airbag off AUDI A7 2017 Owner´s Manual

Safety belt s
"'Push the loop -around fittings up c> fig . 154 @,
or
"'squeeze together the (D button, and push the
loop-around fittings
down @.
"'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 ion
c>page 14 2.
(D Tips
With the front seats , the height adjustment
of the seat can also be used to adjust the po­
sition of the safe ty belts.
Improperly worn safety belts
Incorrectly positioned safety belts can cause se­
vere injuries.
Wearing safety belts imprope rly can cause seri­
ous injury or death. Safety belts can only work
when they a re correctly pos itioned on the body.
Imp roper seating positions reduce the effect ive­
ness of safety be lts and will even inc rease the
ris k of injury a nd deat h by mov ing the safety bel t
to cr it ica l areas of the bo dy. Imp roper seating
positions a lso increase the risk of serio us inj ury
and deat h when an airbag deploys and strikes an
occ upant who is not in the co rrect seat ing pos i­
tion. A driver is responsible for the safety of all
ve hicle occupants and especia lly for children.
Therefore:
"' Never permit anyone to assume an inco rrect
s itting position in the vehicle wh ile trave ling
c> ,&. .
A WARNING
Impro perly wor n safety belts increase t he risk
of se rious personal injury a nd death wheneve r
a vehicle is bei ng use d.
- Always make sure tha t all veh icle occupa nts
are co rrectly restra ined and stay in a co rrect
seat ing pos ition w heneve r the veh icle is be­
ing used.
146
- Always read and heed all WAR NINGS and
o ther impo rtant in format ion
c>page 142.
Belt tensioners
How safety belt pretensioners work
In front, side and rear-end collisions above a
particular severity and in a rollover, safety belts are tensioned automatically.
Reversible safety belt tensioner s
The safety belts on the front seats are equipped
with power revers ible tensioners. The following
funct io ns are available when the dr iver's/front
passenger 's safety belts are faste ned:
- Automatic tensione rs: at the start of a drive,
the safety belts automat ica lly adjust to the
passenger after a certain time period or ve hicle
spee d. To switch the a utomat ic tens ioners off,
select the following in t he M MI :
!CARI function
button
> ( Car )* systems > Vehicle settings >
Seat s > Driver's seat or Pas senger's seat > Au ·
tomatic belt tensioner > Off .
-In certain drivi ng s ituations, the s afe ty bel ts
m ay tighten w ith a reversib le tensioning func ­
tion
c> page 138 .
- The s afety be lts may also tigh ten with this re-
vers ible tension ing f unct io n in m ino r collisions .
Pyrotechnic safety belt pretensioners
The safety belts are eq uipped w it h safety bel t
pretensione rs. The system is activa ted by se nsors
i n front, s ide a nd r ear-end collisions of grea t se ­
verity and in a ro llover. This tig htens the bel t and
takes up belt slack
c> &. in Service and disposal of
safety belt pretensioner on page 147.
Taking up
the slack helps to reduce forward occupant
movement during a collision.
A WARNING
-It is poss ible for the pretensioners to dep loy
incorrectly .
- The pyrotechnic system can only p rovide
protection for one collision. If the py rotech­
nic pretens ioners deploy, the pretensioning
sys tem must be rep laced.

Airbag syste m
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
ge rs , before driving off, always :
"' Adjust the driver's seat and steering wheel
properly ¢
page 130,
"'Adjust the front passenge r's seat properly
¢ page 48,
"'Wear safety belts p roperly ¢ page 142 ,
"'Always properly use the proper child restraint
to protect children
¢ page 172.
In a coll is io n, airbags mus t inflate within the
blink of an eye and wi th considerab le force. The
supp lemental airbags can cause injuries if the
driv er or th e front s eat passeng er is not s eated
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 a irbag can inflate fully and
completely and provide supplemental protect ion
in certain frontal collisions¢
page 130, Correct
passenger seating positions .
For details on the
operation of the seat adjustment con trols
¢ page 48.
It's especially important that children are proper ­
ly restra ined
¢ page 172 .
