2014 AUDI Q5 tow

~ Do not drive at the maximum permissible
speed.
~ Always apply brakes early.
~ Monitor the temperature gauge.
Weight distribution
Towing a loaded tra iler with an empty ca r re­
sults in a high ly unstable distribution of
weight. If this cannot be avoided, drive at very low speeds only to avoid the risk of losing
steering control.
A "balanced" rig is easier to operate and con ­
trol. This means that the tow vehicle should
be loaded to the extent possible and permiss i­
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 wh ile 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 -part icularly
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 veh icles towing trailers are lower than for
regular vehicles.
Always apply brakes early . When driving
downhill, shift into a lower gear to use the en ­
g ine braking effect to slow the vehicle . Use of
the brakes alone can cause them to ove rheat
and fail.
Coolant temperature
T he coolant temperature gauge c:> page 10
must be observed carefully . If the needle
moves close to the upper end of the scale, re­
duce speed immed iate ly and/or turn off the
air cond itioner.
Trailertowin g 215
If the coolant temperature warning light in
the instr ument 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
prov ided by Audi .
Trailer towing tips
Important to know
Your vehicle handles differently when towing
-
a trailer because of the additional weight and
different weight distr ibut ion. Safety, perform­
ance and economy will greatly depend on how
carefully you load your trailer and operate
your rig.
Before you actually tow your tra iler, practice
turning, stopping and backing up in an area
away from traffic. Keep practicing until you
have become completely familiar w ith the way
your vehicle-tra ile r combination behaves and
responds.
Backing up is difficult and requires practice .
Backing up with a trailer generally requires
steering action opposite to that when backing
u p you r vehicle without a trailer.
Maintain a greater d ista nce between your ve­
hicle and the one in front of you. You w ill need
more room to stop. To compensate fo r the
trailer, you w ill 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 yo u have
enough room to pass. After passing, a llow
plenty of room for your trailer before chang­
ing lanes again.
Avoid jerky starts , sharp t urns or rapid lane
changes.
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216 Trailertowing
-Do not tow a trailer during the break-in
period of your vehicle .
- If you tow a trailer, your Audi may re­
quire more frequent maintenance due to
the extra load
<=> page 293.
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:
,,. Apply the foot brake.
,,. Have someone place chocks under both the
vehicle and the trai ler wheels.
,,. With chocks in place, slowly re lease the
brakes until the whee l chocks absorb the
load.
,,. Turn the wheels towards the curb .
,,. Apply the parking brake .
,,. Move the selector lever to P.
When restarting after parking:
,,. Apply the foot brake.
,,. Start the eng ine.
,,. Move the selector lever to D/S.
,,. Re lease the park ing brake and slowly pull
out and away from the wheel chocks.
,,. Stop and have someone retrieve the wheel
chocks.
@ Tips
If you move the selector lever of the auto­
mat ic transmission 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.

th e f unct ion of the tire pressure monitor­
ing system*.
- Always inflate tires to the recommended
and correct tire pressure before driving
off.
- Driving with under inflated tires bend
more, letting them get too hot resu lting
in tread separation, sudden t ire failure
and loss of control.
- Excessive speed and/overloading can
cause heat build-up, sudden tire fail ure
and loss of control.
- If the t ire pressure is too low or too high,
the tires w ill wea r 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 w heel immed iate ly, dr ive at
reduced speed to the nearest serv ice sta­
t ion to check the tire pressure and add
air as requi red.
{Q) Note
Dr iving without va lve stem caps ca n cause
damage to the tire va lves . To preve nt this,
always ma ke s ure t hat facto ry installed
va lve stem caps on all wheels a re secu re ly
mounte d on the va lve.
@ For the sake of the environment
Unde rinflat ed tires will a lso inc reas e the
fue l cons umption .
Tires and vehicle load limits
There are l imits to the amo un t of load or
weight that any vehicle and any tire can carry .
A veh icle that is overloaded w ill not handle
w ell and is more difficult to stop. Overload ing
can not only lead to loss of vehicle contro l,
but c an a lso damage import ant parts of the
ve hicle and can lead to sudden tire failure, in­
cluding a blowout and sudden deflation that
can cause the ve hicle to crash .
