AUDI S3 2015 Owners Manual

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-For adjustable head restraints : always
adjust the head restra int properly so that
it can give maximum protection .
Proper adjustment of head restraints
Applies to vehicles: with adjustable head restraints
Correctly adjusted head restraints are an im­
portant part of your vehicle's occupant re­
st raint system and can help to reduce the risk
of injuries in acciden t situations.
Fig. 115 Hea d restr aint: vie wed fro m the fron t
The head restraints must be correctly adjust­
ed to ach ieve the best protection .
.,. Adjust the head restraint so the upper edge
is as even as poss ible w ith the top of your
head .
If that is not possib le, try to adjust
the head restra int so that it is as close to
this position as possible
r:!.>fig . 115. Move
the head restraint so that it is as close to the
back of the head as possible.
.,. If there is a passenger on the rear cent er
seat ing position, slide the center head re­
stra int upward at least to the next notch .
Adj usting head restraints¢
page 59.
_& WARNING
All seats are equipped with head re­
straints. Dr iving without head restra ints or
w ith head restra ints that are not proper ly
adjusted increases the risk of ser ious or fa­
tal neck injury dramat ically . To help reduce
the risk of inju ry:
- Always drive with the head restraints in
place and properly adjusted .
- Every person in the veh icle must have a
properly ad justed head restra int .
Dri ving sa fety 129
- Always make sure each person in the ve­
hicle properly ad justs their head re­
straint. Adjust the head restraint so the
upper edge is as even as possible with
the top of your head .
If that is not possi­
ble, t ry to ad just the head restraint so
that it is as close to this pos it ion as pos­
sible. Move t he head rest raint so that i t
is as close to the back of the head as pos­
sible.
- Never attempt to adjust head res traint
while driving . If you have driven off and
m ust adjust the driver headrest for any
reason, first stop the vehicle safely be­
fore attempting to adjust the head re­
straint .
- Ch ildren must a lways be properly re­
strained in a child restraint that is appro­
priate for their age and size¢
page 170.
Examples of improper seating positions
The occupan t restraint syst em can only re ­
duce the risk of injury if vehicle occupants are
properly seated .
Improper seating positions can cause serious
injury or death. Safety belts can only work
when they are properly positioned on the body . Improper sea ting positions reduce the
effectiveness of safety belts and will even in ­
crease the r isk of injury and death by mov ing
the safety be lt to crit ica l areas of the body.
Improper seating posi tions a lso increase the
risk of serio us inju ry and de ath when an a ir­
bag deploys and strikes an occupant who is
not in the proper seating position . A driver is
responsible for the safety of all veh icle occu ­
pants and espec ially for children. Therefore :
.,. Never allow anyone to assume an incorrect
seating position when the vehicle is being
used
r:!.> _&. .
The following bulle tins list o nly some samp le
pos itions that will increase the risk of serio us
injury and death. Our hope is that these exam­
ples will make yo u more aware of seating po-
sitions that are dangerous. ..,.

130 Driving saf ety
Th ere fo re, wh enever th e vehicle i s
mo ving :
-never stand up in the vehicle
- never stand on the seats
- never knee l on the seats
- never ride with the seatback reclined
- never lie down on the rear seat
- never lean up aga inst the instrument panel
- never sit on the edge of the seat
- never sit sideways
- never lean out the w indow
- never put your feet out the window
- never put your feet on the instrument panel
- never rest your feet on the seat cushion o r
back of the seat
- never ride in the footwell
- never ride in the cargo area
A WARNING
Improper seat ing positions increase the
r isk of serious personal injury and death
whenever a veh icle is being used .
- Always make sure that all vehicle occu­ pants stay in a proper seating pos it ion
and are properly restra ined whenever the
vehicle is be ing used.
Driver and passenger
side footwell
Important safety instructions
App lies to vehicles: with knee a irbags
A WARNING
Always make s ure that the knee airbag can
inflate without interference. Objects be­
tween yourse lf and the airbag can inc rease
the risk of in jury in an acc ident by interfer­
ing w ith the way the a irbag deploys or by
being pushed into you as the airbag de­
ploys.
