2014 AUDI A5 CABRIOLET towing

192 Trailer towing
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
Trailer hitch Use a weight-carrying hitch conforming to the
gross trailer weight. The hitch must be suita­
ble for your vehicle and trailer and must be
mounted securely on the veh icle's chassis at a
technically sound location. Use only a trailer
hitch with a removable ball mount. Always
check with the trailer hitch manufacturer to
make sure that you are using the correct
hitch.
Do not use a bumper hitch.
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 time to time, check that all hitch
mounting bolts remain securely fastened.
When you are not towing a trailer, remove the
trailer hitch ball mount. This prevents the
hitch from causing damage should your vehi­
cle be struck from behind
¢ A.
Trailer brakes
If your tra iler is equipped with a braking sys­
tem, check to be sure that it conforms to a ll
regulations . The trailer
hydraulic brake system must not be
direct ly connected to the vehicle's hydraulic
brake system
~ A.
Safety chains
Always use safety chains between your vehicle
and the tra ile r.
Trailer lights
T railer lights must meet all regulations. Be
sure to check w ith your authorized Audi dealer
for correct wiring, sw itches, and relays.
Mirrors
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 clear vis io n to the rear.
,8. WARNING
- If a trailer has electrical brakes please
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 yo ur passengers.
Operating instructions
Maximum trailer weight
-
A trailer for your vehicle is limited to a typical
class 1 or class 2 tra iler.
Trailer load distribution Be sure the load in the trailer is held secure ly
in place to prevent it from shifting forward,
backward or sideways.
Never allow a passenger to ride in a trailer
¢ A in Driving instructions on page 193.
Engine cooling system
T owing a trailer makes the engine work hard ­
er. It is important that the cooling system's
performance is up to the additional load.
Make sure that the cooling system has enough
fluid . .,..

Tire pressure
When towing a trailer, inflate the tires of your
vehicle to the cold tire pressure listed under
"Full load" on the label located on the driver's
side B-pillar (visible when the door is open).
Inflate trailer tires to trailer and tire manufac­
turers' specifications.
Lights
The headlight settings should be checked with
the trailer attached before driving off. Check
to make sure both vehicle and trailer lights
are working properly.
Safety chains
Be sure trailer safety chains are properly con­
nected from the trailer to the hitch on the ve­
hicle. Leave enough slack in the chains to per­
mit turning corners . When you install safety
chains, make sure they will not drag on the road when you are driving.
The chains should cross under the trailer
tongue to prevent it from dropping in case of
separation from the hitch .
Driving instructions
Driving with a trailer always requires extra
core and consideration.
To obtain the best possible handling of vehicle
and trailer, please note the following:
.,. Do not tow a loaded trailer when your car it­
self is not loaded.
.,. Be especially careful when passing other
vehicles.
.,. Observe speed limits .
.,. Do not drive at the maximum permissible
speed .
.,. Always apply brakes early.
.,. Monitor the temperature gauge.
Weight distribution
Towing a loaded trailer with an empty car re­
sults in a highly unstable distribution of
weight . If this cannot be avoided, drive at very
low speeds only to avoid the risk of losing
steering control.
Trailer towing 193
A "balanced" rig is easier to operate and con­
trol. This means that the tow vehicle should be loaded to the extent possible and permissi­
ble, while keeping the trailer as light as possi­
ble under the circumstances. Whenever possi­
ble, transfer some cargo to the luggage com ­
partment of the tow vehicle while observing
tongue load requirements and vehicle loading
considerations.
Speed
The higher the speed, the more difficult it be­
comes for the driver to control the rig . Do not
drive at the maximum permissible speed . Re­
duce your speed even more if load, weather or
wind conditions are unfavorable -particularly
when going downhill.
Reduce vehicle speed
immediately if the trail­
er shows the slightest sign of swaying .
Do not
try to stop the swaying by accelerating.
Observe speed limits. In some areas, speeds
for vehicles towing trailers are lower than for
regular vehicles .
Always apply brakes early. When driving downhill, shift into a lower gear to use the en ­
gine braking effect to slow the vehicle . Use of
the brakes alone can cause them to overheat
and fail.
Coolant temperature
The coolant temperature gauge<=> page 10
must be observed carefully . If the need le
moves close to the upper end of the scale, re­
duce speed immediately and/or turn off the
air conditioner.
If the coolant temperature warning light •
in the instrument cluster starts flashing, pull
off the road, stop and let the engine
idle for
about two minutes to prevent heat build-up .
