2011 AUDI S8 service

200 Driving and en vi ro nm ent
Avoid full throttle
Driving at moderate speeds saves fuel and
improves your mileage .
"'Try and keep well below your car 's maximum
speed.
Accelerating gently reduces fuel consump­
tion, engine wear, and does not disturb the
environment. F ue l consumption, exhaust em issions and en ­
gine noise increase disproportionately at high
speeds. If you drive at approximately three
quarters of top speed, fue l consumption will
be reduced by one half. Never drive faster
than the posted speed limit and weather con­
d itions permit .
Reducing unnecessary idling
Even when your car is just idling it burns up
fuel.
"'Shut the engine off when you are not driving
the vehicle .
"'Do not warm up the veh icle by letting the
engine run at idle .
It makes sense to shut
off the e ngine in traff ic
jams, when waiting for trains to pass at ra il­
road crossings , or at traff ic lights that have
long wa its on red. Turning the engine
off fo r
just
30-40 seconds saves more fue l than is
burned s tarting the eng ine again .
It takes a long time for the engine to warm up
fully when it is running at idle . Howeve r, wear
and noxious em issions are especially high
when the engine is warming up. So you should
drive away as soon as you start the engine and
avoid running at high rpms while the engine is
still warming up .
([) Note
Do not leave engine idling unattended af ­
ter starting . If warning lights should come
on to indicate improper operation, they
wou ld go unheeded. Extended idling also
produces heat, which cou ld result in over- heating or other damage to the vehicle or
other property .
Regular maintenance
A badly tuned engine unnecessarily wastes a
lot of fuel.
"' Have your ve hicle serviced at reg ular inter -
vals.
By having your veh icle regu larly serviced by an
Audi dealer he lps to ensure that it runs p rop­
erly and economically. The condition of your
vehicle not only affects its sa fety and ability to
hold its value, it also affects
fuel c onsump­
tion .
Check your oil e ach time you fill your t ank .
The amount of oil used is related to engine
load and speed .
It is normal for the oil consumption of a new
engine to reach its lowest value after a certa in
mileage has been driven.
You must drive your veh icle about 3,000 m iles
(5,000 kilometers) before you can properly
assess oil consumpt ion.
This also app lies to fue l consumption and en­
gine output.
(D Note
- Have your vehicle maintained proper ly
and in accordance with the service rec ­
ommendations in your Warranty
& Main­
tenance booklet. Lack of proper ma inte­
nance as well as improper use of the ve­
hicle will impair the function of the
em iss ion contro l system and cou ld lead
to damage.
- Do not alter or remove any component of
the Emission Control Sys tem unless ap­
proved by the manufacture r.
- Do not alte r or remove any device, such
as heat sh ie lds, switches, ign it ion w ires,
valves, which are designed to protec t
your vehicle's Emission Control System
and other impo rtant vehicle compo­
nents .

-Blend must contain not more than 15%
MTBE.
Seasonally adjusted gasoline
Many gasoline grades are blended to perform
espec ially we ll for winter or summer driving.
During seasonal change-over, we suggest that
you fill up at busy gas stat ions where the sea­
sonal adjustment is more likely to be made in
time .
(D Note
-Methanol fuels which do not meet these
requirements may cause corrosion and
damage to plastic and rubber compo­
nents in the fuel system .
- Do not use fue ls that fail to meet the
specified criter ia in this chapter.
- If you are unable to determine whether
or not a particular fue l blend meets the
specifications, ask your service station or
its fuel supp lier.
- Do not use fuel for which the contents
cannot be identified.
- Fuel system damage and performance
problems resulting from the use of fuels
different from those specified are not
the responsibility of Audi and are not
covered under the New Vehicle or the Emission Control System Warranties.
- If you experience a loss of fuel economy
or driveability and performance prob­ l ems due to the use of one of these fuel
blends, we recommend that you switch
to unblended fuel.
Gasoline additives
A major concern among many auto manufac ­
turers is carbon deposit build- up caused by
the type of gasoline you use.
Although gasoline grades differ from one manufacturer to another , they have certain
things in common. All gasoline grades contain
substances that can cause deposits to collect
on vital engine parts, such as fuel injectors
and intake valves. Although most gasoline brands include additives to keep engine and
Fuel supply and filling your fuel tank 219
fuel systems clean, they are not equally effec ­
tive .
A udi recommends using TOP TIER Detergent
Gasoline. For more info rmation on TOP TIER
Detergent Gasoline, please go to the official
website (www.toptiergas.com).
After an extended period of using inadeq uate
fuels, carbon deposit build-ups can rob your
engine of peak performance.