- No persons (ch ildren) or animals should
ride in the footwell in front of the pas­
senger seat. If the airbag deploys, this
can result in se rious or fata l injuries.
- No objects of any kind should be carried in the footwe ll area in front of the driv- er's or passenger's seat
. Bulky objects
(shopping bags, for example) can ham­
per or prevent proper deployment of the
ai rbag. Small objects can be thrown
through the vehicle if the airbag deploys
and i njure you or your passenge rs .
Pedal area
Pedals
The pedals must always be free to move and
must never be interfered with by a floor mat
or any other object.
Make su re that a ll peda ls move free ly without
i nterference and that no thing preven ts them
from return ing to their or ig inal positions .
Only use f loor mats that leave the pedal a rea
free and can be secu red with floor mat fasten­
ers.
If a brake c ircu it fa ils, inc reased brake pedal
t ravel is required to bring the vehicle to a full
stop.
A WARNING
P edals that cannot move free ly can ca use
l oss of vehicle contro l and increase the risk
of serious injury.
- Never p lace any objects in the driver's
footwell. An object co uld get into the
pedal area and interfere with pedal func­
tion. In case of sudden braking or an ac­
cident, you wou ld not be able to brake or
accelerate!
-Always make sure that nothing can fall
or move into the driver's footwell.
Floor mats on the driver side
Always use floor mats that can be securely attached to the floor mat fasteners and do
not interfere with the free movement of the
pedals.
.,. Make sure that the floor mats are properly
secured and cannot move and interfere with
the pedals
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Use only floor mats that leave the pedal area
u nobstructed and that are firmly secured so
that they cannot sli p out of position. You can
obtain suitable floor mats from your author­
ized Audi Dealer .
F loor mat fasteners are installed in your Audi.
Fl oor mats used in your vehicle must be a t­
tached to these fasteners. Properly securing
the floor mats will p revent them from slid ing
into positions that could interfere with the
pedals or impair safe operation of your vehicle
in other ways .
A WARNING
Pedals that cannot move freely can resu lt
in a loss of veh icle control and increase the
risk of serious personal injury .
- Always make sure that floor mats are
properly secured.
- Never place or install floor mats or other
floor coverings in the veh icle that cannot
be properly secured in place to prevent
them from slipping and interfering w ith
the pedals or the ability to control t he
vehicle .
- Never place o r insta ll floor mats or other
floo r coverings on top of already insta l­
led floor mats. Additional floor mats and
other coverings wi ll reduce the size of
the pedal area and interfere with the
peda ls.
-Always proper ly reinstall and secure f loor
mats that have been taken out for clean­
ing.
- Always make sure that objects cannot
fall into the driver footwe ll wh ile the ve­
hicle is moving. Objects can become
trapped under the brake pedal and accel­
erator pedal caus ing a loss of veh icle
control.
Dri ving sa fety 13 1
Stowing luggage
Loading the luggage compartment
AIL luggage and other objects must be prop­
erly stowed and secured in the luggage com ­
partment.
Fig . 116 Safe load pos it ion ing: pla ce heavy ob jects as
low and as far fo rward as poss ible .
Loose items in the luggage compartment can
shift suddenly, changing vehicle handling
characteristics . Loose items can a lso increase
the risk of serious persona l injury in a sudden
vehicle maneuver or in a col lis ion.
.. Distribute the load evenly in the luggage
compa rtment .
.. Always place and properly secure heavy
items in the luggage compartment as far
forward as possible .
.. Secure luggage using the tie -downs p rov id­
ed
~ page 64.
.. Make sure that the rear seatback is securely
latched in place.
A WARNING
Improperly stored luggage or other items
can fly through the veh icle causing serious
personal injury in the event of hard brak­
ing or an accident . To help reduce the risk
of ser ious personal injury:
- Always put objects, for example, luggage
or other heavy items in the luggage com­
pa rtment.
- Always secure objects in the luggage
compa rtment using the t ie-down hoo ks
a nd sui tab le strap s.

