child seat AUDI S4 2017 User Guide

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-Never leave your vehicle unattended espe­
cially with the rear lid left open. A child
could crawl into the vehicle through the lug­
gage compartment and close the rear lid be­
coming trapped and unable to get out . Be­
ing trapped in a vehicle can lead to serious
personal injury.
- Never let children play in or around the vehi­
cle.
- Never let passengers ride in the luggage
compartment. Vehicle occupants must al­
ways be properly restrained in one of the ve­
hicle's seating positions.
-Air circulation helps to reduce window fog­
ging . Stale air escapes to the outside
through vents in the trim panel. Be sure to
keep these slots free and open.
- The tire pressure must correspond to the
load. The tire pressure is shown on the tire
pressure label. The tire pressure label is lo­
cated on the driver's side B-pillar. The tire
pressure label lists the recommended cold
tire inflation pressures for the vehicle at its
maximum capacity weight and the tires that
were on your vehicle at the time it was man­
ufactured. For recommended tire pressures
for normal load conditions, please see chap­
ter
c:> page 328.
Tie-downs
The luggage compartment is equipped with four
tie-downs to secure luggage and other items.
Use the tie-downs to secure your cargo properly
c:> page 242, Loading the luggage compar tment.
In a collision, the laws of physics mean that even
smaller items that are loose in the vehicle will
become heavy missiles that can cause serious in­
jury . Items in the vehicle possess energy which
vary with vehicle speed and the weight of the
item. Vehicle speed is the most significant factor .
For 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 weight
Driving safety
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 col­
lision like this.
A WARNING
= -
Weak, damaged or improper straps used to
secure items to tie-downs can fail during hard
braking or in a collision and cause serious per­
sonal injury.
- Always use suitable mounting straps and
properly secure items to the tie-downs in
the luggage compartment to help prevent
items from shifting or flying forward as dan­
gerous missiles.
- When the rear seat backrest is folded down,
always use suitable mounting straps and
properly secure items to the tie-downs in
the luggage compartment to help prevent items from flying forward as dangerous
missiles into the passenger compartment.
- Never attach a child safety seat tether strap
to a tie-down.
Reporting Safety Defects
Applicable to U.S.A.
If you believe that your vehicle has a defect which could cause a
crash or could cause injury or
death, you should immediately in­
form the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in
addition to notifying Audi of
America, Inc.
If NHTSA receives similar com­
plaints, it may open an investiga­
tion, and if it finds that a safety
defects exists in a group of
vehicles, it may order a recall and ""'
243

Safety belts
General information
Always wear safety belts!
Wearing safety belts correctly saves lives!
This chapter explains why safety belts are neces­
sary, 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 im­
properly increases the risk of serious personal
injury and death.
- Safety belts are the single most effective
means available to reduce the risk of serious
injury and death in automobile accidents.
For your protection and that of your passen­
gers, always correctly wear safety belts
when the vehicle is moving.
- Pregnant women, injured, o r physically im­
paired 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 seat­ ing position has a safety belt.
A WARNING
Not wearing safety belts or wearing them im­
properly increases the risk of serious personal
injury and death.
- Never strap more than one person, includ­
ing small children, into any belt.
It is espe­
cially dangerous to place a safety belt over a
;;§ child sitting on your lap.
~ -Never let mo re people ride in the vehicle
:::l than there are safety belts available. 0 0
3 Safety belts
-Be sure everyone riding in the vehicle is
properly restrained with a separate safety
belt or child restraint.
Safety belt warning light
Your vehicle has a warning system for the driver
and front seat passenger to remind you about the importance of buckling-up.
Fi g. 208 Safety belt warn ing light in the instrument clus ·
te r -en larged
Before driving off, always:
.. Fasten your safety belt and make sure you are
wearing it properly.
"' 0 N ... m
.,. Make sure that your passengers also buckle up
and properly wear their safety belts.
.,. Protect children with a child restraint system
appropr iate for the size and age.
The warning light . in the instrument cluster
lights up when the ignit ion is switched on as a re­
minder to fasten the safety belts . In addition,
you w ill hear a warn ing tone for a certain period
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 sing le most effective
means available to reduce the risk of serious
injury and death in automobile accidents.
