steering AUDI S6 2014 Service Manual

152 Airbag system
~ fig. 158. The general location of the airbags
is marked "AIRBAG".
There is a lot you need to know about the air­ bags in your vehicle. We urge you to read the
detailed information about airbags, safety
belts and child safety in 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 your passengers, especially in ­
fants and small children.
A WARNING
Never rely on airbags alone for protection.
- Even when they deploy, airbags provide
only supplemental protection .
- Airbag work most effectively when used
with properly worn safety belts.
- Therefore, always wear your safety belts
and make sure that everybody in your ve­
hicle is properly restrained .
- Always hold the steering wheel with both
hands on the outside of the steering
wheel rim at the 9:00 o'clock and 3 :00
o'clock positions to help reduce the risk
of personal injury if the driver's airbag in­
flates.
- Never hold the steering wheel at the 12
o'clock position or with your hands any­
where inside the steering wheel or on the
steering wheel hub. Holding the steering
wheel the wrong way increases the risk
of severe injury to the arms, hands, and
head if the driver airbag deploys.
A WARNING
Objects between you and the airbag will
increase the risk of injury in a crash by in­
terfering with the way the airbag unfolds
and/or by being pushed into you as the air­
bag inflates.
-Always make sure nothing is in the front
airbag deployment zone that could be
struck by the airbag when it inflates.
- Objects in the zone of a deploying airbag
can become projectiles when the airbag deploys and cause serious personal
in­
jury.
- Never hold things in your hands or on
your lap when the vehicle is in use.
- Never place accessories or other objects
(such as cup holders, telephone brackets,
note pads, navigation systems, or things
that are large, heavy, or bulky) on the
doors; never attach then to the doors or
the windshield; never place them over or near or attach them to the area marked
,,A IRBAG" on the steering wheel, instru­
ment panel or the seat backrests; never
place them between these areas and you
or any other person in the vehicle.
- Never attach objects to the windshield
above the passenger front airbag, such
as accessory GPS navigation units or mu­
sic players. Such objects could cause seri­
ous injury in a collision, especially when
the airbags inflate.
- Never recline the front passenger seat to
transport objects. Items can also move
into the deployment area of the side air­
bags or the front airbag during breaking
or in a sudden maneuver. Objects near
the airbags can fly dangerously through
the passenger compartment and cause
injury, particularly when the seat is re­
clined and the airbags inflate.
A person on the front passenger seat, es­
pecially infants and small children, will re­
ceive serious injuries and can even be kil­
led by being too close to the airbag when
it inflates.
- Although the Advanced Airbag System in
your vehicle is designed to turn off the
front passenger airbag if an infant or a
small child is on the front passenger
seat, nobody can absolutely guarantee
that deployment under these special
conditions is impossible in all conceiva­
ble situations that may happen during
the useful life of your vehicle.
~

-The Advanced Airbag System can deploy
in accordance with the .,low risk" option
for 3- and 6-year-old children under the U.S. Federal Standard if a child with elec­
trical capacitance greater than the com­ bined capacitance of a typical one-year
old infant restrained in one of the for­
ward facing or rearward-facing child seats with which your vehicle was certi­
fied is on the front passenger seat and
the other conditions for airbag deploy­ ment 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
Airbag system 153
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 175, Child restraints and
Advanced front airbag system.
"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 175,
-When a person is detected on the front pas­
senger seat that has an electrical capaci­
tance that is more than the total electrical
capacitance of a child that is about 1 year
old restrained in one of the rear-facing or
forward -facing infant restraints (listed in
Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208
with which the Advanced Airbag System in
your vehicle was certified), the front airbag on the passenger side may or may not de­
ploy.
The
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes on
when the electronic control unit detects a to­
tal electrical capacitance on the front passen­
ger seat that requires 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 condi -
tions stored in its memory .
IJJ,,
•
•

backrest must be adjusted to an upri ght
posit ion.