132 Driving saf ety
A WARNING
Heavy loads will influence the way your ve­
hicle handles. To help reduce the risk of a
loss of control leading to ser ious personal
injury:
-Always keep in m ind when transporting
heavy objects, that a change in the cen­
ter of gravity can also cause changes in
vehicle handling:
- Always distribute the load as evenly as
possible.
- Place heavy objects as far forward in
the luggage compartment as possible.
- Never exceed the Gross Ax le Weight Rat­
ing or the Gross Vehicle Weight Rating
specified on the safety compliance stick­
er on the left door jamb. Exceeding per­
missible we ight standards can cause the
vehicle to slide and handle differently.
- Please observe information on safe driv­
ing
opoge 125.
A WARNING
To help prevent poisonous exhaust gas
from be ing drawn into the veh icle, always
keep the rea r lid closed while dr iving.
- Never transport objects larger than those fitting completely into the luggage
area because the rear lid cannot be fully
cl osed.
- If you absolutely must drive w ith the rear
lid open, observe the follow ing notes to
reduce the risk of poisoning:
- Close all w indows,
- Close the power roof *,
- Open all air outlets in the instrument
panel,
- Sw itch off the air recircu lation,
- Set the fresh a ir fan to the highes t
speed.
A WARNING
Always ma ke s ure th at the doors, all win­
dows, the power roo f* and the rear lid are
securely closed and locked to reduce the risk of injury when the vehicle is not being
used.
- After closing the rear lid, always make
sure that it is properly closed and locked.
- Never leave your vehicle unattended es­
pecially with the rear lid left open. A
child cou ld craw l into the vehicle thro ugh
the luggage compartment and close the rea r lid becoming trapped and unable to
get out. Being t rapped in a vehicle can
lead to serious pe rsonal in jury.
- Never let children play in or around the veh icle.
- Never let passengers ride in the luggage
compa rtment. Vehicle occupants must
always be prope rly restra ined in one of
the vehicle's seating posit ions.
(D Tips
- Air circulation helps to reduce window
fogging. Stale a ir escapes to the outside
through vents in the t rim panel. Be sure
to keep these slots free and open.
- The tire pressure m ust correspond to the
load. The tire pressure is shown on the
t ire pressure label. The tire pressure la­
bel is located on the drive r's side B-pilla r.
The tire pressure label lists the recom­
mended co ld tire inflation pressures for
the vehicle at its maxim um capacity
we ight and the tires that we re on your
vehicle at the t ime it was manufactured.
For recommended tire pressures for nor­
ma l load cond itions, please see chapter
opoge240.
Tie -downs
The luggage comportment is equipped with
four tie-downs to secure luggage and other
items.
Use the t ie-downs to secure your cargo prop­
erly
o page 131, Loading the luggage com­
portment .
In a collision, the laws of physics mean that
even smaller items that are loose in the vehi-
cle w ill become heavy missiles t hat can cause .,..

serious injury. Items in the vehicle possess en­
ergy which vary with vehicle speed and the
weight of the item. Vehicle speed is the most
significant factor.
F or example, in a frontal collision at a speed
of 30 mph (48 km/h), the forces acting on a 10- lb (4.5 kg) object are about 20 times the
normal weight of the item. This means that
the we ight of the item would suddenly be
about 200 lbs . (90 kg) . You can imagine the
injuries that a 200 lbs. (90 kg) item flying
freely through the passenger compartment
could cause in a collision like t his.
_& WARNING
Weak, damaged or improper straps used
to secure items to t ie-downs can fail dur­
ing hard braking or in a collision and cause
ser ious personal injury .
- Always use suitable mounting straps and
properly secure items to the tie-downs in
the luggage compartment to help pre­
vent items from shifting or flying for­
ward as dangerous miss iles.
- When the rear seat backrest is folded
down, always use su itab le mounting
straps and properly secure items to the
t ie -downs in the luggage compartment
to help prevent items from flying for­
ward as dangerous miss iles into the pas­
senger compartment.
- Never attach a child safety seat tether
strap to a tie-dow n.
Reporting Safety
Defects
Applicable to U.S.A.
