2012 AUDI A6 brake light

110 Autom atic Tran smi ssi on
Dynamic shift program (DSP)
Appli es to vehicles: with tiptronic
The automatic transmission is electronically
controlled .
The transmission is self adapting and will au­
t oma tically
select the best shift program suit­
ed to the driving conditions and driving style .
The transmission will se lect one of the
econo ­
my programs when you drive at a steady
speed or a gradually changing speed without
heavy acceleration . This achieves optimum
fuel efficiency, with early upsh ifting and de­
layed downshifting.
The transmission will automatically select the
s po rty shift programs when you drive at high­
er speeds, or w ith heavy acceleration and fre­
quent ly changing speeds. Upshifts are de layed
to make f ull use of eng ine power. Downsh ift­
i ng takes p lace at higher engine speeds than
in the economy programs.
The se lection of the most suitable shift p ro­
gram is a cont inuous, automati c process. The
driver can also make the t ransmission switch
to a sporty prog ram by
quic kly pressing down
the gas pedal.
This causes the transmission to shift down to
a lower gear to achieve rap id acceleration, e.g.
for qu ickly passing another veh icle. You do not
need to press the gas peda l into the kick-down
range. After the transmission has upshifted,
the original program is selected according to
your driving style.
An additional shift program allows the auto­matic transmission to select the proper gear
for uphill and downhill gradients.
This keeps the transmission from shifting up
a nd down unnecessari ly on hills. The trans­
mission will shift down to a lower gear when
the driver presses the brake pedal on a down­
h ill gradient. This makes use of the braking ef­
fect of the eng ine without the need to shift
down manually .
Manual shift program
Applies to vehicles: wit h tiptronic
Using the manual shift program you can
manually select gears .
Fig . 115 Center conso le: sh ift ing the t iptron ic ma nual ­
l y
Fig . 1 16 D isp lay: manual sh ift prog ra m , se lected gear
hi ghlighted
Switching to manual shift program
.,. Push the selector lever to the rig ht from D/
5 . As soon as the transmission has sw itched
over, the se lected gear appears in the dis­
p lay.
To u pshift
.,. Push the selector lever forward to the plus
position
0 ¢ fig .. 115 .
To down shift
.,. Push the lever to the minus pos ition 0 -
When accelerating, the transmission will au­
tomatica lly shift into the next gear before the
engine reaches its maximum RPM.
If you apply a light throttle whe n accelerat-
ing, tiptronic wi ll automatically shift from 1st
to 2nd gear to save fuel. If you apply a heavy
throttle, the transmission wi ll stay in 1st gear .,.

until near maximum RPM is reached, or until
the driver shifts into 2nd gear.
I f yo u take your foot off the accelerator pedal
when dr iving down a steep incline, tiptronic
will downshift from the selected gear into the
next lower gear until it reaches 1st gear,
based on road speed and engine RPM. Auto ­
matic downshifting is interrupted as soon as
you apply the throttle again.
@ Tips
- When you shift into the next lower gear,
the transmission will downshift only
when there is no possibility of over-rev­
v ing the engine.
- When the kick-down comes on, the
transmission will shift down to a lower
gear, depending on vehicle and engine
speeds.
- tiptron ic is inoperative when the trans­
mission is in the fail-safe mode .
Steering wheel with tiptronic
Applies to vehicles: with tiptro nic steer ing wheel
The shift buttons on the steering wheel allow
the driver to shift gears manually.
Fig. 117 Steering wheel: Sh ift buttons
• To downshift, touch the button on the left
0-
• To upsh ift, touch the button on the right
0-
The shift buttons are activated when the se­
lector lever is in
D/S or in the manual shift
program (tiptronic).
Automatic Transmission 111
Of course, you can continue to use the manual
shift program with the selector lever on the
center console.
Transmission malfunction
Applies to vehicles : wit h tipt ro ni c
[O] Transmission : please press the brake ped ­
al and select the position again
Press the brake pedal and select the desired
selector lever position again. You can then
continue driving.
[O] Transmis sion hot: please modify driving
style
T he tran smission temperature has increased
s ig nificantly due to the sporty driving manner .
