AUDI S8 2008 Owners Manual

_________________________________________________ s_ a_f _e _t .:,.y _ b_ e_lt_ s __ lfll
Safety belts
General notes
Always wear safety belts!
Wearing safety belts correctly saves lives!
This chapter explains why safety belts are necessary, how
they work and how to adjust and wear them correctly.
- Read all the information that follows and heed all of the
instructions and WARNINGS.
& WARNING
Not wearing safety belts or wearing them improperly increases
the risk of serious personal injury and death.
• Safety belts are the single most effective means available to
reduce the risk of serious injury and death in automobile acci­
dents. For your protection and that of your passengers, always
correctly wear safety belts when the vehicle is moving.
• Pregnant women, injured, or physically impaired persons must
also use safety belts . Like all vehicle occupants, they are more
likely to be seriously injured if they do not wear safety belts. The
best way to protect a fetus is to protect the mother -throughout
the entire pregnancy. •
Number of seats
Your Audi has a total of five seating positions: two in the front and
three in the rear. Vehicles with power individual rear seats* have
seating for four: two in the front and two in the rear. Each seating
position has a safety belt.
Controls and equip­ ment Safety first
Vehicle operation
& WARNING
Not wearing safety belts or wearing them improperly increases
the risk of serious personal injury and death .
• Never strap more than one person, including small children,
into any belt. It is especially dangerous to place a safety belt over
a child sitting on your lap.
• Never let more people ride in the vehicle than there are safety
belts available.
• Be sure everyone riding in the vehicle is properly restrained
with a separate safety belt or child restraint. •
Safety belt warning light ~
Your vehicle has a warning system for the driver and front
seat passenger to remind you about the importance of
buckling-up.
Before driving off, always:
Fig . 219 Safety belt
warning light in the
instrument cluster -
enlarged
- Fasten your safety belt and make sure you are wearing it
properly.
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Vehicle care Do-it-yourself service Technical data

___ s_a_ f_ e_ t-= y_ b_e_ l_ t _s _______________________________________________ _
-Make sure that your passengers also b uckle up and pro p­
erly wea r th eir sa fety be lts.
Protect children wit h a c hild restraint sys tem appropriate
for the size and age.
The warning light ~ in the instrument cluster lights up when the
ignition is switched on as a reminder to fasten the safety belts. In
addition , you will hear a warning tone.
After the ignition is switched on, the warning light in the instrument cluster will a lways come on for about 6 seconds and if the driver has
not fastened the safety belt, a warning tone will also sound for
about 6 seconds . As soon as the driver has fastened the safety belt,
the warning tone will stop and the warning light will go out .
If the driver or front seat passenger have not buckled -up within
about 10 seconds after the warning tone has stopped and the
vehicle is moving faster than about 15 mph, the warning tone will
sound again for about 6 seconds and then s top for 24 seconds and
then repeat this reminder sequence for a maximum of 2 minutes. At
speeds be low 5 mph, the warning to ne will not sound.
Fa sten your safe ty belt and make su re that your p assengers al so
properl y put on their s afet y belts .
& WARNING
• Safety belts are the single mo st effective mean s available to
reduce th e risk of ser ious in jur y a nd death in aut omobile acci­
dent s. For your prote ction and that of your pas sengers , alway s
c orrectly wear safety belt s when t he v ehicle is moving .
• Failure t o pay attention to th e warning light that come on,
c ould lead to per sonal injur y.•
Why safety belts?
Frontal collisions and the law of physics
Frontal cras hes cre ate very strong forces for people ridi ng
in vehicles.
F ig . 22 0 Unbel te d
occ upants in a ve hicle
h ead ing for a w all
F ig . 22 1 The vehi cle
c ras hes in to th e wa ll
The physical principles are simple. Both the vehicle and the passen­
gers possess energy which varies with vehicle speed and body
we ight . Engineers call this energy "kinetic energy ."
