
84 Transmi ssion
-If you accidenta lly select N while driv ing ,
ta ke your foot off the acce lerator pedal
i mmediately and wait for t he eng ine to
s low down to idle before se lecting 0/5.
- If there is a power failure, the se lector
l ever will not move out of the P position.
The emergency release can be used if
t hi s happens
¢ page 89.
Automatic Shift Lock (ASL)
Applies to vehicles: with S tron ic/tiptronic
The Automatic Shift Lock safeguards you
agains t acciden tally shifting into a forward or
the reverse gear and causing the vehicle to
move unintentionally.
Fi g. 84 Shi ft gate : se lector lever loc k po siti ons a nd re
le ase button highlig hte d
The selector lever lock is released as fo llows:
• Turn the ign ition on.
• Step on t he b rake peda l.
At the same time
press and hold the release button on t he
s ide of the gear se lector knob
c::> fig. 84 w it h
you r th umb until you have moved the se lec
tor leve r to the des ired pos it ion .
Automatic selector lever lock
The selector lever is locked in the P and N po
sitions when the ignition is turned on. You
must press the brake pedal and the release
button to select another position. As a re
minder to the d river, the fo llow ing warning
appears in the inst rument cluste r display
when t he se lector is in P and N:
When stationary apply brake pedal while se lecting gear T
he Autom atic Shift Loc k only funct ions when
t h e vehicle is stationary o r at speeds be low
1 mph (2 km/ h).
At speeds above abo ut 1 mph (2 km/h) the
A utoma tic Shift Lock is automatically deac ti
vated in the N position.
A time de lay elemen t preven ts the sele ctor
l ever from lo cking when i t is moved through
the N pos itio n (going from R to D/S) . The loc k
ing element w ill lock the se lecto r lever if the
l ever is left in N (Neutra l) for more than ap
proximate ly 2 seconds, witho ut the brake ped
al be ing pressed .
Release button
The re lease bu tton on the se lector lever pre
vents the lever from being acc identally shifted
i nto certa in positions. Depending on the d irec
t ion of t he shift, the selector lever locks at dif
ferent posit ions . The positions are highlig hted
in the illustrat io n
c::> fig. 84.
Ignition key safety interlock
The key can not be remove d from the ig nition
u nless the selector lever is in the P park pos i
t ion. When t he ignition key is removed, the
selector lever will be locked in t he P position.
Driving the automatic transmission
Applies to vehicles: with S tronic/tiptron ic
Fi g. 8 5 Sh ift gate o n th e cen te r console: se lector leve r
w ith release b utto n
Starting the engine
"'The selector lever must be in P or N .
Starting off
• Press and hold the br ake peda l.

~ Press and hold the release button in these
lector lever handle, se lect the desired se lec
tor lever position such as D/S and re lease
the button.
~ Wait br iefly until the transmission has shift
ed (you will feel a slight movement).
~ Remove your foot from the brake pedal and
acce lerate.
Stopp ing temporaril y
~ Keep the vehicle stationary us ing the brak
ing pedal, for example at traffic lights.
~ Do not press the accelerator pedal when do
i ng this.
~ To p revent the veh icle from rolling when you
sta rt driving, set the pa rking brake whe n
stopp ing on steep inclines ¢
&-
~ The parking brake will re lease automatically
and the vehicle will start moving once yo u
press the accelerator peda l.
Stopping /pa rking
If the selecto r lever is not in the P position
when yo u ope n the dr iver's door, the vehicle
could ro ll. The message
Transmis sion: Car
m ay ro ll! Shift to pa rk!
appears.
~ Press and ho ld the brake pedal unt il the ve-
hicle has come to a comple te stop.
~ Apply the parking brake ¢ page 77, Parking.
~ Select the P selector lever position c::, & -
Stopping on an incline
~ Always press t he b rake pedal to hold the ve
hicle i n place and preven t it from " rolling
back" ¢
& -Do not try to prevent the vehi
cle from "rolling back" when a gear is en
gaged by increasing the engine speed ¢(D .
Starting on an incline
~ Activate the par kin g b rake.
~ Wi th the driving gea r se lected, press the ac
ce lerato r pedal ca re fully . The parking brake
will release a utomatically i f yo ur seat belt is
fastened.
Under certain circumstances, s uch as driv ing
in the mountains, it may be useful to switch
temporari ly to the manua l shift program in or-
Tran sm iss ion 85
der to ad just the gears to the driv ing cond i
tions by hand
c::, page 86.
On s lopes, activ ate the parki ng b rake first and
then move the selec to r l ever to the P posi tion.
T his prevents too much st ress from being
placed on the locking mechanism .
A WARNING
-The vehicle can also roll when the engine
is stopped.
- Unintended vehicle movement can cause
serio us injury.
- Never leave your vehicle with the engine
ru nning while in gear. If yo u must leave
your veh icle when the engine is running,
activate the parking brake and move the
selector lever to P.
- Power is still transm itted to the wheels
when the engine is runn ing at idle. To
prevent the vehicle from "creeping", you
must keep your foot on the brake when
the eng ine is ru nning and the se lector
leve r is in D/S o r R or "t ipt ron ic" mode is
selec ted .
-Do not press the accelerator pedal when
changing t he se lector lever posi tion
while the veh icle is s ta tionary and the
engine is running .
- Never sh ift into R o r P wh ile d rivi ng.
- Before driving dow n a steep slope, re-
duce your speed and shift into a lowe r
gear wi th "tiptronic".
- Do not ride the bra kes o r press the bra ke
pe dal too ofte n or too long whe n driving
down a hi ll. Constant braking causes the
brakes to over heat and substantially re
duces braking performance, increases
brak ing distance or causes complete fa il
ure of t he brake system.
- To prevent the vehicle from ro lling back
when stopp ing o n inclines, always ho ld 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 mat ically when it becomes too hot from
the overload. An indicato r lamp
mJ

