airbag off AUDI TT COUPE 2017 User Guide

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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
gers, before driving off, always:
.,. Adjust the driver's seat and steering wheel
properly
9 page 181,
.,. Adjust the front passenger's seat properly
¢page 182,
.,. Wear safety belts properly ¢page 192,
.,. Always properly use the proper child restraint
to protect children
¢ page 221.
In a collision airbags must inflate within the blink
of an eye and with considerable force. The sup­
plemental airbags can cause injuries if the driver
or the front seat passenger is not seated proper­
ly. Therefore in order to help the airbag to do its
job, it is important, both as a driver and as a pas­
senger to sit properly at all times.
By keeping room between your body and the
steering wheel and the front of the passenger
compartment, the airbag can inflate fully and
completely and provide supplemental protection in certain frontal collisions¢
page 181, Correct
passenger seating positions.
For details on the
operation of the seat adjustment controls
¢page 44.
It's especially important that children are proper­
ly restrained
¢page 221.
There is a lot that the driver and the passengers
can and must do to help the individual safety fea­
tures installed in your Audi work together as a
system.
Proper seating position is important so that the
front airbag on the driver side can do its job. If
you have a physical impairment or condition that prevents you from sitting properly on the driver
seat with the safety belt properly fastened and
Airbag system
reaching the pedals, or if you have concerns with
regard to the function or operation of the Ad­
vanced Airbag System, please contact your au­
thori zed Audi dealer or qualified workshop, or
call Audi Customer Relations at 1(800)
822 -2834 for possible modifications to your ve­
hicle.
When the airbag system deploys, a gas generator
will fill the airbags, break open the padded cov­ ers, and inflate between the steering wheel and
the driver and between the instrument panel and
the front passenger. The airbags will deflate im­ mediately after deployment so that the front oc­
cupants can see through the windshield again
without interruption .
All of this takes place in the blink of an eye, so
fast that many people don't even realize that the
airbags have deployed. The airbags also inflate
with a great deal of force and nothing should be in their 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 help to prevent the driver
and front seat passenger from hitting parts of
the inside the vehicle while reducing the forces
acting on the occupant during the crash. In this
way they help to reduce the risk of injury to the
head and upper body in the crash. Airbags do not
protect the arms or the lower parts of the body.
Both front airbags will not inflate in all frontal
collisions . The triggering of the airbag system de­
pends on the vehicle deceleration rate caused by
the collision and registered by the electronic con­
trol unit. If this rate is below the reference value
programmed into the control unit, the airbags
will not be triggered, even though the car may be badly damaged as a result of the collision . Vehi­
cle damage, repair costs or even the lack of vehi­
cle damage is not necessarily an indication of
whether an airbag should inflate or not .
Since the circumstances will vary considerably between one collision and another, it is not possi­
ble to define a range of vehicle speeds that will
cover every possible kind and angle of impact
that will always trigger the airbags. Important
factors include, for example, the nature (hard or soft) of the object which the car hits, the angle of
II>
197

Airbag syste m
impact, veh icle speed, etc. The front airbags will
also not inflate in side or rear co llisions, or in
roll -overs.
A lwa ys re memb er: Airbags will deploy only once,
and only in certain kinds of coll isions. 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 already deployed ; for
example, when your vehicle strikes or is struck by
another vehicle after the first collision .
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 a irbag system works most
effectively when used with the safety belts.
Therefore, always properly wear your safety belts
c::> page 189 .
A WARNING
Sitting too close to the steering whee l o r i n­
strument panel will decrease the effective­
ness of the airbags and will increase the risk
of persona l injury in a co llision.
- Never sit closer than 10 in (25 cm) to the
steering wheel or instr ument pane l.
- If you cannot si t mo re than 10 in (25 cm)
from the steering wheel, inves tigate wheth­
er adaptive equipment may be avai lab le to
held yo u reach the pedals and increase your
seating distance from the steering wheel.
- If you are unrestrained, leaning forward, s it­
ting sideways or out of position in any way,
your risk of injury is much higher.
- Yo u will also receive serious injuries 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.
- To reduce the risk of injury when an airbag inflates, always wear safety belts properly
¢ page 193, Safety belts .
-Always make certain that chi ldren age 12 or
younger always ride in the rear seat. If chil­ dren are not properly restra ined, they may
be severely injured or k illed when an airbag
inflates .
