198 Trailer towing
Tire pre ss ure
When towing a trai le r, inflate the t ires of your
vehicle to the co ld 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.
Light s
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.
Saf ety chains
Be sure tra iler sa fe ty cha ins a re p roperly 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 o f vehicle
and trai ler, p lease note the following:
.,. Do not tow a loaded tra iler whe n your car it
self is no t 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.
Weigh t di stribution
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
steer ing 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 trai ler 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 t he maximum permissible speed. Re
duce your speed even more if load, weather or
wind conditions are unfavorable -pa rtic ularly
whe n going downhill.
Reduce veh icle speed
immediately if the trail
er shows the slightest s ign of sway ing.
Do n ot
try to sto p th e swaying by acc elerating .
Observe speed limits. In some areas, speeds
fo r vehicles tow ing tra ile rs a re lower than for
regular veh icles .
Always apply brakes early. When driving downh ill, shift into a lower gear to use the en
gine braking effect to slow the vehicle . U se of
the brakes alone can cause them to overheat
and fail.
Coolant tempe rature
The coo lant temperature gauge c> page 10
must be observed carefu lly. 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 •
i n t he i nstrument cluster starts flashing, pull
off the road, stop and let the engine
idle for
abo ut two min utes to prevent he at build-up .
_& WARNING
Anyone not proper ly restra ined in a mov
i ng vehicle is a t a much greater risk in an
accident . Never let anyone ride in yo ur car
who is not p roperly wea ring the rest raints
prov ided 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, 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. 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 2 73.
Trailer towin g 199
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.
.. 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 before 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.
•
•
204 Cleaning and protec tio n
If a spot starts to rust, however, a simple
touch-up job will not be enough . The affected
surface must be sanded smooth and coated
with an anti-rust pr imer before the pa inted
f inish can be restored.
The number for the origina l vehicle paint can
be found on the vehicle ident ificat ion labe l
c::>page269.
A WARNING
Always read and heed all WARNINGS and
other information
c::> page 200.
Windows
Clear vision to all sides.
C lean a ll windows regularly to remove road
fi lm and car wash wax b uildup.
"' Remove snow from windows using a brush.
"' Use a plast ic ice scraper to remove ice from
windows and mirrors .
"' Remove other residue on the windows with
a spray •on glass cl eaner .
"' Wipe the windows dry with a clean p iece of
cloth or kitchen paper towel.
The best way to remove snow from windows
and mirrors is to use a brush . Use a non-abra
sive
pla stic ice sc raper -better still, a spray
de icer -to remove
ic e from windows and mir
rors .
The windows must not be cleaned with insect remover or wax s ince these can interfere with
the function of the windshield wiper blades (chatter) .
O il, grease, or silicone residue can be removed
with
g lass clea ner or silicone remo ver . How
ever, wax residue requires the use of a special ly formulated solvent . Please contact your au
thor ized Audi dealer for adv ice on safe prod
ucts for wax removal.
W indows should also be cleaned on the inside
at regular intervals .
Never dry w indows with the same chamois
that you use to dry painted surfaces . Wax resi- due on the chamois can impai
r vision through
the windows.
A WARNING
-- Always read and heed all WARNINGS and
other information
c::> page 200.
-The windshield must not be treated with
water-repellent materials. They can in
crease glare under poor v is ibility condi
tions such as wetness, darkness, or when
the sun is low on the hor izon. In addi
tion, they can cause the w indshield w ip
ers to chatter.
(D Note
- Never use warm or hot water to remove
snow and ice from windows and mirrors .
Th is could cause the glass to crack .
- To prevent damage to the wires of the
rear defogger, do not place any adhesive
st ickers on the ins ide of the rear window
over the wires .
- To help prevent dirt from scratching the
window, always sc rape in a forward di
rection -pushing the sc raper away from
yo u -never bac k and fort h.
- Wate r lea king from the ins ide of the rear
w indows may damage sens it ive elec trical
components located ei ther under the
rear parcel shelf or in the rear trunk area .
Always ensure that water never leaks
through the body section of the vehicle.
You can do this by using waterproof pro
tection over the vehicle's electrical com
ponents (e .g. when installing window
tinting) .
- Damage or malfunction of electrical
components due to water damage or any
other outside infl uence is not covered by
the Audi New Veh icle Limited Warranty.
See you r Wa rranty
& M ain tenance book
le t for addit ional deta ils abou t your war
ranty.
208 Cleaning and protection
-To keep your leather from bleaching out,
do not a llow it to be exposed to bright
sunlight for long periods of time. If you
have to leave the vehicle parked outside
for long periods, cover the leather to
protect it from direct exposure to sun
li ght.
