child restraint AUDI S7 2015 User Guide

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Important safety instructions about
safety belts
Safety belts must always be correctly posi­
tioned across the strongest bones of your
body.
~ Always wear safety belts as illustrated and
described in this chapter.
~ Make sure that your safety belts are always
ready for use and are not damaged.
A WARNING
Not wearing safety belts or wearing them
improperly increases the risk of serious
personal injury and death. Safety belts can
work only when used correctly.
- Always fasten your safety be lts correctly
before driving off and make sure all pas­
sengers are correctly restrained.
- For maximum protection, safety belts must always be positioned properly on
the body .
- Never strap more than one person, in­
cluding small children, into any belt.
- Never place a safety belt over a child sit­ ting on your lap.
- Always keep feet in the footwell in front
of the seat while the vehicle is being d riv­
en .
- 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 ve­
hicle is moving. Doing so will increase
your risk of be ing injured or killed.
- Never wear belts twisted.
- Never wear belts over rigid or breakable
objects 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
hardware .
- Do not wear the shoulder part of the belt
under your arm or otherwise out of posi ­
tion .
Safety belts 141
-Several layers of heavy clothing may in­
terfere with correct positioning of belts and reduce the overall effectiveness of
the system .
- Always keep belt buckles free of anything
that may prevent the buckle from latch­
ing securely .
- Never use comfort clips or devices that
create slack in the shoulder belt . Howev­
er, special clips may be requ ired for the
proper use of some child restraint sys­
tems .
- Torn or frayed safety belts can tear, and
damaged belt hardware can break in an
accident. Inspect belts regularly.
If web­
bing , bindings, buckles, or retractors are
damaged, have belts replaced by an au­
thorized Audi dealer or qualified work­
shop.
- Safety belts that have been worn and
loaded in an accident must be replaced
with the correct replacement safety belt
by an authorized Audi dealer. Replace­
ment may be necessary even if damage
cannot be clearly seen . Anchorages that
were loaded must also 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 function of the inertia reel~
ta­
ble Cleaning interior on page 214.
Safety belts
Fastening safety belts
Safety first -everybody buckle up!
Fig. 156 B el t b uckle and to ngue on the drive r's seat

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Airbag system Important things to know
Importance of wearing safety belts and
sitting properly
Airbags are only supplemental restraints . For
airbags to do their job , occupants must al­
ways properly wear their safety belts and be
in a proper seating position.
F or your safety and the safety of your passen­
gers, before driving off, always:
"" Adjust the driver's seat and steering wheel
properly ¢
page 129,
"" Adjust the front passenger's seat properly
¢ page 54,
""Wear safety be lts properly r::::> page 141,
""Always properly use the proper child re-
stra int to protect ch ildren
r::::> page 173.
In a collision, airbags must inflate within the
blink of an eye and with considerable force .
The supplementa l airbags can cause injuries if
the dr iver or the front seat passenger is not
seated prope rly . T herefore in order to help the
a irbag to do its job, it is impo rtant, both as a
d river and as a passenge r to s it properly at all
times.
By keep ing room between your body and the
steer ing whee l and the front of the passenge r
compartment, the airbag can i nflate fully and
comp lete ly and provide supp lemen tal protec­
tion in ce rtain frontal collisions
r::::> page 129,
Proper occupant seating positions .
For deta ils
on the operation of the seat adjustment con­
trols
¢ page 54.
It's espe cially important that children a re
p roperly restrained
r::::> page 173.
There is a lot that the d river and the passen­
ge rs ca n and must do to help the individua l
safety features ins talled in your A ud i work to­
gether as a system.
P rope r seat ing pos ition is important so that
the front airbag on the dr iver s ide ca n do its
job. If yo u have a physical impa irment or con-
A irbag system 147
dition that prevents yo u from sitting properly
o n the driver seat with the safety belt properly
f astened and reach ing the peda ls, or if you
have concerns with regard to the function or
operation o f the Advanced Airbag System,
please contact your author ized Audi dealer or
qualified wo rkshop, o r call Audi Customer Re­
l ations at 1-800-822-2834 fo r poss ible modi­
fica tions to your veh icle.
