-Always install rear-facing child safety
seats on the rear seat.
- If you must install a rearward facing
child safety seat on the front passenger
seat in exceptional circumstances and
the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does
not come on and stay on, immediately
install the rear-facing child safety seat in
a rear seating position and have the air
bag system inspected immediately by
your Audi dealer.
_& WARNING
If, in exceptional circumstances, you must
install a forward-facing child restraint on
the front passenger's seat:
- Always make sure the forward-facing
seat has been designed and certified by its manufacturer for use on a front seat
with a passenger front and side airbag.
- Always follow the manufacturer's in
structions provided with the child safety
seat or carrier.
- Always move the passenger seat into its
rearmost position in the seat's fore and
aft adjustment range, as far away from
the airbag as possible before installing
the child restraint. The backrest must be adjusted to an upright position .
- Always make sure that the
PASSENGER
AIR BAG OFF
light comes on and stays
on all the time whenever the ignition is
switched on.
(D Tips
Always replace child restraints that were
installed in a vehicle during a crash. Dam
age to a child restraint that is not visible
could cause it to fail in another collision
situation.
Advanced front airbag system and children
Your vehicle is equipped with an "Advanced
Airbag System" in compliance with United
States Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard
Child Safety 201
(FMVSS) 208 as applicable at the time your
vehicle was manufactured.
The Advanced Airbag system in your vehicle
has been certified to meet the "low-risk" re
quirements for 3- and 6-year old children on
the passenger side and small adults on the driver side. The low risk deployment criteria
are intended to reduce the risk of injury
through interaction with the airbag that can
occur, for example, by being too close to the
steering wheel and instrument panel when
the airbag inflates . In addition, the system
has been certified to comply with the "sup
pression" requirements of the Safety Stand
ard, to turn off the front airbag for infants up
to 12 months who are restrained on the front
passenger seat in child restraints that are list
ed in the Standard.
Even though your vehicle is equipped with an
Advanced Airbag system, all children, espe cially those 12 years and younger, should al
ways ride in the back seat properly restrained
for their age and si ze. The airbag on the pas
senger side makes the front seat a potentially dangerous place for a child to ride . The front
seat is not the safest place for a child in a for
ward-facing child safety seat. It can be a very
dangerous place for an infant or a larger child
in a rearward-facing seat .
Advanced Airbags and the weight
sensing mat in the front seat
The Advanced Airbag System in your vehicle
detects the presence of an infant or child in a
child restraint on the front passenger seat us
ing the weight -sensing mat in the seat cush
ion and the sensor below the safety belt latch
on the front passenger seat that measures the
tension on the safety belt.
The weight -sensing mat measures total
weight of the child and the child safety seat
and a child blanket on the front passenger seat. The weight on the front passenger seat
is related to the design of the child restraint
and its "footprint", the size and shape of the
bottom of the child restraint as it sits on the ..,.
•
•
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. EDRs are sometimes called "crash re
corders".
Some state laws restrict the retr ieval or down
loading of data stored by EDRs 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 example, 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.
Intelligent technology 219
Electronic Stability
Control (ESC)
General information
The ESC improves the vehicle stability.
. ..---------..
------- -
Fig. 218 Center console with ESC sw itch
ESC is designed to help you maintain vehicle
control in situations where the car approaches
the limits of "grip", especially when accelerat
ing and cornering. ESC reduces the risk of
skidding and improves stability under all road
condit ions .
The system operates across the entire speed range in combination with the ABS system. If
the Anti-Lock Brake System (ABS) malfunc
tions, the ESC will also shut down.
How the system works
The Anti-Lock Brake System (ABS), Electronic
Differential Lock (EDL) and the Anti-Slip Regu
lation System (ASR) are integrated in the Elec
tronic Stability Control. In addition to the da
ta provided by these functions, the ESC con
trol unit requires additional measurement da
ta provided by high performance sensors. The
rotational speed of the vehicle about its verti
cal axis, vehicle acceleration in the fore-and
aft and lateral directions, the brake pressure and the steering angle are all measured.
