2015 AUDI A3 CABRIOLET ECO mode

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with the engine running (at id le) in the P se­
l ecto r lever positio n. The n the indicator light
and the message turn off , d rive to an author­
i z ed A udi dealer or qualified repair facility im­
mediately to have the malfunct ion corrected.
If the i ndicator light and the drive r message
do not tur n off, do not cont inue dr iv ing. See
an author ized Audi dealer or authori zed A udi
S ervi ce Fa cility for assis tan ce.
DD Transmiss ion malfunction: you can con­
tinue driving
Drive to an authori zed Aud i dea ler or a uthor­
ized Audi Service Facility immed iate ly to have
the ma lfunction corrected .
DD Transmission malfunction: no reverse
gear (you can continue driving )
Drive to an aut ho rized Aud i dea le r o r a uthor ­
ized A udi Service Facility immed iate ly to have
the ma lfunction cor rected .
DD Transmi ssion malfunction: You can con­
tinue dri ving in D until engine off
D rive t he ve hicle away from mov ing t raff ic and
par k. See an au thori zed A ud i d ealer or au tho r­
iz ed A udi Service Faci lity for assis tance .
DD Transmi ssion overheating! Please adapt
driving style
Continue dr iving moderate ly . W hen t he indi­
cator light tur ns off, you can continue dr iving
normally .
DD Transmiss ion : Please press brake pedal
and select gear again
I f the tra nsmission mal functions beca use the
temperature is too high , a message appears
when the transmission is cooled.
Autom atic transm ission 11 7
Selector lever emergency release
Applies to vehicles: with S tronic transmission
If the vehicle's power supply fails , the selec­
tor lever can be released in an emergency .
Fig. 110 Se lector leve r: remov ing t he cover
Fig . 1 11 Se lector lev er: Us ing t he e mergency re lea se
to move out of the Park pos it io n
The emergency release mechanism is located
in the right area under the selector lever sh ift
gate. Using the emergency release ca n be
complicated. We recommend contacting an
autho rized Aud i dea le r or a uthorized Audi
Se rv ice Facili ty for assistance, if necessa ry.
The screwdriver from the ve hicle too l kit locat­
ed in the luggage compa rtment is needed to
fo r the em ergency re lease <=:>
page 261 . Use
the flat side of the reversible screwdriver
blade .
Removing the selector lever cover
... Set the park ing brake «e)) <=:> &. to secure
your veh icle from rolling .
... Insert t he flat side of the scr ewdrive r side­
ways in the s lot near the s hift cover a nd p ry
t he shift cove r up
<=>fig. 11 0 .
... Pull u p the co rners of the s hift cove r ca reful­
ly wi th yo ur hands and fold it over the s hift-
er knob
r::!) fig. 111 . ..,.

162 Airbag system
Repair, care and disposal of the airbags
Parts of the airbag system are installed at
many different places on your Audi. Installing,
removing, servicing or repairing a part in an
area of the vehicle can damage a part of an
airbag system and prevent that system from
working properly in a collision.
There are some important things you have to know to make sure that the effectiveness of
the system will not be impaired and that dis­
carded components do not cause injury or pol­ lute the environment.
A WARNING
Improper care, servicing and repair proce­
dures can increase the risk of personal in­
jury and death by preventing an airbag from deploying when needed or deploying
an airbag unexpectedly:
- Never cover, obstruct, or change the
steering wheel horn pad or airbag cover
or the instrument panel or modify them
in any way.
- Never attach any objects such as cup
holders or telephone mountings to the
surfaces covering the airbag units.
- For cleaning the horn pad or instrument
panel, use only a soft, dry cloth or one
moistened with plain water. Solvents or
cleaners could damage the airbag cover
or change the stiffness or strength of the material so that the airbag cannot de­
ploy and protect properly.
- Never repair, adjust, or change any parts
of the airbag system.
- All work on the steering wheel, instru­
ment panel, front seats or electrical sys­
tem (including the installation of audio
equipment, cellular telephones and CB
radios, etc .) must be performed by a
qualified technician who has the training
and special equipment necessary.
- For any work on the airbag system, we
strongly recommend that you see your
authorized Audi dealer or qualified work­
shop. -
Never modify the front bumper or parts
of the vehicle body.
- Always make sure that the side airbag
can inflate without interference:
- Never install seat covers or replace­
ment upholstery over the front seat­
backs that have not been specifically
approved by Audi.
