weight AUDI S4 2013 User Guide

Even though your vehicle is equipped with an
Advanced Airbag System, make certain that
all ch ildren, especially those 12 years and
younger, a lways 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 child in a rearward-facing seat.
The Advanced Airbag System in your veh icle
has been certified to comply w ith the Requ ire­
ments of United States Federa l Motor Vehicle
Safety Standard 208 as applicable at the time
your vehicle was manufactured.
The Standard requires the front ai rbag on the
passenger side to be turned off ("sup­
p ressed") if a ch ild up to about one year of
age restrained in one of the rear-facing or for­
ward -facing infant restraints listed in Federal
Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208 with wh ich
the Advanced Airbag System in your vehicle
was certified has been installed on the front passenger seat . For a listing of the child re­
straints that were used to certify compliance
with the US Safety Standard
Qpage 168.
The PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light in the in­
strument panel tells you when the front Ad­
vanced A irbag on the passenger side has bee n
turned off by the electronic control unit.
Each t ime you turn on the ignition, the
PAS ­
SENGER AIR BAG OFF
light will come on for a
few seconds and :
- will stay on if the front passenger seat is not
occupied,
- will stay on if there is a small child or child restraint on the front passenger seat,
- will go off if the front passenger seat is oc­
cupied by an adult as registered by the
weight-sensing mat
Q page 156, Monitor­
ing the Advanced Airbag System .
The PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes on
when the control un it detects a total weight
on the front passenger seat that requires the
front airbag to be turned off.
Airbag system 147
If the total weight on the front passenger
seat is more than that of a typical 1 year-o ld
c hild but less than the weight of a small
adult, the front airbag on the passenger side
can deploy (the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light does not come on). If the PASSENGER
AIR BAG OFF
light does not come on, the
front a irbag on the passenger side has not
been turned off by the electronic con trol unit
and can deploy if the contr ol unit senses an
impact that meets the cond itions stored in its
memory .
For example, the airbag may deploy if:
-a small ch ild that is heav ie r than a typical 1
year-old ch ild is o n the front passenger seat
(regard less of whether the child is in one of
the child safety seats listed
Q page 168), or
- a child who has outgrown child restraints is
on the front passenger seat.
If the front passenger airbag is turned off, the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes on in
the instrument cluster and stays on.
The front airbag on the passenger side may
not deploy (the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light does not illum inate and stay lit) even if a
small adult or teenager, or a passenger who is
not sitting uprig ht with their back against a
non-reclined backrest w ith their feet on the
vehicle floor in front of the seat is on the front
passenger seat~
page 128, Proper seating
position for the driver.
If the front passenger airbag deploys, the
Federal Standard requires the airbag to meet
the "low risk" deployment criteria to reduce
the risk of injury thro ugh interaction with the
airbag . "Low risk" deployment occ urs in those
crashes that take place at lower dece lerat ions
as defined in the electronic control unit
Q page 156, PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light .
Always remember, a child safety seat or infant
carr ier installed on the front seat may be
struck and knocked out of posit ion by the rap­
idly inflating passenger's airbag in a frontal
collision . The airbag could greatly reduce the
effectiveness of the child restraint and even
seriously injure the child during inflation. •
•

-Never place additional items on the seat
that can increase the total weight regis­
tered by the weight-sensing mat and can
cause injury in a crash.
Front airbags
Description of front airbags
The airbag system can provide supplemental
protection to properly restrained front seat o ccupan ts.
F ig . 153 Location of driver airbag: in steer ing whee l
Fig. 154 Location of front passenger's airbag: in the in ­
st rument panel
Your veh icle is equipped w ith an "Advanced
Ai rbag System" in compliance with United
States Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (F MVSS) 208 as app licab le at the time your
ve hicle w as manufac tured. The system senses
the position of the front seats and controls
front airbag inflation with a va lve, depending
on the distance between the respect ive seat
and the steering wheel or instrument panel.
The safety belts for the seats have "preten­
sioners" that he lp to take slack out of the belt
system . The pretensioners are also activated
by the electron ic contro l unit for the airbag
sys tem.
