belt AUDI R8 SPYDER 2011 Owner's Manual

114 Safety belts
vulnerable, soft tissue and cause serious injury.
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS and
other important information
¢page 110.
Pregnant women must also be properly
restrained
The best way to protect the fetus is to make
sure that expectant mothers always wear
safety belts correctly -throughout the preg­
nancy .
Fig. 120 Safety belt position during p regnancy
To provide maximum protection, safety belts
must always be positioned correctly on the
wearer's body
¢ page 113.
.,. Adjust the front seat and head restraint cor­
rectly¢
page 66, Seats and storage .
.,. Hold the belt by the tongue and pull it even­
ly across the chest so that it sits as low as
possible on the pelvis and there is no pres­
sure on the abdomen
c> fig. 120 c> ,& .
.,. Insert the tongue into the correct buckle of
your seat until you hear it latch securely
¢page 112, fig. 118.
.,. Pull on the belt to make sure that it is se­
curely latched in the buckle.
_& WARNING
Improperly positioned safety belts can
cause serious personal injury in an acci­
dent.
- Expectant mothers must always wear the
lap portion of the safety belt as low as
possible across the pelvis and below the
rounding of the abdomen. -
Always read and heed all WARNINGS and
other important information
c> & in Fas­
tening safety belts on page 113.
Unfastening safety belts
Unbuckle the safety belt with the red release
button only a~er the vehicle has stopped.
Fig. 121 Releasing the tongue from the buck le
.,. Push the red release button on the buckle
c> fig . 121 . The belt tongue will spring out
of the buckle
c> ,& .
.,. Let the belt wind up on the retractor as you
guide the belt tongue to its stowed position .
_& WARNING
Never unfasten safety belt while the vehi­
cle is moving. Doing so will increase your
risk of being injured or killed.
Improperly worn safety belts
Incorrectly positioned safety belts can cause
severe injuries .
Wearing safety belts improperly can cause se­ rious injury or death. Safety belts can only
work when they are correctly positioned on
the body. Improper seating positions reduce
the effectiveness of safety belts and will even
increase the risk of injury and death by mov­
ing the safety belt to critical areas of the
body . Improper seating positions also in­
crease the risk of serious injury and death
when an airbag deploys and strikes an occu­ pant who is not in the correct seating posi­
tion. A driver is responsible for the safety of all vehicle occupants and especially for chil­
dren. Therefore:

~ Never permit anyone to assume an incorrect
sitting position in the vehicle while traveling
¢A .
A WARNING
Improperly worn safety belts increase the
risk of serious personal injury and death
whenever a vehicle is being used .
- Always make sure that all vehicle occu­
pants are correctly restrained and stay in
a correct seating position whenever the
vehicle is being used .
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS and other important information
¢page 110.
Safety belt preten­
sioners
How safety belt pretensioners work
In front, side and rear end collisions and in a
rollover above a particular severity, safety
belts in use are tensioned automatically.
The safety belts for the front seating positions
are equipped with safety belt pretensioners.
The system is activated by sensors in front,
side and rear-end collisions and in a rollover of
great severity . This tightens the belt and takes
up be lt slack ¢&.
in Service and disposal of
safety belt pretensioner on page 115.
Taking
up the slack helps to reduce forward occupant
movement during a collision .
(D Tips
The safety belt pretensioner can only be
activated once.
- In minor frontal and side collisions in
,
rear-end collisions and in accidents in­
volving very little impact force, the safe­
ty belt pretensioners are not activated.
- When the safety be lt pretensioner is ac­
tivated, a fine dust is released . This is
normal and is not caused by a fire in the
vehicle.
- The relevant safety requirements must
be observed when the vehicle or compo-
Safety belts 115
nents of the system are scrapped. An au­
thorized Audi dealer is familiar with
these regulations and will be pleased to
pass on the information to you.
- Be sure to observe all safety, environ­
mental and other regulations if the vehi­
cle or individual parts of the system, par­
ticularly the safety belt or airbag, are to
be disposed . We recommend you have
your authorized Audi dealer perform this
service for you.
