2013 AUDI A5 CABRIOLET Owners Manual

N -Neutral
The transmission is in neutra l in this position .
Shift to this posit ion for standing with the
brakes applied
~ &. in Driving the automatic
transmission on page 89.
When the veh icle is stationary or at speeds
below 1 mph (2 km/h) , you must always apply
the footbrake before and while moving the lever out of N.
DIS -Normal position for driving forward
In the D/S position, the transmission can be
operated e ither in the normal mode Dor in
the sport mode S . To select the sport mode S,
pu ll the se lector lever back briefly. Pulling the
lever back again will select the normal mode
D. The instrument cluster display shows the
selected driving mode .
In the
normal mode D, the transmission auto­
matica lly selects the suitable gear ratio. It de­
pends on engine load, vehicle speed and driv­
ing style .
Select the
sport mode S for sporty driving .
The vehicle makes full use of the engine's
power . Shifting may become noticeable when
accelerating.
When the vehicle is stationary or at speeds be low 1 mph (2 km/h), you must always apply
the foot brake before and while moving the lever to D/S out of N .
A WARNING
Read and follow all WARNINGS 9 &. in
Driving the automatic transmission on
page 89.
(D Note
Coasting downhill with the transmission in
N and the engine not running will result in
damage to the automatic transmission
and possibly the catalytic converter .
(D Tips
-On vehicles with drive select*, you can
adjust the sporty shift characteristics in
the
Dynamic driving mode .Swill appear
Transmission 87
in the instrument cluster display instead
ofD.
- If you accidentally select N whi le driving,
take your foot
off the accelerator pedal
immediately and wait for the engine to
slow down to idle before selecting D/S.
- If there is a power failure, the selector
lever will not move out of the P position .
The emergency release can be used if
this happens
9 page 92.
Automatic Shift Lock (ASL)
Applies to vehicles: with multitro nic/S tronic/t iptronic
The Automatic Shift Lock safeguards you
against accidentally shifting into a forward or the reverse gear and causing the vehicle to
move unintentionally.
Fig. 97 Shift gate: selecto r lever lock posit ions and re­
lease b utto n highlighted
The selector lever lock is released as follows:
.,. Turn the ignition on.
.,. Step on the brake pedal.
At the same time
press and hold the re lease button on the
side of the gear selector knob
9 fig . 97 with
your thumb until you have moved the selec­
tor lever to the desired position .
Automatic selector lever lock
The selector lever is locked in the P and N po­
sitions when the ignition is turned on. You
must press the brake pedal and the release
button to select another position . As a re­
minder to the driver, the following warning
appears in the instrument cluster display
when the selector is in P and N:
When stationary apply brake pedal while se-
lecting gear .,,_

88 Transmi ssion
The Automatic Shift Lock only functions when
the vehicle is stationary or at speeds below
1 mph (2 km/h).
A t speeds above about 1 mph (2 km/h) the
Automatic Shift Lock is automatically deacti ­
vated in the N position .
A time delay element prevents the se lector
l ever from locking when it is moved through
the N position (going from R to D/S). The lock­
ing e lement will lock the selector lever if the
l ever is left in N (Neutral) for more than ap­
prox imately 2 seconds, w ithout the brake ped­
a l being pressed.
Relea se button
The release button on the selector lever pre ­
vents the lever from being accidenta lly shifted
into certain positions. Depending on the direc­
tion of the shift, the selector lever locks at d if­
ferent positions. The positions are h ighlighted
i n the illustration
c> fig. 97.
Ignition key safety int erlock
The key cannot be removed from the ignition
un less the se lector lever is in the P park posi­
tion. When the ign ition key is removed, the
selector lever will be locked in the P pos ition.
Driving the automatic transmission
App lies to vehicles: with m ultitron ic/S tronic/t iptronic
Fig. 98 Shift gate on the center conso le: selector lever
with release button
Starting the engine
,. The selector lever must be in P or N.
St arting off
,. Press and ho ld the brake pedal. ,.