A irba g sy stem 149
The front sa fety belts also have load limiters
to help reduce the forces applied to the body
in a crash .
T he airbag for the drive r is in the stee ring
whee l hub
q fig. 153 and the airbag for the
front passenger is in the instrument panel
~fig. 154 . The general locat ion of the a irbags
is marked "AIRBAG".
There is a lot you need to know about the ai r­
bags in your vehicle . We urge you to read t he
detailed information about airbags, safety
belts and child safety i n 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 yo ur passengers, especially in­
fants and small children.
_&. WARNING
N ever rely on airbags alone for protec tion.
- E ven w hen they deploy, airbags provide
only s uppleme nta l pro tect ion .
- Airbag work most effective ly when used
wit h properly wor n safety belts.
- Therefore, always wea r you r safe ty belts
and make sure that eve rybody i n your ve­
hicle is p rope rly res trained.
_&. WARNING
A pe rson on the fron t passe nger seat, es­
pe cial ly infants and sma ll children, will re­
ceive serious injuries and can even be kil­ l ed 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 passenge r airbag if an infant or a
small child is on the front passenger
seat, nobody can absolutely guarantee
that deployment under these specia l
conditions is imposs ible in all conceiva­
b le sit uat ions that may happen during
t he useful life of your vehicle.
- The Advanced Airbag System can dep loy
in acco rdance with t he "low risk" option
un der the U.S. Fede ral Standa rd if a child
that is he avie r than the typical one-year
-
..

150 Airbag system
old child is on the front passenger seat
and the other conditions for airbag de­
ployment are met .
- Accident statistics have shown that chil­
dren are generally safer in the rear seat
area than in the front seating position.
- For their own safety, all children, espe­ cially 12 years and younger, should al­
ways ride in the back properly restrained
for their age and size.
Advanced front airbag system
Your vehicle is equipped with a front Advanced
Airbag System in compliance with United
States Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard
208 as applicable at the time your vehicle was
manufactured.
The front Advanced Airbag System supple­ ments the safety belts to provide additional
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 deceleration 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 the over­
all occupant restraint system in your vehicle.
Always remember that the airbag system can
only help to protect you , if you are sitting up­
right, wearing your safety belt and wearing it
properly . This is why you and your passengers
must always be properly restrained, not just
because the law requires you to be.
The Advanced Airbag System in your vehicle has been certified to meet the "low risk" re ­
quirements for 3 and 6 year-old children on
the passenger side and very small adults on
the driver side . The low risk deployment crite­
ria are intended to help reduce the risk of in­
jury through interaction with the front 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 Standard
, to turn
off the front
airbag for infants 12 months old and younger
who are restrained on the front passenger
seat in child restraints that are listed in the
Standard ¢
page 168, Child restraints and
Advanced Airbags .
"Suppression" requires the front airbag on the
passenger side to be turned
off if:
- a child up to about one year of age is re­
strained on the front passenger seat in one
of the rear-facing or forward-facing infant restraints listed in Federal Motor Vehicle
Safety Standard 208 with which the Ad­
vanced Airbag System in your vehicle was
certified . For a listing of the child restraints
that were used to certify your vehicle's com­ pliance with the US Safety Standard
¢page 168,
-weight less than a threshold level stored in
the control unit is detected on the front pas­
senger seat.
When a person is detected on the front pas­
senger seat, weighing more than the total
weight of a child that is about 1 year old re­
strained in one of the rear-facing or forward­
facing infant restraints (listed in Federal Mo­
tor Vehicle Safety Standard 208 with which
the Advanced Airbag System in your vehicle
was certified), the front airbag on the passen­ ger side may or may not deploy.
The
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes on
when the electronic control unit detects a to­
tal weight on the front passenger seat that re­
quires the front airbag to be turned
off. If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does not
come on, the front airbag on the passenger
side has not been turned
off by the control
unit and can deploy if the control unit senses
an impact that meets the conditions stored in
its memory.
