weight AUDI S8 2015 User Guide

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but less than the weight of a small adult, the
fro nt airbag on the passenger side may deploy
(the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OF F light does not
come on).
For example, the a irba g may deplo y if:
- a small child that is heavier than a typical 1
year-o ld child is on the front passenger seat
(regardless of whether the child is in one of
the chi ld seats listed
page 176),
-a ch ild who has outgrown child rest raints is
on the front passenger seat.
I f the front passenger airbag is turned off, the
PA SSENGER AIR BAG OFF light in the center
of the inst rument panel w il l come on and stay
on.
The front a irbag on the passenger side may
not deploy (the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light does not illuminate and stay lit) if:
- a small adult or teenager is on the front pas­
senger seat
- a passenger who is not sitt ing upr ight w ith
their back against a non-reclined backrest
with their feet on the veh icle floo r in front
of the sea t is on the front passenge r seat.
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 inj ury through in terac tion
with the airbag . "Low risk" deployment occurs
in those crashes that take place at lower de ­
celerations as defined in the electronic control unit
~ page 161.
Always remember : Even though you r 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 in the sect ions that follow
and be sure to heed all of the WARNINGS.
A WARNING
To reduce the risk of injury when an airbag
inflates, always wear safety belts properly.
- If you are unrestrained, lean ing forward,
sitting sideways or out of position in any
way, your risk of in jury is much highe r.
A irbag system 157
-You will a lso receive serious injuries and
could even be killed if yo u are up aga inst
the airbag or too close to it when it in­
flates - even w ith an Advanced A irbag
~page 151 .
A WARNING
A child in a rearward-fac ing ch ild seat in­
stalled on the front passenger seat will be
se riously in ju red and can be killed if the
front airbag inflates - even w ith an Ad­
vanced A irbag System.
- Altho ugh the Advan ced Airbag Sys tem 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 conceivable situations that
may happen dur ing the usefu l life of your
veh icle.
- The inflating airbag will h it the ch ild seat
or infant carrier with great force and will
smash the child seat and child aga inst
the backrest, center armrest, doo r, or
roof.
- Always install rearward-facing child re­
straints on the rear seat.
- If you must install a rearward fac ing
child seat on the front passenger s eat
because of exceptional cir cumstances
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 seating position and have the airbag
system inspected by your Audi dealer.
A WARNING
If, in except iona l circumstances, you must
install a forward-facing child restraint on
the front passenger's seat:
-Always make sure the forward-facing seat has been designed and certified by its manufacturer for use on a front seat
with a passenger front and s ide a irbag.
•
•
-

158 Airbag sys te m
- Never put the forward-facing child re­
straint up aga inst or very near the instru­
ment panel.
- Always move the passenger seat into its
rearmost position in the seat's fore and
aft adjustment range, as far away from
the a irbag as poss ible, before installing
the forward-facing child restraint. The backrest must be adjusted to an upr ight
posit io n.
- Make sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
light comes on and stays on all the
t ime whenever the ignition is switched
on.
Advanced Airbag System components
The front passenger seat in your vehicle has a
lot of very important parts of the Advanced
Airbag System in it. These parts include the
weight-sensing mat, sensors, wiring, brack­
ets, and more. The function of the system in
the front passenger seat is checked by the
electronic control un it when the ign it ion is on .
The control unit mon itors the Advanced Air­
bag System and turns the airbag indicator
l ight on whe n a malfunction in the system
components is de tected. The function of the
ai rbag indicator light is described in greater
detai l be low . Because the front passenger
seat contains important parts of the Ad­
vanced A irbag System, you must take care to
prevent it from be ing damaged. Damage to
the seat may prevent the Advanced Airbag for
the front passenger seat from doing its job in
a crash .
The front Advanced Airb ag System
con sis ts of the following:
- Crash sensors in the front of the veh icle that
measure veh icle acceleration/deceleration
to provide information to the Advanced Air­
bag System about the seve rity of the c rash.