- Never let children ride unrestrained or im­ prope rly rest ra in ed in the vehicle . Adjust the
front seats properly .
198
-
-Never ride with the back rest recl ined.
-Always sit as far as possible from the steer -
ing wheel or the instrument panel
¢ page 181.
-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 serious injur ies to the legs and hips if
the airbag inflates.
- Never recl ine the front passenger's seat to
transport objects. Items can also move into
the area of the s ide a irbag or the front air­
bag during brak ing or in a sudden maneu ­
ver. Objects near the airbags can become proje cti les and cause injury when an airbag
inflates.
A WARNING
A irbags that have deployed in a crash m ust be
replaced.
- Use o nly orig inal eq uipment airbags ap­
p roved by A ud i and inst alled by a trained
technician who has the ne cessary tools and
diagnostic equipment to properly replace
any airbag in yo ur vehicle and assure system
effectiveness in a crash.
'
- Never permit salvaged or recycled airbags to
be installed in your vehicle .
Child restraints on the front seat - some
important things to know
.,. Be sure to read the important informat ion and
head the WARNINGS fo r important details
about c hildren and Advanced A irbags
c::> page 221 .
Even though your veh icle is equipped w ith an Ad ­
vanced Airbag Sys tem, make certa in that a ll chil­
dre n, especia lly those 12 yea rs and younger, al­
ways ride i n the b ack seat prope rly res trained fo r
their age and size. The airbag on the passenger
s ide makes the front seat a potentially dange rous
place for a child to r ide . The front seat is not the
safest place for a chi ld in a forward-fac ing chi ld ...,.

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seat. It can be a very dangerous place for an
infant or a child in a rearward-facing seat .
The Advanced Airbag System in your veh icle has
been certified to comply with the Requirements
of United States Federal Motor Vehicle Safety
Standard 208 as applicab le at the time your vehi­
cle was manufactured.
The Standard req uires the front airbag on the
passenger side to be turned
off ("suppressed") if
a child up to about one year of age restrained in
one of the rear-facing or forward-facing infant re­
stra ints listed in Federa l Motor Vehicle Safety
Standard 208 with which the Advanced Airbag
System in your vehicle was certified has been in­
stalled on the front passenger seat. For a listing
of the ch ild restraints that were used to ce rtify
comp liance with the US Safety Standard
c>page 223.
The PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF~; light in the
h eadliner tells you when the front Advanced A ir­
bag on the passenger side has been turned
off by
the elect ronic control unit.
E ach t ime you tur n on the ignit ion, the
PA SSEN­
GER AIR BAG OFF ~; ON @ light will come on
for a few seconds and:
- PAS SENGER AIR BAG OFF~; will come on if
the front passenger seat is not occupied,
- PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF~; will come on if
the electr ical capacitance measured by the ca­
pacit ive passenger detection system for the
front passenge r seat equa ls the comb ined ca­
pacitan ce of an infant up to abou t one ye ar of
age and one of the rea rwa rd-facing or forward­
f acing child restraints listed in Federa l Moto r
Vehicle Safety Standard 208 with which the Ad ­
vanced Airbag System in your vehicle was certi­
fied. For a listing of the child restraints that
were used to cert ify your vehicle's compliance
with the U.S. Safety Standard
c> page 223.
-PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF~; will come on if
there is a small child or child restraint on the
front passenger seat,
- PASSENGER AIR BAG ON @will go off if the
front passenger seat is occupied by an adult as
reg istered by the capacitive passenger detec-
Airb ag sys tem
tion system c> page 209, Monitoring the Ad ­
vanced Airbag System.
T he PAS SENGER AIR BAG OFF~; ligh t comes on
whe n electrica l capacitan ce regis tered on the
front passenge r seat is equal to or less than the
combined capacitance of a typical 1 year -old in­
fant and one of the rearward -facing or forward ­
facing child restraints listed in Federal Motor Ve­ hicle Safety Standard 208 w ith which the Ad­
vanced Airbag System in your vehicle was ce rti­
fied.
If the total e lectr ica l capacitance reg istered on
the front passenger seat is more than that of a
typ ical 1 year-old child but less than the weight
of a small adult, the front airbag on the passen­
ger side can deploy (the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF ~;
light does not come on).
If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF~; light does
not come on, the fro nt airbag on the passenger
s ide has not been t urned
off by the electro nic
c ontro l unit and can deploy if the contro l uni t
senses an impac t that meets t he conditions stor­
ed in its memory.