If the total weight on the front passenger
seat is more than that of a typical 1 year-old ,
but less than the weight of a small adult, the
front airbag on the passenger side may deploy
(the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does not
come on).
ll-

152 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 and
cont ro l valve for the d river inside the steer­
ing wheel h ub.
- An Advanced A irbag with gas ge nerator and
contro l valve inside the instrument pane l for
the front passenger.
- A weight-sensing mat under the up ho lstery
pad ding 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 contro l unit to regu­
late deployment of the front Advanced Air­ bag on the passenger side .
- An airbag monitor ing system and i ndicator
light in the i nstr ument cluster ~
page 156 .
-A sensor in each front seat registers the dis­
tance between the respective seat a nd the
steer ing whee l o r i ns trument panel. The i n­
formation registered is sent cont inuously to
t he ele ctr onic cont ro l uni t to regula te de­
p loyment o f the front Advance d Airbags .
- The
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF ligh t comes
on and st ays on in the cen ter o f the instr u­
ment panel
~ page 156, fig . 156 and tells
you whe n the front Advanced Airbag on the
passenger side has been tu rned off .
- A sensor below the safety be lt latch for the
front seat passenger to measure the tension on the safety be lt . The tension on the safety
be lt and the weight registered by the
weight-sensing mat he lp the control unit
"decide" whether the front airbag for the
front passenger seat should be turned off or
not ~
page 146, Child restraints on the
front seat -some important things to
know.
- A senso r in the safety belt latch fo r th e d riv­
er and fo r the front sea t passenger tha t
senses w het he r th at safety bel t is latched or
not and transmi ts this information to the
electronic control unit.
A WARNING
Damage to the front passenger seat can
p revent the front airbag from work ing
properly.
-

-Improper repair or disassembly of the
front passenger and driver seat will pre­
vent the Advanced Airbag System from
functioning properly .
- Repairs to the front passenger seat must
be performed by qualified and properly
trained workshop personnel.
- Never remove the front passenger or
driver seat from the 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-
Airbag system 153
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.
- If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not come on and stay on, immedi­
ately install child restraint in a rear seat­
ing position and have the airbag system
inspected 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. The amount of infla­
tion of the front airbags can also be adapted
to the front sea t position, depending on the
distance between the respective front seat
and the steering wheel or instrument panel as registered by sensors in the seats . Crash se­
verity depends on speed and deceleration as
well as the mass and stiffness of the vehicle
or object involved in the crash.
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
amount programmed in the electronic 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 Federal
Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208 has been
recogni zed on the seat . The
PASSENGER AIR .,,.
•
•

154 Airbag system
BAG OFF light comes on and stays on to te ll
you when the front Advanced Airbag on the
passenger side has been turned off
c> page 146, Child restraints on the front seat
- some important things to know.
A WARNING
To reduce the risk of injury when a n airbag
inflates, always wear safety belts properly.
- If you are unrestrained, lean ing forward,
sitting sideways or out of position in any
way, your risk of injury is much higher.
- You w ill also receive serious injuries and
cou ld even be killed if you are up against
the a irbag or too close to it when it in­
flates -even with an Advanced Airbag
c>page 145.
More important things to know about
front airbags
F ig. 155 Inflated front airbags
-,.._
::: :i:.
"' a)
Safety belts are important to help keep front
seat occupants in the proper seated pos ition
so that airbags can unfo ld properly and pro­
vide supp lemental protection in a frontal co l­
lision.
The front a irbags are designed to provide ad­
d itiona l protect ion for the chest and face of
the driver and the front seat passenger when :
- safety belts are worn properly,
- the seats have been posit ioned so that the
occupant is proper ly seated as far as possi­
ble from the a irbag,
- 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 cou
ld become dan ­
gerous projecti les, and be pushed into you if
the a irbag inflates.
When an airbag deploys, fine dust is re leased.
T his is norma l and is not caused by a fi re in
the vehicle . This dust is made up mostly of a
powder used to lubricate the airbags as they
deploy. It could irritate skin .