T he direction in wh ich the driver wishes to
travel is determined with the aid of the steer
ing angle and vehicle speed and is continually
compared with the actua l behavior of the ve
hicle. If the two do not match, for example,
when the vehicle starts hydroplaning on a wet
road, ESC will automatically brake the appro-
priate wheel to correct the problem. ..,_
•
•
220 Intellig ent technol ogy
The vehicle is then stabilized by the forces act
ing on the whee l during braking. If the vehicle
is
oversteering (rear tends to sk id out of the
turn), the brakes are ma inly applied on the
wheel that is on the outside of the curve. In
the case of a vehicle that is
understeering
(tendency to slide out of the curve), the
brakes are applied as needed on the whee l
that is on the ins ide of the curve or addit ional
l y on the o ther wheels. An acoustic s ignal indi
cates when ESC b rake app lication cuts in
¢ A .
The system operates across the entire speed
range in combination with the ABS system
¢ page 223. If the Anti-Lock Brake System
(ABS) malfunctions, the ESC wi ll be out of ac
tion as well .
Activating
When you turn on the engine, ESC w ill auto
mat ica lly be act ivated and will perform a se lf
test. As soon as the test is comp leted, the sys
tem is in normal operating mode.
Offroad mod e
ESC should normally be ope rated in normal
mode because this ensures maximum vehicle
stability. If necessary, you can act ivate the
ESC offroad mode by pressing the but to n
¢ fig . 218 to obtain maximum traction and
braking ability when driving
off paved roads at
l ow speeds. In ESC offroad mode, the indica
tor light
fi illuminates and the message Off
road control Warning! Red uced t ract ion
ap
pears briefly in the display .
The ESC offroad mode can be usefu l in the fo l
low ing except iona l situations when slip or a
h ighly effective differentia l locking function is
desirable . Examples:
- when driving with tire chains,
- when driving in deep snow or on loose
ground,
- when driving on uneven surfaces with the
wheels severe ly unloaded (articulation), and
- when rocking the vehicle loose after it has
become stuck.
When the unusua l situat ion is past, you
should shift back to the normal ESC operating mode by pushing the button again
. The mes
sage
S tabilit y prog ram on then appears brief
l y in the display.
H ill descent control
T he hill descent con trol is swi tched on in ESC
offroad mode . When slowly descending steep
gradients on loose gro und or when the axles
are articulated, hill descent control provides
ass istance by automatically applying the
brakes to keep vehicle speed constant. The ve
hicle is also rendered easier to steer by selec
t ive d istr ibut ion of braking force . H ill descent
control intervenes when:
- the acce lerator pedal is not pressed,
- the vehicle is travelling less than 12 mph
(20 km/h),
- a steep gradient is detected,
- wheel behavior indicates loose ground or
conditions with poor adhesion (e.g . a lso axle
articu lation).
Hill descent con tro l operates both d riving for
ward and in reverse. Active hill descent con
trol is deactivated by pressing the accelerator
pedal unti l the conditions for activation al
ready listed are met again.
A WARNING
- The Electronic Stability Control is never
theless subject to the laws of phys ics. It
is part icu larly important to pay attention
to this fact on wet and slippery roads. It is therefore impo rtant that you a lways
a dapt your d riving to the condit ion of the
road and traffic cond itions. Do not allow
the increased safety provided by the Electron ic Stability Control system to lull
you into accepting additional safety
risks.
- Please be aware that in ESC offroad
mode, particularly on a smooth and s lip
pery road, the wheels may have an in
creased tendency to spin and the vehicle
may break away - danger of skidding!
- Stability is limited in the ESC offroad
mode.
224 Intellig ent technol ogy
8_ WARNING
Although the ABS is very effective, always
remember that bra king capability is limit
ed by t ire traction . Always adjust your dr iv
ing spee d according to the road and t raffic
co nditions. Do no t let t he extra sa fety af
forded by the ABS tempt you into ta king
extra risks. The ABS cannot overcome the
laws of physics.