T he higher the speed of the vehicle and the greater the vehic le's
we ight, the more energy that has to be "absorbed" in the crash .
Vehicle speed is the most signi fican t factor. If the speed doubles
from 15 to 30 mph (25 to 50 km/h), the energy increases 4 times!
.,

Because the passengers of this vehicle are not using safety belts
=> page 210, fig. 220, they will keep moving at the same speed the
vehicle was moving just before the crash, un til some thing stops
them
-here, the wall ~ page 210, fig. 221.
The same principles apply to people sitting in a vehicle that is involved in a frontal collision. Even at city speeds of 20 to 30 mph
(30 to 50 km/h), the forces acting on the body can reach one ton
(2,000 lbs, or 1,000 kg) or more . A t grea ter spe eds, these forc es are
even higher.
People who do not use safety bel ts are also no t attached to their
vehicle. In a frontal collision they will also keep moving forward at
the speed their vehicle was travelling just before the crash. Of course, the laws of physics don't just apply to frontal collisions, they
determine what happens in all kinds of accidents and collisions. •
What happens to occupants not wearing
safety belts?
In crashes unbelted occupants cannot stop themselves
from flying forward and being injured or killed. Always
wear your safety belts!
Fig . 222 A driver not
wearing a safety belt is
violently thrown
forward
Safety belts
Fig . 223 A rear
passenger not wearing
a safety belt will fly
forward and strike the
driver
Unbelted occupants are no t able to resist the tremendous forces of
impact by holding tight or bracing themselves. Without the benefit
of safety restraint systems, the unrestrained occupant will slam
violently into the steering wheel, instrument panel, windshield, or
whatever else is in the
way~ fig. 222 . This impact with the vehicle
interior has all th e energy th ey had just before the crash.
Never rely on airbags alone for protection. Even when they deploy,
airbags provide only additional protection. Airbags are not
supposed to deploy in all kinds of accidents. Although your Audi is
equipped with airbags , all vehicle occupants, including the driver,
must wear safety belts correctly in order to minimize the risk of
severe injury or death in a crash .
Remember too , that airbags will deploy only once and that your
safety belts are always there to offer protection in those accidents
in which airbags are not suppos ed to deploy or wh en they have
already deployed. Unbelted occupants can also be thrown out of the
vehicle where even more severe or fatal injuries can occur .
It is also important for the rear passengers to wear safety belts
correctly . Unbelted passengers in the rear seats endanger not only
themselves but also the dr iver and other
passengers => fig. 223. In a
frontal collision they will be thrown forward violently, where they can hit and injure the driver and/or front seat passenger. •
Vehicle care I I Technical data

lfflJ _ ___.:::S:,::a ~f ..::e :..::t Ly _ b~ e:.:.:lt ~s::._ _____________________________________________ _
Safety belts protect
People think it's possible to use the hands to brace the
body in a min or c ollision . It's simply not true!
Fig . 22 4 Driv er is
c orr ectly r est rai ned in
a su dd en braki ng
m aneuver
Safety belts used properly can make a big difference. Sa fety belts
help to keep passengers in their seats, gradually reduce energy
levels app lied to the body in an accident, and help prevent the
uncontrolled movement that can cause serious injuries. In addition,
safety be lts re duce the danger of being thrown out of the vehic le .
Safety belts attach passengers to the car and give them the benefit
of being s lowed down more gently or "softly" through the "give" in
the safety belts, crush zones and other sa fety features engineered
into today's vehicles. By "absorbing" the kinetic energy over a
longer pe riod of time, the sa fety belts make the forces on the body
more "tolerable" and less likely to cause injury .