- Never use additional seat cushions that
cover the areas where the side airbags
inflate.
- Damage to the original seat covers or
to the seam in the area of the side air­
bag module must always be repaired
immediately by an authorized Audi
dealer.
- The airbag system can deploy only once.
After an airbag has been deployed, it must be replaced with new replacement
parts designed and approved especially
for your Audi model version. Replace­
ment of complete airbag systems or air­
bag components must be performed by
qualified workshops only . Make sure that
any airbag service action is entered in
your Audi Warranty
& Maintenance book­
let under
AIRBAG REPLACEMENT RE­
CORD.
- For safety reasons in severe accidents,
the alternator and starter are separated
from the vehicle battery with a pyrotech­ nic circuit interrupter.
- Work on the pyrotechnic circuit inter­
rupter must only be performed by a
qualified technicians who have the ex­ perience, information and special tools
necessary to perform the work safely.
- If the vehicle or the circuit interrupter
is scrapped, all applicable safety pre­
cautions must be followed.
@) For the sake of the environment
Undeployed airbag modules and preten­
sioners might be classified as Perchlorate
Material -special handling may apply, see

172 Child Saf ety
WARNINGS. Make certain that the ch ild and
child restraint are correct ly recognized by the
capacitive passenger detect ion system in the
front passenger seat, that the front passenger
a irbag is turned off, and that the airbag status
is always correct ly signa led by the
PAS SEN­
GER AIR BA G OFF
light .
Many types and models of child restra ints
have been ava ilable over the years, new mod­
els are introduced regular ly incorporating new
and improved designs a nd older models are
taken out of production . Child rest raints are
not standardi zed. Ch ild restra ints of the same
type typi cally have differen t weights and s izes
and d ifferent "footprints", the size and shape
of the bottom of the child restraint that sits
on the seat, when they are installed on a vehi­
cle seat. These differences make it virtually imposs ible to certify compliance w ith the re­
qu irements for advanced a irbags w ith each
and every child restraint that has ever been
sold in the past or will be sold over the course
of the useful life of you r vehicle .
For this reason, the United States National
Highway Traffic Safety Admin istration has
published a list of specific type, makes a nd
models of child rest raints that must be used
to certify compliance of the Advanced Airbag
System in yo ur vehicle with the suppress ion
requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety
Standard 208 . These child restraints are:
Subpart A -Car bed child restraints
Model Manufactured on or
after
Ange l Guard Ange l September 2S, 200 7
Ride AA2403 FOF
Subpart B -Rear -facing child re straint s
Model Manufactured on or
after
Century SmartFit December 1, 1999
4543
Cosco Arriva September 2S, 2007
22-0 13PAW and base
22-999WHO
Model Manufactured on or
after
Evenflo Discovery Ad- December 1, 1999
just Right 212
E venflo First Choice December 1, 1999
204
Graco Infant 8457 December 1, 1999
Graco Snugride September 25 , 2007
Peg Perego Pr imo Vi- September 25, 2007
aggio SIP IMUNOOUS
Subpart C - Forw ard-facing and
convertible child restraint s
Model Manufactured on or
after
Britax Roundabout September 25, 2007
E9L02xx
Cosco Touriva 02S19 December 1, 1999
Cosco Summit De luxe September 2S, 2007
High Back Booster
22-262
Cosco H igh Back September 2S , 2007
Booste r 22-209
Evenflo Tribute V September 25, 2007
379xxxx
Evenflo Meda llion December 1, 1999
254
E venflo Generations September 25 , 2007
352xxxx
Graco ComfortSport September 25, 2007
Graco Todd ler Safety September 25, 2007
Seat Step 2
Graco Platinum Cargo September 25, 2007
A WARNING
To reduce the risk of serious inju ry, ma ke
sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
l ight comes on and stays on whenever a
chi ld restraint is installed on the front pas­
senger seat and the ignition is switched
on.
- Take the chi ld restraint off the front pas­
senger seat and install it properly at one
of the rear seat positions if the
PA SSEN -
GER AIR BAG OFF
light does not stay on. ...

198 Driving and the environment
can reach the cata lytic converter. This
could result in overheating of the con­
verter, requ iring its replacement.
- To assure efficient operation of the Emis­
sion Control System:
- Have your veh icle ma intained properly
and in accordance with the service rec­
ommendations in your Warranty
&
Ma intenance booklet.