- Always make sure that t here is nothing
on the front passenger seat that will
cause the capacitive passenger detection
system in the seat to s ignal to the A irbag
System that the seat is occupied by a person when it is not, or to signal that it
is occupied by som eone who is heavier
than t he pe rson actually s itting on the
seat. The presence of additiona l obje cts
cou ld cause the passenger front airbag
to be t urned on when it sho uld be off, or
cou ld cause t he airbag to work in a way
that is different from the way it wou ld
have worked without the object on the
seat.
- Make sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
light comes on and stays on all the
t ime whenever the ignition is switc hed
on.
Advanced Airbag System components
The front passenger seat in your vehicle has a
l ot of very important parts of the Advanced
A irbag System in it. These parts incl ude the
capac itive passenger de te ct ion sys tem, wir­
ing, b racke ts, and more . The cont ro l uni t
monitors the system o n the front passenger
seat when the ign ition is switched on and
turns the airbag indicator light on when a
malfunct ion in the one of the system compo­
nents is detected ¢
page 160. Because the
fro nt passenge r seat contains important parts
of the Advanced Airbag System, you must
take care to p revent it from bei ng damaged.
D amage to the seat may preven t the Ad ­
vanced A irbag System for the front passenger
seat from doing its job in a crash .
The front Advanced Airbag System
consists of the following:
-Crash sensors in the front of the veh icle that
measure ve hicle acceleration/dece le ration
to provide information to the Advanced Air­ bag System about the severity of the crash.
A irbag system 15 5
- An electron ic contro l unit, with integrated
crash sensors fo r front and side impacts .
T he control un it "decides" whether to f ire
the front a irbag s based on the informat ion
received from the crash sensors. The control
unit also "decides" whether the safety belt
pretens ione rs should be act iva ted .
- An Advanced A irbag w it h gas genera tor and
cont ro l valve for the driver ins ide the steer ­
ing wheel h ub.
- An Advanced A irbag w ith gas generator and
cont ro l valve inside the instrument panel for
the front passenger .
- A capacit ive passenger detection system un ­
derneath the front passenger seat cover .
This system measu res the ele ct rical capac i­
t ance of the perso n in the seat. The informa ­
t ion registered is se nt cont inuo usly to the
elec tronic con trol un it to regu late dep loy­
ment of the front Advanced Ai rbag on the
passenger side.
-An airbag monitoring system and ind icator
light in the instr ument cluster ¢
page 159.
-A senso r in each front seat registers the dis ­
tance between the respective seat a nd the
steering whee l or instrument panel. The in­
formation reg istered is sent cont inuo usly to
the electron ic contro l unit to regulate de­
ployment of the front Adva need A irbags .
- The
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF li ght comes
on and stays on in the center of the instr u­
ment panel ¢
page 160, fig. 160 and tells
you whe n the front Advanced Airbag on the
passenger side has been tu rned off.
- A senso r in the safety belt latch fo r the d riv ­
er and fo r the front seat passenger that
senses whethe r th at safety belt is latched or
no t and tra nsmi ts this informa tion to the
elec tronic con trol un it.
A WARNING
D amage to the fron t passenger se at can
p revent the front air bag from work ing
p roperly.
- Imp roper repai r or disassembly of the
front passenge r and dr iver seat will pre­
vent the Advanced Airbag System from
functioning properly.
-
•
•

things on the seat cushion can have the
same effect. If the front passenger fron­
tal airbag is turned on, the
PASSENGER
AIR BAG OFF
light light will go out .
How the Advanced Airbag System
components work together
The fron t Advanced Airbag System and the
side airbags supplement the protection of­
fered by the front three -point safety be lts
with p retensioners and load limiters and the
adjustab le head restraints to he lp reduce the
risk of injury in a wide range of accident and
crash situat ions. Be sure to read the impor­
tant information about safety and heed the
WARNINGS in this chapter .
