steering AUDI S7 2012 Owner's Guide

138 Airbag sys te m
Since the cir cumstances will vary considerab ly
between one collision and anot her, it is not
possib le to def ine a range of vehicle speeds
that will cover every possible k ind and angle
of impact t hat will always trigger the airbags.
Important factors include, for example, the
nature (hard or soft) of the object which the
car h its, the ang le of impact, vehicle speed,
etc. The front airbags will also not inflate in
side or rea r collisions, or in ro ll-overs .
Always rememb er: Airbags will deploy only
once, and only in certa in k inds of co llisions.
Your safety belts are always there to offer pro­
tection in those s ituations in which airbags
a re not supposed to deploy, or when they have
a lready deployed; for example, when your ve­
hicle strikes or is struck by another vehicle af­
ter the first co llision.
This is just one of the reasons why an airbag is
a supplementary restraint and is not a substi­
tute for a safety belt . The airbag system
works most effect ively when used with the
safety belts. Therefore, always properly wear
your safety belts¢
page 128.
A WARNING
Sitting too close to the steer ing wheel or
instrument panel will dec rease the effec­
t iveness of the airbags and will increase
the risk of personal injury in a collision .
- Never sit closer than 10 inches (2S cm)
to the stee ring wheel or instrument pan­
el.
- If you cannot sit more than 10 inches
( 2 5 cm) from the s teer ing whee l, investi­
gate whethe r adaptive equipmen t may
be available to help you reach the pedals
and increase your seating distance from
the steering wheel.
- If you are unrestrained, lean ing fo rward,
sitting sideways or out of position in any
way, your risk of in jury is much higher.
- You will also receive serio us injuries and
cou ld even be killed if you are up against
the airbag or too close to it when it in­
flates - even with an Advanced Airbag. -
To reduce the risk of injury when an a ir­
bag inflates, always wear safety be lts
properly ¢
page 131, Safety belts.
-Always make certain that ch ildren age 12
or younger always ride in the rear seat. If
children are not properly restrained, they
may be severely injured or killed when an
airbag inflates.
- Never let children ride unrestrained or
improperly restrained in the vehicle. Ad­
just the front seats prope rly .
- Never ride with the back rest reclined.
- Always sit as far as possible from the
steer ing whee l or the instrument pane l
¢page 119.
-Always sit upright with 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 prevent serio us in ju ries to the legs
and h ips if the airbag inflates.
- Never recline the front passenger 's seat
to transport objects , Items can a lso
move into the a rea of the s ide airbag or
the front a irbag du ring bra king or in a
sudden maneuve r. Objects nea r the air ­
bags can become projectiles and cause
in jur y when an airbag inflates.
A WARNING ~
Airbags that have deployed in a crash must
be replaced.
- Use on ly orig inal equipment airbags ap­
proved by Aud i and installed by a trained
technician who has the necessary too ls
and d iagnost ic equipment to properly re­
p lace any airbag in your vehicle and as­
sure system effectiveness in a crash .
- Never permit salvaged or recycled air­
bags to be installed in your vehicle.

-Always carefully follow instru ctions from
c hild restraint manufacturers when in­
sta lling child restraints.
A WARNING
If, in exceptional circumstances, you must
install a forward or rearward-facing child
restraint on the front passenger's seat:
- Improper installation of child restraints
can reduce their effectiveness or even
prevent them from providing any protec­
tion.
- An improperly installed child restraint
can interfere with the airbag as it de­
ploys and seriously injure or even kill the
child - even with an Advanced Airbag
System.
- Always carefully follow the manufactur­
er's instructions provided with the child
seat or carrier .
- Always make sure that there is nothing
on the front passenger seat that will
cause the capacitive passenger detection
system in the seat to signal to the Airbag
System that the seat is occupied by a
person when it is not, or to signal that it
is occupied by someone who is heavier
than the person actually sitting on the
seat. The presence of additional objects
could cause the passenger front airbag
to be turned on when it should 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 .
Airbag system 141
Front airbags
Description of front airbags
The airbag system can provide supplemental
protection to properly restrained front seat occupants.
Fig. 141 Loc ation of driver airbag: in steering w heel
Fig. 142 Loc ation of front passenger's a irbag: in the in·
strument panel
Your vehicle is equipped with an "Advanced
Airbag System" in compliance with United
States Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard
(FMVSS) 208 as applicable at the time your
vehicle was manufactured. The system senses
the position of the front seats and controls
front airbag inflation with a valve, depending
on the distance between the respective seat
and the steering wheel or instrument panel.
The safety belts for the seats have "preten­
sioners" that help to take slack out of the belt
system. The pretens ioners are also activated
by the electronic control unit for the airbag
system .
The front safety belts also have load limiters
to help reduce the forces applied to the body
in a crash.
The airbag for the driver is in the steering
wheel hub
q fig. 141 and the airbag for the
front passenger is in the instrument panel