A WARNING
Anyone not properly restrained in a mov­
ing vehicle is at a much greater risk in an
accident. Never let anyone ride in your car
who is not properly wearing the restraints
provided by Audi.
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194 Trailer towing
Trailer towing tips
Important to know
Your vehicle hand les different ly w hen tow ing
a tr ailer because of the addit ional weight and
different weight distribution . Safety, perform­
ance and economy wi ll greatly depend on how
carefully you load your trailer and operate
your rig.
Before you actually tow your trailer, practice
turning, stopp ing and backing up in an area
away from traffic. Keep practicing until you have become comp letely familiar with the way
your veh icle-trailer combination behaves and
responds.
Backing up is difficult and requires practice.
Backing up with a trai ler genera lly requires
steering action opposite to that when backing
up your veh icle without a trailer.
Maintain a greater distance between your ve­
hicle and the one in front of you . You will need
more room to stop. To compensate for the
trailer, you will need a larger than normal
turning radius .
When passing, remember that you cannot ac­
celerate as fast as you normally would be­
cause of the added load. Make sure you have
enough room to pass . After passing, allow
plenty of room for your tra iler before chang­
in g lanes again.
Avoid jerky starts, sharp turns or rapid lane
changes.
{Dl Tips
- Do not tow a tra iler dur ing the break-in
period of your vehicle.
- If you tow a trailer, your A udi may re­
quire more frequent maintenance due to
the extra load
q page 264.
Parking on a slope
Do not park on a slope with a trailer . If it can­
not be avoided, do so only after doing the fol­ lowing :
When parking:
.. App ly the foot brake.
.. Have someone place chocks under both the
veh icle and the trailer wheels .
.,. With chocks in place, slowly release the
brakes until the wheel chocks absorb the
load.
.. Turn the whee ls towards the curb.
.. App ly the parking brake.
.. Move the selector lever to P.
When restarting after parking:
.. App ly the foot brake .
.. Start the engine.
.. Move the selector lever to D/S .
.. Release the parking brake and s lowly pull
out and away from the wheel chocks .
.. Stop and have someone retrieve the wheel
chocks .
(D Tips
If you move the selector lever of the auto ­
matic transmission to P before applying
the parking brake and before blocking the
whee ls, you may have to use more force
later to move the lever out of the P posi­
tion.

-Carrying more weight than your vehicle
was designed to carry will prevent the
vehicle from handling properly and in­
crease the risk of the loss of vehicle con­
trol.
- The brakes on a vehicle that has been
overloaded may not be able to stop the
vehicle within a safe distance.
- Tires on a vehicle that has been overload­
ed can fail suddenly, including a blowout
and sudden deflation, causing loss of
control and a crash.
- Always make sure that the total load be­
ing transported -including the weight of
a trailer hitch and the tongue weight of a
loaded trailer - does not make the vehi­
cle heavier than the vehicle's Gross Vehi­
cle Weight Rating.
Determining correct load limit
Use the example below to cal­
culate the total weight of the
passengers and luggage or oth­
er things that you plan to trans­
port so that you can make sure
that your vehicle will not be
overloaded.
Steps for Determining Correct Load Limit
1. Locate the statement "THE
COMBINED WEIGHT OF OC­
CUPANTS AND CARGO
SHOULD NEVER EXCEED XXX KG OR XXX LBS"on your vehi­
cle's placard (tire inflation
pressure label)
c::> page 226,
fig. 182.
Tires and wheels 231
2. Determine the combined weight of the driver and pas­sengers that will be riding in
your vehicle.
3. Subtract the combined weight of the driver and pas­sengers from
"XXX" kilo­
grams or
"XXX" pounds
shown on the sticker
c::>page 226, fig. 182.
4. The resulting figure equals the available amount of car­
go and luggage load capaci­
ty. For example, if the
"XXX"
amount equals 1400 lbs.
and there will be five 150
lbs. passengers in your vehi­
cle, the amount of available
cargo and luggage load ca­ pacity is 650 lbs. (1400-7 50
(5
X 150) = 650 lbs.)
5. Determine the combined weight of luggage and cargo being loaded on the vehicle.
That weight may not safely
exceed the available cargo
and luggage load capacity
calculated in Step 4.
6. If your vehicle will be towing
a trailer, load from your trail­
er will be transferred to your
vehicle. Consult this manual ..,.
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What do I do now?
Vehicle tool kit
The tools ore stored underneath the floor
panel in the luggage comportment.