- An electron ic co ntro l unit, w ith integ rated
crash sensors for fron t and side impacts.
T he contro l unit "dec ides " whether to fire
the front airbags based on the information received from the crash sensors . The contro l unit also "decides" whether the sa
fety be lt
pretensioners shou ld be activated.
- An Advanced Airbag with gas generato r and
contro l valve for the driver inside the steer­
ing wheel h ub.
- An Advanced Airbag with gas gene rator and
contro l valve inside the instrument panel for
the front passenger .
- A weight -sensing mat under the upho lstery
padding of the front passenger seat cushion
that measures the total weight on the seat.
The informat ion registered is sent continu­
ously to the electronic control unit to regu­ late deployment of the front Advanced Air­
bag on the passenger side.
- An airbag monitoring system and indicator
light in the instrument cluster~
page 161 .
-A sensor in each front seat registers the dis­
tance betwee n the respective seat a nd the
steer ing whee l o r inst rument panel. The in­
formation registered is sent cont inuous ly to
t he ele ctron ic contro l uni t to regula te de­
p loyment of the front Adva nced A irbags .
- The
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes
on and st ays on in the center of the instr u­
ment p anel
~page 162, fig. 168 and t ells
you when the front Advanced Airbag on the
passenger side has been turned off .
- A sensor below the safety be lt latch for the
front seat passenger to measure the tension
on t he safety be lt . The tension on the safety
be lt and the weight registered by the
weight-sensing mat he lp the control unit
"decide" whether the front airbag for the
front passenger seat should be turned off or not
~ page 153, Child restraints on the
front seat -some important things to
know.
- A sensor in the safety belt latch fo r the driv­
er and fo r the fro nt seat passenger that
senses whether that safety bel t is latched or
no t and transmi ts this information to t he
electronic control unit.
A WARNING ~ -
Damage to the front passenger seat can
prevent the front airbag from work ing
properly.

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-Improper repair or disassembly of the
front passenger and driver seat will pre­
vent the Advanced Airbag System from
functioning properly.
- Repairs to the front passenger seat must
be performed by qualified and properly
trained workshop personnel.
- 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 place them on the seat. If the weight­
sensing mat in the passenger seat is
punctured it cannot work properly.
- Never carry things on your lap or carry
objects on the passenger seat. Such
items can increase the weight registered
by the weight-sensing mat and send the
wrong information 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.
- Never use cushions, pillows, blankets or
similar items on the front passenger
seat. The additional padding will prevent
the weight-sensing mat in the seat from
accurately registering the child restraint
or person on the seat and prevent the
Advanced Airbag System from function­
ing properly.
- If you must use a child restraint on the
front passenger seat and the child re-
Airbag system 159
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.
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 belts
with pretensioners and load limiters and the
adjustable head restraints to help reduce the
risk of injury in a wide range of accident and
crash situations. Be sure to read the impor­
tant information about safety and heed the
WARNINGS in this chapter.
Deployment of the Adv a need Airbag System
and the activation of the safety belt preten­
sioners depend on the deceleration measured
by the crash sensors and registered by the
electronic control unit. Crash severity depends
on speed and deceleration as well as the mass
and stiffness of the vehicle or object involved
in the crash .
On the passenger side, regardless of safety
belt use, the airbag will be turned off if the
weight on the passenger seat is less than the
amount programmed in the electronic control
unit. The front airbag on the passenger side
will also be turned off if one of the child seats
that has been certified under Federal Motor
Vehicle Safety Standard 208 has been recog­
nized on the seat. The
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
light comes on and stays on to tell you
when the front Advanced Airbag on the pas­
senger side has been turned off
c:> page 153,
Child restraints on the front seat-some im-
portant things to know. .,,.
•
•

160 Airbag system
A WARNING
To reduce th e risk of injury when an airbag
inflates, always wea r safety b elts properly.
- If you are unrestrained, leaning forward,
sitting sideways or out of position in any
way, your risk of injury is much higher .