Q) Note
Damage or malfunction due to poor fue l
quality is not covered by the Aud i New Ve­
hicle Limited Warranty.
Fuel tank
Fuel filler neck
The fuel filler neck is located on the right rear
side panel behind the fuel fille r flap.
If the power locking system should fail, you
can still open the flap manually -for deta iled
instruct ions see
¢ page 221 .
You can find the fuel tank capacity of your ve­
hicle in
Technical Data ¢ page 282.
The label on the inside of the fuel fi ller flap
tells you the correct fue l for your vehicle. For
more information about fuel specifications,
see
¢ page 218.
Your vehicle fue l tank has an on board refuel­
li ng vapor recovery system. This feature helps
to prevent fuel vapors from escaping from the
tank and polluting the environment while you refuel your vehicle . In order to fill the tank
properly while protecting the environment,
please fo llow this refueling procedure careful­
ly.
_&. WARNING
Under normal operating conditions, never
carry additional fuel containers in your car.
Gas canisters and other containers used to
transport f uel can be dangero us. Such con­
tainers, full or empty, may leak and could
cause a fire in a collis ion. If you must
•
•

226 Check ing and filling
temperatures stay below freezing point for
long periods.
Detergent add it ives in the o il w il l make fresh
oil look dark after the eng ine has been run­
ning for a short time . This is norma l and is not
a reason to change the oi l more often than
recommended.
Dam age or ma lf u ncti ons du e to lack of
m ainten ance
It
is essential that you change your oil at the
recommended in tervals using only engine o il
that complies with Audi oi l standard
VW 502 00. You r Limited New Vehicle War­
ranty does not cover damage or malfunctions
due to fail ure to fo llow recommended mainte­
nance and use requ irements as set forth in
the Audi Owner's Manual and Warranty&
Maintenance book let . Your dealer will have to
deny warranty coverage unless you present to
the dea ler proof in the form of Service or Re­
pa ir Orders that all scheduled maintenance
was performed in a t imely manner.
Eng ine oil consumption
The engine in your vehicle depends on an ade­
quate amount of oil to lubricate and cool all
of its moving parts.
In order to provide effective lubrication and
cool ing of internal engine components, a ll in­
ternal comb ustion eng ines consume a certa in
amount of oil. O il consumption varies from
engine to engine and may change significantly
over the life of the engine. Typica lly, engines
with a specif ied break-in period (see
¢
page 197) consume more oil during the
break-in period than they consume after oil
consumption has stabilized.
Under norma l conditions, the rate of oil con­
sumpt ion depends on the quality and viscosity
of the oil, the RPM (revolutions per m inute) at
which the engine is operated, the ambient
temperature and road condit ions . Further fac­
tors are the amount of oil d ilution from water
condensat ion or fuel residue and the ox ida­
tion level of the oi l. As any engine is subject to wear as mi
leage builds up, the oil consump­
tion may increase over time until replacement
of worn components may become necessary.
With a ll these variab les coming into play, no
standard rate of oil consumption can be es­
tablished or specified. There is no alternative
to regu lar and frequent check ing of the o il lev ­
el, see
Note .
If
the yellow engine oil leve l warning symbo l
in the instrument cluster
m lights up, yo u
shou ld check the oil leve l as soon as possib le
¢
page 22 7. Top off the oil at your earliest
convenience ¢
page 22 7.
A WARNING '"---
Before you check anything in the engine
compartment, always read and heed all
WARNINGS¢
A in Working in the engine
comportment on page 222.
(D Note
Driving w ith an insufficient o il level is like­
ly to cause severe damage to the engine .
(D Tips
-The oil pressu re warn ing display. is
not an indicator of the oil le vel. Do not
r el y on it . In ste ad, ch eck the oil lev el in
y our engin e at regular inter vals , pref ­
erably ea ch time you r efu el, and alway s
before going on a long trip .
-If you have t he impression yo ur engine
cons umes ex cessive amoun ts of o il, we
recommend that you consu lt your Aud i
dea ler to have the cause of your concern
properly diagnosed. Keep in mind that
the accurate meas urement of oi l con­
sumption requ ires great care and may
take some t ime. Your Audi dea ler has in­
structions about how to measure oil con­
sumption accurately.
-

228 Check ing and filling
and ad versely a ffect yo ur New Vehicl e
W arrant y.
@) For the sake of the environment
- Under no circums tances can the oil come
in contact with the sewage network o r
the soil.
- Observe and follow lega l regu lations
when disposing of empty oil containers .