F or your protection and that of your passen­
gers, a lways correctly wear safety belts
when the vehicle is moving .
- Failure to pay attention to the warning light
that comes on could lead to personal injury.
245

Safety belts
_& WARNING
Not wearing safety belts or wearing them im­
properly increases the risk of serious personal
injury and death . Safety belts can work only
when used correctly.
-Always fasten your safety belts correctly be­ fore driving off and make sure all passen­
gers are correctly restrained.
- For maximum protection, safety belts must
always be positioned properly on the body.
- Never strap more than one person, includ­
ing small children, into any belt.
- Never place a safety belt over a child sitting
on your lap.
- Always keep feet in the footwell in front of
the seat while the vehicle is being driven.
- 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 vehicle
is moving . Doing so will increase your risk of
being injured or killed .
- Never wear belts twisted.
- Never wear belts
over rigid or breakable ob-
jects 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 hard­
ware .
- Do not wear the shoulder part of the belt
under your arm or otherwise out of position.
- Several layers of heavy clothing may inter­
fere with correct positioning of belts and re­
duce the overall effectiveness of the system.
- Always keep belt buckles free of anything
that may prevent the buckle from latching
securely .
- Never use comfort clips or devices that cre­
ate slack in the shoulder belt. However, spe­
cial clips may be required for the proper use
of some child restraint systems.
- Torn or frayed safety belts can tear, and
damaged belt hardware can break in an acci­
dent . Inspect belts regularly.
If webbing,
bindings, buckles, or retractors are dam-
248
aged, have belts replaced by an authorized
Audi dealer or qualified workshop.
- Safety belts that have been worn and loaded
in an accident must be replaced with the
correct replacement safety belt by an au­
thorized Audi dealer. Replacement may be
necessary
even if damage cannot be clearly
seen . Anchorages that were loaded must al­
so 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 func­
tion of the inertia reel¢
table Interior
cleaning on page 339.
Safety belts
Fastening safety belts
Safety first -everybody buckle up!
Fig. 214 Belt buckle and tongue on the driver's seat
To provide maximum protection, safety belts
must always be positioned correctly on the wear­
er's body .
.. Adjust the front seat and head restraint proper­
ly¢
page 61, Front seats.
.. Make sure the seatback of the rear seat bench
is in an upright position and securely latched in
place before using the belt
q ,&. .
.. Hold the belt by the tongue and pull it evenly
across the chest and pelvis¢,&..
.. Insert the tongue into the correct buckle of
your seat until you hear it latch securely
¢fig. 214.
.. Pull on the belt to make sure that it is securely
latched in the buckle. .,,._

Automatic safety belt r etractors
Every safety be lt is equ ipped wi th an automatic
be lt retractor on the shoulder belt. Th is feature
l ocks the belt when the belt is pull ed out fast,
during hard braking and in an accident. The belt may also lock when you drive up or down a steep
h ill or through a sharp curve. During normal driv­
ing the belt lets you move freely.
Safet y be lt pret en sioner s
The safety belts are equipped with a belt preten­
sioner that helps to tighten the safety belt and
remove slack when the pretensioner is activated
c:> page 251. The function of the pretensioner is
monitored by a warning light
c:> page 33.
Con vertible loc king retractor
Every safety belt except the one on the driver
seat is equipped with a convertible locking retrac­
tor that
mu st be used when the safety belt is
used to attach a child safety seat. Be sure to read
the impo rtant information about this feature
c:> page 288 .
A WARNING
Improperly posit ioned safety be lts ca n cause
ser ious injury in an accident
c:> page 249,
Safety belt position.
- Safety belts offer optimum protection only
when the seatback is upr ight and belts are
prope rly pos itioned on the bo dy.
- Always ma ke sure tha t the rear sea t bac k­
rest to wh ic h t he cente r rea r safety be lt is
a ttached is secure ly latched whenever the
rear center safety belt is being used. If the
backrest is not securely latched, the passen­
ger will move forward with the backrest dur­
ing sudden braking, in a sudden maneuver
and especially in a cras h.
