warning AUDI TT ROADSTER 2017 Owners Manual

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impact, vehicle speed, etc. The front airbags will
also not inflate in side or rear collisions, or in roll-overs.
A lwa ys remember : Airbags will deploy only once,
and only in certain kinds of collisions . 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 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
¢ page 189.
.8, WARNING
Sitting too close to the steer ing whee l o r i n­
strument panel will decrease the effect ive­
ness of the airbags and will increase the risk
of persona l injury in a co llision.
- Never sit closer than 1 0 in (25 cm) to the
steering wheel or instrument pane l.
-If you cannot si t mo re than 10 in (25 cm)
from the steer ing whee l, 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 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
¢ page 192, Safety belts .
- If children are not properly restrained, they
may be severely injured or killed when an
airbag inflates.
- Never let children ride unrestrained or im­
properly restrained in the veh icle. Adjust the
front seats proper ly .
-
Airb ag sys tem
-Always sit as fa r as possible from the steer­
ing wheel or the instrument panel
¢page 182.
-Always sit upright w ith 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.
.8, WARNING
A irbags that have deployed in a crash must be
r eplaced.
- Use o nly orig inal equipment ai rbags ap­
proved by A udi and installed by a trained
technician who has the necessary tools and
d iagnostic equipment to prope rly replace
any airbag in yo ur vehicle and ass ure system
effe ct iveness in a crash .
- Never permit salvaged or recycled airbags to
be installed in you r vehicle.
Child restra ints on the front seat -some
important things to know
.. Be sure to read the important informat ion and
head the WARNINGS for important details
about ch ildren and Advanced A irbags
¢page 218.
The airbag on the passenger side makes the front
seat a potent ially dangerous place for a child to
ride. The front seat is not the safest place for a
c h ild in a forward-fac ing c hild safety seat. It can
be a ve ry dange rous p lace for an infant or a ch ild
i n a rearward-fac ing seat.
The Advanced A irbag System in your vehicle has
been certified to com ply wit h the Requ irements
of United States Fede ral Motor Ve hicle Safety
Standa rd 208 as applicable at t he t ime you r vehi­
cl e was manufac tured.
The Standard requires the front airbag on the passenger side to be turned off ("supp ressed") if
a ch ild up to abou t one yea r of age rest rained i n
one of the rear-fac ing o r forward-f acing infant re-
straints lis ted in Fede ral Motor Vehicle Sa fe ty ..,.
197

Airbag system
Standard 208 with which the Advanced Airbag
System in your vehicle was cert ified has been in­
stalled on the front passenger seat. For a listing
of the child restraints that were used to certify
compliance with the US Safety Standard
¢page 220.
The PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF~; light in the
headliner tells you when the front Advanced Air­
bag on the passenger side has been turned off by
the electronic control unit.
Each t ime you turn on the ignition, the
PASSEN·
GER AIR BAG OFF,-;; ON ~
light will come on
for a few seconds and:
- PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF~; will come on if
the front passenger seat is not occupied,
- PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF ~; will come on if
the e lectrical capacitance measured by the ca ­
pacitive passenger detection system for the
front passenger seat equals the combined ca­ pacitance of an infant up to about one year of
age and one of the rearward-facing or forward ­
facing child restraints listed in Federal Motor
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 certify your vehicle's compliance
with the U.S. Safety Standard¢
page 220.
-PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF ~; will come on if
there is a small child or chi ld restraint on the
front passenger seat,
- PASSENGER AIR BAG ON @will go off if the
front passenger seat is occupied by an adult as
registered by the capacitive passenger detec­
tion system ¢
page 20 7, Monitoring the Ad­
vanced Airbag System.
The PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF~; light comes on
when electrical capacitance registered on the
front passenger seat is equa l to or less than the
comb ined capacitance of a typ ica l 1 year-old in­
fant and one of the rearward-fac ing or forward­
facing ch ild restraints listed in Federal Motor Ve­
h icle Safety Standard 208 with wh ich the Ad­
vanced Ai rbag System in your vehicle was cert i­
fied.
