2013 AUDI A4 trailer

The accuracy of the orientation lines and blue
surfaces diminis hes if:
- the rear view camera does not prov ide a re li­
able image, for examp le, in poor vis ibility
conditions or if the lens is dirty,
- the image on the screen is not visible due to
sun g lare and reflection .
Caring for th e rear view came ra lens
The rear view camera is located above the rear
license plate b racket . Fo r the pa rking assist to
ope rate, the lens
,=:, fig. 131 must be kept
clean:
- Dampen the lens with a househo ld alcohol­
based glass cleane r, and clean the lens with
a dry cloth
,=:, CD.
- Remove s now with a hand brush and ice
prefe rably with a de-icing spray
,=:, (D .
A WARNING
- T he pa rking aid cannot repla ce the dr iv­
er's attention . The driver a lone is respon­
sible for parking and similar driving ma­
neuvers .
- Always keep your eyes on the vehicle's
su rroundings, using the rear view mirror
as well.
- Do not a llow yourse lf to be d istracted
from traffic by the rear view camera pic­
tures.
- If the position and the installation ang le
of the camera has changed, fo r example,
after a rear end collision, do not continue
to use the system for safety reasons. Have it checked by a qua lified dealership.
(D Note
- Low obstacles already signaled by a
warning can disappear from the system's
detection range as they are approached
and will not continue to be signaled . Ob­
jects such as barrier cha ins, trailer draw
bars, thin pa inted ve rtical po les o r fe n­
ces may not be detected by t he system,
pos ing risk of damage .
- Never use warm or hot water to remove
s n ow or ice from the rear view camera
.
P ark a ssis t 119
lens -dange r of crack format ion on the
lens !
- When cleani ng the lens, never use prod­
ucts that a re ab rasive.
Switching on/off
Applies to vehicles: with parking system (rear, with rear
view camera)
The rear view camera switches on automati­
cally together with the acoustic park assist
when you put the vehicle in reverse.
Switching on
"' Put the veh icle in reverse gear, the acoust ic
parking system with rear view camera is ac ­
tivated automat ica lly. Act ivat ion of the
acoust ic par king system is confirmed by a
brief ac knowledgement sou nd.
Switching off
"' Drive faster than 9 mph (15 km/h) , or
"' take the vehicle out of reverse gear . The
acoust ic park ing system is immediate ly de­
activated, and the rea r view came ra p icture
is deact ivated a utomat ically afte r a pe riod
o f abo ut 1 5 seconds , or
"' switch off the ignition.
T he de lay in deact ivat ing the camera prov ides
an unin terrup ted view beh ind the ve hicle es­
pe cially when mane uver ing in tig ht park ing
spaces and prevents the picture from t urning
off th e ev ery time you shift out of reverse .
If the wa rning mess age ap pears in the dis play
but not the rea r view came ra p icture, read and
confirm the warni ng message . T he acoustic
distance signal is always active .
If you press a fu nction button on the M MI
control console, the rea r view came ra p icture
disappears . The rear view camera picture reap­
pears the next time yo u pa rk.
Fur the r in forma tion on the warning mess age
and the MMI con tro l conso le can be found in
the MMI instruction book let.
Ill-

120 Park ass is t
@ Tips
- The rear view camera picture is avai lable
as soon as the MMI Display or the MMI is
switched on, or the start-up phase is
completed.
- Keep the sensors in the rear bumper and the rear view camera lens clean and free
of snow and ice, so that the parking sys­
tem can work properly . Please follow the
additional notes on
~ page 122.
Reverse Park ing
App lies to vehicles: with parking system (rear, wit h rear
view came ra)
Parking mod e 1 can be used when parking in
a garage or parking space.
F ig. 132 MMI Display : Aim ing at a p arkin g spot
Fig . 133 MMI Disp lay: Ali gning th e vehi cle
"' Switch the MMI on and se lect the reverse
gear.
"' Turn the steering wheel until the orange
orienta tion lines
(D appear in the parking
spot ¢
fig. 132 . Use the mark ings @to help
yo u estimate the distance from an obstacle .
Each marking corresponds to 3
ft (1 m) . T he
blue a rea represents an extension of the ve- hicle's outline by approximate
ly 16
ft (5 m)
to the rear .
"' Wh ile driving in reverse gear, adjust the
steering whee l angle to fit the parking space
w ith the aid of the orange or ientation lines
¢ 0 . @ marks the rear bumper . You should
stop d riving in reve rse as soon as and no lat­
er than when the red orientation line©
abuts an object ¢ _&. !
_& WARNING
-The rear view c amera does not show t he
e ntire area behind t he vehicle
¢ page 118, fig . 130. Watch out espe­
cially for small children and anima ls. The
rear view camera cannot always detect
them, posing risk of an accident!
- Please note that objects not touching the
ground can appear to be further away
than they really a re (for example, the
bumper of a parked vehicle , a trailer
h itch, o r the rear of a truck). In this case,
you shou ld not use the h elp lines to help
wit h pa rking, wh ich poses danger of an
a ccident!
(D Note
- Low obstacles a lready s ignaled by a
wa rning can disappear from th e system's
detec tion range as they are approac hed
and w ill not con tinue to be signaled. Ob­
jec ts such as barr ier chains, tr ailer draw
bars, thin painted vertica l poles or fen ­
ces may not be detecte d by the system,
posing risk of damage.
- In the MMI display, t he direction of trav­
el of the vehicle rear is represented de ­
pending on the steering wheel angle.
The ve hicle fro nt swings out more tha n
the vehicle rear . Maintain plenty of d is­
tance from an obstacle so that your out­ side mirror o r a corner of you r vehicle
does not co llide w it h any obs ta cl es -d an­
ger of ac cident!

