2014 AUDI A5 CABRIOLET Owners Manual

The Automatic Shift Lock only functions when
the vehicle is statio nary or at speeds below
1 mph (2 km/h).
At speeds above about 1 mph (2 km/h) the
Automatic Shift Lock is automatically deacti ­
vated in the
N position.
A time de lay element prevents the se lector
l ever from locking when it is moved thro ugh
the N position (going from R to D/S). The lock­
ing e lement will lock the selector lever if the
l ever is left in N (Neutral) for more than ap­
prox imately 2 seconds, w ithout the brake ped­
al being pressed.
R elease button
The release bu tton on the selec tor lever pre ­
vents the leve r from being accidenta lly shifted
into certain positions. Depend ing on the direc­
tion of the shift, the se lector lever locks at d if­
ferent positions. The positions are h ighlighted
i n the illustration ¢
fig. 97 .
Ignition key s afety interl ock
The key cannot be removed from the ignition un less the se lector lever is in the P park posi­
tion . When the ign ition key is removed, the
selector lever will be locked in the P pos ition.
Driving the automatic transmission
App lies to vehicles: with mu ltitron ic/S tronic/t iptronic
F ig. 98 Shi ft gat e on th e center co nso le: se lec tor lever
wit h release b utto n
Starting the engine
"' The selector lever must be in P o r
N.
Starting off
"' Press and ho ld the brake pedal. Tran
sm iss ion 87
"' Press and hold the re lease button in these­
lector lever hand le, select the desired selec­
to r lever posit ion such as D/S and re lease
the button.
"' Wait briefly unt il the transmission has shift­
ed (you w ill fee l a slight movement) .
"' Remove your foot from the brake pedal and
accelerate .
Stopping temporarily "' Keep the veh icle stationary using the brak­
ing pedal, for example at traffic lig hts.
"' Do not press the accelerator peda l when do ­
ing this .
"' To prevent the vehicle from ro lling when you
s tart dr iv ing, set the parki ng b ra ke when
s topping on steep in clines ~,&. .
"' The parking brake will release a utomat ica lly
and the vehicle will start moving once you
press the acce lerator pedal.
Stopping/parking
I f the se lector lever is not in the P position
when you open the d river 's door, the ve hicle
could roll . The message Transmission : Car
may roll! Shift to park! appears.
"' Press and hold the bra ke peda l un til the ve -
hicle has come to a complete stop.
"' App ly the parking brake ~
page 80, Parking.
"'Select the P selector lever position ¢ ,&..
Stopping on an incline
"'Always press the brake pedal to ho ld the ve­
hicle in pla ce and p revent it from " ro lli ng
b ack" ~,&. . Do not try to p reven t the veh i­
cle from "rolling back" when a gear is en ­
gaged by increasing the engine speed
~ 0.
Starting on an incline
"' Ac tiva te the pa rk ing brake.
"' With the d riv in g gear sele cted, p ress the ac­
celerator peda l carefully . The parking bra ke
w ill release automa tically if your seat be lt is
fastened .
U nder cert ain circ umstan ces, su ch as driving
in the mou nta ins, it may be usef ul to sw itch
temporarily to the man ual shift program in .,..

88 Transmission
order to adjust the gears to the driving condi­
tions by hand
¢page 89.
On slopes, activate the parking brake first and
then move the selector lever to the P position.
This prevents too much stress from being placed on the locking mechanism.
Vehicles with multitronic transmission : Your
vehicle is equipped with
hill hold assist allow­
ing you to start while on an incline. The sys­
tem is activated when the brake pedal is pressed down and held
for a few seconds. The
br ake pre ssure will hold for
a moment after
the brake pedal loosens to preven t the vehicle
from rolling backwards while starting up.
A WARNING
- The vehicle can also roll when the engine
is stopped .
- Unintended vehicle movement can cause serious injury .
- Never leave your vehicle with the engine
running while in gear . If you must leave
your vehicle when the engine is running,
activate the parking brake and move the
selector lever to P.
- Power is still transmitted to the wheels
when the engine is running at idle. To
prevent the vehicle from "creeping", you
must keep your foot on the brake when
the engine is running and the selector
lever is in D/S or R or "tiptronic" mode is
selected.
- Do not press the accelerator pedal when
changing the selector lever position
while the vehicle is stationary and the
engine is running.
- Never shift into R or P while driving.
- Before driving down a steep slope, re-
duce your speed and shift into a lower
gear with "tiptronic".
- Do not ride the brakes or press the brake
pedal too often or too long when driving
down a hill . Constant braking causes the
brakes to overheat and substantially re­
duces braking performance, increases
braking distance or causes complete fail­
ure of the brake system. -
To prevent the vehicle from rolling back
when stopping on inclines, always hold it
in place with the brake pedal or parking
brake .
- Never hold the vehicle on an incline with
a slipping clutch. The clutch opens auto­
matically when it becomes too hot from
the overload . An indicator lamp
mJ illu­
minates and a driver message appears
¢ page 91 when the clutch is overload­
ed.
- If the engine must remain running, never
have any driving position engaged when
checking under the hood. Make sure the
selector lever has securely engaged and
is locked in P with the parking brake set
¢ page 206. Otherwise, any increase in
engine speed may set the vehicle in mo­
tion, even with the parking brake ap­
plied .
(D Note
-S tronic- and tiptronic transmission :
When stopping on an incline, do not try
to hold the vehicle in place by pressing the accelerator pedal while a driving gear
is selected . This can cause the transmis­
sion to overheat and can damage it. Acti­
vate the parking brake or press the brake pedal to prevent the vehicle from rolling .
- S tronic- and tiptronic transmission : Al­
lowing the vehicle to roll when the en­
gine is stopped and the selector lever is
in N will damage the transmission be­
cause it is not lubricated under those cir­
cumstances.
(D Tips
For safety reasons, the parking brake is re­
leased automatically only when the driv­
er's safety belt is engaged in the buckle.