Dr ive in a less sporty manner until the tem ­
perature returns to the normal range and the
indicator light switches of.
[O] Transmission malfunction: You can con­
tinue driving
T here is a system malfunction in the transmis­
sion. You may cont inue driving. Drive to your
a uthor ized Audi dea le r or qualified repair fa­
cility soon to have the malfunction corrected.
[O] Transmission malfunction: Limited driv­
ing functionality
There is a system malfunction in the transmis­
s ion. The transmission is switching to emer­
gency mode. This mode on ly shifts into cer­
tain gears or will no longer shift at all. The en­
gine may sta ll. Drive to your authorized Audi
dealer or qualified repair facility immediately
to have the malfunction corrected .
[O] Transmission malfunction: Stop and shift
to P
Do not continue dr iving. Select the P selector
lever position and see your authorized Audi
dealer or qualified repair facility for assis­
tance.
(D Note
If the transmission switches to emergency
mode, you should take the vehicle to an
IJll>

120 Homelink®
Homelink®
Universal remote
control
General information
Applies to vehicles: with Home link® universal remote
control
The Homelink universal remote control can
be programmed with hand-held transmitters
from existing equipment.
Using the Homelink universal remote control,
you can operate equipment such as garage
doors, property gates and house lights from
ins ide your vehicle .
Using the Homelink universal remote control,
you can replace up to three separate hand­
held transmitters for equipment on your
property with just one universal remote con­
trol. Most of these transmitters are used to
ope rate ga rage doo rs and property gates. The
individual transmitters are programmed at
the front bumper. That is where the control
module is located.
The transmitters must be programmed first in
order to operate systems using the Homelink
universal remote control.
.&_ WARNING
-
-Never use the Homelink ® transmitter
with any garage door opener that does have not the safety stop and reverse fea­
ture as requ ired by federal safety stand­
ards. This includes any garage door open­
er model manufactured before April 1, 1982.
- A garage door opener which cannot de­
tect an object, signa ling the door to stop
and reverse does not meet current feder­
al safety standards . Using a garage door
opener witho ut these features increases
risk of serious injury or death.
- For safety reasons never release the
parking brake or start the engine while
anyone is standing in front of the vehicle .
- A garage door or an estate gate may
sometimes be set in motion when the Homelink
® remote control is being pro­
grammed. If the device is repeatedly ac­
tivated, this can overstrain motor and
damage its electr ical components - an
overheated motor is a fire hazard!
- To avoid possible injuries or property
damage, please always make absolutely
certain that no persons or objects are lo­
cated in the range of motion of any
equ ipment being operated.
(D Tips
- If you would like additional information
on the Homelink ® Universal Transceiver,
Homelink compatible products, or to
purchase other accessories such as the
Homelink® Light ing Package, please
contact Homelink at 1-800 -355-3515 o r
on the Internet at www.homelink .com.
- For Declaration of Comp liance to United
States FCC and Industry Canada regula­
tions¢
page 281.

Programming transmitters
Applies to vehicles: with Horne link
You con program the buttons in the Home­
Link universal remote control located in the
vehicle headliner.
F ig. 129 Contro l u ni t in th e headlin er
Fig. 130 Left front a rea of the b um per
Programming a button
M 0
9 C)
~
• Make sure your veh icle is within operating
range of the remote controlled garage door
opener.
• Set the parking brake¢
A in General infor­
mation on page 120.
• Switch the ignition on. Do not start the en­
gine!
• There are two ways to program a button :
press the button that you would like to pro ­
gram . The MMI will display instructions to
guide you through the programm ing . Or
• Select : IC ARI funct ion button >
Car systems
control button > Vehicle settings > Garage
door opener> Program garage door open­
er .
• Se lect the button that you would like to
program.
• Follow the instructions in the MMI.
• If the garage door opening must also be
synchronized w ith the Homelink module,
Homelink ® 121
refer to the owner's manua l for the garage
door opener .
Using the programmed button
• Press the programmed button¢ A in Gen­
eral information on page 120
to open the
garage door. The light @will blink or turn
on.
