2013 AUDI A6 instrument cluster

a gear that is suitable for the incline. Hill de­
scent control tries to maintain the speed ach­
ieved at the time of brak ing, within physical
and technica l limitations. If may still 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 with the cruise control system*
¢ page 79, hill descent control is also activat­
ed when the speed is set.
.&_ WARNING
-
H ill descent control cannot overcome
physical limitations, 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
Applies to vehicles: with mult itronic/S tronic/tiptron ic
Using the manual shift program you can
manually select gears.
Fig. 114 Center co nsole: shi fting the gears manually
Fig. 115 Steering wheel: Shift buttons•
"' 8 0 CJ
cb
Automatic Transmission 109
Gear selection with selector lever
The tiptronic mode can be selected either with
the vehicle stationary or on the move.
"' Push the se lecto r 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 the se lector lever forward
to the plus position
0 ¢ fig . 114.
"' To downshift, push the lever to the minus
position
0 .
Gear selection with paddle levers*
The shift buttons are activated when these­
lector lever is in D/S or the tiptronic manual
shift program .
"'To upshift, touch the button on the rig ht G)
C) fig. 115 .
.,. To downshift, touch the button on the left
0 .
"' If you do not press a sh ift button within a
short time while in the D/S position, the
transm iss ion w ill retur n to automat ic mode.
To keep shifting using the sh ift buttons,
move the selector lever to the r ight out of
t he D/S posit ion.
The transmission automatically shifts up or
down before cr itical engine speed is reached .
The transm ission only a llows manual sh ifting
when the engine speed is w ithin the permit­
ted range.
(D Tips
- When you shift into the next lower gear,
the 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.
- T iptron ic is inoperat ive when the trans­
mission is in the fail-safe mode.

110 Automatic Tran sm iss ion
Kick-down
Applies to vehicles: with multitron ic/S tronic/t iptronic
Kick-down enables maximum acceleration .
Applies to ve hicle s w ith a multit ro nic ®
t ra nsmission
When you depress the accelerator pedal be­
yond the resistance po int, the transmission
downshifts into a lower gear ratio depend ing
on the vehicle speed and engine speed. As l ong as the accelerator peda l is depressed, the
engine speed is a utomat ica lly regulated for
maximum accelera tion.
Appli es to veh icl es with a S tronic ®-/ ,
tiptronic tran smi ssion
When you dep ress the accele rator pedal be­
yond the resistance po int, the a utomat ic
transmission downshifts into a lower gear, de­
pending on vehicle speed and engine speed.
The upshift into the next higher gear takes p lace once the maximum specified engine
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
Applies to vehicles: with S tronic
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 .
.. Press the
I~ O FF I button ¢ page 194 while
the engine is running. The
IJ indica tor light
illuminates in the instrument cluster and
Sta bilization contr ol (ESC ): Off Warn ing!
R educed stabi lit y
appears in the dr iver in­
fo rmat io n system disp lay .
.. Move the selecto r lever to posit ion D/S to
select sport mode (5) or select
D yna mic
mode in Audi dr ive select c:> page 99 .
.. Press the b rake pedal strongly with you r left
foot and hold it down for at least 1 second .
.. At the same time, press the accelerator
pedal down complete ly with your r ight foot
until the engine reaches and mainta ins a
high RPM .
.. Remove your foot from the brake pedal
w ith in
5 seconds c:> ,&. .
_&. WARNING
-Always adapt your dr iving to the tr aff ic
f low.
- Onl y use the Launch Cont ro l Program
when road and t raff ic condi tions a llow i t
and other d rivers w ill not be endangered
or annoyed by your driving and the vehi ­
cle 's acceleration.
- Please note that the driving wheels can spin and the vehicle can b reak away
when ESC is switched off, especially
when the road is slippery .
- Once the vehicle has started moving,
press the
1 1' OFFI button brief ly to turn
the ESC on .
(D Tips
- The transmission temperature may in ­
crease signif icantly after using the
launch control program. If that happens,
the program may not be ava ilable for a
few minutes. It w ill be available again af­
ter a cool-down per iod.
- When accelerating using the launch con­
tro l program, all vehicle parts are subject
to heavy loads . This can resu lt in in­
creased wear .
Transmission malfunction
Applies to vehicles: with multitronic/S tronic/tiptronic
[O] Tran smi ssi on: Pr ess brake pedal and se­
lect gear again
Press the brake peda l and select the desired
selector lever position again. You can the n
continue d riving .