- You w ill also receive serious injuries and
could even be killed if you are up against
the a irbag or too close to it when it in­
flates -even with an Advanced Airbag
~ page 151.
More important things to know about
front airbags
Fig. 167 Inflated front a irbags
Safety belts are important to help keep front
seat occupants in the proper seated pos ition
so that airbags can unfo ld prope rly and pro­
vide supp lemental protection in a fronta l co l­
lision.
The front a irbags are designed to provide ad­
d itiona l protect ion for the chest and face of
the dr iver and the front seat passenger when:
- safety belts are worn properly,
- the seats have been posit ioned so that the
occupant is properly seated as far as possi­
ble from the a irbag,
- and the head restraints have been properly adjusted .
Because airbags inflate in the blink of an eye
with great force, things you have on your lap
or have placed on the seat could become dan ­
ge ro us projectiles, and be pushed i nto yo u if
the airbag inflates.
When an airbag deploys, fine dust is released.
This is normal and is not caused by a fire in the vehicle
. This dust is made up mostly of a
powder used to lubricate the airbags as they
deploy.
It could irr itate skin.
It is impo rtant to remember th at w hile the
supplementa l airbag system is designed to re­
duce the like lihood of serious injuries, other
i njur ies, for example swelling, br uising and
minor abrasions, can a lso happen when air­
bags inflate. A irbags do not protect the arms
or the lower parts of the body . Front a irbags
supplement the t hree-po int safety belts only
in some fronta l collisions in wh ich the vehicle
deceleration is high enough to deploy the air ­
bags.
Front airbags will not deploy:
- if the ignition is sw itched off when a crash
occ urs,
- in side co llisions,
- in rear-end co llisions,
- in rollovers,
- when the crash deceleration measured by the airbag system is less than the minimum
threshold needed for airbag deployment as
registered by the electronic contro l unit .
The front passenger airbag al so w ill not
deploy:
- when the front passenger seat is not occu ­
pied,
- when the weight on the front passenger
seat as sensed by the Advanced Airbag Sys­
tem indicates that the front airbag on the passe nger side has to be turned off by the
electronic control un it (the
PA SSENGER AIR
BAG OFF
light comes on and stays on) .
A WARNING
-
Sitting in the wrong position can increase
the r isk of se riou s injury i n crashes.
- To reduce the risk of inju ry whe n the air­
bags i nflate, the drive r and passenge rs
m ust alw ays sit in an upr igh t position,
m ust not lean aga inst or place any part
of their body too close to the area where
the airbags are located .
II>

162 Airbag system
whenever the ignit ion is on. Each time you
switch on the ignition, the airbag monitoring
indicator light
II (USA models) ;fll (Canada
models) will come on for a few seconds (self
diagnostics).
The system must be inspected when the
indicator light
II (USA models)/E,I
(Canada models):
-does not come on when the ignition is
switched on,
- does not go out a few seconds after you
have switched on the ign ition, or
- comes on wh ile driving.
If an airbag system malfunction is detected ,
the indicator light will first start flashing to catch the driver's attention and then stay on
continuously to serve as a constant reminder
to have the system inspected immediately .
If a malfunction occurs that turns the front
airbag on the passenger side off, the
PASSEN­
GER AIR BAG OFF
light will come on and stay
on whenever the ignition is on .
A WARNING
An airbag system that is not functioning
properly cannot provide supplemental pro­
tection in a frontal crash.
-If the airbag indicato r light ¢ page 18
comes when the vehicle is be ing used,
have the system inspected immediate ly
by your aut horized Aud i dealer. It is pos­
sible that the airbag will inflate when it
is not supposed to, or will not inflate
when it shou ld.
-
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF l ight
Fig. 168 Sectio n fro m the instrument panel : PASSEN ­
G ER AIR BAG OFF lig ht
T he PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light is located
in the center of the instrument panel
~fig. 168.
The PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light will come
on and stay on to tell you when the front Ad­
vanced Airbag on the passenger sid e has been
turned off by the electronic control unit. Each
time you switch on the ignition, the
PASSEN­
GER AIR BAG OFF
light will flash for a few
seconds and:
- wi ll stay on if the front passenger seat is not
occupied,
- will stay on if there is a small child or child
restraint on the front passenger seat,
-will go out if th e front passenge r seat is oc­
cupied by an adult as registered by the
weight -sensing mat .
T he
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light must
come on and stay on
if the igni tion is on and
- a car bed has been installed on the front
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 seat , or
- the weight reg istered on the front passen­
ger seat is equal to or less than the com­
b ined weight of a typical 1 year-old restrain­
ed in one of the rear-facing or forwa rd-fac­
ing infant restraints listed in Federal Motor
Vehicle Safety Standard 208 with which the
Advanced A irbag System in you r vehicle was
cert ified.
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If the front passenger seat is not occupied,
the front airbag will not deploy, and the
PAS­
SENGER AIR BAG OF F
light will stay on. Nev­
er insta ll a rearward-fac ing ch ild restra int on
the front passenger seat, the safest place for
a child in any kind of child restraint is at one
of the seating positions on the rear seat
¢ page 153, Child restraints on the front seat
- some important things to know
and
¢ page 174, Child Safety .
If the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light c omes
on
when one of the conditions listed above is
met, be sure to check the light regularly to
make certa in that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
O FF
ligh t stays on cont inuous ly whenever the
ignition is on . If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
light does not appear on and does not
stay on all the time, stop as soon as it is safe
to do so and
- reactivate the system by switc hing the igni­
tion off and then switching it on again;
- remove and reinstall the chi ld restraint .
Make sure that the child restraint is properly
insta lled and that the sa fety be lt for the
front passenger seat has been correct ly
ro uted th roug h the child restraint as descri­
bed in the chi ld restraint manufacturer 's in­
structions;
- make sure that the convertible locking fea­
ture on the safety be lt for the front passen ­
ger seat has been activated and that the
safety belt has been pulled t ight . The belt
mus t not be loose o r have loops of slack so
that the senso r below the safety be lt latch
on the seat can do its job ¢
page 184.
-make su re that th ings that may increase the
weight of t he ch ild and child sea t are no t be­
ing transported on the front passenger sea t;
- make su re that the safety be lt tension sen­
so r is not b locked . Shake the safety be lt
latch on the front passenger seatbac k and
forth;
- If a st rap or tether is being used to tie the
child seat to the front passenger seat , make
s ur e that it is not so tig ht that it ca uses the
weight-sensing mat to meas ure more
weight than is actually on the seat.
A irbag system 163
If the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light still
does not come on
and does not stay on con­
ti nu ous ly (when the ignition is switched on),
- take the child restra int off the front passen -
ge r seat and install it properly at one of the
rear seat positions. Have the airbag system
inspected by yo ur Audi dealer immed iate ly .
- move the child to a rear seat position and
make s ure that the c hild is properly restrain­
ed in a ch ild rest ra int that is appropriate for
its si ze and age.
T he
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF lig ht sho uld
NOT come on when t he ignitio n is on and an
adult is s itting in a proper seating position on
the front passenger seat. If the
PASSENGER
AIR BAG OFF
light comes on and stays on or
flashes fo r about 5 seconds wh ile driving, un­
der these c ircumstances, make sure that:
- the adult on the front passenger seat is
properly seated on the center of the seat
cushion with his or her back up aga inst the
backrest and the backrest is not recl ined
¢ poge 134, Prope r occupant seating posi­
tions,
-the adult is not tak ing weight off the seat by
holding on to the passenger assist handle
a bove the fron t passenger door o r su pport­
ing their weight on the armres t,
- the safe ty be lt is be ing properly wo rn and
t ha t the re is no t a lot o f sla ck in the safety
be lt webb ing ,
- acce sso ry sea t covers or cushions or other
t hings tha t may cause an in correct reading
or imp ression on the weight-sensing mat
unde r th e upho lstery of the seat have been
removed from the front passenger seat,
- a safety belt extender has not bee n left in
the safety be lt latch for the front passenger
seat.