Your safety and that of your passengers a lso
depends on making sure that load limits are n ot exceeded. Vehicle load includes everybody
and everyth ing in and on the vehicle . Th ese
Tire s an d wheel s 255
load lim its are technically referred to as the
vehicle's
Gross Vehicle Weight Rating
("GVWR").
T he "GVWR" incl udes the weight of the basic
vehicle, a ll factory installed accessories, a f ull
tan k of fuel, oi l, coo lant and other fluids plus
max imum load. The max imum load incl udes
the n umber of passengers t hat the vehicle is
intended to carry ("seat ing capac ity") with an
ass umed we ight of 150 lbs (68 kg) fo r each
passenger at a designated seating posi tion
and the tota l weight of a ny luggage i n the ve­
hicle. If you tow a tra ile r, the we igh t of the
tra iler hi tch and the tongue we igh t of t he
loaded tra iler mus t be included as part of the
vehicle load .
T he
Gro ss Axle Weight Rating (" G AWR ") is
the max imum load th at can be appl ied a t each
of the veh icle's two axles .
T he Gross Vehicle Weight Rat ing and t he
G ross Ax le Weig ht Ra ting are listed on the
sa fe ty comp lian ce sti cke r la bel lo cate d 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 for
total seating capacity of 5. Eac h seating posi ­
tion has a seat be lt
c:> page 149, Safety belts.
T he fac t that there is an upper limit to yo ur
vehicle's Gross Vehicle Weight Rating means
that the total weight of whatever is being car­ ried in the vehicle ( includ ing the weight of a
trailer hitch and the tongue weight of the
loaded tra iler) is lim ited. The more passen­
gers in the vehicle or passengers w ho are
heavier than the sta ndard we ights assumed
mea n that less we ight can be ca rried as lug­
gage.
T he tire pressure label on your Audi also lists
the max imum combined weight of all of the
occupants and l uggage or other cargo that
the ve hicl e can ca rry . Fo r th e lo cat ion of the
la bel
c:> page 251, fig. 205 .
_&. WARNING
--==
Overloading a vehicle can cause loss o f ve -
h icle cont ro l, a crash or other accide nt, se-
rious pe rsonal in ju ry, and even death. ..,
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256 Tires and wheels
-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
pressure label)
¢ page 251,
fig. 205.
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 251, fig. 205.
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 SO
(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 ..,

268 What do I do now?
What do I do now?
Jack, tools and
inflatable spare tire
Onboard tool kit and vehicle jack
The vehicle tools and vehicle jack* are stored
in the luggage compartment under the floor
cover.
Fig . 211 Luggage compartment: on board tool kit and
vehicle jack
The vehicle jack* is stored under the on board
tool kit¢
fig. 211.
Hybrid drive*: the storage location of the on­
board tool kit varies
¢ page 104.
The onboard tool kit includes:
- Hook for removing wheel covers*
- Plastic hook to remove whee l bolt covers*
- Alignment p in for changing wheels
- Wheel bolt wrench
- Folding chocks
- Screwdriver with reversible blade
- Socket (removable Torx socket)*
- 10 x 13 open ended wrench (for disconnect-
ing the battery cables)
-Towing eye
Before storing the jack*, make sure it is
wound back down as far as it will go.
& WARNING
Improper use of the vehicle jack* can
cause serious personal injuries.
- Never use the jack* supplied with your
Audi on another vehicle, particularly on a
heavier one . The jack* is only suitab le for
use on the vehicle it came with . -
Using a bumper jack to raise the vehicle
will damage the bumper system. The
jack may slip, causing injury.
- Never support your vehicle on cinder
blocks, bricks or other objects. These
may not be able to support the load and
could cause injury when they fa il.
- Never start or run the engine while the
veh icle is supported by the jack*.
- If you must work under the vehicle, al­
ways use safety stands specifically de­
signed for this purpose.
- Never use the hexagonal socket in the
handle of the screwdriver to loosen or
tighten the wheel bolts.