Service and disposal of safety belt
pretensioner
The safety belt pretensioners are parts of the
safety belts on your Audi. Installing, remov­
ing, servicing or repairing of be lt pretension­
ers can damage the safe ty belt system and
prevent it from working correctly in a colli­
sion .
There are some important things you have to know to make sure that the effectiveness of
the system will not be impaired and that dis­
carded components do not cause injury or pol­
lute the environment.
A WARNING
Improper care, servicing and repair proce­
dures can increase the risk of personal in­
jury and death by preventing a safety belt
pretensioner from activating when needed
or activating it unexpectedly :
- The belt pretensioner system can be acti­
vated only once. If belt pretensioners
have been activated, the system must be
replaced.
- Never repair, adjust, or change any parts
of the safety belt system.
- Safety belt systems including safety belt
pretensioners cannot be repaired. Spe­
cial procedures are required for removal,
installation and disposal of this system.
- For any work on the safety be lt system,
we strongly recommend that you see
your authorized Audi dealer or qualified
~
•
•

116 Safety belt s
technician who has an A udi approved re­
pair manual, training and special
equipment necessary.
@ For the sake of the environment
Undep loyed airbag modu les and preten­
sioners might be classified as Perchlorate
Material -specia l hand ling may apply, see
www.dtsc.ca.gov/haza rdouswaste/per­
chlorate. When the vehicle or parts of the
restraint system including airbag modules,
safety belts w ith pretens ioners are scrap­
ped, all applicable laws and regulat ions
m ust be observed. Yo ur autho rize d Aud i
dea le r i s familiar with these requ iremen ts
and we recommend that you have your
dea ler perfo rm this service for you.

Airbag system Important things to know
Importance of wearing safety belts and
sitting properly
Airbags are only supplemental restraints. For
airbags to do their job , occupants must al­
ways wear their safety belts properly and be
in a proper 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 ¢
page 100,
"" Adjust the front passenger's seat properly
¢ page 101,
""Wear safety be lts properly r::::> page 110,
""Always use the proper child restraint to pro-
tect children properly¢
page 138.
In a collision, airbags must inflate within the
blink of an eye and with considerable force .
The supplemental airbags can cause injuries if
the driver or the front seat passenger is not
seated properly . T herefore in order to help the
airbag to do its job, it is important, both as a
d river and as a passenge r to s it properly at all
times.
By keeping room between your body and the
steer ing whee l and the front of the passenger
compartment, the airbag can inflate fully and
comp letely and provide supp lemental protec­
tion in certain frontal collisions
r::::> page 100,
Proper occupant seating positions.
F or detai ls
on the operation of the seat adjustment con­
trols
r::::> page 67.
It's especially important that children a re
properly restrained
r::::> page 138.
There is a lot that the driver and the passen­
ge rs can and must do to help the individua l
safety features installed in your Aud i work to­
gether as a system.
P roper seat ing pos ition is important so that
the front airbag on the driver s ide ca n do its
job. If yo u have a physical impa irment or con-
A irbag system 117
dition that prevents yo u from sitting properly
on the driver seat with the safety belt properly
fastened and reach ing the peda ls, or if you
have concerns with regard to the function or
operation of the airbag system, please con­
tact your authorized Audi dealer or qualified
workshop , or call Audi Customer CARE at
1-800-822-2834 for possible modification to
you r vehicle.
When the airbag system dep loys, a gas gener ­
ator will fill the a irbags, break open the pad­
ded covers, and inflate between the steer ing
whee l and the dr ive r and between the instru­
ment pane l and the front passenger. The a ir­
bags will deflate immediately after deploy­
ment so that the front occupants can see
through the windshield again without inter­ ruption .
A ll of th is takes place in the blink of an eye, so
fast that many people don't even realize that
the airbags have deployed. The airbags a lso
inflate with a great dea l of force and nothing
should be in their way when they deploy.
Front airbags in combination with properly
worn safety belts slow down and lim it the oc ­
cupant's fo rward movement . T ogethe r they
help to prevent the driver and front seat pas­
senger from hitting pa rts of the inside of the
vehicle while reducing the forces acting on the
occupant during the crash . In this way they
help to reduce the risk of injury to the head
and upper body in the crash. Airbags do not
protect the arms or the lower parts of the
body.