Fig. 188 Luggage compartment: tool kit
When you need access to the veh icle tool kit
or jack*, you will need to take o ut the spare
tire* and cover¢
page 243.
The vehicle tool kit includes:
- Hook for removing wheel covers*
- Plastic hook to remove wheel bolt covers*
- Alignmen t pin for ch anging the whee l
- Screwdriver w ith reversible blade
- Too l for chang ing light bulbs
- Reversible bit (reversible Torx bit for chang -
ing light bulbs)
- Rod for jack
- Jack*
- Lug wrench
- Towing eye
Some of the vehi cle items listed above are
p rov ided o n certain models o nly or are opt io n­
al extras .
Before returning the jack* to its place, retract
the jack arm fully.
.&, WARNING
-
-Never use the screw d river hex head to
tighten whee l bolts, since the bolts can­
not attain the necessary tightening tor ­
que if yo u use the hex head, potentially
caus ing an accident.
- The factory-supplied jac k is intended on­
ly for your vehicle model. Unde r no cir-
What do I d o now ? 243
cumstances should it be used to lift
heavy veh icles or other loads; you risk in­
juring yourself.
- Never start the engine when the vehicle
is raised, wh ich could cause an acc ident.
- Support the vehicle securely w it h appro­
priate stands if work is to be performed
underneath the vehicle; otherwise , there
is a pote ntia l risk for injury .
Space-saving spare tire
(compact spare tire)
App lies to vehicles: wit h space -saving spare t ire
The spore tire/wheel is located in the luggage
comportment under the cargo floor cover. It
is intended for short-term use only .
Fig. 189 Spa re tir e
Remo ving th e spare tire
.. Lift the cargo floor by the p lastic handle
¢ fig. 189 .
.. Hook the handle into the luggage compart­
ment wea ther strip .
.. Turn the large screw <=>
fig. 189 counter ­
clockw ise.
.. Take out the spa re tire .
.. Always s tore the vehicle tool kit, the jack*,
and the rep laced tire in the luggage com­
partment
¢ page 127 .
.. Unhook the cargo floor before closing the
rear lid .
Using th e spare tire (compact spar e tire )
The compact spare t ire is only intended fo r
eme rgencies unt il you can reach a repa ir sh op.
Rep lace it as qu ickly as possible with a stand -
ard whee l and tire. ..,..

24 4 What do I do no w?
There are some restrictions on the use of the
compact spare tire. The compact spare tire
has been des igned specifically for your type of
vehicle.
It must not be swapped with a com­
pact spare tire from another type of vehicle.
Sno w cha in s
For technical reasons, the use of snow chains
on the compact spare tire is
n ot permitted .
If you do have to dr ive with snow cha ins and a
front tire fails, mount the spare wheel w ith
tire instead of a rear tire. Install the snow
chains on the rear tire and use it to rep lace
the defective front tire.
A WARNING
- Never use the spare tire if it is damaged
or if it is worn down to the tread wear in­
dicators.
- If the spare tire is more than 6 years o ld,
use it only in an emergency and w ith ex­
t reme caution and careful driving.
- The spare tire is intended only for tem­
porary and short-term use. It should be
replaced as soon as possib le w ith the
normal wheel and t ire.
- After mounting the compact spare tire, the tire pressu re must be checked as
soon as poss ible. The tire pressure of the
c ompac t spare tire must be 4.2 bar; oth­
erwise, you risk hav ing an accident.
- Do not drive faster than 50 mph (80 km/
h). You risk having an acc ident.
- Avoid full-throttle acce le rat ion, heavy
braking, and fast corner ing . Yo u risk hav­
ing an acc iden t.
- Never drive us ing more than one spare
wheel and tire. You risk having an acci­
dent.
- No rma l summer or winte r tires m ust not
be mounted on the compact spare whee l
rim.
- F or te chni cal reasons, the use of ti re
chains on the spare tire is not permitte d.
If it is necessary to drive with tire chains,
the spare whee l must be mounted on the
front axle in the event o f a f lat in a rear tire. The new
ly available front wheel
must then be installed in place of the
rear whee l with the flat tire. Installing
the t ire cha in before mounting the whee l
and tire is recommended .
- Loose items in the passenger compart­
ment can cause serious personal injury
during hard brak ing or in an accident.
Never store the spa re tire or jack and
too ls in the passenger compa rtment.
Changing a wheel
Before changing a wheel
Observe the following precautions for your
own and your passenger's safety when chang­
ing a wheel .
"'After you expe rience a tire failure, pull the
car we ll away from moving traffic and try to
reach
le vel ground before you stop ¢ ,&.
