airbag off AUDI S8 2016 User Guide

Safe ty belts
instrument panel, windshield, or whatever else is
in the way
r:!> fig. 156. This impact with the vehi­
cle interior has all the energy they had just be­
fore the crash.
Never rely on airbags alone for protection . Even
when they deploy, airbags provide only additional
protection. A irbags are not supposed to dep loy in
all kinds of accidents. A lthough your Audi is
equipped w ith airbags, all vehicle occupants, in­
cluding the driver, must wear safety belts cor­
rectly in order to minimize the risk of severe in­
jury or death in a crash .
Remember too, that airbags will deploy only
once and that your safety belts are always there
to offer protect ion in those accidents in wh ic h
airbags are not supposed to deploy or when they
have a lready deployed . Unbel ted occupants can
also be thrown o ut of the veh icle where eve n
mo re severe or fatal injuries can occur .
It is also important for the rear pass engers to
wear safety belts correctly. Unbelted passengers
i n t he re ar seats endanger no t on ly themse lves
but also the drive r and other passengers
~ fig . 157. In a frontal collision they will be
thrown forward violently, where they can hit and
in jure the driver and/or front seat passenger.
Safety belts protect
People think it's possible to use the hands to
brace the body in a minor collision . It's simply
not true!
F ig . 1 58 Driver is co rrectly restrai ned in a sudde n brak ing
m aneu ver
Safety belts used properly can make a b ig d iffer­
ence. Safety belts help to keep passengers in
their seats, gradually reduce energy levels ap-
140
plied to the body in an accident , and help prevent
the uncontrolled movement that can cause seri­
ous injuries. In add ition, sa fety belts red uce the
danger of being thrown out of the vehicle.
Safety be lts attach passengers to the car and g ive
them the benefit of being s lowed down more
gently or "soft ly" thro ugh the "give" in the safety
belts, crush zones and other safety feat ures engi­
neered into today's vehicles. By "absorbing" the
k inet ic energy over a longer per iod of t ime, the
safety belts make the forces on the body more
"tolerab le" and less likely to cause inju ry .
Although these examples are based on a frontal
collision, safety be lts ca n also substantially re ­
duce the r isk o f injury in ot her kinds of crashes .
So, whethe r yo u're on a long trip or just goi ng to
the cor ne r store, a lways b uckle up and make s ure
othe rs do, too. Ac ciden t st at ist ics show that veh i­
cle o ccupants prope rly wearing safety bel ts have
a lowe r risk of being injured and a m uch better
chance of surviving an acc ident . Properly using
safety be lts also great ly increases the ability of
the supp lemental airbags to do their job in a col­
li sion. For this reason, wearing a safety belt is le­
gally required in most countries including much
of the United States and Canada .
Although your Aud i is equipped with airbags, you
still have to wear the safety belts provided. Front
airbags, for examp le, are activated only in some
frontal collisions. The front airbags are not act i­
vated in all frontal collisions, in side and rear co l­
li sions, in roll overs or in cases where the re is not
eno ugh deceler ation throug h impa ct to the front
of the vehicle . The same goes for the other a irbag
systems in your Audi. So, always wear your safety
belt and make sure everybody in your vehicle is
properly rest rained!
Important safety instructions about safety
belts
Safe ty belts must always be correctly positioned
acros s the strongest bones of your body .
.,. Always wear safety belts as illustrated and de ­
scribed in this chapter.
.,. Make sure that your safety be lts are always
ready fo r use a nd are not damaged .

Safety belts
A WARNING
Always read and heed all WARNINGS and oth­
er important informat ion
c:> page 140 .
(D Tips
You can also adjust the height of the front
seats to change the position of the safety
belts.
Improperly worn safety belts
Incorrectly posit ioned safety belts can cause se­
vere injuries.
Wearing safety belts improperly can cause seri­
ous injury or death. Safety belts can only work
when they are correctly positioned on the body.
