belt AUDI Q3 2017 Owner´s Manual

Safety belt s
Service and disposal of safety belt preten­
sioner
The safety be lt pretensioners are parts o f the
safety belts on yo ur Audi. Installing, removing,
servicing or repairing of belt pretensioners can
damage the safety belt system and prevent it
from working correctly in a collision.
There are some important things you have to know to make sure that the effectiveness of the
system w ill not be impaired and that discarded
components do not cause injury or pollute the
env ironment.
A WARNING
-
Improper care, serv icing and repair proce­
dures can increase the r is k of personal injury
and death by preventing a safety be lt preten­
sioner from activating when needed or acti­
vating it unexpectedly:
- T he be lt pretensione r system can be act ivat­
ed only once. If bel t pretensioners have
been act ivated, the system must be re­
placed.
- Never repair, adjust, or change any parts of
the safety be lt system .
- Safe ty belt systems in cl ud ing safe ty be lt
pretens ioners cannot be repaired . Special
procedures are req uired for removal, insta l­
lation and disposal of this system.
- For any wor k on the safety belt system, we
strongly recommend that you see your au­
thorized Aud i dea ler or q ualified technician
who has an A udi approved repair manual,
training and spec ial equ ipment necessary.
@ For the sake of the environment
Undep loyed airbag modu les and pretension­
ers might be classified as Perch lorate Materi­
al -specia l handling may apply, see
www.dtsc.ca.gov/hazardouswaste/perchlo­ rate. When the vehicle or parts of the re­
straint system including airbag modules safe­
t y belts with pretens io n ers are scrapped, all
app licab le laws and regulat ions m ust be ob­
served. Y our authori zed Audi de aler is familiar
w ith these req uiremen ts and we recommend
116
that yo u have your dealer perform this service
for you .

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A irbag system
Important information
Importance of wearing safety belts and
sitting properly
Airbags are only suppl emental restraints. For
airbags to do their job, occupants must always
properly wear their safety belts and be in a prop­ er seating position.
F or your safety and the safety of your passen­
ge rs , before driving off, always :
.,. Adjust the dr iver's seat and steering wheel
prope rly 9page
101,
.,. Adjus t the fro nt passenger's seat prope rly
¢ page 102,
.,. Wear safety bel ts p roperly ¢ page 111,
.,. Always properly use the proper c hild restraint
to protect children
¢ page 137 .
In a coll is io n air bags must infla te wi thin the blink
of an eye and with co nsiderable for ce . The s up­
p lemental airbags can cause injuries if the drive r
or the front seat passenger is not seated proper­
ly . Therefore in order to help the a irbag to do its
job, it is important, both as a d river and as a p as­
senger to sit properly at a ll times .
By keeping room between yo ur body and the
steer ing whee l and the front of the passenger
compartment, the a irbag can inflate fully and
comp letely and prov ide supplemental pro tect io n
in certa in frontal collis ions ¢
page 101, Correct
passenger seating positions .
For details on the
ope ration of th e seat ad justment con trols
¢page 44.
It's especially important that children are proper­
ly restra ined
¢ page 137.
There is a lot that the driver and the passengers
can and must do to help the ind ividual safety fea­
tures installed in your Audi work together as a
sys tem.
Proper seating posit ion is important so that the
front a irbag on the driver side can do its job. If
you have a physical impairment or cond it ion that
p revents yo u from s itting proper ly on the driver
seat with the safety be lt prope rly fastened and
Airb ag sys tem
reach ing the pedals, special modifications to
your vehicle may be necessary.
Contact yo ur aut ho rize d Au di dea le r, or call A udi
Cu stomer Rela tions at 1-800-82 2-283 4.
When the airbag system deploys, a gas generator
will fill the airbags, b reak open the padded cov­
ers, and infla te be twee n the steeri ng wheel and
the d river and between the inst rumen t pa ne l and
the front passenger . The a irbags w ill deflate im ­
mediate ly after deployment so that the front oc ­
c u pants can see th rough the windsh ie ld again
without interruption .