For example , the airbag may deplo y if:
- a small ch ild that is heav ier than a typical 1
year-o ld child is on the front passenger seat
(regardless of whethe r the child is in one of the
child safety seats listed
c> page 223), o r
- a child who has outgrown c hild restraints is on
the front passenge r seat.
If the front passenger airbag is turned off, the
PA SSENGER AIR BAG OFF~; light comes on i n
the headliner and stays on.
If the front passenger airbag deploys, the Feder­
al Standard requires the airbag to meet the "low
risk" deployment criteria to reduce the risk of i n­
jury through interact ion w ith the airbag. "Low
risk" deployment occurs in t hose crashes that
ta ke place at lowe r decele rations as defined in
t h e e lectronic co ntrol un it
c> page 209, PASS EN­
GER A IR BAG OFF~; ON@ light.
Always remembe r, a ch ild seat or infant ca rr ier
insta lled on the front seat may be st ruck and
k nocked out of pos it io n by the rap idly inflat ing
passenge r's airbag in a fron tal coll is ion. The ..,_
199

Airbag syste m
airbag cou ld g reatly reduce the effectiveness of
the child restraint and even serious ly injure the
child dur ing inflation.
F or this reason, and because the bac k seat is the
safest place for chi ldren -when properly restrain ­
ed according to their age and si ze -we strong ly
recommend that children a lways sit in the back
seat
¢ page 221 , Child safety.
A WARNING
A child in a rearward-facing chi ld seat instal­
led on the front passenger seat will be ser i­
ously injured and can be k illed if the front air­
bag inflates -even with an Advanced Airbag
System.
- The inflating a irbag w ill hit the child seat or
infant carrier w ith great force and will
smash the ch ild seat and child against the
backrest, cente r arm rest, door or roof.
- Always install rear-facing child seats on the
rea r seat.
- If you must install a rearward fac ing ch ild
seat on the front passenger seat because of
exceptional circum$tances 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 chi ld seats installed on the
front passenge r's seat may interfere with
the deployment of the airbag and cause se­ rious persona l injury to the child .
A WARNING
If, in exceptional circumstances, you must in ­
stall a forward-facing chi ld restrain t on the
front passenger's seat :
- Always make sure the forward -facing seat
has been desig ned and ce rt ified by its man­
ufact urer for use on a front seat with a pas­
senger fron t and si de a irbag .
- Never put the forward-facing child restraint
up against or ve ry near the ins trumen t pan­
el.
- Always move the front passenger seat to
the highest position in the up and down ad-
200
-
justment range and move it back to the
rearmost posit ion in the seat's fore and aft
adjustment range, as far away from the a ir­
bag as poss ible, before installing the for­
ward-facing chi ld restraint .
- Always make sure that the safety be lt upper
anchorage is behind the ch ild restraint and
not next to o r in front of the child rest raint
so that the safety be lt will be p roperly posi­
tioned.
- Make sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF ,;;
light comes on and stays on all the
time wheneve r the ign it ion is swi tched on.
A WARNING
T o redu ce the ris k of serious injury, ma ke sure
that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF,;; light
will be disp layed whenever a chi ld restraint is
installed on the front passenger seat and the
ignit ion is switched on.
- If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF,;; light
does not stay on, perform the checks descri­
bed
¢ page 209, Monitoring the Advanced
Airbag System .
-Take the child restra int off the front passen­
ge r seat and install it prope rly 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
Aud i dea ler immediately.
-Always carefully follow instructions from child restraint manufacturers when instal­
ling child restra ints.
A WARNING
If, in exceptional ci rcumstances, you must in ­
stall a forward or rearward-fac ing child re­
stra int on the front passenger's seat:
- Improper installat ion of child restraints can
reduce the ir effectiveness or even prevent
them from provid ing any protect ion.
- An improperly installed child res tra int can
inte rfere with the airbag as it deploys and
serio usly injure or even kil l the child - even
w it h a n Advan ced Airb ag System .

-Always carefully follow the manufacturer's
instructions provided w ith the child seat or
carrier.