Changing the engine oil
We recommend that have your oil changed by
an authorized Audi dealer or a qualified serv­
ice station.
Before you check anything in the engine com­
partment,
a lw ays rea d an d h eed all WARN­
INGS c::> .& in Working in the engine compart­
ment on page 222.
The engine oil must be changed accord ing to
the intervals specified in your Warranty
&
Maintenance book let. This is very important
because the lubricating properties of oil di­
minish gradua lly during normal vehicle use .
Under some ci rcumstances the engine oi l
should be changed more frequently. Change
oil more often if you drive most ly short dis­
tances, operate the vehicle in dusty areas or under predominantly stop-and-go traffic con­
ditions, or have your vehicle where tempera­
tures remain below freezing for extended pe ­
riods .
Detergent addit ives in the oil w ill make fresh
oil look dark after the eng ine has been run­
n ing for a short time. This is normal and is not
a reason to change the oil more often than recommended.
Because of the problem of proper disposal,
along w ith the special tools and necessary ex ­
pertise required , we strongly recommend that
you have your o il changed by an authori zed
A udi de ale r or a q ual ified servi ce station.
If you choo se to c hang e y our oi l your self,
please note the followi ng important informa­
tion :
A WARNING
To reduce the risk of personal injury if you
must change the eng ine oil in your vehicle
yourself:
- Wear eye protect ion.
- To reduce the risk of burns from hot en- gine oil, let the engine cool down to the
touch.
- When removing the o il dra in plug with
your fingers, stay as far away as possible.
Always keep your forearm parallel to the
ground to help p revent hot oil from run­
n ing down you r arm.
- Dra in the oil into a container designed
for this purpose, one large enough to
hold at least the total amount of oil in
your engine.
- Engine oil is poisonous. Keep it we ll out
of the rea ch of childre n.
- Continuous contact with used eng ine o il
is harmful to your sk in. Always protect
your skin by washing oil off tho roughly
with soap and wate r.
@ Note
Never mix oil additives with your engine
oi l. These additives can damage your en­
g ine and adversely affect you r A ud i Limit­
ed New Veh icle War ranty.
@ For the sake of the environment
- Before changing your oil, first make su re
you know where you can prope rly dispose
o f the used oil.
- Always dispose of used eng ine oi l proper­
ly. Do not dump it on garden soil, wood­
ed areas, into open streams or down
sewage drains.
- Recycle used engi ne oil by taking it to a
used engine oil collection facility in you r
area, or contact a service station.

@ For the sake of the environment
Because of the problem of proper disposa l
of brake fl uid as we ll as the special tools
requ ired and the necessary expert ise, we
recommend that you have t he brake fluid
changed by your author ized Audi dealer .
Battery
General information
Under normal operating conditions, the bat­
tery in your Audi does not need any mainte ­
nance. With
high outside temperatures or
long daily dr ive s we recommend that you have
the electro lyte level checked by a service fa­
cility . The electrolyte level shou ld a lso be
checked each time the battery is charged
¢ page 235.
Have the battery checked when you take your
ve hicle in for service . Yo u are well adv ised to
replace a battery that is older than 5 yea rs .
W ith certa in types of a irbag deployment, t he
b attery is d isconnected from the vehicle elec­
tr ica l system for safety reasons¢.&.
in Re ­
pair, care and disposal of the airbags on
page 159.
Disconnecting the battery terminals
Some vehicle functions (power w indow regu­
lators , for example) are lost if the battery ter­
m inals a re d isconnected. These func tions have
to be re lea rned after the batte ry term inals a re
connected agai n. T o prevent this , the bat tery
should only be d isconnec ted from the vehicle
e lec tric al system when absolu tely necessa ry
for repairs .
Vehicles not driven for long periods
If you do not drive you r vehicle over a period
of severa l days or weeks, elec trical compo­
nen ts are gr adually cut b ack o r swi tched off .
This redu ces energy cons umption and main­
tains starting capab ility over a longer per io d
¢ page 195.
Be aw are tha t when you unlock yo ur vehicle ,
some of the conven ien ce f unct ions may no t
Checkin g and fillin g 233
opera te , such as the Conven ience key*, the re­
mote control or the power seat adjustment .
T he convenience functions will be ava ilab le
again when you switch on the ign ition and
start the eng ine.
Winter operat ion
D uring the w inte r mon ths, bat tery capacity
tends to dec rease as temperatures drop . This
is beca use more power is a lso consumed wh ile
starting, and the headlights, rear window de­
fogger, etc., are used more often.