142 Airbag system
~fig. 142. 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 Ai rbag System can deploy
in accordance wi th the .,low risk" opt ion
for 3- and 6-year-old children under the U.S. Federal Standard if a chi ld w ith elec­
trical capac itance greater than the com­
bined capacitance of a typical one-year
old infan t restra ined in one of the fo r­
wa rd fac ing or rearward-fac ing ch ild
seats w ith which you r vehicle was cer ti­
fied is on the front passenger seat and
the other conditions for airbag deploy­ ment are met.
- Accident statist ics have shown that chil­
dren are generally safe r in the rear seat
area than in the front seating posit ion.
- For their own safety, all children, espe­
cially 12 yea rs and younger, sho uld al ­
ways ride in the back properly rest rained
for their age and size.
Advanced front airbag system
Your veh icle is equipped w it h a front Advanced
A irbag System in compliance with U nited
States Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard
208 as applicab le at the time your vehicle was
manufactured.
The front Advanced Airbag System supple­ ments the safety belts to provide add it ional
p rotection fo r th e driver's and front passeng­
e r' s heads and upper bodies in fronta l crashes.
The airbags in flate only in frontal impacts
when the vehicle dece le rat ion is high enough .
The front Advanced A irbag System for the
fro nt sea t occ upants is no t a subs titu te for
your safety bel ts. Ra ther, it is p art of t he over­
all occupant restraint system in your veh icle.
A lways remember that the airbag system can
only help to protect yo u, if you are s itting up­
right, wearing yo ur 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 veh icle
has been certified to meet the " low r isk" re­
qu irements for 3 and 6 year-o ld childre n on
the passenge r side and very small adu lts on
A irbag system 143
the d river side . The low risk deployment c rit e­
ria are intended to help reduce the risk of in­
ju ry 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 add ition, the system has been certified to
comply with the "s uppression" requirements
of the Safety Standard, to turn off the front
airbag for infants 12 months old and younger
who are res trained on the fro nt passenger
seat in child rest raints that ar e listed in the
Standard
¢ page 165, Child restraints and
Advanced front airbag system.
"Suppress ion " requires the front a irbag on the
passenger side to be turned off if:
- a child up to abo ut one year of age is re­
strained on the front passenger seat i n one
of the rear-fac ing o r forward-facing infant
restrai nts listed in Federal Motor Vehicle
Safety Standa rd 208 wi th wh ich the Ad­
vanced Ai rbag System in your ve hicle was
cert ified. For a listing o f the chi ld res traints
t ha t were used to certify your vehicle's com ­
pliance wit h the US Safety Standa rd
¢ page 165,
-When a person is detected o n the front pas ­
senger seat that has an e lectrical capaci­
tance that is more t han the tota l electrical
capacitance of a child that is about 1 year
old restrained in one of the rear-facing o r
forwa rd -facing infant restraints ( listed in
Fede ral Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208
w ith which the Advan ced A irbag System in
your veh icle was certi fied), the front air bag
on the passenger side m ay or m ay no t de­
p loy.
T he
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF lig ht comes on
whe n the elect ro ni c con trol unit de te cts a to ­
t al elec trical c apac itance on the front passen­
ger seat that requi res the fron t 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 se nses an impact that meets the condi -
t ions stored in its memo ry .
IJJ,,
•
•

