2014 AUDI R8 SPYDER instrument cluster

34 Openin g and clo sing
• Press the front lid closed carefully using
both hands unti l it latches audibly¢ &,.
A WARNING
A front lid that is not comp lete ly latched
could fly up and block your view while driv­
ing.
- When you close the front lid, check it to
make sure the safety catch has properly
engaged. The lid should be flush with the
surround ing vehicle body parts.
- If you not ice wh ile driving that the lid is
not secured properly, stop at once and
close it.
- Never leave your vehicle unattended es­
pecially with the front lid left open. A
child could c rawl into the luggage com­
par tment and pull the lid s hut, becoming
tr apped and unable to get out. To re duce
the risk of personal i njury, never let chil­
dren p lay in or around your vehicle . Al ­
ways keep the front lid as we ll as the ve­
hicle doors closed when not in use.
(D Note
Ma ke s ure no objects are protruding above
t he edge o f the luggage compartment.
Otherwise, the front lid could be dam­
aged.
(D Tips
I f the front lid is open or not p roperly
locked w hen the ignit ion is tu rned on, the
door and front lid warning appea rs in the
instrument cluster disp lay.
Emergency release for front lid
If the front lid cannot be opened, an emer­
gency release is provided .
Fig . 29 Sect io n: Eme rgency release
• Reach under the closed glove compartmen t.
There is a red plas tic cord under the glove
compartment .
• Pull the red plastic cord towards yo u.
Anti-theft alarm
system
The anti-theft alarm triggers an alarm if any­
one attempts to break into the vehicle .
Fig . 30 Diode position in the instrument pane l
The anti -theft alarm system triggers an audi­
ble a larm and turns on the emerge ncy flasher
if an unauthorize d interference with the vehi­
cle is sensed by the system .
How is the anti-theft alarm system
switched on?
T he anti -theft alarm system is switched on
when you lock the driver's door manua lly us-
ing the fo ld-out key, or when you use the re­
mote control. The system is activated approxi­
mately 30 seconds after the vehicle is locked . .,,_

38 Convertible top
To p revent dama ge to the c onvertible top:
- do not store any objects in the converti­
ble top storage bay .
- make sure there is enough spa ce above
the vehicle when opening or closing the
convertible top.
@ Tips
- When the indicato r lamp N blinks,
the re is a system malfunc tion ¢
page 15 .
-The one- touch openi ng f unction is not
available when the vehicle is traveling
below 4 mph (6 km/h) or above 31 mp h
(SO km/ h). If this is the case, a warning
tone w ill sound and a message will ap­
pear in the instrument cluster
¢ page 38.
Error message in the instrument cluster
display
An error message appears
if the convertible
top cannot open or close .
Several conditions must be met for the con­
vertible top to ope n or close automatically .
An error message in the inst rument cluster
d isp lay ind icates if one of the condit ions is not
met or there is a malfunction.
Soft top : Please clo se engine lid!
The engine compar tment lid mus t be closed
when opening or closing the convertible top .
T his message appears in the instrument clus­
ter d isp lay if the engine compartment lid is
not closed .
Soft top: Cannot be u sed!
This error message appears if the convertib le
top cannot open or close because of safety
reasons or if there is a ma lfunct ion. The fol­
low ing causes are possible:
- The veh icle i s tra veling too fast : Converti­
ble top operation is deactivated for safety
reasons if the veh icle is t raveling too fast. A
message w ill appear . Reduce the vehicle speed and pu
ll or press the sw itch again to
open or close the convertible top.
- The battery voltage i s too low: The conver­
tible top cannot open or close if the battery
voltage is too low. This ens ures the re will be
enough battery vo ltage left to start the ve­
hicle . The convertible top can be operated
aga in after the engi ne is started.
- Overload protect ion i s active: Operating the
convert ible top continuously for a long peri­
od of time p laces stress on the hydraulic
un it . Overload protect io n is act ivated to pre­
vent damage to the syst em . This protective
fu nction preve nts the convertible top from
open ing or clo se fo r approximate ly 15 to 30
m inu tes.
It will funct ion aga in a fter tha t
q &. .
-Malfunction: Failure of sys tem components
is one possib le cause fo r malfunction . If this
happens, you can a lso operate the converti­
b le top by hand
¢ page 40 .
- The exte rior temperature i s too low:
The
convertible top will not open in tempera­
tures below (5 °F) (-15 QC) .
Soft top not secure
If the co nve rtib le top is not compl etel y open
o r closed and the vehicle is t raveling too fast,
the e rror message above appears and a warn ­
ing tone sounds. Reduce the vehicle speed
and pull or press the switch again to open or close the convert ible top.
A WARNING ..__
Neve r drive when the convertible top is not
l ocked correctly . The wind from driving
could cause the co nvertib le top to open.
This can resu lt in i njuries and damage to
the veh icle.