- Always make sure the inflatable spare
tire* and even a flat t ire are secured in
place and not loose, otherw ise they
could fly forward, causing personal injury
to passengers in the vehicle in an acci­
dent or sudden maneuver.
@ Tips
Some of the on board items listed above
are provided on certain models only or are
optiona l extras.
Folding chocks
The folding chocks are part of the on board
tool kit.
Fi g. 2 12 Open ing folding choc ks
To use the chocks, you first have to raise the
support plate¢
fig . 212 (D and then insert
the locking plate with the two "tabs" into the
elongated holes in the base plate @¢& .
Ill>

_& WARNING
-The chock cannot fulfil its funct ion and
may lose its stability if the "tabs" on the
support plate are not inserted cor rectly
into the elongated holes in the base
pla te. If th is happens, the vehicle may
st ar t to move whi le a wheel is being
changed .
- Never use the folding chocks if they are
damaged or i f th ey have not been assem ­
bled correct ly .
Removing bass box
Applies to vehicles: with bass box
Before the inflatable spare tire* can be taken
out, the bass box must
be removed.
Fig . 2 13 Spare w hee l well : Bas s box
Removing bas s bo x
.,. Lift up the cargo floor using the hand le .
.,. Sq ueeze the locking tabs
c:!;> fig . 213 (D of
the connector.
.,. Disconnect the connector @and place the
lead to one side.
.,. Turn the large screw counter -clockwise .
.,. Carefu lly remove the bass box .
Install ing bas s bo x
.,. Carefu lly place the bass box in the wheel.
The inscr ipt ion "FRONT" on the bass box
must face forward .
.,. Reconnect the connector that was removed .
.,. Secure the bass box with the large screw.
.,. Fold the cargo floor back down.
What do I d o now ? 269
Inflatable spare tire
Applies to vehicles: with inflatable spare tire
The inflatable spare tire expands to its full di­
ameter when it is inflated.
Fi g. 21 4 In flatable spa re t ire w it h comp ressor
Removing inflatable spare tire
.,. Lift up the cargo floo r using t he handle .
.,. Remove the dirt t ray .
.,. Turn the large screw
c:!;> fig. 214 co unter­
clockw ise .
.,. Remove the bass box as required
c:!;> page 269 .
.,. Take out the inflatable spare tire .
.,. Always store the vehicle tool kit, the jack*
and the replaced tire in the luggage com ­
partment
c:!;> page 145.
Stowing the inflatabl e spare t ire
.,. Release the air by unscrewing the valve
stem .
.,. Screw the valve stem back in afterwards .
.,. Wait a few hours befo re placing the wheel in
the spare wheel well
c:!;> .,&. .
"'Insta ll the bass box as required c:!;> page 269 .
.,. Secure the wheel with t he la rge screw .
.,. Place the d irt tr ay back in .
.,. Fold the cargo floor back down.
After using the inflatable spare wheel
T he inflatab le spare tire can be re-used as
l ong as it is not damaged and is not wo rn
down to the t read wea r indica tors
c:!;> ,& .
When you let the a ir out of the inflatab le
spare t ire , it does not assume its folded shape
again for s evera l hours . U nti l then , it canno t
be pla ced ba ck in the spare whee l we ll and
stowed secure ly.

2 70 What do I do now?
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 inflatable spare tire is more than 6
years old, use it only in an emergency
and with extreme caution and careful
driving.
- The inflatable spare tire is intended only
for temporary and short-term use. It
should be replaced as soon as possible
with the normal wheel and tire.
- The tire pressure value for the inflatable
spare tire is located on the driver's side
8-pillar
¢ page 251, fig. 206.
- Maximum permissible speed is SO mph
(80 km/h).
- Avoid full-throttle acceleration, heavy
braking, and fast cornering .
- When the air is let out of the inflatable
spare wheel, it does not assume its fold­
ed shape for several hours. Until then, it
cannot be placed back in the spare wheel
well and stowed securely.
- Never drive with more than one inflata­
ble spare tire.
- For technical reasons, the use of tire
chains on the inflatable spare tire is not
permitted .