• Press the button again to close the garage
door ¢
A in General information on
page 120.
Erasing the button programming
• Select: !CAR !function button> Car systems
function key > Vehicle settings > Garage
door opener > Clear program settings
>
Yes.
Displaying the version/status/country
code
• Select: I CAR ! function button > Car systems
contro l button > Vehicle settings > Garage
door opener > Version information .
You can program both fixed code and rolling
code systems using these instructions.
Programming a button
The requ ired distance between the handheld
transmitter and the Homelink modu le in the
bumper depends on the system that you are
programming. You may have to try several
times.
Each of the buttons can be reprogrammed in­
dividually. The procedure is the same as for in­
itial programming .
¢page 121, Programming
a button.
Erasing the button programming
Individual buttons can be reprogrammed. Fol­
low the same steps used when first program­
ming the button.
If you would like to erase all programmed but­
tons at the same time, select Erase button
programming.

Intelligent technology Notice about data
recorded by vehicle
control modules
Your vehicle is not equipped with an Event Da­
ta Recorder (EDR), installed by some manu­
facturers for the express purpose of capturing
data for retrieval after an accident or crash
event. EDR's are sometimes called "crash re­
corders".
Some state laws restrict the retr ieval or down­
loading of data stored by EDR's that were in­
stalled in a vehicle for the express purpose of
retrieving data after an accident or crash
event without the owner's consent.
Although your vehicle is not equipped with an
EDR, it is equipped with a number of electron­
ic control modules for various vehicle systems
such as, for examp le, engine function, emis­
sion control, as well as for the airbags and
safety belts.
These electronic control modules also record
vehicle-related data during norma l vehicle op­
eration for diagnostic and repair purposes.
The recording capacity of the electronic con­
trol modules is limited to data (no sound is re­
corded) and only a small amount of data is ac­
tually recorded over a very limited period of
time and stored when a system fault or other
condition is sensed by a control unit. Some of
the data then stored may relate to vehicle
speed, direction, braking as we ll as restraint
system use and performance in the event of a
crash or other condition. Stored data can only be read and downloaded with special equip­
ment.
Electronic stabilization
program (ESP)
Description
ESP helps to improve road holding and vehicle
dynamics to help reduce the probability of
skidding and loss of veh icle control. It works
only when the engine is running. ESP detects
Intelligent technology 189
certain difficult driving situations, including
when the vehicle is beginning to spin (yaw)
out of control and he lps you to get the veh icle
back under control by se lectively braking the
wheels, and/or reducing engine power and
providing steering ass istance to help hold the
vehicle on the driver's intended course. The in­
dicator light
lf.1 in the instrument cluster
blinks when ESP is taking action to help you
control the vehicle.
ESP has limitations.
It is important to remem­
ber that ESP cannot overcome the laws of
physics.
It will not always be able to help out
under all conditions you may come up against.
For example, ESP may not always be able to
help you master situations where there is a
sudden change in the coefficient of friction of
the road surface. When there is a section of dry road that is suddenly covered with water,
slush or snow, ESP cannot perform the same
way it would on the dry surface . If the vehicle
hydroplanes (rides on a cushion of water in­
stead of the road surface), ESP will not be
able to help you steer the vehicle because con­
tact with the pavement has been interrupted
and the vehicle cannot be braked or steered .
During fast cornering, particularly on winding
roads, ESP cannot always deal as effectively
with difficu lt driving situations than at lower
speeds. When towing a trailer, ESP is not able
to help you regain control as it would if you
were not tow ing a trailer.
Always adjust your speed and driving style to road, traffi<; and weather conditions. ESP can­
not override the vehicle's physical limits, in­
crease the available traction, or keep a vehicle
on the road if road departure is a result of
driver inattention. Instead, ESP improves the
possibility of keeping the vehicle under con­
trol and on the road dur ing extreme maneu­
vers by using the driver's steering inputs to
help keep the vehicle going in the intended di­
rection. If you are traveling at a speed that
causes you to run off the road before ESP can
provide any assistance, you may not experi­
ence the benefits of ESP .