If the total electrical capac itance registered on
the front passenger seat is more than that of a
198
typical 1 year -old chi ld but less than the weight
of a sma ll 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 front airbag on the passenger
s ide has not been turned off by the e lectron ic
contro l unit and can deploy if the control unit
senses an impact that meets the conditions stor­
ed in its memory .
For example, the airbag may deploy if :
-a small child that is heav ier than a typical 1
year -old child is on the front passenger seat
(regard less of whether the child is in one of the
child safety seats listed¢
page 220), or
- a child who has outgrown child restraints is on
the front passenger seat.
If the front passenger airbag is turned off, the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF,-;; light comes on in
the headliner and stays on .
If the front passenger airbag deploys, the Feder­
al Standard requ ires the airbag to meet the " low
risk" deployment criteria to reduce the risk of in­
jur y through interaction with the airbag. "Low
risk" deployment occurs in those crashes that
take place at lower decelerations as defined in
the electronic control unit¢
page 208, PASSEN­
GER AIR BAG OFF~; ON~ light.
Always remember, a child seat or infant carrier
installed on the front seat may be struck and
knocked out of posit ion by the rapidly inflating
passenger's airbag in a frontal collision. The a ir­
bag could greatly reduce the effectiveness of the
ch ild restraint and even ser iously injure the child
during inflation.
.&, WARNING
-
A child in a rearward-facing child seat instal­
l ed 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
System.
- The inflating airbag will hit the ch ild seat or
infant carrier with great force and will .,.

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smash the child seat and child against the
backrest, center armrest, door or roof.
- 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.
A 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 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 far away from the air­
bag as possible, before installing the for·
ward-facing child restraint.
- Always make sure that the safety belt upper
anchorage is behind the child restraint and
not next to or in front of the child restraint
so that the safety belt will be properly posi­
tioned.
- Make sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF~;
light comes on and stays on all the
time whenever the ignition is switched on.
A 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
installed on the front passenger seat and the
ignition is switched on.
- If the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF~; light
does not stay on, perform the checks descri­
bed
Q page 20 7, Monitoring the Advanced
Airbag System.
- Have the airbag system inspected by your
Audi dealer immediately.
Airbag system
-Always carefully follow instructions from
child restraint manufacturers when instal­
ling child restraints.
A 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
earner.
-Always make sure that there is nothing on
the front passenger seat that will cause the
capacitive passenger detection system in
the seat to signal to the Airbag System that
the seat is occupied by a person when it is
not, or to signal that it is occupied by some ·
one who is heavier than the person actually
sitting on the seat. The presence of addi­
tional objects could cause the passenger
front airbag to be turned on when it should
be off, or could cause the airbag to work in a
way that is different from the way it would have worked without the object on the seat.
199

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 the in­
strument panel
Your vehicle 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. The
safety belts for the front seats have "pretension­
ers" that help to take slack out of the belt sys­
tem. The pretensioners 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".
200
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.
- Always hold the steering wheel w ith both
hands on the outside of 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 airbag inflates.
- Never hold the steering wheel at the
12
o'clock position or with your hands any­
where inside the steering wheel or on the
steering whee l hub. Holding the steering
wheel the wrong way increases the risk of
severe injury to the arms, hands, and head if
the driver airbag deploys.
.&_ WARNING
Objects between you and the airbag will in­
crease the r isk 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 zo ne 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
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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.
&_ WARNING
A person on the front passenger seat, espe­cially 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
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.
- For its own safety, a child should always ride
properly restrained for its age and si ze.
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.
T he front Advanced Airbag System supplements
the safety belts to provide additional protection
Airbag system
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 pas­
senger side and very small adults on the driver
side. The low risk deployment criteria are intend­
ed to help reduce the risk of injury through inter­
action with the front airbag that can occur, for
example, by being too close to the steering wheel
and instrument panel when the airbag inflates.