@ Tips
- If ABS is not functioning prope rly, a
warning light will come on. See
¢page 18 .
-If a fault occurs in the ABS, the EDL is al
so not functioning. This is indicated by
the ABS warning light .
Brake assistant
The brake assistant is designed to achieve the
optimum braking effect .
The brake assistant helps to increase the ef
fective b rak ing power and thus to achieve a
shorter stopp ing distance. If the driver
presses the brake pedal very quickly, the brake
assistant automatica lly boosts the braking
force to the maximum level, up to the point where the anti-lock brake function (ABS) inter
venes to stop the wheels from locking. You
should then keep the brake pedal pressed un
til the veh icle has braked to the required
speed . The brake assistant sw itches itself off
as soo n as you re lease the brake pedal.
Automatic full braking a ssist
This funct ion allows full brak ing in spite of
h igh brake pedal forces (e .g . when the brakes
a re severely stressed because the vehicle is
fully loaded) . The driver notices th is function
throug h a reduction of pedal force and in
creased pedal trave l. When the brake peda l is
r e leased, fu ll braking assis t switc hes off again
automatically.
I f the re is an ABS fa il ur e, the brake ass ista nt
and automatic full b rak ing ass ist are not avai l
ab le . The brake assistant wi
ll not be operative if
there is a ma lfunction in the ABS .
8_ WARNING
-Please remember that the accident risk a l-
ways increases if you drive too fast, espe
cially in corners or on a slippery road, or if
you follow the veh icle ahead of you too
closely. Increased r isk of an accident can
not be compensated for even by the brake
assistant, so always maintain a safe speed.
Servotronic ® -
advanced power
steering system
The power steering systems uses the power of
the running engine to allow precise steering
with little effort.
The advanced Servotronic ® power steering
system senses the road speed and electron i
cally adjusts power assistance to provide com
fortab le and safe steering response exact ly
matched to the vehicle speed .
Power steer ing will not work if the engine is
off . As a result, the steering wheel will be hard
to turn .
The power steering fluid level is checked dur
ing the scheduled maintenance services .
d) Note
If there is an electronic malfunction, ser
votronic
will still function like a conven
tiona l powe r steering system, providing a
constant steering support force that is no
l onger proportionate to the vehicle speed .
This is most not iceable when turning the
stee ring wheel at low speeds (fo r example
when pa rking), - more effort w ill be re
q uired than us ua l.
- Be aware o f the different than usual
steering response and adjust your steer
ing force accordingly.
- Have the problem checked and set r ight
by an Audi dealer as soon as possible .
@ Tips
- When the engine is running, never hold
the steer ing whee l turned a ll the way to
the right or t o the left f or longer than 15
seconds . The power steering pump w ill
overheat the hydraulic f lu id if you keep
hol ding the steer ing wheel turned all the
way . This is likely to damage the power
steering system .
- If the power steer ing system should fail
ent irely, or if the engine is not running
(fo r example , while being towed), you
will still be able to steer the vehicle .
However ,
considerably more effort will
be required to do so.
- If the power s teer ing system should
have a leak, or is not f unct ioning proper
l y, contact yo ur authorized Audi deale r
immediately.
- The power stee ring system requires a
spec ially formulated hydraulic fl uid. The
power steer ing reservo ir is the one locat
ed farthest to the rear on the left side of
the engine compartment
c> page 260.
The co rrect flu id leve l in the reservoi r is
i mportant for p roper functioning of the
power steer ing .
Driving with your
quattro ®
With all-whe el drive , oil four whe els ore driv
en.
General information
W ith all -whee l dr ive , power is dis tr ibuted to
a ll fo ur wheels. This happens automatica lly
dep ending on yo ur driving sty le and the road
conditions at th e time . See a lso
¢ pag e 221,
Electronic differential lock ( EDL) .