All o f th is takes p lace in the blink of an eye, so
fast that many peop le don't even realize that the
airbags have deployed. The airbags a lso inflate
with a great deal of force and nothing should be in the ir way when they deploy. Front airbags in
combination with properly worn safety belts slow
down and lim it the occupant's forward move­
me nt. T ogether they help to prevent the d river
and fro nt seat passe nger from hitt ing pa rts of
t h e inside the ve hicle while redu cing the fo rces
act ing on the occupant dur ing t he crash . In t his
way they help to reduce the risk of inj ury to the
head and uppe r body in the crash . Airbags do not
protect the arms or the lower parts of the body.
B oth front airbags will no t infla te in a ll frontal
co llisions. The t riggering of the airbag system de ­
pends on the vehicle decelerat ion rate caused by
the coll is ion and registered by the electronic con ­
trol unit . If this rate is be low the reference value
programmed into the contro l unit, the airbags
will not be t rigge red, even though the car may be
badly damaged as a resu lt of the co llision . Vehi­
cl e damage, repair costs or even the lack of veh i­
cl e damage is no t necessari ly an indic ation of
whethe r an a irbag should infl ate o r not.
It is no t possib le to define a range of vehicle
spe eds t hat w ill cove r every possible kind and an­
gle of impa ct tha t will a lways tr igger the airbags ,
s in ce the circumst ances w ill vary cons iderably be­
tween one collision and another. Important fa c­
tors include, for example, the nat ure (har d or
soft) of the object which the car hits, the angle of
impact, vehicle speed, etc . The front airbags will
IIJJ,
117

Airbag syste m
also not inflate in s ide or rear collisions, or in
ro ll-overs.
Alwa ys rememb er: Airbags will deploy only once,
and on ly in ce rtain k inds of coll is ions. Yo ur safety
be lts are always there to offer protection in those
situations in which airbags are not supposed to
dep loy, or when they have already deployed ; for
examp le, when your vehicle str ikes or is struck by
another 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 a irbag system works most
effect ively when used with the safety belts.
Therefore, always properly wear your safety belts
c::> page 109 .
A WARNING
Sitting too close to the steering wheel or in­
strument panel will decrease the effective­
ness of the airbags and will inc rease the risk
of personal injury in a co llision .
- Never sit closer than 10 inches (25 cm) to
the steering wheel or instrument panel.
- If you cannot si t mo re than 10 inches
(25 cm) from the steering wheel, invest i­
gate whether adaptive equipment may be
available to help you reach the pedals and
increase your seating distance from the
steering wheel.
- All vehicle 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 interior or by being ejected from the ve­
hicle during a sudden maneuver or impact.
An unrestrained or imp roperly restrained
child is also at greate r risk of inju ry or death
through contact with an inflating airbag .
-If you are unrestrained, leaning fo rward, s it­
t ing s ideways or out of pos ition in any way,
yo ur risk of in ju ry is much h igher.
- Yo u will also receive serious injuries and
could even be killed if you are up aga inst the
airbag or too close to it when it inflates -
even with an Advanced Airbag.
118
-
- To reduce the risk of injury when an airbag
inflates, always wear safety belts properly
c::> page 112, Safety belts.
- Always make certa in that children age 12 or
younger 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 ch ildren ride unrestra ined or im­
properly restrained in the vehicle. Ad just the
front seats properly.
- Never ride with the backrest recl ined .
- Always sit as far as possible from the steer-
ing wheel or the instrument panel
c::> page 101.
- Always sit upright w ith your back against
the backrest of your seat .
- Never p lace your feet on the instrument
panel or on the seat . Always keep both feet
on the floor in front of the seat to help pre ­
vent serious injur ies 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 into
the area of the s ide a irbag or the front air­
bag du ring brak ing o r in a sudden maneu­
ver. Objects near the airbags can become projecti les and cause injury when an airbag
inflates.
A WARNING
Airbags that have deployed in a crash must be replaced.
- Use on ly original equipment airbags ap­
proved by Audi and installed by a trained
technician who has the necessary tools and
diagnostic equipment to properly replace
any airbag in your vehicle and assure system
effectiveness in a crash .