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 drive r 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
148
reaching the peda ls, or if yo u have concerns w ith
regard to the function or operation of the Ad­
vanced Airbag System, please contact your a u­
thori zed Audi dea ler or qua lified workshop, or
ca ll Audi Customer Relations at 1-800-822-2834
for poss ib le 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
t h e front passenger . T he a irbags w il l deflate im­
med iate ly after deployment so that the front oc­
cupants can see t hrou gh the windsh ie ld again
without i nterruption.
All of th is takes p lace in the b link of an eye, so
fast that many people don't even rea lize that the
a irbags have deployed. The airbags a lso infla te
with a g re at deal of force and nothing should be
i n 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 he lp to prevent the driver
and front seat passenger from hitting pa rts of
the ins ide of the vehicle while reduc ing the fo rces
acting on the occupant dur ing the cras h. In th is
way they help to reduce the risk of injury to the
head and uppe r body i n the crash . Airbags do not
protect the arms or the lower pa rts of the body.
Both front airbags will not inflate in all frontal
collisions . The t riggering of the a irbag system de­
pends on the veh icle decelerat ion rate caused by
t h e coll is io n and regis tered by the ele ctroni c con­
tro l unit . If this ra te is be low the refe rence value
programmed in to the contro l unit, the airbags
will not be trigge red, even tho ugh the car may be
badly damaged as a resu lt of the collision. Vehi­
cle damage, rep air 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 will vary cons iderab 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 t rigger t he a irbags . Important
factors i nclude, for examp le, the nat ure (hard or
soft) of the object which the ca r hits, the angle of
i mp act , vehicle speed , etc. The front airbags will .,.

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\.J - also not inflate in side or rear collisions, or in
ro llovers .
Alwa ys rememb er: Airbags will deploy only o nce,
and on ly in certain kinds of coll is ions. Your safety
be lts are always there to offer protection in those
situations in which airbags are not supposed to
deploy, or when they have a lready deployed; for
examp le, when your vehicle str ikes or is struck by
another vehicle after the first collis 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.
T herefore, always properly wear your safety belts
c::> page 140.
A WARNING
Sitting too close to the steer ing whee l or in­
st rument panel will decrease the effect ive­
ness of the airbags and will inc rease the risk
o f persona l injury in a co llision.
- Never sit closer than 10 inches (25 cm) to
the steering wheel or instrument panel.
- If you cannot sit mo re than 10 inches
( 2 5 cm) from the steering wheel, inves ti­
gate whethe r adaptive equipment may be
available to help you reach the pedals and
increase your seating distance from the
steering wheel.
- All veh icle occupants and especially children
must be restrained properly whenever riding
in a vehicle. An unrestrained or improperly
restra ined child could be injured by striking
the inte rior or by being ejected from the ve­
hicle d uring a sudden maneuver or impact.
An unrestrained or imp roperly restrained
child is also at greate r ris k of inju ry or death
through contact with an infla ting airbag .
-If you are unrest rained, leaning fo rwa rd, s it­
t ing s ideways or o ut of pos ition in any way,
yo ur risk of in jury is m uch higher.
- Yo u will also receive serious injur ies and
c ou ld even be killed if you are up aga inst the
airbag or too close to it w hen it inf lates -
even with an Advanced Ai rbag.
-
Airb ag sys tem
-To reduce the r is k of injury when an airbag
inflates, always wear sa fety belts prope rly
c::> page 143, 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
inflates.
- Never let children r ide unrestrained or im­
p roperly restrained in the vehicle. Ad just the
front seats properly.
- Never ride with the back rest recl ined .
- Always sit as far as possible from the steer-
ing wheel or the instrument panel
c::> page 130.
- Always sit upright with your back against
the backrest of your seat .
- Never p lace your feet on the instrument
panel or on t he seat. Always keep both feet
on the floor in front of the seat to help pre­
vent ser ious injuries to the legs and hips if
the airbag inflates.
- Never recl ine the front passenger's seat to
transpo rt objects . Items can also move in to
the area of the s ide a irbag or the front air­
b ag d uring braking o r in a sudden maneu­
ver. Obje cts ne ar the airbags can be come
projecti les and cause injury when an airbag
inflates .
