airbag off AUDI Q3 2015 User Guide

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angle of impact that will always trigger the
airbags, since the circumstances will vary con­
siderably between one collision and another.
Important factors include, for example, the nature (hard or soft) of the object which the
car hits, the angle of impact, vehicle speed,
etc. The front airbags will also not inflate in
side or rear collisions, or in ro ll-overs .
Alwa ys rem ember : Airbags will deploy only
once, and only in certa in kinds of collisions .
Your safety belts are always there to offer pro­
tection in those s ituations in which airbags
are not supposed to deploy , or when they have
a lready deployed ; fo r example , when yo ur ve­
h icle strikes or is struck by another after the
first collision .
This is just one of the reasons why an a irbag is
a supplementary restra int and is not a s ubst i­
tute for a safety belt . The airbag system
works most effectively when used with the
safety belts. Therefore, always properly wear
your safety belts¢
page 104 .
A WARNING
Sitting too close to the steer ing wheel or
instrument panel will decrease the effec­
tiveness of the airbags and will increase
the risk of pe rsonal injury in a co llision .
- Never sit closer than
10 inches (25 cm)
to the stee ring wheel or instrument pan­
el.
- If you cannot sit more than
10 i nches
(25 cm) from the steer ing whee l, investi­
gate whether adaptive equipment may
be available to help you reach the pedals
and increase your seating dis tance from
the steering wheel.
- All veh icle o ccupants and especia lly chil­
dren must be restrained properly when­
ever riding in a vehicle . An un restra ined
or improperly rest rained child could be
injured by striking the inter ior or by be­
ing ejected from the vehicle during a
s u dden maneuver or impact. An unre­
strained or improperly restrained child is
also at greater r isk of injury or death
thro ugh contact with an inflat ing airbag.
A irbag system 113
-If you are unrestrained, leaning forward,
sitt ing s ideways or o ut of pos ition in any
way, your risk of injury is m uch higher.
- You will a lso receive se rious injuries and
could even be killed if you are up aga inst
the airbag or too close to it when it in­
f lates -even w ith an Advanced A irbag.
- To reduce the risk of injury when an air­
bag inflates, always wear safety belts
prope rly ¢
page 107, Safety belts .
-Always make certain that ch ildren age 12
or younger always ride in the rear seat . If
children a re not properly restrained , they
may be severe ly inju red or kill ed when an
a ir bag inf lates.
- Never let ch ildren ride un restra ined or
improperly restrained in the vehicle. Ad­
just the front sea ts p roperly .
- Never ride with the back rest reclined .
- Always sit as far as possible from the st eer ing whee l or the instrument pane l
¢page 95.
- Always sit upright with your back aga ins t
the backr est of your seat .
- Never place your feet on the instrument
panel or on the seat . Always keep both
feet on the f loor in front of the seat to
he lp preven t serio us in juries to the legs
and h ips if the airbag infla tes.
- Never re cline the front passenger 's seat
to transpo rt obje cts. Items c an a lso
move into the area of the s ide a irbag or
the front airbag during braking or in a
sudden maneuve r. Objects near the air ­
bags can become projectiles and cause
in jury when an airbag inflates.
A WARNING
A irbags 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
a nd d iagnost ic equipment to properly re ­
place any airbag in your vehicle and as­
sure system effectiveness in a crash . •
•

114 Airbag sys te m
- Never permit salvaged or recycled air­
bags to be installed in your veh icle.
Child restraints on the front seat - some
important things to know
~ Be sure to read the important informat ion
and head the WARNINGS for important de­
ta ils about ch ildren and Advanced Airbags
c::>page 133.
Even though your vehicle is equ ipped with an
Advanced Airbag System, make certain that
a ll c hildren, especially those 12 years and
younger, a lways ride in the back sea t properly
restrained for their age and size . The airbag
on the passenger side makes the front seat a
potentially dangerous place for a chi ld to ride.
The front seat is not the safest place for a
child in a forward-facing child safety seat. It
can be a very dangerous place for an infant or
a child in a rea rward-facing seat .
The Advanced Airbag System in your veh icle
has been certified to comply with the Requ ire­
ments of United States Federa l Motor Veh icle
Safety Standard 208 as applicable at the time
your veh icle was manufactured .
