AUDI Q5 2016 Owners Manual

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,...., The shoulder belt should lie as close to the center
of the collar bone as possib le and should fit well
on the bod y ¢
A in Safety belt position on
page 147.
.. Push
the loop- around fittings up ¢ fig. 164 @,
or
.. squeeze to gether the@ button, and push the
loop-around fittings
do wn@ .
.. Pull the belt to make sure that the upper at­
tachment is p roperly engaged .
A WARNING
Always read and heed all WARNINGS and oth­
er important informat ion
¢ page 145.
With the front seats, the height adjustment
of the seat can also be used to adjust the po­
sition of the safety belts .
Improperly worn safety belts
Incorrectly positioned safety belts can cause se­
vere injuries.
Wearing safety belts improperly can cause seri­
ous injury or death . Safety belts can only work
when they a re correctly pos itioned on the body .
Improper seating positions reduce the effect ive­
n ess of safety be lts and will even inc rease the
ris k of injury and death by mov ing the safety bel t
to cr it ica l areas of the body. Imp roper seating
positions also increase the risk of serious inj ury
and death when an airbag deploys and strikes an
occ upant who is not in the co rrect seat ing posi­
tion . A driver is respons ible for the safety of all
vehicle occupants and espec ia lly for children.
Therefore:
.. Never permit anyone to ass ume an incorrect
s itting position in the veh icle wh ile traveling
¢ &, .
A WARNING
Improperly worn safety belts increase the risk
of serious personal injury a nd death wheneve r
a vehicle is be ing used.
S afet y be lts
- Always make sure that all veh icle occupants
are cor rectly restrained and stay in a correct
seating position whenever the vehicle is be­ ing used .
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS and
other important informat io n ¢
page 145.
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.
The safety belts are equ ipped w it h safety belt
pretens ione rs . The system is activated by sensors
i n front, s ide and rear-end collisions of great se­
ver ity and in a ro llover. This tightens the bel t and
t a kes up belt slack¢.&.
in Service and disposal of
safety belt pretensioner on page 150.
Taking up
the slack he lps to reduce forward occupant
movement during a collision.
(D Note
Neve r let the belt remain over a rea r seatback
that has been folded forwar d.
{D Tips
The safety belt pretensioner can only be ac ti­
vated once.
- T he safe ty be lt pretensione rs do no t de ploy
in minor fron tal, side a nd rear -end colli ­
sions .
- W hen the safe ty belt pretensioners are acti­
vated, a fine dust is released . This is normal
and is not caused by a fire in the ve hicle .
- T he relevant safety requirements mus t be
observed when the vehicle or components
of the system are scrapped. An autho rize d
Audi dealer or qua lified workshop is familia r
w ith these reg ulations and will be pleased
to pass on the information to yo u.
- Be sure to observe all safety, environmenta l
and other regulat ions if the vehicle or indi­
vidua l parts of the system, particularly the
safety belt or airbag, are to be disposed. We
recommend you have yo ur autho rized Aud i
dea ler perform t his service fo r you.
149

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 activ ating when needed or acti­
vating it unexpectedly:
- T he be lt pretensione r system can be act ivat­
ed only once. If belt p retensioners 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
150
that yo u have your dealer perform this service
for you .

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,...., Airbag system
Important information
Importance of wearing safety belts and
sitting properly
Airbags are only supplemental restraints. For
airbags to do their job, occupants must always
properly wear their safety belts and be in a prop­ er seating position.
For your safety and the safety of your passen­
gers, before driving off, always:
""Adjust the driver's seat and steering wheel
properly
9 page 135,
""Adjust the front passenger's seat properly
9page 64,
.,. Wear safety belts properly 9 page 145,
.,. Always properly use the proper child restraint
to protect children
9 page 171.
In a collision airbags must inflate within the blink
of an eye and with considerable force. The sup­
plemental airbags can cause injuries if the driver
or the front seat passenger is not seated proper­
ly. Therefore in order to help the airbag to do its
job, it is important, both as a driver and as a pas­
senger to sit properly at all times .
By keeping room between your body and the
steering wheel and the front of the passenger
compartment, the airbag can inflate fully and
completely and provide supplemental protection in certain frontal collisions
o page 135, Correct
passenger seating positions .