When the airbag system dep loys, a gas gener ­
ator will fill t he a irbags, break open the pad­
ded cove rs, and inflate between the steer ing
whee l and the dr ive r and between the instru­
ment pane l and the fron t passenger. The a ir­
bags will deflate immedia tely after dep loy­
ment so that the front occupants can see
thro ugh the windshie ld again witho ut inter­
ruption .
A ll of th is takes place in t he blink o f an eye, so
f ast that many people don't even realize that
the airbags have deployed. The airbags a lso
inflate with a great dea l of force and nothing
shou ld be in their way when they deploy.
Front a irbags in combination with properly
wor n safety belts slow down and lim it the oc ­
c u pant's fo rward movement . Togethe r they
help to preve nt the drive r and front seat pas­
senger from h itti ng pa rts of the inside of the
vehicle while reducing the forces act ing on the
occupant dur ing 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 o f the
body.
Both front airbags wi ll not inflate in all fronta l
collisions . The trigge ring of the airbag system
depends on the vehicle dece lerat ion rate
ca used by the co llision and registered by the
elec tron ic control unit. If t his rate is below
the reference value programmed into the con ­
tro l unit, the airbags will not b e trigge red,
even t hough the car may be bad ly damaged as
a res ult of the co llision . Ve hicl e damage, re­
pair costs or even the lack of ve hicle damage
is not necessarily an indica tion of whether an
airbag shou ld inflate or not . .,. •
•

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Child restraints on the front seat - some
important things to know
.. Be sure to read the important information
and heed the WARNINGS for important de­
tai ls about children and Advanced Airbags
~page 173.
Even though your vehicle is equipped with an
Advanced Airbag System, make certain that
a ll chi ldren, especially those 12 years and
younger, always ride in the back seat properly
restra ined for their age and size. The airbag
on the passenger side makes the front seat a potentially dangerous place for a child to r ide .
The front seat is not the safest place fo r a
chi ld in a fo rward-facing chi ld seat. It can be a
very dange ro us p lace for an infant or a ch ild in
a rearward -facing seat.
The Advanced Airbag System i n your veh icle
h as been cert ified to comp ly with the require­
men ts of Uni ted States Federa l Mo to r Veh icle
Safety Standard 208 as applicable at the time
your vehicle was manufactured.
The Standard requires the front a irbag on the
passenger side to be turne d off ("sup­
p ressed") if a child up to about one year of
age restrained in one of the rear-facing or for­
ward -facing infant restraints listed in Federal
Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208 with wh ich
the Advanced Airbag System in your vehicle
was certified has been installed on the front
passenger seat. For a listing of the child re­
straints that we re used to certify compliance
with the US Safety Standard ~
page 175.
The PASS ENGER AIR BAG OFF light in the in­
strument panel te lls you when the front Ad­
vanced A irbag on the passenger side has been
turned off by the e lectronic control u nit.
Each t ime you sw itch on the ignit ion, the
PAS­
SENGER AIR BAG OFF
l ight w ill come on for a
few seconds a nd:
- will stay on if the front passenger seat is not
occup ied,
- will stay on if the electrical capacitance
measured by the capacitive passenger de­
tection system for the front passenge r seat
A irbag sys tem 149
equa ls the combined capacitance of an in­
fant up to about one year of age and one of
the rearwa rd-facing o r forward-fac ing ch ild
restraints listed in Federal Motor Vehicle
Safety Standard 208 with which the Ad­
vanced Airbag System in your ve hicle was
cert ified. Fo r a listing of the child restraints
that were used to certify your vehicle's com­ p lia nce w ith the U.S. Safety Standard
~page 175.
-w ill stay on if t he re is a small ch ild or child
restrai nt on the front passenge r seat,
- w ill go off if the front passenger seat is oc­
cupied by an adult as registered by the ca­
pacitive passenger det ection sys tem
~ page 159, Monitoring the Advanced Air­
bag System.