The Standard requires the front a irbag on the
passenger side to be turned off ("sup ­
pressed") if a ch ild up to about one yea r of
age restra ined in one of the rear-facing or fo r­
ward-facing infan t restra ints listed in Federal
M otor Vehicle Safety Standard 208 w ith w hic h
the Advanced A irbag System in your vehicle
was certified has been installed on the front
passenger seat. Fo r a listing of the child re­
straints that were used to certify compliance
with the US Safety Standard
c::> page 135.
The PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light in the in­
strument panel te lls you when the front Ad ­
vanced A irbag on the passenger side has been
turned off by the e lectronic control unit.
Each time yo u turn on the ignition, the
PAS­
SENGER AIR BAG OFF
li ght wi ll come on for a
few seconds and:
- will stay on if the front passenger seat is not
occupied, -
w ill s tay on i f there is a small ch ild or child
restraint on the front passenger seat,
- will go off i f the front passenger sea t is oc­
cupied by an adult as registered by the
weight-sensing mat
c::> page 123, Monitor­
ing the Advanced Airbag System.
T he PAS SENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes on
whe n the control unit detects a tota l weight
o n the front passenger seat that req uires the
front airbag to be turned off .
If the total weight on the front passenge r
seat is more than that of a typica l 1 year -old
c h ild b ut less than the weight of a small
adult, the front airbag on the passenger side
can deploy (the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
li ght does not come on). If the PASSENGER
AIR BAG OFF
light does not come on, the
front a irbag on the passenger side has not
been turned off by the elect ronic control unit
and can deploy if the cont rol uni t senses an
impact that meets the cond itions s tored i n its
memo ry .
For exampl e, th e ai rbag may deploy if;
- a small ch ild that is heav ier than a typical 1
year-old ch ild is on the front passenger seat
( r egardless of whether the child is in one of
the ch ild safety seats listed
c::> page 135) , or
- a child who has outgrown chi ld restraints is
on t he front passenger seat .
If the front passenger airbag is turned off, the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes on in
the instrument cluster a nd stays on .
The front airbag on the passenger side may
not deploy (the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light does not illum inate and stay lit) even if a
small adult o r teenager, or a passenger who is
not sitt ing up rig ht w ith their back against a
non- recl ined ba ck rest w it h their feet on the
vehicle f loor i n front o f the sea t is on t he front
passenge r seat
c::> page 95, Proper seating po ­
sition for the driver.
If the front passenger airbag dep loys, the
F edera l Standard req uires the airbag to meet
the "low risk" dep loyment criteria to red uce
t h e risk of injury t hro ugh interactio n with the ..,.

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airbag. "Low risk" deployment occurs in those
crashes that take place at lower decelerations
as defined in the electronic control unit
c:> page 123, PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light.
Always remember, a child safety seat or infant
carrier installed on the front seat may be
struck and knocked out of pos ition by the rap­
id ly inflating passenger's airbag in a frontal
collision. The airbag could greatly reduce the
effectiveness of the child restraint and even
seriously injure the child during inflat ion .
For this reason, and because the back seat is
the safest place for children -when properly
restrained accord ing to their age and size -we
strongly recommend that children always sit
i n the back seat
c:> page 133, Child Safety.
.&_ WARNING
-
A child in a rearward -facing child sa fety
seat insta lled on the front passenger seat
wi ll be seriously injured and can be ki lled if
the front airbag inflates -even with an Ad ­
vanced Airbag System .
- The inflating a irbag w ill hit the child
safety seat or infant carrier with great
force and will smash the child safety seat
and child against the backrest, center
armrest, door or roof.
- Always install rear -facing child safety
seats on the rear seat.
- If you must install a rearward facing
child safety seat on the front passenger
seat because of exceptional circumstan­
ces and the
PAS SENGER AIR BAG OFF
light does not come on and stay on, im­
med iately install the rear-facing child
safety seat in a rear seating posit ion and
have the a irbag sys tem inspected by you r
authorized Aud i dealer.
- Forward-fac ing ch ild safety seats instal­
led on the fron t passenger's seat may in­
terfere with the deployment of the air­
bag and cause serious personal injury to
the chi ld .
A irbag system 11 5
.&_ WARNING
If, in exceptiona l circumstances, you must
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 fo r use on a front seat
with a passenger front and s ide a irbag.
- Never put the forward-facing child re­
straint up against or ve ry near the instru­
ment panel.