- Never attach the safety belt to the buckle
for another seat. Attaching the belt to the
wrong buckle w ill red uce safety belt effec­
t iveness and can cause serious personal in­
jury.
- A passenger who is not p roperly restrained
can be seriously in ju red by the safety be lt it­
self when it moves from the stronger par ts
Safet y bel ts
of the body into critical areas like the abdo­
men.
- Always lock the convertible locking retractor
when you are securing a child safety seat in
the vehicle
c:> page 290.
Safety belt position
Correct belt position is the key to getting maxi­
mum protection from safety belts.
Fig. 215 Safety belt posit ion
Standard features on your vehicle help you adjust
the position of the safety belt to ma tch your body
s iz e.
- be lt height adjustment for the front seats,
- he ight-adjustable front seats.
A WARNING
Improperly positioned safety belts can ca use
se rious personal injury in an acc ident.
- The shou lder belt should lie as close to the
center of the collar bone as possib le and
should fit well on the body. Ho ld the belt
above the latch to ngue and pull it evenly
across t he chest so th at it sits as low as pos­
sible on the pe lvis and there is no p ressure
on the abdomen . The belt should a lway s fit
snug ly
c:> fig. 215. Pu ll on the belt to tighten
if necessary .
- The lap be lt portion of the sa fety belt must
be positioned as low as possi ble across pel­
vis and never over the abdomen. Make sure
the belt lies flat and snug
c:> fig. 215. Pull on
the belt to tighten if necessary.
- A loose-fitting safety belt can cause serious
in ju ries by shifting its position on your body
~
249

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The shoulder belt should lie as close to the center
of the collar bone as possib le and should fit well
on the bod y ¢
A in Safety belt position on
page 249.
.. Push
the loop- around fittings up ¢ fig . 21 8@ ,
or
.. squeeze to gether the@ button, and push the
loop-around fittings
do wn@ .
.. Pull the belt to make sure that the upper at­
tachment is p roperly engaged .
A WARNING
Always read and heed all WARNINGS and oth­
er important informat ion¢
page 247.
With the front seats, the height adjustment
of the seat can also be used to adjust the po­
sition of the safety belts.
Improperly worn safety belts
Incorrectly positioned safety belts can cause se­
vere injuries.
Wearing safety belts improperly can cause seri­
ous injury or death. Safety belts can only work
when they are correctly pos itioned on the body .
Improper seating positions reduce the effect ive­
n ess of safety be lts and will even inc rease the
ris k of injury and death by mov ing the safety bel t
to cr it ica l areas of the body. Imp roper seating
positions also increase the risk of serious inj ury
and death when an airbag deploys and strikes an
occ upant who is not in the co rrect seat ing posi­
tion. A driver is respons ible for the safety of all
vehicle occupants and espec ia lly for children.
Therefore:
.. Never permit anyone to ass ume an incorrect
s itting position in the veh icle wh ile traveling
¢ &, .
A WARNING
Improperly worn safety belts i ncrease the risk
of serious personal injury and death wheneve r
a vehicle is be ing used.
S afet y be lts
- Always make sure that all veh icle occupants
are correctly restrained and stay in a correct
seating position whenever the vehicle is be­
ing used.
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS and
other important informat ion¢
page 247.
Belt tensioner
How safety belt pretensioners work
Reversible safety belt pr etensioners
T he safety belts on the front seats are equ ipped
wi th reve rsible safe ty belt pretensioners. The fol­
l owing func tions a re available when the dr iver's/
front passenge r's safety belts are fastened:
- I n ce rtain driving situations, the safety bel ts
may tig hten w it h a reve rsib le tensioning func ­
t ion
¢ page 107 .
-The s afe ty be lts may also tighten with thi s re-
versible tens ion ing f unct ion in m inor collisions.
Pyrotechnic safety belt pretens ioners
All safety belts except for the safety belt in the
center seat position of the rea r seat are equipped
with safety belt pretensioners. The sys tem is acti­
va ted by sensors in front, side and rear-end co lli­
s ions of great severity and in a rollover. Th is
t ightens the belt and takes up belt slack¢&.
in
Service and disposal of safety belt pretensioner
on page 252.