In addition, the system has been certified to
comply with the "suppression" requirements of
the Safety Standard, to turn off the front airbag
for infants 12 months old and younger who are res trained on the front passenger seat in child re­
straints that are listed in the Standard
¢ page 220, Child restraints and Advanced front
airbag system.
"Suppression" requires the front airbag on the
passenger side to be turned off if:
- a child up to about one year of age is restrained
on the front passenger seat in one of the rear­
facing or forward-facing infant restraints listed in Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208
with which the Advanced Airbag System in your
vehicle was certified . For a listing of the child
restraints that were used to certify your vehi­
cle's compliance with the US Safety Standard
¢page 220,
-When a person is detected on the front passen­
ger seat that has an electrical capacitance that
is more than the total electrical capacitance of
a child that is about 1 year old restrained in one .,.
201

Airbag syste m
of the rear -facing or forward-facing infant re­
straints (listed in Federal Motor Vehicle Safety
Standard 208 with wh ich the Advanced Airbag
System in your vehicle was certified), the front a irbag on the passenger side may or may not
deploy .
The
P A SSENGER AIR BAG OFF ~ ; light comes on
when the e lectron ic control un it detects a total
electrical capacitance on the front passenger seat
that requires the front airbag to be turned off. If
the
PASSEN GER AIR BA G OFF ~; light does not
come on, the front airbag on the passenger side has not been turned off by the control u nit and
can dep loy if t he con trol unit senses an impact
that meets the conditions stored in its memory.
If the tota l electrical capac itance registered on
the front passenger seat is more than that of a
typical 1 year-old, but less than the weigh t of a
small adu lt, the front airbag on the passenger
side may deploy (the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
~ ; light does not come on) .
For example, the airbag may deploy if :
- a small child that is heavier than a typical 1
year-old ch ild is on the front passe nger seat
( r ega rdless of whether the child is in one of the
c hi ld se ats l isted
q page 220),
- a chi ld who has outg rown child restraints is on
t h e front passenger seat.
If the front passenger airbag is turned off, the
PASSENGER A IR BA G OFF ~; light in the head­
line r will come on and stay on .
If the front passenger airbag deploys, the Feder­
al Standard requires the airbag to meet the "low
risk " deployment criteria to help reduce the risk
of injury through inte raction with the airbag.
" Low risk" deployment occu rs in those c rashes
t hat take place at lower dece le rations as defined
in the electronic control unit
q page 207.
Alway s rememb er: Please be su re to read the im­
portant information in the sections that follow
and be sure to heed all of t he WARNINGS.
A WARNING
To red uce the risk of inj ury when an airbag in­
flates, a lways wear safety belts properly .
202
-If you are un restrained, leaning forward, sit­
ting sideways or out of position in any way,
your risk of injury is much higher.
- You will a lso receive ser ious injuries and
could even be killed if you are up against the
airbag or too close to it when it inflates -
even with an Advanced Airbag
¢ page 196 .
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.
- Although the Advanced Airbag System in
your veh icle is designed to turn off the front
airbag when a rearwar d-fac ing ch ild re­
straint has been installed on the front pas ­
senger seat, nobody can absolutely guaran­
tee that dep loyment is impossib le in all con­
ceivab le situat ions that may happen du ring
the useful life of your vehicle.
- The inflating airbag will h it the ch ild seat or
infant carrier with great force and will
smash the child seat and child against the
backrest, center armrest, doo r, or roof .
- If you must install a rearward facing child
safety seat on the front passenger seat be­
cause of excep tional circumstances and the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF~; light does not
come on and stay on have the a irbag system
inspected by your Audi dealer.
A WARNING
I f, in ex ceptional ci rcums tances, you must in­
stall a forward-facing child restraint on the
front passenger's seat:
- Always make sure the forward-facing 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 forward -facing child restraint
up against or very nea r 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

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rearmost position in the seat's fore and aft
adjustment range, as far away from the air­
bag as possible, before insta lling the for­
ward-facing child restra int.
