2013 AUDI A4 SEDAN four wheel drive

Starting and autom ati call y relea sing the
pa rking b rake
~ When you start to drive as usua l, the park­
ing brake is automatically re leased and your
vehicle begins to move.
When stopping at a traffic signa l or stopp ing
in city traffic on vehicles with an automatic
transmission, the parking brake can be ap­ plied. The vehicle does not have to be held
w ith the footbrake . The park ing brake elimi­
nates the tendency to creep with a drive range
engaged. As soon as you dr ive off as usual,
the park ing brake is released automatically
and the vehicle starts to move .
Starting on slop es
When starting on inclines, the start ing ass ist
prevents the vehicle from unintentionally roll­
ing back. The braking force of the parking
brake is not released until sufficient dr iving
force has been b uilt up at the whee ls.
(D Tips
For safety reasons, the park ing brake is re­
leased automatically only when the dr iv­
er 's safety belt is engaged in the bu ckle.
Starting off with a trailer
To prevent rolling back unintentionally on an
incline, do the following:
~ Keep the switch@¢ page 77, fig. 77
pulled and depress the accelerator . The
park ing b rake stays app lied and p revents
the vehi cle from rolling backward.
~ You can release the switch @once you are
s u re that yo u are developing enough driving
force at the wheels by depressing the accel­ erator.
D epending on the weight of the rig (vehicle
and trai ler) and the severity of the incline, you
may roll backwards as you start. Yo u can pre­
vent roll ing backwards by holding the parking
brake switch @pulled out and accelerating -
just as you would when starting on a hill wit h
a conventional hand brake .
On the ro ad 79
Emergency braking
In the event that the conventional brake sys­
tem fails or locks .
~ In an emergency, pull the sw itch @
¢
page 77, fig. 77 and continue to pull it to
slow your vehicle down with the parking
brake .
~ As soon as you release the switch @ or ac-
celerate, the b ra ki ng process s tops.
If you pull the switch @and hold it above a
speed of about 5 mph (8 km/h), the eme rgen­
cy bra king funct ion is initia ted . T he ve hicle is
braked at all four whee ls by activating the hy­
draulic brake system. The brake performa nce
is similar to making an emergency stop¢&..
In order not to act ivate the eme rgency brak­
ing by mis take, an audib le warning tone (buz ­
zer) so unds when the switch @is pulled. As
soon as the switch @ is re leased, or the acce l­
erato r peda l is depressed, emergency braking
stops.
A WARNING
...--
Emergency braking should only be used in
an emergency, when the normal foot brake has fa iled or the brake pedal is obstructed .
Using the par king b rake to pe rform eme r­
gency brak ing will slow your vehicle down
as if you had made a full bra ke application.
The laws of physics cannot be suspended
even with ESC and its associated compo ­
nents (ABS, ASR, EDS) . In corners and
when road or weather conditions are bad,
a full brake application can ca use the vehi­
cle to sk id or the rear end to break away -
risking an accident.
Speed warning system
Overview
The speed warning system helps you to keep
your driving speed below a set speed limit.
The speed warn ing system warns if the driver
exceeds a p reviously sto red max imum speed .
A warn ing tone w ill sound as soon as the
Ill>

186 Intelligent technology
-Always accelerate with special care on
even, smooth surfaces such as those that
are wet or covered with ice and snow.
The drive wheels can spin even with
these assistance systems that cannot al­
ways help to reduce the risk of loss of ve­ hicle control.
(i_) Tips
- ABS and ASR only work correctly when
all four wheels are equipped with identi­
cal tires . Different tire sizes can lead to a
reduction in engine power.
- You may hear noises when the systems
described are working .
- If the indicator light
I] or l;S (USA
models);tl] (Canada models) appears,
there may be a malfunction ¢
page 19,
¢page 19.
Switching on /off
ESC turns on automatically when you start
the engine .