For details on the
operation of the seat adjustment controls
opage 64.
It's especially important that children are proper­
ly restrained
9page 171.
There is a lot that the driver and the passengers
can and must do to help the individual safety fea­
tures installed in your Audi work together as a
system.
Proper seating position is important so that the
front airbag on the driver side can do its job. If
you have a physical impairment or condition that prevents you from sitting properly on the driver
seat with the safety belt properly fastened and
Airbag system
reaching the pedals, special modifications to
your vehicle may be necessary.
Contact your authorized Audi dealer, or call Audi
Customer Relations at 1-800-822-2834.
When the airbag system deploys, a gas generator
will fill the airbags, break open the padded cov ­
ers, and inflate between the steering wheel and
the driver and between the instrument panel and
the front passenger. The airbags will deflate im­
mediately after deployment so that the front oc­
cupants can see through the windshield again
without interruption.
All of this takes place in the blink of an eye, so
fast that many people don't even realize that the airbags have deployed. The airbags also inflate
with a great deal of force and nothing should be in their way when they deploy. Front airbags in
combination with properly worn safety belts slow
down and limit the occupant's forward move­
ment . Together they help to prevent the driver
and front seat passenger from hitting parts of
the inside the vehicle while reducing the forces
acting on the occupant during the crash. In this
way they help to reduce the risk of injury to the head and upper body in the crash. Airbags do not
protect the arms or the lower parts of the body.
Both front airbags will not inflate in all frontal
collisions. The triggering of the airbag system de­
pends on the vehicle deceleration rate caused by
the collision and registered by the electronic con­
trol unit . If this rate is below the reference value
programmed into the control unit, the airbags
will not be triggered, even though the car may be
badly damaged as a result of the collision . Vehi­
cle damage, repair costs or even the lack of vehi­
cle damage is not necessarily an indication of
whether an airbag should inflate or not.
It is not possible to define a range of vehicle
speeds that will cover every possible kind and an­
gle of impact that will always trigger the airbags ,
since the circumstances will vary considerably be­
tween one collision and another. Important fac­
tors 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
IIJJ,
151

Airbag syste m
also not infl ate in s ide or rear collisions, o r in
ro ll-overs.
Al wa ys rememb er: Airbag s will depl oy on ly once ,
a nd 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.
There fore, always properly wear your safety belts
r=;, page 143.
A WARNING
Sitting too close to the steering wheel or in­
st rument 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 sit mo re than 10 inches
(25 cm) from the steering wheel, invest i­
gate whether adaptive equipment may be
available to help yo u reach the pedals and
increase your seating distance from the
steering wheel.
- If you are unrestrained, leaning forwa rd, s it­
ting sideways or o ut of pos ition in any way,
your risk of in jury 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.
- To reduce the risk of injury when an airbag inflates, a lways wear safety belts properly
c> page 146, Safety belts.
-Always make certain that chi ldren age 12 or
younger always ride in the rear seat. If chil­ dren are not properly restra ined, they may
be severe ly injured or k illed when an airbag
inflates.
- Never let children ride unrestrained or im­ prope rly restrained in the vehicle . Adjust the
front seats properly.
152
-
- 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 135.
- Always sit upright with your back against
the backrest of your seat.
- Never p lace your feet on the ins trument
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 or in a sudden maneu­
ver. Objects near the airbags can become
proje cti les and cause injury when an airbag
inflates.
A WARNING
A irbags that have deployed in a crash m ust be
replaced.
- Use on ly orig inal equipment airbags ap­
proved by A udi and inst alled by a trained
technician who has the ne cessary tools and
diagnostic equipment to prope rly replace
any airbag in yo ur vehicle and assure system
effectiveness 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 sure to read the important i nformat ion and
head the WARNINGS fo r important details
about c hildren and Advanced A irbags
r=;, page 171 .
Even thoug h your veh icle is equipped w it h an Ad­
vanced Airbag Sys tem, make certa in that a ll chil­
dre n, espec ia lly those 12 yea rs and younger, al­
ways ride i n the b ack seat prope rly res trained fo r
their age and size. The airbag on the passenger
s ide makes the front seat a potentially dange rous
p lace for a child to r ide . The front seat is not the
safest place for a chi ld i n a forward-fac ing chi ld ...,.