T he PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF lig ht comes on
when e lec tric al capacitan ce registe red on the
fron t passenger seat is eq ua l to or less than
the combined capacitance of a typical 1 year ­
o ld infant and one of the rearward-facing or
f orward -facing child restraints listed in Feder­
al Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208 with
which the Advanced Airbag System in your ve­
hicle was certified.
If the total e lectr ica l capacitance registered
on the front passenger seat is more than that
of a typical 1 year-old child but less than the
weight of a small adult, the front airbag on
the passenger side can deploy (the
PASSEN­
GER AIR BAG OFF
light does not come on).
If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does
not come on, the front airbag on the passen­
ger side has not been turned off by the e lec­
tron ic cont ro l unit and ca n deploy if the con­
t rol unit senses an impact tha t mee ts the co n­
di tions s to red in its memo ry.
For example, th e airbag may deploy if:
- a small ch ild that is heav ier than a typical 1
year-old child is on the front passenger seat
(regard less of whether the child is in one of
the ch ild seats listed~
page 175), or
- a child who has outgrown child restraints is
on the front passenge r seat. .,,. •
•

150 Airbag sys te m
If the front passenger airbag is turned off, the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes on in
the instrument cluster and stays on.
I f the front passenger airbag deploys, the
F ederal Standard requires the airbag to meet
the " low risk" deployment criteria to reduce
the r isk of injury through interaction with the
a irbag. "Low risk" deployment occurs in those
crashes that take place at lower decelerations
as defined in the electronic control unit
c::> page 160, PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light.
A lways remember, a chi ld seat or infant carri­
er installed on the front seat may be struck
and knocked out of position by the rap idly in ­
flating passenger's a irbag in a frontal colli­
sion . The airbag could greatly reduce the ef­
fectiveness of the ch ild restraint and even se­
rio usly inju re the child during inflat ion.
For this reason, and because the back seat is
the safest place for chi ldren - when properly
restra ined accord ing to their age and size - we
strongly recommend that children always sit in the back seat
c::> page 173, Child Safety.
_& WARNING
-
A child in a rearward -facing child seat in ­
stalled on the front passenger seat will be
seriously injured and can be killed if the
front airbag inflates - even with an Ad­
vanced Airbag System.
- The inflating a irbag will hit the child seat
or infant carrier with great force and w ill
smash the ch ild seat and child against
the backrest, center armrest, door or roof.
- Always install rear-facing child seats on the rear seat.
- If you must install a rearward facing
child seat on the front passenge r seat
because of exceptiona l circumstances
and the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not come on and stay on, immedi­
ately install the rear-f acing chi ld seat in a
rear seating position and have the ai rbag
system inspected by your Aud i dealer. -
Forward-facing child seats installed on
the front passenger's seat may interfere
with the deployment of the a irbag and
cause serious persona l injury to the
child.
_& WARNING
-If, i n except ional circumstances, you must
i nsta ll a forward-facing child restraint on
the front passenge r's sea t:
- Always make sure the forward-facing
seat has been designed and certified by
its manufacture r fo r use on a fron t seat
with a passenger fron t and s ide a irbag.
- Never p ut the fo rward -facing child re­
s tra int up against or very near the instru­
men t panel.
- Always move the passenge r seat into its
rearmost pos ition in the seat's fore and
aft ad justment range, as fa r away from
the airbag as possible before installing
the forward-facing ch ild restra int . The
backrest must be ad justed to an upright
position.
-Make sure that the PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
li ght comes on and stays on all the
time whenever the ignition is switched on .
_& WARNING
-To reduce the risk of serious injury, make
sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light w ill be displayed whenever a child re­
straint is installed on the front passenger
seat and the ignition is sw itche d on .
- If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not s tay on, perform the checks de­
scribed
<> page 159, Monitoring the Ad­
vanced Airbag System.
- Ta ke the chi ld restraint off the front pas­
senger sea t and install it prope rly at one
of the rear seat positions i f the
PASSEN­
GER AIR BAG OFF
light does not stay on.