It is important to remembe r that while the
supplementa l airbag system is designed to re­
duce the likelihood of serious injur ies, other
injur ies, for example swelling, bruising and
minor abrasions, can also happen when air­
bags inflate . A irbags do not protect the arms
o r the lower parts of the body. Front a irbags
only supp lement the three point safety belts
in some fronta l co llisions in wh ich the vehicle
deceleration is high enough to deploy the air­
bags .
Front a irbags will not deploy:
- if the ignition is sw itched off whe n a c rash
occurs,
- in side collisions,
- in rear-end collisions,
- in rollovers,
- when the crash deceleration measured by
the airbag system is less than the minimum
threshold needed for a irbag deployment as
reg istered by the electronic control unit.
The front pa ssenge r airbag will al so not
deplo y:
- 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 indicates that the front a irbag on the
passenger side has to be turned off by the
electronic control unit (the
PASSENGER A IR
BAG OFF
l ight comes on and stays on).
A WARNING
Sitting in the wrong pos ition can increase
the r is k of se rious injury in crashes.
- To reduce the risk of injury w he n the air ­
bags i nflate, the drive r and passengers

156 Airbag system
Monitoring the
Advanced Airbag System
Airbag monitoring indicator light
Two separate indicators monitor the function
of the Advanced Airbag System: the airbag
monitoring indicator light and the
P AS SEN ­
GER AIR B AG
OFF light.
The Advanced Airbag System (including the
electronic control unit, sensor circuits and sys­
tem wiring) is monitored continuously to
make sure that it is functioning properly
whenever the ignit ion is on. Each t ime you
turn on the ignition, the
rl airbag monitoring
indicator light w ill come on for a few seconds
(self diagnostics) .
The system mu st be inspected when the
(I indicator light :
-does not come on when the ignit ion is
switched on,
- does not go out a few seconds after you
have switched on the ignition, or
- comes on wh ile d riving .
If an airbag system malfunction is detected,
the indicator light will first start flashing to
catch the driver's attention and then stay on
continuously to se rve as a constant reminder
to have the system inspected immediately .
If a malfunction occurs that turns the front
a irbag on the passenger side off, the
PAS SEN­
GER AIR BAG
OFF light will come on and stay
on whenever the ignition is on.
A WARNING
An airbag system that is not func tioning
properly cannot provide supplemen tal pro­
tect ion in a frontal crash .
-If the airbag indica tor light¢ page 20
comes when the vehicle is be ing used,
have the system inspected immediate ly
by you r aut horized Aud i dea le r. It is pos­
sible that the a irbag will inflate when it
is not supposed to, or w ill not inflate
when it should.
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF l ight
F ig. 156 Sect io n fro m the instrument panel: PASSEN ­
GER AIR BAG OFF lig ht
T he PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light is located
in the center of the instrument pane l
¢fig. 156.
The PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light wi ll come
o n and stay on to tell you w hen the front Ad­
vanced Airbag o n the passenge r side has been
tu rned off by the electronic contro l unit. Each
t ime you turn on the ignition, the
PASSEN­
GER AIR BAG OFF
light will flash for a few
seconds and:
- wi ll stay on if the front passenger seat is not
occupied,
- wil l stay on if there is a small ch ild or child
restraint on the front passenger seat,
-w il l go out if t he front passenge r seat is oc­
cupied by an adult as registered by the
weight -sensing mat .
T he
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF l ight mu st
com e on and sta y o n
if the igni tion is on and
- a car bed has been installed on the front
seat, or
- a rearward-facing child restraint has been installed on the front passenger seat, o r
- a forward-fac ing ch ild restra int has been in­
stalled on the front passenger seat, or
- the weight reg istered on the front passen­
ger seat is equal to or less than the com­
b ined weight of a typical 1 year-old restra in­
ed in one of the rear-facing or forwa rd-fac­
ing infant restra ints listed in Federal Motor
Veh icle Safety Standard 208 wi th which the
Advanced A irbag System in you r vehicle was
cert ified.