86 Transmis sion
illuminates and a driver message ap
pears
¢ page 88 when the clutch is
overloaded.
- 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 park ing brake ap
plied.
(D Note
- 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.
- Allowing 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.
@ Tips
For safety reasons, the park ing 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 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 transmi ssion 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 technical limitations. It may st ill be nec
essary to adjust the speed with the brakes. Hill descent contro
l switches off once the de
cline levels out or you press the accelerator
pedal.
On vehicles with the cruise control system*
¢ page 80, hill descent control is also activat
ed when the speed is set.
A 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 apply the brakes .
Manual shift program
Applies to vehicles: with S tronic/tiptron ic
Using the manual shift program you can
manually select gears.
Fig. 86 Center console: shift ing the gears manually
Fig. 87 Steering whee l: Shift butto ns~
Gear selection with selector lever
L'> N ... "!
"' m a,
N
--N ,;,
gi
The tiptronic mode can be selected either with
the vehicle stationary or on the move.
.,. Push the selector lever to the right from 0/
S. An M appears in the instrument cluster
display as soon as the transmission has
shifted .

"To upshift, push the selector lever fo rward
to the plus position
0 ~ fig. 86.
" To downshift, push the lever to the minus
pos it ion
Q .
Gea r se lection with paddle lever s*
The shift buttons are act ivated when these
l ector lever is in D/S or the tiptronic manual
shift program .
"T o upsh ift, touch the button on the right
0
~ fig. 87.
"To downshift, touch the button on the left
Q .
"If you do not press a shift button within a
short time while in the D/S position, 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 .
T he transmission automatically shifts up or
down before critical engine speed is reached .
The transmission only a llows manua l shifting
when the engine speed is within the permit ted range .
(D Tips
-When yo u sh ift into the next lower gear,
the transmiss ion will downshift only
when there is no possibility of over-rev
v ing the engine .
- When the kick-down comes on, the
transmission will sh ift down to a lower
gear, depending on vehicle and engine
speeds.
- Tiptronic is inoperat ive when the trans
mission is in the fail-safe mode .
Kick-down
Appl ies to vehicles: with S tro nic/t iptronic
Kick -down enables maximum acceleration .
When you depress the accelerator pedal be
yond the resistance po int, the automat ic
transmission downshifts into a lower gear, de pending on vehicle speed and engine speed .
The upshift into the next higher gear takes
Tran sm iss ion 87
place once the max imum specified engine
speed is reached.
A WARNING
P lease note that the drive wheels can spin
if kick-down is used on a smooth slippery
road - there is a risk of skidd ing .
Launch Control Program
App lies to vehicles : wi th S tronic
The Launch Control Program provides the
best acceleration possible when starting from
a stop.
Req uirement: The engine must be at operat
ing temperature and the steering whee l must
not be t urned.
" Press the
I~ O FF ! button r::!:> page 182 whi le
the engine is running. The
II indicator light
ill uminates in the instrument cl uster and
Stabili zat ion control (ESC): Sport. Warn ·
ing! Restricted stability
appears in the driv
er information system display .
" Move the selector lever to the D/S posit ion
to select sport mode (S) or se lect the
d y
nami c driv ing mode in dr ive se lect*
r::!:> page 105.
"Press the brake pedal s trongly with yo ur left
foot and hold it down for at least 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 maintains a high
RPM.
" Remove your foot from the brake pedal
w ith in 5 seconds
r::!:> & .
A WARNING
-Always adapt your dr iving to the traffic
f low.
- On ly us e th e Launch Cont ro l Program
when road and t raff ic condi tions a llow i t
an d other d rivers w il l not be e ndangered
or annoyed by your driving and the vehi
cle's acceleration.
- Please no te that t he drivin g wheels c an
spin and the vehicle can break away
-