Improper seating positions reduce the effective­
ness of safety belts and will even increase the
risk of injury and death by moving the safety belt
to cr it ica l 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 posi­
tion. A driver is responsible for the safety of all
vehicle occupants and especia lly for children.
Therefore:
... Never permit anyone to assume an incorrect
sitting position in the vehicle whi le traveling
c:> & .
A 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
seat ing pos ition whenever the veh icle is be­
ing used.
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS and
other important information
c:> page 140.
144
Belt tensioners
' How safety belt pretensioners work
In front, side and rear-end collisions above a
particular severity and in a rollover, safety belts
are tensioned automatically.
Rever sible safety belt tensioners
The safety belts on the front seats are equipped
with power reversible tensioners. The following
functions are available when the driver's/front
passenger 's safety belts are fastened:
- Automatic tensioners: at the start of a drive,
the safety belts automatically adjust to the
passenger after a certain time period or vehicle
speed. To switch the automatic tensioners off,
select the following in the MMI:
!CARI function
button
> Car systems > Vehicle settings >
Seats > Driver's seat or Passenger's seat > Au­
tomatic belt tensioner
> Off.
-In certa in driving situations , the safety belts
may tighten with a reve rsib le tensioning func­
tion
c:> page 187.
- Th e safety be lts may also tighten with this re-
vers ible tensioning funct ion in minor collisions.
Pyrotechnic safety belt pretensioners
The safety belts are equipped w ith safety belt
pretensioners . The system is activated by sensors
i n front, side and rear-end collisions of great se­
verity and in a rollover. This tightens the belt and
takes up belt slack
c:> .&. in Service and disposal of
safety belt pretensioner on page 145.
Taking up
the slack helps to reduce forward occupant
movement during a collision.
A WARNING
- It is possible for the pretensioners to deploy
incorrectly.
- The pyrotechnic system can only provide protection for one collision. If the pyrotech­
nic pretens ioners deploy, the pretensioning
system must be replaced.
(1) Tips
The pyrotechnic safety belt pretensioners can
only deploy once. ..,_

Airbag syste m
Airbag system
Important information
Importance of wearing safety belts and
sitting properly
Airbags are only supplemental restraints . For
airbags to do their job, occupants must always
properly wear their safety belts and be in a prop ­
er seating position.
For your safety and the safety of your passen­
ge rs , before driving off, always :
"' Adjust the driver's seat and steering wheel
properly ¢
page 130,
"'Adjust the front passenge r's seat properly
¢ page 59,
"'Wear safety belts p roperly ¢ page 140,
"'Always properly use the proper child restraint
to protect children
¢ page 168.
In a coll is io n, airbags mus t inflate within the
blink of an eye and wi th considerab le force. The
supp lemental airbags can cause injuries if the
driv er or th e front s eat passeng er is not s eated
properly. Therefore in order to he lp the airbag to
do its job, it is important, both as a dr iver and as
a passenger to sit properly at all t imes.
By keeping room between your body and the
steering whee l and the front of the passenger
compartment, the a irbag can inflate fully and
completely and provide supplemental protect ion
in certain frontal collisions¢
page 130, Correct
passenger seating positions .
For details on the
operation of the seat adjustment con trols
¢ page 59.
It's especially important that children are proper ­
ly restra ined
¢ page 168 .
There is a lot that the driver and the passengers
can and must do to help the ind iv idual safety fea­
tures installed in your Audi work together as a
system .
Proper seating posit ion is important so that the
front airbag on the drive r side can do its job. If
you have a physical impairment or cond ition that
prevents you from s itting properly on the driver
seat with the safety be lt properly fastened and
146
reaching the peda ls, or if yo u have concerns w ith
regard to the function or operation of the Ad­
vanced Airbag System, please contact your a u­
thori zed Audi dea ler or qua lified workshop, or
ca ll Audi Customer Relations at 1-800-822-2834
for poss ib le modifications to your vehicle .
When the airbag system dep loys, a gas generator
will fill the airbags, break open the padded cov­ ers, and infla te between the steering wheel and
the driver and between the instrument panel and
t h e front passenger . The airbags w il l deflate im­
med iate ly after deployment so that the front oc­
cupants can see t hrou gh the windsh ie ld again
without i nterruption.