- Always move the passenge r seat into its
rea rmost pos ition in the seat's fore a nd
aft ad justment range, as fa r away from
the airbag as possible before installing
the forward -fac ing chi ld restra int . The
backrest must be adj usted to an up right
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.
A WARNING
To reduce the risk of ser ious injury, make
sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light w ill be displayed whenever a child re­
straint is installed on the front passenge r
seat and the ignition is sw itched on .
- If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not stay on, perform the checks de­
scribed
c:> page 123, Monitoring the Ad­
vanced Airbag System.
- Ta ke the chi ld restraint off the front pas­
senger sea t and install it prope rly at one
of the rear sea t positions if the
PASSEN­
GER AIR BAG OFF
light does not stay on.
- Have the airbag system in spe cted by
your author ized Audi dealer immed iate­
ly.
- Always carefully follow instr uctions from
child restraint manufacturers when in­
stalling child restraints.
•
•

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-Therefore, always wear your safety belts
and make sure that everybody in your ve­
hicle is properly restrained.
A WARNING
A person on the front passenger seat, es­
pecially infants and small children, will re­
ceive serious injur ies and can even be kil­
led by being too close to the airbag when
it inflates.
- Although the Advanced Airbag System in
your vehicle is designed to turn off the
front passenger a irbag if an infant or a
small ch ild is on the front passenge r
seat, nobody can absolutely guarantee
that deployment under these special
conditions is impossible in all conceiva­
ble s ituations that may happen during
the useful life of your vehicle.
- The Advanced A irbag System can deploy
in accordance with the "low risk" opt ion
under the U.S. Federa l Standard if a c hild
that is heavier than the typical one-year
old child is o n the front passenger seat
and the other cond itions for airbag de­
ployment are met .
- Acc ident statist ics have shown that chil­
dre n are generally safe r in the rea r seat
area than in the front seating posit io n.
- For their own safety, all children, espe­
cially 1 2 yea rs and younger, sho uld al­
ways ride in the b ack properly restrained
for their age and size .
Advanced front airbag system
-
Your vehicle is equipped w it h a front Advanced
Airbag System in comp liance with United
States Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard
208 as applicable at the time your vehicle was
manufactured.
The front Advanced Airbag System supp le ­
ments the safety belts to provide additiona l
protection for the driver's and front passeng­
er's heads and upper bodies in frontal crashes.
The airbags inflate only in frontal impacts
when the vehicle decelerat io n is high enough .
Airbag system 117
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 over­
all occupant restra int system in your vehicle.
Always remember that the airbag system can
only he lp to protect you, if you are sitting up ­
rig ht, wearing your safety belt and wear ing it
proper ly. This is why you and your passe ngers
mus t always be prope rly restrained, not jus t
because the law req uires you to be.
T he Advanced A irbag System in your vehicle
has been ce rtified to meet the "low risk" re­
quirements for 3 and 6 yea r-old ch ildren o n
the passenger side and very small ad ults o n
the driver side . The low risk deployment crite­
ria are intended to help reduce the risk o f in ­
jury 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 addition, 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 front passenger
seat in child rest raints that are listed in the
Standard ¢
page 135, Child restraints and
Advanced Airbags.
"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 in one
of the rear -fac ing or forward-facing infant
restrai nts listed in Federal Motor Vehicle
Safety Standard 208 with which the Ad­
vanced Ai rbag System in your ve hicl e was
cert ified . For a listing of t he chi ld res traints
tha t were used to certify you r vehicle's com ­
pliance with the US Safety Standard
¢ page 135,
-weight less than a thresho ld level stored in
the control unit is detected on the front pas­
senger seat .
When a person is detected on the front pas­ senger seat, weighing more than the total
weight of a chi ld that is about 1 year old •
•

118 Airbag sys te m
restrained in one of the rear -facing or for­
ward -facing infant restraints (listed in Federal
Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208 with which
the Advanced Airbag System in your vehicle
was certified), the front airbag on the passen­
ger side may or may not dep loy .
The
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes on
when the electronic control unit detects a to­
tal weight on the front passenger seat that re­
quires the front airbag to be turned off . If the
P A SSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does not
come on, the front airbag on the passenger
side has not been turned off by the control
un it and can deploy if the contro l unit senses
an impact that meets the conditions stored in
its memory .
I f the total we ight on the front passenger
seat is more than that of a typical
1 year-o ld,
but less than the weight of a small adu lt, the
front airbag on the passenger side may deploy
(the
PAS SENGER AIR BAG OFF light does not
come on).
