2014 AUDI A8 brake

prevent the vehicle from "creeping", you
must keep your foot on the brake in all
selector lever positions except P and N
when the eng ine is running . Do not inad­
vertently press the accelerator pedal
when the veh icle is stationary . Otherwise
the vehi cle will s tart to move immediate­
ly, even if the park ing brake is set. This
cou ld result in a crash.
- Do not ride the brakes or p ress the brake
peda l too often or too long when dr iv ing
down a hill. Constant braking causes the
brakes to overheat and substant ially re­
duces b raking performance, increases
braking distance or ca uses comp lete fail­
ure of the brake system.
Hill descent control
The hill descent control system assists the
driver when driving down declines.
H ill descent control is activated when these­
lector lever is in D/S and you press the brake
pedal. The transmission automatically se lects
a gear that is suitab le for the incline . Hill de­
scent control tries to maintain the speed ach­ ieved at the time of brak ing, within physical
a nd techn ical limitations.
It may st ill 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.
Hill descent control is also activated when the
speed is set by starting the cru ise contro l sys­
tem
r:::;, page 91.
A WARNING
H ill descent control can not overcome
phys ical limitations, so it may not be able
to main tain a constant speed under a ll
condi tions. Always be re ady to app ly the
br akes.
Automatic Tra nsmi ssi on 119
Shifting manually
The shift paddles allow the driver to shift the
gears manually .
Fig . 12 5 Steer ing w hee l: s hifting manually
.,.. To shift to a h igher or lowe r gear tempo rari­
ly, tap the
0 or 0 shift paddler:::;, fig. 125 .
.. To switch manua l mode on, press the~
button . An Mand the gear that is currently
engaged appear in the inst rument cluster
disp lay @ ¢
page 116, fig. 122.
.. To shift up one gear, tap the righ t shift pad­
dle
0 r:::;, fig . 125 .
.. To sh ift down one gear, tap the left shift
paddle Q.
.. To switc h manua l mode off, press the~
button aga in, or
.. Move the selector lever back and release it .
T he transm iss ion automatically sh ifts up or
down before cr itical engine speed is reached.
The transm iss ion only allows manual sh ifting
whe n the eng ine speed is w ith in the pe rmit­
ted range .
The eng ine braking effect increases when you
downshift when going downhill .
Kick-down
Kick-down enables maximum acceleration .
When you press the accelerator pedal down
beyond the resistance point, the automatic
transmission downsh ifts into a lower gear, de­
pending on veh icle speed and eng ine RPM .
It
shifts up into the next higher gear once the
maximum specified engine RPM is reached . ..,.

120 Automatic Transmission
8_ WARNING
Please note that the wheels could spin on
slick or slippery roads when kick-down is
active .
Transmission malfunction
[O] Transmission: plea se press the brake ped­
al and select the position again
Press the brake pedal and select the des ired
selector lever posit ion again . You can then
continue dr iving .
[O] Transmission hot: please modify driving
style
The transmission temperature has increased
significantly due to the sporty driving manner.
Drive in a less sporty manner until the tem­
perature returns to the normal range and the
indicator light switches of.
[O] Gearbox malfunction: you can continue
driving
There 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.
l'i]Jffl Gearbox malfunction: you can contin­
ue driving in D only until engine is off
There is a system ma lfunction in the transmis­
sion. The transmission is switching to emer ­
gency mode. If you turn the engine off, you
will not be able to select any other selector
lever positions after starting the engine again.
Drive to your authorized Aud i dealer or quali­
fied repair facility immediately to have the
malfunction corrected.
[O] Gearbox malfunction: you can continue
driving (limited functionality)
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 not longer shift at all. The
engine may stall. Dr ive to your authorized
Aud i dealer or qualified repair facility immedi­
ately to have the malfunction corrected.