II>-

If the fron t passenger seat is not occupied,
the front airbag will not deploy, and the
PAS­
SENGER AIR BAG OF F
light will stay on. Nev­
er in sta ll a rearward-fac ing ch ild restra int on
t he fron t passenger seat, the safest place for
a child in any kind of child restraint is at one
of the seating positions on the rear seat
¢ page 146, Child restraints on the front seat
- some important things to know
and
¢ page 166, Child Safety .
If the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light c om es
on
when one of the conditions listed above is
met, be sure to check the light regularly to
make certa in that the
PAS SENGER AIR BAG
O FF
ligh t stays on cont inuous ly whenever the
ignition is on . If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
light does not appear and not stay on all
the time, stop as soon as it is safe to do so
and
- reactivate the system by turning the ignition
off and then t urning it on again;
- remove and reinstall the chi ld restraint .
Make sure that the child restraint is properly
insta lled and that the sa fety be lt for the
front passenger seat has been correct ly
routed around the child restraint a s desc ri­
bed in the child restraint manufacturer 's in­
structions;
- make sure 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
mus t not be loose o r have loops of slack so
that the sensor below the safety be lt latch
on the seat can do its job
¢ page 176 .
-make su re that th ings that may increase the
weight of t he ch ild and child safe ty seat are
not being transported on the front passen ­
ger seat ;
- make su re that the safety bel t tension sen ­
sor is not b locked . Shake t he safety belt
l atch on the front passenger seat back and
forth;
- If a strap or tether is being used to tie the
child safety seat to the front passenger
seat, make sure that it is not so tight that it
A irbag system 157
causes the weight -sensing mat to measure
more weight than is act ually on the seat .
If the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light still
doe s 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 ins tall it properly a t one of the
rear seat positions. Have the airbag system
inspected by yo ur authorized Audi dealer
immediate ly .
- move the child to a rear seat position and
make sure t hat the c hild is properly restrain­
ed in a c hild restra int that is app ropriate for
its size and age.
T he
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light sho uld
NOT come on when the ignition is on and an
adult is sitting in a proper seating position on
the front passenger seat. If the
PASSENGER
AIR BAG OFF
ligh t 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 wi th his or her back up aga inst the
backrest and the backrest is not recl ined
¢ page 128, 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 passe nger door or support ­
ing their weight on the armrest ,
- the safety belt is being properly wo rn and
t ha t there is not a lot of s lack in the safety
be lt webbing ,
- ac cesso ry seat covers or cushions o r other
t hings tha t may cause an incorrect reading
or impression on the we ight-sensing mat
under the upho lstery of the seat have been
removed from the front passenger seat,
- a sa fety belt exten der has not been left in
the safety belt latch for the front passenger
seat.
In add it ion to the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
li ght in the cente r of the instrumen t panel,
the message
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF or
PASSENGER AIR BAG ON wi ll briefly appear ll-
•
•

158 Airbag system
in the instrument cluster display. This is to in­
form the driver of the current front passenger
airbag status.
Important safety instructions on
monitoring the Advanced Airbag System
A WARNING
An airbag system that is not functioning properly cannot provide supplemental pro­
tection in a frontal crash.
- If the airbag indicator light¢
page 20
comes when the vehicle is being used,
have the system inspected immediately
by your authori zed Audi dealer. It is pos­
sible that the airbag will inflate when it
is not supposed to, or will not inflate
when it should .
A WARNING
If the front airbag inflates, a child without
a child restraint, in a rearward-facing child
safety seat or in a forward-facing child re­
straint that has not been properly installed
will be seriously injured and can be killed.
- Even though your vehicle is equipped
with an Advanced Airbag System, make certain that all children, especially 12
years and younger, always ride on the back seat properly restrained for their
age and size.
- Always install forward or rear-facing
child safety seats on the rear seat -even
with an Advanced Airbag System.
- If you must install a rearward-facing
child safety seat on the front passenger
seat because of exceptional circumstan­
ces and the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light does not appear and stay on, imme­
diately install the rear-facing child safety
seat in a rear seating position and have
the airbag system inspected by your au­
thorized Audi dealer.