- Sharp objects on clothing, such as zip pers, rivets or sharp pieces on belts can
l eave pe rmanent scratches or scrape
marks on the surface of the leather.
@ Tips
-After each time you clean the leather and
at regular intervals, use a leather preser
vat ive cream that contains UV-blockers
and that works into the leather. This
cream will nourish and moistur ize the
l eather, helping it to breathe and stay
supple. It also helps to build up a protec
tive coating on the surface.
- Clean the leather every 2 -3 months,
and clean any areas that get soiled.
- Remove fresh marks made by ballpoint
pens, ink, lipst ick, shoe polish, etc . as
soon as possible.
- Preserve the color of the leather as need
ed by using a special colored leather care
cream to touch up areas of uneven color.
Cleaning and caring for leather
upholstery and trim
App lies to vehicles: with nat ura l leather
Natural leather requires special care and at
tention.
Normal cleaning
.. Clean soi led areas wit h a slightly moistened
cotton or woo len cloth.
More stubborn dirt
.. More stubborn dirt can be removed using a
cloth saturated with a mild soap so lution (2
tablespoons mi ld liquid soap) . ..
Never allow the soap solution to saturate
the leather, and make certain that no water
soaks into the seams.
.. Wipe off the soap so lution with a soft, dry
cloth.
Cleaning spots
.. Remove fresh water-based spots (such as
coffee, tea, juices, blood) with an absorbent
cloth or paper towel.
.. Remove fresh
grease or oil-based spots
(such as butter, mayonnaise, chocolate) with
an absorbent cloth or pape r towel, or use
the cleaner from the leather care k it if the
spot has not yet penetrated into the surface
of the leathe r.
.. Use an oil/grease dissolving spray, if
oil/
grease spots have dried on.
.. Remove specific kinds of spots (ballpoint
pen, fe lt marker, fingernai l polish, water
based paint, shoe polish, etc.) with a spot
remover specifically formulated for leather.
Leather care
.. Every half year use an approved leather care
product (available from your authorized
Audi dea ler) to care for the leather .
.. App ly the product very spar ingly.
.. Wipe it off with a damp cloth.
If you have any questions about cleaning and
caring for the leather in your vehicle, it is best
to contact your authorized Audi dealer, who
will be glad to help you and tell you about our
full range of leather care products, such as :
- Leather cleaning and care kit
- Creams to care for colored leather
- Spot removers for ballpoint pens, shoe pol-
ish, etc .
- Oil/grease dissolving spray
- New and upcom ing products.
,&. WARNING
Always read and heed all WARNINGS and
other information
~page 200.
(D Note
Driving without valve stem caps can cause
damage to the t ire va lves. To prevent this,
always make sure that factory installed
valve stem caps on all wheels are securely
mounted on the valve .
@) For the sake of the environment
Underinflated tires will also increase the
fue l consumption .
Tires and vehicle load limits
There are limits to the amount of load or
weight that any vehicle and any t ire can carry .
A vehicle that is overloaded w ill not handle
well and is more difficult to stop. Overload ing
can not on ly lead to loss of vehicle contro l,
but can a lso damage important pa rts of the
ve hicle and can lead to sudden tire failure, in
cluding a blowout and sudd en d eflation that
c a n cause the veh icle to crash.
Your safety and that of yo ur passenge rs a lso
depends on making sure that load limits are
not exce eded . Vehicl e load includes ev erybody
and everyth ing in and on the vehicle. These
load limi ts are techn ically referred to as the
vehicle's
Gross Vehicl e W eight Rat ing
("GVWR ").
The "GVWR" includes the we ight of the basic
vehicle, all fac tory installed accessories, a full
tank of fuel, oil, coolant and other fluids plus
maximum load . The maximum load includes
the number of passengers that the vehicle is
i ntended to ca rry ("seating capacity") with an
assumed weight of 150 lbs . (68 kg) for each
passenger a t a des igna ted seat ing pos ition
and the tota l weight of any l uggage in the ve
h icle. If you tow a trailer, the weig ht of the
trailer hitch and the tongue we ight of the
loaded traile r must be included as part of the
vehicle load .
The
Gro ss Axle Weight Rating ("GAWR") is
the maximum load that can be applied at each
of the vehicle's two axles.