- Have the airbag system inspected by
your Aud i dea ler immediately.

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-Always carefully follow instructions from
child restraint manufacturers when in­
stalling 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 151
Front airbags
Description of front airbags
The airbag system can provide supplemen tal
protection to properly restrained front seat occupants.
Fig. 161 Locat io n of drive r airbag : in steering wheel
Fig. 162 Locat ion of fron t pa ssenger' s airbag: in the in·
st rument 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 safety belts
for the seats have "pretensioners " that help
to take slack out of the belt system. The pre­
tensioners 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~
fig. 161 and the airbag for the
front passenger is in the instrument panel
¢ fig. 162. 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 .,..

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U.S. Federal Standard if a child with elec­
trical capac itance greater than the com­
bined capacitance of a typical one-year
old infant restra ined in one of the for­
ward fac ing or rearward-fac ing ch ild
seats w ith which your vehicle was certi­
fied is on the front passenger seat and
the other conditions for airbag deploy­ ment are met.
- Acc ident statist ics have shown that chil­
dren are generally safer in the rea r seat
area than in the front seating posit ion .
- For their own safety, all children, espe­
c ially 12 years and younger, sho uld al­
ways ride in the back p roperly rest rained
for their age an d size .
Advanced front airbag system
Your veh icle is equipped w ith a front Advanced
Airbag System in comp liance with Un ited
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 add it iona l
protection for the driver's and front passeng­
e r's heads and upper bodies in frontal crashes.
The airbags inflate only in frontal impacts
when the vehicle dece le rat io n is high enough.
The front Advanced A irbag System for the
fro nt seat occupants is not a substitute for
your safety belts . Rather, it is part of the over­
all occupant rest raint system in your ve hicle.
A lways remember that the airbag system can
only help to pro tect you, if you are s itting up ­
righ t, wearing yo ur sa fety belt and wearing it
properly. This is why you and yo ur passengers
must always be properly restrained, not just
because the law requires you to be.
The Advanced Airbag System in your veh icle
h as been certified to meet the " low r isk" re­
q uir ements for 3 and 6 year-o ld children on
the passenger s ide and very small adu lts on
the dr iver side. The low risk deployment crite­
ria are intended to he lp reduce the risk of i n­
j ury through interaction with the front airbag
A irbag system 153
that can occur, for examp le, by being too
close to the steering wheel and instr ument
panel when the airbag inflates .
In add ition, the system has been cert ified to
comply with the "s uppression" requirements
of the Safety Standard, to turn off the front
airbag for in fants 12 months o ld and younger
who are rest rained on the front passenger
seat in child restraints that are listed in the
Standa rd
c> page 175, Child restraints and
Advanced front airbag system .
"Suppression" 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 in one
of the rear-fac ing or forward -facing infant
restraints listed in Federal Motor Vehicle
Safety Standard 208 with which the Ad ­
vanced Airbag System in your ve hicle was
cert ified . Fo r a listing of the chi ld restraints
that were used to certify you r vehicle's com­
p lia nce w it h t he US Safe ty Stand ard
c>page 175,
-When a pe rson is detec ted o n the front pas ­
senge r seat that has an e lec trica l capa ci­
tance t hat is more than the tota l elect rical
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
w ith which the Advanced A irbag System in
your vehicle was certified), the front airbag
on t he passenger side may or may not de­
ploy.
The
PASSENG ER AIR BAG OFF light comes on
when the electron ic cont ro l unit de tects a to ­
ta l elect rical capac itance on the front passen­
ger seat that requi res the front a irbag to be
turned off. If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
li gh t does no t come on, the front airbag on
the passenger side has not been turned off by
the contro l unit and can deploy if the control
u nit senses an impact that meets the condi­
tions stored in its memory.
If the total e lectr ica l capacitance registered
on the front passenger seat is more than that
ll>
•
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154 Airbag sys te m
of a typ ica l 1 year -old, but less than the
weight of a sma ll adult, the front airbag on
the passenger side may deploy (the
PASSEN­
GER AIR BAG OFF
li ght does not come on).