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,...., safety seat. It can be a very dangerous place for
an infant or a child in a rearward-facing seat .
The Advanced Airbag System i n your ve hicle has
been ce rtified to comply with the requi rements
of United States Federal Motor Vehicle Safety
Standard (FMVSS) 208, as well as Canada Motor
Veh icle Safety Standard (CMVSS) 208 as applica ­
b le at the time your veh icle was manufactured.
Accord ing to requ irements, the front Advanced
Airbag System o n the passenger s ide has been
cert ified for "suppression" for infants of about
12 month old and younger and fo r "low risk de­
p loyment" for children aged 3 to 6 years o ld (as
defined in the standard).
The
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light in the instru­
ment panel tells you when the front Advanced
A irbag on the passe nger side has been t urned off
by the ele ctronic con trol unit.
E ach t ime you tur n on the ignit ion, the
PASSEN­
GER AIR BAG OFF
l ight will come on fo r a few
seconds and:
- wi ll stay on if the front passenger seat is not
occup ied,
- will stay on if there is a small c hild or child re­
straint on the front passenger seat,
- will go off if the front passenger seat is occu­
pied by an adult as reg istered by the weight ­
sensing mat¢
page 161, Monitoring the Ad­
vanced Airbag System .
The PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes on
when the control unit detects a total we ight on
the fro nt passenge r seat that requires the front
a ir bag to be tur ned off.
If the total weight on the front passenger seat is more than that of a typical 1 year -old child but
l ess t han the weight of a small adult, the front
a ir bag on the passenger side can deploy (the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does not come
on).
If t he PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does
not come on, the front airb ag on the passenge r
side has not been turned o ff by the e lectronic
control unit and can dep loy if the control unit
senses an impact that meets the condit ions stor­
ed in its memory.
For example , the ai rbag may deploy if:
Airb ag sys tem
-a small ch ild that is heav ier than a typ ica l 1
year-o ld child is on the front passenger seat
(regardless of whether the child is in one of the
child safety seats listed
¢ page 173), or
- a child who has outgrown c hild restraints is on
the front passenger seat.
If t he front passenge r airbag is t urned off, the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes on in the
inst rument cluste r and stays on.
T he front airbag on the p assenger s ide may
not
deploy (the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does
not ill uminate and stay lit) even if a small adu lt
o r teenager, or a passenger who is not sitting up ­
rig ht w ith their back against a non-recl ined back­
res t with the ir feet on the vehicle floor in front of
t h e seat is on the fron t passenger seat
¢ page 135, Proper seating position for the driv ­
er .
If the front passenger a irbag deploys, the Feder­
al Standard requ ires the a irbag to meet the " low
risk" deployment criteria to reduce the r isk of in ­
jury through interaction w ith the airbag . "Low
risk" deployment occurs in th ose crashes that
t ak e place at lowe r decele rations as defined in
t h e e lectron ic co ntr ol unit¢
page 161, PASSEN­
G ER A IR BAG O FF light.
Always re m embe r, a ch ild safety sea t or infant
ca rr ie r ins talled on the fro nt seat may be s truck
and knocked ou t of posit io n by the rapidly i nflat­
ing passenge r's airbag in a fron tal coll is ion . The
airbag could great ly red uce the effectiveness of
t h e child restraint and even seriously in ju re the
child du ring inflation.
F or t his reason, an d beca use the back seat is the
safest p lace for children -when p roper ly restrain ­
ed according to their age and size -we strongly
recommend that children always sit in the back
seat ¢
page 171, Child safety .
A WARNING
-A child in a rearward-facing child safety seat
i nsta lled on the front passenger seat will be
se riously in ju red and can be k illed if the front
a ir bag inflates -even with an A dva nced Airbag
S ys tem.
~
153

Airbag syste m
-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 rear-facing child safety seats
on the rear seat .
- If you must install a rearward facing child
safety seat on the front passenger seat be­ cause of exceptional circumstances and the
P ASS ENGER AIR BAG OFF light does not
come on and stay on, immed iate ly install
the rear-fac ing ch ild safety seat in a rear
seat ing pos ition and have the airbag system
inspected by your authorized Audi dea ler.