Press and hold the re lease button in these ­
lector lever hand le, select the desired selec ­
tor lever posit ion such as D/S and release
the button.
,. Wait briefly unt il the transmission has shift­
ed (you w ill fee l a slight movement).
,. Remove your foot from the brake pedal and
accelerate .
Stopping temporarily
,. Keep the veh icle stationary using the brak­
ing pedal, for example at traffic lights.
,. Do not press the accelerator peda l when do­
ing this .
,. To prevent the veh icle from rolling when
you sta rt d riving, se t the park ing brake
when stopp ing on s teep inclines
c> ,&. .
,. The parking bra ke will release a utomat ica lly
and the vehicle will start moving once you press the acce lerator pedal.
Stopping /parking
If the selector lever is not in the P position
whe n you open t he d river's door, t he veh icle
cou ld roll . The message
Transmis sion: Car
may roll! Shift to park !
appears.
,. Press and hold the bra ke peda l un til the ve ­
h icle has come to a comp lete stop.
,. App ly the parking brake
c> page 81, Park -
ing.
,. Select the P se lector lever position c> ,&. .
Stopping on an incline
,. Always press the brake pedal to ho ld the ve­
hicle in place and p reven t it from "ro lling
back"
c> ,&. . Do not try to p revent the veh i­
cle from "rolling back" when a gear is en­
gaged by increasing t he engine speed
c> (D .
Starting on an incline
,. Ac tiva te the park ing brake.
,. With the driving gear selected, press the ac ­
celerator peda l carefully. The parking bra ke
will release automatically if your seat belt is
fastened.
U nder certa in circ umstances, such as driving
in the mo unta ins, it may be usef ul to sw itch ..,.

temporarily to the manual shift program in or­
der to adjust the gears to the driving condi­
tions by hand
¢ page 90.
On slopes, activate the parking brake first and
then move the selector lever to the P position.
This prevents too much stress from being placed on the locking mechanism.
Vehicles with multitronic transmission : Your
vehicle is equipped with
hill hold assist allow­
ing you to start while on an incline. The sys­
tem is activated when the brake pedal is
pressed down and held
for a few seconds. The
brake p ressure will hold for a moment after
the brake pedal loosens to prevent the vehicle
from rolling backwards while starting up.
A WARNING
-The vehicle can also roll when the engine
is stopped.
- Unintended vehicle movement can cause
serious injury.
- Never leave your vehicle with the engine
running while in gear. If you must leave
your vehicle when the engine is running,
activate the parking brake and move the
selector lever to P.
- Power is still transmitted to the wheels
when the engine is running at idle. To
prevent the vehicle from "creeping", you
must keep your foot on the brake when
the engine is running and the selector
lever is in D/S or R or "tiptronic" mode is
selected.
- Do not press the accelerator pedal when
changing the selector lever position
while the vehicle is stationary and the
engine is running .
- Never shift into R or P while driving.
- Before driving down a steep slope, re-
duce your speed and shift into a lower
gear with "tiptronic".
- Do not ride the brakes or press the brake
pedal too often or too long when driving
down a hill. Constant braking causes the
brakes to overheat and substantially re ­
duces braking performance, increases
Transmission 89
braking distance or causes complete fail­
ure of the brake system.
- To prevent the vehicle from rolling back
when stopping on inclines, always hold it
in place with the brake pedal or parking
brake.
- Never hold the vehicle on an incline with a slipping clutch. The clutch opens auto­
matically when it becomes too hot from
the overload . An indicator lamo
[O] illu­
minates and a driver message appears
¢ page 92 when the clutch is overload­
ed.
- If the engine must remain running, never
have any driving position engaged when
checking under the hood . Make sure the
selector lever has securely engaged and
is locked in P with the parking brake set
¢ page 205, Engine compartment. Oth­
erwise, any increase in engine speed may
set the vehicle in motion, even with the parking brake applied.