[O] Transmi ssion overheating: Plea se drive
con servatively

136 Safety belts
Safety belts
General notes
Always wear safety belts!
Wearing safe ty bel ts correctly saves lives!
This chapter exp lains why safety be lts are nec ­
essary, how they work and how to adjust and
wear them correctly .
.. Read a ll the information that fo llows and
heed all of the instruct ions and WARNINGS.
A WARNING
Not wearing safety belts or wearing them
improperly increases the risk of ser ious
personal in jury and death .
- Safety belts are the sing le most effective
means avai lab le to reduce the risk of se­
r ious injury and dea th in a utomob ile acci­
dents . For your protection and that of
yo ur passenge rs, always co rrectly wear
safety belts when the vehicle is moving .
- P regnant women, injured, or physically
im paired perso ns mu st also use safety
bel ts . Lik e all veh icle occup ants, they are
more like ly to be ser iously injured if they
do not wea r safety be lts . The best way to
protect a fetus is to protect the mother -
throughout the entire pregnancy.
Number of seats
Your Audi has a total of five seating positions: two in the front and three in the rear. Each
seating position has a safety belt.
A WARNING
Not wea ring safety belts or weari ng them
improp erly increases th e risk of ser ious
pe rsonal i njury and dea th.
- N ever st rap more than one pe rson, in­
cl uding small ch ild ren, into any belt.
It is
e speci ally dange rous to pla ce a safety
belt over a child s itting on yo ur lap.
- N ever le t mo re people ride in the ve hicl e
than there are s afe ty be lts avail able. -
Be s ure everyone riding in the vehicle is
properly restrained w ith a separate safe ­
ty belt or child restra int.
t Safety belt warning light
Your vehicle hos o warning system for the
driver and front seat passenger (on USA mod­
els only) to remind you abou t the impor tance
of buckling-up .
Fi g. 14 5 Safety bel t warni ng lig ht in the inst rum ent
cl uster -e nl ar ged
Before driving off, alway s:
.. Fasten you r safety belt and make sure you
are wearing it properly .
.. Make s ure that your passengers a lso buck le
up and properly wear their safety be lts.
.. Protect children wit h a child restraint sys-
tem app ro priate for the s ize and age .
The warn ing light . in the instrument cluster
li ghts up when the ignit ion is on as a rem inder
to fasten the safety belts . In addit ion, you will
hear a wa rning tone fo r a ce rtain per iod of
t ime .
Fasten your safety belt and make sure that
your pass eng ers also properly put on the ir
s afety belt s.
A WARNING .....=-
-Safety b elts are the s ingle most eff ect ive
means availa ble to reduce t he ri sk of se­
rio us inju ry and de ath in au tomobile acci­
dents. Fo r yo ur protection and that of
your passengers , a lways cor rectly wear
safety belts when t he vehicle is moving .

148 Airbag sys tem
If the front passenger airbag is turned off , the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes on in
the instrument cluster and stays on .
I f the front passenger airbag deploys, the
F ederal Standard requires the airbag to meet
the " low risk" deployment criteria to reduce
the r isk of in jury through interaction with the
a irbag. "Low ris k" deployment oc curs in tho se
c rashe s that take pl ace a t lower decele ra tions
as defined in the electronic control un it
c::> page 158, PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light.
A lw ays r emember, a chi ld seat or infant carri­
er installed on the front seat may be s truck
and knocked out of position by the rap idly in ­
flati ng passenger's a irbag i n a frontal colli­
sion . The airbag could greatly reduce the ef­
fectiveness of t he ch ild restrai nt and even se­
r io usly in ju re the child during infla tion.
For this reason, and because the back seat is
the safest place for chi ldren - when p roperly
r estra ined a ccord ing to the ir age and size - we
strongly recommend t hat childre n always si t
in the back seat
c::> page 171, Child Safety .
& WARNING
-
A child in a rearward -facing child seat in ­
stalled on the front passenger seat will be
ser iously injured and can be killed if the
front airbag inflates - even with an Ad­
vanced Airbag System.
- The inflating a irbag will hit the child seat
or infant carrier w ith great force and w ill
smash the ch ild seat and child against
the bac krest , cen ter armres t, door or
roof.
- Always install rear-facing child seats on
the rear seat.