- Lack of proper maintenance as well as
improper use of the vehicle will impa ir
the function of the emission control
system and could lead to damage.
@ For the sake of the environment
Even when the Emission Contro l System is
operating properly, the exhaus t gas can
have a sulfur-like exhaust gas smell under
some operating states. This depends on
the sulfur content of the fue l being used .
Using a different brand of fuel may help,
or filling the tank w ith lead-free super
grade gasoline.
Placing your vehicle
out of service
If you wou ld like to take your vehicle out of
service for a longer t ime, contact your author­
ized Audi dealer or qualified repair facility.
They will advise you of important measures,
such as corrosion protection, maintenance
and storage procedures. Also follow the infor ­
mat ion about the battery
¢ page 223.
Operate your vehicle
economically and
minimize pollution
General
Your personal style of driving will determine
the economy of your vehicle, as well as ex­
haust and noise levels .
Fuel economy, environmental impact, and
wear on your engine, brakes and t ires largely
depend on three factors: -your
personal driving style
- operating conditions
- technical limitations
If you ant ic ipate what you need to do next and
drive econom ically, you can easily cut your
fuel consumpt ion by 1O-lS percent . This sec­
t ion w ill give you some tips on how you can
help the env ironment and your pocketbook.
(D Tips
The consumption estimates as published
by ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
(EPA) and Transport Canada may not corre­
spond to your actual consumption on the
road, which will vary depending upon vehi­
cle load and speed, road and weather con­
ditions, trip length, etc.
Drive smoothly and keep a lookout
ahead
Vehicles use the most fuel when they are ac­
celerating.
.,. Avoid unnecessary accelerating and braking.
Vehicles use the most fuel when they are ac­
ce lerating. If you anticipate what is going to
happen next, you will need to brake less and,
thus, acce lerate less. Let the vehicle coast
whenever possible -for example when you see
that the next traffic light is red.
Avoid full throttle '
Driving at moderate speeds saves fuel and
improves your mileage.
.,. Try and keep well below your car's maximum
speed.
Acce lerating gently reduces fue l consump­
tion, engine wear, and does not disturb the
environment.
Fuel consumpt ion, exhaust emissions and en­
gine noise increase disproportionate ly at high
speeds. If you drive at approximately three
quarters of top speed, fuel consumption wi ll
be reduced by one half. Never drive faster
1111>

220 Check ing and F illin g
Never mix oil additives with your engine
oil. These additives can damage your en­
gine and adversely affect your Audi Limit­
ed New Vehicle Warranty.
@) For the sake of the environment
- Before changing your oi l, f irst make sure
you know where you can properly dispose of the used o il.
- Always dispose of used engine oil proper­
l y. Do not dump it on garden so il, wood­
ed areas, into open streams or down
sewage dra ins.
- Recycle used engine oil by taking it to a
used engine oil collection facility in your
area, or contact a service station .
Cooling system
Coolant
The engine coolant performs two functions: it
keeps the engine from overheating and it pro­ tects the engine from freezing in the winter.
The cooling system is sea led and generally re­
q ui res little attention .
The cooling system has been filled at the fac­
tory with a pe rmanent coolant which does not
need to be changed. The coolant consists of a
mixture o f spec ia lly condi tioned water and the
manufacturer's glycol -based coolant addi -
tive G l3 antifreeze with anticorrosion addi­
tives (50% for USA models ; 60% for Canadian
models). This mixture both assures the neces­
sary frost pro tection and protec ts metal com­
ponents in the engine's cooling system from
corrosion and scaling . It also raises the boil­
i ng po int of the coo lant .
Do not red uce the concentr ation of the coo l­
ant in the summer by adding plain water.
The
proportion of coolant add iti ve mu st be at
least 50 % but not more than 60 %
to main­
tain antifreeze protection and cooling efficie n­
cy.
If t he coolant frost protect io n is too low,
the coo lant cou ld freeze and damage the veh i­
cle heating and engine cooling system. F
or year -ro und driving, antifreeze is added a t
the factory for temperatures down to :
- -31°F(-35°C)USA
- -40°F ( -40°C) Canada.
If you must add coolant, use a mixture of wa­
ter and coolant additive . Mix ing the coo lant
additive with distilled water is recommended .