I n add ition to the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
li ght in the center of the instrument panel,
the message
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF or
PASSENGER AIR BAG ON wi ll briefly appear
i n the instrument cluster disp lay. This is to in­
form the dr iver of the current front passenge r
a irbag status.
•
•

164 Airbag sys te m
Important safety instructions on
monitoring the Advanced Airbag System
A WARNING
An airbag system that is not functioning
properly cannot provide supplemental pro­
tect ion in a frontal crash.
- If the airbag indicator light¢
page 18
comes when the vehicle is be ing used,
have the system inspected immediate ly
by you r autho rized Aud i dea le r. It is pos­
sible that the airbag will inflate when it
is not s upposed to, or w ill not inflate
when it should .
A WARNING
If the front airbag inflates, a ch ild witho ut
a child restra int, or in a rearward-facing
child safety seat, or in a forward-facing
child restraint that has not been properly
installed will be seriously injured and can
be killed.
- Even though your veh icle is equipped
with an Advanced Ai rbag System, make
certain that a ll children , especially 12
years and younge r, a lways ride on the
back seat properly restra ined fo r their
age and size.
- Always install forwa rd or rea r-facing
c hild seats on the rea r seat- even w ith
an Adv anced Airb ag System.
- If you must install a rearward-fac ing
c hild sea t on the front pas senge r seat
bec ause of except iona l circumstances
and the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF ligh t
does not appea r and stay on, immediate ­
ly install the rea r-faci ng chi ld seat in a
rear seating position and have the airbag
system inspected by your Aud i dealer.
- A tight tet her or other st rap on a rear ­
ward-facing child restra int attached to
the front passenger seat can put too much pressure on the weight-sens ing
mat in the seat and register more weight
than is actually on the seat. The heavier
we ight registe red can make the system
wor k as though an a dult were on the seat
-
and deploy the Advanced Airbag when it
m ust be suppressed causing ser ious or
even fata l injury to the ch ild.
- If, in exceptiona l circumstances, you
must install a forward-fac ing ch ild re­
straint on the front passenger seat, al­
ways move the seat i nto its rearmost po­
sition in the seat's fore and aft adjust­
ment range, as fa r away from the a irbag
as poss ible. The backrest mus t be ad just­
ed to an upright pos ition. M ake sure that
the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
comes on and stays on all t he time when ­
eve r the ignition is switched on.
A WARNING
=
- If the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not go out when an ad ult is sitting
on the front passenger seat after taking
the steps described above, make sure the
adu lt is prope rly seated a nd restra ined at
one of the rea r seat ing pos itions.
- Have the airbag system inspected by
your Aud i dea le r before t ransporting
a nyone on the front passenger seat.
(D Tips
If the weight-sensing mat in the front pas­
senger seat detects an empty seat, the
front a irbag on the passe nger side wi ll be
turned off, and the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
light will stay on.
Repair, care and disposal of the airbags
Pa rts of the airbag system are i nstalled at
many different p laces on your Aud i. Insta lling,
removing, servicing or repairing a part in an
area of the veh icle can damage a part of an
airbag system and prevent that system from
working properly in a coll is io n.
There are some important t hings yo u have to
know to ma ke sure that the effectiveness of
the system w ill not be impaired and that dis­
carded components do not cause injury or pol-
lute the environment. .,,_

-Objects between you and the airbag can
increase the risk of injury in an accident
by interfering with the way the airbag
unfolds or by being pushed into you as
the airbag inflates .
- Never place or attach accessories or
other objects (such as cup holders , tel­
ephone brackets, or even large, bulky
objects) on the doors, over or near the
area marked "AIRBAG" on the seat backrests.
- Such objects and accessories can be­
come dangerous projectiles and cause
injury when the supplemental side air­
bag deploys .
- Never carry any objects or pets in the
deployment space between them and
the airbags or allow children or other
passengers to travel in this position .