Taking up the slack helps to re­
duce forward occupant movement during a co lli­
s io n.
(!) Tips
The pyrotechn ic safety belt pretensioners can
on ly be act ivated once.
- The safety belt pretensione rs do not deploy
in minor frontal, side and rear-end colli­
sions.
- When the pyrotechn ic safety belt preten­
sioners are activated, a fine dust is released.
Th is is normal and is not caused by a fire in
the vehicle .
- The relevant safety requirements must be
observed when the vehicle or components
of the sys tem are scrapped. An authorized
Audi dealer or qua lified wor kshop is fami lia r .,.
251

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Airbag system
Important information
Importance of wearing safety belts and
sitting properly
Airbags are only supplemental restraints. For
airbags to do their job, occupants must always
properly wear their safety belts and be in a prop­
er seating position.
For your safety and the safety of your passen­
gers, before driving off, always :
.,. Adjust the driver's seat and steering wheel
properly
9 page 237,
.,. Adjust the front passenger's seat properly
¢page 238,
.,. Wear safety belts properly¢ page 247,
.,. Always properly use the proper child restraint
to protect children ¢
page 2 77.
In a collision, airbags must inflate within the
blink of an eye and with considerable force. The
supplemental airbags can cause injuries if the
driver or the front seat passenger is not seated
properly. Therefore in order to help the airbag to
do its job, it is important, both as a driver and as
a passenger to sit properly at all times.
By keeping room between your body and the
steering wheel and the front of the passenger
compartment, the airbag can inflate fully and
completely and provide supplemental protection in certain frontal collisions
¢ page 237, Correct
seating position for passengers.
For details on
the operation of the seat adjustment controls
¢page 61.
It 's especially important that children are proper­
ly restrained
¢page 277 .
There is a lot that the driver and the passengers
can and must do to help the individual safety fea­
tures installed in your Audi work together as a
system.
Proper seating position is important so that the
front airbag on the driver side can do its job. If
you have a physical impairment or condition that prevents you from sitting properly on the driver
seat with the safety belt properly fastened and
Airbag system
reaching the pedals, or if you have concerns with
regard to the function or operation of the Ad­
vanced Airbag System, please contact your au­
thori zed Audi dealer or qualified workshop, or
call Audi Customer Relations at 1-800-822-2834
for possible modifications to your vehicle.
When the airbag system deploys, a gas generator
will fill the airbags, break open the padded cov­ ers, and inflate between the steering wheel and
the driver and between the instrument panel and
the front passenger. The airbags will deflate im­
mediately after deployment so that the front oc­
cupants can see through the windshield again
without interruption.
All of this takes place in the blink of an eye, so
fast that many people don't even realize that the airbags have deployed. The airbags also inflate
with a great deal of force and nothing should be
in their way when they deploy. Front airbags in
combination with properly worn safety belts slow
down and limit the occupant's forward move­
ment . Together they help to prevent the driver
and front seat passenger from hitting parts of
the inside of the vehicle while reducing the forces
acting on the occupant during the crash . In this
way they help to reduce the risk of injury to the
head and upper body in the crash. Airbags do not
protect the arms or the lower parts of the body.
Both front airbags will not inflate in all frontal
collisions . The triggering of the airbag system de­
pends on the vehicle deceleration rate caused by
the collision and registered by the electronic con­
trol unit . If this rate is below the reference value
programmed into the control unit, the airbags
will not be triggered, even though the car may be badly damaged as a result of the collision. Vehi­
cle damage, repair costs or even the lack of vehi­
cle damage is not necessarily an indication of
whether an airbag should inflate or not.
Since the circumstances will vary considerably
between one collision and another, it is not possi­
ble to define a range of vehicle speeds that will
cover every possible kind and angle of impact
that will always trigger the airbags . Important
factors include, for example, the nature (hard or
soft) of the object which the car hits, the angle of
impact, vehicle speed , etc. The front airbags will
II>
253

Airbag syste m
also not inflate in s ide or rear collisions, or in
ro ll-overs.