backrest must be adjusted to an upright
posit ion.
- Always make sure that there 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 signa l that it
is occupied by som eone who is heavier
than t he pe rson actually s itting on t he
sea t. T he presence of addition al 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 w henever 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 t he
c a pac 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 w hen a
malfunct ion in the one of the system compo­
nents is detected ¢
page 150. 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 tha t
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 145
- An elect ron 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
prete nsione rs should be act iva ted .
- An Advanced A irbag w it h gas generator 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 pa nel for
the front passenger .
- A capacit ive passenger detection system un ­
de rneath 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 regis tered is se nt cont inuo usly to the
elec tronic con trol un it to regu late dep loy­
ment of the front Advanced A irbag on the
passenger side.
-An airbag monitoring system an d ind icator
light in the instr ument cluster ¢
page 149.
-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 registered 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 150, fig. 144 and tells
you whe n the front Advanced Airbag on the
passenger side has been tu rned off.
- A senso r in t he 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 tro nic 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.
-
•
•

same effect. If the front passenger
frontal a irbag is turned on, the
PASSEN ­
GER AIR BAG OFF
light light will go out.
How the Advanced Airbag System
components work together
The front Advanced Airbag System and the
side airbags supplement the pro tection of­
fe red by the fro nt three -point safety be lts
with pretensioners and load limiters and the
adj ustab le head restra ints to he lp reduce the
risk of injury in a wide range of accident and
crash situations. Be sure to read the impor­
tan t information about safety and heed the
WARNINGS in this chapter .
Deployment of the Advanced A irbag System
and the act ivation of the safety be lt preten­
sioners depend on the decelerat ion measured
by the crash sensors and registered by the
electronic control un it . The amount of infla ­
tion of the front airbags can also be adapted
to the front seat position, depending on the d istance between the respe ctive front seat
and the steering whee l or inst rument 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 invo lved in the crash .
On the passenger s ide, regard less of safety
be lt use, the front passenger fronta l airbag
will be t urned off if the electrical capacitance
measured by the capacitive passenger detec­
tion system on the front passenge r seat is less
than the amount programmed in the electron­
ic control unit . The front passenger fronta l air ­
bag will a lso be turned off if the capac itance
measured by the system for the front passen­
ger seat eq ua ls tha t of an infant o f abo ut one
year of age in one o f the child seats that was
used to cert ify the Advanced Airbag System
under Fede ral Motor Vehicle Safety Standard
208 . T he
PASSENGER AIR BAG OF F light
comes on and stays on to tell you when the
front Advanced Airbag System on the passen­ ger s ide has been turned off
c:> page 150 .
Airba g sy stem 14 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 out of pos ition in any
way, your ris k of injury is m uch higher.
- You will a lso receive serious injuries and
could even be killed if you 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 137 .
More important things to know about
front airbags
Fi g. 14 3 In flated front a irbags
Safety belts are important to help keep front
seat occupants in the proper seated position
so that ai rbags can unfold p roper ly and pro­
v ide s upplementa l 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 d river a nd the front seat passenger 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 the airbag ,
- and the head restraints have been properly adjusted .
Because airbags inflate in the bli nk of an eye
wi th great force, things you have on your lap
or have placed on the seat cou ld become dan ­
gerous p rojecti 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 in .,,.

-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 149
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
rl will come on for a few sec­
onds (self diagnostics).
Th e sy stem must be in spected when the
indicator light
II:
- 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.
I f 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-
•
•

adult is properly seated and restrained at
one of the rear seating positions.
- Have the airbag system inspected by
yo ur 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
P ASS ENGER AIR B AG OFF light will stay
on.
Repair, care and disposal of the airbags
Parts of the a irbag system are installed at
many different places on your Audi. Installing,
removing, servic ing or repairing a part in an
area of the vehicle can damage a part o f an
airbag system and prevent that system from
working properly in a co llision.
There are some important things you have to know to make sure that the effect iveness of
the system will not be impaired and tha t dis ­
carded components do not cause injury or po l­
l ute the env ironment.
A WARNING
Improper care, servicing and repair proce­
dures can increase the risk of personal in­
jury and death by preventing an airbag
from deploy ing when needed o r deploying
an airbag unexpected ly:
- Never cover, obstruct, o r change the
steering wheel ho rn pad or airbag cover
o r th e instrument pane l 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 ho rn pad or instrumen t
pane l, use only a soft, d ry cloth or one
mois tened w ith plain wate r. Solven ts or
cleaners co uld damage the airbag cover
or change the stiffness o r strength of the
A irbag sys tem 153
material so that the airbag cannot de­
ploy and protect properly.
- Never repair, adjust, or change any parts
of the a irbag system.
- All work on the steering wheel, instru­
ment panel, front seats or e lectr ica l sys­
tem (including the installation of audio
equ ipment, cellu lar telephones and CB
radios, etc.) must be performed by a
qualified technic ian who has the training
and specia l equipment necessary.
- For any work on the airbag system, we strongly recommend that yo u see your
author ized Audi dealer or qualif ied work­
shop.
- Never modify the front bumper or pa rts
of the vehicle body.
- Always make sure that the s ide a irbag
can inflate without inte rfe rence:
- Never in.stall seat covers or rep lace­
ment upholstery over the front seat­
backs that have not been specifically
approved by Audi.
- Never use additional seat c ushions that
cover the areas where the side a irbags
i nflate.
- Damage to the orig inal seat cove rs or
to the seam in the area of the side a ir­
bag module must a lways be repaired
i mmediately by an author ized Audi
dealer.
- The airbag system can deploy on ly once.
After an a irbag has been deployed, it
m ust be replaced with new replacement
pa rts des igned and app roved espec ially
for your Aud i mo del ve rsion. Replace­
men t of comple te 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 veh icle battery with a pyrotech-
nic circuit inte rrupte r. .,.. •
•