Winter tires
When driv ing in the w inter , your ve hicl e w it h
all -wheel drive has an advan tage, even with
regu lar tir es. In wint er road conditions it may
be adv isable to mount wint er tires (o r all -sea
son t ires) for improved driveability and b rak-
Int ellig ent technolog y 225
ing: t h ese tires must be mounted on all four
wheels. See also ¢
page 289, Winter tires .
Tire chains
Where tire chains a re ma ndatory o n cer tain
roads, this no rma lly also app lies to veh icles
with all-wheel drive¢
page 290, Snow
chains.
Replacing wheels/tires
Vehicles with all-wheel drive must always have ti res of t he same s ize. A lso avo id tires
with different t read dep ths. For det ails see
page
c!;> pag e 285, New tir es and replacing
tires and wheels .
_& WARNING
A lways adj ust yo ur driv ing to road and traf
f ic conditions. Do not let the extra safety
afforded by all-wheel drive tempt you into
taking extra risks .
-Altho ugh the all-wheel drive is very ef
fective, always remember that braking
capacity is lim ited by tire traction. You
should therefore not drive at excessive
speeds on icy or slippe ry road surfaces .
- On wet road surfaces, be careful not to drive too fast because the front wheels
could begin to slide o n top of the water
(aquaplaning). If th is should occur, yo u
will have no w arning from a s udden in
cre ase in engine speed as w ith a front
wheel drive veh icle. Always drive at
speeds which are su ited to the road con
ditions -risk of crash.
Energy management
Starting ability is optimized
E nergy management controls the distribution
of electrical energy and thus optimizes the
availability of electrical energy for starting the engine.
If a vehicle with a conventiona l energy system
is not drive n for a long per iod of t im e, the bat
te ry is discharged by idling cur rent consume rs
(e .g. immobi liz e r) . In cert ain circum stan ces it ..,_
•
•
The chains should cross under the trai ler
tongue to prevent it from dropping in case of
separation from the hitch.
([) Note
If you are going to tow a trai le r, you must
activate the trailer operation mode
¢ page 154, Towing a trailer.
Driving instructions
Driving with a trailer always requires extra
care and consideration .
To obtain the best poss ible handling o f vehicle
and trai ler, p lease note the following:
~ Do not tow a loaded trailer whe n your car it
self is not loaded.
~ Be especially careful when passing other ve
hicles.
~ Observe speed limits .
~ Do not drive at the maximum permissible
speed .
~ Always apply brakes early.
~ Monitor the temperature gauge .
Weight distribution
Towing a loaded trai ler with an empty car re
sults in a highly unstable distribution of
weight . If this cannot be avoided, drive at very
low speeds only to avoid the risk of losing
steering control.
A "balanced" rig is easier to operate and con
trol. This means that the tow vehicle should be loaded to the extent possible and permissi
ble, wh ile keeping the trailer as light as poss i
ble under the circumstances . Whenever possi
b le, transfer some cargo to the luggage com
partment of the tow vehicle wh ile observing
tongue load requirements and vehicle loading
considerations.
Speed
The higher the speed, the more difficult it be
comes for the drive r to control the rig. Do not
drive at the maximum permissible speed. Re
duce your speed even more if load, weather or
Trailer towing 237
wind conditions are unfavorable -pa rticularly
when going downhill.
Reduce veh icle speed
immediately if the trail
er shows the slightest s ign of sway ing .
Do not
try to stop the swaying by accelerating.
Observe speed limits. In some a reas, speeds
for vehicles tow ing tra ilers are lower than for
regular veh icles .
Always apply brakes early. When driving
down hill, shift into a lower gear to use the en
gine braking effect to s low the vehicle . Use of
the brakes alone can cause them to overheat
and fail.
Coolant temperature
The coolant temperature gauge¢ page 10
must be observed carefully. If the need le
moves close to the upper end of the scale, re
duce speed immediately and/or turn off the
air conditioner.
If the coolant temperature warning light in
the instrument cluster starts flashing ., pull
off the road, stop and let the engine
idle for
about two minutes to prevent heat build -up .
