child restraint AUDI R8 SPYDER 2012 User Guide

112 Airbag sys te m
cr ashes that take place a t lower decelerations
as defined in the electronic control u nit
c:::> page 120, PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light.
A lways remember, a chi ld safety seat or infant
carrier insta lled on the front seat may be
struck and knocked o ut of position by the rap­
id ly inf lating passenger's a irbag in a frontal
coll is ion. The airbag cou ld greatly reduce the
effectiveness of the child restraint and even
seriously inju re the child during inflat ion .
A WARNING
A child in a rearward-facing child safety
s e at insta lled on the front passenger seat
w ill be seriously injured and can be k illed if
t he front a irbag inflates -even with an Ad­
vanced Airbag System.
- T he inflating a irbag will hit the child
safe ty seat or infant car rier wit h great
f orce and w ill smash the ch ild safety seat
and child against the backrest, door or
roof .
- Never install a rearward facing child
safety seat on the front passenger seat
unless the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light comes on and stays on. If the PAS­
SENGER AIR BAG OFF
light does not
come o n and stay on the inflating airbag
wi ll hit the child safe ty seat or infant car­
rie r with great fo rce and will smash the
c hild s afety seat and child against the
backres t, door or roo f. Have the airbag
system inspe cted immedia tely by your
authorized Audi dealer.
- F orward-fac ing ch ild safety sea ts inst al­
led on the front passenger 's seat may in ­
terfere with the deployment of the air­
bag and cause serious personal injury to
the ch ild.
A WARNING
If, in exceptional c ircumstances, you must
install a forward-facing child restra int on
the front passenger's seat:
- Always make sure the forward-fac ing
seat has been des igned and certified by its manufacturer fo
r use on a front seat
wit h a passenger front and s ide a irbag.
- Never put the fo rward-facing child re­
straint up against or very near the instru­
ment panel.
- Always move the passenge r seat into its
rearmost pos ition in the seat's fore and
aft ad justment range, as far away from
the airbag as possible before installing
the forward-fac ing ch ild restra int. The
backrest must be ad justed to an up right
position .
- Make sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
li ght comes on and stays on all the
time wheneve r the ig nit ion is switched
on.
A WARNING
To reduce the risk of serio us inju ry, ma ke
sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light wi ll be displayed whenever a child re­
straint is insta lled on the front passenger
seat and the ignition is sw itched on.
- If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not stay on, per form the checks de­
scribed
c:::> page 120 , Monitoring the Ad ­
vanced Airbag System.
- Never install a rearward facing child
safety seat on the front passenger seat
un less t he
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
lig ht comes on and stays on. If the PAS­
SENGER AIR BAG OFF
li ght does not
come on and stay on, the inf lating ai rbag
will hit the child safety seat or in fant car­
rier w ith great force and w ill sm ash the
child safety seat and child against t he
backrest, door or roof. Have the a irbag
system inspected immediately by your
author ized Audi dealer.
- Always carefu lly follow instr uctions from
child restraint manufacturers when in­
stalling c hild restra ints .
A WARNING
-If, in except ional circumstances, you m ust
i nstall a forward or rearward-facing child
restra int on the front passenger 's seat : "'

- Improper installation of child restraints can reduce the ir effectiveness or even
prevent them from prov iding any protec­
t ion.
- An improperly installed child restraint can interfere with the airbag as it de­
ploys a nd serio usly injure or even kill the
child -even with an Advanced Airbag
System.
-Always follow the manufacturer's in­
struct ions provided with the child saf ety
seat or car rier carefully.
- Never place additional items on the seat
that can increase the to tal weight regis­
tered by the weight-sens ing mat a nd can
c a use i nju ry in a c rash.
Front airbags
Descript ion of front airbags
The airbag system con provide supplemental
protection to properly restrained front seat occupants.