88 Transmi ssion
when sport mode is sw itched on,
especially when the road is slippery.
- Once you have accelerated, yo u should
switch sport mode
off by pressing the
I ~ OFF I button.
@ Tips
- The transmission temperat ure may in
crease significantly after using the Launch Control Program. If that hap
pens, the program may not be available
fo r a few minutes . It will be availab le
again afte r a cool-down period .
- When accelerating using t he Launch
Control program, all vehicle parts are
subject to heavy loads. This can res ult in
i nc reas ed wea r.
Transmission malfunction
Applies to vehicles: with S tronic/tiptronic
DI Transmi ssion : Pr ess brake pedal and se
le ct gear again .
Press the brake pedal and se lect the des ired
se lecto r lever posit io n aga in. You can then
con tinue dr iv ing .
DI Transmi ssion overheating: Pleas e drive
conservatively .
The transmission temperature has increased
significantly due to the sporty driving ma nner .
Drive in a less sporty manner unt il the tem
pe rat ure retu rns to the no rmal range a nd the
i ndicator light sw itches of.
DI Transmiss ion malfunct ion: You can con
tinue driving
There is a system ma lf u nction in the transmis
sion. You may continue driving. Drive to your
author ized Audi dealer or qualified repair fa
cility soon to have the malfunction corrected.
DI Transmission malfunction: Limited driv
ing funct ionality
There is a system ma lf u nction in the transmis
sion. The transmission is switching to emer
gency mode. Th is mode only shifts into cer
tain gears or will no longer shift at a ll. The en- gine may sta
ll. Drive to your a uthorized Audi
dealer or qualified repair facility immediately
to have the mal function cor rected .
[O] lit Transmis sion malfunction : No reverse
You can continue driving
S t roni c tra nsmission: The re is a system mal
f unc tion in the transm ission. The t ransmis
s io n is swi tching to emerge ncy mode. This
mode only shifts into ce rtain gea rs or will no
l o nger shift at a ll. The engine may stall. You
cannot engage the reverse gear . Dr ive to your
autho riz ed Aud i dea ler or qualified repa ir fa
c ili ty immediately to have the malfunction
cor rected .
DI Transmission malfunction: Stop vehicle
and shift to park.
Do not continue dr iving. Se lect the P selector
lever positio n and see your authorized A udi
dealer or qualif ied repai r facility for assis
tance.
(D Note
If the transmission switches to emergency mode, yo u should ta ke the vehicle to an
a uth ori zed Audi dea lership as so on as pos
s ible to have the condition corrected.

Selector lever emergency release
Applies to vehicles: with S tronic/tiptronic
If the vehicle's power supply fails, the selec
tor lever can be released in an emergency.
Fig . 88 Front ce nter console: Removing the ashtray in
sert
Fig. 89 Selector lever emergency release
.. To access the emergency release mecha
nism, remove the ashtray insert @ using the
release switch @
q fig. 88 .
.. Loosen and remove the cap in the ashtray
mount .
.. You now have access to a pin. Using a screw
driver or similar object, press the pin down
and hold it in that position
q fig. 89 .
.. Now press the release button and move the
selector lever to the N position.
The selector lever can only be moved from the
P position if the key is in the lock and the igni
tion is switched 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 position first using
the emergency release.
Transmission 89