Both front airbags wi ll not inf late in all fronta l
collisions . The t riggering of the airbag system
depends on the vehicle dece lerat ion rate
caused by the collision and registered by the
electronic control unit. If th is rate is below
the reference value programmed into the con ­
trol unit, the airbags will not be triggered, even though the car may be bad ly damaged as
a res ult of the co llision . Ve hicl e damage, re­
pair costs or even the lack of veh icle damage
is not necessarily an indication of whether an
airbag should inf late or not . .,. •
•

118 Airbag sys te m
Since the cir cumstances will vary considerab ly
between one collision and anot her, it is not
possib le to def ine a range of vehicle speeds
that will cover every possible k ind and angle
of impact that will always trigger the airbags.
Important factors include, for example, the
nature (hard or soft) of the object which the
car h its, the ang le of impact, vehicle speed,
etc. The front airbags will also not inflate in
side or rea r collisions, or in ro ll-overs .
Always remember : Airbags will deploy only
once, and only in certa in kinds of co llisions.
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; for example, when your ve­
hicle strikes or is struck by another vehic le af­
ter the first co llision.
This is just one of the reasons why an airbag is
a supplementary restraint and is not a substi­
tute for a safety belt . The airbag system
works most effect ively when used with the
safety belts. Therefore, always wear your safe­
ty belts properly
c;, page 109.
A WARNING
Sitting too close to the steer ing wheel or
instrument panel will dec rease the effec­
tiveness of the airbags and will increase
t he risk of personal injury in a co llision .
- Never sit closer than 10 inches (2S cm)
to the stee ring wheel or instrument pan­
el.
- If you cannot sit more than 10 inches
( 2 5 cm) from the steer ing whee l, investi­
ga te whethe r adaptive equipmen t may
be available to help you reach the pedals
and increase your seating distance from
the steering wheel.
- If you are unrestrained, lean ing fo rward,
sitting sideways or out of position in any
way, your risk of in jury is much higher.
- You will also receive serio us inj uries and
cou ld even be killed if you are up against
the airbag or too close to it when it in­
flates - even with an Advanced Airbag. -
To reduce the risk of injury when an a ir­
bag inflates, always wear safety be lts
properly ¢
page 112, How are safety
belts worn correctly? .
-Never let children ride unrestrained or
improperly restrained in the vehicle. Ad­
just the front seats properly . If children
are not p roperly restrained, they may be
seve rely in ju red or killed when an a irbag
infla tes.
- Never ride with the back rest reclined.
-Always sit as far as possible from the steer ing whee l or the instrument pane l
c;, page 100, Prop er occupant seating
positions.
- Always sit up right with your back against
the backres t of your seat.
- Never p lace your feet on the instrument
panel or on the seat. Always keep both
feet on the f loor in front of the sea t 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 sea t
to tr anspor t ob jec ts. Items c an al so
move into the a rea of the s ide airbag or
the front airbag during braking or in a
sudden maneuver . Objects near the air­
bags can become projectiles and cause
in ju ry when an airbag inflates.
A WARNING
Airbags that have deployed in a crash must
be replaced.
- Use on ly orig inal equipment airbags ap­
proved by Aud i and installed by a trained
technician who has the necessary tools and d iagnost ic equipment to properly re­
p lace any airbag in your vehicle and as­
sure sy stem effe ctive ness in a crash.
- Never permit salvaged or recycled air­
bags to be installed in you r vehicle.

-Improper installation of child restraints
can reduce their effectiveness or even
prevent them from providing any protec­
tion .
- An improperly installed child restraint
can interfere with the airbag as it de­
ploys and seriously injure or even kill the
child -even with an Advanced Airbag
System.
-Always follow the manufacturer's in­
structions provided with the child safety
seat or carrier carefully.
- Never place additional items on the seat
that can increase the total weight regis­
tered by the weight-sens ing mat and can
cause injury in a crash .
Front airbags
Description of front airbags
The airbag system con provide supplemental
protection to properly restrained front seat occupants.