Dep loyment of the Advanced Airbag System
and the act ivation of the safety be lt preten­
sioners depend on the dece lerat ion measured
by the crash sensors and registered by the
e lectronic control un it. The amount of infla­
tion of the front airbags can also be adapted to the front seat posi tion, depend ing on the
d istance between the respective front seat
and the steering whee l or instrument panel as
registe red 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 s ide, regard less of safety
be lt use, the front passenger f ronta l airbag
will be turned off if the electrical capacitance
measured by the capac itive passenger detec­
tion system on the front passenger seat is less
tha n the amount programmed in the electron­
ic control unit. The front passenger fronta l air­
bag will a lso be turned off if the capa cita nce
measured by the system for the front pa ssen­
ger seat equa ls t hat of an infant of abo ut one
yea r of age in one o f the child seats that was
used to cert ify the Advanced Airbag System
under Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard
208. The
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF li ght
comes on and stays on to tell you when t he
front Adva nced Airbag System o n the passen­
ger s ide has been turned off~
page 160 .
Airba g sy stem 15 7
A WARNING
To reduce the risk of injury w hen an airbag
in flates, always wear safety be lts p ro perly.
- If you are unrestra ined, leaning forward,
sitt ing s ideways or o ut of pos ition in any
way, your ris k of injury is m uc h higher.
- You will a lso receive serious injuries and
co uld even be killed if yo u are up aga inst
the airbag o r too close to it when it in­
flates -even w it h an Advanced A irbag
~ page 147 .
More important things to know about
front airbags
Fi g. 159 In flated front a irbags
Safety belts a re important to he lp keep front
seat occupants in the proper seated position
so that ai rbags can unfold p roper ly and pro­
v ide s upplement al pro tect ion in a fron tal col­
lis ion .
T he front airbags a re des igned to provide ad­
di tional protection fo r the chest and fa ce of
the driver a nd the front seat p assenger when :
- safety belts are worn properly,
- the seats have been positioned so that the
occupant is properly seated as far as poss i­
b le from th e airbag ,
- and the head restraints have been properly adjusted .
Because airbags inflate in the bli nk of an eye
with great force, th ings you have on your lap
or have p laced on the seat cou ld become dan ­
gerous p ro jecti les, and be pushed in to you if
t h e a irbag inf lates.
When an airbag deploys, fine dust is re leased.
This is norma l and is not caused by a fire i n .,,.

-Never place or attach accessories or o th ­
er objects (such as cup hol ders, tele­
phone brackets, large, heavy or bulky ob­
jects) on the doors, over or near the area
marked ''AIRBAG" on the steering wheel,
instrument panel, seat backrests or be­
tween those a reas and yourself. These
objects co uld cause injury in a crash, es­
pecially when the airbags inflate .
- Never recline the front passe nger's seat
to transport objec ts. Items can also
move into the area o f the side airbag or
the front airbag during braking or in a
sudden maneuver . Objects near the air­
bags can become project iles and cause
injury, part icularly when the seat is re­
cl ined .
- Never place or transport ob jects on the
front passenger seat. Objects on the
front passenger seat could cause the ca­ pacitive senso r in the seat to s ignal to
airbag system that the seat is occupied
by a person when it in fa ct is not, o r that
the person on the se at is he avier than he
or she actually is. The change in electric
capacitance beca use of such objects can
cause the passenger front airbag to be
turned on when it sho uld be
off, or can
cause the airbag to work in a way that is
different from the way it wou ld have
worked w ithout objects on the seat.
- Always make sure that there is nothing
on the front passenger seat that will
cause the capacitive passenge r detection
system in the s eat to s ignal to the A irbag
System that the seat is oc cupied by a
pers on when it is not, or to sign al th at it
is occupied by someone who is heavier
than the pe rson actually s itting on the
seat . The presence of an object co uld
cause the passenger front a irbag to be
turned on when it sho uld be
off, or co uld
cause the airbag to work in a way that is
different from the way it wou ld have
worked w ithout the object on the seat. A
irbag
sys tem 159
A WARNING
The fine dust created when airbags deploy
can cause breathing prob lems fo r people
with a history of as thma or other breath­
ing cond itions.
- To reduce the risk of breath ing problems,
those wi th asthma o r other respiratory
conditions s hou ld get fresh air r ight
away by get ting o ut o f the veh icle or
open ing win dows or do ors.