Fig. 159 Vers ion A: low er ce nter c onsol e, 1', OFF but­
to n
.... .. [ I _j nw· 1-_, .. _ , 1 -- - .-=---1
I;· . i-a~ -~ ~-,' I ' .;- c;.il..-~ -~ 1,1
~' . -' ' 1 ' ...... ~ ... ~- ;. '"~ l __,
Fig. 160 Versio n B: upper ce nter console,!'> OFF but­
to n
Turning off ASR
In some situations, it may be useful to switch
ASR
off to allow the wheels to spin. For exam­
ple:
- Rocking the vehicle to free it when it is stuck
- Driving in deep snow or on loose ground
- Driving with snow chains
Qu ickly press the
i.i, OFF I button ¢ fig. 159
and¢ fig. 160. The fi indicator light turns on
and the message
Traction control (ASR): Off.
Warning! Restricted stability
appears in the
display .
It is only possible to turn off the ASR up to
30 mph (SO km/h) for vehicles with front
wheel drive . At about 45 mph (70 km/h) it au ­
tomatically turns on again .
It is possible to
turn
off the ASR at any speed for vehicles with
all wheel drive.
Turning off ESC
Press and hold the I B OFFI button for three
seconds . The
Ii ESC indicator light turns on
and the message
Stabilization control (ESC):
off. Warning! Restricted stability
appears in
the display. ASR is also switched
off when ESC
is switched off.
Switching on
Press the 1 .$ OFFI button again. The 11 indica­
tor light turns on and the message
Stabiliza­
tion control (ESC): On
appears in the display .
_&. WARNING
- Drive wheels can spin and you can lose
control of the vehicle more easily when
ASR and ESC are switched off, especially
when the road is slippery .
- Switch ASR/ESC
off only when your driv­
ing skills, traffic and weather conditions
permit.
(D Tips
You cannot switch ASR and ESC
off when
adaptive cruise control* is working.
-

steering wheel wi ll be easy to move . Re­
initialization might be necessary if the steer ­
ing wheel was moved hard to the left and
right while the vehicle was not moving. The
d isplay goes out as soon as in itializat ion is
comp lete .
A WARNING
Have the dynamic steering* system mal­
function repaired as soon as poss ible by an
authori zed A udi dealer or any qualified
workshop -risk of accident!
@ Tips
- If the . or 1;r,ij indicator light only stays
on for a short t ime, you may continue
driving.
- The dynamic steering * stability systems
are not available in t he event of a system
malfunction.
- Fo r additional informat ion on dynamic
stee ring*, re fer to
c::> page 111.
Driving with your
quattro ®
Applies to vehicles: with all-wheel drive
With oil-wheel drive, oil four wheels ore driv­
en.
General information
W ith all -whee l dr ive, power is dis tributed to
a ll fo ur wheels. This happens automatica lly
depending on yo ur driving sty le and the road
conditions at the time. See also
c::> page 184 .
A center different ial d is tributes the dr iv ing
power var iably to the front and rear axle. It
wo rks together with se lective whee l to rque
contro l, which activates when driving throug h
curves
c::> page 185. With the sport d ifferen­
tial*, power distribution to the rear w heels is
variable and can be adjusted with Audi drive se lect
c::> page 111 .
The all-wheel drive concept is designed for
hi gh engine power. Your vehicle is exception­
ally powerful and has exce llent dr iving charac ­
ter ist ics both under normal d riving conditions
Int ellig ent technolog y 189
and on snow and ice . Always read and follow
safety precautions
c::> & .
Winter tires
When dr iving in t he winter, yo ur vehicle wi th
a ll -wheel drive h as an adv ant age, even w it h
regular tires. In wi nter road conditions it may
be advisable to mount winter tires (or all -sea ­
son tires) for improved driveability and brak­
ing : these tires must be mounted on
all fou r
wheels .
See also c::> page 245, Winter tires.
Tire chains
Where tire chains a re mandatory on certain
roads, this no rma lly also app lies to veh icles
with all-wheel drive
c::> page 246 , Snow
chains .
Replacing wheels /tires
Vehicles wi th a ll-wheel drive must alw ays
have tires of the same s ize. A lso avoid tires
with different tread depths . For detai ls see
page
c::> page 241, New tires and replacing
tires and wheels.
Off-Road driving?
