2014 AUDI S4 light

184 Child Safet y
& WARNING
Improper insta llation of child restraints
will increase the risk of injury and death in a crash.
- Always follow the instructions provided
by the manufacturer of the ch ild re­
straint you intend to install in your Audi.
- Improper use of child restra int anchors
(including tether anchors) can lead to in­
jury in a co llision. The anchors are de­
signed to withstand on ly those loads im­
posed by correctly fi tted ch ild restraints.
- Never mount two ch ild restraint systems
on one LA TCH lower anchor po int.
- Never attach two child rest ra int systems
to one tethe r strap or tether anchorage.
- Never attach a tether strap to a tie-down
hook in the luggage compartment.
- Never use ch ild restra int te ther ancho­
rages to secure safety belts o r other
kinds of oc cupant rest ra ints.
- Never secure o r attach any luggage or
other items to the LATC H lowe r ancho­
rages o r to the tethe r ancho rs.
- If a tether or other strap is used to at­
tac h a child res traint to the front passen­
ger seat, make su re that it is not so
t igh t, that it causes the weight-sensing
mat to measure more weight than is ac­
t u ally on the seat.
- T he heav ier weight reg iste red can make
the Advanced Airbag System work as
though an adult were on the seat and de­
ploy the Advanced Airbag when it must
be suppressed causing serious or even
fatal injury to the child.
- If you must install a rearward facing
child safety seat on the front passenger
seat because of exceptional circumstan­
ces and the
PA SSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light does not come on and stay on, im­
med iately install the rea r-facing child
s afety seat in a rear seating posi tion a nd
have the a irbag sys tem inspec ted by yo ur
authorized Audi dealer.
Installing the upper tether strap on the
anchorage
Fig. 172 Sedan Tether strap: prope r ro ut ing and
mount ing
F ig . 1 73 allroad Tether strap: proper routing and
mount ing
Installing the tether st rap
.,. Release or deploy the tether strap on the
child restraint according to the child re­
straint manufacturer's instructions .
.,. Guide the upper tether strap
under the rear
head restra int
~fig.172 or¢fig .173 (raise
the head restraint if necessary).
.,. Seda n: Tilt the re cess fl ap up to expose the
a nchor b rac ket.
.,. Sedan: Attach the tethe r strap anchorage
hook into the opening of the tether anchor­
age .
.,. allroad : Slide the tether strap hook over the
anchor bracket.
.,. Pull on the tether strap hook so that the
spr ing catch of the hook engages .
.,. Tighten the tether strap firmly fo llow ing the
child res traint manufacture r's ins tructions.
Releasing the tether strap
.,. Loosen the tension follow ing the child re­
straint manufacturer's instructions .
.,. Dep ress the spring catch on the hook and re-
lease it from the anchorage. ..,.

(D Note
If you leave the child restraint with the
tether strap firmly installed for severa l
days, this cou ld leave a mark on the up­
holstery on the seat cushion and backrest
in the area where the tether strap was in­
s t alled. The upho lstery would a lso be per­
manently stretched around the tethe r
s tr ap. This applies especially to leat her
seats.
Using tether straps on rearward-facing
child restraints
Currently, few rearward-facing child restraint
systems come with a tether. Please read and h eed the child restraint system manufactur­
er's instructions carefully to determ ine how to
p roperly install the tethe r.
A WARNING
-
A ch ild i n a rearward-facing child safety
s ea t insta lled on the front passenger sea t
w ill be seriously injured and can be killed if
t he fron t air bag inflates -even with an Ad ­
vanced Airbag System .
- T he inflating a irbag w ill hit the chi ld
sa fety seat or infa nt carrier w it h great
force and wi ll smash the ch ild safety seat
and child against the backrest, center
armrest, or door.
- A tight tether or other strap on a rear­
ward-fac ing c hild restra int attached to
the front passenger seat can put too much pressure on the weight-mat in the
sea t and regis ter a heavier we igh t in the
Advanced Airbag System. The heav ie r
we ight registe red ca n make the system
wor k as th ough an adul t were on t he seat
and dep loy the A dvanced Airbag when i t
must be supp ressed ca using serious or
even fatal injury to the child.