All of th is takes p lace in the b link of an eye, so
fast that many people don't even rea lize that the
a irbags have deployed. The airbags a lso infla te
with a g re at deal of force and nothing should be
i n the ir way when they deploy. Front airbags in
combination with properly worn safety belts slow
down and limit the occupant 's forward move­
ment . Together they he lp to prevent the driver
and front seat passenger from hitting pa rts of
the ins ide of the vehicle while reduc ing the fo rces
acting on the occupant dur ing the cras h. In th is
way they help to reduce the risk of injury to the
head and uppe r body i n the crash . Airbags do not
protect the arms or the lower pa rts of the body.
Both front airbags will not inflate in all frontal
collisions . The t riggering of the a irbag system de­
pends on the veh icle decelerat ion rate caused by
t h e coll is io n and regis tered by the ele ctroni c con­
tro l unit . If this ra te is be low the refe rence value
programmed in to the contro l unit, the airbags
will not be trigge red, even tho ugh the car may be
badly damaged as a resu lt of the collision. Vehi­
cle damage, rep air costs or even the lack of vehi­
cle damage is not necessarily an indication of
whether an a irbag should inflate or not .
Since the circumstances will vary cons iderab ly
between one co llision and another, it is not possi ­
ble to define a range of veh icle speeds that will
cover every poss ible kind and angle of impact
that w ill always t rigger t he a irbags . Important
factors i nclude, for examp le, the nat ure (hard or
soft) of the object which the ca r hits, the angle of
i mp act , vehicle speed , etc. The front airbags will .,.

also not inflate in side or rear collisions, or in
ro ll-overs.
A lwa ys rememb er: Airbags will deploy only o nce,
and on ly in certain kinds of coll is ions. Your safety
be lts are always there to offer protection in those
situations in which airbags are not supposed to
deploy, or when they have a lready deployed; for
examp le, when your vehicle str ikes or is struck by
another vehicle after the first collis ion.
This is just one of the reasons why an airbag is a
supp lementary restraint and is not a substitute
for a safety belt. The airbag system works most effect ively when used with the safety belts.
Therefore, always properly wear your safety belts
c::>page 138.
A WARNING
Sitting too close to the steer ing whee l or in­
st rument panel will decrease the effect ive­
ness of the airbags and will inc rease the risk
o f persona l injury in a co llision.
- Never sit closer than 10 inches (25 cm) to
the steering wheel or instrument panel.
- If you cannot sit mo re than 10 inches
( 2 5 cm) from the steering wheel, inves ti­
gate whethe r adaptive equipment may be
available to help you reach the pedals and
increase your seating distance from the
steering wheel.
- If you are unrest rained, leaning forward, s it­
ting s ideways or out of position in any way,
your risk of in jury is much h igher.
- Yo u will also receive serious injur ies and
cou ld even be killed if you are up against the
airbag or too close to it when it inf lates -
even with an Advanced Airbag.
- To reduce the risk of in jury when an airbag
inflates, a lways wear safety belts p roperly
i=> page 141, Safety belts .
-Always make certain that ch ild ren age 12 or
younger always ride in the rear seat. If chil­ dren are not properly restra ined, they may
be severe ly injured o r kill ed when an airbag
inflates .
- Never let children ride unrestrained or im­ prope rly restrained in the veh icle. Adjust the
fro nt sea ts properly.
-
Airb ag sys tem
-Never ride with the back rest recl ined.
-Always sit as fa r as possible from the steer-
ing wheel o r the instrument panel
c::> page 130.
- Always sit upright with your back against
the backrest of your seat.
- Never p lace your feet on the instrument
panel or on the seat. Always keep both feet
on the floor in front of the seat to help pre­
vent ser ious injuries to the legs and hips if
the airbag inflates.
- Never recline the front passenger's seat to transpo rt objects. Items can also move into
the area of the s ide a irbag or the front air­
bag during braking or in a sudden maneu­
ver. Objects nea r the airbags can become
p roje ct il es and cause injury when an airbag
inflates.