Fig. 120 Locatio n of drive r air bag: in steer ing wheel
F ig. 121 Location of fro nt passe nger 's a irbag: in th e in­
strument panel
Your veh icle is equipped w ith an "Advanced
Airbag System" in compliance with United
States Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard
A irba g sy stem 113
(FMVSS) 208 as applicable at the time you r
vehicle was manufactured . The safety belts
for the front seats have "pretensioners" that help to take slack out of the be lt system. The
pretensioners are also activated by the e lec­
tron ic contro l unit for the airbag system .
The front safety belts a lso have load lim iters
to help reduce the forces applied to the body
in a crash.
The airbag for the driver is in the steering
whee l hub
c> fig. 120 and the airbag for the
front passenger is in the instr ument panel
c> fig . 121. The general locat ion of the a irbags
is marked "AIRBAG" .
There is a lot you need to know about the a ir­
bags in your vehicle. We urge you to read the
detailed information about airbags, safety
belts and child safety in this and the other
c hapters that make up t he owner's literature.
Please be sure to heed the WARNINGS - they
a re extremely important for your safety and
the safety of yo ur passengers, especially in ­
fants and small children .
& WARNING
=
Neve r rely on airbags alone for protection.
- Even w hen they deploy, airbags provide
only s upp lementa l protect ion .
- Airbag work most effe ctive ly w hen used
with p roperly worn safety belts.
- Therefore, alw ays wea r yo ur safety belts
an d make sure that eve ry bo dy in y our
ve ­
hicle is p roperly restrained .
A WARNING
A person on the fron t passenger seat, es­
pec ia lly infants and sma ll children, will re­
ceive serio us injuries and can even be kil­
led by being too close to the airbag when
it inflates.
- Altho ugh the Advanced Airbag System in
your veh icle is designed to tur n off the
front passenger airbag if an infant or a small child is on the front passenger
seat, nobody can absolutely gua ran tee
-
-
that deployment under these specia l 11-

114 Airbag sys te m
conditio ns is impossible in a ll conceiva­
ble situations 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, should a l­
ways ride p roperly rest rained for their
age and size.
Advanced front airbag system
Your veh icle is equipped 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 decelerat 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 occupant 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
has 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 close 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 restrained on the front passenger
seat in child restraints that are listed in the
Standard
¢ page 132, 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 of 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 132,
-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 that is about 1 year old re ­
stra ined in one of the rear-fac ing o r forward­
f acing infant res traints ( listed in Fede ral Mo­
tor Vehicle Safety Standar d
208 with which
the Advanced Airbag System in yo ur 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
when 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 impact 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 132),
-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 B AG 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 seat 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 inju ry 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 unit
¢ page 120.
Please be sure to read the important informa­
tion in the sections that follow and be sure to
heed a ll of the WARNINGS.
_& WARNING
To reduce the risk of injury when an airbag
inflates, 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 11 5
flates - even with an Advanced Airbag
¢page 109.
_& 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 loyment is im­
possible in all conceivable situations that
may happen during the usefu l 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, door, or roof.
- Never install a rearward facing child
safety seat on the front passenger seat
unless 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 with great force and wi ll 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 very near the instru- ment panel.
~
•
•

116 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 ion.
- 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 un it 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 front 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 Sy stem
consists of the following:
- Crash sensors in the front of the veh icle that
measure veh icle acceleration/deceleration
to provide information to the Advanced Air­
bag System abou t the seve rity of the crash.
- An electron ic co ntrol unit, with integ rated
crash sensors for front and side impacts .
T he cont ro l 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 A irbag w ith gas generator for
the driver inside the steering w heel hub.
- An Advanced A irbag w ith gas generato r in­
side the inst rument panel for the front pas­
senger.
- A we ight -sensing mat unde r th e upho ls tery
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 120.
- The PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes
on and stays on in the center of the instru­
ment panel
c::> page 120, fig. 123 and tells
you when the front Advanced Airbag on the passe nger side has been tu rned off.