If yo u beli eve that your vehicl e
h as a def ect w hich co uld cause
a c rash o r could cause injur y or
~ death , yo u should immedi ately
0
iii inform the N atio nal High way
Tr affic S afe ty Admini stration
Dri ving s afe ty 133
(NHT SA) in addi tio n to notif y­
ing A udi of A m erica, Inc.
If NHTSA r ecei ves similar com­
plaint s, it may open an in ve sti ­
gation , and if it finds that a
s af ety defe cts exis ts in a gr oup
of vehicle s, it ma y ord er a recall
a nd r em edy campa ign. Ho wev­
e r, NHTS A cannot become in­
v ol ved in indi vidu al problem s
bet ween y ou, your dealer , or
A udi of America, Inc.
T o conta ct the NHTSA, you m ay
e ither c all :
T e l.: 1-888-32 7-423 6 (TTY :
1-800-4 24-9 153) or
1-800-424-939 3
or you ma y write to:
NHTSA
U .S. Depar tment of Tran sp o rt a­
tion 1200 N ew Jersey Av e., S. E.
Wes t Buil ding
W ashington , D C 2 0590
You can als o obtain other infor ­
mation about m otor vehicl e
s af ety from:
h tt p: //www .sa fe rc ar. gov
•
•
•

134 Driving safety
Applicable to Canada
If you live in Canada and you
believe that your vehicle has a
defect that could cause a crash,
injury or death, you should im­
mediately inform Transport
Canada, Defect Investigations
and Recalls. You should also no­
tify Audi Canada.
Canadian customers who wish
to report a safety-related de­
fect to Transport Canada, De­
fect Investigations and Recalls,
may either call Transport Cana­
da toll -free at:
Tel.: 1-800-333-0510 or
Tel.: 1-819-994-3328 (Ottawa
region and from other coun­
tries)
TTY for hearing impaired: Tel.:
1-888-67 5-6863
or contact Transport Canada by
mail at:
Transport Canada Motor Vehicle Safety Investiga­
tions Laboratory
80 Noel Street
Gatineau, QC
J8Z 0Al
For additional road safety infor­
mation, please visit the Road
Safety website at: http://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/
roadsafety/menu.htm

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Safety belts
General notes
Always wear safety belts!
Wearing safety belts correctly saves lives!
T his chapter explains why safety belts are nec­
essary, how they work and how to adjust and
wear them correctly .
~ Read all the information that follows and
heed all of the instructions and WARNINGS.
A WARNING
Not wearing safety belts or wearing them
improperly increases the risk of serious
personal injury and death.
- Safety belts are the single most effective
means available to reduce the risk of se­
rious injury and death in automobile acci­
dents. For your protection and that of
your passengers, always correctly wear
safety belts when the vehicle is moving .
- Pregnant women, injured, or physically
impaired persons must also use safety
belts. Like all vehicle occupants, they are
more likely to be seriously injured if they
do not wear safety belts. The best way to
protect a fetus is to protect the mother -
throughout the entire pregnancy.
Number of seats
Your Audi has a total of five seating positions:
two in the front and three in the rear. Each
seating position has a safety belt .
A WARNING
Not wearing safety belts or wearing them
improperly increases the risk of serious
personal injury and death.
- Never strap more than one person, in­
cluding small children, into any belt. It is
especially dangerous to place a safety
belt over a child sitting on your lap.
- Never let more people ride in the vehicle
than there are safety belts available.
Safety belts 13 5
-Be sure everyone riding in the vehicle is
properly restrained with a separate safe­
ty belt or child restraint.
~ Safety belt warning light
Your vehicle has a warning system for the
driver and front seat passenger (on USA mod ­
els only) to remind you abou t the importance
of buckling-up.
Fig. 117 Safety bel t warn ing light in the instr ume nt
cl uster -enla rged
Before driving off, always:
~ Fasten your safety belt and make sure you
are wearing it properly.
~ Make sure that your passengers also buckle
up and properly wear their safety belts.
~ Protect children with a child restraint sys-
tem appropriate for the size and age .