- If you must i nstall a rearward facing
child seat on the front passenge r seat
because of except iona l circumstances
and the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF ligh t
does not come on an d stay on, immedi­
a tely install the re ar-facin g chi ld seat in a
rear seating position and have the ai rbag
system inspected by your Aud i dealer. -
Forwa rd- facing child seats installed on
the front passenger 's seat may interfere
wit h the dep loyment of the a irbag and
cause serious persona l injury to the
child .
& WARNING
-If, in except ional circumstances, you m ust
i nstall a forward-facing child restraint on
the front passenge r's seat:
- Always make sur e the forward-facing
seat has been designe d and certified by
its m anufacture r for u se on a fron t se at
wit h a passenger fron t and s ide airba g.
- Never p ut t he fo rward -facing child re­
s tra int up agains t or ve ry near the instru­
men t pa nel.
- Always move the passenge r seat into it s
rearmost pos ition in the seat' s fore and
aft a djustmen t range, as fa r away from
the air bag as possible before installing
the forwar d-facing ch ild restra int . The
backrest must be ad justed to an upright
position.
- Make sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
li ght comes on and stays on all the
time whenever the ignit ion is switched
on .
& WARNING
-To reduce the risk of serious injury, make
sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light w ill be display ed whe nev er a child re­
straint is insta lled on the front pa ssenger
se at and the ignition is sw itche d on .
- If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does no t stay on, per form the che cks de­
scribed
c::> page 15 7, Monitoring the Ad­
vanced Airbag System.
- Ta ke t he chi ld restraint off the fron t pas­
senger sea t and inst all it prope rly at one
of the rear seat positions i f the
PASSEN­
GER AIR BAG OFF
li ght does not stay on.
- Have the airbag system inspected by
your Aud i dea le r i mmediately.

backrest must be adjusted to an upright
posit ion.
- Always make sure that there is nothing
on the front passenger seat that will
cause the capacitive passenger detection
system in the seat to s ignal to the A irbag
System that the seat is occupied by a person when it is not, or to signa l that it
is occupied by som eone who is heavier
than t he pe rson actually s itting on t he
sea t. T he presence of addition al obje cts
cou ld cause the passenger front airbag
to be t urned on when it sho uld be off, or
cou ld cause t he airbag to work in a way
that is different from the way it wou ld
have worked without the object on the
seat.
- Make sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
light comes on and stays on all the
t ime w henever the ignition is switc hed
on.
Advanced Airbag System components
The front passenger seat in your vehicle has a
l ot of very important parts of the Advanced
A irbag System in it. These parts incl ude t he
c a pac itive passenger de te ct ion sys tem, wir­
ing, b racke ts, and more . The cont ro l uni t
monitors the system o n the front passenger
seat when the ign ition is switched on and
turns the airbag indicator light on w hen a
malfunct ion in the one of the system compo­
nents is detected¢
page 158. Beca use the
fro nt passenge r seat contains important parts
of the Advanced Airbag System, you must
take care to p revent it from bei ng damaged.
D amage to the seat may preven t the Ad ­
vanced A irbag System for the front passenger
seat from doing its job in a crash .
The front Advanced Airbag System
consists of the following:
-Crash sensors in the front of the veh icle tha t
measure ve hicle acceleration/dece le ration
to provide information to the Advanced Air­ bag System about the severity of the crash.
A irbag system 153
- An elect ron ic contro l unit, with integrated
crash sensors fo r front and side impacts .
The control un it "decides" whether to f ire
the front a irbags based on the informat ion
received from the crash sensors. The control
unit also "decides" whether the safety belt
prete nsione rs should be act iva ted.
- An Advanced A irbag w it h gas generator and
cont ro l valve for the driver ins ide the steer ­
ing wheel h ub.
- An Advanced A irbag w ith gas generator and
cont ro l valve inside the instrument pa nel for
the front passenger .
- A capacit ive passenger detection system un­
de rneath the front passenger seat cover.
This system measu res the ele ct rical capac i­
t ance of the perso n in the seat. The informa ­
t ion regis tered is se nt cont inuo usly to the
elec tronic con trol un it to regu late dep loy­
ment of the front Advanced A irbag on the
passenger side.
-An airbag monitoring system an d ind icator
light in the instr ument cluster ¢
page 157.
-A senso r in each front seat registers the dis ­
tance between the respective seat a nd the
steering whee l or instrument panel. The in­
formation registered is sent cont inuo usly to
the electron ic contro l unit to regulate de­
ployment of the front Adva need A irbags .