- lways make sure that the safety belt upper
anchorage is beh ind the child restraint and
not next to or in front of the child restraint
so that the safety belt will be properly pos i­
tioned.
-Always make sure that there is nothing on the front passenger seat that w ill cause the
c apacit ive passenger detection system in
the seat to signa l to the Airbag Sys tem tha t
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 person actua lly
sitting on the seat . The p resence of addi­
t ional objects could cause the passenger
front 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 witho ut the object on the seat.
- Make sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF ~;
light comes on and stays on a ll the
t ime whenever the ignition is switched on.
Advanced Airbag System components
The front passenger seat in yo ur vehicle has a lot
of
very important parts of the Advanced Airbag
Sys tem in it . These pa rts in cl ude the capacitive
passenger detection system, w iring, brackets,
and mo re. The control un it monitors the system
on the front passenger seat when the ign ition is
switched on and turns the airbag indicator light
on when a malfunct ion in the one of the system
components is detected
c::> page 208 . Because
the fro nt passenger seat contains important
pa rts of the Advanced Airbag System, you must
take ca re to preven t it from being damaged.
D amage to the seat may p revent the Advanced
Ai rbag System for the front passenger seat from
doi ng its job i n a crash.
The front Advanced Airbag System consists
of the follow ing :
- C rash sensors in the front of the vehicle that
measure vehicle accelerat ion/dece leration to
Airb ag sys tem
provide information to the Advanced A irbag
System about the severity of the cras h.
- An elect ronic contro l unit, with integrated
cras h sensors for front and side impacts . The
control un it "decides" whether to fire the front
airbags based on the information rece ived from
the crash sensors . The control unit also "de­
cides" whether the safety belt pretensioners
should be activated.
- An Advanced A irbag w ith gas generator for the
driver inside the steeri ng wheel hub .
- An Advanced A irbag w ith gas generator inside
the instrument panel for the front passenger.
-A capacit ive passenger detection system under­
neath the front passenger seat
cover. This sys­
tem measures the e lectr ica l capacitance of the
person in the seat. The information registered
is sent continuously to the elect ronic contro l
un it to reg ulate dep loyment of the front Ad­
vanced Airbag on the p assenger side.
- An airbag monitoring system and indicator
light
El in the inst rument cl uste r.
- A sensor in each front seat registe rs the d is­
t ance betwee n the respective seat and the
steer ing whee l o r ins trumen t pa nel. The infor­
mat ion registered is sent con tinuous ly to the
electronic contro l unit to regu late dep loyment
of the front Advanced Airbags .
- The
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF~; lig ht comes
on and stays on in the headliner
c::> poge 208,
fig. 166 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 be lt is latched or not and
transmits this information to t he electronic
cont rol un it .
A WARNING
Damage to the front passenge r seat can pre­
vent the front airbag from working prope rly.
- Imp roper repair or d isassembly of the front
passenger and driver seat will p revent the
Advanced Airbag Sys tem from f unct ion ing
p roper ly. ...,
203

Airbag syste m
-Repairs to the front passenger seat must be
performed by qua lified 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
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 capac itance regis­
tered by the capac itive 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 sea t could be dam­
aged, preven ting them and the airbag sys­
tem from working properly.
- Never place seat covers o r rep lacemen t up ­
holstery that have not been spec ifically ap­
proved by Audi on the front seats.
- Seat covers can prevent the Advanced Air­
bag System from recogn izing child re­
straints or occupants on the front passenge r
seat and prevent the side airbag in the seat
backrest from dep loying proper ly.
- If a seat heater has been retrofitted or oth­
erwise added to the front passenger seat,
never install any ch ild restraint system on
this seat.
- Never use cush ions, pillows, blankets, or
similar items on the front passenger seat.