A WARNING ,____ -
Airbags that have deployed in a crash m ust be
replaced.
- Use on ly original equipment airbags ap­
proved by A udi and installed by a t rained
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 your vehicle.
Child restraints on the front seat - some
important things to know
.,. Be s ure to read the impo rtan t in format ion and
heed the WARN INGS for important deta ils
149

Airbag syste m
about children and Advanced Airbags
¢page 172 .
Even tho ugh your vehicle is equipped with an Ad­
vanced Airbag System, make certain that all chi l­
dren, especially those 12 years and younger, al­
ways ride in the back seat proper ly 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 rearward-fac ing seat.
The Advanced Airbag System in your veh icle has
been cert ified to comply with the requirements
of United States Federal Motor Vehicle Safety
Standard ( FMVSS) 208, as well as Canada Motor
Veh icle Safety Standa rd (CMVSS) 208 as applica­
b le at the time your vehicle was man ufa ct ur ed.
According to requi rements, the front Advanced
Airbag System on the passenger side has been
certified for "suppression" for infants of about 12 month old and younger and for "low risk de­
ployment" for children aged 3 to 6 years o ld (as
defined in the standard) .
The
PAS SENGER 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 unit.
Each time you 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 ­
ured 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 which the Advanced Airbag System in
you r vehicle was ce rt ified. For a listing of the
ch ild rest raints that we re used to certify yo ur
vehicle's compliance with the Safety Standard
¢ page 174 .
150
- will stay on if there is a sma ll child o r chi ld re­
straint on the front passenger seat,
- wi ll go off if the front passenger seat is occu­
pied by an adult as registered by the capacitive
passenger detectio n system
~ page 160, Mon­
itoring the Advanced Airbag System.
The PAS SENGER AIR BAG OFF lig ht comes on
when electrical capacitance registered on the
front passenger seat is equal to or less than the
combined capacitance of a typical 1 year-old in­
fant and one of the rearward-facing or forward­
facing child restraints listed in Federal Motor Ve­ hicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 208 with which
the Advanced Airbag System in your vehicle was
ce rt ified.
If the total electr ical capacitance registered o n
the front passenger seat is more than that of a
typ ical 1 year-old chi ld but less than the weight
of a sma ll adult, the front airbag on the passen­
ger side can deploy (the
PAS SENGER AIR BAG
OFF
light does not come on).
If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does not
come on, the front airbag on the passenger side
has not been t urned off by the electron ic con trol
u nit and can dep loy if the con trol uni t senses an
impact t hat meets the conditions stored in its
memo ry.
For exampl e, the airbag ma y depl oy 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 the
child seats listed ¢
page 17 4), or
- a child who has outgrown ch ild restraints is on
the front passenge r seat.
If the front passenger a irbag is turned off, the
PA SSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes on in the
i nst rument cluster and stays on .
If the front passenger airbag deploys, the Feder­
al Standard requires the airbag to meet the "low
risk" dep loyment criteria to reduce the r isk of in­
ju ry through interaction w ith the airbag . "Low
r isk" dep loyment occurs in those crashes that
take place at lower decelerations as defined in
the e lectronic contro l unit ¢
page 160, PASSEN-
GER AIR BAG OFF light. .,_

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\.J ' Always remember, a child seat or infant carrier
installed on the front seat may be struck and
knocked out of position by t he rapidly inflating
passenger 's airbag in a frontal co llision . The air­
bag could greatly reduce the effectiveness of the
chi ld restraint a nd even seriously i njure the ch ild
during inflation .
For this reason, and because the back seat is the
safest place for ch ildren -when properly restra in­
ed according to the ir age and size -we strongly
recommend that children always sit in the back
seat
c::> page 172, Child safety .
.8, WARNING
A child in a rearward-facing chi ld seat insta l­
led on the front passenger seat will be ser i­
ously injured and can be k illed if the front air­
bag inf lates -even with an Advanced Airbag
System.
- The inflating a irbag w ill hit the child seat or
infant carrier with great fo rce and will
smash the ch ild seat and child against the
backrest, center arm rest, door or roof.