"'All passengers should leave the car and
move to a safe location (for instance, behind
the guardrail)¢ &,.
"' Engage the
parking brake to p revent your
veh icle from rolling unintentionally¢&, .
"' Move the
selec tor lever to the P positi on.
"'I f you are towing a t railer : unhitch t he trai l­
er from you r vehicle.
"' Take the
jack ¢ page 243 and the spare tire
¢ page 243 out of the luggage compart­
ment .
A WARNING
=
You or your passengers could be injured
while changing a wheel if you do not fo l­
l ow these safety precaut ions :
- If you have a flat tire, move a safe dis­
tance off the road . Turn off the engine ,
turn the eme rgency flashers on and use
other warning devices to a le rt other mo­
torists.
- Make sure that passengers wait in a safe
place away from th e vehicle and well
away from the road and traffi c.
- To help prevent the vehicle from moving
-
suddenly a nd possib ly slipping off the ..,_

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 operations.
Starting by pushing or
towing
(D Note
Vehicles with an automatic 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 vehicle,
using a
pair of jumper cables to start the en­
gine.
Jumper cables
Use only jumper cables of sufficiently
largecross section to carry the starter current
safely. Refer to the manufacturer's specifica­
tions.
Use only jumper cables with
insulated termi­
nal clamps which are distinctly marked:
plus(+) cable in most cases colored red
minus(-) cable
in most cases colored black .
A WARNING
Batteries contain electricity, acid, and gas.
Any of these can cause very serious or fatal
injury. Follow the instructions below for
safe handling of your vehicle's battery.
- Always shield your eyes and avoid lean­
ing over the battery whenever possible.
Emergency situations 255
-A discharged battery can freeze at tem­
peratures just below 32 °F (0 °C). Before
connecting a jumper cable, you must
thaw the frozen battery completely, 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 acid level in the battery.
- The voltage 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 different voltage
or substantially different "Ah" rating
may cause an explosion and personal in­
jury.
- Never charge a frozen battery. 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 batteries of different voltage or
substantially different capacity (Ah) rat­
ing may cause an explosion and injury.
The ca pa city (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 all
WARNINGS¢
page 206.
(D Note
- Applying a higher voltage booster bat­
tery will cause expensive damage to sen­
sitive electronic components, such as
control units, relays, radio, 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. ..,. •
•

-Jumper cables must be long enough so
that the vehicles do not t ouch.
- W hen connecting jumper ca bles, make
sure that they cannot get caught in any
moving parts in the eng ine compart­
ment.
- Do not bend over the batteries - danger
of chemical burns!
- The battery ce ll locking screws must be
t ightened securely .
- Before you check anything in the engine
compartment, always read and heed all
WARNINGS ¢
page 206.
Improper hook-up of jumper cables can ru­
in the generator.
- Always connect POSITIVE( +) to POSI ­
TIVE(+), and NEGATIVE( -) to NEGATIVE
( - ) ground post of the battery manager
control unit.
- Check that all screw plugs on the battery
ce lls are screwed in firmly . If not, tighten
plugs p rior to connecting clamp on nega­
tive battery terminal.
- Please note that the procedure for con­
necting a jumper cable as described
above applies spec ifically to the case of
your vehicle be ing jump started. When
you are givi ng a jump start to another ve­
hicle, do
not connect the negat ive( -) ca­
ble to the negat ive( -) term inal on the
discharged battery @¢
fig. 20 2. In­
stead, securely connect the negative(- )
cable to e ither a solid metal component
that is firmly bolted to the engine block
or to the engine block itse lf. If the bat­
tery that is being charged does not vent
to the outside, escaping battery gas
could ignite and explode!
Em erg en cy si tuation s 257
Emergency towing
with commercial tow
truck
General hints
Your Audi requires special handling for tow­
ing.
T he following information is to be used by
commercial tow t ruck operators who know
how to operate their equipment safely.
- Never tow your Audi , towing will cause
damage to the engine a nd transmi ssion.
- Never wrap th e safet y chain s or winch c a­
ble s around th e brak e lin es.
- To prevent unne ce ss ary dam age, your Aud i
mu st be t ransp orted with a flat bed truck .
- To load th e vehi cle on to the fl at bed , use
the t owing loop found in the vehicle t ool s
and atta ch to the front or rear anch o rage
r=:> page 258 and ¢page 258 .
A WARNING
A vehicle being towed is not safe for pas­
sengers. Never allow anyone to ride in a
vehicle be ing towed, for any reason.
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