48 Clear vis ion
Turn sign als¢ Q (D@
.,. Push the lever up as far as it can go to turn
on the r ight turn signal or down to turn on
the left turn signal
c;, fig. 53 .
.,. Move the lever briefly until you meet resist­
ance and release it to flash three times .
.,. Move the lever (up or down) until you meet
resistance and ho ld it there to determine
the flash ing t ime for the turn signals.
High beam [D @
.,. Push the lever forward to switch on the high
beam.
.,. Pull the lever back towards you to swi tch off
the high beam .
Headl ight fla she r [D ©
.,. Pull the lever toward the steering wheel to
use the headlight f lasher.
Notes on these features
- T he turn signals only work with the igni tion
switched on . The ind icator lights
II or 1M in
the instrument cluster
i::> page 11 also b link .
- After you have turned a corner, the tur n sig -
nal switches off a utomat ica lly.
- T he
high beam works only when the head­
li gh ts are on. The indicator light
II in the
instrument cluste r illuminates when the
high beams are on.
- T he
headlight flasher works on ly as long as
yo u hold the lever -even if there are no
li ghts turned on . The indicator light
II in
the instrument cl uster i llum inates when you
use the headl ight f lasher.
A WARNING
Do not use the hig h beam or headlight
flashe r if you know that these could blind
oncoming traffic.
Emergency flasher
SPORT •
Fig. 5 4 Center co nsole : em erge ncy flashe r sw itc h
.,. Press the switc h lil i::> fig. 54 to switch the
emergency flasher on or off .
When the emergency flasher is on, all four
turn s ignals b link at the same time. The turn
s ignal indicator lights
II IB in the instrument
cluster, as well as the light i n the emergency
flasher sw itch
&,. blink likew ise . The eme rgen­
cy flashe rs also work when the ign ition is
tu rned off.
The emergency flasher will automatically switch on if you are in an accide nt whe re the
airbag has deployed.
@ Tips
You should sw itch on t he emergency flash­
er when :
- you are the last veh icle standing in a traf­
fic jam so that any other vehicles coming
can see you, o r w hen
- your vehicle has broken down or you a re
in an eme rgency s ituation, o r when
- your vehicle is be ing towed by a tow
truck or if you are towing another veh icle
beh ind you .

Interior lights
Interior lights
The interior lights include the reading lights
for the driver and the front passenger .
Fig. 55 Section from headliner : In terior lights
Activating door contact circu it
• Press the button @. The LED in the button
illuminates.
Deactivating do or contact circu it
• Press the button @. The LED in the button
goes out.
Fr ont re ad ing l ight s
~
• Press one of the switches ® to turn the
right or left reading light on/off .
"' l1l 0
With the door contact circuit, the interior
lights turn on as soon as you unlock the vehi­
cle or open the doors. The interior lights are
also turned on when the ignition key is re­
moved. The lights turn off about 30 seconds
after the doors are closed . When the vehicle is
locked or when the ignit ion is tu rned on, the
inte rior lights are turned off .
When a door is open, the interior lights are
turned off after about 10 m inutes to prevent
battery draining.
The brightness of the lights is controlled au­
tomatically by a dimmer when they are
switched on/off.
Clear vi sion 49
Instrument panel illumination
The illumination of the instruments, displays
and the center console can be adjusted .
Fig . 56 Instrumen t pa nel illuminat ion
You regu late the brightness of the instr u­
ments with the left thumbwheel
C1 ~ fig . 56 .
Ignition ON, light switch at @
With the ign ition switched ON, the glow of
in­
strument needles
can be adjusted to appea r
brighter o r dimmer.
Ignition ON, light switch at
:oo~ or ~D.
With the lights switched on, the brightness of
instrument cluster (i.e. needles, gauges and
displays) and center conso le illuminat ion can
be adjusted .
(D Note
The instrument cluster and center conso le
ill umination (gauges and need les) comes
on when you sw itch on the ignition and the
v eh icle headlight s are off . Be awa re of the
fo llow ing difference be tween models bu ilt
to US or Canadian specifications:
- USA mo dels: illumination o f the i nstr u­
ment cl uster (gauges and need les), dash
and center conso le around the gearshift
lever is controlled by a light sensor locat­
ed in the instrument pane l. The instru­
ment pa nel illuminat ion w ill automati­
cally become dimmer as the daylight
fades away and eventually will go out completely when outs ide light is very
low. This is to remind you, the dr iver, to
switch o n the hea dlights before it ge ts
too d ark .