- Never perm it 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 rtant info rmat ion and
head the WARNINGS for important details .,.

-Never place additional items on the seat
that can increase the total weight registered
by the weight-sensing mat and can cause in­
jury in a crash .
Front airbags
Description of front airbags
The airbag system can provide supplemental
protection to properly restrained front seat occu­
pants.
Fig. 1 15 Location of driver airbag: i n stee ring wheel
Fig. 116 Location of front passenger's airbag: in the in­
st rument panel
Your veh icle is equipped with an "Advanced Air­
bag System" in compliance with United States
F edera l Motor Vehicle Safety Standard
(FMVSS) 208 , as well as Canada Motor Vehicle
Safety Standard (CMVSS) 208 as app licab le at
the time your vehicle was manufactured . The
safety belts for the seats have "pretensioners"
that help to take slack out of the belt system.
The pretensioners are also activated by the elec ­
tron ic 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 N
8 crash .
0 ::, (X)
Airb ag sys tem
The airbag for the drive r is in the steering wheel
hub ~
fig. 115 and the airbag for the front pas­
senger is in the instrument panel
~ fig. 116. The
general locat ion of the airbags is marked "AIR­
BAG".
There is a lot you need to know about the airbags
i n your vehicle . We urge you to read the deta iled
information about airbags, safety belts and child
safety in this and the other chapters that make
up the owner's literature . Please be sure to heed
the WARNINGS -they are extremely important
for you r safety and the safety of your passengers,
especially infan ts and small children .
_&. WARNING
-
Never rely on ai rbags alone fo r protect ion.
- E ven w hen they deploy, airbags provide only
supp lemental protection.
- Airbag work most effectively when used
with p roperly worn safety belts .
- Therefore, always wear your safety belts and
make sure that everybody in your ve hicle is
p roperly restrained.
_&. WARNING
A pe rson on the front passenger seat, espe ­
cia lly infants and small ch ildren, wi ll receive
serious injuries and can even be ki lled by be­
ing too close to the airbag when it inf lates.
- Although the Advanced Airbag System in
your veh icle is designed to turn off the front
passenger airbag ifan infant or a small child
is on the front passenger seat, nobody can
absolutely guarantee that deployment un­
der these specia l conditions is impossible in
all conceivable situations that may happen
during the useful life of yo ur vehicle .
- The Advanced Airbag System can dep loy in
accordance with the "low risk" option under
the U .S . Fede ral Standa rd if a ch ild that is
heavier than the typica l one-year old ch ild is
on the front passenger seat and the other
conditions fo r airbag deployment are met.
- Accident statistics have shown that children
are generally safe r in the rear sea t area t han
in the front seating pos ition .
Ill-
121

Airbag syste m
-Fo r th eir own safety, all children, especially
12 years and younger, shou ld always ride in
the back properly restra ined for their age
and size .
Advanced front airbag system
Your veh icle is equipped with a front Advanced
Airbag System in compliance with Un ited States
F edera l Moto r Vehicle Safety Standard
208, as
well as Canada Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (C MVSS)
208 as app lica ble at the time your ve hi­
cle was manufactured.
The front Advanced Airbag System supp lements
the safety belts to prov ide addi tional pro te ct ion
for the dr iver's and front passenger's he ads and
upper bodies in frontal crashes. The airbags in ­
flate only in frontal impacts w hen the veh icle de ­
celeration is high enough .
The front Advanced Airbag System for the front
seat occupants is not a substitute fo r your safety
be lts. Rather, it is part of the overa ll occupant re­
straint system in your vehicle . Always remember
that the airbag system can on ly help to protect
you, if you are sitting upr ight, wearing your safe­
ty belt and wearing it properly . This is why you
and your passengers must always be properly re­
stra ined, not just because the law requ ires you to
be.
The Advanced Airbag System in your veh icle has
been cert ified to meet the "low risk" require­
men ts for 3 and 6 yea r-o ld children on the pas­
senge r side and very sma ll adults on the d river
side. The low r is k dep loymen t cr ite ria are intend­
ed to he lp reduce t he r is k of injury through inter ­
action with t he front ai rbag that can o ccu r, fo r
examp le, by being too close to the steering wheel
and instr ument pane l when the airbag inflates.