- A tight tether or other strap on a rear­
ward-facing child restraint attached to
the front passenger seat can put too
much pressure on the weight-sensing
-
mat in the seat and register more weight
than is actually on the seat. The heavier
weight registered can make the system
work as though an adult were on the seat and deploy the Advanced Airbag when it
must be suppressed causing serious or
even fatal injury to the child.
- If, in exceptional circumstances, you
must install a forward-facing child re­
straint on the front passenger seat, al­
ways move the seat into its rearmost po­
sition in the seat's fore and aft adjust­
ment range, as far away from the airbag
as possible. The backrest must be adjust­
ed to an upright position. Make sure that
the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
comes on and stays on all the time when­
ever the ignition is switched on .
A WARNING
-
-
-If the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not go out when an adult is sitting
on the front passenger seat after taking
the steps described above, make sure the
adult is properly seated and restrained at
one of the rear seating positions.
- Have the airbag system inspected by
your authorized Audi dealer before trans­
porting anyone on the front passenger
seat.
(D Tips
If the weight-sensing mat in the front pas­
senger seat detects an empty seat, the
front airbag on the passenger side will be
turned off, and
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
will stay on.
Repair , care and disposal of the airbags
Par ts o f the airb ag system are ins talled at
many different places on your Audi. Installing,
removing, servicing or repairing a part in an
area of the vehicle can damage a part of an
airbag system and prevent that system from
working properly in a collision. .,..

-Objects between you and the airbag can
increase the risk of injury in an accident
by interfering with the way the airbag
unfolds or by being pushed into you as
the airbag inflates .
- Never place or attach accessories or
other objects (such as cupholders, tele­
phone brackets, or even large, bulky
objects) on the doors, over or near the
area marked "AIRBAG" on the seat
backrests.
- Such objects and accessories can be­
come dangerous projectiles and cause
injury when the supplemental side air­
bag deploys .
- Never carry any objects or pets in the
deployment space between them and
the airbags or allow children or other
passengers to travel in this position .
- Always use the built -in coat hooks only
for lightweight clothing . Never leave any
heavy or sharp-edged objects in the
pockets that may interfere with side air­
bag deployment and can cause personal
injury in an accident.
- Always prevent the side a irbags from be­
ing damaged by heavy objects knocking
against or hitting the sides of the seat­
backs.
- The airbag system can only be trigge red
once.
If the airbag has been triggered,
the system must be replaced by an au­
thorized Audi dealership .
- Damage (cracks, deep scratches etc .) to
the original seat covers or to the seam in
the area of the side airbag module must
always be repaired immediately by an au­
thorized Audi dealer .
- If children are seated improperly, their
risk of injury increases in the case of an
accident ~ page 166, Child Safety .
- Never attempt to modify any compo­
nents of the airbag system in any way .
- In a side collision, side airbags will not
function properly if sensors cannot cor­ rectly measure increasing air pressure in ­
side the doors when air escapes through
Airbag system 163
larger, unclosed openings in the door
panel.
- Never drive with interior door trim pan­
els removed .
- Never drive when parts have been re­
moved from the inside door panel and
the open ings they leave have not been
properly closed.
- Never drive when loudspeakers in the
doors have been removed unless the
speaker holes have been p roperly
closed.
- Always make certain that openings are
covered or filled if additiona l speakers
or other equipment is installed in the
inside door panels .
- Always have work on the doors done by
an authorized Audi dealer or qualified
workshop.
Side curtain airbags
Description of side curtain airbags
The side curtain airbag sy stem can provide
supplemental protection to properly restrain ­
ed occupants .
Fig. 1S9 Side curta in syst em , dri ver's side: sid e cur tain
airb ag loc ation
The side curtain airbags are located on both
sides of the interior above the front and rear
side windows ~ fig . 159 . They are identified
by the word "AIRBAG" on the windshield
frame and the center roof pillar.
T he side curtain airbag system supplements
the safety belts and can help to reduce the risk of injury for occupants' heads and upper
torso on the side of the vehicle that is struck .,.