- Always make sure that there is nothing on
the front passenger seat that will cause the
capacitive passenger detection system in
the seat to signal to the Airbag System that
the seat is occupied by a person when it is
not, or to signa l that it is occ upied by some­
one who is heavier than the pe rson actua lly
s itting on the seat. The p resence of addi ­
tional objects could cause the passenger
fro nt airbag to be turned on when it shou ld
be off, or could cause the airbag to work in a
way that is different from the way it would
have worked without the object on the seat .
Front airbags
Description of front airbags
The airbag system can provide supplemental
protection to properly restrained front seat occu­
pants.
F ig . 160 Locat ion of driver a irbag: in stee ring wheel
Fig . 1 61 Locat ion of front passenger's airbag: i n the in -
CD st rume nt panel CD ,-t N
" ~ Your veh icle is equipped with a n "Adva nced Air-
~ bag System" in compl iance wi th Un ited States
co
Airb ag sys tem
Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standa rd
(FMVSS) 208, as well as Canada Motor Vehicle
Safety Standard (CMVSS) 208 as applicable at
the time your ve hicle was manufactured. The
safety belts for the front seats have "pretension­
ers" that help to take slack out of the belt sys ­
tem . The pretens ioners are also activated by the
electronic control unit for the airbag system.
The front safety belts also have load limiters to
help reduce the fo rces applied to the body in a
crash.
The airbag for the driver is in the steering wheel
hub ¢
fig. 160 and the airbag for the front pas­
senger is in the instrument panel¢
fig . 161. The
general locat io n of the a irbags is marked "AIR­
BAG" .
There is a lot you need to know about the airbags
in you r vehicle. We urge you to read the deta iled
information about airbags, safety be lts and c hild
safety in this and the other chapte rs that make
u p the ow ner's literature. Please be sure to heed
the WARNINGS - they are ex tremely important
for yo ur safety and the safety of your passengers,
especially infants and small children.
A WARNING
-
Never rely on airbags alone fo r protect ion .
- Even when they deploy, airbags provide only
supp lemental protection .
- Ai rbag work most effectively when used
with proper ly worn safety be lts.
- T herefo re, always we ar you r safe ty be lts and
make sure that everybody in your vehicle is
proper ly restrained.
- Always hold the stee ring w heel with both
hands on the outside o f the steering wheel
rim at the 9 :00 o'clock and 3:00 o'clock po­
sitions to help reduce the risk of personal in­
jury if the driver's a irbag inflates.
- Never ho ld the steering wheel at the 12
o'clock position or with your hands any­
where inside the steering wheel o r on the
steer ing whee l hub. Holding the steering
wheel the wrong way increases the r is k of
seve re injury to the arms, hands, and head if
the dr iver airbag deploys.
~
201

Airbag system
A WARNING
Objects between you and the airbag will in­
crease the risk of injury in a crash by interfer­
ing with the way the airbag unfolds and/or by
being pushed into you as the airbag inflates.
- Always make sure nothing is in the front air-
bag deployment zone that could be struck
by the airbag when it inflates.
- Objects in the zone of a deploying airbag
can become projectiles when the airbag de­
ploys and cause serious personal injury.
- Never hold things in your hands or on your
lap when the vehicle is in use .
-
-Never place accessories or other objects
(such as cup holders, telephone brackets,
note pads, navigation systems, or things
that are large, heavy, or bulky) on the doors;
never attach then to the doors or the wind­
shield; never place them over or near or at­
tach them to the area marked .,AIRBAG" on
the steering wheel, instrument panel or the
seat backrests; never place them between
these areas and you or any other person in
the vehicle.
- Never attach objects to the windshield
above the passenger front airbag, such as
accessory GPS navigation units or music players. Such objects could cause serious in­
jury in a collision, especially when the air­ bags inflate.
- Never recline the front passenger seat to transport objects. Items can also move into
the deployment area of the side airbags or
the front airbag during breaking or in a sud­
den maneuver. Objects near the airbags can
fly dangerously through the passenger com­
partment and cause injury, particularly
when the seat is reclined and the airbags in­
flate.
A WARNING
A person on the front passenger seat, espe­ cially infants and small children, will receive
serious injuries and can even be killed by be­
ing too close to the airbag when it inflates.
- Although the Advanced Airbag System in
your vehicle is designed to turn off the front
202
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
heavier than the typical one-year old child 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 position.
- 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 United 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 .
The front Advanced Airbag System supplements
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
flate only in frontal impacts when the vehicle de­
celeration is high enough.