- Always ins tall rear-facing child seats on the
rear seat.
- If you must install a rearward fac ing child
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 interfe re with
the deployment of the airbag and cause se­
rious person al injury to the child.
.8, WARNING
If, in except io nal circumst ances, you mus t in­
stall a forward-f acing chi ld restraint on the
front passenger's seat:
- Always ma ke sure the forwar d-fa cing 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 a irbag .
.
Airb ag sys tem
-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 justment range, as far away from the air­
bag as possible, before installing t he for­
ward-facing 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 traint
so th at the s afety be lt will be properly posi­
tioned.
- Ma ke sure that t he
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
li ght comes on and stays on all the time
whenever the ignit ion is switched on .
.8, WARNING
= -
To reduce the risk of serious injury, ma ke sure
that t he
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light will
be d isplayed whenever a child restraint is in­
stalled on the front passenger seat and the
ignition is switched on.
- If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF li ght does
not stay on, perform t he checks described
c::> page 160, 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 seat positions if the
PASSENGER AIR
BAG OFF
light does not stay o n.
- Have the airbag system inspected by your
Aud i deale r immediately .
- Always carefully follow instructions from child r estrain t manufacture rs when instal­
ling child restra ints .
.8, WARNING i=
If, in exceptional c ircumstances, you must in-
stall a forward or re arward-fa cing child re­
stra int on the fron t passenger 's seat:
- I mp roper installa tion of child restrai nts can
reduce the ir effectiveness or even preven t
them from provi ding any pro te ct ion .
151

Airbag syste m
-An improper ly installed ch ild 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 w ith the ch ild seat or
carr ier .
- Always make sure that there is nothing on
the front passenger seat that w ill cause the
capacit ive passenger detection system in
the seat to signa l to the A irbag System that
the seat is occupied by a person when it is
not, or to signa l that it is oc cupied by some·
one who is heav ier than the person actua lly
sitting on the seat. The presence of addi ·
tiona l objects could ca use 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 witho ut 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.
F ig. 15 5 Location of d river airbag : in stee ring w heel
152
Fig. 156 Locat io n of fro nt passenger 's a irbag : in th e in ­
s trumen t pane l
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 veh icle was manufactured . The
safe ty belts fo r the seats have "pretensioners"
that help to take slack out of the belt system.
The pretensioners are also activated by the e lec·
tronic control unit for the airbag system .
The front safety belts also have load limiters to help reduce the forces applied to the body i n a
c rash .
The airbag for the driver is in the steering wheel
hub ~
fig. 155 and the airbag for the front pas·
senger is in the instr ument panel~
fig . 156. The
general lo cat io n of the a irbags is marked "AIR·
BAG".
There is a lot you need to know abo ut the a irbags
i n your vehicle. We urge you to read the deta iled
i n forma tion abo ut airbags, safety be lts and ch ild
safety in this and the other chapte rs that make
u p the owner's literature. P lease 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 protect ion.
- Even when they deploy, airbags provide only
supp lemental protection.
- Airbag work most effectively when used
wit h proper ly worn safety belts.

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\.J ' -Therefore, always wear your safety belts and
make sure that everybody in your vehicle 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 driver's airbag inflates .
- 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.
& 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 .
Airbag system
-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.
& WARNING
= -
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" opt ion 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 seat ing pos ition.
- 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 ..,.
153

Airbag syste m
(CMVSS) 208 as applicable at the time your veh i­
cle was manufactured.
The front Advanced Airbag System supp lements
the safety belts to prov ide 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 veh icle de­
celerat ion is high enough.
The front Advanced Airbag System for the front
seat occupants is not a substitute for your safety be lts. Rather, it is part of the overa ll occupant re­
stra int system in your vehicle. Always remember
that the airbag system can only help to protect
you, if you are sitting upright, 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" require­
ments for 3 and 6 yea r-o ld children on the pas­
senge r side and very sma ll adults on the driver
side . The low r isk dep loyment cr iteria are intend ­
ed to he lp reduce the 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 a irbag
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 17 4, 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 restrained
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 certified. For a listing of the ch ild
r estra ints tha t were used to certify your veh i­
cle's compl iance with the US Safety Standard
c::> page 174,
154
- When a pe rson is detected on the front passen ­
ger seat that has an electrical capacitance that
is more than the total e lectr ica l capacitance of
a child that is about
1 year old restrained in one
of the rear-fac ing or forward-facing infant re­
straints ( listed in Federal Motor Vehicle Safety
Standard 208 with which the Advanced Airbag
System in your vehicle was certified), the front
airbag on the passe nger side may or may not
dep loy.