Hill descent control
Applies to vehicles: with multitronic/S tronic/tiptronic
The hill descent control system assists the
driver when driving down declines.
Hill descent control is activated when these­
lector lever is in D/S and you press the brake
pedal. The transmission automatically selects
a gear that is suitable for the incline . Hill de­
scent control tries to maintain the speed ach­
ieved at the time of braking, within physical
and techn ica l limitations. It may still be nec­
essary to adjust the speed with the brakes.
H ill descent control switches
off once the de­
cline levels out or you press the accelerator
pedal.
On vehicles w ith the cruise control system*
¢ page 83, hill descent control is also activat­
ed when the speed is set.
.&, WARNING
Hill 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
App lies to vehicles: with multitronic/S tronic/tiptronic
Using the manual shift program you can
manually select gears.
F ig. 99 Center console: shifting t he gea rs manually
Transmission 89
Fig . 100 Stee ring whee l: Shift buttons*
Gear selection with selector lever
The tiptronic mode can be selected either with
the vehicle stat ionary or on the move .
.,. Push the se lector lever to the right from D/
5. An M appears in the instrument cluster
display as soon as the transmission has
shifted .
.,. To upshift, push the selector lever forward
to the plus position
0 ¢ fig. 99 .
.,. To downshift, push the lever to the minus
position
0 .
Gear selection with paddle levers*
The shift buttons are activated when these ­
l ector lever is in D/S or the tiptronic manual
shift program.
.,. To upshift, touch the button on the right
0
¢ fig. 100 .
.,. 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 posit ion, the
transmission will return to automatic mode.
To keep shifting using the shift buttons,
move the selector lever to the right out of
the D/S position.
The transm ission automatically shifts up or
down before critical engine speed is reached .
The transmission only allows manual sh ifting
when the engine speed is within the permit­
ted range.
(D Tips
-When you shift into the next lower gear,
the transmission will downshift only

90 Transmi ssion
when there is n o possibility of over-rev ­
ving the e ngine.
- When the kick-down comes on, the
transmission will sh ift down to a lower
gear, depending on vehicle and engine
speeds.
- Tiptronic is inoperative when the trans ­
mission is in the fail-sa fe mode.
Kick-down
Applies to vehicles: with multitronic/5 tronic/t iptronic
Kick-down enables maximum acceleration .
Applies to vehicles with a multitronic
transmission
When you depress the acce le ra to r pedal be­
yond the resis tance point, the transmission
downshifts into a lower gear ratio depending
on the vehicle speed and engine speed. As l ong as the accelerator peda l is depressed, the
engine speed is automat ica lly regula ted for
maximum acceleration .
Applies to vehicle s with a S tronic- /
tiptronic transmis sion
When you depress the accelerator pedal be­
yond the resistance po int , the automat ic
tra nsmission downshifts into a lower gear, de­
pending on vehicle speed and engine speed .
The upshift in to the next higher gea r takes
p lace once the maxim um specified eng ine
speed is reache d.
_& WARNING
Please note that the d rive 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 tron ic
T he Launch Control Program provides the
best acceleration possible when starting from
a stop.
Requirement: The engine must be at operat ­
ing temperature and the stee ring wheel must
not be turned. ..
Press the
I~ O FF ! button c;, page 181 whi le
the engine is running. The
II i ndicator light
illuminates in the instrument cl uster and
Stab ilizat ion control (ESC): Sport. Warn ­
ing! Restricted stability
appears in the driv­
er info rmation system display .
.. Move the selector lever to the D/S posi tion
t o select sport mode (S) o r se lect the
dy­
namic dr iving mode in dr ive se lect*
c:> page 107.
.. Press the brake pe dal s trongly with yo ur left
foo t and hold it down fo r at leas t 1 second .
.. At the same time, press the acce lerator ped­
al down completely with your right foot un ­
til the eng ine reaches and maintai ns a high
RPM.
.. Remove your foot from the brake pedal
w ith in S seco nds
c;, &, .
_& WARNING
-Always ad apt your dr iving to the traffic
f low.
- On ly use the Launch Cont ro l Program
when road and traff ic conditions allow it
a nd other d river s w il l no t be en dangered
or annoyed by your driving and the vehi ­
cle's acceleration.
- Ple ase no te th at th e driving wheels can
spin an d the vehicle can break away
when sport mode is switc hed on, espe­
cially when the road is slippe ry .
- Once you have accelerate d, you sho uld
sw itch sport mode off by pressing the
I~ O FF ! button.
(D Tips
- The transmission temperature may in ­
crease significa ntly after using the
Launch Control P rogram . If that hap­
pens, the prog ram may not be availab le
for a few minutes. It will be ava ilable
again after a cool-down period.
- When accelerating using the Launch Cont rol program, all vehicle parts are
subject to heavy loads . Th is can result in
increased wear.