(D Note
- S tronic ®- and tiptronic transmission:
When stopping on an incline, do not try
to hold the vehicle in place by pressing
the accelerator pedal while a driving gear
is selected. This can cause the transmis ­
sion to overheat and can damage it. Acti­
vate the parking brake or press the brake
pedal to prevent the vehicle from rolling .
- S tronic ®- and tiptronic transmission: Al­
lowing the vehicle to roll when the en­
gine is stopped and the selector lever is
in N will damage the transmission be­
cause it is not lubricated under those cir­
cumstances.
(D Tips
For safety reasons, the parking brake is re­
leased automatically only when the driv­
er's safety belt is engaged in the buckle.

90 Transmi ssion
Hill descent control
App lies to vehicles: with multitronic/5 tronic/t iptronic
The hill descent control system assists th e
driver when driving down declines .
Hill descent control is activated when these­
lector lever is in D/S and you press the brake
pedal. The transmission automatically selects
a gea r that is su itab le for the incl ine. Hill de­
scent control tries to maintain the spe ed ach­
i eved at the t ime of bra king , wi thin physical
a nd techn ica l limita tions. It m ay st il l be nec­
essary to adjust the speed with the brakes .
Hill descent control switches off once the de­
cline levels out or you press the accelerator pedal.
On vehicles w ith the cruise control system*
c::> page 84, hill descent contro l is also act ivat­
ed when the speed is set.
.&, WARNING
H ill descen t control cannot overcome
physical limita tions, so it may not be able
to maintain a constant speed under all
conditions . Always be ready to app ly the
brakes.
Manual shift program
App lies to vehicles: with multitronic/S tronic/tiptron ic
Using the manual shift program you can
manually select gears.
F ig . 99 Ce nte r console: sh ifting t he gea rs man ually
Fig. 10 0 Stee ring w hee l: S hift b uttons*
Gear select ion with selector lever
N
--N
"' gi
The tiptronic mode can be selected ei ther with
the veh icle s tat io nary or on the move .
• Push the se lector lever to the right from D/
S. An M appears in the instrument cluster
display as soon as the transm ission has
shifted .
• To upshift, push t he se lector lever forwa rd
to the plus position
0 c::> fig. 99.
• To downshift, push the lever to the mi nus
posi tion
0 .
Gear selection with paddle levers*
The shift buttons are activated when these ­
lector lever is in D/S o r the tiptronic manua l
shift program .
• To upshift, touch the button on the r ight
0
c::> fig. 100 .
• To downshift, to uch the but ton on the left
0 .
• If you do not press a sh ift b utton wi thin a
sh ort time w hile in t he D/S posit ion, the
t ransmiss ion w ill retur n to automatic mode .
To kee p shifting using the shift b uttons,
move the selector lever to the r ight out of
the D/S pos it ion.
T he transm iss io n automatically sh ifts up or
down before cr itical engine speed is reached .
T he tran sm iss io n only al lows manual sh ifting
when the eng ine speed is with in the permit­
ted range .
(D Tips
-Whe n you s hift into the ne xt l ower ge ar,
t he transmission will downshift only

when there is no possibility of over-rev­
ving the engine.
- When the kick-down comes on, the
transmission will shift down to a lower
gear, depending on vehicle and engine
speeds.
- Tiptronic is inoperative when the trans­
mission is in the fail-safe mode.
Kick-down
App lies to vehicles: with multit ro ni c/S tronic/t ipt ronic
Kick-down enables maximum acceleration .
Applies to veh icle s with a multitronic ®
transmi ssion
When you dep ress the accelerato r pedal be ­
yond the resistance point, the transmission downshifts into a lower gear ratio depending
on the vehicle speed and engine speed. As
long as the accelerator peda l is depressed, the
engine speed is automat ically regulated for
maximum acceleration.
Appli es t o ve hicles with a S t ronic ®-/ ,
ti ptron ic transmi ssi on
When you depress the accelerator pedal be­
yond the resistance po int, the automat ic
transmission downshifts into a lower gear, de­ pending on vehicle speed and engine speed .