[O]/jj'j Gearbox malfunction: no reverse gear
(y ou can continue driving)
The re is a system malfunction in the transmis­
s ion. The transm ission is swi tching to emer­
gency mode. This mode on ly shifts into cer ­
tain gears or will not longer shift at al l. You
cannot engage the reverse gear . Dr ive to your
authorized Aud i dea ler immediately to have
the malfunction corrected.
[O] Vehicle may roll! Cannot shift to P. Please
apply parking brake
-The parking lock was re leased using the
emergency release
¢page 121. Or
- The parking brake cannot engage automati­
cally. Drive to your authorized Audi dea ler or
qualified repair facility immediately to have
the malfunction corrected.
[O] Gearbox malfunction: Stop and shift to P
Do not continue dr iving . Select the P selector
lever position and see your author ized A udi
dealer or qualified repair faci lity for assis­
tance.

Parking lock emergency release
The parking lock must be released using the
emergency release before towing the vehicle .
®
Fig. 126 Driver's s ide footwell: re lea sing t he park ing
lock us ing the emergency release
Fig. 127 Drive r's s ide footwell: resettin g th e pa rk ing
lock
The emergency release is located under the
f loor mat on the driver's s ide. You operate the
emergency re lease from the driver's seat.
Releasing the parking lock using the
emergency release
.,. To prevent the vehicle from rolling uninten­
tionally, set the parking brake
«e)) q page 86
or press the brake peda l.
.,. There are two slits on the cover. Position the
screwdriver from the vehicle tool kit in one
of the slits on the cover and pry the cover
off .
.,. Pull the band@ in the direction of the ar­
row until the release lever locks in place
qfig . 126 .
.,. Fold the uppe r section of the re lease lever
down into the recess.
Resetting the parking lock
.,. Press the button @ and the release lever at
t h e same time. You can now push the lever
Automatic Transmission 121
back into its original position. Make sure the
lever locks in place ~
fig. 12 7.
.,. Install the cover .
T he indicator light
[O] and the N position indi­
cator in the instrument cluster turn on when
the parking lock is released using the emer­
gency release. The message
Risk of rolling! P
not possible. Please set the parking brake
al­
so appears .
.&_ WARNING
If you release the park ing lock using the
emergency release, secure your vehicle
with the parking brake or the brake pedal
i f the parking brake is not working. The ve­
hicle can roll away if it is not secured and
cause a crash .

Homelink
Universal remote
control
General information
Applies to vehicles: with Home link unive rsal remote con­
tro l
The Homelink universal remote control can
be programmed with hand -held transmitters
from existing equipment
Using the Homelink universal remote control,
you can operate equ ipment such as garage
doors, property gates and house lights from inside your vehicle .
Using the Homelink universal remote control,
you can replace up to three separate hand ­
held transmitters for equipment on your
property with just one universal remote con­
trol. Most of these transmitters a re used to
operate ga rage doors and property gates. The
individual transmitters are programmed at
the front bumper. That is where the control
module is located.
The transmitters must be programmed first in
order to operate systems using the Homelink
universal remote control.
A WARNING , .,.
- Never use the Homelink transmitter
with any garage door opener that does
have not the safety stop and reverse fea­
ture as required by federal safety stand­
ards . Th is includes any garage door open ­
er model manufactured before April 1,
1982.
- A garage door opener which cannot de­
tect an object, signaling the door to stop
and reverse does not meet current feder­
al safety standards . Us ing a garage door
opener without these features increases
risk of serious injury or death.
- For safety reasons never release the
parking brake or start the engine while
anyone is standing in front of the vehicle .
- A garage door or an estate gate may sometimes be set in motion when the
H ome link 133
Homelink remote control is being pro­
grammed. If the device is repeatedly ac­
tivated, this can overstrain motor and
damage its electrical components -an
overheated motor is a fire hazard!
- To avoid possible injuries or property
damage, please always make absolutely
certa in that no persons or objects are lo­
cated in the range of motion of any
equipment being ope rated.
