example, increase the force levels measured
by the sensors and make the airbag system
deploy in crashes in which it would not deploy
if the changes had not been made. Other
kinds of changes may reduce the force levels
measured by the sensors and prevent the air-
bag from deploying when it should.
The sensors in the safety belt buckle for the
driver and front passenger seat tell the elec-
tronic control module if the safety belt is
latched or not. If the safety belt is being used,
the front airbag will deploy at a slightly high-
er rate of vehicle deceleration than if the safe-
ty belt is not being used. Therefore, in a par-
ticular collision, it is possible that an airbag
will not deploy at a seating position where the
safety belt is being used but will inflate at the
position where the safety belt is not being
used.
It is important that nothing interfere
with the safety belt buckles so that the sen-
sors can send the correct information about
safety belt use to the electronic control unit .
& WARNING
Changing the vehicle's suspension includ-
ing use of unapproved tire-rim combina-
tions can change Advanced Airbag per-
formance and increase the risk of serious
personal injury in a crash.
- Never install suspens ion components
that do not have the same performance
characteristics as the components origi-
nally installed on your vehicle.
- Never use tire-rim combinations that
have not been approved by Audi.
A WARNING
1= -
Items stored between the safety belt
buckle and the center console can cause
the sensors in the buckle to send the
wrong information to the electronic con-
trol module and prevent the Advanced Air-
bag System from working properly.
- Always make sure that nothing can inter -
fere with the safety belt buckles and that
they are not obstructed.
Airbag system 161
Side airbags
Description of side airbags
The airbag system can provide supplemental
protection to properly restrained occupants .
Fig. 157 Side airbag locatio n in the d river's seat
~
co
Q)
The side airbags are located in the sides of the
front seat backrests ~ fig. 157 and the rear
backrest facing the doors. They are identified
by the word "AIRBAG".
The side airbag system basically consists of:
- the electronic control module and external
side impact sensors
- the two airbags located in the sides of the
front backrests and the two airbags* located
in the rear backrest
- the airbag warning light in the instrument
cluster .
The airbag system is monitored electronically
to make certain that it is functioning properly
at all times . Each time you turn on the igni-
tion, the airbag system indicator light will
come on for a few seconds (self diagnostics).
The side airbag system supplements the safe-
ty belts and can help to reduce the risk of in-
jury to the driver's and front passenger's up-
per torso on the side of the vehicle that is
struck in a side collision. The airbag deploys
only in side impacts and only when the vehicle
accelerat ion registered by the control unit is
high enough. If this rate is below the refer-
ence value programmed into the control unit,
the side airbags will not be triggered,
even
though the car may be badly damaged as a re-
sult of the collision . It is not possible to de -
fine an airbag triggering range that will cover II>
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