A WARNING
A irbags tha t h ave deployed in a cr ash m ust be
r e p laced.
- Use o nly orig inal equipment airbags ap ­
p roved by A udi a nd insta lled by a trained
technici an who has the necessary tools and
diagnostic equipment to properly replace
any airbag in yo ur vehicle and assu re system
effect iveness in a crash.
- Never permit salvaged or recycled airbags to
be installed in you r vehicle .
Child restraints on the front seat - some
important things to know
.,. Be sure to read the important i nformat ion and
heed the WARNINGS for important deta ils
about ch ildren and Advanced A irbags
c::> page 168 .
Even though your veh icle is equipped wit h an Ad ­
vanced Airbag System, make certa in that a ll chil­
dre n, espec ia lly those 1 2 yea rs and yo unger, al­
ways r ide in the back se at prope rly res train ed fo r
their age and size. The ai rbag on t he p asse nger
s ide makes t he fron t seat a potentia lly dange rous
place for a child to ride. The front seat is not the
sa fest p lace for a child in a forward-facing child .,.
147

Airbag syste m
seat. It can be a very dangerous place fo r an
infant or a child in a rearward -facing seat.
The Advanced Airbag System i n your veh icle has
been ce rt ified to comp ly with the requirements
of United States Federa l Motor Vehicle Safety
Standard ( FMVSS)
208, as well as Canada Motor
Veh icle Safety Standard (CMVSS)
208 as applica ­
b le at the time your vehicle was manufactured.
According to requirements, the front Advanced
Airbag System on the passenger s ide has been
certified for "suppression " for infants of about
12 month old and younger and for "low risk de­
p loyment " for children aged
3 to 6 years o ld (as
defined in the standard).
The
PA SSENGER AIR BAG OFF light in the instru­
ment panel tells you when the front Advanced
Ai rbag on the passenger side has been tu rned off
by the ele ct roni c con trol unit.
Each t ime you sw itch on the ign it ion, the
PAS­
SENGER AIR BAG OFF
li ght will come on fo r a
few seconds and:
- will stay on if the front passenger seat is not
occupied,
- will stay on if there is a small c hild or child re­
straint on the front passenger seat,
- will go off if the front passenger seat is occu­
pied by an adult as reg istered by the weight ­
sensing mat¢
page 156, Monitoring the Ad­
vanced Airbag System .
The PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes on
when the control unit detects a tota l we ight on
the front passenger seat that requires the front
a ir bag to be turned off.
If the tota l weight on the front passenger seat is
more than that of a typical 1 year -old child but
less than the we ight of a small adult, the front
a ir bag on the passenger side can deploy (the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF ligh t does not come
on) .
If the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does
not come on, the front a irbag on the passenger
side has not been turned
off by the electronic
control unit and can deploy if the control unit
senses an impact that meets the condit ions stor ­
ed in its memory.
For e xample, the airbag may deploy if:
148
- a small ch ild that is heav ier than a typica l 1
year-o ld child is on the front passenger seat
(regard less of whether the child is in one of the
child seats listed ¢
page 170), or
- a child who has outgrown c hild restraints is on
the front passenger seat.
If the front passenger a irbag is t urned
off, the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes on in the
i nstrument cluster and stays on.
The fro nt airbag on the passenge r side m ay
not
deploy (the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does
not ill uminate and stay lit) even if a small adu lt
or teenager, or a passenger who is not sitting up­
right with their back against a non-recl ined back­
rest with the ir fee t on the vehicle floor in front of
the sea t is on the front passenger seat
<=> page 130, Proper seating position for the driv ­
er .
If the front passenger a irbag deploys, the Feder­
al Standard requires the airbag to meet the "low
risk" deployment cr iteria to reduce the r isk of in ­
j ury th rough interaction w ith the airbag . "low
risk" deployment occurs in th ose crashes that
take place at lowe r decele rations as defi ned in
the e lec tronic co ntro l unit
¢ page 156, PASSEN­
GER AIR BAG O FF light.