- A senso r below the safety be lt latch fo r the
front seat passenger to measure the tension on t he safety be lt. The tension on the safety
be lt a nd the weight regis tered by the
weight-sensing mat he lp the cont rol uni t
"decide" whether the front airbag fo r the
front passenger seat should be turned off or
not
c> page 111, Child restraints on the
fron t seat -some important things to
know.
-A sensor in the safety belt latch fo r 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 t he
elect ronic control un it .
,&. WARNING
D amage to the fron t passenger seat can
p revent the fro nt airbag from wor king
properly.
- I mp roper repai r or d isassembly of the
front passenge r and dr ive r sea t will 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 personnel.
- 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 117
-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
IJII,-
•
•

118 Airbag system
amount programmed in the e lectronic control
unit. The front airbag on the passenger side
will also be turned off if one of the child safe­
ty seats that has been certified under Federa l
Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208 has been
recogn ized 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
c::> page 111, Child restraints on the front seat
- some important things to know .
8_ WARNING
To reduce the risk of injury when an airbag
inf lates, always 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 will also receive serio us injuries 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
c::> page 109.
More important things to know about
front airbags
Fig . 122 Inflated front a irbags
Safety belts are important to help keep front
seat occupants in the proper seated position
so that airbags can deploy properly and pro­
vide supplemental protection in a frontal col­
lision .
The front airbags are designed to provide ad­ d itional protect ion for the chest and face of
the dr iver and the front seat passenger when:
- safety belts are worn properly, -
the seats have been positioned so that the
occupant is properly seated as far as possi­
ble from the airbag,
- and the head restraints have been properly
adjusted .
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 dan­
gerous projectiles, and be pushed into you if
the airbag inf lates.
When an airbag deploys, fine dust is released .
This is normal and is not caused by a fire in
the vehicle . This dust is made up mostly of a
powder used to lubricate the airbags as they
deploy. It could irr itate skin.
It is important to remember that whi le the
supplementa l airbag system is designed to re­
duce the like lihood of serious injuries, other
injur ies, for example swelling, bruising and
minor abrasions, can also happen when air­
bags inflate. Airbags do not protect the arms
or the lower parts of the body. Front airbags
supplement the three point safety belts only
in some frontal collisions in which the vehicle
deceleration is high enough to deploy the air­
bags.
Front airbags will not deploy:
- if the ignition is sw itched off when a crash
o ccurs ,
- in side co llisions,
- in rear-end collisions,
- in rollovers,
- when the crash deceleration measured by
the airbag system is less than the min imum
threshold needed for a irbag deployment as
registered by the electronic control unit.
The front passenger airbag also will not
deploy:
- when the front passenger seat is not occu­
pied,
- when the weight on the front passenger
seat as sensed by the Advanced Airbag Sys­
tem ind icates that the front a irbag on the
passenger side has to be turned off by the ..,.

Vehicle Safety Standard 208 with which the
Advanced Airbag System in your vehicle was
certified.
I f the front passenger seat is not occ upied,
the front airbag will not deploy, and the
PA S­
SENGER A IR BAG OF F
light will stay on. Nev­
er insta ll a rearward-fac ing ch ild restra int on
the front passenger seat
c:> page 111, Child
restraints on the front seat -some important
things to know
and c:> page 130, Child Safety .
If the PASSENGER AIR BAG O FF light c omes
on
when one of the conditions listed above is
met, be sure to check the light regularly to
make certa in that the
PA SS ENG ER AIR BA G
OFF
light stays on cont inuously whenever the
i gn it ion is on. If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
l ight does not appear on and stay on a ll
the t ime, stop as soon as it is safe to do so
and
- r eact ivate the system by turning the ignition
off and then turning it on again;
- remove and re install the child restraint .
