2013 AUDI A6 Owners Manual

General information
Applies to vehicles: with side assist
®
©
Fig . 99 Driving situations
A UD I
Fi g. 100 Rear of t he ve hicle: positio n of t he se nsors
Side assist functions at speeds above approx i­
mately 19 mph (30 km/h).
@ Vehicl es th at ar e approaching
In certain cases, a vehicle will be classified as
cr itical for a lane change even if it is still
somewhat far away. The fas ter a vehicle ap­
p roaches, the sooner the display in the exteri­
or m irror will t urn on.
@ Vehicles traveling with you
Vehicles traveling w ith you are indicated in the
exterior m irror if they are classified as cr itical
for a lane change. All vehicles detec ted by
side assist are indicated by the time they en­
t er your "blind spot", at the latest.
Aud i side assist 95
@ Veh icles left behind
If you s low ly pass a vehi cle that s ide assist has
detected (the difference in speed between the
vehicle and you r vehicle is less than 9 mph or
15 km/h), the display in the exterio r mir ror
turns on as soon as the vehicle enters your blind spot.
T he disp lay will not t urn on if you quickly pass
a vehicle that side assist has detected (the dif­
ference in speed between the veh icle and your
vehicle is greater than 9 mph or 15 km/h).
Functi onal limitations
The radar sensors are designed to detect the
left and right adjacent lanes when the road
lanes are the normal width. In certain situa­
tions, the d isp lay in the exterior mirror may
turn on even though there is no veh icle locat­
ed in the area that is cr itical for a lane change.
For example:
- if the lanes are narrow or if your are dr iving
on the edge of your lane.
If this is the case,
the system may have detected the vehicle in
another lane that is
not adjacent to you r
current lane .
- if you a re driving through a curve. Side assist
may react to a vehicle that is one lan e ove r
from the adjacent lane.
- if side assist reacts to other objects (such as
high or d isp laced guard rails) .
- In poor weather conditions. The side assist
functions are l imited .
Do not cover the radar sensors with stickers,
deposits, bicycle wheels or other objects, be­
cause this will affect the function . Do not use
s ide ass ist when towing a trailer . For informa­
tion on clean ing, refer to
q page 211.
_&. WARNING
-Always pay a ttent ion to traffic and to t he
ar ea a round your ve hicl e. S ide assist can­
not repla ce a driver's attention. The driv­
er a lone is always responsible fo r lane
changes and similar driving mane uvers.

96 Audi side assist
-Improper reliance on the side assist sys­
tem can cause collisions and serious
personal injury:
- Never rely only on side assist when
changing lanes.
- Always check rear view mirrors to make
sure that it is safe to change lanes.
- Side assist cannot detect all vehicles un­
der all conditions- danger of accident!
- Please note that side assist indicates
there are approaching vehicles, or
vehicles in your blind spot, only after
your vehicle has reached a driving speed
of at least 19 mph (30 km/h).
- In certain situations, the system may not
function or its function may be limited.
For example:
- if vehicles are approaching or being left
behind very quickly . The display may
not turn on in time.
- in poor weather conditions such as
heavy rain, snow or heavy mist .
- on very wide lanes, in tight curves or if
there is a rise in the road surface.
Vehicles in the adjacent lane may not be detected because they are outside
of the sensor range.
(D Note
The sensors can be displaced by impacts or damage to the bumper, wheel housing and
underbody. This can affect the system.
Have your authorized Audi dealer or au­
thorized Audi Service Facility check their
function.
@ Tips
- If the window glass in the driver's door
or front passenger's door has been tint­ ed, the display in the exterior mirror may
be misinterpreted.
- For Declaration of Compliance to United
States FCC and Industry Canada regula­
tions¢
page 288.
Activating and deactivating
Applies to vehicles: rnit s ide ass ist
Fig. 101 Driver's doo r: Side ass ist butto n
.. Press the button c> & in General informa­
tion on page 95
to switch the system on/off .
The LED in the button turns on when side
assist is switched on .
Adjusting the display brightness
Applies to vehicles: wit h side assist
The brightness setting con be adjusted via the
MMI.
.. Select: !CAR ! function button> (Car)* sys­
tems control button > Driver assist
> Audi
side assist .
The display brightness adjusts automatically
to the brightness of the surroundings, both in
the information and in the warning stage. In
very dark or very bright surroundings, the dis ­
play is already set to the minimum or maxi­
mum level by the automatic adjustment. In
such cases, you may notice no change when
adjusting the brightness, or the change may
only be noticeable once the surroundings
change.
Adjust the brightness to a level where the dis­
play in the information stage will not disrupt
your view forward. If you change the bright­
ness, the display in the exterior mirror will
briefly show the brightness level in the infor­
mation stage. The brightness of the warning
stage is linked to the brightness in the infor­ mation stage and is adjusted along with the
information stage adjustment .

