2014 AUDI A8 tow

~ Start the engine.
~ Se lect the D selector lever position.
~ Re lease the park ing brake and slowly 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 transm ission to P before applying
the parking brake and before blocking the
wheels, you may have to use more force
later to move the lever out of the P posi­
tion .
Trailer towing 215
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256 Tire s and wheel s
the function of the tire pressure monitor­
ing system*.
- Always inflate tires to the recommended
and correct tire pressure before driving
off.
- Driv ing with under inflated tires bend
more, letting them get too hot resu lting
in tread separation, sudden t ire fail ure
and loss of control.
- Excess ive speed and/overloading can
cause heat bui ld-up, sudden t ire failure
and loss of control.
- If the t ire pressure is too low or too high,
the tires w ill wear prematurely and the
vehicle will not hand le we ll.
- If the t i re is not flat and you do not have
to change a wheel immed iate ly, dr ive at
reduced speed to the nearest service sta­
t ion to check the tire pressure a nd add
air as required.
0 Note
Dr iving without va lve stem caps can cause
damage to the t ire va lves . To prevent this,
always ma ke sure that facto ry installed
valve stem caps on all wheels a re secu re ly
mou nte d on the valve.
@) For the sake of the environment
Unde rinflated tires will a lso inc reas e the
fue l cons umption .
Tires and vehicle load limits
There are limits to the amo unt of load or
weight that any vehicle and any t ire can carry .
A vehicle that is overloaded w ill not handle
well and is more difficult to stop. Overloading
can not only lead to loss of vehicle contro l,
but can also damage import ant parts of the
ve hicle and can lead to sudde n tire failure, in­
cluding a blowout and sudden deflation that
can cause t he veh icle to crash .
Your safety and that of your passengers a lso
depends on making sure that load limits are
not exceeded . Vehicle load includes everybody
and everyth ing in and on the vehicle. These load lim
its are technically referred to as the
vehicle's
Gro ss Vehicle Weight R ating
("GVWR").
T he "GVWR" includes t he weight of the basic
vehicle , a ll f actory installed accessories, a f ull
tank of fuel, oi l, coo lant and other f luids plus
maximum load. The max imum load incl udes
the number of passengers that the vehicle is
intended to carry ("seat ing capac ity ") with an
assumed we ight of 150 lbs (68 kg) for each
passenger at a designated seating posit ion
and the total weight of a ny luggage in the ve­
hicle. If you tow a trai le r, the we ight of the
t ra ile r hi tc h and the tongue we ight of the
l oaded tra iler mus t be include d as part of the
vehicle load .
T he
Gro ss Ax le Weight Rating ("GAWR ") is
the max imum load that can be applied a t each
of the veh icle's two axles .
T he Gross Vehicle Weight Rat ing and the
G ross Ax le Weig ht Ra ting are listed on the
sa fety comp lian ce s ticke r label located on the
driver's side B-pillar. Yo ur Audi has 5 seat ing
pos itions , 2 in the front and 3 in the rea r fo r
total seati ng capacity of 5. Vehicles with pow ­
er indiv idual rear seats * have 4 seating posi­
tions, 2 in the front and 2 in the rear for total
seat ing capac ity of 4. Each seating position
has a safety belt¢
page 145, Safety belts.
The fact that there is an upper limit to yo ur
vehicle's Gross Vehicle Weight Rating means
that the to tal weight of wha tever is being car­
ried in the vehicle ( includ ing t he weight of a
t ra ile r hitch and the tongue weight of the
loaded tra ile r) is lim ited. The more passe n­
gers in the vehicle or passengers w ho are
he avier th an t he st andard we igh ts assumed
mean that less we igh t can be carried as lug ­
gage.
T he tire pre ssure label o n your Audi also lis ts
t h e max imum combine d weig ht of all of the
occupants and luggage or o ther cargo that
the vehi cle can carry . For the location of the
l abel ¢
page 252, fig . 208. liJJ>

A WARNING ,~
Overloading a vehicle can cause loss of ve­
hicle control, a crash or other accident, se ­
rious persona l injury, and even death .
- 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 ve­
hicle's placard (tire inflation
Tires and wheels 257
pressure label) ¢ page 252,
fig. 208.
2. Determine the combined
weight of the driver and pas­
sengers that will be riding in
your vehicle.
3. Subtract the combined weight of the driver and pas­
sengers from
"XXX" kilo­
grams or
"XXX" pounds
shown on the sticker
¢ page 252, fig. 208.
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
i,,,.
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•

What do I do now? Trunk escape handle
In case of an emergency, the rear lid can be
opened from the inside using the trunk es­
cape handle .
Fig. 215 Trunk escape hand le : View from inside the
close d trunk
To open rear lid
.,. Pull the handle down towards the bumper
~fig. 215.
The trunk escape handle inside the rear lid is
made of fluorescent material to glow in the
dark.
A WARNING
The trunk escape handle is to be used on ly
in an emergency .
(D Tips
The emergency release lever shou ld never
be used as a handle for closing the rear lid.
What do I do now? 269
Emergency warning
triangle
App lies to veh icles: w it h emergency wa rning tria ng le
The warning triangle is located on the inside
of the trunk lid.
Fig. 216 Trunk lid: Wa rning triangle
.,. To remove the warning triangle, press the
retainer in the direction of the arrow
~fig. 216 and fold the holder down .
The rear lid is only designed to hold the warn­
ing triang le offered by the original accessories
program. If you would like to retrof it yo ur ve­
hicle with a warning triangle, please contact
your authorized Audi dealer.