The upshift into the next higher gea r takes
p lace once the maxim um spec ified eng ine
speed is reached .
A WARNING
Please note that the drive wheels can spin
if kick-down is used on a smooth slippery
road -there is a risk of skidding.
Launch Control Program
App lies to vehicles: with S tro nic
The Launch Control Program provides the
best acceleration possible when starting from
a stop.
Requirement: The engine must be at operat ­
ing temperature and the steering wheel must
not be turned.
Tran sm iss ion 9 1
"" Press the I~ OFF ! button ¢ page 181 while
the engine is running. The
fl indicator light
illum inates in the instrument cl uster and
Traction control (A SR): Off. Warning! Re­
stricted stability appears in the driver infor­
mation system display .
"" Move the selector lever to the D/S pos it io n
or select the dynamic driv ing mode in drive
select* ¢
page 108.
"" Press t he brake pedal s trongly wi th you r left
foot and ho ld it down for at leas t 1 second .
... At the same time, press the accelerator
peda l down comp lete ly with your right foot
until the eng ine reaches and maintains a
high RPM.
"" Remove your foot from the brake pedal
w ith in S seconds ¢.& .
A WARNING
-Always adapt your dr iving to the traffic
f low.
- Only use the Launch Cont ro l Program
when road and t raff ic conditions a llow it
a nd other drivers w ill not be endangered
or annoye d by your dr iving and the vehi ­
cle's acceleration.
- Ple ase no te th at the d riving wheels can
spin and the vehicle can break away
when ASR is switched off, especially
when the road is s lippery.
- Once you have accelerated, you sho uld
switch the ASR back on by pressing the
I ~ OFFI button.
(D Tips
- T he transmission temperature m ay in ­
crease s ignificantly after using the
La unch Control P rogram . If that hap­
pens, the prog ram may not be availab le
for a few m inutes. It will be ava ilable
again after a cool-down per iod.
- When accelerating using the La unch
Contro l program, a ll vehicle parts are
subject to heavy loads. Th is can result in
increased wear .

92 Transmission Transmission malfunction
Applies to vehicles: with multitron ic/5 tronic/t iptronic
[O] Transmission: Press brake pedal and se ­
lect gear again .
Press the brake pedal and se lect the des ired
se lecto r lever posit io n again. Yo u can t hen
con tinue dr iv ing.
[O] Transmission overheating: Please drive
conservatively .
The transmission temperature has increased
significantly d ue to the sporty driving manner.
Drive in a less spo rty manne r until the tem­
pera ture ret ur ns to the no rma l range and the
indicator light switches of.
[O] Transmission malfunction: You can con ­
tinue driving
There is a system ma lf u nction in t he transmis­
sion. You may continue driving. Dr ive to your
author ized Audi dealer or qualified repair fa­
cility soon to hav e the mal function cor rected.
[O] Transmission malfunction : Limited driv ­
ing functionality
T here is a system ma lf u nction in the tra nsmis ­
sion. The transmissi on is sw itchi ng to emer­
gency mode . Th is mode only s hifts into cer­
tain gears or will no lo nger shift at a ll. The en­
g ine may stall. Drive to your authorized A udi
dea le r or qualified repair facility immediate ly
to have the ma lf u nct ion co rrected .
[O] lij Transmission malfunction: No reverse
You can continue dr iving
S tron ic ® transmission : There is a system ma l­
f u nction in the transmission. The transmis ­
sion is switc hing to emergency mode. T his
mode on ly shifts into certain gears or w ill no
l onge r shi ft at all. T he e ngine may sta ll. You
can not engage the reverse gear . Drive to your
author iz e d Audi d eal er or qua lified repai r fa­
cili ty im m ed ia tely to have the m alfu nctio n
cor re cte d.
[O] Transmission malfunction : Stop vehicle
and shift to park .
Do not con tinue dr iving. Se lect the P sele ctor
l ever positio n and see your authorized A udi
dealer or qualified repair fac ility fo r assis­
tance.
