Namo

I have just got an A4 1.8T and it is fantastic!!
I have heard that it is dangerous to put your mobile phone close to the airbag. Is this true? If so what does it affect. I am asking as I am going to put a cradle behind the controls of the steering wheel for my mobile.<p>cheers

Chris

James R.

There is some fear that the RF Energy radiating from your mobile phone could potentially induce currents in the wiring leading to the airbag detonator causing it to fire.

I don't know how real this danger is...but can tell you that I've been using my cell phone in the car (Nokia 6190) w/o any problem for the last year and a half...but this doesn't mean it couldn't happen.

If you ask well, then how come you can get the car with a phone. Well the answer is simple...the antenna for the phone is located outside the car and is a fair distance from the steering wheel. For every doubling of distance between the wheel and the transmitting antenna you'll roughly reduce the power of the signal by a factor of 4...this is reffered to as the inverse square law. So from this you can see that simply moving the phone a foot or two from the wheel will drastically reduce the amount of energy that might be coupled into the wiring of the airbag.

You decide if you think it's safe...they're warning you to cover their asses, that way you'll have a harder time suing when your cell phone has been logged into your forehead by the force of the deploying airbag.

Regards,

James R.

99 1.8TMS (Neuspeed K04, 5 Bar FPR, Beru Ultra X Plugs, K&N Filter, Remus Exhaust, S4 Wheel