2013 AUDI A6 towing

Error messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
Trailer hitch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
Homelink ® . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
Universal remote control . . . . . . . . . . . 124
Safety fir st . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
Driving Safely . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
Gene ral notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
Proper occupant seating posit ions . . . 12 7
Driver and passenger side footwell . . . 131
Pedal area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
Stowing luggage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
Report ing Safety Defects . . . . . . . . . . . 134
Safety belts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
Ge neral notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
Why safety be lts? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Safety belts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
Safety bel t pre tens io ners . . . . . . . . . . 1 43
Airbag system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
I mpo rtant th ings to know . . . . . . . . . . 145
Fr ont airbags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 49
M on itoring the Advanced Airbag
System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
Knee airbags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
Side airbags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
Side curta in a irbags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
Child Safety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
Important things to know . . . . . . . . . . 171
C hi ld safety seats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
Install ing a child safety seat . . . . . . . . 182
L ATC H Lower ancho rages and tethe rs
for ch ild ren . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
Addit ional Information 189
Audi pre sense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190
P reven tat ive passenger p rotection 190
Vehicle operat ion . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
Intelligent technology . . . . . . . . 19 2
Not ice about da ta re cor ded by veh icle
control mod ules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
Elect ronic Stabilization Control (ESC) . 192
Braking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
E lectro-mechanical power assist . . . . . 196
Table of contents 3
Driving with your q uattro ® . . . . . . . . . 196
Energy management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
Driving and environment . . . . . 199
The first 1,000 miles (1,500 km) and
afterwards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
Catalytic converter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200
Avoid damaging the vehicle . . . . . . . . . 200
Drivi ng throug h wate r on roads . . . . . 201
Operate your vehicle economically and
min imize poll ution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
Trailer towing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
D rivi ng with a trailer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
T ra ile r tow ing tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
Vehicle care . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208
Cleaning and protection . . . . . . 208
General infor mation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208
Care of ex ter ior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208
Care of interior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214
Fuel supply and filling your
fuel tank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
220
Gasoline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220
F uel tank. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
Checking and filling . . . . . . . . . . . 225
Engine hood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225
Engine compartment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227
Engine oi l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227
Engine cooling system . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232
Brake fluid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234
Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235
Windsh ield/headlight washer
co ntaine r . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239
Tires and wheels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240
T ires . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240
T ire pressu re mo nitoring system 258
Do-it-yourself service . . . . . . . . . 261
What do I do now? . . . . . . . . . . . . 261
T ru nk escape handle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261
E mergency warn ing triangle . . . . . . . . 261
Vehicle tool kit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 2
Changing a wheel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263
•
•

4 Table of contents
Fuses and bulbs .... ... .. .. ... .
Fuses . ..... ... . ...... ... .. .. ... .
Bulbs . ... .. ... ... .... ... .. .. ... .
Emergency situations ... .. ... .
General .... ... .. ..... ... .. .. ... .
Starting by push ing or tow ing . .. .. . .
Starting with jumper cab les .. .. .. . .
Use of jumper cab les .. .. .. .. .. .. . .
Eme rgency towing with commercial
tow truck .. ................ ... . .
Lift ing vehicle . ........... .... ... .
Technical data ............. .. . .
General information .. .. .. .. . .
Explana tion of te chnical data . .. ... .
Vehicle iden tifica tion .... ...... .. . .
Weights ... ... .. ..... ... .. .. ... .
Dimensions .... .. ..... ... .. .. ... .
Data .. .. .. .. .. .. .... ... .. .. .. . .
A6 211 hp, 2.0 liter 4 -cylinder engine
A6 310 hp, 3.0 liter 6-cyli nder engine
S6 420 hp, 4.0 lite r 8-cylinder engine
Consumer Information ..... . .
Warranty coverages .... ... .. .. ... .
Operating your vehicle o utside the
U.S.A. o r Canada ......... .. .. .. . .
Aud i Service Repair Ma nua ls and 270
270
273
274 274
274
274
275
276 278
280 280
280
280
280 28 1
282
28 2
283 284
285
285 285
Li terature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285
M aintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285
Addit ional accesso ries , modifications
a nd parts replacement . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 7
D eclaration o f Compliance,
Te lecommunication and E lectronic
Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 290