- Forward-facing ch ild safety seats installed
on the front passenger's seat may interfere
with the deployment of the airbag and
cause serious personal injury to the child .
A WARNING
If, in exceptional circumstances, you must in­
stall a forward-facing chi ld 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 a irbag .
- Never put the forward-facing child restraint
up against or very near the instrument pan­
el.
-Always move the passenger seat into its
rearmost position in the seat 's fore and aft
adjustment range, as fa r away from the air­
bag as possib le before insta lling the for­
ward-facing child restra int. The bac krest
mus t be adjusted to an up right posit ion.
- Make s ure that the
PASSENGER AI R BAG
OFF
light comes on and s tays on all the time
whenever the ignition is switched on.
A WARNING
To red uce the risk of serio us in jury, make s ure
that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light wi ll
be displayed whenever a child restraint is in­
stalled on the front passenger seat and the
ign ition is switched on.
154
- If the PASSENGER AIR BAG OF F light does
not stay on, perform the checks described
¢ page 161, Monitoring the Advanced Air­
bag System .
-Take the child restra int off the front passen­
ger seat and install it properly at one of the
rear seat positions if the
PA SSENGER AIR
BAG OFF
light does not stay on .
- Have the airbag system inspected by your
author ized Audi dealer immed iately .
- Always carefully follow instructions from
child restraint manufacturers when instal ­
ling child restra ints.
A WARNING
If, in exceptional circumstances, you must in­
stall a forward or rearward-fac ing child re­
stra int on the fron t passenger's seat:
- Improper installat ion of child restraints can
reduce the ir effectiveness or even prevent
them from provid ing any pro tect ion.
- An improperly installed child res tra int can
inter fere with the airbag as it deploys and
serious ly injure or even kil l the child -eve n
w ith an Advanced A irbag System.
- Always carefully follow the manufacturer's
instructions provided with the child safe ty
seat o r carrier.
- Never p lace add ition al items on the seat
that can increase the tota l weight registered
by the weight -sensing mat and can cause in ­
jury in a crash .

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Front airbags
Description of front airbags
The airbag system can provide supplemental
protection to properly restrained front seat occu­
pants .
Fig. 165 Loca tion of driver airbag: in steering wheel
Fig. 166 Loca tion of fron t passenger's airbag: i n the in­
st rument panel
Your veh icle is equipped with an "Advanced Air­
bag System" in compliance with United States
Federa 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
tronic control unit for the airbag system.
The front safety belts also have load limiters to help reduce the forces applied to the body in a
crash.
The airbag fo r the driver is in the steering whee l
hub ¢
fig. 165 and the airbag for the front pas­
senger is in the instrument panel¢
fig. 166. The
general location of the airbags is marked "AIR­
BAG".
Airb ag sys tem
There is a lot you need to know about the airbags
in your vehicle . We urge you to read the detai led
information about airbags, safety belts and ch ild
safety in this and the other chapters that make
up the owner's literature. Please be sure to heed
the WARNINGS -they are extremely important
for your safety and the safety of your passengers, especially infants and small children .
_&. WARNING
Never rely on a irbags alone fo r protect ion.
- Even when they deploy, airbags provide only supplemental protection.
-Airbag work most effectively when used with proper ly worn safety be lts .
- Therefore, always wear your safety belts and make sure that everybody in your vehicle is
properly restrained.
_&. WARNING
-A pe rson on the front passenger seat, espe­
cially infants and small ch ild ren, w ill receive
se rious inj ur ies and can even be k illed by be­
i ng too close to the airbag when it inf lates.
- 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 impossib le 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 under
the U.S. Federal Standard if a ch ild that is
heavier than the typ ical one-year old ch ild is
on the front passenger seat and the other
conditions for airbag deployment are met.
- Accident statistics have shown that children
are generally safer in the rear sea t area than
in the front sea ting pos ition.
- For their own safety, all c hildren, especially
12 yea rs and younger, should always ride in
the back properly restrained for their age and size .
-
155

Airbag syste m
Advanced front airbag system
Your vehicle is equippe d with a fr ont Adva nce d
A irbag System in compl iance with Un ited States
F edera l Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208, as
well as Canada Motor Vehicle Safety Standard
(CMVSS) 208 as applicable at th e tim e your vehi­
cle was manufactured .