92 Audi adaptive cruise control and bra king guard
Vehicles with manual transmission
Ap plies to vehicles: with Audi adaptive cruise co ntrol
Th e adaptive cruise co ntro l i s ava ila bl e from
the 2nd ge ar throug h the 6th ge ar in the cus
tom ary RPM .
When the adapt ive cr uise control is t urned on,
you mus t press the clutch to shift gea rs (as
usu al). W he n shift ing normally or when press
ing the cl utch, the adap tive c ruise control re
mains tu rned on.
Afte r you have eng aged the gea r, you do
not
need to pre ss the g as peda l. The ad aptive
cr uise con trol accelera tes a utoma tica lly if ne c
essary.
I f you p ress dow n on the clu tch fo r too long or
sh ift/ coup le improperly, the adaptive cruise
con trol may tur n off a utomat ic a lly.
(D Tips
Yo u ca nn ot tur n on the ad apt ive cr uise
con tro l dur ing a s hifting o per ation.
Audi adaptive cruise
control
Description
A ppl ies to vehicles: with Audi adaptive cruise co ntrol
F ig. 9 3 Detec tion range
What can Audi adapt ive crui se cont rol do?
The adaptive c ruise contro l wor ks in con junc
tion with a radar sensor installed in the front
of the vehicle¢
page 90 , fig . 90, which is sub
ject to designated system limits
r=> page 92.
Stat ionary objects a re d is regarded .
On open roads w ith no traff ic, adaptive cruise
control works like a reg ular cruise control sys- tern.
The sto red speed is maintained . When
approaching a moving vehicle detected up
ahead, the adaptive c ruise control system a u
tomat ica lly s lows down to match that vehi
cle's speed and then maintains the distance
t h at the dr ive r previously stored . As soon as
the sys tem does not detec t a ve hicle up
ah ead, adaptive cru ise cont ro l accelerates
back up to the stored speed.
Which functions can be controlled?
When you switc h adapt ive cru ise control on,
yo u can set the c urrent speed as the ''control
speed " ¢
pag e 93, Switching on and off .
When driving, yo u can stop cru ise contro l
r:=> page 94 or change t he speed¢ page 94
at any time.
You can also set the distance to the object
ahead and set the adapt ive cr uise contro l driv
ing program
¢ page 95.

98 Audi adaptive cruise control and braking guard
-If you restrict or switch off the ESC, the
braking guard also switches itself off
r=;,page 182.
-Switch braking guard off when you are
loading the vehicle onto a vehicle carrier,
train, ship or other type of transporta
tion. This can prevent undesired warn ings from the braking guard system.
Messages
Applies to vehicles: with Audi adaptive cruise co ntro l
Braking guard: Off
This driver message appears if the system is
turned off via the radio/MM!*. Otherwise, if
the system is turned off, the information ap pears every time shortly after the start of the
trip.
The driver message also appears if the system is not available due to a malfunction or if the
ESC is not switched on
r=;, page 182 . If this is
the case, the system will not provide warnings
about a possible collision.
Braking guard: Activated
This driver message appears if sharp brake
pressure was applied due to an acute warning.
•••
Three white dots appear if a setting cannot be
selected with the operating lever. For exam
ple, this happens if you want to raise/lower
the speed even though there was no previous
ly saved speed .
ACC: Deactivation
The driver message appears in vehicles with
manual transmission . If the clutch pedal was
pressed down for too long, the adaptive cruise
control turns off. A chime sounds as a remind
er .
ACC: Sensor blocked
This message appears if the sensor view is ob
structed, for example by leaves, snow, heavy
spray or dirt. Clean the sensor
r=;, page 90,
fig. 90 .
ACC: not available
The driver message appears if there is a mal
function. The adaptive cruise control turns off.
A chime sounds as a reminder. Have the sys
tem checked by an authori zed Audi dealer or
authorized Audi Service Facility.
ACC: unavailable
The driver message appears if, for example,
the brake temperature is too high. The adap
tive cruise control is temporarily unavailable.
A chime sounds as a reminder.
Engine speed!
This driver message appears in vehicles with
manual transmission if the driver had not up
shifted or downshifted in time while using
adaptive cruise control braking or accelerat
ing, causing the vehicle to exceed or not reach
the permitted limit speed. The adaptive cruise control turns off. A chime sounds as a remind
er .
Shift lever position!
Vehicles with an automatic transmission: the
driver message appears if the selector lever is
shifted to the N position. The adaptive cruise
control is not available while in this position.
Vehicles with manual transmission: the driver
message appears for vehicles with manual
transmission if there is no forward gear en
gaged, meaning if the reverse gear or the 1st
gear is engaged or if the selector lever is in
the neutral position. The adaptive cruise con
trol is not available while in this position.
Stabilization control (ESC)
This message appears if the electronic stabili
zation control (ESC) is taking action to stabi
lize the vehicle. The adaptive cruise control
turns off . A chime sounds as a reminder .
Speed too low
This message appears if the current speed is
too low
to set or to maintain the desired
speed .
The speed being saved must be at least
20 mph (30 km/h). The cruise control is
turned off for speeds lower than 12 mph