A WARNING ~
Anyone not properly restrained in a mov-
ing vehicle is at a much greater risk in an
accident. Never let anyone ride in your car
who is not properly wearing the restraints
prov ided by Audi.
Trailer towing tips
Important to know
Your vehicle handles differently when towing
-
a trailer because of the additional weight and
different weight distr ibution . Safety, perform
ance and economy will great ly depend on how
carefully you load your trailer and operate
your rig .
Before you actua lly tow your tra iler, practice
turning, stopping and backing up in an area away from traffic. Keep practicing until you
have become completely familiar w ith the way.,.
•
•
238 Trailer towing
your vehicle-trai ler combination behaves and
responds.
Backing up is difficult and requires practice.
Backing up with a trailer genera lly requi res
steering action opposite to that when backing
up your vehicle without a trailer .
Maintain a greater distance between your ve
hicle and the one in front of you. You will need
mo re room to stop. To compensate for the
trai ler, you will need a larger than norma l
turning radius.
When passing, remember that you cannot ac
celerate as fast as you normally would be
cause of the added load. Make sure you have
enough room to pass. After passing, allow
plenty of room for your trai ler before chang
ing lanes again.
Avoid jerky starts, sharp turns or rapid lane
changes.
(D Tips
- Do not tow a trailer during the break-in
period of your vehicle.
- If you tow a trailer, you r A ud i may re
quire more frequent maintenance due to
the extra load
~page 319.
Parking on a slope
Do not pork on a slope with a trailer. If it can
not be avoided , do so only ofter doing the fol
lowing:
When parking:
.. Apply the foot brake .
.. Have someone place chocks under both the
vehicle and the trai ler wheels .
.. With chocks in p lace, slowly re lease the
brakes until the whee l chocks absorb the
load .
.. Turn the wheels towards the curb .
.. Apply the parking brake .
.. Move the selector lever to
P.
When restarting after parking:
.. Apply the foot brake .
.. Start the engine. ..
Move the selector lever to
D.
.. Release the parking brake and s low ly pull
out and away from the wheel chocks .
.. Stop and have someone retrieve the wheel
chocks .
(D Tips
If you move the selector lever of the auto
matic transmission to
P before applying
the parking brake and before blocking the
wheels, you may have to use more force later to move the lever out of the
P posi
tion.
260 Checking and filling
Engine compartment
These are the most important items that you can check .
Fig. 229 Typical layout for containers, engine oil di pstick and engin e oil fille r cap
(D W indshield/head light washer
t . (
;R ) con ainer ,.... .............. .
@ Coolant expansion tank (-L) .. .
@ Engin e oi l filler cap ('t".:r.) . .. .. .
©
®
®
(j)
Eng ine oil dipstick (orange) . .. .
Brake fluid reservoir
((0)) ..... .
Power steering reservoir ... .. .
Jump start connector( +) under 273
266
264
263
268
224
a cover,( ·) with hex head screw 271,308
The pos ition of the engine o il fi lling hole and
the engine oil dipstick
r=;, fig. 229 (position ®
and @) can vary according to the type of en
gine .
_&. WARNING
Before you check anything in the engine
compartment, always read and heed all
WARNINGS ¢.&.
in Working in the engine
c omportment on page 258.
-
Engine oil
Engine oil specifications
The engine oil used in your Audi needs the
right kind of oil.
The engine in your Audi is a sophist icated
powerplant that was built to exacting specifi
cations. Th is engine needs the right kind of
engi ne oil that meets specifications regard ing
quality and v iscosity so that it can run
smooth ly and reliab ly. Choosing the right oil
and changing oil within the time and mileage
intervals printed in your vehicle's Warranty
&
Maintenance booklet matters a lot more to
day tha n it did years ago . Audi has developed
a spec ia l quality standard for eng ine oil that
will help assure that your vehicle's engine w ill
get the lubr ication it needs for proper opera
t ion .
Modern engine lubr ication has taken a quan
tum leap in the last few years. Many synthetic "'