The front Advanced Airbag System supp lements
the safety belts to provide additional protection
for the driv er's and front passenger's heads and
upper bodies in frontal crashes . The airbags in­
flate only in front al 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 overall occupant re­
stra int system in your vehicle. Always remember
that the airbag system can on ly help to protect
you, if you are sitt ing upr ight, wear ing your safe­
ty belt and wear ing it prope rly . This is why you
and your passengers must always be prope rly re­
s trai ned, not just because the law req uires yo u to
be .
The Advanced Airbag System in your veh icle has
been ce rtified to meet the " low r isk" requ ire­
men ts for 3 and 6 yea r-old children on the pas­
senger side and very sma ll adults on the driver
side . T he low risk dep loyment criteria are intend­
ed to he lp reduce the risk of injury through i nter­
action with the front a irbag that can occur, for
examp le, by being too close to the steering wheel
and ins trument pane l when the airbag inflates.
In addition, the system has been certified to
comply w ith the "suppression" requirements of
the Safety Standard, to turn
off the front a irbag
for i nfants 12 months old and younger who are
restrained on the front passenger seat in c hild re ­
stra ints that are listed in the Standa rd
¢ page 173, Child restraints and Advanced Air­
bags.
"Suppression" requ ires the front a irbag on the
passenger side to be t urned
off if:
- a chi ld up to about one year of age is restra ined
on the fro nt passenger seat in one of the rear­
facing or forward -facing infant restraints listed
156
in Federal Motor Veh icle Safety Standard 208
with which the Advanced Airbag System in your
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 173,
-weight less than a threshold leve l stored in the
control un it is detected on the front passenger
seat .
When a person is detected on the front passen­ ger seat , weighing more than the total weight of
a chi ld that is about 1 year old restrained in one
of the rear -facing or forward -fac ing infant re ­
straints (listed in Federal Motor Vehicle Safety
Standard 208 w ith w hich the Adva nced Ai rbag
System i n your veh icle was certified), the front
a irbag on the passenge r side may or may not de­
ploy .
The
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF lig ht comes o n
whe n the elect roni c control unit detects a tota l
weight on the front passe nger seat th at 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 i f
the control unit senses an impact that 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 year-old, but less
than the weight of a small adult, the front airbag
o n the passenger s ide may deploy (the
PASSEN­
GER AIR BAG OFF
light does not come on) .
For example , the ai rb ag ma y deploy if :
- a small ch ild that is heav ier than a typica l 1
year-old child is on the front passenger seat (regard less of whether the child is in one of the
child safety seats listed¢
page 173),
-a child who has outgrown c hil d rest raints is on
the front passenger seat.
If the front passenger a irbag is t urned
off, the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light in the center of
the instr ument panel will come on and stay on .
The fro nt airbag on the passenge r side may
not
deploy (the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does
not illuminate and stay lit) if : ..,.

,....,
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,...., -a small adu lt o r teenager is on the front pas ­
s e nger seat
- a passenger who is not sitting uprigh t w ith
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.
I f the front passenger airbag dep loys , 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" dep loyment occurs in those crashes
t ha t take place at lower decelera tions as defined
in the electronic control unit.
¢ page 161
Alway s rem ember: Even though your vehicle is
equipped w ith Advanced Airbags, the safest place
f or children is properly restrained on the back
seat . Please be sure to read the important infor ­
mat ion in the sections that follow and be sure to
heed all of the WARN INGS.
.&, WARNING
To reduce the r isk of inj ury when an a irbag in­
flates, a lways wear safety belts p roperly.
- 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 much h igher .
- Yo u 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
¢ page 151.
.&_ WARNING
A child in a rearward-facing chi ld safety seat
installed on the front passenge r seat w ill be
ser iously injured and can be killed if the front
airbag inflates -even with an Advanced A irbag
System .
- Although the Advanced A irbag System in
your vehicle is designed to turn off the front
airbag when a rearward-facing child re ­
straint has been installed on the front pas­ senger seat, nobody can absolu tely g uaran­
tee that deployment is impossible in a ll con­
c eivable s ituations that may happen during
the useful life of your vehicle .