Parallel Parking
Applies to vehicles: with parking system (rear, with rear
view ca mera)
Use parking mode 2 to help you pork on the
edge of o street.
F ig. 134 MMI Display : bl ue s urface in the park ing spot
Fig. 135 MMI Display: Blue curve on t he cur b
The following steps apply only when there is
no obstacle (such as a wall) near the parking
spot. Otherwise, please read the "Tips on
Parking Next to Obstacles".
• Activate the turn signal.
• Switch the MM I on and se lect the reverse
gear. The parking aid turns on and parking
mode 1 appears on the display.
• Position your vehicle parallel to the edge of
the street, approximately 3 ft (1 m) from a parked vehicle .
• Press the
Mode ¢ fig. 134 (D control but­
ton on the MMI control console. Parking
mode 2 appears.
• Back up in reverse gear and align your vehi­
cle so that the blue area
@ borders on the
rear end of the vehicle o r on the parking
spot line . The blue area represents an exten­
sion of the vehicle's outline by approximate­ ly 16 ft (5 m) to the rear . The long s ide of
Park assist 121
the blue area shou ld be on the curb. The en­
tire blue area must fit into the parking spot.
• Wh ile the vehicle is stat ionary, turn the
steer ing whee l to the right as far as it wi ll
go.
• Back into the parking spot . Stop the vehicle
as soon as the blue curve touches the curb
¢ fig . 135 .
• Wh ile the vehicle is stationary, turn the
steering wheel to the left as far as it will go.
• Continue to back up into the parking spot
until the vehicle is parked parallel to the
curb .@ marks the rear bumper. You should
stop driving in reverse as soon as and no lat­
er than when the red orientation line@
abuts an object¢_& ! Keep an eye on the
front of your vehicle while doing this
¢ 0 .
Parking next to obstacles
When there is an obstacle (such as a wall)
next to the parking spot, choose a spot with
more space on the sides. Posit ion the long
s ide of the blue area so that there is suff ic ient
space from the curb. The area must not be on
the curb . You will also need to start tu rning
the steering wheel much earlier. There should
be a sufficient amount of space between the
c urb and the blue curve, and the blue curve
¢ fig. 135 must not touch the curb.
&_ WARNING
- The rear view camera does not show the
entire area behind the vehicle
¢ page 118, fig. 130. Watch out espe­
cially for small children and animals. The
rear view camera cannot always detect
them, posing risk of an accident!
- Please note that objects not touching the
ground can appear to be further away
than they really are (for example, the
bumper of a parked vehicle, a trailer
hitch, or the rear of a truck). In this case,
you should not use the help lines to help
with parking, which poses danger of an
accident!
.__ _____________ _J ...

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
Control (ESC)
Description
ESC 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. ESC detects
Intelligent technology 185
certain difficult driving situations, including
when the vehicle is beginning to spin (yaw)
out of control and helps 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
JjJ in the instrument cluster
blinks when ESC is taking action to help you
control the vehicle.
ESC has limitations .
It is important to remem­
ber that ESC 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, ESC 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, ESC 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), ESC 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, ESC cannot always deal as effectively
with difficult driving situations than at lower
speeds. When towing a trailer, ESC is not able
to help you regain control as it would if you
were not tow ing a trailer.
A lways adjust your speed and driving style to
road, traffic and weather conditions. ESC 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, ESC improves the
poss ibility 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 ESC can
provide any assistance, you may not experi­
ence the benefits of ESC.
•
•