Avoid unnecessary powe r consum ptio n, pa r­
ticu lar ly in city traffic or when traveling only
short distances. Let your autho riz ed Audi
dealer check the capacity of the vehicle bat­
te ry before w inter sets in¢
page 235 . A well
c h arged battery will not on ly prevent s tarti ng
problems w hen the weather is cold, but wi ll
also last longer.
(D Tips
If you r vehicle is left s tandi ng for seve ral
weeks at extremely low temperatures, the
vehicle ba ttery s hould be removed an d
s to red w here i t w ill not fr eeze . T his w ill
p revent it from be in g damaged and having
to be replaced.
Working on the battery
Be especially careful when working on or near
the bat tery.
T he battery is lo cated in the l uggage compa rt­
ment unde r the floo r. B efo re you che ck a ny­
thi ng in the luggage com partmen t,
read and
heed all WARNINGS
¢ .&, .
Alw ays heed t he safety warning s, when work­
ing on the vehicle b atte ry or the vehicle e lec -
t rical system to prevent i njury. .,..
•
•

248 Tires and wheels
Tire service life
The service life of tires depends on a lot of
different things including proper installation
and balancing, correct tire pressure and driv·
ing style.
F ig. 1 86 Tire tread: tread wea r ind icators (TWI)
( r------ ,1
\ ...__ _____ ____,.
F ig. 1 87 Rotat ing t ires for more ev en wea r
Tread Wear Indicator (TWI)
The origi na l t ires on your veh icle have
1/16 inch (1.6 mm) high "wear indicators"
c::> fig . 186 running across the tread. Depend ·
i ng on the make, there will be six to eight of
them evenly p laced around the t ire. Marks on
the tire sidewa ll (for example "TWI" or other
symbols) indicate the positions of the tread
wear ind icators . Worn t ires must be replaced .
Different fig ures may apply in o ther countries
c::> & .
Tire p ressure
Incorrect tire pressure causes premature wear
a nd can cause sudden t ire blow-out. For th is
reason, tire pressure must be checked at least
once a month
c::> page 244 .
Driving style
Driving fast aro und curves, heavy acce leration
and hard braking increase tire wear.
Rotating tires for more even wear
F o r all four tires on your ve hicl e to h ave the
same service life, we recommen d that the
front and rear t ires are rotated according to
the tire manufact urer's suggested tire rota·
tion intervals. Please remember the follow­
ing :
- Tire rotation intervals may differ from the
vehicle service inte rva ls o utlined in your
Warranty
& Maintenance booklet .
- The longer one tire is used in one location
on the vehicle, the more it wears at certain
points; therefore, we recommend that y ou
follow the tire manufacturer's suggested
tire rotation intervals .
- Veh icles w ith front-wheel dr ive experience
more tread wear on the fro nt w heels com·
pa red to all-wheel drive (quattro ®).
- Please rotate tires as shown
c::> fig. 187.
-Extra care must be taken when rotating di·
rection-specific tires
c::> page 267 .
Wheel balancing
The wheels on new ve hicles are balanced .
However, various situations during eve ryday
driving can cause them to become unba l·
anced, resulting in vibrat ions you can usually
feel t hrough the steer ing wheel.
Un balanced whee ls must be rebalanced to
avoid excessive wear on steering, suspension
and t ires. A whee l m ust also be reba lanced
when a new tire is insta lled.
Incorrect wheel alignment
Incor rect wheel alig nment can cause exces­
sive tire wear, impai ring the safety of the veh i·
de . If tires show excessive wear, have the
whee l alignment checked by an authorized
Audi dealer or qualif ied workshop .
All Wheel Drive
Vehicles with q uattro ® mus t always have tires
of the same size, construction and tread type .
For details see
c::> page 194 . ..,.

and the hub. R emove a ll dirt from these
su rfaces before remo unt ing the wheel.
Tires with unidirectional tread design
Tires with unidirectional tread de sign must be
mounted with their tread pattern pointed in
the right direction.
Using a spare tire with a tread pattern
intended for use in a specific direction
When using a spa re tire w ith a tread patte rn
inte nded for use in a specific direction, please
note t he following:
- T he direction o f rotation is marked by an a r­
r ow on the side of the tire.
- If the spare tire has to be install ed in the in­
correct di rection, use the sp are tire only
temporar ily since the t ire will not be a ble to
achieve its optimum pe rformance character­
ist ics with regard to aquaplaning, noise and
wear.
- We recommend that you pay particular at­
tent ion to this fact during wet weat he r and
t h at you adjust your speed to matc h road
condit ions .