Fig. 122 Location of drive r airbag : in steerin g wheel
Fig. 123 Locat ion of front passenger 's a irbag: in the in­
s trum ent panel
Your vehicle is equipped with an "Advanced
Airbag System" in compliance with United
States Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard
Airbag system 121
(FMVSS) 208 as applicable at the time your
vehicle was manufactured . The safety belts
for the front 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 a irbag for the driver is in the steer ing
wheel hub<=)
fig. 122 and the airbag for the
front passenger is in the instrument panel
r:::> fig . 123. The general location of the airbags
is marked '' AIRBAG" .
There is a lot you need to know about the air­
bags in your vehicle. We urge you to read the
detailed 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 your safety and
the safety of your passengers, especially in­
fants and small children.
& WARNING
=
Never rely on airbags alone for protection.
- Even when they deploy, airbags provide
only supplementa l protection .
- Airbag work most effectively when used
with properly worn safety belts.
- 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 injuries 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 airbag if an infant or a
small child is on the front passenger
seat, nobody can absolutely guarantee
-
-
that deployment under these special 11-

122 Airbag sys te m
conditio ns is impossible in a ll co nceiva­
ble situati ons t hat may happen during
t h e usef ul lif e of your vehicle.
- The Adva nced Airbag System can deploy
in accor dance with the "low risk" opt ion
under the U.S. Federal Sta ndard if a child
that is heavier than the typical one-year old child is on the front passenger seat
and the othe r cond itions for airbag de­
ployment are met.
- For their own safety, all children, espe­
cially 1 2 yea rs and younger, sho uld a l­
ways ride p roperly rest rained for their
age and size.
Advanced front airbag system
Your veh icle is eq uipped wit h a front Advanced
Airbag System in compliance with United
States Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard
208 as applicab le at the time your vehicle was
manufactured.
The front Advanced Airbag System supp le­
ments the safety belts to provide addit iona 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 dece lerat io n is high enough .
The front Advanced Airbag System for the
front seat occupants is not a substitute for
your safety belts. Rather, it is part of t he over­
all occupa nt restraint system in your ve hicle.
A lways remember that the airbag system can
on ly help to protect you, if you are s itting up­
r ight, wearing yo ur safety belt and wea ring it
p roperly. This is w hy you and yo ur passenge rs
must always be properly restrained , not just
beca use the law requires you to be.
The Advanced Airbag System in your veh icle
h as been cer tified to meet the " low r is k " re­
qu irements for 3 and 6 year -o ld children on
the passenger side and very small adu lts on
the driver side. The low risk deployment crite ­
ria are intended to he lp red uce the risk of in­
jury through interaction with the front airbag that can occur, fo r example, by be ing too cl
ose to the steering wheel and instrument
pane l when the airbag inflates .
In add ition, the system has been certified to
comply wi th the "s uppression" re qu iremen ts
of the Sa fe ty Standard, to turn off the front
airbag for infants 12 months o ld and younger
who are rest rained on the front passenger
seat in child restraints that are listed in the Standard
¢ page 140, Child restraints and
Advanced Airbags .
"Suppression" requires the front a irbag on the
passenger side to be turned off if:
- a child up to abo ut one year o f age is re ­
strained on the front passenger seat i n one
of the rear-fac ing or forward -facing infant
restraints listed in Federal Motor Vehicle
Safety Standard
208 with which the Ad­
vanced Airbag System in your vehicle was
cert ified . For a listing o f the ch ild res traints
that were used to certify your vehicle 's com­
plia nce w it h t he US Safety Standa rd
¢ page 140,
-we ight less than a threshold level stored in
the co ntrol uni t is de te cted on the fron t pas­
senger seat.
When a person is detected on the front pas­
senger seat, weighing more than t he total
we ight of a ch ild tha t is abou t 1 year old re ­
stra ined in one of the rear-fac ing or forward­
f acing infant res traints ( listed in Fede ral Mo­
tor Vehicle Safety Standar d
208 with which
the A dvanced Airbag System in your vehicle
was certif ied), the front airbag on the passen­
ger side may or may not deploy.
The
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes on
whe n the electronic contro l unit detects a to­
ta l we ight on the front passenger seat that re ­
quires t he front airbag to be t urned off. If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does not
come on, the front a irbag on the passenger
s ide has not been t urned off by the cont ro l
u ni t and ca n dep loy if the control un it senses
an imp act that meets the cond itions store d in
i ts memory.