Transmission malfunction
Applies to vehicles: with multitronic/S tronic/tiptronic
[i1 Transmis sion: Pr ess brake p edal and se ­
lect gear again .
Press the brake pedal and se lect the des ired
selector lever position aga in . You can then
con tinue dr iv ing .
[i1 Transmi ssion overheating : Please drive
conserv ati vely.
The transmission temperature has increased
sign ificantly due to the sporty dr iving manner .
Drive in a less spo rty manner unt il the tem­
perature returns to the no rma l range and the
indicator light switches of .
[i1 Transmission mal funct ion: You can con ­
tinue driving
T here is a system ma lfunction in the transmis ­
sion . You may continue driving . Drive to your
authorized Audi dealer or qualified repair fa­
cility soon to have the malfunction corrected.
[i1 Transmis sion malfunction: Limited driv­
ing funct ionality
There is a sys tem ma lfunction in the transmis­
sion . The transmission is sw itch ing to emer­
gency mode . This mode only shifts into cer­
tain gears or will no longer shift at a ll. The en­
g ine may stall. Drive to your authorized A udi
dea ler o r qualified repair facility immediately
to have the malf unction co rrected .
[i11:1 Transmission malfunct ion: No reverse
You can continue d riving
S tron ic transm ission: There is a system ma l­
function in the transmission. T he transmis ­
sion is switch ing to emergency mode. This
mode on ly shifts into certain gears or will no
longer shift at all. The engine may sta ll. You
cannot engage the reverse gear . Drive to your
author ized Audi d ealer or qualifi ed repair fa­
cili ty immed ia tely to have the ma lfunction
c o rre cted.
[i1 Transmi ssion malfunction: Stop vehicle
and shift to park . Transm
ission 91
Do not continue driving. Se lect the P selector
lever posit ion and see your authorized A udi
dealer or qualified repair facility for assis­
tance.
(D Note
If t h e transmission switches to emergency
mode, you should ta ke t he ve hicle to an
a uthorized Audi dea lership as soon as pos­
s ible to have the condition c orrected .
Selector lever emergency release
Applies to vehicles: with multitronic/S tronic/tiptronic
If the vehicle's power supply fails, the selec­
tor lever can be released in an emergency.
Fi g. 101 Fr ont center co nso le : Remov ing t he as htray
in sert
F ig. 1 02 Selector lev er emer gency re le ase
"" To access the emergency re lease mecha ­
nism, remove the ashtray insert @ using the
release sw itch @
c:::> fig. 101.
"" Loosen and remove the cap in the ashtray
mount.
"" You now have access to a p in . Using a screw­
driver or sim ilar ob ject, press the p in down
and hold it i n that position c:::>fig . 102.
"" Now pres s th e re lease but ton and move the
selec tor lever to the N pos it io n. ..,.

92 Transmi ssion
The se lector lever can only be moved from the
P position if the key is in the lock and the igni­
tion is sw itched on. If the power supply fails
(for example, the battery is discharged) and
the vehicle must be pushed or towed, move
the selector lever to the N pos ition first using
the emergency release .