For exa mple , the air b ag m ay depl oy if:
- a small child that is heavier than a typical 1
year-o ld child is on the front passenger seat
(regardless of whe ther the child is in one of
the chi ld seats listed
c':> page 175),
-a ch ild who has outgrown child rest raints is
on the front passenger seat.
If the front passenger airbag is turned off, the
PA SSENGER AIR BAG OFF light in the cente r
of the instrument panel w ill come on and stay
on.
If the front passenger airbag deploys, the Federal Standard requires the a irbag to meet
the "low risk" deployment criteria to help re­
duce the risk of injury through interaction
with the airbag. " Low risk" deployment occurs
in those crashes that take place at lower de­
celerations as defined in the e lectronic control
un it
c':>page 159.
Alwa ys rememb er: Even tho ugh your vehicle
is equipped with Advanced Airbags, the safest
p lace for children is properly restrained on the
back seat. Please be sure to read the impor­
tant information i n the sect ions that follow
and be sure to heed a ll of the WARNINGS .
A WARNING
To reduce the risk of injury when an airbag
inf lates, a lways wear safety belts prope rly.
- If you are unrestrained, lean ing forward,
sitting sideways or out of position in any
way, your risk of injury is much higher.
- You w ill also receive serious in juries and
cou ld even be killed if you are up against
the a irbag or too close to it when it in­
fla tes -even with an Advanced Airbag
c':> page 147.
A WARNING
A child in a rearward -facing child seat in ­
stalled on the front passenger seat will be seriously injured and can be killed
if the
front airbag inflates - even w ith an Ad­
vanced Airbag System.
- Altho ugh the Advanced Airbag System in
your veh icle is designed to turn off the
front airbag when a rearward-facing
child restraint has been installed on the
front passenge r seat, nobody can abso­
lutely guarantee that dep loyment is im­
possible in all con ceivable s ituations that
may h appen dur ing the usefu l life of y our
veh icle .
- T he inflating airbag will h it the ch ild seat
or infant carrier wi th grea t force and will
smash the child seat and child against
the backrest, center armrest, door, or
roof.
- Always install rearward-facing chi ld re­
straints on the rear seat.
- If you must install a rearward fac ing
child seat on the front passenger seat
because of exceptional circumstances
and the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not come on and stay on, immed i­
ately insta ll the rear-facing child seat in a
rea r seat ing pos ition and have the airbag
system inspected by you r Audi dealer.
A WARNING
If, in except iona l circumstances, you must
i nsta ll a forward-facing child restraint on
the front passenge r's sea t:
- Always make sure the forward-facing
seat has been designed and ce rtified by
its manufacture r fo r u se on a fron t seat
with a passenger fron t and s ide a irbag .
- Never p ut the fo rward-facing child re­
straint up agains t or ve ry near the instru­
ment panel.
- Always move the p assenge r seat into its
rearmost pos ition in the seat's fore and
aft ad justment range, as fa r away from
the airbag as possible, before installing
the forward-facing ch ild restra int. The
backrest must be ad justed to an upright
position.

156 Airbag system
-Never remove the front passenger or
driver seat from the vehicle.
- Never remove the upholstery from the
front passenger seat.
- Never disassemble or remove parts from
the seat or disconnect wires from it.
- Never carry sharp objects in your pockets
or put them on the seat. The capacitive
passenger detection mat in the front
passenger seat will not function properly
if it is punctured .
- Never carry things on your lap or carry objects on the front passenger seat.
Such objects can influence the capaci­
tance registered by the capacitive pas ­
senger detection system, so that incor­
rect information is provided to the airbag
control unit.
- Never store items under the front pas­
senger seat. Parts of the Advanced Air­
bag System under the passenger seat
could be damaged, preventing them and
the airbag system from working proper­
ly.
- Never place seat covers or replacement upholstery that have not been specifical­
ly approved by Audi on the front seats.