If the total weight on the fro nt passenge r
seat is more than that of a typ ical 1 yea r-old , .,.

but less than the weight of a small adult, the
front airbag on the passenger side may deploy (the
PASSENG ER AIR BAG OF F light does not
come on).
For example, the a irb ag may 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 child is in one of
the chi ld safety seats listed
¢ page 140),
-a ch ild who has outgrown child rest raints is
on the front passenger seat.
I f the front passenger airbag is turned off, the
PA SSENGER AIR BAG OFF light in the center
of the inst rument panel w il l come on and stay
on.
The front a irbag 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 sitt ing upr ight w ith
their back against a non-reclined backrest
with their feet on the veh icle floo r in front
of the sea t is on the front passenge r seat.
If the front passenger airbag deploys, the
Federal Standard requires the airbag to meet
the " low risk " deployment criteria to help re­
duce the risk of inj ury through interaction
with the airbag . "Low risk" deployment occurs
in those crashes that take place at lower de­
celerations as defined in the electronic control un it
¢ page 128.
Please be sure to read the important informa­
tion in the sections that fo llow and be sure to
heed a ll of the WARNINGS.
_& WARNING
To reduce the risk of injury when an airbag
inf lates, a lways wear safety belts properly.
- If you are unrestrained, leaning forward,
sitting sideways or out of position in any
way, your risk of injury is much higher.
- You w ill also receive serio us injuries and
cou ld even be killed if you are up against
the a irbag or too close to it when it in-
A irbag system 123
flates - even with an Advanced Ai rbag
¢page 117.
_& WARNING
A child in a rearward-fac ing ch ild safety
seat installed on the front passenger seat
will be ser ious ly injured and can be killed if
the front airbag inflates - even with an Ad­
vanced A irbag System .
-Although the Advanced Airbag System in your veh icle is designed to turn
off the
front airbag when a rearward-facing child restraint has been instal led on the
front passenger seat, nobody can abso­ lutely guarantee that dep loymen t is im ­
possible in all conceivable situations that
may happen during the usefu l life of your
veh icle.
- 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, door, or roof.
- Never install a rearward facing child
safety seat on the front passenger seat
un less the
PA SSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light comes on and stays on . If the PAS­
SENGER AIR BAG OFF
light does not
come on and stay on the inflating a irbag
will hit the child safety seat or infant car­ rier w ith great force and w ill smash the
child safety seat and child against the
backrest, door or roof. Have the a irbag
system inspected immediately by your
author ized Audi dealer.
_& WARNING
If, in except iona 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.
~
•
•

124 Airbag sys te m
- Always move the passenger seat into its
rearmost position in the seat's fore and
aft adjustment range, as far away from
the a irbag as poss ible, before insta lling
the forward-facing child restraint. The backrest must be adjusted to an upr ight
posit io n.
- Make sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
light comes on and stays on all the
t ime w henever the ignition is switched
on.
Advanced Airbag System components
The fron t passenger sea t in your vehicle h as a
lot of very important par ts of the Advanced
Airbag System in it. These parts include t he
weight -sensing mat, sensors, wiring, brack­
ets, and more. The function of the system in
the front passenger seat is checked by the
e lectronic control u nit when the ignit ion is on.
The control unit mon itors the Advanced Air­
bag System and turns the airbag indicator
l ight on when a ma lfunction in t he system
components is detected. The func tion of the
a ir bag ind icator light is described in greater
detai l be low . Because the fro nt passenger
seat contains important parts of the Ad­
vanced A irbag System, you m ust take care to
prevent it from be ing damaged. Damage to
the seat may prevent the Advanced Airbag for
the front passenger seat from doing its job in
a crash .
The front Advanced Airb ag System
consists of the following:
- Crash sensors in the front of the veh icle that
measure veh icle acceleration/decele ration
to provide information to the Advanced Air­
bag System abou t the seve rity of the crash.
- An e lectron ic co ntrol unit, with integ rated
c rash sensors for front and side impacts .