The
PASSENGER AIR BA G OFF light comes o n
whe n the elect ronic control unit detects a tota l
electrica l capacitance on the front passenge r seat
t h at req uires the front a irbag to be turned off. If
the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF li ght 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 lectrica l capacitance registered o n
the front passenger seat is more than that of a
typ ica l 1 year-o ld, but less than the weight of a
small adult, the front a irbag on the passenger
s ide may deploy (the
PASSENG ER AIR BAG OF F
light does not come on).
For e xample , the airb ag ma y deploy if :
-a small ch ild tha t is heav ier than a typica l 1
yea r-old child is on the front passenger seat
(regard less of whether the child is in one of the
child seats listed
c::, page 174),
- a child who has outgrown ch ild restraints is on
the front passenger seat.
If the front passenger a irbag is tu rned off, the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light in the center of
the instr ument pane l will come on and stay on .
If the front passenger a irbag deploys, the Feder ­
al Sta ndard requ ires the ai rbag to meet the " low
risk" dep loyment criteria to he lp reduce the r isk
of inj ury through interaction with the airbag .
" Low risk" deployment occurs in those crashes
that take p lace at lower decelerations as defined
i n the electronic contro l unit
<=> page 160.
Always rem ember : Even tho ugh your vehicle is
equipped with Advanced Airbags, the safest place
for children is properly restrained on the back
Ill>

co
co
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\.J ' seat. Please be sure to read the important infor­mation in the sections that follow and be sure to
heed all of the WARNINGS.
A WARNING
To reduce the risk of injury when an a irbag in­
flates, always wear safety belts properly.
- If you are unrestrained, leaning forward, sit­ ting s ideways or out of position in any way,
your risk of injury is much h igher.
- 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
r::;, page 148 .
A WARNING
A child in a rearward-facing chi ld seat insta l­
led on the front passenger seat will be ser i­
ously inju red and can be ki lled if the front air­
bag inflates - even with an Advanced Airbag
System.
- Although the Advanced A irbag System in
yo ur vehicle is designed to t urn off the front
airbag when a rearward -facing child re ­
straint has been insta lled on the front pas­
senger seat, nobody can absolutely g uaran­
tee that deployment is impossible in a ll con­
ceivable s ituations that may happen during
the useful life of you r vehicle.
- The inflating a irbag w ill hit the child seat or
infant carrier w ith great force and will
smash the ch ild seat and child against the
backrest, ce nter armrest , door, or roof.
- Always install rearward-fac ing child re­
straints on the rear seat.
- If you must install a rearward facing ch ild
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
f acing child seat in a re ar seat ing position
and have the airbag system inspected by
yo ur Audi dealer .
Airbag sys tem
A WARNING
If, in exceptional c ircumstances, you must in­
stall a forward-facing child restraint on the
front passenger's seat:
- Always make sure the forward-facing seat
has bee n des igned and certified by its man­
ufacture r for use on a fro nt seat with a pas­
senger front and side airbag.
- Never p ut the forward-facing child restra int
up aga inst or very nea r the instr ument pan­
el.
- Always move the front passenger seat to
the highest posit io n in the up and down ad­
justment range and move it back to the
rearmost posit ion in the seat's fo re and aft
adj ustment range, as far away from the a ir­
bag as possible, before install ing the for­
ward-facing ch ild restraint.
- Always make sure that the safety be lt upper
anchorage is behind the c hild restraint and
not next to or in front of the child restraint
so that the safety be lt will be p roperly posi­
tioned.