F o r e xample , th e ai rbag m ay depl oy 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 ch ild is in one of
the chi ld safety seats listed
¢ page 135),
-a ch ild who has o utgrown child rest raints is
on the front passenger seat.
If the front passenger airbag is turned off, the
PA SSENGER AIR BAG OFF light in the center
of the instrument pa nel w il l come on and stay
on.
The front a irbag on the passenger side may
not deploy (the PAS SENGER AIR BAG OFF
light does not ill uminate and stay lit) if:
- a small adult or teenager is on the front pas ­
senger seat
- a passenger who is not sitt ing upright with
their back against a non-reclined backrest
with their feet on the veh icle floo r in front
of the seat is on the fro nt passenger seat.
If the front passenger airbag deploys, the Federal Standard requires the airbag to meet
the "low risk" deployment cr iteria to help re- duce the risk o
f injury through interaction
with the airbag . "Low risk" deployment occurs
in those crashes that take place at lower de­
ce lerat ions as defined in the electronic control
unit.¢
page 123
Alw ays remembe r: Even though your vehicle
is equ ipped w ith Advanced A irbags, the safest
place for ch ildren is properly restrained on the
back seat . Please be sure to read the impor­
tant information in the sections that follow and be su re to heed all of the WARNINGS.
A WARNING ,.__
To reduce the risk of in jury when an a irbag
i nflates, 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 m uch h igher.
- You will a lso receive serious injuries and
could even be killed if you a re up aga inst
the airbag o r too close to it when it in­
f lates - even with an Advanced A irbag
¢ page 112.
A WARNING
= -
A child in a rearward -facing chi ld safety
seat installed on the front passenger seat
will be serious ly injured and can be killed if
the front airbag inflates -even with an Ad­
vanced 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 installed on the
front passenge r seat, nobody can abso­
lutely g uarantee that dep loyment is im­
possible in all con ceivable situations that
may happen dur ing the usefu l life of your
vehicle .
- The infla ting airbag will h it the c hild
safety seat or infant carrier wi th great
force and will smash the child safety seat and child against the backrest, center
armrest, door, or roof.
- Always install rearward-facing chi ld re­
straints in the back seat .

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-If you must insta ll a rearward facing
child safety seat on the front passenger
seat because of exceptional circumstan­ ces and the
PAS SENGE R AIR BAG OFF
light does not come on and stay on, im­
med iately install the rear-facing child
safety seat in a rear seating position and
have the a irbag sys tem inspec ted by you r
authorized Audi dealer.
& WARNING
If, in exceptional c ircumstances, you mus t
install a forwa rd -facing child restraint on
the front passenger's seat:
- Always make sure the forward -fac ing
seat has been des igned and certified by
its manufacturer for use on a front seat
with a passenger front and side airbag.
- Never put the forward-facing child re­
straint up aga inst or very near the inst ru­
ment pane l.
- Always move t he passenger seat into its
rearmost position in the seat's fore and
aft adjustment range, as far away f rom
the a irbag as poss ible, before insta lling
the fo rward-facing child restraint. T he
backrest must be adjus ted to an upr ight
posit ion .
- Make su re that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
light comes o n and s tays on all the
t ime w henever the ign ition is switc hed
on.
Advanced Airbag System components
The fron t passenger seat in your vehi cle has a
l ot of very important par ts of the Advanced
Airbag System in it. These parts include t he
weight -sens ing mat, sensors, wiring, brack­
ets, and mo re. The function of the system in
the front passenger seat is checked by the e lectronic control un it when the ignit ion is on.
The control unit mon itors the Advanced Air­
bag System and tur ns the a irbag indicator
light on when a ma lfu nction in t he system
components is de tected. The func tion of the
a ir bag ind icator light is described in greater
detai l below . Because t he front passenge r
Airbag sys tem 119
seat contains important parts of the Ad ­
vanced Airbag System, you must take care to prevent it from being damaged. Damage to
the seat may prevent the Advanced Airbag for
the front passenger seat from do ing its job in
a crash.
The front Advanced Air bag System
consists of the following:
- Cras h sensors in the front of the vehicle that
measure vehicle acceleration/deceleration
to prov ide info rmat ion to the Adva nced Ai r­
bag System about the sev erity of the crash .