•
•

@ Tips
-ABS and AS R on ly wor k co rrectly when
a ll fo ur wheels are eq uipped w ith identi­
ca l tires . Different tire s izes can lead to a
r educt io n in eng ine power.
- You may hear noises when the sys tems
desc ribed are working.
- If the indicato r light
D] or m (USA
models) ;£1 (Canada models) appea rs,
there may be a malfunctio n ¢
page 19 ,
¢ pag e 19.
Switching on and off
ESP turns on automatically when you start
the engine .
Fig. 1 64 Center co nsole wit h ESP OFF button
Switching sport mode on
Press th e I,$ OF F I button ¢ fig. 164. The ac­
tions tak en by the ES P syst em to stabili ze th e
ve hicl e are lim ited. In ve hicl es w it h fro nt
wheel drive, the an ti-s lip reg ulat ion (ASR) is
limited . In vehicles wi th a ll-wheel d rive, t he
AS R is switc hed off. The
I ES P i ndicator lig ht
turns on and the message
Caution! Reduced
tract ion ¢.&
appears in the driver informa ­
tion system d isplay.
The fo llow ing examples a re u nusua l situa­
tions where it may make sense to switc h sport
mode on in order to a llow the whee ls to spin:
- Rocking the vehi cle back and forth when it is
stuck
- D rivin g in d eep snow or on loose groun d
- D riving wi th s now cha ins
Intelligent technology 191
Switching sport mode off
Press the In OF FI but ton ag ain. T he ltJ in dica ­
tor lig ht tur ns off an d the message
Stability
program on
appears in t he d river info rmation
system display .
&_ WARNING
-- Drive whee ls can sp in and you can lose
contro l of t he ve hicle more eas ily w hen
ASR and ESP are in sport mode, especial­
ly whe n th e road is slippery.
- Sw itch to sport mode only when your
driving sk ills, traff ic and weat her co ndi­
tions perm it.
@ Tips
You cannot sw itch sport mode on whe n
adaptive c ruise control* is w orki ng.
Braking
General information
Wha t affe cts bra king effici ency?
-
Operating conditions and driving habits
The brakes on today's automobiles a re still
subject to wear, depending largely on operat­ i ng co nd it io ns and driving habits ¢,& . On ve­
hi cles that a re e it h er dr iven most ly in stop­
and-go city t raff ic or are dr iven hard, the
br ake pa ds should be check ed by yo ur au thor­
iz ed Audi dea ler m ore often th an spec ified in
the
Warranty & Maintenance booklet. Failure
to have yo ur brake pads ins pected can result
in reduced brake performance .
On stee p slopes, you sho uld use the br aking
e ff ect o f the engine. This way, you prevent un ­
necessary wear on t he brake system. If you
must use your bra kes, do not hold the brakes
down cont in uous ly. Pump the brakes at inter­
vals.
Moisture or road salt
U nder certa in conditions, for exam ple, when
driving th roug h water or very heavy rain, or
even after washing your veh icle , the b raking
effect can be reduced due to m oist ure (or in ..,.

198 Driving and en vironm ent
Driving through water
on roads
Note the following to avoid vehicle damage
when driving through water, for example on
flooded roads:
- The water must not be any higher than the
bottom of the vehicle body.
- Do not drive faster than wa lking speed.
A WARNING
After driving through water, mud, slush,
etc., the brakes may be slow to take effect
because of wet brake rotors and pads. Dry
the brakes first by braking carefully to re­
sto re the full braking effect.
@) Note
Vehicle components such as the engine,
transmiss ion, suspension or electrical sys­
tem can be severely damaged by driving
through water.
- Check the depth of the water before dr iv­
i ng through it.
- Do not stop the vehicle, drive in reverse
or switch the engine off when driving
through water .
- Keep in mind that oncoming vehicles
may create waves that raise the water
level and make it too deep for your vehi­
cle to drive through safely.
- Avoid dr iving through salt water because
i t can cause corrosion.