Alwa ys rememb er: Airbags will deploy only once,
and on ly in ce rtain k inds of coll is ions. Yo ur safety
be lts are always there to offer protection in those
situations in which airbags are not supposed to
dep loy, or when they have already deployed; for
examp le, when your vehicle str ikes or is struck by
another vehicle after the first coll is ion.
This is just one of the reasons why an airbag is a
supp lementary restraint and is not a substitute
for a safety belt. The a irbag system works most
effect ively when used with the safety belts.
Therefore, always properly wear your safety belts
c::>page 245.
A WARNING
Sitting too close to the steering wheel o r in­
st rument panel will decrease the effective­
ness of the airbags and will inc rease the risk
of personal injury in a co llision.
- Never sit closer than 10 inches (25 cm) to
the steering wheel or instrument panel.
- If you cannot si t mo re than 10 inches
(25 cm) from the steering wheel, invest i­
gate whether adaptive equipment may be
available to help yo u reach the pedals and
increase your seating distance from the
steering wheel.
- All veh icle occupants and especially children
must be restrained properly whenever riding
in a vehicle. An unrestrained or improperly
restra ined child could be injured by striking
the interior or by being ejected from the ve­
hicle during a sudden maneuver or impact.
An unrestrained or imp roperly restrained
child is also at greate r risk of inju ry or death
through contact with an inflating airbag.
- If you are unrestrained, leaning fo rwa rd, s it­
t ing s ideways or o ut o f pos ition in any way,
yo ur risk of in ju ry is much h igher.
- Yo u will also receive serious injuries and
c ould even be killed if you are up aga inst the
air bag or too close to it when it inflates -
even with an Advanced Airbag.
254
-
- To reduce the ris k of i njury when an a irbag
inflates, always wea r safety belts properly
c::> page 248, Safety belts.
- Always make certa in that children age 12 or
younger always ride in the rear seat. If chil­
dren are not properly restrained, they may be severely injured or killed when an airbag
inflates.
- Never let ch ildren ride unrestra ined or im­
properly restrained in the vehicle. Ad just the
front seats properly.
- Never ride with the back rest recl ined .
- Always sit as far as possible from the steer-
ing wheel or the instrument panel
c::>page237.
- Always sit upright w ith your back against
the backrest of your seat .
- Never p lace your feet on the instrument
panel or on the seat. Always keep both feet
on the floor in front of the seat to help pre­
vent serious injur ies to the legs and hips if
the airbag inflates.
- Never recl ine the front passenger's seat to
transpo rt objects . Items can also move in to
the area of the s ide a irbag or the front air­
bag du ring brak ing o r in a sudden maneu­
ver. Obje cts nea r the airbags can become
projecti les and cause injury when an airbag
inflates.
A WARNING
A irbags that have deployed in a crash must be
replaced.
- Use on ly original equipment airbags ap­
proved by Audi and installed by a trained
technician who has the necessary tools and
diagnostic equipment to properly replace
any airbag in your vehicle and assure system
effectiveness in a crash.
- Never perm it salvaged or recycled airbags to
be installed in your vehicle.
Child restraints on the front seat - some
important things to know
.,. Be s ure to read the impo rtant info rmat ion and
heed the WARN INGS for important deta ils .,.

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about children and Advanced Airbags
¢ page 2 77.
E ven though yo ur vehicle is equipped with an Ad­
vanced Airbag System, make certain that all chil­
dren, especially those 12 years and younger, al­
ways 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
a n infant or a child in a rearward-fac ing seat.
T he Advanced Airbag System in your veh icle has
been certified to comply with the requirements
of United States Federal Motor Vehicle Safety
Standa rd (FMVSS) 208, as well as Canada Motor
Veh icle Safety Standa rd (CMVSS) 208 as applica­
b le a t the time your veh icle was m an ufact ured.
Accord ing to requirements, the front Advanced
Airbag System on the passenger side has been
certified for "suppression" for infants of about 12 month old and younger and for "low risk de­
ployment" for children aged 3 to 6 years old (as
defined in the standard) .
T he
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF ~ ; light in the
headliner tells you when the front Advanced Air­
bag on the passenger side has been turned off by
the electronic control unit.