- Seat covers can prevent the Advanced Airbag System from recognizing child re­
straints or occupants on the front pas­
senger seat and prevent the side airbag
in the seat backrest from deploying prop­
erly.
- If a seat heater has been retrofitted or
otherwise added to the front passenger
seat, never install any child restraint sys­
tem on this seat .
- Never use cushions, pillows, blankets, or similar items on the front passenger
seat. The additional layers prevent the
capacitive passenger detection system
from accurately measuring the capaci­
tance of the child safety seat and/or the
person on the seat and thus keep the Ad­
vanced Airbag System from working properly.
- Never place or use any electrical device
(such as a laptop, CD player, electronic games device
, power inverter or seat
heater for child seats) on the front pas­
senger seat if the device is connected to
the 12-volt socket or the cigarette light­
er socket . Such devices can influence the
capacitance registered by the capacitive passenger detection system, so that in­
correct information is provided to the air­
bag control unit.
- If you must use a child restraint on the
front passenger seat and the child re­
straint manufacturer's instructions re­
quire the use of a towel, foam cushion or
something else to properly position the
child restraint, make certain that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes
on and stays on whenever the child re­
straint is installed on the front passen­
ger seat.
- If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not come on and stay on, immedi­
ately install child restraint in a rear seat­
ing position and have the airbag system inspected by your Audi dealer.
,8. WARNING
If the front passenger seat gets wet, dry it
immediately.
- If liquid soaks into the front passenger
seat, this can keep the airbag system
from working properly and may, for in­
stance, deactivate the passenger frontal
airbag. If this happens, the
PASSENGER
AIR BAG OFF
light will come on and stay
on together with the airbag indicator light
fl in the instrument cluster .
- If liquid is pooled on the seat, but has
not soaked in, this may also keep the air­
bag system from working properly and
cause the passenger frontal airbag to be
enabled (turned on), even though there is a properly installed child restraint sys­
tem on the seat . Wet towels or other wet
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.

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How the Advanced Airbag System
components work together
The front Advanced Airbag System and the
side airbags supplement the protection of­
fered by the front three -point safety be lts
with pretensioners and load limiters and the
adjustable head restra ints* to help reduce the
risk of injury in a wide range of acc ident and
crash situat ions . Be sure to read the impor­
tant information about safety and heed the
WARNINGS i n this chap ter .
Dep loyment of the Advanced Airbag System
and the activat ion of the safety be lt pre ten­
sioners depend on the dece lerat ion meas ured
by the c rash senso rs and registered by the
e lectronic control u nit. Cr ash severity depends
on speed and dece leration as well as the mass
and stiffness of the vehicle or object involved
in the crash .
On the passenge r side, reg ard less of safety
be lt use, the fron t passenger fronta l airbag
will be t urned off i f the electrical capacitance
measured by the capac itive passenger detec­
tion system on the front passenger seat is less
than the amount programmed in the e lectron­
ic control unit. The front passenger frontal air­
bag will also be turned off if the capac itance
measured by the system for the front passen­
ge r seat equa ls that of an infant of about one
year of age in one of the child seats that was
used to cert ify the Advanced Airbag Sys tem
u nder Fede ral Motor Vehicle Safety Standard
208 . The
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
comes on and stays on to tell you when t he
front Advanced Airbag System on the passen­
ger s ide has been turned off¢
page 160.
A WARNING
To reduce the risk of injury when an airbag
inf lates, a lways wear safety belts properly .
-If you are unrestrained, lean ing forward,
sitting sideways or out of position in any
way, yo ur r isk of inj ury is much hig he r.
- You w ill also receive serious injuries and
cou ld eve n be killed if you are up against
the a irbag or too close to it when it in-
A irba g sy stem 15 7
flates -even w it h an Advanced A irbag
¢page 147.
More important things to know about
front airbags
Fi g. 16 3 In flated front airbags
Safety be lts are important to he lp keep front
seat occupants in the proper seated position
so that airbags can unfold properly and pro­
vide supplementa l protect ion in a frontal col­
li s ion.