indicate that the maximum speed has been
stored successfully. The maximum speed re­ mains stored until it is changed by pressing
the button again briefly or until it is deleted
by a lengthy push on the button.
Speed warning 2: setting a speed limit
Switches in the wiper arm ore used to operate warning threshold 2.
--------, @
Fig. 78 Controls
To store maximum speed
"'Turn off the ignition.
"'Br iefly press the button in the instrument
cluster
c::> page 72, fig. 77. The odometer
and the digital clock are now illuminated.
"' Press the button for at least 2 seconds. The
currently stored maximum speed appears in
the display
or the crossed out symbol for
warning threshold 2, if no maximum speed
was set previous ly.
"' Press the function selector switch in the
wiper lever @
c::> fig. 78 up or down to
change the set value . Values run up or down
in steps of 6 mph (10 km/h).
To delete maximum speed
"'Turn off the ignition.
"' Briefly press the button in the instrument
cluster
c::> page 72, fig. 77 . The odometer
and the digital clock are now illuminated.
"' Press the button for at least 2 seconds . The
currently stored maximum speed appears in
the display.
"' Press the
l"'R-=E =s =ET =I button in the wiper lever
® c::> fig . 78 until the crossed out speed
warning symbo l for warning threshold 2 ap­
pears in the display.
On the road 73
A few seconds after the adjustment is com­
pleted, the illumination for the odometer and
the d igital clock will go out.
(D Tips
This warning threshold can also be con­
trolled through the trip computer
c::> page 23, Navigating the menu.
Cruise control
Switching the system on
The cruise control system makes it possible to
drive at a constant speed starting at 20 mph (30 km/h).
®-
Fig. 79 Control lever with set button
Fig. 80 D isplay: Se lected speed
"' Pull the lever to position (D c::> fig. 79 to
switch the system on.
"' Drive at the speed you wish to set.
"' Press button @ to set that speed.
T he disp lay
c::> fig. 80 will show the set speed.
The display may vary depending on the type of
display in your vehicle. The indicator light
M;W~1~ (US model) I. (Canadian model) will
also light up in the instrument cluster . .,..

@ Tips
The transmission cannot detect if the park­ing lock was re leased with the emergency
re lease. An error message appears in the
instrument cluster as soon as the trans­
m iss ion requ ires the P posit ion but th is po­
sition is not engaged .
Transm iss ion 83

118 Airbag system
components is detected. The function of the
airbag indicator light is described in greater
detail below. Because the front passenger
seat contains important parts of the Ad­
vanced Airbag System, you must take care to prevent it from being damaged . Damage to
the seat may prevent the Advanced Airbag for
the front passenger seat from doing its job in
a crash .
The front Advanced Airbag System
consists of the following:
-Crash sensors in the front of the vehicle that
measure vehicle acceleration/deceleration
to provide information to the Advanced Air­ bag System about the severity of the crash.
- An electronic control unit, with integrated
crash sensors for front and side impacts .
The control unit "decides " whether to fire
the front airbags based on the information received from the crash sensors. The control
unit also "decides" whether the safety belt
pre tensioners should be activated.
- An Advanced Ai rbag with gas generator for
the driver inside the steering wheel hub.
- An Advanced Airbag with gas generator in­
side the inst rument panel for the front pas­
senger.
- A weight-sensing mat under the upholstery
padding of the front passenger seat cushion
that measures the total weight on the seat.
The information registered is sent continu ­
ously to the electronic control unit to regu­
late deployment of the front Advanced Air­
bag on the passenger side.
- An airbag monitoring system and indicator
light in the instrument cluster
¢page 121.
- The PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes
on and stays on in the center of the instru­
ment panel ¢
page 122, fig. 120 and tells
you when the front Advanced Airbag on the passenger side has been turned off.
- A sensor below the safety belt latch for the
front seat passenger to measure the tension
on the safety belt. The tension on the safety
belt and the weight registered by the
weight-sensing mat help the control unit "decide" whether the front airbag for the front passenger seat should be turned off or
not
¢ page 112, Child restraints on the
front seat -some important things to
know.
- A sensor in the safety belt latch for the driv­
er and for the front seat passenger that
senses whether that safety belt is latched or not and transmits this informa tion to the
electronic control unit .
.&_ WARNING
Damage to the front passenger seat can
prevent the front airbag from working
properly.
- Improper repair or disassembly of the
front passenger and driver seat will pre­
vent the Advanced Airbag System from
functioning properly.
- Repairs to the front passenger seat must
be performed by qualified and properly
trained workshop personnel.
- Never remove the front passenger or
driver seat from the vehicle.
-Never remove the upholstery from the
front passenger seat.
- Never disassemble or remove parts from
the seat or disconnect wires from it.
- Never carry sharp objects in your pockets
or place them on the seat. If the weight­
sensing mat in the passenger seat is
punctured it cannot work properly.
- Never carry things on your lap or carry
objects on the passenger seat. Such
items can increase the weight registered
by the weight-sensing mat and send the
wrong information to the airbag control
unit.
- Never store items under the front pas­
senger seat. Parts of the Advanced Air­
bag System under the passenger seat
could be damaged, preventing them and
the airbag system from working proper­ ly.
- Never place seat covers or replacement
upholstery that have not been specifical­ ly approved by Audi on the front seats .
- Seat covers can prevent the Advanced
-
Airbag System from recognizing child .,..