- If you are in a collision in which airbags
deploy, was h your ha nds and fa ce with
mild soap and wate r be fore eating.
- Be ca reful not to get the dust in to your
eyes, o r into any c uts or sc ratches.
- If the resid ue should get into your eyes,
f lus h t hem w ith wa te r.
Monitoring the
Advanced Airbag System
fl~ Airbag monitoring indicator light
Two separate indicators monitor the function
of the Advan ced Airbag System: the airbag
monitoring indi cator light and the
PASSEN­
GER AIR BAG O FF
light.
The Advanced A irbag System ( includ ing the
electron ic co ntro l unit, sensor circu its and sys­
tem wir ing) is monitored con tinuously to
make sure that it is functio ning properly
whenever the ignition is on. Each time you
switch on the ignition, the airbag monitor ing
indicator light
fl will come on for a few sec­
onds (self diagnost ics).
The sy stem must be in spected when the
indicator light
I :
- does not come on when the ignition is
sw itched on,
- does not go out a few seconds after you
have switched on the ignit ion, or
- comes on while driv ing.
If an airbag system malfunc tion is detec ted,
the indicator light wi ll first start f lashing to
catch the driver's attention and then stay on
llo-
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•

-Have the airbag system inspected by
your Audi dealer before transporting
anyone on the front passenger seat.
(D Tips
If the capacitive passenger detection sys­
tem determines that the front passenger seat is empty, the frontal airbag on the
passenger side will be turned off, and the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light will stay
on .
Repair, care and disposal of the airbags
Parts of the airbag system are installed 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.
There are some important things you have to know to make sure that the effectiveness of
the system will not be impaired and that dis­
carded components do not cause injury or pol­
lute the environment.
A WARNING
Improper care, servicing and repair proce­
dures can increase the risk of personal in­
jury and death by preventing an airbag from deploying when needed or deploying
an airbag unexpectedly:
- Never cover, obstruct, or change the
steering wheel horn pad or airbag cover
or the instrument panel or modify them
in any way .
- Never attach any objects such as cup
holders or telephone mountings to the
surfaces covering the airbag units.
- For cleaning the horn pad or instrument
panel, use only a soft, dry cloth or one
moistened with plain water. Solvents or
cleaners could damage the airbag cover
or change the stiffness or strength of the
material so that the airbag cannot de­
ploy and protect properly.
Airbag system 163
- Never repair, adjust, or change any parts
of the airbag system.
- All work on the steering wheel, instru­
ment panel, front seats or electrical sys­
tem (including the installation of audio
equipment, cellular telephones and CB radios, etc .) must be performed by a
qualified technician who has the training
and special equipment necessary.
- For any work on the airbag system, we
strongly recommend that you see your
authorized Audi dealer or qualified work­
shop.
- Never modify the front bumper or parts
of the vehicle body.
- Always make sure that the side airbag
can inflate without interference:
- Never install seat covers or replace­
ment upholstery over the front seat­
backs that have not been specifically
approved by Audi.
- Never use additional seat cushions that
cover the areas where the side airbags
inflate.
- Damage to the original seat covers or
to the seam in the area of the side air­
bag module must always be repaired
immediately by an authorized Audi
dealer.
- The airbag system can deploy only once .
After an airbag has been deployed, it
must be replaced with new replacement
parts designed and approved especially
for your Audi model version. Replace­ ment of complete airbag systems or air­
bag components must be performed by
qualified workshops only. Make sure that
any airbag service action is entered in
your Audi Warranty
& Maintenance book­
let under
AIRBAG REPLACEMENT RE­
CORD .
-For safety reasons in severe accidents,
the alternator and starter are separated
from the vehicle battery with a pyrotech­
nic circuit interrupter.
- Work on the pyrotechnic circuit inter­
rupter must only be performed by a
qualified technicians who have the ...
L..._ _____________ _j ...
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164 Airbag system
experience, informat ion and specia l
too ls necessary to perform the work
safely.
- If the vehicle or the circuit interrupter
is scrapped, all applicable safety pre­
cautions must be followed.