- If you mus t insta ll a rearward facing
child safety seat o n the front passenger
seat beca use of exceptional circ umstan­
ces and the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light does not come on and stay on, im-
Child Sa fet y 185
mediately insta ll th e rearward-fac ing
child safety seat in a rear seating posi­
tion and have the airbag system inspect­
ed by your authorized Audi dealer .
Additional Information
Sources of information about child
restraints and their use
There are a number of sources of additional
information about child restraint se lection, in­
stallation and use:
NH TSA advises that the best chi ld safety seat
is the one that fits your chi ld and fits in your
vehicle, and that you w ill use correct ly and
consistently.
T ry before yo u buy!
U .S National Highway Traffi c Safety Admin ­
istration
Tel.: 1 -888 -3 27- 42 36 (TIY: 1-800 -42 4-9153)
www.n htsa.gov
National SAFE KIDS Campaign
Tel.: (2 02) 662- 0600
www.safe kids.o rg
Safety BeltSafe U .S .A
T el.: (8 00) 7 45-SAF E (English)
T el.: (8 00) 747 -SANO (Span ish)
www.carseat.org
Transport Canada Information C entr e
Tel.: 1 -800 -333-0371 or c all
1-6 13-99 8-8616 if yo u are in the Ottawa area
http://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/ roadsa fety/
menu .htm
Audi Cu stomer Relation s
Tel.: (800) 822-2834
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186 Intelligent technology
Intelligent technology
Notice about data
recorded by vehicle
control modules
Your veh icle is not equipped with an Event Da­
ta Recorde r (EDR), ins talled by some manu­
facture rs fo r the express p urpose of capturing
data for retrieval after an accident or cras h
event . EDR's are sometimes ca lled "crash re­
corders".
Some state laws restr ict 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.
A ltho ugh yo ur vehicle is not equ ipped wit h an
EDR, it is equipped with a number of electron­
ic control modules for various vehicle systems
such as, for examp le, eng ine f unction, em is­
sion control, as well as for the airbags and
safety belts.
These electronic contro l modules also record
vehicle-re lated data during norma l vehicle op­
erat ion for diagnostic and repa ir 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 ove r a ve ry limited pe riod of
time and stored when a sys tem faul t or o ther
cond ition is sensed by a cont ro l u nit. Some of
the data then stored may re late to vehicle
speed, direction, braking as we ll as restraint
system use and performance in the event of a
crash or other condit ion. Stored data can only
be read and downloaded w ith special equip­
ment.
Electronic Stabilization
Control (ESC)
Description
ESC helps to improve road holding and vehicle
dynamics to help reduce the probability of
skidd ing and loss of ve hicle control. It works
only when the eng ine is running. ESC detects certain difficult driving situat
ions, including
when the vehicle is beginning to spin (yaw)
o ut of control and he lps you to get the veh icle
back under control by se lectively braking the
whee ls, and/or reducing eng ine power and
providing steer ing ass istance to he lp hold the
vehicle o n the dr iver's intended course. The in­
dicator light
J.i) in the instrument cluster
blinks when ESC is ta king action to help yo u
control the veh icle.
ESC has limitations.
It is importa nt to remem­
ber that ESC cannot overcome the laws of
physics. It will not always be able to help out
under a ll cond it ions you may come up aga inst.
F or example, ESC may not always be able to
help you master situations where there is a
s u dden change in the coefficient of friction of
the road surface. When there is a section of dry road that is sudden ly covered w ith water,
s lush or snow, ESC cannot perform the same
way it wou ld on the dry surface . If the ve hicle
hydroplanes (rides on a cushion of water in­
stead of the road surface), ESC will not be
able to help you steer the vehicle be cause con­
tact with the pavement has been in terrupted
and the vehicle cannot be braked or steered .
D uring 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.
Always adjust your speed and driving style to road, traffic and weather condit ions. ESC can­
not override the vehicle's physical limits, in­
crease the availab le tract ion, or keep a ve hicle
on the road if road departure is a result of
driver inattent io n. Instead, ESC imp roves the
poss ibil ity of keeping the vehi cle under con ­
trol and on the road during extreme maneu­
vers by using the d river's steering inputs to
help keep the vehicle going in the intended di­
rection . If you are traveling at a speed that
ca uses you to run off the road before ESC can
provide any assistance, you may not experi­
ence the benefits of ESC.