- An elect ronic control unit, with integrated
crash sensors fo r front and s ide impacts.
The control u nit "decides" whether to fi re
t he front a irbags based on t he informat io n
received from t he crash sensors. The con trol
unit also "decides" whe ther the sa fety belt
pretensioners sho uld be activated.
- An Adv anced A irbag w it h gas gene ra tor and
cont ro l valve fo r the d river inside the steer ­
ing wheel h ub.
- An Advance d Airbag w ith gas generator and
contro l valve inside the inst rument pane l for
the front passenger .
- A wei ght -sensing mat unde r the upho ls tery
padding of the front passenge r seat cushion
that measures the total weight on the seat .
The informat ion reg istered is sent continu­
ously to the electronic control unit to regu­
late deployment of the front Advanced Air­
bag on t he passenger side.
- An airbag monitoring system and ind icator
light in the instr ument cluster¢
page 123.
-A sensor in each front seat registers the dis­
tance between the respective seat and the
steer ing whee l or inst rument panel. The i n­
formation register ed is sent cont inuo usly to
t he ele ct ron ic cont ro l unit to regula te de­
ployment o f th e front Adva nced A irbags .
- The
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes
on and stays on in the center of t he i nstr u­
ment p anel
¢ page 123, fig. 120 and tells
you when the fron t Advanced Air bag on the
passenger side has been tu rned
off .
-A sensor below the s afety be lt latch fo r the
front seat passenger to meas ure t he tension
II>-
•
•

120 Airbag sys te m
on the safety belt. The tension on the safety
belt and the weight registered by the
we ight-sensing mat help the control un it
"decide" whether the front a irbag for the
front passenger seat should be turned off or
not ¢
page 114, Child restraints on the
front seat -some important things to
know .
-A sensor in the safety belt latch for the dr iv ­
er and for the front seat passenger that
senses whether that safety belt is latched or
not and transm its this informa tion to the
electron ic cont ro l unit.
& WARNING
Damage to the front passenger seat can
prevent the front airbag from working
properly.
- Improper repair or disassembly of the front passenger and driver seat wi ll pre­
vent the Advanced Airbag System from
functioning properly.
- Repairs to the front passenger seat must
be performed by q ualified and properly
trained workshop personnel.
- Never
remove the front passenger or
dr iver seat from the veh icle.
- 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 place them on the seat .
If the weight­
sensing mat in the passenger seat is punctured it cannot work properly.
- Never carry things on your lap or carry
objects on the passenger seat. Such
items can increase the weight registered
by the weight-sens ing mat and send the
wrong information to the airbag control
unit.
- Never store items under the front pas­ senger seat. Parts of the Advanced Ai r­
bag System under the passenge r seat
cou ld be damaged, prevent ing them and
t h e a irbag sys tem from wo rking proper­
ly .
-
- Never p lace seat covers or rep lacement
upho lstery that have not been specifica l­
ly approved by Audi on the front seats.
- Seat
covers can prevent the Advanced
Airbag System from recognizing chi ld re­
straints or occupants on the front pas­
senger seat and prevent the side airbag
in the seat backrest from deploying prop­
erly.
- Never use cushions, pillows, blankets or similar items on the front passenger
seat. T he additional padding w ill prevent
the we igh t-sensing mat in the sea t from
accurately regis tering the child rest rain t
or pe rson on the seat and prevent the
Advanced Airbag System from function­ ing p roperly.
- If you m ust use a child restraint on the
front passenge r seat and the child re­
straint manufacture r's instructions re­
quire the use of a towel, foam cushion or
someth ing e lse to properly pos ition the
child restraint, make certain that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes
on and stays on whenever the ch ild re­
s traint is i nstalled on the front passen­
ge r seat.
- If the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not come on and st ay on, immed i­
ately install child rest raint in a rear seat­
ing position and have the ai rbag system
inspected by your authorized Audi dealer.
How the Advanced Airbag System
components work together
The front Advanced Airbag System and the
s ide a irbags supp lement the protect ion of­
fered by the front three-point safety belts
with pretensioners and load limiters a nd the
adjus table head rest rain ts to help reduce the
r isk of in jury in a wide range of accident and
c rash situations . Be s ure to read the impor ­
tant information about safety and heed the
WARNINGS in this chapter .