(D Tips
- If you would like additional information
on the Home link Universal Transce iver
'
Homel ink compatib le products, or to
purchase other accessories such as the
Homelink Lighting Package, please con­
tact Homelink at 1-800-355 -3515 or on
the Internet at www. homelink.com.
- For Declaration of Comp liance to United
States FCC and Ind ustry Canada reg ula­
tions~
page 295.
Operation
Applies to vehicles: with Homeli nk
Fig. 151 Contro l u ni t in the head liner
"' 8 ±
" m
Requ irement: The buttons must be p rogram­
med
~ page 134.
"Press the programmed button~ & in Gen­
eral information on page 133
to open the
garage door. The light @will bl ink or turn
on .
" Press the button again to close the garage
door
¢ .&. in General information on
pag e 133 . .,.

134 Homelink
@ Tips
To open t he ga rage door, p ress the butto n,
but do not press it for longer ten seco nds
or the Homelink modu le w ill switch to
programming mode.
Programming transmitters
App lies to vehicles: with Home link
F ig. 152 L eft front area of the bu mpe r
You can prog ram both fixed co de a nd rolling
code systems usi ng these instructions .
Programming a button
> Make sure your ve hicle is wi thin opera ting
r a nge o f th e remo te con trolle d garage door
opener .
> Set the parki ng brake¢ .&. in General infor­
mation on page 133.
> Switch the ignition on. Do not s tart the en­
gine!
> There are two ways to program a button: press the button that yo u wou ld like to pro­
gram . The M MI w ill display i nstruct ions to
guide yo u thr oug h the programm ing. Or
> S e le ct: I CAR I function button> Car system s
control butt on > Vehicle settings > Garage
door opener
> Program garage door open­
er .
.. Se lect the b utton t hat you wo uld like to pro­
gram.
.. Fo llow the instructions in the MMI.
• If the garage door open ing must a lso be
synchronized wit h the Homelink mod ule,
refer to t he ow ner's manual fo r the ga rage
doo r ope ner.
Erasing the button programming
> Sele ct: I CAR I function butto n > Car sy stems
fu nction key > Vehicle setting s> Garage
door opener
> Clear program settings >
Yes .
Displaying the version/status/country
code
.. Select: I CAR I function button > Car systems
cont ro l button > Vehicle settings > Garage
door opener > Version information .
Programming a button
T he re quired di sta nce between the hand he ld
t ransmit ter and the Homel ink modu le in t he
bumpe r depe nds on the system that you are
programming . When programm ing a new de­
vice, keep the b utton pressed for at least 15
seconds before trying aga in with the transm it­
te r in a diffe rent position .
Each of the b uttons can be reprogrammed in­
dividua lly . The p rocedure is the same as for in­
it ial programm ing .
c> page 134 , Programming
a button .
Erasing the button programming
Individual b uttons ca n be re programmed . Fol­
l ow the same steps used when first program­
ming the button.
If you wo uld like to erase all prog rammed but ­
tons at the same time, select Erase butto n
programming.
(D Tips
- To ens ure yo ur safe ty, e ras ing t he pr o­
gramme d Home link buttons before sell­
ing the vehicle is rec ommende d.
- Depending on the model of t he gara ge
door o pener, you may need to release t he
button on the rem ote and press it again
w hen programming .

140 Driving Safely
The following bulletins list only some sample
positions that wi ll increase the risk of serious
in jury and death . Our hope is that these exam­
p les w ill make you more aware of seating po­
sitions that are dangerous.
The ref ore, whenever th e vehicle i s
moving :
- never stand up in the vehicle
-never stand on the seats
- never knee l on the seats
- never ride with the seatback reclined
- never lie down on the rear seat
- never lean up aga inst the instrument panel
- never sit o n the edge of the seat
- never sit s ideways
- never lean out the window
- never put yo ur feet out the window
- never put yo ur feet o n the ins trumen t panel
- never rest your feet on the seat cushion o r
back of the seat
- never ride in the footwe ll
- never ride in the cargo area
.&, WARNING
Imprope r seat ing pos itions increase the
r isk of se rious personal injury and death
whenever a veh icle is being used.