The front airbags are des igned to provide ad­
ditional protection for the chest and face of
the driver and the front seat passenger when :
- safety belts are worn proper ly,
- t he seats have been positioned so that the
occupant is properly seated as far as poss i­
ble from the airbag,
- and for ad justab le head restra ints: the head
restraints have been properly adj usted .
Bec ause airbags infl ate in the bli nk of an eye
wi th great force, th ings you have on your lap
o r have p laced on the seat co uld become dan ­
gerous projectiles, and be p ushed into you if
the a irbag inf lates.
When an airbag deploys, fine dust is re le ased.
This is norma l and is not caused by a fi re in
the ve hicle . This dust is made up mostly of a
powder used to lubricate the airbags as they
deploy. It could irr itate skin .
It is important to remembe r that wh ile the
supplementa l airbag system is designed to re­
duce the like lihood of serious injur ies, other
i njur ies, for example swelling, bruis ing and
minor abrasions, can also happen when air-
bags inflate . A irbags do not protect the arms .,_

160 Airbag system
-If the air bag indicator light ¢ page 19
comes when the vehicle is being used,
have the system inspected immediately
by your autho rized Aud i dea ler . It is pos­
s ible that the airbag will inflate when it
is not s upposed to, or w ill not inflate
when it should.
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
F ig. 164 Sect ion from t he in strument pa nel : PASS EN­
GER AIR BAG O FF ligh t
The PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light is located
in the cen ter o f the instr ument panel
¢ fig . 164.
The PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light will come
on an d stay on to te ll you when the fron t Ad ­
v a nce d Airbag on t he passenger side h as been
turned off by the e lectronic control unit . If the
bu lb for the
PASSENGER A IR BAG O FF light
burns out, the airbag ind icator light
II wi ll
come on to signal a malfunction in the Ad­
vanced A irbag System . Although the burned­
out bulb will not change the way the front
passenger's frontal airbag works, it w ill no
longer be possib le to use the
PASSENGER AIR
BAG OFF
light to make sure that the ai rbag
on/off s tat us is correct for the occupant on
the front passenger seat. Have the airba g sys­
tem inspected immediate ly by your autho r­
ized A udi dealer.
Th e PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light will blink
for about 5 se cond s when :
- the ignit ion is switched on and
- the capac itive passenger detect ion system,
wh ich sw itches the front seat passenger 's
fron tal Advanced Airbag on and off, detects a change in the status of the front passen
­
ger seat.
As soon as the
PA SSENGER AIR BAG OFF
ligh t stops b linking, a lways make sure tha t
the airbag status (on or off) as shown by the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light is proper for
the age, size and e lectrica l capacitance of the
person occupy ing the front passenger seat.
Always make sure that the safety belt for the
front passenger seat is properly fastened .
The PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light will
show the status of the front seat passenger 's
frontal Advanced Airbag a fe w seconds after
the ignition i s switched on and the airbag in ­
dicator light go es off . The PASSENG ER AIR
BAG OFF light :
-will stay on if the front passenger seat is not
occupied;
- will stay on if the electrical capacitance
measured by the capacitive passenger de­
tect ion system for the front passenger seat
equals the combined capacitance of an in­
hnt up to abou t one year of age and one of
the rearwa rd- facing or forward-fac ing ch ild
restrai nts listed in Fede ral 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 we re used to certify your vehicle's com ­
pliance w ith the U.S . Safety Standard
¢ page 175.
-will go out if the front passenger seat is oc­
cupied by an adult as registered by the ca­
pacitive passenger detection system .
- The
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light must
come on and stay on if the ignition is on
and ...
- a car bed has been installed on the front
passenger seat, or
- a rearward-facing child restraint has been
installed on the front passenger seat, or
- a forward-facing ch ild restra int has been in ­
stalled on the front passenger sea t,
- and if the electrical capacitance registered
on t he front passenger seat is equal to or
less than the combined capaci tance of a typ-
ical 1 year-o ld i nfant and one of the
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