The add itiona l layers prevent the capacitive
passenge r detection system from accurate ly
measuring the capac itance of the ch ild safe­
ty seat and/or the pe rson on the seat and
t hu s keep the Advanced Airbag System from
wor king p roperly.
- Never place o r use any electrical device
(s uch as a laptop, CD player, elec tronic
games dev ice, power inverte r or seat he ater
204
for child seats) on the front passenger seat
if the device is connected to the 12-volt
socket or the cigarette lighter socket. Such
dev ices can influence the capac itance regis­
tered by the capacitive passenger detection
system, so that incorrect informat ion is pro­
vided to the airbag cont ro l unit.
- If you must use a child restra int on the front
passenger seat and the child restra int man­
ufacturer's instructions requ ire t he use of a
towel, foam c ushion or someth ing else to
proper ly posit ion the child restra int, make
certa in that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
,; ; light comes on and stays on whenever
the child restraint is insta lled on the front
passenger seat.
- If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF,;, light
does not come on and stay on, have the air­ bag system inspected by your Audi dealer.
A WARNING
If the front passenger seat gets wet, dry it im­mediately .
- If liq uid soaks into the front passenger seat,
this can keep the airbag system from work­
ing proper ly and may, for instance, deacti­
vate the passenger frontal airbag. If this
happens, the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF,;,
light will come on and stay on together w ith
t he airbag indica to r li gh t
min the instru­
ment cluster.
'
- I f liq uid is pooled on the seat, but has not
soaked in, th is may also keep the airbag sys­
tem from working p roperly and cause the
passenger fronta l airbag to be enabled
(turned on), even though there is a properly
installed child restraint system on the seat.
Wet towels or other wet things on the seat
cushion can have the same effect. If the
front passenger frontal airbag is turned o n,
the
PASSENGER AIR B AG OFF ,;, light light
w ill go out.
How the Advanced Airbag System
components work together
The front Advanced Airbag System and the side
airbags supp lement the protection offered by the .,,.

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CD
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front three-point safety belts with pretensioners
and load limiters to help reduce the risk of in jury
in a wide range of accident and crash situations .
Be sure to read the important information about
safety and heed the WARNINGS in this chapter.
Dep loyment of the Advanced Airbag System and
the act ivat ion of the safety belt pretensioners de­
pend on the deceleration measured by the crash
sensors and registered by the electronic control
un it . Crash severity depends on speed and decel ­
eration as wel l as the mass and stiffness of the
vehicle or object invo lved in the c rash .
On the passenger side, regardless of safety belt
use, the front passenger frontal airbag w ill be
turned off if the electrical capac itance measured
by the capacit ive passenger detection system on
the fro nt passenger seat is less than the amount
p rogr ammed in the elect ronic control uni t. The
front passenger fronta l airbag will also be turned
off if the capacitance measured by the system for
the front passenger seat equals that of an infant
of about one year of age in one of the child seats
that was used to certify the Advanced Airbag Sys­
tem under Federal Motor Veh icle Safety Standard
208. The
PA SSENGER 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
Q page 208.
& WARNING
T o red uce the risk of i njury when an a irbag in­
flates, a lways wear safety belts proper ly .
- If you are unrestrained, lean ing fo rw ar d, s it­
t ing s idew ays or o ut o f pos ition in any way,
your risk of i nju ry is much higher.
- Yo u w ill also re ceive se rious injur ies and
cou ld even be killed if you are up aga inst the
airbag or too close to it when it inf lates -
even with an Advanced Airbag
~page 196.
Airb ag sys tem
More important things to know about front
airbags
Fig. 165 I nflated fro nt ai rbags
Safety be lts are impo rtan t to he lp keep front
seat oc cupants in the proper seated position so
that airbags can unfo ld properly and prov ide s up­
pleme nta l protection i n a fronta l co llision .
The front airbags are designed to provide addi­
t iona l protec tion fo r the chest and face of the
driver and the fron t seat passenger whe n:
- safety belts are worn properly,
- the seats have been positioned so that t he oc-
cupant is properly seated as far as possible
from the a irbag .