- Always make sure that a ll vehicle occu-
pa nts stay in a p roper seating pos it io n
and are properly restra ined whenever the
vehicle is be ing used.
Driver and passenger
side footwell
Important safety instructions
.&, WARNING
Always make sure that the knee a irbag can
inf late w ithout interference. Objects be­
tween yourself and the airbag can increase
the risk of injury in an acc ident by interfer­
ing w ith the way the a irbag deploys or by
being p ushed into you as the airbag de­
ploys.
-
- No persons (children) or animals shou ld
ride in the footwell in front of the pas­
senger seat. If the airbag dep loys, this
can result in ser ious or fatal injuries.
- No objects of any kind should be carried
in the footwell area in front of the driv­
er 's or passenge r's seat. Bulky objects
(shopping bags, fo r example) can ha m­
pe r o r prev ent proper deployment of the
ai rbag. Small obje cts can be thrown
through the vehicle if the airbag deploys
and in jure you or yo ur passenge rs .
Pedal area
Pedals
The pedals must always be free to move and
must never be interfered with by a floor mot
or any other object.
Make sure that a ll peda ls move free ly without
interference and that nothing prevents them
from return ing to their orig inal positions.
Only use floor mats t hat leave t he pedal area
free and can be secu red with floor mat fasten­
ers.
If a brake circ uit fa ils, inc reased brake pedal
trave l is required to bring the vehicle to a f ull
stop .
.&, WARNING ,-
Pedals that cannot move free ly can cause
l oss of vehicle control and increase the risk
of ser ious injury.
- Never p lace any objects in the drive r's
footwell. An object co uld get into the
pedal area and interfere with pedal func­
tion . In case of sudde n brak ing o r an ac­
cident, yo u wou ld not be able to b rake or
accelerate!
- Always make sure that no thing can fall
or move into the driver's footwel l.

Floor mats on the driver side
Always use floor mats that can be securely attached to the floor mat fasteners and do
not interfere with the free movement of the
pedals.
.,. Make sure that the floor mats are properly
secured and cannot move and interfere with
the pedals
9 &. -
Use only floor mats that leave the pedal area
unobstructed and that are firmly secured so
that they cannot s lip out of position . You can
obtain suitable floor mats from your author­
iz ed A udi Dealer .
Floor mat fasteners are installed in your Audi.
Floor mats used in your vehicle must be at­
tached to these fasteners. Properly securing
the floor mats will prevent them from slid ing
i nto pos itions that could inte rfere with the
pedals or impair safe operation of your vehicle
in other ways .
A WARNING
Pedals that cannot move freely ca n resu lt
in a loss of vehicle contro l and increase the
risk of serious personal injury.
- Always make sure that floor mats are
properly secured .
- Never place or insta ll floo r mats or other
floo r coverings in the vehicle that cannot
be properly secured in place to prevent
them from slipping and interfering with
the pedals or the ability to control the
vehicle .
- Never place or install floor mats or other
floor coverings on top of already insta l­
led floor mats. Additional floor mats and
other coverings w ill reduce the size of
the pedal area and interfere with the
peda ls .
- Always properly reinstall and secure floor mats that have been taken out for clean­
ing .
- Always make sure that objects cannot
fall into the driver footwell wh ile the ve­
hicle is moving. Objects can become
Driving S afel y 141
trapped under the brake pedal and acce l­
erator pedal causing a loss of vehicle
control.
Stowing luggage
Loading the luggage compartment
All luggage and other objects must be prop­ erly stowed and secured in the luggage
com­
partment.
Loose items in the luggage compartment can
shift suddenly, changing veh icle handling
c h aracteristics. Loose items can also increase
the risk of serious persona l injury in a sudden
vehicle maneuve r or i n a collision.
.,. Distribute the load evenly in the luggage
compartment.
.,. Always place and properly secure heavy
items in the luggage compartment as far
forward as possible .