Tire s an d wheel s 239
The Gross Vehicle Weight Rat ing and the
Gross Axle Weight Rating are listed on th e
safety comp liance sticker label located on the
driver's side B-pillar. Audi has 4 seat ing pos i
tions, 2 in the front and 2 in the rear for total
seat ing capac ity of 4. Each seating position
has a seat belt ¢
page 134, Safety belts .
The fact that there is an upper limit to your
vehicle's Gross Vehicle Weight Rating means
that the total weight of whatever is being car ried in the vehicle ( includ ing the weight of a
trailer hitch and the tongue we ight of the
loaded tra ile r) is lim ited. The more passen
gers in the vehicle or passe ngers w ho are
heavier than the standard we ights assumed
mean that less weight can be carried as lug
gage.
T he tire pressure label on your Aud i also lis ts
t h e maximum combined weight of a ll of the
occupants and l uggage or other cargo that
the ve hicle can carry. For the location of the
l abel ¢
page 235, fig. 176.
A WARNING
Overloading a vehicle can cause loss of ve
h icle contro l, a crash or other accident , se
rious personal injury, and even death .
- Carrying more we ight than your veh icle
was des igned to carry will prevent the
ve hicle from handling properly and in
crease the risk of the loss of vehicle con
trol.
- The brakes on a vehicle that has been
overloaded may not be able to stop the
ve hicl e with in a safe distance .
- Tires o n a vehicle that has been overload
ed can fail suddenly, incl uding a blowout
a nd sudden defla tion, causing loss of
control and a crash .
- Always ma ke sure t hat the to tal load be
i n g transpo rted - incl udi ng t he weight of
a trailer hitch and the tongue we igh t of a
loaded trailer -does not make the vehi
cle heavier than the vehicle's Gross Vehi
cle Weight Rating.
•
•
240 Tires and whee ls
Determining correct load limit
Use the example below to cal
culate the total weight of the
passengers and luggage or oth
er things that you plan to trans
port so that you can make sure
that your vehicle will not be overloaded.
Steps for Determining
Correct Load Lim it
1 . Locate the statement "THE
COMB INED W EIGHT OF OC
CUPANTS AND CARGO
SHOULD NEVER EXCEED XXX KG OR XXX LBS"on your vehi
cle's placard (tire inflation
pressure label)
c::> page 235,
fig. 176.
2.
Determ ine the comb ined
weight of the driver and pas
sengers that will be riding in
your vehicle .
3. Subtract the combined weigh t of the dr iver and pas
sengers from
"XXX " kilo
grams or
"XXX" pounds
shown on the sticker
c::> page 235, fig . 176 .
4. The resulting figure equals
the available amount of cargo and luggage load capaci
ty . F or examp le, if the "XXX"
amount equals 1400 lbs. and there will be five 150
lbs . passengers in your vehi
cle, the amount of available
cargo and luggage load ca pacity is 650 lbs . (1400 -750
(5
X 150) = 650 lbs .)
5 . D etermine the combined
weight of luggage and cargo be ing loaded on the vehicle.
That we ight may not safely
exceed the available cargo
and luggage load capacity
calculated in Step
4 .
6. If your vehicle will be towing
a trailer, load from your trail
er will be transferred to your
vehicle . Consu lt this manual
to determine how this re
duces the available cargo
and luggage load capacity of
your vehic le .
.,. Check the tire sidewall
(c::> page 242, fig. 180) to de
termine the designated load rating for a specific tire .
252 What do I do n ow ?
What do I do now?
Vehicle tool kit
The tools ore stored underneath the floor
panel in the luggage comportment.
Fig. 182 Luggage compartment: tool kit
When you need access to the vehicle too l kit
or jack*, you will need to take out the spare
tire* and cover ¢
page 252.
The vehicle tool kit includes:
- Hook for removing wheel covers*
- Alignment pin for changing the whee l
- Screwdriver w ith reversible blade
- T ool for chang ing ligh t bu lbs
- Reversible bit (reversible Torx bit for chang-
ing light b ulbs)
- Rod for jack
- Jack*
- Lug wrench
- Towing eye
Some o f the ve hicl e items listed above a re
p rovided on certain models o nly or are option
a l extras.
Before returning the jack* to its place, retra ct
the jack a rm fully .
_&. WARNING
- Never use the screw driver hex head to
tighten whee l bolts, s ince the bolts can
not attain the necessa ry tightening tor
que i f you use the hex head, potentially
causing an accident.
- The factory -supplied jack is intended on
ly for your veh icle model. Under no cir
c u mstances should it be used to lift heavy vehicles or othe
r loads; yo u risk in
juring yo urself .
- Never start the engine when the vehicle
is raised, wh ich could cause an acc ident.