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 dangerous pro ­
ject iles, and be pushed into you if the a irbag i n­
flates.
When an airbag deploys, fine dust is released.
This is norma l and is not caused by a fire in the
vehicle . This dust is made up mostly of a powder
used to lub rica te t he a irbags as they deploy.
It
cou ld irritate skin.
It is important to remembe r that wh ile the sup ­
pleme nta l airbag system is designed to reduce
the likelihood of serio us inj uries, othe r injuries,
for example swelling, bru is ing and minor abra­
s ions, can also happen when a irbags inflate . Air­
bags do not prote ct the arms or the lower p arts
of the body. Front airbags supp lement the three
point safety belts on ly in some frontal collisions
in which the vehicle dece leration is high enough
to deploy the airbags.
II>
205

Airbag syste m
Front airbag s will not deploy:
- if the ignit ion is switched off when a crash oc -
curs,
- in s ide collisions,
- in rear-end collisions,
- in rollovers,
- when the crash deceleration measured by the
airbag system is less than the minimum thresh­
old needed for airbag deployment as registered
by the electronic contro l unit.
Th e front p asse nger airb ag w ill also not
depl oy:
- when the front passenger seat is not occupied,
- when the electrical capacitance measured by
the capacitive passenger detect ion system for
the front passenger seat indicates that the pas­
senger side frontal airbag must be switched off
by the electronic contro l unit (the
PASSENGER
AIR B AG OFF ~;
light~ page 208 and how
they work comes on and stays on) .
A WARNING
Sitting in the wrong position can increase the
risk of serious injury in crashes.
- To reduce the risk of injury when the airbags inflate, the driver and passengers must al­
ways sit in an upright position, must not
lean against or place any part of their body
too close to the area where the airbags are
located.
- Occupants who are unbelted, out of position
or too close to the a irbag can be seriously
injured by an airbag as it unfolds with great
force in the blin k of an eye~
page 197.
A WARNING
A child in a rearward-facing chi ld seat insta l­
led on the front passenger seat will be ser i­
ously inju red and can be killed if the front air­
bag inf lates - even with an Advanced Airbag
System.
- T he inflating a irbag w il l hit the child seat or
infant carrier with great force and will
smash the chi ld seat and child against the
backrest, center armrest, door or roof.
206
-
- Never install a rearward facing chi ld safety
seat on the front passenger seat unless the
PAS SEN GER AIR BA G OFF ~; light comes
on and stays on . If the
PA SSE NGER AIR
BAG OFF~;
light does not come on and stay
on, the inflat ing airbag will hit the chi ld
safety seat or infant carrie r with great force
and will smash the child safety seat and
child against the bac krest, door or roof.
Have the airbag system inspected immedi­
ately by your authorized Audi dealer .
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 or by be­
ing pushed into you as the airbag inflates.
- Never hold things in your hands or on your
lap when the vehicle is in use.
- Never transport items on or in the area of
the front passenger seat. Objects could
move into the area of the front airbags dur­
ing braking or other sudden maneuver and
become dangerous projectiles that can
cause serious persona l injury if the airbags
inflate.
- Never place or attach accessories o r other
objects (such as cup holders, telephone
brackets, large, heavy or bulky objects) on
the doo rs, ove r or near the area ma rked
"AIRBAG" on the steering wheel, instru ­
ment panel, seat backrests or between
those areas and yourself. These objects
could cause injury in a crash, especially
when the a irbags inf late.
- Never recline the front passenger's seat to
transport objects. Items can also move into
the area of the side a irbag or the front air­
bag during brak ing or in a sudden maneu­
ver . Objects near the airbags can become
projecti les and cause injury, part icularly
when the seat is reclined.
- Never p lace or t ransport objects on the
-
front passenger sea t. Objects on the front
p assenger sea t could ca use the capaci tive
sensor in the seat to signal to ai rbag system
that the seat is occ upied by a person when it ..,