Instrument s and warning /indicator lights 23
There is a malfunct ion with the sport differen ­
tial.
D rive to yo ur aut ho riz ed Aud i dea le r i mmedi ­
ately to have the mal func tion cor re cted.
II] Sport differential : overheating
The transmission temperature has increased
sign ificantly due to the sporty dr iving manner .
Dr ive in a less spo rty manne r unt il the tem­
perat ure returns to the no rma l range and the
in di cator lig ht switches of.
& WARNING
Con ta ct yo ur a uthori ze d Au di d ealer o r a
qu alifi ed workshop if the spor t diffe ren tial
is faulty or ma lfunctioni ng . The repa ir
must be perfo rmed by trai ned person ne l
using the cor rect oil in orde r to ensure
safety.
¢i 9 Turn signals
-
The indicator light blinks when you use either
turn signal.
W henever you use the left II or the rig ht II
turn sig na l, the ind icator light blinks . When
you use the emergency flashers, both indica ­
tor lights f las h.
I f o ne of the tu rn s ignal light bu lbs burn out,
t he t urn signa l will blink tw ice as fas t as nor ­
mal. Carefully drive to your author ized A udi
dea ler immediately to have the malfunction
corrected. The indicator light does not indi­
cate a malfunction ifa turn signa l on the trail­
er or on the vehicle fails in trailer towing mode .
@ Tips
For mo re i nfo rmation on the turn signals,
refer to
c::> page 43 .
CRUISE , .. \"i Cruise control
The warning/ind icator light [1jim~i~ (USA mod­
e ls)/ lil (Canada mode ls) illum inates when
t he c ruise c ont ro l is activa ted
c::> page 7 9 .
Driver information
display
Overview
Fi g. 4 Drive r in fo rm atio n syste m in th e i nst ru m ent
cl ust er
Fig. 5 Disp lay : examp le of t he info rmatio n lin e
The dr iver information system con tains infor ­
mation @ that is displayed on tabs @
c::> fig. 4. The following content is possible de ­
pending on veh icle equipment:
@
Tab
1
2
®
Content
Vehicle functions :
On-board computer c::> page 25
Efficiency program* c::> page 25
Digital speedometer
C ruise control*
c::> page 79
Adaptive cruise con trol and bra king
g uard *
c::> page 82
Aud i active lane ass ist * c::> page 91
Display dar kened
Ind icator lights and m essages
Warning when a door, the hood or
the rear lid is not closed
S ervice interval displ ay
c::> page 2 7
Speed warning system
c::> page 79

42 Clear vision
& WARNING
-Automatic headlights are only intended
to assist the driver . They do not relieve
the driver of his responsibility to check
the headlights and to turn them on man­
ually according to the current light and
visibility conditions. For example, fog
cannot be detected by the light sensors.
So always switch on the headlights
io
under these weather conditions and
when driving in the dark.
- Crashes can happen when you cannot see
the road ahead and when you cannot be
seen by other motorists. Always turn on
theheadlightssothatyoucanseeahead and so that others can see your car from
the back .
- Please observe legal regulations when
using the lighting systems described .
(D Note
The rear fog lights should only be turned
on in accordance with traffic regulation, as
the lights are bright for following traffic.
{D) Tips
- The light sensor* for automatic head­
light range control* is located in the rear
view mirror mount . You should therefore
not apply any stickers to the windshield
in this area in order to prevent malfunc­
tions or failures .
- In the event of a light sensor malfunc ­
tion, the driver is notified in the instru­
ment cluster display ~
page 22 .
-You will hear a warning tone if you open
the driver door when the exterior lights
are switched on.
- In cool or damp weather, the inside of
the headlights, turn signals and tail lights can fog over due to the tempera­
ture difference between the inside and
outside. They will clear shortly after
switching them on. This does not affect
the service life of the lighting.
Emergency flasher
The emergency flasher makes other motorists
aware that you or your vehicle are in an emer­
gency situation .
Fig. 34 Ce nte r co nso le: em erg en cy flash er sw itc h
.. Press the switch I:;,,. ~fig. 34 to turn the
emergency flashers on or off.
When the emergency flasher is on, all four
turn signals blink at the same time. The turn
signal indicator lights
B Nin the instrument
cluster, as well as the light in the emergency
flasher switch
I:;,,. blink likewise. The emergen­
cy flashers also work when the ignition is
turned off.
The emergency flashers will turn on automati­
cally if you are in an accident where the airbag
has deployed.
@ Tips
You should turn on the emergency flashers
when:
- you are the last vehicle standing in a traf­
fic jam so that any other vehicles coming
can see you, or when
- your vehicle has broken down or you are
in an emergency situation, or when
-your vehicle is being towed by a tow
truck or if you are towing another vehicle
behind you.
Adjusting the exterior lighting
The settings ore adjusted in the MMI.
.. Select: !CAR ! function button> (Car)* sys­
tems
control button > Vehicle settings > Ex-
terior lighting.
Ill>