2 70 What do I do now ?
Vehicle tool kit
Vehicle tool kit and jack
The vehicle tool kit is located in the luggage
compartment under the cargo floor cover .
Fig. 217 Luggage compartment: cargo floor cove r
folded upward
Fig . 218 Trunk lid: Vehicle tool k it
... Lift the cargo floor by the plastic handle.
... Hook the handle into the luggage compart­
ment weather strip
c> fig. 217.
... Remove the spare wheel to reach the vehicle
tool kit .
.,. Remove the foam p iece.
The onboard tool kit includes:
- Hooks to
remove the wheel covers* or wheel
hub covers
- Plastic hook to remove wheel bolt covers*
- Wheel bolt wrench
- Alignment p in for changing wheels
- Screwdriver with reversible blade
- Towing loop
- Jack
Before storing the jack, make sure it is wound
back down as far as it will go.
A WARNING
-Improper use of the vehicle jack can cause
serious personal injuries.
- Never use the screw driver hex head to
tighten wheel bolts, since the bolts can­
not attain the necessary tighten ing tor­
que if you use the hex head, potentially
causing an accident.
- The factory-supplied jack is intended on­
ly for your vehicle model. Under no cir­
cumstances should it be used to lift
heavy vehicles or other loads; you risk in­
juring yo urself.
- Never start the engine when the vehicle
is raised, wh ich could cause an acc ident.
- Support the vehicle securely with appro­
priate stands if work is to be performed
underneath the vehicle; otherwise, there
is a potential risk for injury.
- Never use the jack supplied with your
Audi on another vehicle, particularly on a
heavier one. The jack is only suitable for
use on the vehicle it came with.
(D Tips
- Some of the onboard items listed above
are provided on certain models only or
are optional extras .
- Before you can raise your vehicle using
the jack, you must activate the jacking
mode
c> page 275 .

272 What do I do now ?
Spare wheel
App lies to vehicles: with spare wheel
The spare wheel is stored in the wheel well
underneath the floor panel in the luggage
compartment.
Fig. 220 L uggage compartment: spare wheel
Taking out the spare wheel
.,. Lift the cargo floor by the plastic handle
¢fig. 220.
.. Hook the hand le into the luggage compart­
ment weather strip .
.. Turn the large screw¢
fig. 220 counter­
clockwise.
.. Take out the spare tire.
.. Always store the vehicle tool kit, the jack*
and the replaced tire in the luggage com­
partment ¢
page 141.
.,. Unhook the cargo floor before closing the
rear lid.
&_ WARNING
-
Loose items in the passenger compart ­
ment can cause serious personal injury
during hard braking or in an accident.
- Never store the spare wheel or jack and
tools in the passenger compartment.
(D Tips
Check the inflat ion pressure of the spare
tire periodically to keep the tire ready for
use.
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 experience a tire failure, pull the
car well away from moving traffic and try to
reach
level ground before you stop ¢ .&_ .
.. All passengers should leave the car and
move to a safe location (for instance, behind
the guardra il)¢ .&_ .
.. Engage the
parking brake to prevent your
vehicle from rolling unintentionally¢ .&_.
.. Move
selector lever to position P ¢ A .
.. If you are towing a trailer, unhitch the trailer
from your vehicle .
.,. Take the
jack and the spare tire out of the
luggage compartment¢
page 270,
¢page 271.
&_ WARNING
You or you r passengers could be injured
while changing a wheel if you do not fol­
l ow these safety precautions:
-If you have a flat tire, move a safe dis­
tance off the road. Turn off the engine,
turn the emergency flashers on and use
other warning devices to alert other mo­
torists .
- Make sure that passengers wait in a safe
p lace away from the vehicle and well
away from the road and traffic.
- To help prevent the vehicle from moving
suddenly and possib ly slipping off the
jack, always fully set the parking brake
and block the wheel d iagonally opposite
the wheel be ing changed. When one
front wheel is lifted off the ground, plac­ ing the Automatic Transmission in "P"
(Par k) will
not prevent the vehicle from
mov ing.
- Before you change a wheel, be sure the
g rou nd is level and firm. If necessary,
use a sturdy board under the jack.
-