@ Tips
-Side assist is not active while you are
making the adjustment.
- Your settings are automatically stored
and assigned to the remote control key
being used.
Driver messages
Applies to vehicles: with side assist
If side assist switches off by itself, the LED in
the button turns off and a message will ap­
pear in the instrument cluster display:
Audi side assist: Currently unavailable. No
sensor vision
The radar sensors' vision is affected. Do not
cover the area in front of the sensors with bike
wheels, stickers, dirt or other objects. Clean
the area in front of the sensors, if necessary
c>fig. 100.
Audi side assist: Currently unavailable
Side assist cannot be switched on temporarily
because there is a malfunction (for example,
the battery charge level may be too low).
Audi side assist: System fault!
The system cannot guarantee that it will de ­
tect vehicles correctly and it is switched off .
The sensors have been displaced or are faulty.
Have the system checked by an authorized
Audi dealer or authorized Audi Service Facility
soon.
Audi side assist: Unavailable when towing.
Side assist switches off automatically when a
factory-installed trailer hitch is connected to
the electrical connector on the trailer. There is
no guarantee the system will switch off when
using a retrofitted trailer hitch. Do not use
side assist when towing a trailer.
Audi side assist 97

98 Audi drive select
Audi drive select
Driving settings
Introduction
Aud i d rive select mak es it possible to expe ri­
ence diffe ren t types of vehi cle se ttin gs i n o ne
ve hicl e. The dr ive r can se lect th ree
Comfort ,
Auto and Dynamic modes in the M MI to
switch between a sporty and a comforta ble
driving mo de.
You c an a lso a djust the setti ng according to
your p re ferences in the
Individual mode . F o r
examp le, you ca n combine settings such as a
sporty en gine t uning with comfortab le steer­
ing.
A WARNING
Improper use of the A udi drive select can
cause collisions, ot her acc idents and se ri­
ous pe rsonal injury.
Description
The vehicle setup in each mode depends on
the veh icl e's featu res. The engine, t ransm is­
sion, stee ring, reve rsible sa fe ty belt tension­
e rs a nd adap tive air su spension are alw ays in­
volved.
Engine and transmission
Depending on the mode, the e ng ine and the
tra nsmission respond quic ker or i n a more bal­
an ced manne r to acce le rator pedal move­
men ts. In the sporty dyn ami c mode, the
tra nsmission sh ifts at highe r RP Ms.
Air suspension*
The adaptive air suspens ion/adaptive air sus­
pension spor t*
(Air suspen sion in the MM I) is
a n e lec tronic ally con trolled air suspension and
da mpi ng sys tem. They are adjus ted depend­
ing on the se lected driving mode, the drive r's
steeri ng, braking an d acceleration input and
the road s urface, ve hicle speed and load. A
sporty setting is generally used in ve hicles
with adaptive air suspension sport*. T
he veh icle clearance varies depending on the
se lected mo de an d the speed .
T he highway setti ng is a ct ivated automatic ally
whe n you dr ive above 7 5 mph (120 km/ h) fo r
more than
3 0 seconds in the Auto or Dynamic
mode. The gro und clea rance is increased a uto ­
matically if the speed drops below
44 mph
(70 km/h) for more than 120 seconds.
Steering
T he s teer ing adap ts in terms of s teer ing effor t
and steering ratios . Indirect stee ring that
moves easily, like the steer ing in comfo rt
mode, is best suited to long drives on a high­
way. In contrast, dynamic mode provides sporty, direct steer ing .
Sport differential*
As a component of the all whee l drive system
(quattro ®)
r=:> page 196, th e Sport differen­
t ia l* distributes the driving powe r to the rear
axle depending on the situation. The distr ibu­
t ion of power va ries depe nding on the select­
ed mode, from balanced (comfort) to agile
(dyna mic) . Th e goa l is a high leve l of agility
and ability to acce le rate on cu rves . Th e vehicle
is ve ry re sponsive to st eer ing.
Curve light*
The curve light adapts to driving on curves .
T he pivo ting act io n and the lighting are also
adapt ed to the mode .
Adaptive cruise control*
The behav ior when accelerating can be adjust­
ed from comfortab le to sporty, depending on
the drive select mode. Adaptive cru ise cont ro l
also responds to th e dr iv ing behavior o f th e
vehicle a head in a mo re co nse rvative o r sporty
man ne r.
Engine sound*
The sound of the eng ine is adapted to the se­
lected mode and ranges from sub tle to sporty . .,.