Your A udi does no t have enough g ro und cle ar­
ance to be used as an off -road vehi cle. It is
therefore best to avoi d rough tracks and un­
even te rrain as much as possib le . Also refer to
c::> page 192.
A WARNING
A lways ad just yo ur dr iv ing to road and traf­
fic conditions. Do not let the extra safety
afforded by all-wheel drive tempt you into
taking extra risks .
-Al tho ugh t he all-wheel driv e is ve ry ef­
fective, always remember that braking
capacity is lim ited by tire t raction. You
should t herefore not d rive a t excessive
speeds on i cy or slippery ro ad s urfa ces.
- On wet road surfa ces, be careful not to
d rive too fast bec ause the fron t whee ls
co uld begin to slide on top of the water
(aquaplani ng) . If th is should occur, yo u •
•

Tires and wheels 233
Tread
means that portion of a tire that comes into
contact with the road.
Tread separation
means pull ing away of the tread from the tire
carcass .
Treadwear indicators (TWI)
means the projections within the principal
grooves designed to give a visual indication of
the degrees of wear of the tread. See
c:> page 240, Tread Wear Indicator (TWI) for
more informat ion on measuring tir e wear.
Uniform Tire Quality Grading
is a tire information system developed by the
United States National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration (NHTSA) that is designed to help buyers make relative comparisons among
tires. The UTQG is not a safety rating and not a
guaran tee that a tire will last for a prescribed
number of miles (kilometers) or perform in a
certain way.
It simply gives tire buyers addi ­
tional information to combine with other con ­
siderat ions, such as pr ice, brand loya lty and
dealer recommendations. Under UTQG, tires
are graded by the tire manufacturers in three
areas: treadwear, traction, and temperature
res istance . The UTQG information on the tires,
mo lded into the sid ewa lls.
U.S . DOT Tire Identification Number (TIN)
This is the t ire's "serial number". It begins
with the letters "DOT" and indicates that the tire
meets all federal standards. The next two
numbers or letters indicate the plant where it
was man ufactured, and the last four numbers
represent the week and year of man ufacture.
For example,
DOT . .. 2212 ...
means tha t the tire was produced in the 22nd
week of 2012. The other numbers are market­
ing codes that may or may not be used by the
tire manufacturer . This information is used to
contact consumers if a tire defect requires a
recall.
Vehicle capacity weight
means the rated cargo and luggage load plus
150 lbs. (68 k ilograms) times the vehicle's to­
ta l seating capacity as listed on the label lo­
cated on the driver's side B-pillar.
Vehicle maximum load on the tire
means that load on an individu al tire that is
determined by distributing to each axle its
share of the maximum loaded vehicle weight
and dividing by two.
Vehicle normal load on the tire
means that loa d on an individua l tire that is
determined by distributing to each axle its
share of the curb weight, accessory weight,
and normal occupant weight (distributed in
accordance with tab le be low
c:> page 233)
and dividing by two.
Occupant loading and distribution for vehicle normal load for various designated seating
capacities
Designated seating capacity,
number of occupants
5
Vehicle normal load, number Occupant distribution in a nor-
of occupants _____ mally loaded vehicle
3 2 in front, 1 in back seat
•
•

240 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. 176 Tire tread: tre ad wea r ind icators (TWI)
_____ __,.J)
F ig. 1 77 Rotat ing t ires for more ev en wea r
Tread Wear Indicator (TWI)
The o rigi na l t ires on your veh icle have
1/16 inch (1.6 mm) high "wear indicators"
c::> fig . 176 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 236.
Driving style
Driving fast aro und curves, heavy acce leration
and hard braking increase tire wear.
Rotating tires for more even wear
F or all four tires on your ve hicl e to h ave the
same service life, we recommen d that t he
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
Ma intenance and Warranty Book let .
- The longer one tire is used in one location
on the vehicle, the more it wears at certain
points; therefore, we recommend that you
follow the tire manufact urer's suggested
tire rotation intervals .
- Vehi cles w ith front-wheel dr ive experience
more tread wear on the fro nt w heels com­
pa red to all wheel d rive (quattro ®).