Deployment o f the Adv a need A irbag System
and the activation of the safety belt preten­
sioners depend on the deceleration measured
1111-

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by the crash senso rs and registered by the
e lectronic control unit. Crash severity depends
on speed and deceleration as well as the mass
and stiffness of the vehicle or object involved in the crash .
On the passenger side, regard less of safety
be lt use, the airbag will be turned off if the
weight on the passenger seat is less than the
amount programmed in the electronic control
un it . The front ai rbag on the passenger side
will also be turned off if one of the ch ild safe­
ty seats that has been certified unde r Federa l
Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208 has been
recog nized on the sea t. T he
PA SSENGER AIR
BAG OFF
ligh t comes on and stays on to tell
you when the front Advanced Airbag on the
passenger side has been turned off
c::> page 114, Child restraints on the front seat
- some important things to know.
A WARNING
To reduce the risk of injury whe n an airbag
inflates, a lways wear safety belts properly.
- If you are unrestrained, lean ing forward,
sitting sideways or out of position in any
way, your risk of in jury is much highe r.
- You w ill also rece ive serious inj uries and
cou ld eve n be killed if you are up against
the a irbag or too close to it when it in·
fla tes · even with an Advanced Airbag
c::> page 112.
More important things to know about
front airbags
Fi g. 119 Inf lated fro nt air bags
Safety belts are impo rtant to help keep front
seat occupa nts in t he p roper seated pos ition
so that airbags ca n unfo ld prope rly and pro·
A irba g sy stem 121
vide supplementa l protection in a fron tal col ­
lision .
T he front airbags a re des igned to provide ad­
d it ional p rotec tion fo r the ches t and fa ce of
the d river and the front seat passenger when :
- safety belts are wo rn properly,
- the seats have been positioned so that the
occupan t 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 bli nk of an eye
with great force, th ings you have on your lap
o r have p laced on the seat co uld become dan·
gerous p ro jectiles , and be pushed in to you if
the a irbag inf lates .
When an airbag deploys, fine dust is re leased.
T his is norma l and is not ca used by a fi re in
the ve hicle. This dust is made up mostly of a
powde r used to lubricate the air bags as they
deploy.
It could irr itate skin .
It is important to remembe r that wh ile the
supplementa l airbag system is designed to re·
d uce the like lihoo d of se rious injur ies, ot he r
injur ies, for ex ample swe lling, br uis ing and
minor ab rasions, can also happen when air­
bags inflate. Airbags do not protect the arms
or the lower parts of the body. Front airbags
on ly supplement the three point safety be lts
in some fronta l co llisions in which the vehicle
deceleration is high enough to deploy the air ­
bags.
Front a irbags will not depl oy :
- if the ignition is switched off when a crash
occurs,
- in side co llisions,
- in rear -end co llisions,
- in rollove rs,
- when the crash dece leration measu red by
t he air bag system is less than the min imum
t hreshold needed fo r airbag deploymen t as
reg istered by the electronic cont ro l unit. ..,.

122 Airbag sys te m
Th e front p assenger airbag will als o not
d eploy:
- when the front passenger seat is not occu­
pied,
- when the weight on the front passenger
seat as sensed by the Advanced Airbag Sys­
tem indicates that the front airbag on the passenger side has to be turned off by the
electronic control unit (the
PA SSE NGER AIR
BA G OFF
light comes on and stays on) .
A WARNING
Sitting in the wrong position can increase
the risk of serious inju ry in crashes.
- To reduce the r isk of injury when the air­
bags inflate, the driver and passengers
must always sit in an upright position,
must not lean against o r place any part
of their body too close to the area where
the airbags are located .
- Occ upants who a re unbelted, out of posi­
tion or too close to the airbag can be se ­
riously injured by an airbag as it unfolds
with great force in the blink of an eye
9page 114.
A WARNING
A child in a rearward-facing child safety seat installed on the front passenger seat
w ill be seriously injured and can be k illed if
the front a irbag inflates -even with an Ad­
vanced Airbag System.
- The inflating a irbag will hit the child
safety seat or infant carrier with great
force and w ill smash the ch ild safety seat
and child against the backrest, cente r
armrest, door or roof.
- Always install rear-facing child safety
seats on the rear seat.
- If you must install a rearward facing
child safety seat on the front passenger
sea t because of exceptional circ umstan­
ces and the
PA SSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light does not come on and stay on, im­
mediately install the rear-facing child
safety seat in a rear seating position and have the airbag system inspected by your
author ized Audi dealer.