- The
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF li ght comes
on and stays on in the center of the instr u­
ment panel¢
fig. 159 and te lls you when
the front Advanced Airbag o n the passenger
side has been turned off.
- A senso r in t he safety belt latch fo r the d riv­
er and fo r the front seat passenger that
senses whethe r th at safety belt is latched or
no t and tra nsmi ts this informa tion to the
elec tro nic con trol un it.
A WARNING
D amage to the fron t passenger se at can
p revent the front air bag from work ing
p roperly.
- Imp roper repai r or disassembly of the
front passenge r and dr iver seat will pre­
vent the Advanced Airbag System from
functioning properly.
-
•
•

154 Airbag system
-Repairs to the front passenger seat must
be performed by qualified and properly
trained workshop personnel.
- Never remove the front passenger or
driver seat from the vehicle.
- Never remove the upholstery from the
front passenger seat.
- Never disassemble or remove parts from
the seat or disconnect wires from it.
- Never carry sharp objects in your pockets
or put them on the seat. The capacitive
passenger detection mat in the front
passenger seat will not function properly
if it is punctured .
- Never carry things on your lap or carry
objects on the front passenger seat.
Such objects can influence the capaci­
tance registered by the capacitive pas­ senger detection system, so that incor­
rect information is provided to the airbag
control unit.
- Never store items under the front pas­
senger seat. Parts of the Advanced Air­
bag System under the passenger seat
could be damaged, preventing them and
the airbag system from working proper­
ly.
- Never place seat covers or replacement upholstery that have not been specifical­
ly approved by Audi on the front seats.
- Seat covers can prevent the Advanced
Airbag System from recognizing child re­
straints or occupants on the front pas­
senger seat and prevent the side airbag
in the seat backrest from deploying prop­
erly .
- If a seat heater has been retrofitted or
otherwise added to the front passenger
seat, never install any child restraint sys­
tem on this seat.
- Never use cushions, pillows, blankets, or
similar items on the front passenger
seat. The additional layers prevent the
capacitive passenger detection system
from accurately measuring the capaci­
tance of the child safety seat and/or the
person on the seat and thus keep the Ad- vanced Airbag System from working
properly.
- Never place or use any electrical device
(such as a laptop, CD player, electronic
games device or power inverter) on the
front passenger seat if the device is con­ nected to the 12-volt socket or the ciga­
rette lighter socket. Such devices can in­
fluence the capacitance registered by the
capacitive passenger detection system,
so that incorrect information is provided
to the airbag control unit.
- If you must use a child restraint on the
front passenger seat and the child re­
straint manufacturer's instructions re­
quire the use of a towel, foam cushion or
something else to properly position the
child restraint, make certain that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes
on and stays on whenever the child re­
straint is installed on the front passen­
ger seat.
- If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not come on and stay on, immedi­
ately install child restraint in a rear seat­
ing position and have the airbag system
inspected by your Audi dealer.
_& WARNING
If the front passenger seat gets wet, dry it
immediately.
- If liquid soaks into the front passenger
seat, this can keep the airbag system
from working properly and may, for in­ stance, deactivate the passenger frontal
airbag. If this happens, the
PASSENGER
AIR BAG OFF
light will come on and stay
on together with the airbag indicator light
fl in the instrument cluster .
- If liquid is pooled on the seat, but has
not soaked in, this may also keep the air­
bag system from working properly and
cause the passenger frontal airbag to be
enabled (turned on), even though there
is a properly installed child restraint sys­
tem on the seat. Wet towels or other wet
things on the seat cushion can have the

temperatures stay below freezing point for l ong periods.
Detergent add itives in the o il w il l make fresh
oil look dark after the eng ine has been run ­
ning fo r a short time . This is norma l and is not
a reason to change the oi l more often than
recommended.
D am ag e or m alfun ction s due to lack of
ma intenanc e
It is essential that you change your oil at the
r ecommended inte rva ls using only engine o il
t hat complies wi th A udi oi l standard
VW 502 00 . Your Limited New Vehicle War ­
ranty does not cover damage or malfunctions
d ue to fa ilure to fo llow recommended mainte­
nance and use requ irements as set forth in
the Audi Owner's Manua l and Warranty
&
Maintenance book let . Your dea ler will have to
deny warranty coverage u nless you present to
the dea ler p roof in the fo rm of Serv ice or Re­
pa ir Orde rs that all s chedu led maintenance
wa s pe rformed in a t imely manner .
Engine oil consumption
The engine in your vehicle dep ends on an ade­
quate amount of oil to lubricate and cool all
of its moving parts.