- Always use the built -in coat hooks only
for lightweight clothing . Never leave any
heavy or sharp-edged objects in the
pockets that may interfere with side air­
bag deployment and can cause personal
injury in an accident.
- Always prevent the side a irbags from be­
ing damaged by heavy objects knocking
against or hitting the sides of the seat­
backs.
- The airbag system can only be trigge red
once.
If the airbag has been triggered,
the system must be replaced by an au­
thorized Audi dealership .
- Damage (cracks, deep scratches etc .) to
the original seat covers or to the seam in
the area of the side airbag module must
always be repaired immediately by an au­
thorized Audi dealer.
- If children are seated improperly, their
risk of injury increases in the case of an
accident ~ page 17 4 , Child Safety .
- Never attempt to modify any compo­
nents of the airbag system in any way .
- In a side collision, side airbags will not
function properly if sensors cannot cor­ rectly measure increasing air pressure in ­
side the doors when air escapes through
Airbag system 1 71
larger, unclosed openings in the door
panel.
- Never drive with interior door trim pan­
els removed .
- Never drive when parts have been re­
moved from the inside door panel and
the open ings they leave have not been
properly closed.
- Never drive when loudspeakers in the
doors have been removed unless the
speaker holes have been p roperly
closed.
- Always make certain that openings are
covered or filled if additiona l speakers
or other equipment is installed in the
inside door panels .
- Always have work on the doors done by
an authorized Audi dealer or qualified
workshop.
Side curtain airbags
Description of side curtain airbags
The side curtain airbag sy stem can provide
supplemental protection to properly restrain ­
ed occupants .
Fig. 173 Side curta in a irbags, driver' s sid e: s ide cur ta in
airb ag loc ation
The side curtain airbags are located on both
sides of the interior above the front and rear
side windows ~ fig . 173 . They are identified
by the word "AIRBAG" on the windshield
frame and the center roof pillar.
T he side curtain airbag system supplements
the safety belts and can help to reduce the risk of injury for occupants' heads and upper
torso on the side of the vehicle that is struck .,.

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When the system is triggered, the side curtain
airbag is filled with propellant gas and breaks
through a seam above the front and rear side
windows identified by the AIRBAG label. In or­ der to help provide this additional protection,
the side curtain airbag must inflate within the
blink of an eye at very h igh speed and w ith
great force. The side curtain airbag cou ld in­
jure you if you r seat ing position is not proper
or upright o r if items are located in the area
where the supplementa l side curtain airbag
inflates. This applies espec ia lly to children
¢ page 174.
Although they are not a soft pillow, side c ur­
tain airbags can "cushion" the impact and in
this way they can he lp to reduce the risk of in ­
jury to the head and the upper part of the
body.
A fine dust may develop when the airbag de ­
p loys . This is q uite normal and does not mean
there is a fire in the vehicle .
Important safety instructions on the
side curtain airbag system
Airbags are only supplemental restraints. Al­
ways properly wear safety belts 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 do the ir job to provide supplementa l
protection .
A WARNING
-
Improperly wear ing safety belts and im­
prope r seating positions increase the risk
of serious personal injury and dea th when­
ever a veh icle is being used.
- Never let occ upants p lace any parts of
their bodies in the a rea from wh ich the
side curt ain airbags infla te.
- Always make sure that the side curta in
airbags can inflate w ithout interference.
Uns uitable accessories fitted inside the
expansion range of a side curta in airbag
can dangerously interfere with its func­
t ion. A deploying head a irbag deve lops
A irbag system 173
enough force to catapu lt any p iece of
add-on component o ut of its path of in­
flation and into the passenger compart­ ment. An occupant h it by such a projec­
tile can suffer serio us in ju ry or death
c:!;> page 293, Technical Modifications.
- Do not swive l the sun visors to the side if
you have any objects clipped onto them (for examp le pens). If the airbag should
deploy , you could be injured by these ob­
jects.