188 Intelligent technology
-Always accelerate with special care on
even, smooth surfaces such as those that
are wet or covered with ice and snow.
The drive wheels can spin even with
these assistance systems that cannot al­
ways help to reduce the risk of loss of ve­ hicle control.
(i_) Tips
-ABS and ASR only work correctly when
all four wheels are equipped with identi-
Switching on/off
cal tires. Different tire sizes can lead to a
reduction in engine power.
- You may hear noises when the systems
described are working.
- If the indicator light
bl or t!lJ (USA
models)/[IJ (Canada models) appears,
there may be a malfunction
¢page 18,
¢page 19.
ESC turns on automatically when you start the engine.
Fig. 174 Version A: lower center console,~ OFF but·
ton
The ESC is designed to function in levels. De­
pending on the level that is selected, the sta­
bilization function of the ESC is limited or
switched off. The amount of stabilization con­
trol will differ depending on the level.
The following situations are exceptions where
it may be useful to switch on sport mode (Se­
dan) or offroad mode (allroad) to allow the
wheels to spin:
Fig. 175 Version B: upper center console,~ OFF but·
to n
-Rocking the vehicle to free it when it is stuck
- Driving in deep snow or on loose ground
- Driving with snow chains
- allroad: Driving on rough terrain when much
of the car's weight is lifted off the wheels
(axle articulation)
- allroad: Driving downhill while braking on
loose ground

Intelligent technology 189
Sedan: ESC levels
Sport mode on ESC/ASR off Sport mode off or
ESC /ASR on
Behavior
The ESC and ASR stabiliza- The stalbilization f unct ion The fu ll sta bilization f unc-
tion funct ions are lim ited is not ava ilable
c:> A . ESC tion of the ESC and ASR is
c:, A . and ASR are sw itched off. available agai n.
Operation Press t he I~ OFF I button Pre ss and h old t he I~ OFFI Press t he i.i, OF FI bu tton
briefly. bu
tton longer than 3 sec -
aga in .
o nd s.
Indicator II turns on. II an d II turn on . II turns off or fl and II
lights tur n off.
Driv er mes· Stabilization control Stabilization control Stabilization control
sages (
ESC) : Sport . Warning! (ESC): off . Warning! Re- (ESC) : On
Restricted stability stricted stability
allroad: ESC level s
Offroad mode on Offroad mode off
Behavior
The ESC and ASR stabilization funct ions T he full stab ilizat ion function of the ESC
are limited
c:> A .
Operation Press the I~ OFFI bu tton.
Indicator II tur ns on.
light s
D river mes- Stabilization control (ESC ): Offroad.
sages Warning! Rest
ricted stability
It is on ly possible to t urn off the AS R up to 30
mph (SO km/h) f or veh icles with front whee l
drive. At about
45 mph (70 km/h) it a utomat i­
cally turns on aga in. It is poss ible to turn off
the ASR at any speed for veh icles with all
wheel dr ive .
A WARNING
-
Yo u should o nly sw itch sport mode/off ­
r oa d m ode on or swi tch E SC/A SR off if your
d rivi ng abili ties a nd ro ad con ditio ns per­
m it .
- T he stabili zation fu nction is limited
w he n sp ort m od e/off road mode is
switched on . The driving w heels could
s p in and t he vehicle c ould swerve, es pe­
c ia lly on s lick or slipp ery roa d sur faces .
- all road: Yo u should o nly sw itc h off roa d
mode on when driving offroad .
- S edan: There is no vehicle sta biliz atio n
w hen ESC/AS R are switched off . and ASR
is availab le aga in.
Press t he
I~ OFF I button again .
II turns off.
Stabilization control (ESC ): On
(D Tips
ESC/ASR cannot be switched off o r sp o rt
mode/offroad mode ca nnot be switched
on when adaptive cruise control * is switch­
ed o n.
Braking
What affects braking effic iency?
New brake pads
D uring the first 250 mi les (4 00 km), new
brake pads do not possess the ir full brak ing
effect, they have t o be "broken in" first
c:> A .
You can compensate for this slightly reduce d
braking powe r by pushing har der on the brake
p edal. Avo id heavy b ra ki ng loa ds dur ing t he
break-i n pe riod.
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th e brakes or hold the pedal down too
long or too ofte n. This cou ld cause the
brakes t o get hot and dimi nish b raking
efficiency .