The front Advanced Airbag System for the front
seat occupants is not a substitute for your safety belts. Rather, it is part of the overall occupant re­
straint system in your vehicle. Always remember
that the airbag system can only help to protect
you, if you are sitting upright, wearing your safe­
ty belt and wearing it properly. This is why you
and your passengers must always be properly re­
strained, not just because the law requires you to be.
The Advanced Airbag System in your vehicle has
been certified to meet the "low risk" require-
ments for 3 and 6 year-old children on the ..,.

passenger side and very small adults on the driv­
er side. The low risk deployment criteria are in­
tended to help reduce the risk of injury through interaction with the front airbag that can occur,
for example, by being too close to the steer ing
wheel and instrument panel when the a irbag in­
flates .
In addition, the system has been certified to
comply w ith the "suppression" requirements of
the Safety Standard, to turn off the front a irbag
for infants 12 months old and younger who are
restrained on the front passenger seat in child re­
stra ints that a re listed in the Standa rd
q page 223, Child restraints and Advanced front
airbag system .
"Suppression" 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 i n one of the rear­
facing or forward-fac ing infant restra ints listed
in Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208
with wh ic h t he Advanced Airbag System in your
vehicle was certified . For a listing of the ch ild
restraints that were used to certify your vehi ­
cle's comp liance with the US Safety Standard
q page 223,
-When a person is detected on the front passen ­
ger seat that has an electrical capacitance that
is more than the tota l electrical capac itance of
a ch ild that is about 1 year old restra ined in one
of the rear-facing or forward-facing infant re­
straints (listed in Federal Motor Veh icle Safety
Sta ndard 208 w ith wh ich the Advanced A irbag
System i n your ve hicle was certified), the front
airbag o n the passenge r side may o r may not
deploy.
The
PA SSENGER AIR BAG OFF~; light comes on
when the e lectron ic cont rol u nit detects a total
e lectrical capacitan ce on the front passenger seat
that requ ires the fron t ai rbag to be turned off. If
the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF~; light does not
come on, the front ai rbag 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 conditions stored in its memory.
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Airb ag sys tem
If the total e lectr ica l capacitance reg istered on
the front passenger seat is more than that of a
typ ica l 1 year -o ld, but less than the weight of a
small adult, the front a irbag on the passenger
s ide may deploy (the
PASSEN GER AIR BA G OFF
~; light does not come on) .
For example, the airbag may deploy if :
-a small ch ild that is heav ier than a typica l 1
year -o ld child is on the front passenger seat
(regardless of whethe r the child is in one of the
child seats listed
¢ page 223),
- a child who has outgrown c hild restraints is on
the front passenge r seat .
If the front passenge r a irb ag is t urned off, the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF~; light in the head­
liner wi ll come on and stay on .
If the front passenge r a irbag deploys, the Feder­
al S tanda rd requi res the ai rbag to meet the "low
risk" deployment cri teria to he lp red uce the r isk
of inj ury through interaction with the airbag .
" Low risk" deployment occurs in those cras hes
that take p lace at lower decelerations as defined
in the electronic contro l unit
q page 209.
Always remember: Even tho ugh yo ur vehicle is
equipped with Advanced Airbags, the safest place
for children is properly restrained on the back
seat. Please be sure to read the important infor­
mation in the sections that follow and be sure to
heed all of the WARNINGS .
A WARNING
To reduce the risk of injury when an airbag in­
f lates, always wea r safety be lts prope rly.
- If you are u nrestra ined, leaning forward, si t­
ting sideways or ou t of position in any way,
your r is k of injury is much highe r.
- You will a lso receive ser ious injuries and
could even be killed if yo u are up agains t the
a ir bag or too close to i t whe n it in flates -
even with an Advan ced Airb ag
Qpage 197.
203

Airbag syste m
& WARNING
A child in a rearward-facing chi ld seat instal­
led on the front passenger seat will be ser i­
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
you r vehicle is designed to tu rn off the front
airbag when a rea rwa rd-facing child re­
straint has been insta lled on the fron t pas­
senger seat, nobody can absolutely g uaran ­
tee that deployment is impossible in a ll con ­
ceivable situations that may happen during
the useful life of your vehicle.
- The inflating airbag w ill hit the child seat or
infant carrier w ith great force and will
smash the ch ild seat and child against the
backrest, center armrest, door, or roof.
- Always install rearward-facing ch ild re­
straints on the rear seat.