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 199
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 s afety chains between your ve hicle
and t he tra ile r.
Trailer lights
Tra ile r lights m ust meet all reg ulations . Be
su re to check w ith your authorized Audi dealer
fo r c orrec t w iri ng, sw itches, 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 insta ll ext ended mir ro rs. It is important
t h at you
always have clea r vis io n to the rear .
.8, WARNING
- If a trai ler has elec trica l br ake s plea se
no te th at t hese bra kes are not activat ed
by the fa ctory -fit ted control unit -risk of
accident!
- After removing the t railer hi tch, do no t
s to re it in yo ur vehicle . In case of sudden
brak ing, the hitch could fly fo rward and
in ju re you or yo ur passenge rs .
Operating instructions
Maximum traile r we ight
-
A trai ler fo r you r vehicle is limited to a typical
class 1 or class 2 tra iler.
Trailer load distribution
B e sure the lo ad in the tra iler is h eld secure ly
i n p lace to p reven t it from shifting fo rward,
backward or sideways.
Never allow a passenger to ride in a trailer
¢ &. in Driving instru ctions on page 200.
Engine cooling system
T owing a t railer ma kes t he engine wor k hard ­
er . It is impo rta nt that the cooling system's
perfo rman ce is up to the additional load.
Make sure tha t the coo ling sys tem h as enough
f lu id . .,..
•
•

200 Trailer towing
Tire pressure
When towing a trai le r, inflate the tir es of your
vehicle to the cold tire pressure listed under
"Full load" on the label located on the driver 's
side B-pillar (visible when the door is open).
Inflate trailer tires to trailer and tire manufac ­
turers' specifications.
Lights
The headlight settings should be checked with
the trailer attached before dr iving off. Check
to make sure both vehicle and tra iler lights
are working properly.
Safety chains
Be sure trailer safe ty cha ins are properly con­
nected from the trailer to the hitch on the ve­
hicle. Leave eno ugh slack in the chains to per ­
mit turning corners. When you install safety
cha ins, make sure they w ill not drag on the
road when you are driving.
The chains shou ld cross under the trai ler
tongue to prevent it from dropping in case of
separation from the hitch.
Driving instructions
Driving with a trailer always requires extra
care and consideration.
To obtain the best possible handling of vehicle
and trai ler, p lease note the following:
.,. Do not tow a loaded trailer when your car it ­
self is not loaded .
.,. Be especia lly careful when passing other
vehicles .
.,. 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 avo ided, drive at very
low speeds only to avoid the risk of losing
steering control. A "ba
lanced'' rig is easier to operate and con­
trol. This means that the tow vehicle should be loaded to the extent possible and permissi­
ble, while keep ing the trailer as light as possi­
ble under the c ircumstances. Whenever poss i­
ble, transfer some cargo to the luggage com ­
partment of the tow veh icle while obse rving
tongue load requ irements and vehicle load ing
considerations.
Speed
The higher the speed, the more d iff icu lt it be­
comes for the driver to control the rig. Do not
drive at the maximum permissible speed. Re­
duce your speed even more if load, weather or
wind conditions are unfavorable -pa rticularly
whe n 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 areas, speeds
for vehicles tow ing trailers are lower than for
regular vehicles .
Always apply brakes early. When driving
downh ill, shift into a lower gear to use the en ­
gine braking effect to slow the vehicle . Use of
the brakes alone can cause them to overheat
and fail.
Coolant temperature
The coolant temperature gauge c> page 10
must be observed carefully . If the needle
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 in strument cluster starts flashing, pull
off the road, stop and let the engine
idle for
abo ut two minutes to prevent heat build-up .
_& WARNING
Anyone not properly restrained in a mov­
in g vehicle is at a much greater risk in an
accident. Never let anyone ride in your car
who is not p roperly wea ring the restraints
provided by Audi.
-