Always remembe r, a ch ild seat or i nfant ca rr ie r
i nsta lled on the fron t seat may be s truck a nd
k nocked o ut of pos it ion by the rapid ly inflat ing
passenger 's airbag in a frontal co llision . The air­
bag cou ld great ly reduce the effectiveness of the
c hi ld rest raint and even seriously injure the child
during in flat ion.
Fo r th is reason, and beca use the back seat is the
safest place for children - when proper ly restrain ­
ed according to their age and size -we strongly
recommend that children always sit in the back
seat
c> page 168, Child safety .
A WARNING
A child in a rearward-facing child seat instal­
led on the front passenger seat will be seri­
ously injured and can be killed if the front air­
bag inflates - even with an Advanced Airbag
Sys tem.

-The inflating airbag will hit the child seat or
infant carrier with great force and will
smash the child 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 passenger seat because of
exceptional circumstances and the
PASSEN­
GER AIR BAG OFF
light does not come on
and stay on, immediately install the rear­
facing child seat in a rear seating position
and have the airbag system inspected by
your Audi dealer.
- Forward-facing child seats installed on the
front passenger's seat may interfere with
the deployment of the airbag and cause se­ rious personal injury to the child.
,&. WARNING ,..__ -
If, in exceptional circumstances, you must in­
stall 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 man­
ufacturer for use on a front seat with a pas­
senger front and side airbag.
- Never put the forward-facing child restraint
up against or very near the instrument pan­
el.
-Always move the passenger seat into its
rearmost position in the seat's fore and aft
adjustment range, as far away from the air ­
bag as possible before installing the for­
ward-facing child restraint. The backrest must be adjusted to an upright position.
- Make sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
light 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 will
be displayed whenever a child restraint is in­
stalled on the front passenger seat and the
ignition is switched on.
Airbag system
-If the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does
not stay on, perform the checks described
¢ page 156, Monitoring the Advanced Air­
bag System .
-Take the child restraint off the front passen­
ger seat and install it properly at one of the
rear seat positions if the
PASSENGER AIR
BAG OFF
light does not stay on.
- Have the airbag system inspected by your
Audi dealer immediately.
- Always carefully follow instructions from
child restraint manufacturers when instal ­
ling child restraints .
,&. WARNING
-If, in exceptional circumstances, you must in-
stall a forward or rearward-facing child re­
straint on the front passenger's seat:
- Improper installation of child restraints can
reduce their effectiveness or even prevent
them from providing any protection.
-An improperly installed child restraint can
interfere with the airbag as it deploys and
seriously injure or even kill the child -even
with an Advanced Airbag System.
- Always carefully follow the manufacturer's
instructions provided with the child seat or
carrier.
- Never place additional items on the seat
that can increase the total weight registered
by the weight-sensing mat and can cause in­
jury in a crash.
149

Airbag system
Front airbags
Description of front airbags
The airbag system can provide supplemental
protection to properly restrained front seat occu­
pants.
Fig. 163 Location of dr iver airbag: in steering whee l
Fig. 164 Location of front passenger's airbag: in th e in­
strument panel
Your veh icle is equipped with an "Advanced Air­
bag System " in compliance with Un ited States
Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard
(FMVSS) 208, as well as Canada Motor Vehicle
Safety Standard (CMVSS) 208 as applicable at
the time your vehicle was manufactured. he safe­
ty belts for the seats have "pretensioners" that help to take s lack out of the belt system. The pre­
tensioners are also activated by the electronic
control unit for the airbag system.
The front safety be lts 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 . 163 and the airbag for the front pas­
senger is in the instrument panel
<=>fig. 164. The
general location of the airbags is marked "AIR­
BAG".
150
There is a lot you need to know about the airbags
in your vehicle . We urge you to read the detai led
i nformation about airbags, safety belts and ch ild
safety in this and the other chapters that make
up the owner's literature. Please be sure to heed
the WARNINGS -they are extremely important
for your safety and the safety of your passengers,
especially infants and small children .