(D Note
-Make sure there is enough clearance
above and below the veh icle when park­
ing . The height of the vehicle can change
once it is park ed due to temperature
fluctuations, changes to the load cond i­
tions and changes to the dr iv ing modes,
which can affect clearance .
- When t ransporting the veh icle on a car
carr ier, tra in, ship or by other means, on­
l y tie the veh icle dow n at the runni ng
su rface of the tires , which is the ou ter
ci rcumference . Secur ing t he vehicle at
the a xle components, s uspension str uts
or tow ing eyes is not pe rm itted because
the pressu re in the air suspension st ruts
can change during transport. The vehicle may not be secu red sufficiently if this
happens.
- If you are going to tow a trailer, you
must activate the trailer operation mode
<=> page 204.
{!) Tips
-In some models, the maximum vehicle
speed can only be reached in the
Auto
and Dynami c modes.
- Se lecting the
Dynamic mode results in
spo rty sh ifting character istics. The S
gear posit ion engages automatically.
- In vehicles with spo rt differential", the
Dynamic mode is deactivated when tow ­
i ng a trailer.
Adjusting the Individual mode
Audi dri ve sele ct 99
Selecting the driving mode
You can choose between Comfort, Auto , Dy­
namic and Individual .
Fig. 102 MMI: D rive selec t
.,.. To se lect the mode , se lect the following in
the MMI: IC ARlf unction button>
Comfort ,
Auto , Dynamic or Individual.
You can change the d riv ing mode when the ve­
hicle is stationary or wh ile driving.
If traffic
permi ts, after changing modes, briefly take
yo ur f oot off the acce lerator pedal so that the
recently selected mode is a lso activated for
the engine.
Comfort -prov ides a comfor t-orie nted veh icle
setup and is s uited fo r long drives on h igh­
ways .
Auto -provides an overall comfo rtable yet dy­
nam ic dr iving feel and i s suited for every day
u se .
Dynamic -gives the vehicle a sporty driving
feel and is suited to a spo rty driv ing style .
Individual -<=> page 99.
_.& WARNING
-Pay attention to traffic when operating
Audi d rive select to prevent potential risk
of an acc ident.
-
You can adjust the vehicle settings to your personal preferences .
.,.. Se lect : I CAR I funct ion bu tton> Set indi vid ­
ual
control button . You can now adjust the
i ndividual systems . The
Indi
vidu al driving mode wi ll automatical­
ly be activa ted when you have finished config­
uring the sett ing s.

100 Audi drive select
The equipment in your veh icle w ill determine
which settings you ca n adj ust. The fo llowing
Engine /Trans mission
Air su spension *
Steering
Sport differential *
Curve light*
Belt tensioner *
Adapti ve cruise control *
Engine sound* Comfort balanced
comfortable
comfortable
balanced
comfortable
Standard
comfortable
table p
rov ides a n overview of the characteris ­
tics of eac h driving mode .
Auto Dynamic
balanced sporty
balanced sporty
ba lanced spo
rty
agile sporty
ba lanced spo
rty
---.. ,
Standard
ba lanced
subtle/sportya> Deployment time
adapted
sporty
-...
sporty
-
a l Subt le i n th e drivi ng pos it io n D an d sp o rty in t he d riving pos itio n S.
{DJ Tips
Your Individual mode se ttings are a uto­
mat ica lly stored and assigned to t he re­
mote co ntro l key being use d.
Raising/lowering the
vehicle
Raising the vehicle
You can ra ise your veh icle temporarily, for ex­
ample to dr ive over a tall curb .
., Se lect the following i n the
MM I: ICAR I f u nc ­
tion button >
Raise cont ro l button .
., Wait for the a rrows in the display to stop
blinking and the vehicle to reach its fina l po­
s it ion.
Lowering the vehicle
., To lowe r the veh icle, select the fo llow ing in
the
M MI: ICARlfunction button> Lowe r con­
tro l button .
., Wait for the a rrows in the display to stop
blinking and the vehicle to lower complete­
l y .
{(D Note
- Remember that your veh icle is not suita­
ble for driving offroad even when it is
r aised . There is not enough ground clear ­
ance.
- If the vehicle is ra ised, it will lower auto­
m atic ally when d riving 6 2 mph (1 00 km/
h) or faster .
Driver messages
Air suspen sio n: vehicl e currently too low .
Level control running
Air su spension : vehicle curr ently too high .
L e vel control running
The driver message switc hes off when the lev ­
el cont rol process is complete .