(D Note
If t h e trans mission swit ches to emergency
mode, yo u should ta ke the ve hicl e to an
a uthorized Audi dea lership as soon as pos­
s ib le to have th e co nditio n co rrected .
Selector lever emergency release
Applies to vehicles: wit h multitronic/5 tro ni c/tiptro nic
If the vehicle's power supply fails , the selec­
tor lever can be released in an emergency.
Fig . 101 Fr on t center co nsole: Remov in g t he as htray
in sert
Fig. 102 Selector lever eme rgency release
.. To access the emergency re lease mecha ­
nism, rem ove the ashtray insert ® using t he
re lease sw itch @¢
fig. 101.
• Loosen and remove the cap in t he ashtray
mou nt.
"' Yo u now have access to a p in. Using a screw­
d river or sim ila r ob ject, press t he p in down
an d ho ld it i n that p osition
~ fig . 102 .
"' No w pre ss the release bu tton and move the
s elec tor l ever to the N po siti on. ..,.

The selector lever can only be moved from the
P position if the key is in the lock and the igni­
tion is sw itched on. If the power supply fa ils
(for examp le, the battery is discharged) and
the vehicle must be pushed or towed, move
the selector lever to the N pos ition first using
the eme rgency release .
Transm iss ion 93

94 Audi adaptive cruise control and braking guard
Audi adaptive cruise
control and braking
guard
Introduction
App lies to vehicles: with Audi adaptive cruise co ntrol
The adaptive cruise control system assists the
driver by regulat ing vehicle speed and helping
to maintain a set distance to the vehicle
ahead, within the limits of the system .
If the
system detects a moving vehicle up ahead,
adaptive cruise control can brake and then ac ­
celerate your vehicle. This he lps to make driv­
ing more comfortable on long highway
stretches.
The braking guard system can warn you about
an impending collision and initiate braking
maneuvers¢
page 100.
Adaptive cruise control and braking guard
have technical limitations that you must
know, so please read this section carefully, un­
derstand how the system works and use them
properly at all times.
General information
General information
Applies to vehicles: with Audi adaptive cruise co ntrol
Fig. 103 Fro nt of the vehicle: Position of radar senso r
The area that contains the radar sensor
¢
fig . 103 must never be cove red by stickers
or other objects or obstructed with dirt, in­
sects, snow or i ce that will interfere with the
adaptive cruise control system and braking
guard. For information on cleaning, refer to
¢
page 198. The same applies for any modifi­
cations made in the front area . T
he function of the adaptive cruise cont rol
system and braking guard is limited under
some condit ions:
- Objects can only be detected when they are
within sensor range
¢fig . 106 .
-The system has a limited ability to detect
objects that are a short d istance ahead, off
to the side of your vehicle or moving into
your lane.
- Some kinds of vehicles are hard to detect;
for examp le motorcycles, vehicles with high
ground clearance or overhanging loads may
be detected when it is too late or they may
not be detected at all.
- When driving through curves¢
page 95.
-Stat ionary objects ¢ page 95.
A WARNING
-
Always pay attention to traffic when adap-
tive cruise contro l is switched on and brak­
ing guard is active. As the driver, you are
still respons ible for starting and for main­
tain ing speed and distance to other ob­
jects. Braking guard is used to assist you.
The driver must always take action to avoid
a col lision. The driver is always responsible
for braking at the correct time.
- Im proper use of adaptive cruise con trol
can cause collisions, other accidents and
serio us personal injury.
- Never let the comfor t and convenience
that adaptive cruise control and braking
guard offer distract you from the need to
be alert to traffic conditions and the
need to remain in full control of your ve­
h icle at a ll times,
- Always remember that the adaptive
cru ise contro l and brak ing guard have
lim its -they will not s low the vehicle
down or maintain the set distance when
you drive towards an obstacle or some ­
thing on or near the road that is not
mov ing, such as vehicles stopped in a
traffic jam, a stalled or disabled vehicle.
If registered by the radar sensor, vehicles
or obsta cles that are not moving can
trigger a co llision warning and if