- Do not "r ide t he b rakes" by resting your
foot on the pedal when you do n ot intend
t o brake . Th is may cause the brakes to
overheat, premature wear and increased
stopp ing distance.
- Under certa in climat ic and operating
condit ions such as passing through wa­
ter, driving i n heavy rai n or after wash ing
the vehicle, the effe ct iveness of the
brakes can be re duced. In winter, ice can
acc umulate on the brake pads, linings,
discs and drums. Carefully apply brakes
f or a test. Brakes will dry and ice coat­
ings will be cleaned off after a few care­
ful brake app lications.
- Driv ing for an extended period of time on
salt-covered roads w ithout using your
brakes can also affect braking efficiency .
Clean off accumulated salt coating from
brake discs and pads w ith a few caref ul
brake applicat io ns.
- If you damage the front spo iler, or if you
install a diff ere nt spoiler, be sure the air
flow to t he front b ra kes is not obstr uct­
ed . Otherwise the br ake sys tem co uld
overheat red ucing the effectiveness of
the ent ire brake sys tem.
- F ailure of one br ake circui t will im pair
the brakin g capability res ulting in an in­
creased stop ping distance . Avoid driving
the vehicle and have it towed to t he near­
est author ized Audi dealer or qualified
workshop.
- Never let the vehicle ro ll to a stop w ith
the engine shut off.
- If the brake booster is not work ing, the
brake pedal must be pressed considera­
bly harder to make up for the lack of
booster assistance.
Int ellig ent technolog y 191
Electro-mechanical
power assist, dynamic
steering
The electro-mechanical power assist helps
t he driver when steering.
Power steer ing adap ts electronically based on
t he ve hicl e spee d.
Indicator lights and messages
• Steering defect ive! Do not drive vehicle!
If this indicator light turns on and stays on
and t his message appears, the power steer ing
may have failed.
Do
not continue driving. See your authorized
Audi dealer or a qualified repair facility for as­
s istance.
':rij Dynamic steering: Sy stem fault! You can
continue dr iving
If the indic ator ligh t turns on and the mes­
sage appears, the steering may be more diffi­
cu lt to move o r more sensitive tha n usual. The
steering wheel may a lso be at an ang le when
driv ing straight.
Drive slowly to your a uth orized Audi dea ler or
qualified workshop to have the ma lf u nction
corrected.
(;rij Dynamic ste ering : initializing
If this drive r message appea rs and the indica­
tor light is flas hing on the instrument panel,
dynam ic steer ing* i s being rein itia lized. After
sta rting the engine, the stee ring w heel will
move s light ly . Re- initializa tion might be nec ­
essary if the stee ring wheel was moved hard
to the left and right whi le the vehicle was not
moving. The display goes out as soon as initi­
alization is complete .
A WARNING
-Have the dy namic stee ring* system mal­
f u nction repa ired as soon as possible by an
authorized Audi dealer or qualified work­
shop - risk of acc ident!
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192 Intelligent technology
(D Tips
-If the . or 'Tj indicator light only stays
on for a short time, you may continue
driving.
- The dynamic steering* stability systems
are not available in the event of a system
malfunction.
- For additional information on dynamic
steering*, refer to
c:> page 113.
Driving with your
quattro
App lies to vehicles: with a ll-wheel drive
With all-wheel drive, all four wheels are driv­
en .
General information
With all-wheel drive, power is distributed to
all four wheels . This happens automatically
depending on your driving style and the road
conditions at the time . See also
c:> page 186.
A center differential distributes the driving
power variably to the front and rear axle .
It
works together with selective wheel torque
control , which activates when driving through
curves
c:> page 187. With the sport differen­
tial*, power distribution to the rear wheels is
variable and can be adjusted with drive select
c:>page 113.
The all-wheel drive concept is designed for
high engine power . Your vehicle is exception­
ally powerful and has excellent driving charac­
teristics both under normal driving conditions
and on snow and ice. Always read and follow
safety precautions
c:> & .
Winter tires
When driving in the winter , your vehicle with
all-wheel drive has an advantage, even with regular tires. In winter road conditions it may
be advisable to mount winter tires (or all-sea­
son tires) for improved driveability and brak­
ing: these tires must be mounted on
all four
wheels .
