Repairs to the front passenger seat must
be performed by qualified and properly
trained workshop personnel.
- Never remove the front passenger or
driver seat from the vehicle.
- Never remove the upholstery from the
front passenger seat.
- Never disassemble or remove parts from
the seat or disconnect wires from it.
- Never carry sharp objects in your pockets
or put them on the seat. The capacitive
passenger detection mat in the front
passenger seat will not function properly
if it is punctured .
- Never carry things on your lap or carry
objects on the front passenger seat.
Such objects can influence the capaci­
tance registered by the capacitive pas­ senger detection system, so that incor­
rect information is provided to the airbag
control unit.
- Never store items under the front pas­
senger seat. Parts of the Advanced Air­
bag System under the passenger seat
could be damaged, preventing them and
the airbag system from working proper­
ly.
- Never place seat covers or replacement upholstery that have not been specifical­
ly approved by Audi on the front seats.
- Seat covers can prevent the Advanced
Airbag System from recognizing child re­
straints or occupants on the front pas­
senger seat and prevent the side airbag
in the seat backrest from deploying prop­
erly .
- If a seat heater has been retrofitted or
otherwise added to the front passenger
seat, never install any child restraint sys­
tem on this seat.
- Never use cushions, pillows, blankets, or
similar items on the front passenger
seat. The additional layers prevent the
capacitive passenger detection system
from accurately measuring the capaci­
tance of the child safety seat and/or the
person on the seat and thus keep the Ad- vanced Airbag System from working
properly.
- Never place or use any electrical device
(such as a laptop, CD player, electronic
games device or power inverter) on the
front passenger seat if the device is con­ nected to the 12-volt socket or the ciga­
rette lighter socket. Such devices can in­
fluence the capacitance registered by the
capacitive passenger detection system,
so that incorrect information is provided
to the airbag control unit.
- If you must use a child restraint on the
front passenger seat and the child re­
straint manufacturer's instructions re­
quire the use of a towel, foam cushion or
something else to properly position the
child restraint, make certain that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes
on and stays on whenever the child re­
straint is installed on the front passen­
ger seat.
- If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not come on and stay on, immedi­
ately install child restraint in a rear seat­
ing position and have the airbag system
inspected by your Audi dealer.
_& WARNING
If the front passenger seat gets wet, dry it
immediately.
- If liquid soaks into the front passenger
seat, this can keep the airbag system
from working properly and may, for in­ stance, deactivate the passenger frontal
airbag. If this happens, the
PASSENGER
AIR BAG OFF
light will come on and stay
on together with the airbag indicator light
fl in the instrument cluster .
- If liquid is pooled on the seat, but has
not soaked in, this may also keep the air­
bag system from working properly and
cause the passenger frontal airbag to be
enabled (turned on), even though there
is a properly installed child restraint sys­
tem on the seat. Wet towels or other wet
things on the seat cushion can have the

same effect. If the front passenger
frontal a irbag is turned on, the
PASSEN ­
GER AIR BAG OFF
light light will go out.
How the Advanced Airbag System
components work together
The front Advanced Airbag System and the
side ai rbags supplement the pro tection of­
fe red by the fro nt three -point safety be lts
with pretensioners and load limiters and the
adj ustab le head restra ints to he lp reduce the
risk of injury in a wide range of accident and
crash situations. Be sure to read the impor­
tant information about safety and heed the
WARNINGS in this chapter.
Deployment of the Advanced Airbag System
and the act ivation of the safety be lt preten­
sioners depend on the decelerat ion measured
by the crash sensors and registered by the
electronic control un it. The amount of infla­
tion of the front airbags can also be adapted
to the front seat position, depending on the d istance between the respe ctive front seat
and the steering whee l or inst rument panel as
registered by sensors in the seats. Crash se­
verity depends on speed and deceleration as
well as the mass and stiffness of the vehicle
or object invo lved in the crash .
On the passenger s ide, regard less of safety
be lt use, the front passenger fronta l airbag
will be t urned off if the electrical capacitance
measured by the capacitive passenger detec­
tion system on the front passenger seat is less
than the amount programmed in the electron­
ic control unit . The front passenger fronta l air­
bag will a lso be turned off if the capac itance
measured by the system for the front passen­
ger seat eq ua ls tha t of an infant o f abo ut one
year of age in one o f the child seats that was
used to cert ify the Advanced Airbag System
under Fede ral Motor Vehicle Safety Standard
208 . The
PASSENGER AIR BAG OF F light
comes on and stays on to tell you when the
front Advanced Airbag System on the passen­ ger s ide has been turned off
c::> page 162 .
Airba g sy stem 159
A WARNING
To reduce the risk of injury w hen an airbag
in flates, always wear safety be lts p roperly.
- If you are unrestra ined, leaning forward,
sitt ing s ideways or out of pos ition in any
way, your risk of injury is much higher.
- You will a lso receive serious injuries and
could even be killed if you are up aga inst
the airbag o r too close to it when it in­
flates -even w it h an Advanced A irbag
c::> page 149.
More important things to know about
front airbags
F ig. 162 In flated front a irbags
Safety belts are important to help keep front
seat occupants in the proper seated position
so that ai rbags can unfold p roper ly and pro­
vide s upplementa l pro tect ion in a fron tal col­
lis ion .
T he front airbags are des igned to provide ad­
di tional protection fo r the chest and face of
the d river a nd the front seat passenger when :
- safety belts are worn properly,
- the seats have been positioned so that the
occupant is properly seated as far as poss i­
b le from the airbag,
- and the head restraints have been properly adjusted .
Because airbags inflate in the blink of an eye
with great force, things you have on your lap
or have placed on the seat could become dan­
gerous p rojecti les, and be pushed into you if
the a irbag inf lates.
When an airbag deploys, fine dust is re leased.
This is norma l and is not caused by a fire in .,,.