Make sure that the child restraint is properly
installed and that the safety be lt fo r the
front passenger seat has been correct ly
ro uted through the child restraint as descri­
bed in the chi ld restraint man ufacturer's in ­
structions;
- make su re that the convertible locking fea­
ture on the safety be lt for the front passen ­
ger 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 138;
- make sure that th ings that may increase the
weight of the ch ild and child safety seat are
not being transported on the front passen­
ger seat;
- make sure that the safety belt tension sen­
sor is not b locked. Shake the safety belt
latch on t he front passenge r seatbac k and
forth;
- If a st rap or tether is being used to tie the
c hild safety seat to the front passenger
seat, make s ure t hat i t is no t so tight tha t it
A irbag system 12 1
causes the weight -sensing mat to measure
more weight than is act ually on the seat.
If th e PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light still
d oes not come on
and does not stay on con ­
tin uous ly (when the ignition is switched on),
- take the child rest ra int off the front passen-
ge r seat and have the a irb ag sys tem inspect ­
ed by yo ur authori zed Aud i dealer . Do not
transport children witho ut a c hil d safety
seat.
T he
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF lig ht sho uld
NOT come on when the ignit ion is on and an
adult is s itting in a proper seating position on
the front passenger seat . If the
PASSENGER
AIR BAG OFF
light comes on and stays on or
flashes for about 5 seconds wh ile driving, un­
der these c ircumstances, make sure that:
- the adult on the front passenger seat is
properly seated on the center of the seat
cushion with his or her back up aga inst the
backrest and the backrest is not recl ined
c:> page 92, Proper occupant seating posi ­
tions,
- the adult is not tak ing weight off the seat by
holding on to the passenger assist handle
above the front passenger door or support­
ing their weight on the armrest,
- the safety belt is be ing properly worn and
that the re is not a lot of s lack in the safety
be lt webbing,
- accesso ry seat covers or cushions or other
things that may cause an inco rrect reading
or impression on the weight-sensing m at
under t he upho ls tery of the seat have been
removed from the front passenger sea t,
- a safety belt extender h as not been left in
t he sa fe ty belt latch for the fron t passenger
seat.
In add ition to the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
l igh t in the center of the instrument panel,
t h e message
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF or
PASSENGER AIR BAG ON wi ll briefly appear
i n the instrument cluster disp lay. This is to in­
form the dr iver of the current front passenger
airbag status.
•
•

122 Airbag sys te m
Important safety instructions on
monitoring the Advanced Airbag System
A WARNING
An airbag system that is not functioning
properly cannot provide supplemental pro­
tect ion in a frontal crash.
- If the airbag indicator light comes on, it
means that there may be someth ing
wrong with the Advanced A irbag System .
It is possible that the airbag will inflate
when it is not supposed to, or w ill not in­
flate when it should.
- Have the airbag system i nspected imme­
diately by your author ized Audi dealer.
A WARNING
If the front air bag inflates, a ch ild witho ut
a child restra int, or in a rearwa rd-fac ing
child safety seat, or in a forward- facing
child restraint that has not been prope rly
installed will be serious ly injured and can
be killed.
- Even though your ve hicle is equipped
with an Advanced Airbag System, make certain that all children, especially 12
years and younger, a lways ride proper ly
restrained for their age and s ize.
- Never install a rearward facing child
safety seat on the front passenge r seat
unless the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light comes on and stays on. If the PAS ·
S ENGER AIR BAG OFF
light does not
come on and stay, on the inflating airbag
wi ll hit the child safety seat or infant car­
rier with great fo rce 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.
-A tight tether or other strap on a rear­ ward-facing child restra int attached to
the front passenger seat can put too much pressure on t he weight-sens ing
mat in the seat and register mo re weight
than is actually on the seat. The heavier
we ight registe red can make the system
-
wo rk as though an adult we re on the seat
and deploy the Advanced Airbag when it
must be suppressed, causing serious or
even fata l injury to the ch ild.
- If, i n exceptiona l circumstances, you
must install a forward-fac ing c hild re·
straint on the front passenger seat, al­
ways move the seat i nto its rearmost po­
sition in the seat's fore and aft adjust­
ment range, as fa r away from the a irbag
a s poss ible. The b ackrest mus t be ad just­
ed to an upright pos ition . Make s ure that
the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
comes on and stays on all the time when ­
ever the ignit ion is switched on.