@ For the sake of the environment
Undeployed airbag modu les and preten­
sioners might be classified as Perchlorate Material - special handling may apply, see
www.dtsc.ca.gov/haza rdouswaste/per­
chlorate. When the vehicle or parts of the
restraint system including airbag modules
and safety belts w it h pretens ioners are
s crapped, a ll applicable laws and regula­
tions mus t be observed. Your au thori zed
Audi dea le r is familiar with these requi re­
ments and we recommend that you have
your dea ler perfo rm this serv ice for you.
Other things that can affect Advanced
Airbag performance
Changing the vehicle's suspension system can
change the way that the Advanced A irbag Sys­
tem pe rforms in a crash. For example, us ing
tire-r im combinations not app roved by Aud i,
lowering the vehicle, ch anging the stiffness o f
the suspension, including the springs, suspen ­
sion struts, shock absorbers etc. can change
the forces that are measured by the a irbag
sensors and sent to the electronic control
un it. Some suspension changes can, for exam­
p le, increase the force levels measured by the
sensors a nd make the airbag system deploy in
crashes in w hich it would not dep loy if the
changes had not been made . Other kinds of
ch an ges may reduce the force levels meas­
u red by the sensors and prevent the airbag
from deploying when it sho uld .
The senso rs in the safety belt buckle fo r th e
d river a nd front passe nger sea t tell the elec ­
tronic control module if the safety belt is
l atched or not .
If the safety belt is being used,
the front airbag will dep loy at a slightly high­
er rate of vehicle deceleration than if the safe­
ty belt is not being used. Therefore, in a par- t
icu lar collision, it is possible that an airbag
will not dep loy at a seat ing position where the
safety belt is be ing used b ut w ill inflate at the
pos ition where the safety belt is not be ing
used. It is important that nothing interfere
with t he safety be lt buckles so that the sen ­
sors can send the correct info rmation about
safety belt use to the electronic control un it .
_&. WARNING
Changi ng the vehicle's suspension includ ­
i ng use of unapp roved tire-rim combina­
tions can change Advanced Airbag per­
formance and increase the risk of serious pe rsonal injury in a crash .
- Never install suspension components that do not have the same pe rformance
characteristics as the components o rigi­
na lly installed on your vehicle.
- Never use tire-rim combinations that
have not been approved by Audi.
Knee airbags
Description of knee airbags
App lies to vehicles : wi th knee airbags
The knee airbag system can provide supple­
mental protection to properly restrained
front seat occupants .
Fig . 1 61 Dr iver 's knee a irbag
T he dr iver knee airbag is in the ins trument
pane l underneath the steering wheel
~ fig. 161, the airbag for the passenger is at
about the same height in the instrument pan-
el underneat h the glove compartment. .,.

166 Airbag system
How knee airbags work
Applies to vehicles: with knee airbags
The risk of injury to the leg area can be re­
duced by fully inflated knee airbags.
Fig. 162 Inflated airbags protecting in a frontal colli·
s io n
The knee airbag system has been designed so
that the a irbags for the driver and front pas­
senger deploy in certain but not all frontal
collisions.
If the front airbags deploy, the knee airbags
a lso deploy in frontal collisions when the de­
ployment threshold stored in the control unit
is met .
When the system deploys, the airbags fill
with a propellant gas, and inflate between the
lower part of the instrument panel and the
driver and the lower part of the instrument
panel and the front passenger
Q page 157,
fig . 159.
Although they are not a soft pillow, they can
"cush ion" the impact and in this way they can
help to reduce the risk of injury to the lower
extremities.
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 it is im­
portant for occupant safety that nothing
should be in their way when they deploy.
Fully inflated airbags in combination with
properly worn safety belts slow down and lim­
it the occupant's forward movement and help
to reduce the risk of injury. Important safety instructions on the
knee airbag system
Applies
to vehicles: with knee airbags
Airbags are only supplemental restraints. Al­
ways wear safety belts correctly and ride in a
proper seating position .