- The inflating a irbag w ill hit the child safety
seat or infant carrier wi th great force and
Airb ag sys tem
will smash the child safety seat and child
aga inst the backrest, center armrest, door,
or roof.
- Always install rearward-facing child re­
stra ints 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
PAS SENGER AIR BAG OFF light does not
come on and stay on, immediately install
the rea r-facing child safety seat in a rear
seating position and have the a irbag system
inspected by your au thorized Audi dealer.
.&_ WARNING
If, in exceptional c ircumstances , you must in­
stall a forward-facing child res traint on the
front passenger's seat:
- Always make sure the forward-fa cing seat
has bee n des igned and certified by its man­
ufacturer for use on a front seat with a pas­
senger front and side airbag.
- Never p ut the fo rward-facing child restraint
up against or very near the instr ument pan ·
el.
-Always move the passenger seat into its
rearmost position in the seat's fore and aft
ad justment range, as far away from the a ir ­
bag as possible, before install ing the for­
ward-facing ch ild restraint. The backrest
m ust be adjusted to an upr ight position .
- Make sure that the
PASSENGER AIR B AG
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 ve ry important parts of the Advanced Airbag
System i n it. These parts incl ude the weight ­
sensing mat, senso rs, wir ing , b racke ts, and
more . The f unction o f the system in the front
passenger seat is checked by the electronic con­
tro l unit when the ign ition is on . The control unit
monitors the Advanced Airbag System and turns
the a irbag ind icator light on when a malfunction
in the system components i s detected. The func-
tion of the a irbag ind icator light is described in .,.
157

Airbag syste m
greater detail below. Because the front passen ­
ger seat contains important parts of the Ad­
vanced Airbag System, you must take care to pre ­
vent it from being damaged. Damage to the seat m ay prevent the Advanced Airbag for the front
passenger seat from doing its job in a crash .
The front Advanced Airba g Sy stem con sists
of the follo wing :
-Crash sensors in the front of the vehicle that
measure vehicle acceleration/deceleration to
provide information to the Advanced Airbag
System about the seve rity of the crash .
- An electronic control un it, with integrated
crash sensors for 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
contro l valve for the driver ins ide the steering
whee l hub .
- An Advanced Airbag with gas generator and
contro l valve inside the instrument pane l for
the front passenger .
- A weight -sensing mat under the upho lstery
padding of the front passenger seat cushion
that measures th e total weight on the seat . T he
information registered is sent continuously to
the e lec tronic control unit to regu la te dep loy­
ment of the front Advanced A irbag on the pas ­
senger side .
- An airbag monitoring system and indica tor
l ight in the instrument cluster
c> page 161 .
-A sensor in each front sea t registers the dis­
tance between the respective seat and the
steering wheel or instrument panel. The infor­ mation reg istered is sent continuous ly to the
electronic control u nit to regulate deployment
of the front Advanced A irbags.
- T he
PASSEN GE R AIR B AG OFF light comes on
and stays on in the center of the inst rument
pane l
c> page 161 , fig . 168 and tells you when
the front Advan ced Airbag on the passenger
side has been turned off .
- A sensor below the safety belt la tch fo r the
front seat passenger to meas ure the tension on
158
the safety belt. The tension on the safety belt
and the weight reg istered by the weight-sens­
ing mat help the contro l unit "decide" whether
the front airbag for the front passenger seat
should be turned
off or not c> page 152, 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 belt is latched or not and
transmits this information to the e lectronic
cont rol u nit.
_&. WARNING
Damage to the fron t passenge r 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 Airbag System from f unctioning
proper ly.
- Repairs to the front passenger seat mus t be
performed by qualified and proper ly trained
wo rkshop personne l.
- Never remove the front passenger or driver
seat from the vehicle.
- Never remove the upholstery from the front
passenger seat.
- Never d isassemble or remove pa rts from the
seat o r disconnect wi res from it.
- Never carry sharp objects in your pocke ts or
place them on the seat. If the weight-sens­
ing mat in the passenger seat is p unctured
it cannot work proper ly.
- Never carry things on your lap or carry ob­ jects on the passenger seat. Such items can increase the weight reg istered 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 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 recognizing child