A WARNING
-
Objects between you and the airbag will
i ncrease the r isk of injury in a crash by in­
terfering with the way the airbag unfolds
or by be ing pushed into you as the airbag
i nflates.
- Never hold things in your hands or on your lap when the veh icle is in use.
- Never transport items on or in the area
of the front passenger seat. Objects
could move into the a rea of the front air­
bags du ring bra king or other sudden ma­
neuver and become dangerous p rojec­
tiles that can cause ser ious personal in­
jury if the airbags inf late.
- Never p lace or attach accessories or oth­
er objects (such as cupholders, tele ­
phone brackets, large, heavy or bulky ob­
jects) on the doors, over or near the area
marked "AIRBAG" on the steering whee l,
instr ument panel, seat backrests or be ·
tween those areas and yourself. These
objects could cause in ju ry in a crash, es­
pecially when the airbags inflate.
- Never recline the front passenger's seat
to transport objects. Items can also move into the area of the s ide airbag or
the front airbag du ring bra king or in a
sudden maneuver. Objects near the air­
bags can become projectiles and cause inj ury, par tic ularly when the seat is re ­
clined .
A WARNING
The fine dust created when airbags deploy
can cause breathing prob lems for people
with a history of asthma or other breath­ i ng cond itions.
- To reduce the risk of breath ing problems,
those with asthma or other respiratory conditions shou ld get fresh air right
away by getting o ut of the veh icle or
open ing windows or doors .

-If y ou are in a collis ion in w hich a irbags
deploy, wash yo ur hands and face w ith
mild soap and water before eating.
- Be careful not to get the dust into your
eyes, or into any cuts or scratches.
- If the residue should get into your eyes,
flush them with water.
Monitoring the
Advanced Airbag
System
Airbag monitoring indicator light
Two separate indicators monitor the function
of the Advanced Airbag System: the airbag
monitoring indicator light and the
PASSEN­
GER AIR BAG OFF
light.
The Advanced Airbag System as we ll as the
side airbags and side c urtain airbags with
ejection mitigation features (including the
e lectronic control un it, sensors and system
wiring) a re all monitored continuously to
make sure that they are func tioning properly
wheneve r the ignit io n is on. Each time yo u
turn on the igni tion , the airbag monitori ng in­
di cator
light E,lwill come on for a few sec­
onds (self diagnostics) .
The system must be inspected when the
indicato r light
El:
- does not come on w hen the ignitio n is
switched on,
- does not go ou t a few seconds after yo u
have swi tched o n the ignition, or
- c omes on w hile d riving.
If an airbag system malfunct ion is detected,
the indicator light will first start flashing to
cat ch the driver's attention and then st ay on
con tinuously to se rve as a cons tan t reminder
to have the system inspected immedia tely.
I f a malfunct ion occurs that turns the front
~ a ir bag on the passenger side off, the PASSEN-
"' N GER AIR BAG OFF li gh t w ill c ome on and stay 0
~ on whenever the ignition is on .
rl I.O
"' rl
"' rl
Airba g sy stem 123
A WARNING
An airbag system t hat is not functioning
properly cannot prov ide supplemental pro­
tection in a frontal crash.
- If the airbag ind icator light ¢ page 16
comes when the veh icle is being used,
have th e system inspected immediately
by your authorized A udi dealer.
It is pos­
sib le tha t the air bag will inflate when it
is not supposed to, or will not infla te
when it should.
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
Fi g. 12 0 Sect ion from t he instrume nt pa n el: PASSEN ·
GER AIR BAG OFF light
T he PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF lig ht is located
in the center of the instrument pane l
¢fig . 120 .
The PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light wi ll come
on and stay on to tell you when the front Ad­
vanced Airbag on the passenge r side has been
turned off by the electron ic control unit. Each
time you turn on t he ignit ion, the
PASSEN ­
GER AIR BAG OFF
light will flash for a few
seconds and :
- will stay on i f the front passenger seat is not
occ upied,
- will stay on if there is a small ch ild or child
restraint on the front passenger seat,
- will go out if the front passenge r seat is oc­
cupied by an adult as registered by the
weight-sensing mat.
The
PASSENGER AIR BAG O FF light must
come on and sta y on
if the ignition is on and
- a ca r bed has been ins talled o n the fron t
seat, or