Altho ugh these examples are based on a frontal co llision, safety
belts can a lso substantially reduce the risk of injury in other kinds
of crashes . So, whether you're on a long trip or just going to the
corner store, a lways buckle up and make sure others do, too. Acci­
dent statistics show that vehicle occupants properly wearing safety
belts have a lower ris k of being injured and a much better chance of
surviving an accident. Properly using safety belts also greatly
increases the abi lity of the supplementa l airbags to do their job in a
collision . For th is reason, wearing a safety belt is legally required in
most countries including much of the United States and Canada. Although your Audi is equipped with airbags, you sti
ll have to wear
t he safety belts provided . Fron t air bags, for example, are activated
only in some frontal collisions. The front a irbags are not activated in
a ll fro ntal co llisions, in side and rear coll isions, in ro ll ove rs or in
cases where there is not enough dece leration through impact to the
front of the vehicle . The sa me goes for the other airbag systems in
you r Aud i. So, always wear your safety belt and make sure every ­
body in your vehic le is properly restrained! •
Important safety instructions about safety
belts
Safety belts must always be correctly posi tio ned across
t he strongest bones of your body.
- Al ways wear safety belts as illust rated and described in
th is chapte r.
-Make s ure tha t yo ur sa fety be lts ar e always ready for us e
and are not damage d.
& WARNING
Not wearing safety belts or w earing them improperl y increas es
the risk of serious per sonal injury and death . S afety belts ca n work
onl y when used corre ctl y.
• Alway s fa sten your s afety belt s correctly before driving off and
make sure all p assengers ar e correctly restrain ed.
• For ma ximum protect ion , safet y belts must always be po si­
tioned properly on the body .
• Never strap more than one person , including sm all ch ildren ,
into any belt.
• Never pla ce a safety belt ove r a child sitting on your lap .
• Alway s keep feet
in the footwell in front of the seat while the
vehicle is being driven .
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fl::. WARNING (continued)
• Never let any person ride with their feet on the instrument
panel or sticking out the window or on the seat .
• Never remove a safety belt while the vehicle is moving. Doing
so will increase your risk of being injured or killed.
• Never wear belts twisted.
• Never wear belts over rigid or breakable objects in or on your
clothing, such as eye glasses, pens, keys, etc. , as these may cause
injury.
• Never allow safety belts to become damaged by being caught
in door or seat hardware.
• Do not wear the shoulder part of the belt under your arm or
otherwise out of position.
• Several layers of heavy clothing may interfere with correct posi­
tioning of belts and reduce the overall effectiveness of the system.
• Always keep belt buckles free of anything that may prevent the
buckle from latching securely.
• Never use comfort clips or devices that create slack in the
shoulder belt. However, special clips may be required for the
proper use of some child restraint systems .
• Torn or frayed safety belts can tear, and damaged belt hard­
ware can break in an accident. Inspect belts regularly .
If webbing,
bindings, buckles, or retractors are damaged, have belts replaced
by an authorized Audi dealer or qualified workshop .
• Safety belts that have been worn and loaded in an accident
must be replaced with the correct replacement safety belt by an
authorized Audi dealer. Replacement 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.
Safety belts
fl::. WARNING (continued)
• Always keep the belts clean. Dirty belts may not work properly
and can impair the function of the inertia reel
~ page 299, "Safety
belts" .•
Safety belts
Fastening safety be lts
Seat first -everybody buckle up!
Fig . 225 Belt buckle
and tongue on the
driver's seat
To prov ide maximum protection, safety belts must always
be positioned correctly on the wearer's body.
Adjust the front seat and head restraint properly
=> page 86, "General recommendations" .
Hold the belt by the tongue and pull it evenly across the
chest and
pelvis =>& .
Insert the tongue into the correct buckle of your seat
until you hear it latch
securely=> fig. 225.
Pull on the belt to make sure that it is securely latched in
the buckle.
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Vehicle care I I irechnical data

-Safety belts
---=---------------------------------
Automatic safety belt retractors
Every safety belt is equipped with an automatic belt retractor on the
shoulder belt. This feature locks the belt when the belt is pulled out
fast, during hard braking and in an accident. The belt may also lock
when you drive up or down a steep hill or through a sharp curve. During normal driving the belt lets you move freely.
