2013 AUDI A5 CABRIOLET transmission

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. ..,.

Audi drive select Driving settings
Introduction
Appl ies to vehicles: wit h Audi drive select
Dr ive select provides the possib ility to experi­
ence different types of vehicle settings in one
veh icle. For instance, using the three
C o m­
fort, Auto and Dynamic modes, the driver can
switch from a sporty to a comfortab le driving
mode with the press of a button.
Addit ionally, in vehicles with
MM I*, the vehi ­
cle setup for
Indi vidu al* mode can be cus­
tomized by you. This makes it possib le to
combine settings such as a sporty engine tun­
ing with comfortable steering.
A WARNING
Improper use of the Audi drive select can
cause collisions, other acc idents and seri­
ous personal injury.
Description
App lies to vehicles: w it h Audi drive select
The vehicle setup in each mode depends on
the vehicle's features. However, the engine,
automatic t ransmission and steeri ng a re a l­
ways involved.
-
Engine and automatic transmi ssion
Depending on the mode, the engine and the
automatic transmission respond quicker or in
a more ba lanced manner to acce lerator pedal
movements. In the sporty dynamic mode, the
automatic t ransmission shifts at h igher R PMs .
Steering
The steering adapts in terms of steering effort
and steering ratios. Indirect steer ing that
moves eas ily, like the stee ring in comfort
mode, is best su ited to long dr ives on a high ­
way. In contrast, dynam ic mode prov ides
sporty, di rect steering .
The follow ing applies to vehicles with dynam ic
steer ing*: the stee ring ratio changes based on
vehicle speed in order to maintain optimum
Aud i dri ve sel ect 107
steering effort for the drive r at all times . This
sets the steering to be less sensitive at higher
speeds in order to provide improved vehicle
control. At reduced speeds, however, steer ing
is more d irect in order to keep the steering ef­
fort as minimal as poss ible when the driver is
maneuveri ng the veh icle . At low and average
speeds, dynamic steering addit iona lly pro­
vides more responsive stee ring pe rformance.
Adapt ive damper s*
The adaptive dampers* use sensors to record
i nformation regard ing steering movements,
braking and acceleration ope rations by the
drive r, road surface, driving speed, and load.
T his makes it possible to adapt damp ing to
the d riving situation v irtu ally i n rea l time.
Drive select also makes it possib le to satisfy
the desire for spo rty suspension (Dynamic)
and comfortab le suspension (Comfort) with­
out giving up ba lanced tuning (Auto) .
Sport differe ntial *
As a component of the all whee l dr ive sys tem
(quattro ®)
q page 184, the sport differential*
distributes the driving power to the rear ax le
depending on the sit uation . The distribution
of power var ies depending on the mode se­
lected. The goal is a high level of agility and
ability to accelerate on curves . The ve hicle is
very respons ive to steering .
Audi adaptive cru ise control*
The behav ior when accelerating can be adjust­
ed from comfortab le to sporty, depending on
the drive select mode. Adaptive cru ise control
also responds to the driv ing behavior of the
vehicle ahead in a mo re conservative or spo rty
manner .
Engine sound*
The sound of the eng ine is adapted to these­
lected mode and ranges from subtle to sporty.
0) Tips
- In some models, the maximum vehicle
speed can only be reached in the
Auto
and D ynamic modes.

Driving and
environment
The first 1
1000
miles
(11500 km) and
afterwards
New engine
The engine needs to be run-in during the first
1,000 miles (1 ,500 km) .
For the first 600 mile s (1,000
kilometers ):
.,. Do not use full throttle.
.,. Do not d rive at engine speeds that are more
than 2/3 of the max imum permitted RPM .
From 600 to 1,000 miles (1 ,000 to
1,500 kilometers ):
.. Speeds ca n gradually be increased to the
maximum perm iss ible road or eng ine speed .
During and after break-in period
.. Do not rev the eng ine up to h igh speeds
when it is cold. Th is applies whether the
transmission is in N (Neutral) or in gear.
After the break- in peri od
.. Do not exceed maximum eng ine speed un­
der any circumstances .
.. Upshift into the next higher gear before
reaching the red area at the end of the tach­
ometer scale c.>page 10.
During the first few hours of driving, the en ­
g ine's internal friction is higher than later
when all the moving parts have been broken
in . How well this break -in process is done de ­
pends to a considerable extent on the way the
vehicle is driven du ring the first 1,000 miles
(1,500 k ilome ters).
(D Note
Extremely h igh engine speeds are auto­
mat ica lly reduc ed. However , th ese rpm
lim its are programmed for a n engine well
r u n- in, not a new engine.
Driving and environment 187
@) For the sake of the environment
Do not drive with unnecessarily high en­
g ine speeds -upshifting ear ly saves f uel,
reduces noise and protects the environ­
ment.
New tires
If your vehicle is running on new tires, drive
very carefully for the first 350 miles (500 ki lo­
meters) after fitting.
.&, WARNING
N ew tires tend to be sl ippery and mus t al­
so be "b roken -in" . Be sure to remember
this dur ing the f irst 350 m iles (500 kilo­
meters) . Brake gently . Avoid fo llowing
closely behind other vehicles or other sit­
uations that m ight require sudden, hard
b raking .
Avoid damaging the
vehicle
When you are d rivi ng on poo r roads, or over
cu rbs, steep ramps, etc., make certa in that
low- ly in g parts s uch as spo ile rs and ex ha ust
system parts do not bottom o ut and get dam ­
aged.
Th is is espec ially true for veh icles with low­
s lung chassis (spo rts chas sis)* and fully load ­
ed vehicles.
Driving through water
on roads
Note the following to avoid ve hicle damage
when driving through water, for e xamp le on
flooded roads:
- The wa ter must not be any higher than the
bottom of the vehicle body .
- Do not dr ive faster than walk ing speed .
•
•

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, perform ­
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. Make sure 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 n ot tow a tra ile r 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
t h e ext ra load
o page 269.
Trailer towin g 193
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 chocks absorb the
load .
.. Tur n the whee ls towa rds t he curb .
.,. App ly the parking brake.
.. Move the se lector lever to P.
When restarting after parking:
.. App ly the foot brake .
.,. Sta rt t he engine .
.. Move the se lector lever to D/S .
.. Release the pa rking brake and s low ly pull
out a nd away from the wheel chocks .
.. Stop and have someone retr ieve the wheel
chocks .
(D Tips
If you move the selector leve r of the auto ­
matic transmission to P befo re a pplying
the parking brake and before bloc king the
whee ls, you may have to use more force
l ater to move the l ever out of the P posi­
tion .
•
•