T he cont rol unit "dec ides " w het her to fire
the front airbags based on the information
received from the crash senso rs . The contro l
unit a lso "decides" whethe r the safety be lt
pretensioners should be activated . -
An Advanced Ai rbag w ith gas generator for
the driver inside the steering w heel hub.
- An Advanced A irbag w ith gas gene rato r in­
side the inst rument panel for the front pas­
senger.
- A we ight -sensing mat unde r th e upho lstery
pa dding of the front passenger seat cushion
that measures the total weight on the seat .
The informat ion registered is sent continu­
ously to the electronic control unit to regu­ late deployment of the front Advanced Air­
bag on the passenger side .
- An airbag monitoring sys tem and indicator
light in t he instrument cluster
c:> page 128 .
-The PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes
on and stays on in the center of the instru­
ment panel
c::> page 128, fig. 125 and tells
you when the front Advanced Airbag on the passe nger side has been tu rned off.
- A sensor below the safety be lt latch fo r the
front seat passenger to measure the t ension
on t he safety be lt. T he tension o n the safety
be lt a nd the weight regis tered by the
weigh t-sensing mat he lp the cont rol uni t
"decide" whether the front airbag for the
front passenger seat should be turned off or
not
c:> page 119, Child restraints on the
front seat -some important things to
know.
-A sensor in the safety belt latch for the driv­ er and for the front seat passenger that
senses whether t hat safety belt is latched or
not and transmits this information to the
electronic control un it .
_&. WARNING
D amage to the fron t passenger seat can
p revent t he fro nt airbag from wor king
proper ly.
- I mp roper repai r or d isassembly of the
front passenge r and dr ive r sea t w ill pre­
vent the Advanced Air bag System from
functioning p roperly.
- Repairs to the front passenge r seat m ust
be pe rformed by qualifie d and p roperly
trained workshop person nel.
- Never remove the front passenger o r
d river seat from t he vehicle .
-

-Never remove the upholstery from the
front passenger seat.
- Never disassemble or remove parts from
the seat or disconnect wires from it.
- Never carry sharp objects in your pockets
or 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-sensing mat and send the
wrong information to the airbag control
unit.
- Never store items under the front pas­
senger seat. Parts of the Advanced Air­
bag System under the passenger seat
could be damaged, preventing them and
the airbag system from working proper­ ly.
- Never place seat covers or replacement
upholstery that have not been specifical­
ly approved by Audi on the front seats.
- Seat covers can prevent the Advanced
Airbag System from recognizing child re­
straints or occupants on the front pas­
senger seat and prevent the side airbag in the seat backrest from deploying prop­
erly.
- 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
accurately registering the child restraint
or person on the seat and prevent the
Advanced Airbag System from function­ ing properly.
- If you must use a child restraint on the
front passenger seat and the child re­
straint manufacturer 's instructions re­
quire the use of a towel, foam cushion or
something else to properly position the
child restraint, make certain that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes
on and stays on whenever the child re­
straint is installed on the front passen­
ger seat .
Airbag system 125
-If the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not come on and stay on, the inflat­
ing 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, door or roof. Have
the airbag system inspected immediately by your authorized Audi dealer .
How the Advanced Airbag System
components work together
The front Advanced Airbag System and the
side airbags supplement the protection of­
fered by the front three-point safety belts
with pretensioners and load limiters and the
adjustable head restraints to help reduce the
risk of injury in a wide range of accident and
crash situations. Be sure to read the impor­
tant information about safety and heed the
WARNINGS in this chapter.
Deployment of the Adv a need Airbag System
and the activation of the safety belt preten­
sioners depend on the deceleration measured
by the crash sensors and registered by the
electronic 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.
When the electronic control unit registers a
low severity crash and the safety belt is being
used, the airbag will not deploy. If the safety
belt is not being used, the first stage deploys,
followed by the second stage after a much lat­ er time in the crash sequence.
If the electronic control unit registers a crash
of medium severity, the first stage of the air­
bag deploys followed by the second stage at a
much later time in the crash sequence - re­
gardless of whether the safety belt is being
used or not . In higher severity crashes as reg­
istered by the electronic control unit, both the
first and second stages deploy almost at the
same time .
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
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