Safety belt pretensioners
The safety belts are equipped with a belt pretensioner that helps to
tighten the safety belt and remove slack when the pretensioner is
activated. The function of the pretensioner is monitored by a
warning
light=> page 19.
Switchable locking feature
Every safety belt except the one on the driver seat is equipped with
a switchable locking feature that
must be used when the safety belt
is used to attach a child seat. Be sure to read the important informa­
tion about this
feature => page 253.
& WARNING
Improperly positioned safety belts can cause serious injury in an
accident=> page 214, "Safety belt position" .
• Safety belts offer optimum protection only when the seat back
is upright and belts are properly positioned on the body.
• Never attach the safety belt to the buckle for another seat.
Attaching the belt to the wrong buckle will reduce safety belt
effectiveness and can cause serious personal injury.
• A passenger who is not properly restrained can be seriously
injured by the safety belt itself when it moves from the stronger
parts of the body into critical areas like the abdomen.
• Always lock the convertible locking retractor when you are
securing a child seat in the vehicle
=> page 255. •
Safety belt position
Correct belt position is the key to getting maximum
protection from safety belts.
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8
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Fig . 226 Head restraint
and safety belt
posi­
tion as seen from the
side
Use the height adjustment to change the position of the shoulder
belt of the front safety belts.
& WARNING
Improperly positioned safety belts can cause serious personal
injury in an accident .
• The shoulder belt portion of the safety belt must be positioned
over the middle of the occupant's shoulder and never across the
neck or throat.
• The safety belt must lie flat and snug on the occupant's upper
body
=> fig. 226. Pull on the belt to tighten if necessary.
• The lap belt portion of the safety belt must be positioned as
low as possible across pelvis and never over the abdomen. Make
sure the belt lies flat and snug
=> fig. 226. Pull on the belt to
tighten if necessary.
• A loose-fitting safety belt can cause serious injuries by shifting
its position on your body from the strong bones to more vulner-
able, soft tissue and cause serious injury.
...

fl::. WARNING (continued)
• Always read and heed all WARNINGS and other important infor­
mation
~ page 212. •
Pregnant women must also be correct ly
restrained
The best way to protect the fetus is to make sure that
expectant mothers always wear safety belts correctly
-
throughout the pregnancy.
Fig. 227 Safety belt
position during preg­
nancy
To prov ide maximum protection, safety belts must always
be posi tioned correctly on the wearer's
body => page 214.
-Adjust the front seat and head restraint correctly
=> page 86 , "General recommendations".
- Hold the belt by the tongue and pull it evenly across the
chest and
pelvis => fig. 227, => &.
- Insert the tongue into the correct buckle of your seat
until you hear it latch
securely => page 213, fig. 225.
- Pull on the belt to make sure that it is securely latched in
the buckle.
Safety belts
& WARNING
Improperly positioned safety belts can cause serious personal
injury in an accident.
• Expectant mothers must always wear the lap portion of the
safety belt as low as possible across the pelvis and below the
rounding of the abdomen.
• Always read and heed all WARNINGS and other important infor ­
mation
~ & in "Fastening safety belts" on page 213. •
Unfastening safety be lts
Unbuckle the safety belt with the red release button only
after the vehicle has stopped.
Fig . 228 Releasing the
tongue from the buckle
Push the red release button on the buckle => fig. 228. The
belt tongue will spring out of the buckle
=> &.
Let the belt wind up on the retractor as you guide the belt
tongue to its stowed pos it ion.
& WARNING
Never unfasten safety belt while the vehicle is moving. Doing so
will increase your risk of being injured or killed. •
Vehicle care I I irechnical data

___ s_a _f _e _t -=-y _ b_ e_lt _s ______________________________________________ _
Adjusting safety belt height Use the safety belt height adjustment to change belt posi­
tion on the shoulder.