I n addi tion, the sys tem has been certified to
comp ly w ith the "suppression" requirements of
the Safety Standa rd, to tu rn
off the front ai rbag
for infants 12 months old and yo unger who a re
restrained on the front passenger seat in c hild re­
stra ints that are listed in the Standard
¢ page 139, Child restraints and Advanced Air ­
bags.
122
"Suppression" requires the front airbag on the
passenger side to be turned
off if:
- a child up to abo ut one year of age is restraine d
on the fron t passenger seat in one of the rear­
facing or forward -facing infant restraints listed
in Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard
208
w ith which the Advanced A irbag System in yo ur
veh icle was certified. For a list ing of the child
restraints that were used to cert ify your vehi­
cle's compliance with the US Safety Standard
¢ page 139,
-weight less than a threshold leve l stored in t he
control u nit is detected on the front passenger
seat .
When a person is detected on the front passen­ ger seat, weig hing more than the total weight of
a ch ild that is about 1 year old restrained in one
of the rea r-facing or forward-fac ing infant re­
straints (listed in Federal Motor Vehicle Safety
Stan dard
208 w ith w hich t he Adv anced Airbag
System i n your veh icle w as certified), the fro nt
airbag on the passenger side may or may not de­
ploy .
The
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF lig ht comes o n
whe n the ele ct ronic con trol uni t detects a tot al
weight on t he fron t passenger sea t that req uires
the front airbag to be turned
off . If the PASSEN·
GER 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 dep loy if
the control unit senses an impact t hat meets the
cond it ions stored in its memory .
If the total weight on the front passenger seat is
more than that of a typ ica l 1 yea r-old, but less
than the weight of a small adult, the front airbag o n the passenge r side may deploy (the
PASSEN­
GER AIR BAG OFF
light does not come on) .
For example , the airb ag may deploy if:
- a small ch ild that is heav ier than a typica l 1
year-o ld child is on the front passenger seat
(regard less of whether the child is in one o f the
child safety seats listed¢
page 139),
-a child who has outgrown ch ild restraints is on
the front passenger seat.

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If the front passenger airbag is turned off, the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light in the center of
the instrument panel will come on and stay on.
The front airbag on the passenger side may
not
deploy (the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does
not illuminate and stay lit) if:
- a small adult or teenager is on the front pas­
senger seat
- a passenger who is not sitting upright with
their back against a non-reclined backrest with
their feet on the vehicle floor in front of the
seat is on the front passenger seat.
If the front passenger airbag deploys, the Feder­
al Standard requires the airbag to meet the "low
risk" deployment criteria to help reduce the risk
of injury through interaction with the airbag.
"Low risk" deployment occurs in those crashes
that take place at lower decelerations as defined
in the electronic control unit.
c::;, page 12 7
Always remember: Even though your vehicle is
equipped with Advanced Airbags, the safest place
for childre n is properly restrained on the back
seat. Please be sure to read the important infor­
mation in the sections that follow and be sure to
heed all of the WARNINGS.
A WARNING
To reduce the risk of injury when an airbag in­
flates, always wear safety belts properly.
- If you are unrestrained, leaning forward, sit­
ting sideways or out of position in any way,
your risk of injury is much higher.
- You will also receive serious injuries and
could even be killed if you are up against the
airbag or too close to it when it inflates -
even with an Advanced Airbag
¢ page 117.
A WARNING
A child in a rearward-facing child safety seat
installed on the front passenger seat will be
seriously injured and can be killed if the front
airbag inflates -even with an Advanced Airbag
System .
- Although the Advanced Airbag System in
your vehicle is designed to turn off the front
airbag when a rearward-facing child re-
Airbag system
straint has been installed on the front pas­
senger seat, nobody can absolutely guaran­
tee that deployment is impossible in all con­
ceivable situations that may happen during
the useful life of your vehicle .
- The inflating airbag will 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 rearward-facing child re­
straints in the back seat.