- If you must install a rearward fac ing ch ild
seat on the front passenger seat because of
exceptional c ircumstances and the
PASSEN­
G ER A IR BAG OFF,;; light does not come
on and stay on, immediately install the rear­
facing child seat in a rea r seating pos ition
and have the a irbag system inspected by
yo ur Audi dealer.
& WARNING
If, i n ex cept ional circumstances, you must i n­
sta ll a forward-facing chi ld restraint on the
front passenger's seat:
- Always make sure the forward-facing se at
has been designed and ce rtified by its man ­
ufacturer for use on a f ront seat with a pas­
senger front and side a irbag .
- Never put the forward -facing child restraint
u p against or very near the instrument pan­
el.
- Always move the front passenger seat to
the highest position in the up and down ad­
justment range and move it back to the
rearmost position in the seat's fore and aft
adjustment range, as fa r away from the air­
bag as possib le, before insta lling the for­
ward-facing child restra int.
204
-
- lways make sure that t he safety belt upper
anchorage is behind the ch ild restraint and
not next to or in front of the child restraint
so that the safety be lt will be p roperly posi­
tioned.
- Always make sure that there is noth ing o n
the front passenge r seat that will cause the
capacitive passenge r detection system in
the seat to signal to the Airbag System tha t
the sea t is occup ied by a perso n when it is
not, or to s ignal th at it is occupie d by some­
one who is heavier than the person ac tually
sitting on the seat . The presence of addi­
tional objects cou ld cause the passenger
front airbag to be turned on when it should
be off, or could cause the airbag to work in a
way that is d if f erent from the way it wou ld
have worked without the object on the seat.
- Make sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF "1; light comes on and stays on all the
time wheneve r the ig nitio n is swi tched on.
Advanced Airbag System components
The fro nt passenge r seat in your veh icle has a lot
of ve ry important parts of the Advanced A irbag
Syste m in it. These parts incl ude the capacitive
passenger detection system, wir ing, b racke ts,
and more . The con trol uni t monitors the system
on the front passenger seat when the ignition is
switched on and turns the airbag indicator light
on when a malfunction in the one of the system
components is detected<=>
page 209. Because
the front passenger seat contains important
parts of the Adva nced A irbag System, you must
take care to p revent it from being damaged.
Damage to the seat may prevent the Advanced
A irbag Sys tem for the front passenge r seat from
do ing its job in a crash .
The front Advanced Airbag System consists
of the following:
-Crash sensors in the front of the veh icle tha t
meas ure vehicle acce le ra tion/dece le ra tion to
prov ide in formation to the Advanced A irbag
System about the sever ity of the crash .
- An elect ronic contro l unit, with integ rated
crash sensors for front and side impacts. The

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control unit "decides" whether 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
shou ld be activated.
- An Advanced Airbag with gas generator for the
driver inside the steering wheel hub.
- An Advanced Airbag with gas generator inside
the instrument panel for the front passenger.
- A capacitive passenger detection system under­
neath the front passenger seat cover. This sys­
tem measures the electrical capacitance of the
person in the seat. The information registered
is sent continuously to the electronic control
unit to regulate deployment of the front Ad­
vanced Airbag on the passenger side.
- An airbag monitoring system and indicator
light
El in the instrument cluster.
- A sensor in each front seat registers the dis­
tance between the respective seat and the
steering wheel or instrument panel. The infor­
mation registered is sent continuously to the
electronic control unit to regulate deployment
of the front Adv a need Airbags.
- The
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF~; light comes
on and stays on in the headliner¢
page 209,
fig. 163 and tells you when the front Advanced
Airbag on the passenger side has been turned
off.
-A sensor in the safety belt latch for the driver
and for the front seat passenger that senses
whether that safety belt is latched or not and
transm its this information to the electronic
contro l unit.
A WARNING
Damage to the front passenger seat can pre­
vent the front airbag from working properly.
- Improper repair or disassembly of the front
passenger and driver seat will prevent 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.
Airbag system
-Never remove the upholstery from the front
passenger seat.
- Never disassemble or remove parts from the
seat or disconnect wires from it.
- Never carry sharp objects in your pockets or
put them on the seat. The capacitive pas­
senger detection mat in the front passenger
seat will not function properly if it is punc­
tured.