Fig . 229 Adjusting
shoulder belt height
The safety belt height adjustors for the front seats can be
used to adjust the height of the shoulder portion of the
safety belt so that it is positioned correctly.
- Push the
latch ~ fig. 229 up or down so that the shoulder
portion of the safety belt is positioned nearly midway
over the
shoulder ~ & in "Safety belt position" on
page 214.
& WARNING
Always read and heed all WARNINGS and other important informa­
tion
~ page 212. •
Improperly worn safety belts
Incorrectly positioned safety belts can cause severe inju­
ries.
Wearing safety belts improperly can cause serious injury or
death. Safety belts can only work when they are correctly positioned on the body. Improper seating
positions reduce
the effectiveness of safety belts and will even increase the
risk of injury and death by moving the safety belt to critical
areas of the body. Improper seating positions also increase
the risk of serious injury and death when an airbag deploys
and strikes an occupant who is not in the correct seating position. A driver is responsible for the safety of all vehicle
occupants and especially for children. Therefore:
- Never permit anyone to assume an incorrect sitting posi­
tion in the vehicle while
traveling ~& .
& WARNING
Improperly worn safety belts increase the risk of serious personal
injury and death whenever a vehicle is being used.
• Always make sure that all vehicle occupants are correctly
restrained and stay in a correct seating position whenever the
vehicle is being used.
• Always read and heed all WARNINGS and other important infor­
mation
~ page 212. •
Safety belt pretensioners
How safety belt pretensioners work
In front, side and rear-end collisions above a particular
severity, safety belts are tensioned automatically.
The safety belts are equipped with safety belt pretensioners . The
system is activated by sensors in front, side and rea r-end collisions
of great severity . This tightens the belt and takes up belt
slack ~ &
in "Service and disposal of safety belt pretensioner" on page 217.
Taking up the slack helps to reduce forward occupan t movement
during a collision.
•

Safety b elts -
----------------=--
[ i ] Tip s
The sa fet y belt pretens ioner can on ly be activated once.
• I n minor frontal and side col lisions, in rear -end collisions, in a
rollover and in accidents involving very litt le impact force, the safety
belt pretensioner are not activated .
• When the safety be lt pretensioner is activated, a fine dust is
released . This is normal and is not caused by a fire i n the vehicle.
• T he relevant safety requirements must be observed when the
vehic le or c om po n en ts of the system are scrapped . A qua lifi ed deal ­
ership is fami liar with these regulations and wil l be p leased to pass
on the info rmation to you .
• Be sure to observe al l safety, environmenta l and other regula ­
t ions if the veh ic le or indiv idual parts of the sys tem, particu larly the
safety belt or airbag, are to be disposed. We recommend you have
your au thorized A udi dea ler perform this service for you .•
Service and disposal of safety belt
pretension er
The safety belt pretens io ners are parts of the sa fety be lts on your
Audi. Installing, removing, servicing or repairing of belt preten­
s ioners can damage the sa fe ty be lt system and prevent it from
working correctly in a collision.
There a re some important things yo u have to know to make su re
t hat t he effec tive ness o f the system w ill not be impaired and that
discarded compone nts do not cause injury or po llute the environ ­
ment.
& WARNING
Improper care , servicing and repair pro cedures can increase the
ri sk of personal injury and death by preventing a safety belt
pretension er from activating when needed or activating it unex­
pectedly:
Controls and equip­ ment Safety first
Vehicle operation
&, WARNING (continued )
• The belt pretensioner system can be a ctivated only once. If belt
preten sioner s ha ve been activated, the system mu st be repla ced .
• Never repair , adju st, or change any part s of the safety belt
s ystem .
• Safety belt sy stems including safety belt pretensioners cannot
be repaired. Speci al pro cedures are required for removal , in stalla ­
tion and di sposal of this system .