154 Airbag system
-Work on the pyrotechnic circu it inter­
rupter must on ly be performed by a
qua lified technicians who have the ex­
perience, information and special tools necessary to perform the work safely .
- If the vehicle or the c ircuit interrupter
is scrapped, all applicable safety pre­
cautions must be followed.
@ For the sake of the environment
Undeployed airbag modules and preten­
sioners might be classified as Perchlorate Material -special handling may apply, see
www .dtsc.ca .gov/hazardouswaste/per­
chlora te. When th e vehicle o r parts of the
restraint system including airbag modules
a nd safety bel ts w ith p retens ioners are
scrapped, all applicable laws and regula­
tions must be observed. Your authorized
Audi dea ler is familiar wit h these requ ire­
ments and we recommend that you have
your dealer perform this serv ice for you .
Other things that can affect Advanced
Airbag performance
C hanging the vehicle's suspension system can
ch ange the way th at the Advanced A irbag Sys ­
tem pe rforms in a crash. For example, using
tire -rim combinations not app roved by Audi,
lowering the vehicle, changing the stiffness of
the suspension, incl uding the springs, s uspen­
sion struts, shock absorbers etc. can change
the forces that are measured by the a irbag
sensors and se nt to the electron ic control
u ni t. Some suspension changes ca n, for exam­
p le, increase th e forc e levels meas ure d by t he
se nsors a nd make the airbag system deploy in
crashes in w hich it would not dep loy if the
cha nges had not been ma de. Ot her kinds of
cha nges may reduce the force levels meas ­
ured by the sensors and prevent the airbag
from deploy ing when it sho uld.
The sen so rs in the safety belt buckle fo r th e
driver an d front passenger seat tell the elec ­
tronic control module if the safety belt is
latched or not. If the safety belt is being used,
the front airbag will deploy at a slightly high- er rate of ve
hicle deceleration than i f the safe ­
ty belt is not being used. Therefore, in a par­
t icu lar coll is ion, it is possible that an airbag
will not deploy at a seat ing pos ition w here the
safety belt is be ing used but will inflate at the
pos ition where t he safety belt is not be ing
u sed. It is important that noth ing interfere
with the safety be lt buckles so that the s en­
sors can send the correct info rmation abou t
sa fe ty belt use to the elec troni c con trol un it .
A WARNING
-Changi ng the vehicle's suspension includ ­
ing use of unapp roved tire -rim combina ­
tions can change Advanced Airbag per­
formance and increase the r isk o f serious
personal injury in a crash.
- Never install suspension components
that do not have the same performance
characterist ics as the components orig i­
na lly installed on your vehicle .
- Never use tire-rim combinations that
have not been approved by Audi.
Knee airbags
Description of knee airbags
Applies to vehicles : wi th knee airbags
The knee airbag system can provide supple­
mental prot ection to properly restrained
front seat occupants.
Fi g. 14 5 Driver"s air bag
The driver knee airbag is in the instrument
panel underneath t he steering wheel
Q fig . 145, the airbag for the passenger is at
about the same height in the instrument pan-
el underneat h the glove compartment . ...,

156 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. 146 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 147,
fig . 143.
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