See also c:> page 246, Winter tires .
Tire chains
Where tire chains are mandatory on certain
roads, this normally also applies to vehicles
with all-wheel drive
c:> page 247, Snow
chains.
Replacing wheels/tires
Vehicles with all-wheel drive must always have tires of the same size. Also avoid tires
with different tread depths. For details see
page
c:> page 242, New tires and replacing
tires and wheels.
Off-Road driving?
Your Audi does not have enough ground clear­
ance to be used as an off-road vehicle.
It is
therefore best to avoid rough tracks and un­ even terrain as much as possible. Also refer to
c:> page 195.
A WARNING
-
Always adjust your driving to road and traf-
fic conditions. Do not let the extra safety
afforded by all-wheel drive tempt you into
taking extra risks.
- Although the all-wheel drive is very ef­
fective, always remember that braking
capacity is limited by tire traction . You
should therefore not drive at excessive
speeds on icy or slippery road surfaces.
- On wet road surfaces, be careful not to
drive too fast because the front wheels
could begin to slide on top of the water
(aquaplaning). If this should occur, you
will have no warning from a sudden in­ crease in engine speed as with a front­
wheel drive vehicle. Always drive at
speeds which are suited to the road con­
ditions -risk of crash.

Energy management
Starting ability is optimized
Energy management controls the distribution
of electrical energy and thus optimizes the
availability of electrical energy for starting the engine .
If a vehicle with a conventional energy system
is not driven for a long period of time , the bat­
tery is discharged by idling current consumers
(e.g. immobilizer). In ce rtain c ircumstances it
can result in there being insuff icient ene rgy
avai lab le to start the engine .
Intell igent energy management in your vehi­
cle hand les the d istribution of electrical ener­
gy. Starting ab il ity is markedly improved and
the life of the battery is extended.
Basically, energy management consists of
batt ery di agno sis, idlin g current man ag e­
m ent
and dyn ami c en ergy m anage ment .
Batter y diagnosis
Battery diagnosis continuously determines
the state of the battery . Sensors determ ine
battery vo ltage, battery current and battery
temperature. This dete rm ines the current
state of charge and the powe r of the battery.
Idling curr ent man agement
Idling current management reduces ene rgy
consumption while the vehicle is stand ing .
W ith the ignition switched off, it cont ro ls the
energy supply to the va rious electr ical compo ­
nents . Data from battery diagnosis is consid­
ered.
Depending on the battery's state of charge,
i nd ividua l consumers are gradual ly t urned off
to prevent excess ive d ischarge of the bat tery
and thus maintain starting capability .
Dynamic en ergy management
While the vehicle is being driven, dynamic en­
e rgy management dist ributes the energy gen­
e rated according to the needs of the individu­
a l components.
It reg ulates cons umption, so
that more electrical energy is not being used
Int ellig ent technolog y 193
than is being generated and ensures an opti ­
mal state of charge for the battery.
(0 Tips
- But even energy management canno t
negate the limits of physics . Consider
that the power and life of a battery are
limited .
- If starting ability is threatened, the indi­
cator light (•)
;:i ppears ~ page 17.
What you should know
The highest priority is given to maintaining
starting capability.
T he bat tery is severe ly taxed in short-distance
driving, in city traffic and during the cold time
of year. Ab undant electrical energy is re­
quired, but on ly a little is generated .
It is also
critica l if the engine is not running and electri­
ca l components are turned on . In this in­
stance energy is be ing consumed but none is
being generated .
It is in precisely these situations that you will
notice energy management active ly regulat­
ing the d istribution of energy.
V ehicle stand s for an ex tend ed peri od
If you do not drive your vehicle over a period
of severa l days or weeks, e lectrica l compo­
nents are gradually cut back or switched off.
This reduces energy consumption and ma in­
ta ins start ing capability over a longer period .
Some of the convenience functions may not
operate, such as the interior l ights or the
power seat adjustme nt. The convenience
funct ions w ill be available again when you
swi tch on the ignition and sta rt the eng ine .
With the eng in e turn ed off
If you listen to the radio, for example, w ith
the engine tu rned off or use other MMI func­
tions, the battery is be ing d ischarged.
If starting capability is jeopardized due to en ­
ergy consumption, the following warning ap- pears in the MM I display: ..,.
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