The warning light . in the instrument clus­
ter lights up when the ignition is on as a re­
minder to fasten the safety belts . In addition,
you will hear a warning tone for a certain peri­
od of time .
Fasten your safety belt and make sure that
your passengers also properly put on their
safety belts.
A WARNING
- Safety belts are the single most effective
means available to reduce the risk of se­
rious injury and death in automobile acci­
dents. For your protection and that of
your passengers, always correctly wear
safety belts when the vehicle is moving. •
•
•

136 Safet y belt s
-Failure to pay attention to the warning
light that come on, could lead to person­
al injury.
Why safety belts?
Frontal collisions and the law of physics
Frontal crashes create very strong forces for
people riding in vehicles.
F ig. 11 8 Unbelted occ upants in a ve hicle h eading for a
wall
Fig. 1 19 Th e vehicle c rash es into t he wall
The physical principles are simple. Both the
vehicle and the passengers possess energy
which varies w ith veh icle speed and body
weight . Engineers call this energy "kinetic en­
e rgy ."
T he higher the speed of the vehicle and the
g reater the vehicle's we ight, the more energy
that has to be "absorbed" in the crash .
Vehicle speed is the most sign ificant factor.
If
the speed doubles from 15 to 30 mph (25 to
50 km/h), the energy increases 4 t imes!
Because the passengers of this veh icle are not
using safety belts
c::;, fig. 118, they w ill keep
mov ing at the same speed the vehicle was
mov ing just before the c rash, unt il something
stops them - here, the wall ¢
fig. 119 .
The same principles apply to people sitting in
a vehicle that is involved in a frontal collision .
Even at c ity speeds of 20 to 30 mph (30 to
50 km/h), the forces acting on the body can
reach one ton (2,000 lbs , or 1,000 kg) or
more . At greater speeds, these forces are even
highe r.
Peop le who do not use safety belts are also
not attached to their vehicle. In a frontal colli­
s io n they will also keep moving forward at the
speed their veh icle was t ravell ing just before
the crash . Of co urse, the laws of physics don't
just app ly to frontal collisions, they determine
what happens i n all kinds of acc idents and col­
lisions .
What happens to occupants not wearing
safety belts?
In crashes unbelted occupants cannot stop
themselves from flying forward and being in­
jured or killed. Always wear your safety belts!
F ig . 120 A d river not wea ring a safety b elt is viol en tly
thrown fo rwa rd
F ig . 12 1 A rear passe nge r no t wea ring a safety be lt
w ill fl y forward a nd strike the dr iver
Un belted oc cupants a re not able to resist the
t remendous forces o f impac t by ho lding tight
o r bracing themse lves. Withou t the benefit of
safety restraint systems , the unrestrained
ll-

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occupant will slam violently into the steering
wheel, instrument panel, w indshield , or what­
ever else is in the way
c::> fig. 120. This impact
with the vehicle interior has all the energy
they had just before the crash.
Never rely on airbags alone for protection.
Even when they deploy, airbags provide only
additional protection. Airbags are not sup­
posed to deploy in all kinds of accidents. Al­
though your Audi is equipped with airbags, all
vehicle occupants, including the driver, must
wear safety belts correctly in order to mini­ mize the risk of severe injury or death in a
crash.
Remember too, that airbags will deploy only
once and that your safety belts are always
there to offer protection in those accidents in
which airbags are not supposed to deploy or
when they have already deployed. Unbelted
occupants can also be thrown out of the vehi­
cle where even more severe or fatal injur ies
can occur.
It is also important for the rear passengers to
wear safety belts correctly. Unbelted passen­
gers in the rear seats endanger not only them­
selves but also the driver and other passen­
gers
c::> fig. 121. In a frontal collision they will
be thrown forward violently, where they can
hit and injure the driver and/or front seat pas ­
senger.
Safety belts protect
People think it's possible to use the hands to
brace the body in a minor collision . It's simply
not true!
Fig. 122 Driver is cor rect ly r est rain ed in a sudd en brak­
ing man euve r
Safety belts 13 7
Safety belts used properly can make a big dif­
ference. Safety belts help to keep passengers
in their seats, gradually reduce energy levels
applied to the body in an accident, and help
prevent the uncontrolled movement that can
cause serious injuries . In addition, safety belts
reduce the danger of being thrown out of the
vehicle .