Emergency situations
General
This chapter i s 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
Ve hicles w ith an au tomatic tra nsmission
cannot be started by pus hing o r tow ing.
Starting with jumper
cables
If necessary, the engine can be started by
connecting it to the battery of another vehi­
cle.
If the engine shou ld fail to start because of a
discha rged o r wea k battery, the battery can be
connected to the battery o f
another vehicle,
using a
pair of jumper cables to start the en­
g ine.
Jumper cables
Use only jumper cables of sufficiently la rge
c ross section to carry the starter c urrent safe­
l y. Refer to the man ufacturer's specifications.
Use only jumper cables with
insulated te rm i­
na l clamps wh ic h are d istinctly marked:
plus(+) cable i n mos t cases co lore d red
minu s(-) cable
in most cases colored black .
A WARNING
Batterie s contain e lec tricity, ac id, an d gas.
A ny of these can cause ve ry ser io us or fatal
inju ry. Follow the instructions below f or
safe han dling of your veh icle's b attery .
- Alway s shield you r eyes and avoid lean­
ing over the bat te ry whenever possib le.
- A dis ch arged battery c an free ze at tem­
peratures ju st be low 32 °F ( 0 °C ). Befo re
Emergency situations 283
connecting a jumpe r cab le, you must
thaw the frozen battery c omp lete ly, ot h­
erwise it could explode.
- Do not allow battery acid to contact eyes
or skin. Fl ush any contacted area with
wate r immediately.
- Improper use of a booster battery to start a vehicle may cause an explosion.
- Vehicle batter ies genera te exp losive gas­
es. Keep spar ks, flame and lighted c iga ­
rettes away from batte ries.
- Do not try to jump start any ve hicle w ith
a low ac id leve l in the battery.
- The vo ltage of the booste r batte ry m ust
a lso have a 12-Vol t rating. T he capacity
(Ah) of the booster battery sho uld not be
lowe r tha n that of the discharged bat­
tery . Use of batte rie s of d iffe ren t voltage
or substantially diffe rent "Ah" rat ing
may c au se an exp losion and persona l in­
JU ry.
- N ever cha rge a fro zen battery. Gas trap­
pe d in the ice may cause a n ex plosion.
- Never cha rge or use a batte ry tha t h as
been fr ozen. T he battery case may have
be weakened.
- Us e of b atter ies of differe nt voltage or
sub stant ia lly diffe ren t ca pa city (Ah) ra t­
i ng may c ause an ex plosion an d injury .
Th e capac ity (Ah) of the booster bat tery
should not be lower than that of the dis ­
charged batte ry .
- Before you chec k any thing in the engine
compa rtment, always read and hee d all
WARNINGS
¢page 231.
(D Note
-App lyin g a higher vo ltage booster ba t­
t ery w ill cause expens ive damage to se n­
sit ive e lectronic com ponents, such as
cont ro l units, relays, rad io, etc.
- The re must be no electrical contact be­
tween the vehicles as ot herwise c urrent
co uld a lready start to f low as soon as the
p o sit ive(+) term inals a re connected. ..,. •
•

-When connecting jumper cables, make
sure that they cannot get caught in any
moving parts in the eng ine compart­
ment .
- Before you check anything in the engine
compartment, always read and heed all
WARNINGS
¢ page 231.
(D Note
Improper hook-up of jumper cables can r u­
in the generator.
- Always connect POSITIVE( +) to POSI­
TIVE(+), and NEGATIVE(-) to NEGATIVE
( - ) gro und post of the battery manager
control unit .
- Check that all screw plugs on the battery
cells a re screwed in firmly . If not, tighten
pl ugs p rior to connecting clamp on nega ­
tive battery term inal.
- Please note that the procedure f or con­
nect ing a jump er cable as desc ribed
above appl ies spec ifically to the case of
you r vehi cle be ing jump started. When
you are giv ing a jump star t to an othe r ve­
hi cle, do
not connec t the negat ive (-) ca­
ble to the negat ive (-) terminal on the
discharged battery @¢
fig. 234. In ­
stead, securely connect the negative( -)
cable to e ithe r a solid metal component
that is firmly bolted to the engine block
or to the e ng ine block itse lf. If the bat­
te ry tha t is being charged does not vent
to the outside, escaping batte ry gas
could igni te and exp lode!
Emergency towing
with commercial tow truck
General hints
Your Audi requires special handling for tow ­
tng.
The follow ing information is to be used by
commercia l tow tr uck operators who know
h ow to ope rate thei r equipme nt safe ly.
Emergenc y situ ation s 285
-Ne ver tow your Audi. Towing will cause
damage to the engine and tran smission.
- Never wrap the safety chain s or w inch ca­
ble s around the brake lines.
- To prevent unnece ssary damage , your Audi
must be transported with a flat bed tru ck.
- To load the vehicle on to the fl at bed , use
the towing loop found in the vehicle tools
a nd attach to the front or rear anchora ge
¢ page 285 and ¢ page 286 .
_& WARNING
A vehicle being towed is not safe for pas ­
sengers. Never allow anyo ne to ride in a
vehicle be ing towed, for any reason.
Front towing loop
Only install the front towing loop when it is
needed.
Fig. 23 5 Front bu mpe r: cove r
Fig. 236 Fr ont bu mpe r: sc rew ing in t he tow ing loop
-
The towing loop f its into the threaded hole lo ­
cated on the right s ide of the front bumpe r
and cove red by a sma ll cove r when not in use .
.. Remove the tow ing loop from the vehicle
too l kit .