Each time yo u turn on the ignition, the
PASSEN ­
GER AIR BAG OFF ~; ON
@ light will come on
for a few seconds and:
- PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF~; will come on if
the front passenger seat is not occupied
- PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF~; will come on if
the e lectrica l capacitance measured by the ca­
pacitive passenger detection system for the
front passenger seat equa ls the comb ined ca­
pacitance of an infant up to about one year of
age and one of the rearward-facing or forward ­
facing child restra ints listed i n Federa l Moto r
Vehicle Safety Standard ( FMVSS) 208 with
wh ich the Advanced Airbag System i n your veh i­
cl e was certified . Fo r a listing of the child re­
straints that were used to ce rtify you r vehicle 's
compliance with the Safety Standard
¢ page 279 .
Airb ag sys tem
-PAS SENGER AIR BAG OFF~; will come on if
there is a small chi ld or child restraint on the
front passenger seat
- PASSENGER AIR BAG ON@ will come on if the
front passenger seat is occupied by an ad ult as
registered by the capacit ive passenger detec­
tion system
¢ page 265, Monitoring the Ad­
vanced Airbag System .
The PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF~; light comes on
when e lectrical capacitance registered on the
front passenger seat is equal to or less than the
combined capacitance of a typical 1 year-old in­
fant and one of the rearward-facing or forward ­
facing child restrai nts listed in Federal Motor Ve­
hicle Safety Standard ( FMVSS) 208 with wh ich
the Advan ced Airbag System in yo ur vehicle was
ce rtified.
If the total electr ical capacitance reg istered on
t h e front passenger seat is mo re than that of a
typ ical 1 year -old ch ild but less than the weight
of a sm all adult, the front air bag on the passen­
ger 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 airbag on the p assenger
s ide has not been turned off by the electronic
contro l unit and can deploy if the contro l unit
senses an impact that meets the conditions stor­
ed in its memory .
For example , the airbag may deploy if :
-a small c hild that is heav ier than a typ ica l 1
year -o ld child is on the front passenger se at
(regardless o f whethe r the child is in one o f the
child sa fe ty seats listed
¢ page 2 79), o r
- a child who has outgrown c hild rest raints is on
t he front passenge r seat .
If the front passenge r airbag is t urned off, the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF~; light comes on i n
t h e headliner a nd stays o n.
If the front passenger a irbag deploys, the Feder­
al Standard requi res the airbag to meet the "low
r isk " dep loymen t criteria to redu ce the r isk of in­
j u ry through interaction w it h t he airbag. "Low
risk" deployment oc curs in those crashes that
take place at lowe r decelerations as defined in
Ill>
255

Airbag syste m
the electronic control unit¢ page 265, PASSEN­
GER AIR BAG OFF~; ON@ light.
Always remember, a child safety seat or infant
carrier installed on the front seat may be struck
and knocked out of position by the rapid ly inflat­
ing passenger's airbag in a fronta l co llision. The
airbag cou ld greatly reduce the effect iveness of
the child restraint and even seriously injure the
child during inflation.
For this reason, and because the back seat is the
safest place for ch ildren -when properly restra in­
ed according to the ir age and size -we strong ly
recommend that children always sit in the back
seat ¢
page 2 77, Child safety.
A WARNING
A child in a rearward-facing child safety seat
installed on the front passenger seat w ill be
ser iously injured and can be killed if the fron t
airbag infla tes -even w ith an Advanced Ai rbag
System.
- T he inflating a irbag w ill hit the child safety
seat or infant carrier with great force and
will smash the chi ld safety seat and child
against the backrest, center armrest, door
or roof.
- Always install rear -facing child safety seats
on the rear seat .
- If you must install a rearward facing ch ild
safety seat on the front passenger seat be­
cause of exceptiona l circumstances and the
PA SSENGER AIR BAG OFF~; light does not
come on and stay on, immed iately install
the rear-fac ing ch ild safety seat in a rear
seat ing pos ition and have the airbag system
inspected by your authorized Audi dea ler.
- Forward-facing ch ild safety seats installed
on the front passenger's seat may interfere
with the deployment of the airbag and ca use serio us pe rsonal injury to the child.