There is a lot that you and your passengers
must know and do to help the safety belts and
airbags to provide supplemental protection.
A WARNING
-An inflating knee airbag can cause serious injury. Wearing safety belts incorrectly and
improper seating positions increase the
risk of serious personal injury and death
whenever a vehicle is being used.
- The knee airbag system cannot protect
you properly if you are seated too close
to any of the airbag locations. When ad­
justing their seat positions, it is impor­
tant that both the driver and the front passenger keep their upper bodies and
knees at the following minimum safe
distances:
- at least 10 inches (25 cm) between the
chest and the steering wheel/instru­
ment panel.
- at least 4 inches (10 cm) between the knees and the lower part of the instru­
ment panel.
- The risk of personal injury increases if
you lean forward or to the side, or if the
seat is improperly positioned and you are
not wearing your safety belt . The risk in­
creases even more should the airbag de­
ploy .
- Always make sure that the knee airbag
can inflate without interference. Objects
between you and the airbag can increase
the risk of injury in an accident by inter­
fering with the way the airbag deploys or
by being pushed into you as the airbag
deploys.
- Never let anybody, especially children
or animals ride in the footwell in front

-Always read and heed a ll WARNINGS
whenever using a child restraint in ave­
h icle
¢ page 138, Safety belts,
¢ page 147, Airbag system and
¢ page 173, Important things to
know.
(D Tips
Always replace child restraints that were
installed in a vehicle during a crash. Dam­
age to a child rest raint that is not vis ible
could cause it to fail in another collis ion
situation.
Advanced front airbag system and children
Your vehicle is eq uipped with a front "Ad ­
vanced Airbag System" in compliance w ith
United States Federal Motor Vehicle Safety
Standard (FMVSS) 208 as applicable at the
time your veh icle was manufactured .
T he Advanced Airbag system in your vehicle
has been certified to meet the "low-risk" re­
qu irements for 3-and 6-year old ch ildren on
the passenger s ide and small adults o n the
driver side. The low risk deployment criter ia
a re i ntended to reduce the risk of inju ry
through interaction with the a irbag that can
oc cu r, fo r example , by be ing too close to the
steering whee l and instrument panel when
the airbag inflates . In addition, the system
has been certified to comply with the "sup­
press ion" requirements of the Safety Stand­
ard, to turn off the front airbag for infants up
to 12 months who are restra ined on the front
passenger seat in ch ild restraints that are list­
ed i n the Standard .
Even though your vehicle is equipped with an
Advanced Airbag system, all chi ldren, espe­
cially those 12 years and younger, shou ld al­
ways ride in t he back seat properly rest ra ined
fo r the ir age and s ize. Th e a irbag on t he pas­
senger side makes the fro nt seat a poten tially
d a ngerous pla ce for a child to ride. The front
seat is not the safest place fo r a child in a fo r­
ward-facing child safety seat . It can be a very
Child Sa fet y 175
dange rous place fo r an infant o r a larger child
in a rearward-facing seat.
T he veh icle's Advan ced Ai rb ag Sys tem has a
capacit ive passenger detec tion system in the
front passenger seat cush ion that can detect
the presence of a baby or a c hild in a child re­
stra int system on this seat .
T he capaci tive passenge r detection system
r egisters the changes that result in an electri ­
ca l fie ld when a chi ld, a ch ild restraint, and a
baby blanket are on the front passenger seat .
The change in the measured capac itance due
to the presence of a child, a child restraint,
and a baby blanket on the front passenger
seat is related to the ch ild restraint system
rest ing on the seat . The meas ured capacitance
of a child res traint system va ries depend ing
o n the type of sys tem and specific m ake and
model.
T he elect rical capac itance of the va rious
types, ma kes, a nd models of child restra ints
spe cified by the U.S. Nationa l Highway Traff ic
Safety Administra tion (N HTSA) in the re levant
sa fety standard are stored in the Advanced
Airbag System contro l unit together with the
capacitances typical of infants and a 1-year
o ld child. W hen a child restraint is used on t he
front passenger seat with a typica l 1 year-old
infant, t he Advanced Airbag System compares
the capacitance measu red by the capacitive
passenger detection system with the data
s tored in the ele ctronic co ntrol unit.
