2011 AUDI A3 traction control

Intelligent technologyL _______________________________________ _
• If the power steering system is not funct ioning properly, contact
your au thori zed A ud i dea le r i mmediately. •
Applies to ve hicl es: wit h A ll Whe el D rive
Driving with your quattro®
With All Wheel Drive, all four wheels are driven.
General information
With All Wheel Drive, power is distributed to all fo ur whee ls. This
happens automatically depending on you r driving s tyle a nd the road
conditions at the time. See also =>
page 189, "Electronic differential
lo ck (E DL)".
W inter tires
W hen d riving in the winter, your vehicle with A ll Whee l Drive has an
advantage, even with reg ular t ires . In winter road cond it ions it may
be advisab le to mou nt w inte r ti res (or all-se aso n t ires) for imp roved
dr iveability and braking: these tires must be mounted on
all four
wheel s.
See also => page 261, "Win ter tires".
Snow chains
W he re snow c ha ins are mand atory on certain roads, this norm ally
also app lies to veh icles with all-wheel drive=>
page 262, "Snow
c hains".
Replacing wheels/tires
Veh icles with All Wheel Drive m ust always have t ires of the same s ize.
Also avoid tires with different tread depths. For details see page
=>
page 257, " N ew tires and replac ing ti res and wheels".
Off-Road driving?
Your Audi does not have enough ground clearance to be used as a n
off-road vehicle. It is therefore best to avoid rough tracks and uneven
te rrain as much as poss ib le. Also refe r to=>
page 199.
& WARNING
Always adjust your driving to road and traffic conditions . Do not
let the extra safety afforded by the all-wheel drive tempt you into
taking extra risk s.
• Although the quattro ®all -wheel drive is very effective, always
remember that braking capacity is limited by t ire traction. You
should therefore not drive at exce ssive speed s on icy or slippery
road surfaces .
• On wet road surfa ces, be careful not to drive too fast becau se
the front wheels could begin to slide on top of the water (hydro­
planing ). If this should occur, you will have no warning from a
sudden increase in engine speed as with a front -wheel drive
vehicle. Always dr ive at speed s which are adjusted to the road
conditions -risk of crash! •
Energy management
Starting ability is optimized
Energy managemen t controls the distribution of elec ­
trical energy and thus optimizes the availability of elec­
t r ical ene rgy for s tarting the en gin e.
If a vehicle w ith a convent ional energy sys tem is not d riven fo r a long
period of time, t he battery is discha rged by idling cur rent consumers
(e .g. immob ilizer). In ce rtain c ircumstances it can result i n there
being insufficient energy availab le to start the engine .
Inte lligent ene rgy m anageme nt in yo ur vehicle h andles the dis tribu­
tion of electrical energy. Starting ability is markedly improved and
t he life of the bat tery is ex tende d.
Bas ically, energy management consis ts of
battery d iagnosis, idling
current management
and dynamic energy management . ~

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Tire manufacturing date
The m an ufac tu ring date is a lso indicated on the tire sidewall
(poss ibly on ly on th e
inner side of the w hee l):
"DOT . .. 2209 . .. " means, fo r example, that the tire was produced in
t he 22nd wee k of 20 09.
Speed rating (letter code)
The speed ra ting letter cod e on th e w heel s in dicates t he maxi mum
permissible road s peeds =>
& in "W inte r tires" on page 2 61.
P up to 93 mph (150 km/h)
Q up to 99 m ph (158 km/h)
R up to 1 06 mph (170 km/h)
S up to 1 10 m ph (180 km/h)
T up to 1 18 mph (1 90 km/ h)
U up to 124 mp h (200 km/ h)
H up to 130 mp h (210 km/ h)
V up to 149 mp h (240 km/ h)6>
Z over 1 49 mp h (24 0 km/h)6>
W up to 1 68 mph (270 km/h)6>
Y up to 186 m ph (298 km/h)6>
Your vehicle is normally factory equipped with t ires, which possess
ex cellen t driving chara cteris tics and give y our A udi op tim um driv ing
comfort. An elect ronic speed
Li miter=> page 20 will normally prevent
yo ur veh icle from going faste r tha n the ti re speed rating =>
&-
U.S. DOT Tire Identification Number (TIN) and tire
manufacture date
T hi s is the t ire's "serial number" . It beg ins wi th the letters "DOT" and
ind ic at es th at the t ire mee ts all f edera l stand ards. The nex t two
num bers or letters indicate the p lant where it was manufactured, and
the last four num bers represent the wee k and year of man ufacture .
For example, t he nu mbers 2209 mean tha t th e tir e was prod uced in
Gl For tires w ith a max im um speed capab ili ty ove r 149 mph (2 40 km/ h), tire
manufac tur ers sometimes use the letters "ZR."
Safety first
t he 22nd week of 2009 . The other numbers are marketing codes that
ma y or m ay not be use d b y the ti re manu facture r. This i nform ation is
used to contact consumers if a tire defec t requires a recall.
Audi Original tire
Tires with the ide ntificat ion "AO" or "RO" have been specially
m at ched w ith yo ur Audi. We recommend using on ly these tires
because t hey meet the highest standards regard ing safety and
dr iv ing c haracteris tic s when used cor rect ly. Yo ur authorize d Audi
dealer w ill gladly provide you wi th m ore information .
Maximum Load Rating
Thi s number ind icates the maxim um load in kilograms and pounds
that can be carried by the tire.
Tire quality grading for treadwear, traction, and
temperature resistance
Tread wear, traction and temperat ure grades=> page 260.
Maximum Permissible Inflation Pressure
Thi s number is the greatest amount of air pressure that sho uld ever
be pu t in the tire under norm al dri ving cond itions .
& WARNING
• Using incorrect or unmatched tires and/ or wheels or improper
tire and wheel combinations can le ad to loss of control , collision
and seriou s personal injury.
• Always use tires, rims and wheel bolts that meet the specifica­
tions of original factory -installed t ires or other combinations that
have been specifically approved by the vehicle manufacturer .
• Tires age even if they are not being used and can fail suddenly,
especially at high speeds. Tires that are more than 6 years old can
only be used in an emergency and then with special care and at lower speeds.
• Never mount used tires on your vehicle if you are not sure of
their "previous history." Old used tires may have been damaged
~
Vehicle care Technical data