described in the child restraint manufactur­
er 's instructions;
- make sure that the convertible locking fea­
ture on the safety be lt for the front passen­
ger seat has been activated and that the
safety belt has been pulled tight. The belt
must not be loose or have loops of slack so
that the sensor below the safety belt latch
on the seat can do its job<=>
page 140 .
-make sure that th ings that may increase the
weight of the child and child safety seat are
not being transported on the front passen­
ger seat;
- make sure that the safety belt tension sen­
sor is not blocked . Shake the safety belt
latch on the front passenge r seat back and
forth;
- If a st rap or tether is being used to tie the
ch ild safety seat to the front passenger
seat, make sure t hat it is not so tigh t that it
ca uses the we ight-sensing mat to meas ure
more weight than is actua lly on the seat .
If the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light still
does not com e on and does not stay on con­
tinuously (when the igni tion is sw itched on),
- take the ch ild restraint off the front passen·
ger seat and install it p roperly at one of the
rear seat pos itions. Have the a irbag system
i nspec ted by your A udi dealer immediately.
- move the ch ild to a rea r seat posit io n and
make su re th at the chi ld is proper ly res train ­
ed in a chi ld restraint that is appropriate fo r
its size and age .
The
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light shou ld
NO T come on when the ign ition is on and an
ad ult is sitting in a p rope r seat ing pos ition on
the front passenger seat. If the
PASSENGER
AIR BAG OFF
li ght comes on and stays on or
flashes for about 5 seconds while driving, un­
der these circumstances, make sure that:
- the ad ult on the front passenger seat is
proper ly seated on the center of the seat
cushion with his or her back up against the
backrest and the backrest is not reclined
<=> page 94, Proper occupant seating posi­
tions,
A irbag system 123
- the adult is not tak ing weight off the seat by
holding on to the passenger assist handle
above the front passenger door,
- the safety be lt is being properly worn and
that there is not a lot of s lack in the safety
be lt webbing,
- accesso ry seat covers or cushions or other
things that may cause an incorrect reading
or impression on the weight-sensing mat
under the upho lstery of the seat have been
removed from the front passenger seat,
- a safety belt extender has not been left in
the safety belt latch for the front passenger
seat .
In add ition to the
PASSENGER AIR BAG O FF
light in the center of the instrument panel,
the message
PASSENGER AIR BAG O FF or
PASSENGER AIR BAG ON w ill briefly appear
in the instrument cluster display. This is to in­
form the dr iver of the current front passenge r
a irbag status.
Important safety instructions on
monitoring the Advanced Airbag System
A WARNING
An airbag system that is not functioning
p roperly cannot provide supplemental pro­
tection in a frontal c rash.
- If the airbag ind icator light comes on, it
means that there may b e something
wrong with the Advan ced Airbag Sys tem.
It is poss ible that the air bag w ill inflate
when it is not supposed to, or will not in ­
f late when it sho uld .
- Have the airbag system inspe cted imme­
diate ly by your Audi dealer.
A WARNING
If the front airbag inflates, a child without
a child restraint, in a rea rward-facing child
safety seat or in a forward-facing child re­
straint that has not been proper ly installed
will be ser ious ly injured and can be killed.
- Even tho ugh your vehicle is equipped
with an Advanced A irbag System, make
certain that all children, espec ially 12
-
•
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