- If you must install a rearward facing child
safety seat on the front passenger seat be­
cause of exceptional circumstances and the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does not
come on and stay on, immediately install
the rear-facing child safety seat in a rear
seating position and have the airbag system inspected by your authorized Audi dealer.
A WARNING
-If, in exceptional circumstances, you must in-
stall 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 man­
ufacturer for use on a front seat with a pas ­
senger front and side airbag .
- Never put the forward-facing child restraint
up against or very near the instrument pan­
el.
- Always move the front passenger seat to
the highest position in the up and down ad­
justment range and move it back to the rearmost position in the seat's fore and aft
adjustment range, as far away from the air­
bag as possible, before installing the for­
ward-facing child restraint.
-Always make sure that the safety belt upper
anchorage is behind the child restraint and
not next to or in front of the child restraint
so that the safety belt will be properly posi­
tioned.
- Always move the passenger seat into its
rearmost position in the seat's fore and aft
123

Airbag syste m
adjustment range, as far away from the air­
bag as possib le, before insta lling the
forward-facing ch ild restraint. The backrest
must be adjusted to an upright posit ion.
- Make sure that the
PAS SEN GER AIR BA G
OFF
light comes on and stays on all the time
whenever the ignition is switched on.
Advanced Airbag System components
The front passenger seat in your vehicle has a lot
of very important parts of the Advanced Airbag
System in it. These parts include the we ight­
sensing mat, sensors, w iring, brac kets, and
mo re. The function of the system in the front
passenger seat is checked by the elec tronic con ­
trol unit when the ignition is on. The contro l unit
monitors the Advanced Airbag System and turns
the airbag indicator light on when a malfunct ion
in the system components is detected. The func­
tion of the airbag indicator light is described in
greater detail below. Because the front passen­
ge r seat contains important parts of the Ad­
vanced A irbag System, you must take care to p re­
vent i t from being damaged. Damage to the seat
may prevent the Advanced Airbag for the fron t
passenger seat from doing its job in a c rash.
The front Advanced Airbag System consists
of th e follow ing :
-Crash sensors in the front of the vehicle that
measure vehicle acceleration/deceleration to
provide information to the Advanced Airbag
System about the severity of the crash.
- An e lectronic control unit, with integrated
crash sensors for front and side impacts. The
contro l unit "decides" whether to fire the front
airbags based on the information received from
the crash sensors . The control unit also "de­
c ides" whether the safety belt pretens ioners
sho uld be activated .
- An Advanced Airbag with gas generator and
contro l valve fo r the driver ins ide the steer ing
whee l hub.
-An Advanced Airbag with gas generator and contro l valve inside the instrument pane l for
the front passenger.
124
- A weight -sensing mat under the upholstery
padding of the front passenger seat cushion
that measures the total weight on the seat. The
information reg istered is sent cont inuous ly to
the electronic control unit to regulate deploy­
ment of the front Advanced Airbag on the pas­
senger s ide .
- An airbag monitoring system and ind icator
light in the instrument cluster
c::;,page 127.
-A sensor in each front seat registers the dis­
tance between the respective seat and the
steer ing wheel or instrument panel. The infor­
mat ion registered is sent cont inuously to the
elect ronic contro l unit to regu late dep loyment
of the fron t Advanced Airbags.
- The
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes on
and stays on in the cente r of the ins trument
pa nel
c::;, page 128, fig. 118 and te lls yo u when
the front Advanced Airbag on the passenger
side has been turned
off .
-A sensor below the safety be lt latch for the
front seat passenger to measure the tension on
the safety belt. The tension on the safety belt
and the weight registered by the weight-sens­
ing mat help the control unit "decide" whether
the front airbag for the front passenger seat
should be turned off or not
c::;, page 118, Child
restraints on the front seat -some important
things to know.
- A sensor in the safety belt latch for the driver
and for the front seat passenger that senses
whether that safety be lt is latched o r not and
transmits this informa tion to the e lec tronic
cont rol un it.
_&. WARNING
D amage to the front passenger seat can pre ­
vent the front airbag from working prope rly .
- Improper repair or disassembly of the front
passenger and driver seat will prevent the
Advanced Airbag System from f unctioning
properly.