A WARNING
If, in except ional circumstances, you must i n­
stall a forward -facing chi ld res train t on the
front passenger's seat:
- Alw ays make sure the forward-facing seat
has been designed and ce rt ified by its man-
256
ufacturer for use on a front seat with a pas­
senger front and side airbag.
- Never put the forward-facing child restraint
up against or very near the instrument pan­
el.
- Always move the front passenger seat to
the highest posit ion in the up and down ad­
justment range and move it back to the
rearmost posit ion in the seat's fore and aft
ad justment range, as far away from the a ir­
bag as poss ible, before installing the for­
ward-facing chi ld restraint.
- Always make sure that the safety be lt upper
anchorage is behind the ch ild rest raint and
not next to o r in front of the child rest raint
so th at the safety be lt will be p roperly posi­
tioned.
- Ma ke sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF ~;
light comes on and stays on all the
time wheneve r the ign it ion is switched on .
A WARNING
To reduce the risk of serious injury, make sure
that the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF~; light
will be disp layed whenever a ch ild restraint is
installed on the front passenger seat and the
ignit ion is switched on.
- If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF~; light
does not stay on, perform the checks descri­
bed ¢
page 265, Monitoring the Advanced
Airbag System.
- Take the child restra int off the front passen­
ger seat and install it properly at one of the rear seat positions if the
PASSENGER AIR
BAG OFF~
light does not stay on .
- Have the airbag system inspected by your author ized Audi dealer immed iate ly.
- Always carefully follow instructions from
child restraint manufacturers when instal­
ling child restra ints.
A WARNING
If, in exceptional ci rcumstances, you must in­
stall a forward or rearward-fac ing child re-
stra int on the fron t passenger's seat: ..,.

-Improper installation of child restraints can
reduce their effect iveness or even prevent
them from providing any protection .
- An improper ly installed ch ild restraint can
interfere w ith the airbag as it deploys and
seriously injure or even kill the child -even
with an Advanced Airbag System .
- Always carefu lly follow the manufacturer's
instructions provided with the child safety
seat or carrier.
- Always make sure that there is nothing on
the front passenger seat that will cause the
capacit ive passenger detection system in
the seat to signa l to the Airbag System that
the seat is occupied by a person when it is
not, or to signa l tha t it is occ upied by some ­
one who is heavier than the person actua lly
sitting on the seat. The p resence of addi ­
t ional objects could cause the passenge r
front airbag to be turned on when it shou ld
be off, or could cause the airbag to work in a
way that is different from the way it would have worked without the object on the seat .
Front airbags
Description of front airbags
The airbag system can provide supplemental
protection to properly restrained front seat occu ­
pants.
F ig. 219 Loca tion of driver airb ag: in stee ring whee l
Airb ag sys tem
Fig. 220 Locat io n of fro nt passen ger 's a irbag : in t he in·
s tr um en t pan el
Your vehicle is equipp ed with an "Advanced Air­
bag System " in compliance with United States
Fede ral Motor Vehicle Safety Standard
(FMVSS) 208, as well as Canada Motor Veh icle
Safety Standard (CMVSS) 208 as applicable at
the time your veh icle was manufactured . The
safe ty belts fo r the seats have "pretensione rs "
that help to take slack out of the bel t system.
T he pretensioners are also activated by the e lec ­
tronic control unit for the airbag system .
T he front safety belts also have load limiters to
help reduce the fo rces applied to the body in a
c rash .
The airbag for the driver is in the steering wheel
hub
r:::> fig. 219 a nd the airbag fo r the front pas­
senger is in the instrument pane l
~fig. 220. The
general lo cat ion of the airbags is marked "A IR­
BAG".
T he re is a lot yo u need to know about the airbags
i n your vehicle. We urge you to read the deta iled
informa tion abo ut airbags, s afety be lts and c hild
safety in this and the other chapters that make
u p the owner 's literatu re . Please be sure to heed
the WARNINGS -they ar e extrem ely important
for your safety and the safety of your passengers, especially infants and small child ren.
A WARNING
Never rely on airbags alone for protect ion .
- Even when they deploy, airbags provide only
supp lemental protection.
- Airbag work most effectively when used
wit h properly worn safety be lts .
257