... Secure luggage items using the tie-downs
provided
¢ page 70, Luggage compart­
ment.
A WARNING
Improperly stored luggage or other items
can fly through the veh icle causing ser ious
personal injury in the event of hard brak­
ing or an accident. To help reduce the risk
of serious personal inju ry:
- Always put objects, for example, luggage
or other heavy items in the luggage com­
partment.
- Always secure objects in the luggage
compartment using the tie-down hooks
and suitable straps.
A WARNING
Heavy loads w ill influence the way yo ur ve­
hicle handles. To help reduce the risk of a
loss of contro l leading to serious personal
injury :
-Always keep in mind when transporting
heavy objects, that a change in the cen­
ter of gravity can also cause changes in
veh icle handling: •
•

Intelligent technology Notice about data
recorded by vehicle
control modules
Your vehicle is not equipped with an Event Da­
ta Recorder (EDR), installed by some manu­
facturers for the express purpose of capturing
data for retrieval after an accident or crash
event. EDR's are sometimes called "crash re­
corders".
Some state laws restrict the retr ieval or down­
loading of data stored by EDR's that were in­
stalled in a vehicle for the express purpose of
retrieving data after an accident or crash
event without the owner's consent.
Although your vehicle is not equipped with an
EDR, it is equipped with a number of electron­
ic control modules for various vehicle systems
such as, for examp le, engine function, emis­
sion control, as well as for the airbags and
safety belts.
These electronic control modules also record
vehicle-related data during norma l vehicle op­
eration for diagnostic and repair purposes.
The recording capacity of the electronic con­
trol modules is limited to data (no sound is re­
corded) and only a small amount of data is ac­
tually recorded over a very limited period of
time and stored when a system fault or other
condition is sensed by a control unit. Some of
the data then stored may relate to vehicle
speed, direction, braking as we ll as restraint
system use and performance in the event of a
crash or other condition. Stored data can only be read and downloaded with special equip­
ment.
Electronic Stabilization
Control (ESC)
Description
ESC helps to improve road holding and vehicle
dynamics to help reduce the probability of
skidding and loss of veh icle control. It works
only when the engine is running. ESC detects
Intelligent technology 199
certain difficult driving situations, including
when the vehicle is beginning to spin (yaw)
out of control and helps you to get the veh icle
back under control by se lectively braking the
wheels, and/or reducing engine power and
providing steering ass istance to help hold the
vehicle on the driver's intended course. The in­
dicator light
JjJ in the instrument cluster
blinks when ESC is taking action to help you
control the vehicle.
ESC has limitations .
It is important to remem­
ber that ESC cannot overcome the laws of
physics.
It will not always be able to help out
under all conditions you may come up against.
For example, ESC may not always be able to
help you master situations where there is a
sudden change in the coefficient of friction of
the road surface. When there is a section of dry road that is suddenly covered with water,
slush or snow, ESC cannot perform the same
way it would on the dry surface. If the vehicle
hydroplanes (rides on a cushion of water in­
stead of the road surface), ESC will not be
able to help you steer the vehicle because con­
tact with the pavement has been interrupted
and the vehicle cannot be braked or steered .
During fast cornering, particularly on winding
roads, ESC cannot always deal as effectively
with difficult driving situations than at lower
speeds. When towing a trailer, ESC is not able
to help you regain control as it would if you
were not tow ing a trailer.
A lways adjust your speed and driving style to
road, traffic and weather conditions. ESC can­
not override the vehicle's physical limits, in­
crease the available traction, or keep a vehicle
on the road if road departure is a result of
driver inattention. Instead, ESC improves the
poss ibility of keeping the vehicle under con­
trol and on the road dur ing extreme maneu­
vers by using the driver's steering inputs to
help keep the vehicle going in the intended di­
rection. If you are traveling at a speed that
causes you to run off the road before ESC can
provide any assistance, you may not experi­
ence the benefits of ESC.
•
•