If it is necessary to drive with
tire chains, the inflatable spare wheel
must be mounted on the front axle in the
event of a flat in a rear tire. The newly
available front wheel must then be in­
stalled in place of the rear wheel with
the flat tire. Installing the tire chain be­
fore mounting the wheel and tire is rec­
ommended.
- Loose items in the passenger compart­
ment can cause serious personal injury
during hard braking or in an accident.
Never store the inflatable spare tire or
jack* and tools in the passenger com­
partment.
Q) Note
- The inflatable spare tire has been devel­
oped specifically for this vehicle model.
It must not be exchanged or used for
other vehicle models. Similarly, inflata­
ble tires from other vehicle models must
not be used.
- Normal summer or winter tires must not
be installed on the inflatable tire rim.
Inflating inflatable spare tire
Applies to vehicles : wit h in flatable spa re tire
Fig. 215 L u ggage compartment left side : compressor
.,. Remove the left trim panel in the luggage
compartment.
.,. Open the Velcro strap and remove the com­
pressor ¢
fig. 215.
.,. Unscrew the valve stem from the spare tire.
.,. Screw the tire filler hose from the compres­
sor firmly onto the valve of the spare tire .
.., Insert the plug from the compressor into a
socket of the vehicle
r=;, page 75 .
.., Switch the compressor on.
.., Let the compressor run until the value speci­
fied on the tire pressure label is reached
r=;, page 251, fig. 206. Switch the compres­
sor off after running for 12 minutes at the
most -danger of overheating!
A WARNING
= The compressor and the tire filler hose can
become extremely hot while they are run­
ning -danger of burns!
(D Note
Switch the compressor off after running
for 12 minutes at the most -danger of
overheating! Allow the compressor to cool
down for a few minutes before you use it
again .

(D Note
Special care is required if you are repairing
the tire on a steep incline.
@ Tips
-Do not operate the compressor for more
than 12 minutes continuously, otherwise it can overheat. Once the compressor has
cooled, you can continue to use it.
- If sealant has spilled out, let it dry and
then you can remove it by peeling it away
like a foil.
- Remember to obtain a new bottle of
sealant from your authorized Audi dealer
after repairing a tire. After this, the func­
tionality of the tire repair set is restored.
- Obey all laws.
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 guardrail) ¢
_&.
.. Engage the parking brake to prevent your
vehicle from rolling unintentionally¢_&.
.. Move
selector lever to position P ¢ _& .
.,. If you are tow ing a trai ler: unhitch the trail­
er from your vehicle.
.,. Block the diagonally opposite wheel with
the folding chocks or other objects.
.. Take the
jack* and the inflatable spare tire*
out of the luggage compartment
¢page 268.
A WARNING
You or your passengers could be injured
while changing a wheel if you do not fol­
low these safety precautions:
-
What do I do now? 273
- 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
place away from the vehicle and well
away from the road and traffic.
- To help prevent the vehicle from moving
suddenly and possibly slipping off the
jack*, always fully set the parking brake
and block the wheel diagonally opposite
the wheel being changed with the fold­
ing chocks or other objects. When one
front wheel is lifted off the ground, plac­
ing the Automatic Transmission in P
(Park) will
not prevent the vehicle from
moving.
- Before you change a wheel, be sure the
ground is level and firm. If necessary,
use a sturdy board under the jack*.
- Always store the vehicle tool kit, the
jack* and the replaced tire in the luggage
compartment
¢page 145.
Changing a wheel
When you change a wheel, follow the se­
quence described below step-by-step and in
exactly that order.
1. Remov e the decorative wheel cover*. For
more details see also
¢ page 274, Deco­
rative wheel covers
or ¢ page 2 7 4,
Wheels with wheel bolt cops .
2. Loosen the wheel bolts¢ page 2 75 .
3. Locate the proper mounting point for the
jack* and align the jack* below that point
¢ page 275.
4. Lift the car with the jack* ¢ page 2 75 .
S. Remove the wheel with the flat tire and
then install the
inflatable spare tire*
¢page 276.
6. Tighten all wheel bolts lightly.
7.
Lower the vehicle with the jack*.
8. Use the wheel bolt wrench and
firmly
tighten all wheel bolts¢ page 2 75.
9. Replace the decorative wheel cover*.
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