instrument panel AUDI S3 SEDAN 2015 Owner's Manual

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¢ page 158, More impor tant things to know
about front airbags .
In addition to their normal safety function, safe­
ty belts help keep the driver or front passenger in position in a fronta l co llision so that the airbags
can provide supp lemental protection.
The airbag system is not a s ubst itute for yo ur
safety belt. Rather, it is part of the overall occu­ pant restraint system in your vehicle . Always re­
member that the airbag system can only help to
protect you if you are wearing your safety belt
and wearing it properly. This is why you should al­
ways wear your safety belt, not just because the law requires you to do so~
page 140, General
notes.
Remember too, airbags will deploy only once and
only in certain kinds of accidents -your safety
be lts are a lways there to offer protection in those
accidents in which airbags are not supposed to
deploy or when they have already deployed, for
examp le when yo ur vehicle str ikes or is struck by
anothe r after the first collision .
This is just one of the reasons why an a irbag is
not a substitute for the safety belt . The airbag
sys tem works most effective ly when used with
the safety belts. Therefore, always wear your
safety bel ts correctly .
It is important to remember that whi le the sup­
p lemental knee a irbag sys tem is designed to re­
d uce the likelihood of serious i njur ies , o ther inj u­
ries, for examp le, swe lling, bruising and m inor
abrasions and friction b urns can a lso occur when
an airbag inf lates.
The kne e airbag system basically consist s of:
- T he elec tronic control mod ule
- Two inflatab le airbags (airbag and gas genera-
tor), one for the drive r and one fo r the front
passenge r
- T he airbag ind icator light in the instrument
pane l
The knee airb ag system will not deploy:
- when the ign it ion is swi tched off
- in frontal collis ions when the dece lerat ion
measured by the control unit is too low
Ai rb ag system
- in side co llisions
- in rear-end col lisions
- in rollove rs
- in the event of a system malfunction (war ning/
ind icator light is on) ¢
page 20.
,&. WARNING
-Safety belts and the airbag system can only
prov ide protection when oc cupan ts are in
the proper seating position~
page 158 .
- If th e ai rbag ind icator light 9 page 20
comes when the veh icle is being used, have
the system inspected immediately by your
authorized Audi dealer .
It is possible that
the airbag will inflate when it is not sup­
posed to, or will not inflate when it should.
How knee airbags work
Applies to vehicles: wit h knee airbags
The risk of injury to the leg area can be reduced
by fully inflated knee airbags .
Fig . 1 33 Inflated a irbags p rotect ing in a fro nta l co llision
The knee airbag system has been designed so
that the airbags for the driver and front passen­
ger dep loy in certai n but not all fronta l collisions.
If the front ai rbags dep loy, the knee a irbags also
deploy in frontal co llisions when the deployment
threshold stored in the control un it is met .
When the system deploys, the airbags fill with a compressed propellant gas, and inflate between
the lowe r part of the i nstr ument panel and the
driver and the lower part of the instrument pane l
and the front passenger ¢
page 158, fig. 130.
Although they are not a soft pillow , they can
" cushion " the impact and in th is way they can
165

Airb ag syst em
registered by the cont ro l unit is high enough. If
this rate is below the reference va lue program­
med into the control unit, the s ide curtain airbag
will not be triggered, even though the car may be
badly damaged as a result of the collision .
It is
not possib le to define an airbag triggering range
that will cover every possible angle of impact ,
since the circumstances will vary considerab ly be­
tween one col lis ion and another. Important fac­
tors include , for example , the nature (hard or
soft) of the impacting object, the angle of im­
pact , vehicle speed, etc.
9 page 170, How side
curtain airbags work.
Aside from the ir normal safety function , safety
be lts work to help keep the driver or front pas­
senger in position in the event of a collision so
that the side curtain airbags can provide protec­
tion .
The airbag system is not a substitute for your
safety belt . Rather, it is part of the overall occ u­
pant restraint system in your vehicle . Always re­
member that the airbag system can only he lp to
protect you if you are wearing your safety belt
and wearing it properly . Th is is another reason
why you should a lways wear your safety belts,
not just because t he law requires you to do so
9 page 140, General notes.
It is important to remember that while the side
curta in a irbag system is designed to help reduce
the likelihood of serious injur ies, other injur ies,
for example, swe lling, bruising, fr iction burns
and minor abras ions can also be associated w it h
these airbags upon deployment . Remember too,
these airbags will deploy only once and only in
certain kinds of accidents -your safety belts are
always there to offer protection .
The side curt ain airbag sy stem basically
consist s of:
- The electronic control modu le and externa l side
impact sensors
- The side c urtain airbags above the fro nt and
rear side w indows with ejection mit igation fea­
tures
- The airbag indicator light in the instrument
panel
170
The airbag system is monitored electronically to
make certain it is functioning properly at all
times . Each time you sw itch on the ign ition, the
airbag system ind icator light will come on for a
few seconds (self diagnostics).
The side curtain airbag i s not acti vat ed :
- if the ign ition is switched off,
- in side collisions whe n the accelera tion meas-
ured by the sensor is too low,
- in rear-end col lis ions .
.&_ WARNING
-Safety belts and the airbag system wi ll only
provide protection when occupants are in
the proper seating position
9 page 54,
Front seats.
- If the airbag indicator light~ page 20
comes when the vehicle is being used, have
the system inspected immediately by your
author ized Audi dealer.
It is possible that
the airbag will inflate when it is not sup­
posed to, or will not infla te when it should.
How side curtain airbags work
Side curtain airbags can work together with side
airbags to help reduce the risk of head and upper
torso injuries for occupants who ore properly re ­
strained .
Fig. 137 Illust rat ion of prin cip le: I nflated s ide curtain a ir­
bag s on t he le ft s ide
The side curtai n airbags infla te be tween the oc ­
cupant and the w indows on the side of the veh i­
cle that is st ruck in a side collision~
fig. 137.
When the system is triggered, the side curta in
airbag is filled with prope llant gas and breaks