.&_ WARNING -
Never rely on airbags alone for protection.
- Even when they deploy, airbags provide only
supp lemental protection.
- Airbag work most effectively when used
with properly worn safety belts .
- Therefore, always wear your safety belts and make sure that everybody in your vehicle is
properly restrained .
.&_ WARNING
A person on the front passenger seat, espe­
cially infants and small ch ildren, wi ll receive
serious injuries and can even be killed by be­
ing too close to the airbag when it inf lates.
- Although the Advanced Airbag System in
-
your vehicle is designed to turn off the front
passenger airbag if an infant or a small child
is on the front passenger seat, nobody can
absolutely guarantee that deployment un­
der these special conditions is impossible in
all conceivable situations that may happen
during the useful life of your vehicle.
- The Advanced Airbag System can deploy in
accordance with the "low risk" option under
the U.S. Federal Standard if a child that is
heav ier than the typical one-year old ch ild is
on the front passenger seat and the other
conditions for airbag deployment are met.
- Accident statistics have shown that children
are generally safer in the rear seat area than
in the front seating pos ition.
- For their own safety, all children, especially
12 years and younger, should always ride in
the back properly restrained for their age
and size.

Advanced front airbag system
Your vehicle is equipped with a front Advanced
Airbag System in compliance with Un ited States
F edera l Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208, as
well as Canada Motor Vehicle Safety Standard
(CMVSS) 208 as applicable at the time your vehi­
cle was manufactured .
The front Advanced Airbag System supp lements
the safety belts to provide additional protection
for the driver's and front passenger's heads and upper bodies in frontal crashes . The airbags in­
f late only in frontal impacts when the veh icle de­
celeration is high enough.
The front Advanced Airbag System for the front
seat occupants is not a substitute for your safety be lts . Rather, it is part of the overall occupant re­
stra int system in your vehicle. Always remember
that the airbag system can on ly help to protect
you, if you are sitting upr ight, wear ing your safe­
ty belt and wear ing it prope rly. This is why you
and your passengers must always be prope rly re­
stra ined, not just beca use the law req uires yo u to
be .
The Advanced Airbag System in your veh icle has
been ce rtified to meet the "low r is k" requi re­
ments fo r 3 and 6 ye ar-old children o n the pas­
senger side and very sma ll adults on the drive r
side . The low risk dep loyment criteria are intend­
ed to help reduce the risk of injury through inter­
action with the front a irbag that can occur, for
examp le, by being too close to the steering wheel
and instrument panel when the airbag inflates .
In addition, the system has been certified to
comp ly with the "suppression" requirements of
the Safety Standard, to turn off the front a irbag
for i nfants 12 months old and younger who are
restrained on the front passenger seat in child re ­
stra ints that are listed in the Standa rd
¢ page 170, Child restraints and Advanced Air­
bags.
"Suppress ion" requ ires the front a irbag on the
passenger side to be turned off if:
- a ch ild up to about one year of age is restra ined
on the front passenger seat in one of the rear­
facing or forward-fac ing infant restra ints listed
Airb ag sys tem
in Federal Motor Veh icle Safety Standard 208
with which the Advanced Airbag System in your
veh icle was certif ied. For a List ing of the child
restraints that were used to certify your vehi­
cle's compliance with the US Safety Standard
¢page 170,
-weight less than a threshold level stored in the
control un it is detected on the front passenger
seat .
When a person is detected on the front passen­ ger seat, weighing more than the total weight of
a chi ld that is about
1 year old restra ined in one
of the rear-facing or forward-fac ing infant re ­
straints (listed in Federal Motor Veh icle Safety
Standard 208 with w hich the Advanced A irbag
System in your veh icle was certified), the front
airbag on the passenge r side may o r may not de­
ploy .