.&, WARNING "---
Before you c hec k anyth ing in the engine
compartment, a lways read and heed a ll
WAR NIN GS ~
page 214.
0 Note
- Before wi nter sets in, have the coo lant
checked to see if the coolant additive in
your vehicle is sufficient to meet the cli­
ma te conditions. This is especi ally impo r­
tan t if you live in a reg ion where the win­
ter is extreme ly cold . If necessary, in­
crease the p roportion of coo lant add itive
to 60% .
- Whe n adding coolant additive to yo ur
cooling system, remembe r:
- We recommend us ing on ly coola nt ad­
d itive Gl2++ or Gl3 (check the labe l)
fo r your vehicle. This coolant additive is
a va ila ble at au thorize d Au di dea le rs.
Other types of antifreeze can sign ifi­
ca ntly reduce corrosion p rotection. The
resu lting corrosion can cause a loss of
coolant and serious engine damage.
- Do not add any type of radiator leak seal­
ant to yo ur vehicle's engine coolant .
Add ing radiator repair f luid may adverse­
ly affect the function and performance of
your cooling system and cou ld resu lt in
damage not covered by you r New Ve hicle
Limited Warranty.

222 Checking and Filling
After you switch the engine off, the auxiliary
fan can continue running for up to 10 minutes
- even with the ignition off. It can even switch
on again later by itself
c:> .&. , if
- the temperature of the engine coolant rises
due to the heat build-up from the engine in
the engine compartment, or
- the engine compartment heats up beca use
the vehicle is parked in intense sunlight.
A WARNING
- To reduce the risk of personal injury
nev­
er touch the radiator fan.
- The auxiliary electr ic fan is temperature
contro lled and can switch on sudden ly
even when the engine is not running.
- The auxiliary radiator fan switches on au­ tomatically when the engine coolant
reaches a certain temperature and will
continue to run until the coolant temper­
ature drops.
Brake fluid
Checking brake fluid level
N
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" 00 co
Fig . 169 Engine compartment : cove r on the brake flu id
r eservoir
Before you check anything in the engine com­
partment,
always read and heed all WARN ·
INGS c:> page 214.
.. Read the brake fluid level from the brake
fluid reservoir
c:> fig.169, c:>poge216 ,
fig. 165.
The brake f luid level must be be­
tween the "MIN" and "MAX" markings.
The location of the brake fluid reservoir can be
seen in the engine compartment illustration
c:> page 216 .
The fluid level may drop slightly after some
time due to the automatic adjustment of the
brake pads . This is not cause for a larm.
If the brake f luid level falls
considerably be ­
low the "MIN" mark, the brake warning/indi­
cator light . (U.S. models)
I. (Canad ian
models) will come on
c:> page 18 . Do not con ­
tinue to operate the vehicle. The complete brake system should be thoroughly checked
by an authorized Audi dealer or other quali ­
fied facility and the cause corrected. If the
brake fluid level is too low, the brake warning/
indicator ligh t will illuminate. Contact an au­
thorized Audi dea ler
immediately.
Changing brake fluid
Have the broke fluid changed by an experi­
enced technician.
Brake fluid absorbs moisture from the air. If
the water content in the brake f luid is too
high, corrosion in the brake system may result
after a period of time. The boiling point of the
brake fluid will also decrease considerably and
decrease braking performance.
T he refo re, the brake fluid must be changed
every two years. Always use new brake fluid
wh ich conforms to Federal Motor Vehicle
Standard "FMVSS 116 DOT 4".
T he brake fluid reservoir can be difficult to
reach, therefore, we recommend that you
have the b rake fluid changed by your author­
ized
Audi dealer. Your dealer has the correct
tools, the right brake fluid and the know-how
to do this for you .
A WARNING
---Brake flu id is poisonous. It must be stor­
ed only in the closed or iginal container
out of the reach of children!
- Brake failure can resu lt from o ld or inap·
propriate brake flu id. Observe these pre·
cautions:
- Us e only brake fluid that meets SAE
specification
J 1703 and conforms to
Federa l Motor Vehicle Standard 116.

M N
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...... 1.1'1 ......
If you wish to improve comfort
when operating the vehicle at
normal load (up to 3 occu­
pants), you can adjust tire
pressures to those specified
for normal vehicle load. Before
operating the vehicle at maxi­ mum load, you must increase
the tire pressures to those
specified for maximum vehicle
load
c> .&. .