In o rder to provide effective lubrication and
cool ing of i nternal engine components, a ll in­
ternal comb ustion eng ines consume a cert ain
amo unt of o il. Oil cons umption varies from
engine to engine and may change significantly
over the life of the engine. Typ ica lly, engines
with a specified break-in per iod (see
¢
page 199) consume more oil during the
break-in per iod than they consume after oil
consumption has stabilized .
Under norma l conditions, the rate of oil con ­
sumpt ion depends on the quality and viscosity
of the oil, the RPM (revo lutions per m inute) at
which the engine is operated, the amb ient
temperature and road condit ions. Furthe r fac­
tors ar e the amount of o il d ilution from wate r
condensation or fuel residue and the ox ida­
tion level of the oi l. As any engine is s ubje ct to
Checkin g and fillin g 229
wear as m ileage builds up, the oil consump ­
tion may increase over time until replacement
of worn components may become necessary.
Wi th a ll these variab les coming into p lay, no
standard rate of oil consumpt ion can be es ­
tablished or specified. There is no alternative
to regular and frequent check ing of the o il lev ­
el, see
Note .
If the yellow engine oil leve l warning symbo l
in the instrument cluster
II li ghts up, you
sho uld check the oil leve l as soon as possib le
¢
page 230. Top off the oil at your earliest
convenience ¢
page 230.
A WARNING
Before you check anythi ng i n the engine
com partment, always read a nd heed all
WARNINGS¢ .&.
in Working in th e engine
c ompartment on page 225.
(D Note
D riving w ith an insufficient o il level is like­
ly to cause sever e damage to the engine .
(D Tips
- The oil pressure warning display. is
not an indicator of the oil le vel. Do not
rely on it . Instead, check the oil level in
your engine at regu lar intervals, pref­
erably ea ch time you refuel, and always
before going on a long trip .
-If you have the impression yo ur engi ne
c ons umes ex ce ss ive amoun ts of o il, we
recommend that you consul t your Au di
de aler to have the cause of your concern
properly diagnosed . Keep in mind that
the accurate meas urement of o il con ­
sumption requires great care and may
take some t ime. Y our Audi dea ler has in­
struct ions about how to measure oil con­
sumption accurately.
-
•
•

230 Checking and filling
Checking the engine oil level
Fig. 185 Disp lay: o il level indica tor
• Park your vehicle on a level surface.
• Shut the engine off when it is warm.
• Switch only the ignition back on.
• Wait approximately two minutes.
• Select:
ICARI function button> (Car)* sys­
tems
control button > Servicing & checks >
Oil level.
• Check the oil level in the display c::> fig. 185.
Add engine oil if the bar of the oil level indi­
cator is near "min"
c::> page 230.
Depending on the way the vehicle is driven
and the operating conditions, oil consumption
can be up to 1/2 quart per 600 miles (0.5 liter
per 1,000 km) . Consumption may be higher
within the first 3,000 miles (5,000 km).
@ Tips
The oil level indicator in the MMI Display is
only an information display. If the oil level
is low, a minimum oil warning appears in
the instrument cluster. Add oil
c::> page 230. If the hood has been opened,
the current oil level is shown in the instru­
ment cluster the next time the ignition is
switched on .
Adding engin e oil 't:::r.
Fig. 186 Engine compart men t: cover on the engine oil
fille r neck
Before you check anything in the engine com­
partment,
always read and heed all WARN­
INGS
c::> .&. in Working in the engine compart­
ment on page 225.
• Unscrew the cap 't=1'l to the engine oil filling
hole
c::> fig . 186, c::> fig. 184.
• Carefully top off with the appropriate oil in
0.5 liter doses.
• Check the oil level again after two minutes
<=:>page 230.
• Top off the oil aga in, if necessary.
• Screw the cap back on the filling hole.
A WARNING
-- While topping off, the oil must not come
in contact with hot engine parts -fire
hazard!
- The oil filler cap must be properly se­
cured to prevent oil from being sprayed
on the hot engine and exhaust system
when the engine is running -fire hazard!
- If your skin has come in contact with the
engine oil, you must subsequently
cleanse it thoroughly.
(D Note
- Check the oil level using the MMI. If the
message
Please reduce oil level appears,
contact your authorized Audi dealer or
other qualified workshop to have excess
oil extracted if necessary.
-Audi does not recommend the use of oil
additives. They may damage the engine ..,_.