- Please rotate tires as shown
c::> fig. 177.
-Extra care must be taken when rotating di-
rection-specific tires
c::> page 2 5 7 .
Wheel balancing
The wheels on new ve hicles are balanced .
However, various situations during everyday
driving can cause them to become unba l­
anced, re sulting in vibrat ions you can usually
feel through 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, impairing the safety of the veh i­
cle . If tires show excessive wear, have the
whee l alignment checked by an aut hori zed
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 189. ..,.

244 Tires and wheels
-All four wheels must be fitted with radial
tires of the same type, size (rolling cir­
cumference) and the same tread pattern.
Driving with different tires reduces vehi­
cle handling and can lead to a loss of
control.
- If the spare tire is not the same as the
tires that are mounted on the vehicle -
for example with winter tires - only use
the spare tire for a short period of time
and drive with extra care. Refit the nor­
mal road wheel as soon as safely possi­
ble.
- Never drive faster than the maximum
speed for which the tires on your vehicle
are rated because tires that are driven
faster than their rated speed can fail
suddenly.
- Overloading tires cause heat build-up,
sudden tire failure, including a blowout
and sudden deflation and loss of control.
- Temperature grades apply to tires that
are properly inflated and not over or un­
derinflated.
- For technical reasons it is not always
possible to use wheels from other
vehicles -in some cases not even wheels
from the same vehicle model.
- If you install wheel trim discs on the ve­
hicle wheels, make sure that the air flow
to the brakes is not blocked. Reduced air­
flow to the brakes can them to overheat,
increasing stopping distances and caus­
ing a collision.
- Run flat tires may only be used on
vehicles that were equipped with them
at the factory. The vehicle must have a
chassis designed for run flat tires and a
factory-installed tire pressure monitor­ ing system* that indicates a loss of tire
pressure. Incorrect use of run flat tires
can lead to vehicle damage or accidents.
Check with an authorized Audi dealer or
tire specialist to see if your vehicle can be
equipped with run flat tires .
If run flat
tires are used, they must be installed on
all four wheels. Mixing tire types is not
permitted.
(D Note
- For technical reasons, it is not generally
possible to use the wheel rims from oth­
er vehicles. This can hold true for wheels
of the same vehicle type.
- If the spare tire is different from the tires that you have mounted on your ve­
hicle (for example winter tires or wide
profile tires), then use the spare tire for a
short period of time only and drive with
extra care. Replace the flat tire with the
tire matching the others on your vehicle
as soon as possible.
- Never drive without the valve stem cap.
The valves could get damaged.
@ For the sake of the environment
Dispose of old tires in accordance with the
local requirements.
Uniform tire quality grading
- Tread wear
- Traction AA A B (
- Temperature ABC
Quality grades can be found where applicable
on the tire side wall between tread shoulder
and maximum section width
c> page 241,
fig. 178 .
For example: Tread wear 200, Traction AA,
Temperature A.
All passenger car tires must conform to Feder­
al Safety Requirements in addition to these
grades .
Tread wear
The tread wear grade is a comparative rating
based on the wear rate of the tire when tested
under controlled conditions on a specified
government test course.
For example, a tire graded 150 would wear
one and one half (11/2) times as well on the
government course as a tire graded 100. ..,_

The relative perform a nee of ti res depends
upon the actua l conditions of their use, how ­
ever, and may depart sign ificantly from the
norm due to var iat ions in dr iving habits, serv­
ice practices and differences in road character­
istics and climate .
Trac tion
The traction grades, from highest to lowest,
are AA, A, Band
C. Those grades represent the
tire's ability to stop on wet pavement as measured under controlled cond itions on
specified government test surfaces of asphalt
and concrete . A tire marked C may have poor
traction performance ¢,&. .
Temp erature
The temperature grades are A (the h ighest),
B, and
C, representing the t ire's resistance to
the generat ion of heat and its ability to dissi ­
pate heat when tested under controlled condi­
tions on a specified i ndoor laboratory test
wheel.
