212 Trailertowing
Trailer towing
Driving with a trailer
General information
Your Audi was designed primarily for passen
ger transportation .
If you plan to tow a trai ler, p lease remember
that the additional load will affect durability,
economy and performance .
Trailer towing not on ly places more stress on
the vehicle, it also calls for more concentra
tion from the driver.
For this reason, always fo llow the operating
and driving instructions provided and use
common sense.
Technical requirements
T ra ile r hitch
Use a weight-carrying hitch conforming to the
gross trailer weight. The hitch must be suita
ble for your vehicle and trailer and mu st be
mounted securely on the veh icle's chassis at a
technically sound location. Use only a trailer
h itch with a removable ball mount. A lways
check with the trai ler h itch manufact urer to
make sure that you are using the correct
hitch.
Do n ot use a bumper hi tch.
The hitch must be installed in such a way that
it does not interfere with the impact-absorb
ing bumper system . No modifications should
be made to the vehicle exhaust and brake sys
tems . From t ime to time, check that all hitch
mounting bo lts remain securely fastened.
When you are not towing a trailer, remove the
trailer h itch ball mount. This prevents the
h itch from causing damage should your veh i
cle be struck from behind
¢ A .
Traile r brak es
If your tra iler is equipped w ith a braking sys
tem, check to be sure that it conforms to a ll
regulat ions . The trailer hydraulic brake system must not be
direct ly connected to the vehicle's hydraulic
brake system
~ A .
Saf ety ch ain s
Always use safety chains between your veh icle
and the trai le r.
Trail er light s
Trailer lights must meet all regulations. Be
sure to check w ith your authorized Audi dealer
for correct wiring, sw itches, and relays.
Mirror s
If you are unable to see the traffic behind you
using the regular outside mirrors, then you
must install extended mirrors .
It is important
that you always have clea r vis io n to the rear.
,8. WARNING
- I f a trai ler has electrical brakes p lease
note that these brakes are not activated
by the factory -fitted control unit -risk of
accident!
- Afte r removing the trailer hitch, do not
store it in your vehicle. In case of sudden
braking, the hitch could fly forward and
injure you or your passengers.
- Never install a "weight distributing" or
"load equalizing" trailer hitch on your ve
h icle. The vehicle was not designed for
these kinds of trailer h itches. The h itch
attachment can fail, caus ing the trailer
to tear loose from the veh icle.
- The Gross Vehicle Weight Rating for your
veh icle, found on the safety compliance
label on the driver's s ide B-pillar, must
never be exceeded under any c ircumstan
ces. Exceeding the Gross Vehicle Weight
Rating of yo ur vehicle is likely to damage
your vehicle, and such damage will not
be covered by yo ur Limited New Ve hicle
Warranty . Exceeding the Gross Vehicle
Weight Rating will a lso change the per
formance and handling characteristics of
your veh icle, wh ich could cause a crash
resulting in serious injury or death.
-
284 Emergency situations
Emergency situations
General
This chapter is intended for trained emer
gency crews and working personnel who
have the necessary tools and equipment to
perform these ope rations.
Starting by pushing or
towing
Q;) Note
Vehicles with an automati c transmission
cannot be started by pushing or towing .
Starting with jumper
cables
If necessary, the engine can be started by
connecting it to the battery of another vehi
cle.
If the engine should fail to start because of a
discharged or weak battery, the battery can be
connected to the battery of
another veh icle,
using a
pair of jumper cables to start the en
g ine .
Jumper cables
Use only jumper cables of sufficiently large
cross section to carry the starter current safe
ly. Refer to the manufacturer's specifications.
Use only jumper cables with
insulated termi
na l clamps which are distinctly marked:
plus(+) cable in most cases colored red
minu s(-) cable
in most cases colored black .
A WARNING
Batteries contain electricity, ac id, and gas .
Any of these can cause very serious or fatal
inju ry. Follow the instructions below for
safe handling of your veh icle's battery.
- Always shield you r eyes and avoid lean
ing over the battery whenever possible.
- A discharged battery can freeze at tem
peratures just be low 32 °F (0 °C). Before connecting a
jumper cable, you must
thaw the frozen battery complete ly, oth
erwise it could explode.
- Do not allow battery acid to contact eyes
or skin . Flush any contacted area with
water immediately .
- Improper use of a booster battery to start a vehicle may cause an explosion.
- Vehicle batteries generate explosive gas
es. Keep sparks, flame and lighted ciga
rettes away from batteries.
- Do not try to jump start any vehicle with a low ac id level in the battery.
- The vo ltage of the booster battery must
also have a 12-Volt rating . The capacity
(Ah) of the booster battery should not be
lower than that of the discharged bat
tery . Use of batteries of d ifferent voltage
or substantially different "Ah" rating
may cause an exp losion and personal in
jury.
- Never charge a frozen batte ry. Gas trap
ped in the ice may cause an explosion.
- Never charge or use a battery that has
been frozen. The battery case may have
be weakened.
- Use of batter ies of different voltage or
substantially different capacity (Ah) rat
ing may cause an exp losion and injury.
The capacity (Ah) of the booster battery
should not be lower than that of the dis
charged battery.
- Before you check anything in the engine
compartment, always read and heed a ll
WARNINGS ¢
page 226, Engine com
partment.
«I) Note
-Applying a higher voltage booster bat
tery will cause expensive damage to sen
sitive electronic components, such as
contro l units, relays, rad io, etc .
- There must be no electrical contact be
tween the vehicles as otherwise current
could already start to flow as soon as the
positive(+) terminals are connected. ..,_