Child restraints and Advanced front
airbag system
Rega rdless of the c hild restraint that you use,
make sure that it has been certified to meet
U nited States Federal Motor Vehicle Safety
Standards and has been certified by its manu­
facturer for use with an airbag. A lways be sure
that the c hild restra int is properly installed at
o ne of the rear seating positions. If in excep­
t iona l circumsta nces yo u must use it on the
fron t passenger sea t, ca re fully read all of the
i nformation on child sa fe ty and Advanced Air -
bags and heed all of the applicable ..,.
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•

194 Intelligent technology
Intelligent technology
Notice about data
recorded by vehicle
control modules
Your veh icle is not equipped with an Event Da­
ta Recorde r (EDR), installed by some manu­
facturers fo r the express p urpose of capturing
data for retrieval after an accident or crash
event . EDR's are sometimes ca lled "crash re­
corders".
Some state laws restr ict the retr ieval or down­
loading of data stored by EDR's that were in­
stalled in a vehicle for the express purpose of retrieving data after an accident or crash
event without the owner's consent.
A lthough your vehicle is not equipped with an
EDR, it is equipped with a number of electron­
ic control modules for various vehicle systems
such as, for examp le, eng ine function, em is­
sion control, as well as for the airbags and
safety belts.
These electronic contro l modules also record
vehicle-re lated data during norma l vehicle op­
erat ion for diagnostic and repa ir purposes.
The recording capacity of the electronic con­
trol modules is limited to data (no sound is re­
corded) and only a small amount of data is ac­
tually recorded over a ve ry limited pe riod of
time and stored when a system fault or other
cond ition is sensed by a cont ro l unit. Some of
the data then stored may re late to vehicle
speed, direction, braking as we ll as restraint
system use and performance in the event of a
crash or other condit ion. Stored data can only
be read and downloaded with special equip­
ment.
Electronic Stabilization
Control (ESC)
Description
ESC helps to improve road holding and vehicle
dynamics to help reduce the probability of
skidd ing and loss of vehicle control. It works
only when the eng ine is running. ESC detects certain difficult driving situat
ions, including
when the vehicle is beginning to spin (yaw)
out of control and he lps you to get the veh icle
back under control by se lectively braking the
wheels, and/or reducing eng ine power and
providing steer ing ass istance to he lp hold the
vehicle on the dr iver's intended course. The in­
dicator light
G) in the inst rument cluster
blinks when ESC is ta king action to help you
control the veh icle.
ESC has limitations.
It is importa nt to remem­
ber that ESC cannot overcome the laws of
physics. It wi ll not always be able to help out
under a ll cond it ions you may come up aga inst.
For example, ESC may not always be able to
help you master situations where there is a
s u dden change in the coefficient of friction of
the road surface. When there is a section of
dry road that is sudden ly covered w ith water,
slush or snow, ESC cannot perform the same
way it wou ld on the dry surface . If the ve hicle
hydroplanes (rides on a cushion of water in­
stead of the road surface), ESC will not be
able to help you steer the vehicle because con­
tact with the pavement has been in terrupted
and the vehicle cannot be braked or steered .
D uring fast cornering, particularly on winding
roads, ESC cannot always deal as effectively
with difficult driving situations than at lower
speeds. When towing a trailer, ESC is not able
to help you regain control as it would if you
were not tow ing a trailer.
Always adjust your speed and driving style to road, traffic and weather condit ions. ESC can­
not override the vehicle's physical limits, in­
crease the available tract ion, or keep a ve hicle
on the road if road departure is a result of
drive r inattent ion. Instead, ESC imp roves the
poss ibil ity of keeping the vehicle under con ­
trol and on the road during ex treme maneu­
vers by using the d river's steering inputs to
help keep the vehicle going in the intended di­
rection . If you are traveling at a speed that
ca uses you to run off the road before ESC can
provide any assistance, you may not experi­
ence the benefits of ESC.