62 Seats and storage
entry from the vehicle interior into the lug ­
gage compartment.
The luggage compartment can on ly enlarged
when the seatback is unlocked .
A WARNING
-
-The backrest must a lways be securely
latched so that the safety belt of the cen ­
ter seating pos ition can work properly to
help protect the occupant.
- The backrest must be securely latched in
position so that no items contained in
the luggage compartment can slide for­
ward upon sudden braking .
-Always check whether the latch is fully
engaged by p ulling the seatback for­
ward .
- Never allow safety belts to become dam­
aged by being caught in door or seat
hardware .
- Torn or frayed safety belts can tear and
damaged belt hardware can break in a
c rash . Inspect the be lts periodically .
Belts showing damage to webbing, bind­
ings, b uckles, or retractors mus t be re­
placed .
W Note
- If you move the front sea t back when the
r ear seat bac krest is fo lded fo rward, yo u
could damage the head restraints on t he
r e ar seat.
- Slide the belt guide on th e outside safety
b elt all the way up before folding the
ba ckrest b ack fo rward. Make su re the
seat belt is no t pinched or dam aged
when the rear seat backrest if folded back . Other objects shou ld be removed
from the rear seat bench to protect the
seatback from damage.
Tie-downs and cargo net
The cargo net* prevents small objects from
sliding .
Fig . 6 4 Locat io n of t he ti e-dow ns in the lu ggage com ­
pa rt m en t
Fig. 65 Lugga ge compart men t: cargo net *
.. To secure objects with the luggage com­
partment net*, fold the tie-down bracket
upward
c:> fig . 64 .
.. Insert the hooks on the luggage compart ­
ment net * into t he tie-downs~
fig . 65 .
.. Read and heed all WARNINGS ~ page 132,
Stowing luggage.
In a collision, the laws of physics mean that
even smaller items that a re loose in the vehi­
cl e w ill turn in to heavy m iss iles tha t ca n cause
serious injury. Items in the veh icle p ick up ki­
ne tic energy which varies with the vehicle and
the weight of the item . Vehicle speed is the
most sign ificant factor.
F o r ex ample, in a fro nta l collision at a speed
of 30 mph (48 km/h), the forces acting on a
10 -lb (5 kg) object are abo ut
20 times the
norma l weight of the item. This means that
the weight of the item wou ld sudden ly be the
equivalent of about 200 lbs (90 kg) . One can
easily imagi ne the injuries that an item of that
weight flying freely through the passenger ..,.

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.

@ 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

Error messages
Applies to vehicles: with parking system plus/rear view
camera/per ipheral cameras
There is an e rror in the system if the LED in
the
p, qA button is blinking and you hear a con­
tinuous alarm for a few seconds afte r switch­
ing on the parking system or when the park ­
ing system is already activated. If the error is
not corrected before you switch off the igni­
tion, the LED in the
Pw.6. button will blink the
next time you switch on the parking system by
shifting into reverse.
Parking system plus
If a sensor is faulty, the~ symbol will appear
in front of/behind the vehicle in the Infotain­
ment display. If a rear sensor is fau lty, only
obstacles that are in areas @ and @ are
shown
c:> fig. 117 . If a front sensor is fau lty,
only obstacles that are in areas © and @are
shown .
Peripheral cameras*
There is also a system error if:
- the
'(:8:)• • symbol appears in the display and
the corresponding display area is shown in
blue. The camera is not working in this area.
- all segments around the vehicles are red or
if no segments are displayed.
Drive to your authorized Aud i dea ler o r au­
thorized repair fac ility immediately to have
the ma lfunction corrected.
Trailer hitch
Appl ies to vehicles: with parking system plus/rear view
camera/per ipheral cameras and trailer hitch
For vehicles using the tra iler socket, the park­
ing system rear senso rs do not turn on when
you shift into reverse gear or when yo u press
the P
01A button. This resu lts in the following re­
strictions:
Parking system plus*
There is no distance wa rning for the rear. The
front sensors rema in activated. The visual dis­
play switches to the trailer towing mode.
Parking systems 123
Parking system plus and rear view
camera* /Peripheral cameras*
There is no distance warning for the rear. The
front sensors remain activated. The visual dis­
play sw itches to the trailer towing mode. The
rear view camera image will not show the ori­
entation lines and the blue surfaces .
{D Tips
Trailer hitches that are not installed at the
factory may cause the park ing system to
malfunction or they may restr ict its func­
tion.