-Always make sure that there is noth ing on
the front passenge r seat that will cause the
capacitive passenge r 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 sea t. The presen ce of addi­
tional ob jects could cause the passenger
front ai rbag to be turned on when it should
be off, or cou ld cause the ai rbag to work in a
way that is d ifferent from the way it wou ld
have wo rked without the object on the seat.
- Make sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
li ght comes on and stays on all the time
whenever the ignit ion is switched on.
Advanced Airbag System components
The front passenger seat in your veh icle has a lot
of very important parts of t he Advanced Airbag
System in it . These parts include the capacitive
passenge r detection system, wir ing, b rackets,
and more. The contro l unit moni to rs the system
on the fro nt passenge r seat when the igni tion is ..,.
155

Airbag syste m
switched on and turns the airbag indicator light
on when a malfunction in the one of the system
components is detected ¢
page 160. Because
the front passenger seat contains important
parts of the Advanced Airbag System, you must
take care to prevent it from being damaged .
Damage to the seat may prevent the Advanced
A irbag System for the front passenger seat from
doi ng its job in a c rash.
The front Ad vanced Airb ag Sy stem con sis ts
of the following:
- Crash sensors in the front of the vehicle that
measure vehicle acceleration/decelerat ion to
provide info rmation to the Advanced Airbag
System about t he severity of the crash.
- An electron ic control un it, with integrated
c rash sensors fo r front and side impacts. The
contro l unit "decides" whethe r to fire the front
airbags based on the information received from
the crash sensors . The control unit a lso "de ­
cides" whether the safety be lt pretensioners
shou ld be activated.
- An Advanced Airbag with gas generator and
control valve for the driver ins ide the steer ing
wheel hub.
- An Advanced Airbag with gas gene rator and
control valve inside the instrument pane l for
the front passenger.
- A capacitive passenger detect ion system under­
neath the front passenger seat cover. This sys­
tem measures the electrical capac itance of the
person in the seat . T he information registe red
is sent continuous ly to the e lectron ic cont rol
unit to regula te deployment of the front Ad­
vanced Airbag on the passenge r si de.
- An airbag monitoring system and indicator
l igh t in the inst rumen t cluster¢
page 160.
- A sensor in each front seat registers the dis­
tance between the respect ive seat and the
stee ring wheel or instr ume nt pane l. The infor­
ma tion reg istered is sent contin uously to the
electronic control un it to regulate deployment
of the front Advanced Ai rbags.
- The
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF lig ht comes on
and stays on in the center of the instrument
panel ¢
page 160, fig. 158 and tells you when
156
the front Advanced Airbag on the passenger
side has been turned
off.
-A sensor in the safety be lt latch for the driver
and for the front seat passenger that senses
whether that safety belt is latched or not and transmits this information to the electronic
control un it.
A WARNING
Damage to the front passenger seat can pre­
vent the front airbag from work ing properly.
- Improper repair or disassembly of the front
passenger and driver seat will prevent the
Advanced A irbag Sys tem from f unction ing
proper ly.
- Repairs to the front passenger seat must be
performed by qualified and prope rly train ed
wo rkshop personne l.
- Never remove the front passenger or driver
seat from the vehicle .
- Never remove the upholstery from the front
passenger sea t.
- Never d isassemble or remove parts from the
seat or disconnect w ires from
it.
- Never carry sharp objects in your pockets or
put them on the seat . The capacit ive pas ­
senger de tect io n mat in the front passenger
seat will not function p roperly if it is punc­
tured.
- Never car ry things on your lap or carry ob­
jects on the front passenge r seat. Such ob­
jects ca n influen ce the capaci tan ce regis­
t ered by the capaci tive passenger detection
sys tem, so tha t incorrect in format ion is pro ­
vided to the airbag control unit.
- Never store i tems under the front passenger
seat. Parts of the Advanced Airbag System
under the passenger seat could be dam­
aged, preventing them and the airbag sys­
tem from working properly.
- Never p lace seat covers or replacement up­
holstery that have not been specifically ap­ proved by Audi on the front seats.
- Seat covers can prevent the Advanced A ir­
bag System from recogni zing child re­
straints or occupants on the front passenger
seat and prevent the side airbag in the seat
backrest from deploying prope rly .