Sustained high temperature can cause the
materia l of the tire to degenerate and reduce
tire life, and excessive temperature can lead
to sudden ti re fa ilu re ¢ ,&. .
The grade
C corresponds to a level of perform ­
ance which all passenger car tires must meet
u nder the Federa l Moto r Veh icle Safety Stand­
a rd No.
1 09. G rades Band A represent h igher
l eve ls of perfo rmance on the laboratory tes t
wheel than the m inimum required by law .
A WARNING
The traction grade assigned to this ti re is
based on stra ight-ahead b raking t raction
tests, and does not include acceleration,
cornering, hydrop lan ing or peak traction
character istics.
A WARNING
The temperature grade for this t ire is es­
tablished for a t ire that is p roperly inflated
and not overloaded. Excessive speed, un­
derinflation, or excessive loading, either
-
Tire s an d wheel s 245
separately or in combinat ion, can ca use
heat bui ldup and possible tire failure.
Winter tires
Winter tires can improve vehicle handling on
snow and ice. At temperatures below 45 °F (7 °C) we recommend changing to winter
tires.
In some heavy snow areas, local governments
may require true winter o r "snow" tires, those
with very deeply cut tread. These tires should
o nly be used in pairs and be installed o n all
four wheels . Make sure you purchase snow
t ires that are the same size and construction
type as the other tires on you r vehicle.
Your vehicle is equipped with all wheel drive,
th is w ill improve traction during winter driv­
i ng, even with the standa rd tires . However, we
strong ly recommend that you always equip all
fo ur wheels on you r vehicle wit h corre ct ly fit­
ted winter tires or all-season t ires, when win­
te r road cond itions are expected . This also im ­
proves the veh icle's braking per formance and
reduces stopping dista nces.
Summe r tires provide less grip on i ce and
snow.
Winter tires (snow tires) must always be fitted
o n all fo ur wheels .
Ask your authorized Audi dealer or qualified
workshop for permitted
winter tire size s. Use
o nly rad ial w inter t ires.
Winter tires lose their effectiveness when the
tread is worn down to a depth of
0 .157 inch
(4 mm) .
Only drive w ith w inter t ires under w inter con­
dit ions. Summer t ires handle better when
there is no snow or ice on the roads and the
temperature is above 45 °F (7 °() .
If you have a flat tire, see notes on spare
whee l
¢page 241.
Please a lways remember that winter tires may
have a lowe r speed rating than the tires o rigi -
nally installed on your vehicle at the time it .,.
•
•

250 Tires and wheels
the tire to overheat and can lead to tire
failure. Under-inflation also is likely to
impair the vehicle's handling and stop­
ping ability .
- The driver is responsible for maintaining
the correct tire pressures. You must
check the tire pressures regularly .
- Under certain conditions (such as a spor­
ty driving style, winter conditions or un­ paved roads), the pressure monitor indi ­
cator may be delayed .
-Ask your authorized Audi dealer if run­ flat tires may be used on your vehicle.
Your vehicle registration becomes invalid
if you use these tires when not permit­
ted. Damage to your vehicle or accidents
could also result.
@ Tips
- The tire pressure monitoring system
stops working when there is an ESC/ABS
malfunction.
- Using snow chains may result in a system
malfunction.
- The tire pressure monitoring system on
your Audi was developed using tires with the "AO" or "RO" identification on the
tire sidewall ¢
page 241. We recom­
mend using these tires.
Reset tire pressure monitoring system
Applies to vehicles: with tire pressure monitoring system
If the tire pressure is adjusted, wheels are ro­
tated or changed, the TPMS must be reset via
radio or MMI*.
11> Before resetting the TPMS, the current pres­
sures of all four tires must correspond to
the specified values. Adjust the tire pressure and reset the pressure in the tire pressure
monitoring system according to the load
you are carrying
¢ page 234.
11> Turn on the ignition.
11> Select : the ICARI function button > Tire
pressure monitoring > Store now .
Or
i,. Select: the ICARI function button > Car sys·
terns
control button > Servicing & checks> Tire pressure monitoring
> Store tire pres­
sures.
@ Tips
Do not store the tire pressure if there are
snow chains on the tire.