- Never carry things on your lap or carry ob­
jects on the front passenger seat. Such ob­
jects can influence the capacitance regis­
tered by the capacitive passenger detection
system, so that incorrect information is pro­
vided to the airbag control unit.
- Never store items under the front passenger
seat. Parts of the Advanced Airbag System
under the passenger seat could be dam­
aged , preventing them and the airbag sys­
tem from working properly.
- Never place seat covers or replacement up­
holstery that have not been specifically ap­
proved by Audi on the front seats.
- Seat covers can prevent the Advanced Air­
bag System from recognizing child re­
straints or occupants on the front passenger
seat and prevent the side airbag in the seat
backrest from deploying properly.
- If a seat heater has been retrofitted or oth­
erwise added to the front passenger seat,
never install any child restraint system on
this seat.
- Never use cushions, pillows, blankets, or
similar items on the front passenger seat.
The additional layers prevent the capacitive
passenger detection system from accurately
measuring the capacitance of the child safe­
ty seat and/or the person on the seat and
thus keep the Advanced Airbag System from
working properly.
- Never place or use any electrical device
(such as a laptop, CD player, electronic
games device, power inverter or seat heater
for child seats) on the front passenger seat
if the device is connected to the 12-volt
socket or the cigarette lighter socket. Such
devices can influence the capacitance regis­
tered by the capacitive passenger detection
205

Airbag syste m
system, so that incorrect information is pro­
vided to the airbag control unit.
- If you must use a child restraint on the front
passenger seat and the child restraint man­
ufacturer's instructions require the use of a
towel, foam cushion or something else to properly position the ch ild restraint, make
certain that the
PASSENGE R AIR BA G OFF
~; light comes on and stays on whenever
the chi ld restraint is installed on the front
passenge r seat.
- If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF~; light
does not come on and stay on, immediate ly
install child restra int in a rea r seating posi­
t ion and have the airbag system inspected
by your Audi dealer.
A WARNING
If the front passenger seat gets wet, dry it im ­
mediately.
- If liquid soaks into the front passenger seat,
this can keep the a irbag system from work­
ing properly and may, for instance, deact i­
vate the passenger frontal airbag. If this
happens, the PA SSENGER AIR BAG OFF ~;
light will come on and stay on together with
the a irbag ind icator light
m in the inst ru­
ment cluster.
- If liquid is pooled on the seat, but has not
soa ked in, this may also keep the airbag sys­
tem from wo rking properly and ca use the
passenger frontal a irbag to be enabled
(turned on), even though there is a properly
installed chi ld restraint system on t he seat.
Wet towe ls or other wet things on the seat
c u shion can have the same effect . If the
front passenger frontal airbag is turned on,
the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF~; light light
will go out.
How the Advanced Airbag System
components work together
The front Advanced Airbag System and the side
ai rbags s upplement the protection offered by the
front three -po int safety bel ts with p retensioners
and load limiters to he lp reduce the risk of injury
in a wide range of accident and crash situations.
206
Be sure to read the important information about
safety and heed the WARNINGS in this chapter.
Deployment of the Advanced A irbag System and
the ac tiva tion of the sa fe ty belt pretensioners de ­
pend on the dece leration measured by the c rash
sensors and registered by the electronic contro l
u nit . Crash severity depends on speed and decel­
eration as well as the mass and stiffness of the
vehicle or object involved in the crash.
On the passenger side, regard less of safety be lt
use, the front passenger frontal a irbag will be
turned off if the e lectr ica l capacitance measured
by the capacitive passenger detection system on
the front passenger seat is less than the amount
programmed in t he electron ic contro l unit . The
front passenger frontal a irbag w ill also be tur ned
off if the capaci tance measured by the system for
t h e fron t passe nger sea t equals that of a n infan t
of about one year of age in one o f the chi ld sea ts
that was used to certify the Advanced Airbag Sys­
tem under Fe d era l Motor Vehicle Safety Standard
208. The
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF~; light
comes on and stays on to tell you when the front
Advanced Airbag System on the passenger side has been turned off
c> page 209 .
A WARNING
To reduce the risk of injury when an airbag in­
flates, always wea r safety belts prope rly.
- If you are un restrained, leaning forward, sit­
ting sideways or ou t of position i n any way,
your r is k of injury is much highe r.
- You will also receive ser ious injuries and
could even be killed if yo u ar e u p against the
airbag or too close to i t when it inflates -
eve n with a n Advanced Airb ag
i=>page 197.