Operate your vehicle
economically and
minimize pollution
General
Your personal style of driving will determine
the economy of your vehicle, as well as ex­
haust and noise levels.
Fuel economy, environmenta l impact, and
wear on your engine, brakes and tires largely
depend on three factors:
- your personal driving style
- operating conditions
- technical limitations
If you anticipate what you need to do next and
drive economically, you can easily cut your
fuel consumpt ion by 10-15 percent . This sec­
t ion will give you some tips on how you can
help the env ironment and your pocketbook.
@ Tips
The consumption estimates as published
by ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
(EPA) and Transport Canada may not corre­
spond to your actual consumption on the
road, which will vary depending upon vehi­
cle load and speed, road and weather con ­
ditions, trip length, etc.
Drive smoothly and keep a lookout
ahead
Vehicles use the most fuel when they are ac­
celerating.
.,. Avoid unnecessary accelerating and braking.
Vehicles use the most fuel when they are ac­
ce lerating. If you anticipate what is going to
happen next, you will need to brake less and,
thus, acce lerate less . Let the vehicle coast
whenever possible - for example when you see
that the next traffic light is red.

Trailer towing Driving with a trailer
General information
Your Audi was designed primarily for passen­
ger transportation .
If you plan to tow a tra iler, p lease remember
that the addit ional load will affect durab ility,
economy and performance .
T railer towing not on ly places more stress on
the vehicle, it also calls for more concentra­
tion from the driver.
F or this reason, a lways fo llow the operating
and driving instructions provided and use
common sense.
Technical requirements
Traile r hitch
Use a weight-carrying hitch conforming to the
gross trailer we ight. The hitch must be suita­
b le for your veh icle and trailer and must be
mounted secure ly on t he veh icle's chassis at a
technically sound location . Use only a t railer
h itch w ith a removab le ball moun t. A lways
check with the tr ailer hitch man ufac tur er to
make sure that you are using the correct
hitch.
Do not use a bumper hitch.
T he hitc h must be installed in such a way that
it does not inte rfe re with the impac t-absorb­
i ng b umper syst em. No modifica tions should
be made to the vehicle exhaus t and b rake sys­
tems . From t ime to time, check that a ll hitch
mo unt ing bolt s remain securely fas tened.
W hen you are not tow ing a trailer, remove the
trai le r hi tch ball moun t. T h is prevents the
hi tch from causing damage sho uld your ve hi­
cle be str uck from be hind
¢ &. .
Trailer brakes
If yo ur tra iler is equ ipped w it h a braking sys­
tem, check to be su re that it conforms to a ll
r eg ulat io ns.
Trailer towin g 201
The trailer hyd ra ulic bra ke system must not be
direct ly connected to the vehicle's hydraulic
brake system .
Safety chains
Alw ays use saf ety chains between your ve hicle
and t he tra ile r.
Trailer lights
Tra iler lights must meet all reg ulations . Be
su re to check with your Audi dea ler fo r cor re ct
wir ing, swi tches and relays.
Mirrors
If you a re unable to see the traffic behind you
u sing the regula r outside m irrors, then you
must i nsta ll ext ended mir rors . It is important
t h at you
always have clea r vis ion to the rear .
.8, WARNING
-
Afte r removing the trailer hit ch, do no t
s tore i t in yo ur vehicle . In case of sudden
b raking, the h itch cou ld fly forwar d an d in­
ju re you or yo ur passengers .
Operating instructions
Maximum trailer weight
A tra ile r fo r you r vehicle is limited to a ty pical
cl ass 1 or class 2 tra ile r.
Trailer load distribution
B e sure the loa d in the tr aile r is held secure ly
i n place to p reven t it from shift ing forw ard,
ba ckward or sideways.
Never allow a passenger to ride in a trailer
¢ &. in Driving instru ctions on page 20 2.
Engine cooling system
Towing a trailer makes the engine work hard­
er . It is impo rtant that the cooling system's
perfo rmance is up to the additional load .
Make sure that the coo ling syst em has enough
f lui d.
Tire pressure
When towing a trailer , inflate the tires of your
vehicle to t he cold tire pressure listed under .,..
•
•