• For any work on the safety belt system , we strongly re com ­
mend that you see your authorized Audi dealer or qualified techni ­
c ian who ha s an Audi approved repair m anual , training and spe cial
equipment nece ssary .
~ For the sake of the environment
Undeployed airbag modu les and pretensioners might be c lassif ied
as Perchlorate Material -special handling may apply, see
www .dtsc.ca .gov/hazardouswaste/perchlorate . When the vehicle or
parts of the restraint system including airbag modules safety be lts
with pretensioners are scrapped, a ll applicable laws and regu la ­
tions must be observed . Your authorized Au di dealer is fa mi liar with
these requirements and we recommend that you have your dea ler
perfor m this service for y ou.•
Vehicle care Do-it-yourself service Technical data

___ A_ ir_b _ a_ g=- s-a. y_s _t _e _m _________________________________________________ _
Airbag system
Important things to know
Importance of wearing safety belts and
sitting properly
Airbags are only supplemental restraints. For airbags to
do their jo b, occu pants must always properly we ar their
safety belts and be in a proper seating position.
Fo r your safe ty a nd the safety o f your passen gers, before
dr iving o ff, a lways:
- Adjust the driver 's seat and steering wheel proper ly
=> page 200,
- Adjust the front passenger's seat properly=> page 87,
-Wear safety be lts proper ly=> page 212,
- Always properly use the proper chi ld restrain t to pro tect
ch ildren
=> page 243 .
In a collision airbags mus t inflate with in t he blink of an eye and with
considerable force . The supplemental airbags can cause injuries if
t he driver or the fron t seat passenger is not seated properly. There ­
fore in order to help the airbag to do its job, it is important, both as a driver and as a passenger to sit properly at a ll ti mes.
By keep ing room between your body and t he steer ing wheel and the
front of the passenger compartment, the airbag can inflate fu lly and
comp letely and prov ide supplementa l protection in certain frontal
collisions => page 200, "Proper occupant seating positions". For
deta ils on the operation of t he seat adjustment
controls => page 87.
It's especia lly important that chi ldren are proper ly restrained
=> page 243 .
There is a lot that the driver and the passengers can and must do to
help the individual safety features installed in your Audi work
together as a system.
P roper seating position is important so that the front airbag on the
driver side ca n do its job. I f yo u have a physical impairment or
condition that prevents you from sitting properly on the driver seat
wi th the safety belt p roperly fastened and reaching the pedals, o r if
you have concerns with regard to the function or operation of the
Advanced Airbag System, p lease contact your authorized Audi
dea ler or qua lif ied workshop, or call Audi Customer CAR E at 1 -800-
822 -2834 for possib le modifications to your vehicle .
When the a irbag system deploys, a gas generator wi ll fil l the
airbags, break open the padded covers, and inflate between the
steer ing wheel and the dr iver and between the inst rume nt panel
and the front passenger. The airbags wi ll deflate immediate ly after
deployment so that the front occupants can see through the wind ­
shield again without interruption .
A ll of this takes p lace in the b link of an eye, so fast that many people
do n't even rea lize that the a irbags have dep loyed . T he airbags also
inflate with a great dea l of force and nothing should be in their way
when they dep loy. Fron t airbags in combinati on wi th properly worn
safety belts slow down and limit the occupant's forward movement.
Together t hey help to prevent the driver and front seat passenger
from hitting parts of the inside the vehicle while reducing the forces act ing on the occupant during the crash . In this way they he lp to
reduce the r isk of injury to the head and upper body in the crash .
Airbags do not protect the arms or the lower parts of the body .
Both front a irbags w ill not in flate i n all fro ntal col lis io ns. The trig­
gering of the airbag system depends on the vehic le dece lerat ion
r ate caused by the co llision and registe red by the electr onic c ontro l
unit . If this rate is be low the reference value programmed into the
co ntrol unit, the ai rbags w il l not be t riggered, even tho ug h the car
may be bad ly damaged as a result of the collision . Vehicle damage,
~