Child safety
Advanced front airbag system and children
Your vehicle is equipped with a front "Advanced
Airbag System" in compliance with United States Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS)
208 as applicable at the time your vehicle was
manufactured.
The Advanced Airbag system in your vehicle has
been certified to meet the "low-risk" require­
ments for 3- and 6-year old children on the pas­
senger side and small adults on the driver side.
The low risk deployment criteria are intended to
reduce the risk of injury through interaction with
the airbag that can occur, for example, by being
too close to the steering wheel and instrument panel when the airbag inflates. In addition, the
system has been certified to comply with the
"suppression " requirements of the Safety Stand­
ard, to turn off the front airbag for infants up to
12 months who are restrained on the front pas­
senger seat in child restraints that are listed in
the Standard.
Even though your vehicle is equipped with an Ad­
vanced Airbag system, all children, especially
those 12 years and younger, should always ride in
the back seat properly restrained for their age
and size. The airbag on the passenger side makes
the front seat a potentially dangerous place for a
child to ride. The front seat is not the safest place
for a child in a forward-facing child safety seat .
It
can be a very dangerous place for an infant or a
larger child in a rearward-facing seat .
The vehicle's Advanced Airbag System has a ca­
pacitive passenger detection system in the front
passenger seat cushion that can detect the pres­
ence of a baby or a child in a child restraint sys­
tem on this seat.
The capacitive passenger detection system regis ­
ters the changes that result in an electrical field
when a child, a child restraint, and a baby blanket
are on the front passenger seat. The change in
the measured capacitance due to the presence of
a child, a child restraint, and a baby blanket on
the front passenger seat is related to the child re­
straint system resting on the seat. The measured
capacitance of a child restraint system varies de-
174 pending
on the type of system and specific make
and model.
The electrical capacitance of the various types, makes, and models of child restraints specified
by the U.S.National Highway Traffic Safety Ad­
ministration (NHTSA) in the relevant safety
standard are stored in the Advanced Airbag Sys­
tem control unit together with the capacitances
typical of infants and a 1-year old child. When a
child restraint is used on the front passenger seat
with a typical 1 year-old infant, the Advanced Air­
bag System compares the capacitance measured
by the capacitive passenger detection system
with the data stored in the electronic control
unit.
Child restraints and Advanced front airbag
system
Regardless of the child restraint that you use,
make sure that it has been certified to meet Unit­
ed States Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards
and has been certified by its manufacturer for
use with an airbag. Always be sure that the child
restraint is properly installed at one of the rear
seating positions. If in exceptional circumstances
you must use it on the front passenger seat, care­
fully read all of the information on child safety
and Advanced Airbags and heed all of the appli­ cable WARNINGS. Make certain that the child
and child restraint are correctly recognized by the
capacitive passenger detection system in the
front passenger seat, that the front passenger airbag is turned off, and that the airbag status is
always correctly signaled by the
PASSENGER AIR
BAG OFF
light .
Many types and models of child restraints have
been available over the years, new models are in­
troduced regularly incorporating new and im­
proved designs and older models are taken out of
production. Child restraints are not standardized.
Child restraints of the same type typically have
different weights and sizes and different "foot­
prints", the size and shape of the bottom of the
child restraint that sits on the seat, when they
are installed on a vehicle seat . These differences
make it virtually impossible to certify compliance
with the requirements for advanced airbags with ..,.

Checking and Filling
of vehicle batteries improperly is very danger­
ous to the environment.
Windshield washer system
F ig . 165 Eng ine compartment: washer fluid reservoir cap
M
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"" 00 a,
The washer fluid reservoir O contains the wind­
shield washer fluid¢ page 200, fig. 157. Reser­
voir capacity¢ page 260.
"' Read and follo w all
WARNINGS before working
in the engine compartment ¢page
198 .
... Open the cap .
... Add the washer f luid and close the cap .
To reduce the risk of lime scale depos its on the
spray nozzles, use clean water with low amounts
of calcium. Always add a window cleaner to th
water. It should contain freeze protection in the
winter.
(D Note
- Never add radiator anti-freeze or other addi­
tives to the washer fluid.
- Do not use a glass cleaner that contains
paint solvents, there is a risk of damaging
the pa int.
212
Service interval display
The service interval display detects when your ve­
hicle is due for service.
Fig. 166 Instrument cluster: Service interval display (ex·
amp le)
Fig. 167 Display in the MMI panel: service interval display
(example)
l6 M 0 ;:;. co m
The service interval display works in two stages:
-Inspection or oil change reminder: After a cer ­
tain distance driven, a message appears in the
instrument cluster display each time the igni­
tion is switched on or off¢ fig. 166. The re­
maining distance or time is disp layed briefly.
- Inspection or oil change due: If your vehicle
has reached an inspection or oi l change interval
or both intervals at the same time, the mes­
sage:
Inspection due! or Oil change due! or Oil
change and inspection due!
appears briefly af­
ter switching the ignition on/off.
Checking service intervals
You can check the rema ining distance or time un­
til the next oil change or next inspection in the
MMI
¢ fig. 167. Select the I MENU I button> Car>
Systems*
control button > Service & control >
Service intervals.