- Replace the flat tire w ith a new one and
have it installed on your ve hicle as soon as
poss ib le to restore the hand ling advantages
of a uni direct io na l ti re .
Notes on wheel changing
Pl ease rea d the information ¢ page 2 49, New
t ires and repl acing tires and wheels
if you are
goi ng to use a s pare t ire which is differen t
from the tires on your ve hicle.
Afte r you cha nge a tire:
- Check the tire pressure on the spare imme­
diately after installation .
- Have the wheel bolt tightening torque
checked with a torque wrench as soon as
possible by your authorized Audi dealer or
a qualified service station .
- With steel and alloy wheel rims, the wheel
bolts are correctly tightened at a torque of
90 ft lb (120 Nm). What do I do now? 267
-
If you notice that the wheel bolts are cor­
roded and difficult to turn while changing
a tire , they should be replaced before you
check the t ightening torque.
- Replace the flat ti re with a new one and
have it installed on your vehicle as soon as
possible. Remount the wheel cover.
Until then , drive with extra care and at re­
duced speeds.
A WARNING
- I f you are g oing to eq uip your vehicle
wit h tires o r rims which differ from those
which were factory installed, then be sure to read the information
¢ pag e 249,
N ew tires and replacing tires and
w heels.
- Always ma ke sure t he damag ed wheel o r
e ven a fla t tire an d the jack a nd tool ki t
a re prope rly se cu red in t he luggage co m­
p art me nt and a re not loo se in the pas­
senger compartment .
- I n an a ccide nt or sudde n maneuver they
could fly forward, injuring anyone in the
veh icle.
- Always s tore da mage d wheel, j ack and
t oo ls se curely in the lugg age comp art­
men t. Othe rwise, in an accident o r su d ­
den maneuver they co uld f ly forwa rd,
causing inju ry to passengers in the veh i­
cle.
- Do not use commerc ia lly available t ire
sealants. Othe rwise, the electrical com­
ponents of the tire pressure mon itor ing
system * will no lo nger work p roperly and
the sensor for the tire p ress ure monito r­
i n g sys tem * will have to be re placed by a
qua lified wor kshop. •
•

2 7 4 Emergency situations
@ Tips
-The discharged battery must be properly
connected to the vehicle's electrical sys­
tem. When jump starting or charging the
battery, never connect the negative
ground cable to the battery negative
post because the battery manager sys­
tem must be able to detect the battery 's
state of charge. Always connect the neg­
ative g round cable to the negative
ground post of the battery manager con­
trol unit .
Use of jumper cables
Make sure to connect the jumper coble
clomps in exactly the order described below!
Fig . 209 Engine compartme nt: connecto rs for jump
start cab les and a charger
Fig. 210 Jump starting w ith the battery of another ve ­
h icle: A - boos ter battery, B - discharged veh icle battery
The procedure described below for connecting
jumper cables is intended to provide a jump
start for your veh icle.
Vehicle with discharged battery :
.. Turn off lights and accessories, move lever
of automatic transmission to
N (Neutral) or
P (Park) and set parking brake.
Connect POSITIVE(+) to POSITIVE(+)
(red)
.. Open the red cover on the positive terminal
¢fig. 209 .
1. Connect one end of the red positive cable
on the
jump start bolt ¢ fig. 210@ (bolt
under the red cover = "positive") of the ve­
hicle to be started @.
2 . Connect the other end to the positive ter-
mi nal @of the booster battery@.
Connect NEGATIVE (-) to NEGATIVE (-)
(black)
3. Connect one end of the black negative ca­
ble to the negat ive terminal @ of the
booster battery @.
4. Connect the other end to the
jump start
pin © (bolts with hex head bolt= "nega­
tive") of the vehicle to be started @.
Starting the engine
.. Start the engine of the veh icle w ith the
booster battery @. Ru n the engine at a
moderate speed .
.. Start engine with discharged vehicle battery
@ in the usual manner .
.. If the engine fails to start, do not keep the
starter crank ing for longer than 10 seconds.
Wait for about 30 seconds and then try aga in .
.,. With engine running, remove jumper cables
from both vehicles in the exact
reverse or­
de r .
.. Close the red cover on the positive term inal.
T he battery is vented to the outside to prevent
gases from entering the vehicle inter ior. Make
s ur e that the jumper clamps are well connect­
ed with their meta l parts in full contact with
the battery terminals.
_& WARNING
To avoid se rious personal injury and dam­
age to the vehicle, heed all warnings and
in structions of the jumper cable manufac­
turer. If in doubt, call for road service .
- Jumper cables must be long enough so
that the veh icles do not touch.
-