__________________________________________________ T_i_ r _e _s_ a_ n_ d_ w_ h_e_ e _ l_s __ _
Tread wear
The tread wear grade is a compa ra tive ra ting based on the wear rate
of the tire when tested unde r co ntrolled conditions on a specified
government test co urse.
For examp le, a tire g rade d 150 would wea r o ne and one half (1 1/2)
times as well on the government course as a tire graded 100.
Th e relat ive performance o f tires depends upon t he ac tual con ditions
o f their use, however , and may de pa rt s ig ni ficantly from the norm
due to variations in driv ing ha bits, service prac tices an d differences in
roa d characterist ics and climate.
Traction
The traction grades, from highest to lowest, are AA, A, Band C. Those
grades represent the tire's ab ility to s to p on wet pavemen t as
meas ured under controlled condit ions o n spec ified governme nt test
s u rfaces of asphalt and conc rete. A tire mar ked C may have poo r trac­
ti on perfo rma nce => & .
Temperature
The temperature grades are A (t he h ighest), B, a nd C, rep resenting
the t ire's resistance to the gene rat ion of heat and its ab ility to dissi­
pate hea t when test ed unde r co ntro lled condi tions o n a spe cifi ed
indoor laboratory test wheel.
S ust ain ed high te m peratu re can cause t he mate rial of the tire to
degenerate and reduce tire life, and excessive temperatu re ca n lead
t o sudden tire fail ur e=> & .
Th e g rade C cor responds to a leve l of performance which all
passenger car tires m ust meet under the Fede ral Motor Vehicle
Safety Standa rd No. 109. G rades Band A rep resent higher levels of
per formance on the labo ratory test whee l than the minimum
req uired by law .
Safety first
& WARNING
The traction grade assigned to this tire is based on straight -ahead
braking traction tests, and does not include acceleration,
cornering, hydroplaning or peak traction characteristics.
& WARNING
The temperature grade for this tire is established for a tire that is
properly inflated and not overloaded. Excessive speed, underinfla­
tion, or e xcessive loading, either separately or in combination, can
c ause heat buildup and po ssible tire failure .•
Winter tires
W inter tires can improve vehicl e handling on snow and
ic e. A t temper atures belo w 45 °F (7 °C) we recommen d
ch angin g to win ter tires .
In some heavy snow areas , loca l gover nments may requ ire true
wi nte r o r "snow" t ires, those with very deep ly c ut trea d. These tires
should only be use d in pairs and be i nstalled on all fo ur w heels . Mak e
sure you purchase snow tires that are the same size a nd constr uction
t ype as the ot her tir es o n your ve hicle.
If your veh icle is eq uipped with all-wheel drive*, th is will improve
t raction during w inte r drivin g, eve n with t he standard tires . However,
we st rongly recomme nd that you a lways equi p all four w hee ls on your
vehicle with correctly fitte d winter t ires or a ll-season ti res, w hen
wi nter road conditions a re expe cte d. Thi s also improves the vehicle 's
bra king pe rformance and re duces stop ping distances.
S u mme r tir es pro vide less g rip on ice and snow .
Winter tires (snow tires) must always be fi tted on all fo ur whee ls .
Ask yo ur autho rized Audi deale r or qu alified wor kshop for permitted
winter tire sizes . Use only ra dial w inte r tir es. ..
Vehicle care Technical data