Audi adaptive cruise control and braking guard 93
Audi adaptive cruise
control and braking
guard
Introduction
App lies to vehicles: with Audi adaptive cruise co ntrol
The adaptive cruise control system assists the
driver by regu lating vehicle speed and helping
to maintain a set distance to the vehicle
ahead, within the limits of the system . If the
system detects a moving vehicle up ahead,
adaptive cruise control can brake and then ac­
celerate your vehicle . This he lps to make driv­
ing more comfortable on long highway
stretches.
The braking guard system can warn you about
an impending collision and initiate braking
maneuvers ¢
page 99.
Adaptive cruise control and braking guard
have technical limitations that you must
know, so please read this section carefully, un­
derstand how the system works and use them properly at all times.
General information
General information
Applies to vehicles: with Audi adaptive cruise control
Fig. 103 Front of the vehicle: Position of radar sensor
The area that contains the radar sensor
¢
fig. 103 must never be covered by stickers
or other objects or obstructed with dirt, in­
sects, snow or ice that will interfere with the
adaptive cruise control system and braking
guard. For information on cleaning, refer to
¢
page 195. The same applies for any modifi­
cations made in the front area . The
function of the adaptive cruise control
system and braking guard is limited under
some cond itions:
- Objects can only be detected when they are
within sensor range
.:!>page 95, fig. 106.
-The system has a limited ability to detect
objects that are a short distance ahead, off
to the side of your vehicle or moving into
your lane.
- Some kinds of vehicles are hard to detect;
for examp le motorcycles, vehicles with high
ground clearance or overhanging loads may
be detected when it is too late or they may
not be detected at all.
- When driving through curves¢
page 94.
-Stationary objects¢ page 94.
A WARNING
-Always pay attention to traffic when adap-
tive cruise control is switched on and brak­ ing guard is active. As the dr iver, you are
still respons ible for start ing and for main­
tain ing speed and distance to other ob­
jects. Braking guard is used to assist you .
The driver must always take action to avoid
a col lision. The driver is always responsible
for braking at the correct time.
- Im proper use of adaptive cruise con trol
can cause collisions, other accidents and
serious personal inj ury .
- Never let the comfort and convenience
that adaptive cruise control and braking
guard offer distract you from the need to
be alert to traffic conditio ns and the
need to remain in full control of your ve­
hicle at all times,
- Always remember that the adaptive
cru ise control and brak ing guard have
limits -they will not slow the vehicle
down or maintain the set distance when
you drive towards an obstacle or some­
thing on or near the road that is not
moving, such as vehicles stopped in a
traffic jam, a stalled or disabled vehicle.
If registered by the radar sensor, vehicles
or obstacles that are not moving can
trigger a collision warning and if .,.

94 Audi adaptive cruise control and braking guard
confirmed by the video camera, an acute
collision warning.
- For safety reasons, do not use adaptive
cruise control when driving on roads with
many curves, when the road surface is in
poor condition and/or in bad weather
(such as ice, fog, gravel, heavy rain and
hydroplaning). Using the system under
these conditions could result in a colli­
sion.
- Switch adaptive cruise control off tempo­
rarily when driving in turning lanes, on
expressway exits or in construction
zones. This prevents the vehicle from ac­
celerating to the set speed when in these
situations.
- The adaptive cruise control system will
not brake by itself if you put your foot on
the accelerator pedal. Doing so can over­
ride the speed and distance regulation.
- When approaching stationary objects
such as stopped traffic, adaptive cruise
control will not respond and braking
guard will have limited function.
- The adaptive cruise control system and
braking guard do not react to people, an­
imals, objects crossing the road or on­
coming objects .
- The function of the radar sensor can be
affected by reflective objects such as
guard rails, the entrance to a tunnel,
heavy rain or ice.
- Never follow a vehicle so closely that you cannot stop your vehicle safely. The
adaptive cruise control cannot slow or
brake the vehicle safely when you follow
another vehicle too closely . Always re­
member that the automatic braking
function cannot bring the vehicle to a sudden or emergency stop under these
conditions.
- To prevent unintended operation, always
switch ACC off when it is not being used.
{[) Note
The sensor can be displaced by impacts or
damage to the bumper, wheel housing and
underbody. That could affect the adaptive cruise control system and braking guard.
Have your authorized Audi dealer or au­
thorized Audi Service Facility check their
function.
, In curves
Applies to vehicles: wit h Aud i adapt ive cr uise contro l
Fig. 104 Example: driv ing into a curve
When driving into a curve <=> fig. 104 and out
of a curve, the adaptive cruise control may re­ act to a vehicle in the next lane and apply the
brakes. You can override or prevent the brak­
ing by pressing the accelerator pedal briefly.
Stationary objects
Applies to vehicles: with Aud i adaptive crui se contro l
Fig. 105 Example: object changing lanes a nd station ­
a ry object
The adaptive cruise control system only reacts
to objects that are moving or that the system
has already detected as moving. For example,
if a vehicle @, which has already been detect­
ed by the adaptive cruise control, turns or
changes lanes and another stationary vehicle
@ is located in front of that vehicle, the sys­
tem will not react to the stationary vehicle.