- Support the vehicle securely wit h app ro
priate stands if work is to be performed
underneath the vehicle; otherwise, there
is a potentia l risk for injury.
Space-saving spare tire
(compact spare tire)
App lies to vehicles: wit h space-saving spare t ire
The spore tire/wheel is located in the luggage
compartmen t under the cargo floor cover. It
is intended for short-term use only.
F ig . 1 83 Spa re tire
Removing the spare t ire
.. Lift t he cargo floor by the p lastic handle
¢fig . 183.
.. Hook the handle into the luggage compart
ment weather strip.
.. Turn the large screw ¢
fig. 183 counter
clockw ise .
.. Take out the spare tire .
.. Always store the vehicl e tool kit, the jack*,
and the rep laced tire in the luggage com
pa rtment
¢page 130.
.. Unhook the cargo floor be fo re closing the
rea r lid.
Using the spare tire (compact spare tire)
T he compact spare ti re is only inte nded for
eme rgen cies unt il you can reach a rep air shop.
Repl ace it as quickly as possible with a stand
ard wheel and tire.
T he re a re some restr ictions on the use of the
c ompac t spa re tire. The compact spa re tire ...
has been designed specifically for your type of
vehicle.
It must not be swapped with a com
pact spare t ire from another type of veh icle .
Snow cha ins
F or techn ica l reasons, the use of snow chains
on the compact spare tire is
not p ermitt ed .
If you do have to dr ive with snow cha ins and a
front tire fails, mou nt the spare whee l w it h
tire ins tead of a rea r tir e. Install the snow
chains on the rear t ire and use it to replace
the defective front tire .
A WARNING
-Never use the spare tire if it is damaged
or if it is worn down to the tread wear in
dicators.
- If the spare tire is mo re than 6 years o ld,
use it only in an emergency and w ith ex
treme caution and careful driving.
- The spare tire is intended only for tem
porary and short-term use. It should be
replaced as soon as possib le w ith the
normal wheel and t ire .
- After mounting the compact spare tire,
the tire pressure must be checked as
soon as poss ible. The tire pressure of the
compact spa re tire must be 4.2 bar ; oth
erwise, you risk hav ing an accident.
- Do not drive faster than SO mph (80 km/
h). You risk having an acc ident .
-Avo id full-throttle acce lerat ion, heavy
braking, and fast corner ing . You risk hav
ing an acc ident.
- Never drive us ing more t han one spare
wheel and tire . You risk hav ing an acci
de nt.
- No rma l summer or winte r tires must not
be mounted on the compact spare whee l
rim.
- For technical reasons, the use of ti re
ch ains on the spare tire is no t permitted.
If it is necess ary to dr ive wi th tire ch ain s,
the spare whee l must be moun ted on the
front axle in the event o f a flat in a rear
t ire. The newly ava ilable front w heel
must then be installed in place of the
What do I do now? 253
'
rea r whee l w ith the flat tire. Installing
the t ire cha in be fore mounting the whee l
and tire is recommended.
- Loose items in the passenger compart
ment can cause serious personal injury
during hard brak ing or in a n accident.
Never store the inflatable spa re tire or
jack and tools in the passenge r compart
ment.
Changing a wheel
Before changing a wheel
Observe the following precautions for your
own and your passenger 's safety when chang
ing a wheel .
.,. After you expe rie nce a tir e fail ure, p ull the
car we ll away from mov ing traffic and try to
reac h
level ground before you stop ¢ .&, .
.,. All passengers should
leave the car and
move to a safe location ( for instance, behind
the guardra il) ¢ .&, .
.,. Engage the
park ing brake to prevent your
veh icle from rolling unintentionally¢.&, .
.,. Shift into
1st gear on veh icles with man ual
transm iss ion, or move th e
selector lever to
the P po sition
on vehi cles w ith automa tic
t ra nsm iss io n.
.,. If you are towing a tra iler : u nhi tch the trail
er from your vehicle .
.,. Take the
ja ck r=:> page 252 and the spare tire
r=:> page 252 out of the luggage compart
ment.
A WARNING
You o r you r passengers could be i njured
while changing a w heel if you do not fo l-
low these saf ety p recaut ions :
- If you have a fla t tire, move a safe d is
tance off th e road . T urn off the engine,
tur n the eme rgency flashers on and use
o ther warni ng devi ce s to a le rt other mo
t oris ts.
- Ma ke sure tha t passenge rs wait in a safe
p la ce aw ay from the vehicle and well
-
away from the road and tra ffic. .,. •
•