T he
PAS SENGER AIR BAG OFF lig ht comes o n
whe n the elect ronic control uni t detects a tota l
weight on the fron t passenger sea t th at req uires
the front a irbag to be turned off . If the
PASSEN­
GER AIR BAG OFF
light does not come on, the
front airbag on the passenger side has not been
turned off by the control unit and can dep loy if
the control unit senses an impact that meets the
condit ions stored in its memory .
If the total weight on the front passenger seat is
more than that of a typica l 1 year-old, but less
than the weight of a small adult, the front airbag
o n the passenger s ide may deploy (the
PAS SEN­
GER AIR BAG OFF
light does not come on) .
For example , the ai rb ag may deploy if :
- a small chi ld that is heav ier than a typ ica l 1
yea r-o ld child is on the front passenger seat
(regard less of whether the child is in one of the
child seats listed
¢ page 170),
- a child who has outgrown c hild restraints is on
the front passenger seat.
If the front passenge r a irbag is t urned off, the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light in the center of
the instrument pane l wi ll come on and stay on .
T he front airbag on the passenger side m ay
not
deploy (the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does
not illuminate and stay lit) if: ..,.
151

Airbag syste m
-a small adu lt or teenager is on the front pas ­
senger seat
- a passenger who is not sitting upright with
their back against a non -reclined backrest with
their feet on the vehicle floor in front of the
seat is on the front passenger seat.
I f the front passenger airbag dep loys, the Feder ­
al Standard requires the airbag to meet the "low
risk" deployment criteria to help reduce the risk
of injury through interaction with the airbag.
"Low risk" deployment occurs in those crashes
that take place at lower decelerations as def ined
in the electronic control unit¢
page 156.
Alway s remember: Even though your vehicle is
equ ipped w ith Advanced Airbags, the safest place
for children is properly restrained on the back
seat . Please be sure to read the important infor­
mat ion in the sections that follow and be sure to
heed a ll of the WARN INGS.
A WARNING
To red uce the risk of inj ury when an ai rbag in­
fla tes, a lways wear safety bel ts p roperly.
- If you are unrestrained, leaning fo rwa rd, s it­
t ing s ideways or o ut of pos ition in any way,
yo ur risk of in jury is much h igher .
- Yo u will also re ceive serious injur ies and
could even be killed if you are up aga inst the
airbag or too close to it when it inflates -
even with an Advanced Airbag ¢
page 146.
A WARNING
A child in a rearward-facing chi ld seat insta l­
led on the front passenger seat will be seri­
ously injured and can be k illed if the front air­
bag inflates -even with an Advanced Airbag
System.
- Although the Advanced A irbag System in
your vehicle is designed to turn off the front
airbag when a rearward-facing child re­
straint has been installed on the front pas­
senger seat, nobody can absolutely g uaran­
tee that deployment is impossible in all con­
ceivable s ituations that may happen during
the usef ul life of your vehicle .
- The inflating a irbag w il l hit the child seat or
infant carrier w ith great force and will
152
-
smash the child seat and child against the backrest, center armrest, door, or roof.
- Always install rearward-facing child re ­
straints on the rear seat.
- If you must install a rearward facing child
seat on the front passenge r seat because of
except ional circumstances and the
PASSEN­
GER AIR BAG OFF
light does not come on
and stay on, immed iate ly install the rear­
facing chi ld seat in a rear seating posit ion
and have the airbag system inspected by
your Aud i dea le r.
A WARNING
If, in exceptional ci rcums tances, you must in­
stall a forward-facing child restraint on the
fron t passenger's seat:
- Always make sure the forward-fa cing sea t
has been des igned and certified by its man­
ufacturer for use on a front seat with a pas ­
senger front and side airbag.
- Never put the forwa rd-facing child restrain t
up against or very near the instr ument pan ­
el.
-Always move the passenge r seat into its
rearmost position in the seat's fo re and aft
adjustment range, as far away from the air­ bag as poss ible, before install ing the for­
ward-facing chi ld restraint. The backrest
must be adjusted to an upr ight position.
- Make sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
li ght comes on and stays on all the time
whenever the ign it ion is switched on.