Trailer towing tips
Important to know
Your vehicle hand les different ly when tow ing
a trailer because o f the addit ional weight and
d iffe ren t weight distribution . Safety, pe rform ­
ance and economy w ill greatly depend on how
caref ully you load your trailer and operate
your rig.
B efore you actua lly tow your trailer, pr actice
turning, stopp ing and bac king up in an area
away from traffic. Keep practicing until you have become comp lete ly fam iliar with the way
your veh icle-trailer comb ination behaves and
responds.
Backing up is d ifficu lt a nd requires practice .
Backing up with a tra iler genera lly requires
steer ing action opposite to that when backing
up your vehicle without a trailer.
M aintain a g reater distance betwee n your ve­
h icle and the one in front o f you . You will need
mo re room to stop. To compensate for the
trailer, you will need a larger than normal
turning radius .
W hen pass ing, remember that yo u cannot ac ­
celerate as fast as yo u normally wo uld be­
cause of the added load. Ma ke s ure you have
e nough room to pass . After passing , allow
p lenty o f room fo r your tra iler before chang­
in g la nes aga in .
Avoid jerky starts, sharp turns or rap id lane
changes.
(D Tips
- Do not tow a tra iler during the break-in
period of you r vehicle.
- If you tow a trailer, your A udi may re­
quire more frequent maintenance due to
the extra load
o page 280.
Trailer towin g 201
Parking on a slope
Do not park on a slope with a trailer . If it can­
not be avoided, do so only after doing the fol­ lowing:
When parking:
.. App ly the foot brake.
.. Have someone p lace chocks under both the
veh icle and the tra iler wheels .
.,. With chocks in place, slowly release t he
bra kes unt il t he whee l choc ks absorb the
load .
.. Tur n the whee ls towa rds t he curb .
.,. App ly the parking brake.
.. Place an a utomat ic t ransm ission* in P, re ­
spectively a manual transmission in first or
reverse gear.
When restarting after parking:
.. App ly the foot br ake .
.. Sta rt t he engine.
.. Move the se lector lever to D/S, respectively
a man ual transmiss ion in first gear .
.. Release the parking brake and s low ly pull
out and away from the wheel chocks .
.. Stop and have someone retr ieve the wheel
chocks.
@ Tips
If you move the selector leve r of the auto­
matic transmissio n* to P before applying
the pa rking brake and befor e bloc king the
whee ls, you may hav e to use mor e forc e
la ter to m ove the lever out of the P p osi­
tion.
•
•

240 Tires and wheels Model Tire designation Tire pressure
Engine normal load condition full load condition
(up to 3 occupants )
front rear front rear
I
PSI II kPA PSI II kPA PSI II kPA PSI II kPA :
S4 Sedan : 245 /40 Rl8 93H
3 .0 liter All Season
36 250 32 220 41 280 41
280
6-cylinder
24S/40 Rl8 93V
I High Performance
39 270 35 240 41 280 41 280
255/35 Rl9 96V XL
High Performance
39 270 33 230 41 280 41 280
XL= reinforced or extra load tire. It may also appear as xl
, EXTRA LOAD, or RF on the tire side­
wall.
The correct tire pressure for the spare wheel i s
l o cated on a label on the dr ive r's side B-p illa r.
Because tec hnical cha nges may be made to
ve hicle equ ipment dur ing the model yea r, a l­
ways compa re the tire siz e designation on the
tire pressure labe l o n you r vehi cle w it h the
tires on your vehicle. M ake s ure that the t ire
size info rmation on the veh icle label is the
same as the size of the t ire s on the vehicle.
This is especially important if the vehicle be ­
l ongs to someone else or you bought the veh i­
cle with different rims/tires or you boug ht the
ve hicle as a p reviously owned vehicle.
Remembe r, your safety and that of your pas ­
sengers also depends on mak ing s ure that
load limits are not exceeded. Vehicle load in­
cludes everybody and everything in and on t he
ve hicle . These load lim its are technically refer ­
red to as th e vehicle's G ross Vehicle We ight
Rati ng ("GVWR"). The G ross Ax le Weight Rat­
i ng ( "GA WR ") is the ma ximum load tha t can
be applied at each o f the veh icle 's two axles.
T he G ross Vehicle We ig ht Rating and the
Gross Axle Weight Rating a re listed on the
safety compliance st ic k er labe l located on the
driver's side B-p illar. The tire pressure label on
your Aud i lists the maximum combined
A WARNING
Overloadin g a vehicle can cause loss of ve­
h icle cont ro l, a c rash or other accident, se­
rious pe rsonal injury, and even death.
- Ca rrying more we ight tha n your veh icle
was des igned to carry will prevent the
veh icle from handling properly and in­
crease the risk of a loss of vehicle con ­
trol.
- The brakes on a vehicle that has been
overloaded may not be able to stop the
veh icle w ith in a safe distanc e.
- Tires on a vehicle that has been overload­
ed can fail s uddenly ca us ing loss of con­
trol and a crash.
- Always make sure that the total load be­
i n g transported - including the weight of
a trailer hitch and t he tongue we igh t of a
loaded tr ail er -does not ma ke t he ve hi­
cle he avier th an the vehicle' s Gro ss V ehi­
cle Weigh t Ra tin g.
.&_ WARNING
- In cor rect tire pressure s and /or u nderin­
fl ation can lead to a serio us or fatal acci ­
dent .
- I nco rrec t tire pressures an d/or un derin­
fla tion ca use increased ti re wear an d can
'
I
weight of all of the occupants and luggage or
other cargo tha t the vehicl e can carry . For the
l ocat io n of the ti re pressu re labe l~
fig . 191 .
affect the handling of the vehicle. ..,_