- Repairs to the front passenger seat must be
performed by qualified and proper ly trained
workshop personnel.
- Never remove the front passenger or driver
seat from the vehicle.

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- 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-sens­
ing mat in the passenger seat is punctured
it cannot work properly.
- Never carry things on your lap or carry ob­
jects on the passenger seat. Such items can increase the weight registered by the
weight-sensing mat and send the wrong in­
formation to the airbag control unit.
- Never store items 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 place 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 Air­
bag System from recognizing child re­
straints or occupants on the front passenger
seat and prevent the side airbag in the seat
backrest from deploying properly.
- Never use cushions, pillows, blankets or
similar items on the front passenger seat.
The additional padding will prevent the
weight-sensing mat in the seat from accu­
rately registering the child restraint or per­
son on the seat and prevent the Advanced
Airbag System from functioning properly.
- If you must use a child restraint on the front
passenger seat and the child restraint man­
ufacturer's instructions require 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 restraint is installed on the front pas­
senger seat.
- If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does
not come on and stay on, immediately in­
stall child restraint in a rear seating position
and have the airbag system inspected by
your authorized Audi dealer.
Airbag system
How the Advanced Airbag System
components work together
The front Advanced Airbag System and the side
airbags supplement the protection offered by the
front three-point safety belts with pretensioners and load limiters and the adjustable head re­
straints to help reduce the risk of injury in a wide
range of accident and crash situations. Be sure to
read the important information about safety and
heed the WARNINGS in this chapter .
Deployment of the Adv a need Airbag System and
the activation of the safety belt pretensioners de­ pend on the deceleration measured by the crash
sensors and registered by the electronic control
unit. Crash severity depends on speed and decel­
eration as well as the mass and stiffness of the
vehicle or object involved in the crash.
On the passenger side, regardless of safety belt
use , the airbag will be turned
off if the weight on
the passenger seat is less than the amount pro­
grammed in the electronic control unit. The front
airbag on the passenger side will also be turned
off if one of the child safety seats that has been
certified under Federal Motor Vehicle Safety
Standard 208 has been recognized on the seat.
The
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes on
and stays on to tell you when the front Advanced
Airbag on the passenger side has been turned off
¢page 118, Child restraints on the front seat ­
some important things to know .
_&. WARNING
To reduce the risk of injury when an airbag in­
flates, always wear safety belts properly.
- If you are unrestrained, leaning forward, sit­
ting sideways or out of position in any way,
your risk of injury is much higher.
- You will also receive serious injuries and
could even be killed if you are up against the
airbag or too close to it when it inflates -
even with an Advanced Airbag
¢page 117.
125

Airbag syste m
More important things to know about front
airbags
Fig. 11 7 Inflated front airbags
Safety belts are important to help keep front
seat occupants in the proper seated position so
that airbags can unfold properly and provide sup­
p lemental protection in a frontal collision.
The front airbags are designed to provide addi­
tional protection for the chest and face of the
driver and the front seat passenger when:
- safety belts are worn properly,
- the seats have been positioned so that the oc-
cupant is properly seated as far as possible
from the airbag,
- and the head restra ints have bee n properly ad-
justed.
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 dangerous pro­
jectiles , and be pushed into you if the airbag in­
flates.
When an airbag deploys, fine dust is released.
This is normal and is not caused by a fire in the
veh icle. This dust is made up mostly of a powder
used to lubricate the airbags as they deploy . It
could irritate sk in.
It is important to remember that while the sup ­
plemental a irbag system is designed to reduce
the likel ihood of serious injur ies, other injuries,
for example swel ling, b ruising and m inor abra­
sions, can a lso happen when airbags inflate. Air­
bags do not protect the arms or the lower parts
of the body. Front airbags only supplement the
three po int safety belts in some frontal co llisions
126
in which the vehicle decele ration is high enough
to deploy the airbags.
Front airbags will not deploy:
-if the igni tion is sw itched off when a crash oc-
curs,
- in side co llisions,
- in rear-end co llisions,
- in rollovers,
- when the crash deceleration measured by the
airbag system is less than the minimum thresh­
old needed for airbag deployment as registered
by the electronic control un it .