Advanced Airbag System components
The front passenger seat in your veh icle has a lot
of very important parts of the Advanced A irbag
System i n it. These parts incl ude t he weight­
sens ing mat, senso rs, wir ing, bracke ts, and
more. The funct ion of the sys tem in the front
passenger seat is checked by the electronic con ­
tro l unit when the ignition is on . The control unit
monitors the Advanced Airbag System and turns
the airbag ind icator light on when a malfunction
i n the system components is detected. The func­
tion of the ai rbag ind icator light is described in
greater deta il be low. Because the front .,.

passenger seat contains important parts of the
Advanced Airbag System, you must take care to prevent it from being damaged . Damage to the
seat may prevent the Advanced A irbag for the
front passenger seat from doing its job in a
crash.
The f ront Ad vanced Airb ag Sy stem con sist s
of the follo wing :
-Crash sensors in the front of the vehicle that
measure vehicle accelerat ion/decelerat io n to
provide information to the Advanced Airbag
System about the severity of the crash .
- An electronic control un it, with integrated
crash sensors for front and side impacts . The
contro l unit "decides" whethe r to fire the front
airbags based on the information received from
the crash sensors. The control unit also "de ­
cides" whether the safety be lt pretensioners
sho uld be activated.
- An Advanced Airbag with gas generator and
contro l valve for the driver inside the steering
whee l hub .
- An Advanced Airbag with gas generator and
contro l valve inside the instrument pane l for
the front passenger.
- A weight -sensing mat under t he upho lstery
padding of the front passenger seat cushion
that measures the total weight on the seat . The
information registered is sent continuously to
the e lectron ic control unit to regulate deploy­
ment of the front Adva need A irbag on the pas ­
senger side.
- An airbag monitoring system and indicator
light i n the instrument cluster
¢ page 156.
-A sensor in each front seat registers the dis­
tance between the respective seat and the
steering wheel or instrument panel. The infor­
mation reg istered is sent cont inuous ly to the
electronic control unit to regulate deployment
of the fro nt Adv a need A irbags.
- T he
PASS EN GE R AIR BAG OFF light comes on
and stays on in the center of the instrument
pane l
¢page 156, fig . 166 and tells you when
the fron t Advanced Airbag on the passenge r
side has been turned off.
- A se nsor below the safety bel t lat ch fo r th e
front seat passenger to meas ure the tens ion on
Airb ag sys tem
the sa fety belt. The tension on the safety belt
and the weight registered by the weight-sens­
ing mat help the contro l unit "decide" whether
the front airbag for the front passenger seat should be turned off or not¢
page 147, Child
restraints
on the front seat -some important
things to know.
- A sensor in the safety belt latch for the driver
and for the front seat passenger that senses
whether that safety belt is latched o r not and
t ransmits this information to t he electronic
cont rol un it.
_& WARNING
D amage to the front passenge r seat can pre­
vent the front airbag from working properly.
- Imp roper repair or disassembly of the fro nt
passenger and driver seat will p revent the
Advanced Airbag System from f unctioning
p roperly.
- Repairs to the front passenger seat must be
performed by qualified and p roperly trained
workshop personne l.
- Never remove the front passenge r or driver
seat from the vehicle.
- Never remove the upholstery from the front
passenger seat.
- Never disassemble o r remove par ts from the
seat o r disconnect w ires from it.
- Never carry sh arp objects in your pocke ts or
p lace them on the seat. If the weight-sens­
ing mat in the passenger seat is punctu red
it cannot work proper ly.
- Never carry things on your lap or carry ob­
jects on the passenge r seat. S uch items can
increase the weight reg istered by the
weight-sensing mat and send the wrong in­
formation to the a irbag control unit.
- Never store items under the front passenger
seat. Parts of the Advanced Airbag System
under the passenger seat could be dam­
aged, p reventing them and the airbag sys­
tem from working p roper ly.
- Never p lace seat covers or replacement up­
holstery that have not been specifically ap­
p roved by A udi on the front seats.
- Seat covers can prevent the Advanced A ir­
bag System from recognizing chi ld
153