A WARNING
=
- If the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not go out when an adult is sitt ing
on the front passenger seat after taking
the steps described above, have the ai r­
bag system inspected by yo ur autho rized
Aud i deale r before t ransporti ng anyone
on the front passenger se at.
(D Tips
If the weight-sensing mat in t he front pas­
senger seat de tects an empty seat, the
front ai rbag on the passe nger side wi ll be
t urned off, and the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
w ill stay on.
-
Care, service and disposal of the airbags
Parts of the airbag system are installed at
many different places o n your Audi . Insta lling,
removing, servicing or repa iring a part in an
area of the veh icle can damage a part of an
airbag system a nd prevent that system from
working properly in a coll is ion.
There are some important things you have to
know to make sure that th e effectiveness of
the system w ill not be impaired and that dis­
carded components do not cause injury or pol -
l u te the environment. ..,.

126 Airbag sys te m
If the front airbags deploy, the knee airbags
a lso deploy in frontal co llisions when the de ­
p loyment threshold stored in the control unit
is met.
When the system dep loys fill the airbags with
a prope llant gas, and inflate between the low­
er part of the instrument panel and the driver
and the lower part of the instrument panel
and the front passenger
<=> page 118, fig. 122.
Although they are not a soft pillow, they can
"cush ion" the impact and in this way they can
he lp to reduce the r isk of injury to the lower
extremities.
A ll of this takes place i n the blink of an eye, so
fast that many people don't even realize that
the airbags have deployed. The a irbags also
inflate with a great deal of force and it is im­
portant for occupant safety that noth ing
should be in the ir way when they deploy.
Fu lly inflated airbags in combination with
properly worn safety belts slow down and lim­
it the occupant's forward movement and help
to reduce the r isk of injury.
Important safety instructions on the
knee airbag system
Airbags are only supplemental restraints. Al­
ways wear safety belts correctly and ride in a
proper seating position.
There is a lot that you and your passengers must know and do to help the safety belts and
a ir bags to provide supp lemental protection .
,&. WARNING
An inflating knee airbag can cause ser ious
injury. Wear ing sa fety belts inco rrectly and
improper seating positions increase the
r isk of serious personal injury and death
whenever a veh icle is being used.
- The knee airbag system cannot protect
you properly if you are seated too close
to any of the airbag locations. When ad­
just ing their seat positions, it is impor­
tant that both the driver and the front passenge r keep their upper bodies and knees at the following m
inimum safe
distances:
- at least 10 inches (25 cm) between the
chest and the stee ring wheel/inst ru­
ment panel.
- at leas t 4 inches (10 cm) between the
knees and the lower part of the instru­
ment panel.
- The risk of personal injury increases if
you lean fo rward or to the s ide, or if the
seat is improperly posi tioned and you are
not wearing yo ur safety belt. The risk in ­
creases even more should the a irbag de­
ploy.
- Always ma ke sure that the knee airbag
can inf late without interference. Objects
between yo u and the airbag can increase
the risk of in jury in an accident by inter­
fering w ith the way the a irbag deploys or
by being pushed into you as the airbag
deploys.
- Never let anybody, espec ia lly children
or anima ls in the footwe ll in front of
the passenger seat. If the a irbag de·
ploys, th is can result in serious or fatal
injur ies.
- No objects of any k ind shou ld be car­
ried in the footwell area in front of the
driver's or passenger's seat. Bulky ob­
jects (shopping bags, for example) can hamper o r prevent proper deployment
of the airbag . Small objects can be
th rown thro ugh the veh icle if the air­
bag deploys and injure yo u or your p as­
sengers.
- Make sure there are no cracks, deep
scratches or other damage in the area of
the instrument panel where the knee air ­
bags are located .
- If child ren are incorrectly seated, their
risk of injury increases in a collision
<=> page 130, Child Safety.