Safety belts attach passengers to the car and
give them the benefit of being slowed down more gently or "softly" through the "give" in
the safety belts, crush zones and other safety
features engineered into today's vehicles. By
"absorbing" the kinetic energy over a longer
period of time, the safety belts make the
forces on the body more "tolerable" and less
likely to cause injury.
Although these examples are based on a fron­
tal collision, safety belts can also su bsta ntia l­
ly reduce the risk of injury in other kinds of
crashes. So, whether you're on a long trip or
just going to the corner store, always buckle
up and make sure others do, too. Accident sta­
tistics show that vehicle occupants properly
wearing safety belts have a lower risk of being
injured and a much better chance of surviving
an accident. Properly using safety belts also
greatly increases the ability of the supplemen­
tal airbags to do their job in a collision . For
this reason, wearing a safety belt is legally re­
quired in most countries including much of
the United States and Canada.
Although your Audi is equipped with airbags,
you still have to wear the safety belts provid­
ed. Front airbags, for example, are activated
only in some frontal collisions. The front air­
bags are not activated in all frontal collisions,
in side and rear collisions, in roll overs or in
cases where there is not enough deceleration
through impact to the front of the vehicle.
The same goes for the other airbag systems in
your Audi. So, always wear your safety belt
and make sure everybody in your vehicle is
properly restrained!

138 Safety belts
Important safety instructions about
safety belts
Safety belts must always be correctly posi­
tioned across the strongest bones of your
body.
,.. Always wear safety belts as illustrated and
described in this chapter.
,.. Make sure that your safety belts are always
ready for use and are not damaged.
A WARNING
Not wearing safety belts or wearing them
improperly increases the risk of serious
personal injury and death. Safety belts can
work only when used correctly .
- Always fasten your safety belts correctly
before driving
off and make sure all pas­
sengers are correctly restrained.
- For maximum protection, safety belts must always be positioned properly on
the body .
- Never strap more than one person , in­
cluding small children, into any belt.
- Never place a safety belt over a child sit­ ting on your lap.
- Always keep feet in the footwell in front
of the seat while the vehicle is being driv­
en .
- Never let any person ride with their feet on the instrument panel or sticking out
the window or on the seat.
- Never remove a safety belt while the ve­
hicle is moving. Doing so will increase
your risk of be ing injured or killed.
- Never wear belts twisted.
- Never wear belts over rigid or breakable
objects in or on your clothing, such as
eye glasses, pens, keys, etc., as these
may cause injury.
- Never allow safety belts to become dam­
aged by being caught in door or seat
hardware .
- Do not wear the shoulder pa rt of the belt
under your arm or otherwise out of pos i­
tion . -
Several layers of heavy clothing may in­
terfere with correct positioning of belts
and reduce the overall effectiveness of
the system .
- Always keep belt buckles free of anything
that may prevent the buckle from latch­
ing securely .
- Never use comfort clips or devices that
create slack in the shoulder belt . Howev­
er, special clips may be required for the
proper use of some child restraint sys­
tems .
- Torn or frayed safety belts can tear, and
damaged belt hardware can break in an
accident. Inspect belts regularly .
If web­
bing, bindings, buck les, or retractors are
damaged, have belts replaced by an au ­
thorized Audi dealer or qualified work­
shop.
- Safety belts that have been worn and
loaded in an accident must be replaced
with the correct replacement safety belt
by an authorized Audi dealer . Replace­
ment may be necessary even if damage
cannot be clearly seen . Anchorages that
were loaded must also be inspected.
- Never remove, modify, disassemble, or
try to repair the safety belts yourself.
- Always keep the belts clean. Dirty belts
may not work properly and can impair
the function of the inert ia reel
c::> ta­
ble Internal cleaning on page 207.
Safety belts
Fastening safety belts
Safety first -everybody buckle up!
Fig. 123 B elt buck le and to ngue o n th e drive r's se at