Night vision assistant
Night vision assistant
with detected pedestrian marking
Description
App lies to vehicles: with night v isio n assistant
Fig . 103 Disp lay: nig ht v is ion assistant
"N ight v is ion assistant with pedestrian detec­
tion" uses an infrared camera to monitor the
area in front of your vehicle at night. Within
the limits of the system , it can display objects
up to about 1000 feet (300 meters) away. The
heat image of a pedestrian detected by the
camera is shown in the instrument cluster dis­
play
Q fig . 103 . Warm areas appear lighter
and cold areas appear darker .
Pedestrian detection
Applies to vehicles: with n ig ht v ision ass istant
Fig. 104 Display : yellow pedestrian marking
Night vision assistant 101
Fig. 105 D isp lay: symbo l w hen infrare d image is not
visi ble
Night vision assistant can detect pedestrians
that are between about 50 and 300 feet (15
and 90 meters) in front of the vehicle, under
ideal conditions .
If a pedestrian is detected
when it is dark outside and the vehicle head­
lights are switched on, the pedestrian is high ­
lighted in yellow
Qf/g . 104, Qpage 102,
General information.
If another display such
as navigation replaces the image from the
night vision assistant, the symbo l~,, appears
in a tab
Q fig. 105.
(D Tips
If the night vision assistant image does
not appear when the system is sw itched
on, you can access it with the buttons on
the multifunction steering wheel
Q page24 .

102 Night visi on assis tant
Pedestrian warning
Applies to vehicles: with night vision assistant
Fig. 106 Display : pedestrian warning
Fig . 107 D is p lay: pedestrian warning w ith a nother dis­
p lay
I f a pedestrian is detected in an area in front
of the vehicle that the system considers criti­
cal, the pedestrian is high lighted in red
¢ fig . 106 and a warning tone sounds. This
area is based on the vehicle speed and steer ­
ing angle. The pedestrian warning prompts
you to pay even closer attention to the area in
front of the vehicle and to watch out for pe­
destrians.
If another display s uch as the tr ip computer
replaces the image from the night vision as­
sistant, the indicator light turns red when
there is a pedestrian warning.¢
fig. 107 .
The pedestrian warning . appears in the
Head-up Display *.
(D Tips
The pedestrian marking and warn ing tone
can be adjusted in the MMI
!:!) page 103.
General information
Applies to vehicles: with night vision assistant
Fig. 108 Fro nt of th e ve hicle: night v ision assistant
camera
T he following situat ions may affect the func­
t ion of the n ight vision assistant system:
- poor visibility such as snow, rain, fog or
heavy road spray
- dirty lens on the n ight vis ion assistant cam -
era
Make sure the night vision assistant camera
¢
fig . 108 is not covered by stickers, deposits
or any other obstructions because that can
prevent the camera from working properly.
For information on cleaning the lens, refer to
¢ page 211.
Pedestrian detection depends on the d iffer ­
ence in temperature between the person and
the background. Pedestr ians may not be de­
tected if the temperature diffe rence is too
small . Th e pedestrian highl ighting feature is
deactivated at tempe ratures above 77 ° F
(25 °C) and when it is light outside.
A WARNING
Night vision assistant has limits and can­
not always detect pedestr ians. Always pay
close attention to traffic and the area
around your vehicle even when night vision
assistant is sw itched on .
- Night vision assistant can only warn
about people located within the visual
range of the infrared camera. The visual
range corresponds to the image in the in­
strument cluster display .
- Night vision assistant may not detect
-
peop le and highlight them if .,.