Th e front pa ssenge r ai rb ag w ill also n ot
deploy:
- when the front passenger seat is not occupied,
- when the weight on the front passenger seat as
sensed by the Advanced Airbag System indi­
cates that the front a irbag on the passenger
side has to be turned off by the electron ic con­
trol unit (the
PASS ENGER AIR B AG OFF light
comes on and stays on).
A WARNING
Sitt ing in the wrong posit ion can increase the
risk of serious injury i n crashes .
- To reduce the r isk of injury w hen the ai rbags
inflate, the drive r and passengers must al­
ways sit in an upright posit ion, must not
lean against or place any part of their body
too close to the area where the airbags are
located.
- Occupants who are unbe lted, out of posit ion
or too close to the airbag can be seriously
injured by an airbag as it unfolds with great
force in the blink of an eye
Q page 118.
A WARNING
A child in a rearward-facing child safety seat installed on the front passenger seat will be
seriously inju red and can be k illed if the front
airbag inflates -even with an Advanced Airbag
Sys tem.
- The inflating airbag will h it the ch ild safety
seat o r infant ca rr ie r with great force and
w ill smash the child safety seat and child

Airbag system
AIR BAG OFF light will come on and stay on
whenever the ignition is on.
A WARNING
An airbag system that is not functioning prop­ er ly cannot provide supplemental protection
in a frontal crash.
- If the airbag indicator light
c::> page 14
comes when the vehicle is being used, have
the system inspected immediately by your
authorized Audi dealer . It is possible that
the airbag will inf late when it is not sup­
posed to, or will not inflate when it should.
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
Fig . 118 Sect ion from the inst rument panel: PASSENGER
AIR BAG O FF light
The PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light is located in
the center of the instrument panel
c::>fig. 118.
The PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light will come on
and stay on to tell you when the front Advanced
Ai rba g on the passenger side has been turned off
by the electronic control unit. Each time you turn
on the ignition, the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light will flash for a few seconds and:
- will stay on if the front passenger seat is not
occupied,
-will stay on if there is a small child or child re­
straint on the front passenger seat,
- will go out if the front passenger seat is occu­
pied by an adult as reg istered by the weight­
sensing mat.
The
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light must come
on and stay on
if the igni tion is on and
- a car bed has been installed on the front seat,
or
128
- a rearward-facing child restraint has been in­
stalled on the front passenger seat, or
- a forward-facing child restraint has been instal­
led on the front passenger seat, or
- the weight registered on the front passenger
seat is equal to or less than the combined
weight of a typical 1 year-old restrained in one
of the rear -facing or forward-facing infant re­
straints listed in Federal Motor Vehicle Safety
Standard
208 with which the Advanced Airbag
System in your vehicle was cert ified .
If the front passenger seat is not occupied, the
front airbag will not deploy, and the
PASSENGER
AIR BAG OFF
light will stay on. Never install a
rearward-facing child restraint on the front pas­
senger seat, the safest place for a ch ild in any
kind of child restraint is at one of the seating po­
s itions on the rear seat
c::> page 118, Child re­
straints on the front seat -some important
things to know
and c::> page 13 7, Child safety.
If the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes on
when one of the conditions listed above is met,
be sure to check the light regularly to make cer­
tain that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
stays on continuously whenever the ignition is
on . If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does
not appear and not stay on all the time, stop as
soon as it is safe to do so and
- reactivate the system by turning the ignition
off and then turning it on again;
- remove and reinstall the chi ld restraint. Make
sure that the child restraint is properly instal­
led and that the safety belt for the front pas­
senger seat has been correctly routed around
the child restraint as described in the child re­
straint manufacturer's instructions;
- make sure that the convertible locking retrac­
tor on the safety belt for the front passenger
seat has been activated and that the safety belt
has been pulled tight. The belt must not be
loose or have loops of slack so that the sensor
below the safety belt latch on the seat can do
its job
c::> page 147 .
-make sure that things that may increase the
weight of the child and child safety seat are not
be ing transported on the front passenger seat; .,.