- Use the bu ilt-in coat hooks only for light­
weight clo thing. Never leave any he avy or
sharp-edge d objects in the pockets that
may interfere with ai rbag dep loyment
and can cause personal injury in an acci­
dent .
- Never use hangers to hang cloth ing from
the hooks.
- On ly use factory -installed sun shades or,
in the case of shades installed after the
veh icle leaves the factory, only Audi roll­
up sunscreens may be used
¢ page 292,
Additional accessories and parts re­
placement .
-Always sit in proper seat ing pos ition and
wear safety belts wh ile traveling so that
the side curtain airbags can he lp p rov ide
protection.
- The airbag system can only be triggered
once . If the airbag has been triggered,
the system must be rep laced by an au­
thori zed A udi dealer or qualified work­
shop.
- Always have work involving the side cu r­
tain airbag system, removal and insta lla ­
tion of the air bag components, or other
re pairs per formed by a qualified dealer­
ship. Otherwise the airbag system may not work correct ly .
- Never attempt to mod ify any compo ­
nents of the airbag system in any way.
•
•

174 Child Saf ety
Child Safety
Important things to
know
Introduction
The rear seat is generally the safest place in a
collision.
The physical principles of what happens when
your veh icle is in a crash app ly also to chi ldren
~ page 144, What happens to occupants not
wearing safety belts?.
But unlike adults and
teenagers, their muscles and bones are not
fu lly developed. In many respects children are
at greater risk of serious injury in crashes than
adults.
Because children's bodies are not fully deve l­
oped, they require restraint systems especial­
ly designed for their size, weight, and body
structure. Many countries and all states of the
United States and provinces of Canada have
laws requiring the use of approved child re­
straint systems for infants and small ch ildren.
In a fronta l crash at a speed of 20 -35 mph
(30-56 km/h) the forces acting on a 13-pound
(6 kg) infant w ill be more than 20 t imes the
weight of the child. This means the weight of
the child would suddenly be more than 260 pounds (120 kg). Under these conditions,
only an appropriate ch ild restraint properly
used can reduce the risk of ser ious injury.
Child restraints, like adult safety belts, must
be used properly to be effective. Used improp­
erly, they can increase the risk of serious in­
jury in an accident.
Consult the child safety seat manufacturer's instructions in order to be sure the seat is
right for your ch ild's size ~
page 177, Impor­
tant safety instructions for using child safety
seats.
Please be sure to read and heed all of
the important information and WARNINGS
about child safety, Advanced A irbags, and the
installation of child restraints in this chapter .
There is a lot you need to know about the Ad­
vanced Airbags in your vehicle and how they
work when infants and children in child re- straints are on the front passenger seat
. Be­
cause of the large amount of important infor­
mation, we cannot repeat it all here . We urge
you to read the detailed information in this
owner's manual about airbags and the Ad­
vanced Airbag System in your vehicle and the
very important information about transport­
ing children on the front passenger seat.
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
-Accident statistics have shown that chil­
dren are generally safer in the rear seat
area than in the front seating position.
Always restrain any child age 12 and un­
der in the rear.
- All vehicle occupants and especially chil­
dren must be restrained properly when­
ever riding in a vehicle. An unrestrained
or improperly restrained chi ld could be
injured by str iking the i nterior or by be­
ing ejected from the vehicle during a
sudden maneuver or impact. An unre­
strained or improperly restrained chi ld is
also at greater risk of injury or death
through contact with an inflating airbag.
- A suitable chi ld restraint properly instal ­
led and used at one of the rear seating positions provides the highest degree of
protection for infants and small children
in most accident situations.
A WARNING ,_
Children on the front seat of any car even
with Advanced Airbags can be ser iously in­
jured or even killed when an airbag in­
flates. A child in a rearward-facing child
safety seat installed on the front passen­
ger seat will be ser iously injured and can
be killed if the front airbag inflates.
- The inflating airbag will hit the child
safety seat or infant carrier with great
force and will smash the child safety seat and child against the backrest, center
armrest, or door.
II>-