Bear in mind that the tire pres­
sure monitoring system can on­
ly monitor the tire pressures
you have stored. The system does not recognize the load
condition of your vehicle.
The effectiveness of the tire pressure monitoring system
will be impaired if you store normal load pressures but then
operate the vehicle at its maxi­
mum load
c> .&. .
Tires and wheels 237
See the illustration c> fig. 172
for the location of the label on
driver's side B-pillar (color of
the actual label and exact loca­
tion on the vehicle will vary slightly).
Note that the following table is
accurate at the time of going to
press and is subject to change.
In the event of discrepancies,
the tire pressure label is locat­ ed on the driver's side B-pillar
always takes precedence.
The table below lists the rec­ ommended cold tire inflation pressures for the Audi model
covered by your Owner's Litera­
ture at the vehicle's capacity
weight and the tire sizes instal­
led on the respective models as
original equipment, or as a fac-
tory option. ..,.
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•
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M N ,....
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In certain circumstances, you may not use
wheel bo lts from a different vehicle -
even if it
i s the same mode l
Qpage 284.
A WARNING
Improperly tightened or maintained wheel
bolts can become loose caus ing loss of
control, a collision and ser ious personal in­
jury .
- Always keep the wheel bolts and the
threads in the wheel hubs clean so the
wheel bolts can turn easily and be prop­
erly t ightened.
- Never grease or oil the wheel bolts and
the threads in the wheel hubs. They can
become loose w hile d riving if greased or
o iled,
even if tightened to the spec ified
torq ue.
- Only use wheel bo lts that belong to the
rim being ins talled.
- Never use different whee ls bolts on your
vehicle .
- Always maintain the correct tightening
torque fo r the wheel bolts to reduce the
risk of a wheel loss. If the tigh teni ng tor­
que of the wheel bolts is too low, they
can loosen and come out when the vehi­
cle is moving . If the tightening torque is
too high, the whee l bolts and threads
can be damaged and the wheel ca n be­
come loose .
(D Note
The specified torque for the wheel bo lts is
90 ft lb (120 Nm) w ith a tolerance of
± 7,4 ft lb(± 10 Nm). Torque whee l bolts
diagonally. After changing a wheel, the
torque must be checked as soon as possi­
b le with a torque wrench -prefe rably by an
author ized Audi dealer or qualified wo rk­
shop.
Low aspect ratio tires
Your Audi is factory-equipped with low aspect
ratio tires . These tires have been thorough ly
tested and been selected spec ifically for your
model for the ir superb performance, road feel
Tire s an d wheel s 257
and handling under a variety o f driving condi ­
tions. Ask your authorized A udi dealer for
more details .
T he low aspec t ratio of these tires is ind icate d
by a numera l of
55 or le ss in the tire's size
designation. The numera l represents the ratio
of the t ire's sidewa ll height in relation to its
tread width expressed in percentage.
Conven­
tiona l tires have a he ight/w idth rat io of 60 or
more .
The performance of low-a spect-ratio tire s is
particularl y sens it iv e to improper inflation
pressure. It is therefore important that low
a spect ratio tir es are inflated to the specified
pre ssure and that the inflation pr essure i s
regularly checked and ma intain ed . Tire pr es­
s ure s should be checked at lea st on ce a
month and alway s bef ore a long trip
~ page 240 , Checking tire pressure .
A Word about Low Aspect Ratio and High
Performance Ti res
Hig h pe rformance tires are des igned for bet­
ter performance and handling in warm cli­
mates. When driving in cold, snowy or icy
weather, you sho uld equ ip your vehicle w it h
four all-season or winter tires, which
offer
better traction under those condit ions. We
suggest you use the Audi recommended win­
te r or a ll-season tires specified for you r Audi.
High performance tires a lso have a lower as ­
pect ratio that aids performance and han­
dling . Driving over rough or damaged road
surfaces, as well as debr is, cu rbs and other
obstacles can cause serious damage to
whee ls, tires, vehicle body, and suspens ion
parts . B e carefu l to avo id road hazards and re­
du ce your speed , espec ia lly if your vehicle is
equipped wi th low prof ile tires .
Please a lso remember when making your se­
lection that, wh ile these tires deliver respon­
s ive handling, t hey m ay ride less comfo rtably
and make more noise than o thers . Finally,
these tires may wear more quickly than other
c h oices.
IJJ>
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