2015 AUDI A8 tow

254 Tires and wheels
A WARNING
Overloading a vehicle can cause loss of ve­
hicle control, a crash or other accident, se­
rious personal 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 pressure label)
¢ page 249,
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
c> page 249, 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 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 .,.

266 What do I do now?
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 handle: View from inside the
close d trunk
To open rear lid
.. Pull the hand le down towards the bumper
r=;,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 only
in an emergency .
@ Tips
The emergency re lease lever shou ld never
be used as a handle for closing the rear lid.
Emergency warning
triangle
Applies to vehicles: wit h emergency wa rning tria ng le
The warning triangle is located on the inside
of the trunk lid.
Fig. 216 Trunk lid: Warn ing tr iangle
.. To remove the warning triangle, p ress the
retainer in the direction of the arrow
r=;, 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 wou ld like to retrofit your ve­
hicle with a warning triangle, please contact
your authorized Audi dealer.

.... N .... N
0 J:
' "' ....
"' ....
Vehicle tool kit
Vehicle tool kit and jack
The vehicle tool kit is located in the luggage
compartment under the cargo floor cover.
Fi g. 217 Luggage compartment: cargo floor cover
folded upward
Fig. 218 Trunk lid: Vehicle too l ki t
.. Lift the cargo floor by the plastic handle.
.. Hook the handle into the luggage compart­
ment weather strip ¢
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
- Al ignment 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.
What do I d o now ? 267
A WARNING
Im proper use of the vehicle jack can cause
serious personal injur ies.
- 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 yo ur vehicle model. Under no c ir­
cumstances should it be used to lift heavy veh icles or other loads; you risk in­
ju ring 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 potentia l risk for injury.
- Never use the jack supplied wit h your
Audi on another vehicle, particularly on a
heavier one. The jack is only s uitable 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 ext ras .
- Before yo u can raise your vehicle using
the jack, you must activate the jacking
mode
¢page 272 .

.... N .... N
0 J:
- "' ....
"' ....
Spare wheel
Applies to vehicles: with spare wheel
The spare wheel is stored in the wheel well
underneath the floor panel in the luggage
compartment.
F ig. 220 Luggag e co mpartm ent : spar e wh eel
Taking out the sp are whee l
• Lift the cargo floor by the plast ic handle
c:::>fig . 220.
• Hook the hand le into the luggage compart­
ment weather strip .
• Turn the large screw
c:::> fig. 220 counter­
clockwise.
• Takeout the spare tire.
• Always store the vehicle tool kit , the jack*
and the replaced tire in the luggage com­
partment
c:::> page 139 .
• Unhook the ca rgo floor before closing the
rear lid.
& WARNING
-
Loose items in the passenger compart­
ment can cause serious pe rsonal in jury
during hard braking or in an accident.
- Never store the spare wheel or jack and
tools in the passenger compartment.
@ Tips
Check the inflat ion p ressu re of the spare
tire periodically to keep the tire ready for
use.
What do I d o now ? 269
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 t ire failure, pull the
car well away from moving traffic and try to
reach
leve l ground before you stop c:::> ,&.
• All passengers should le av e t he ca r and
move to a safe location (for ins tance, behind
t he guardra il)
c:::> ,& .
• Engage the parki ng br ake to prevent your
vehicle from rolling unintentionally
c:::> ,& .
• Move sele ctor lever to po sit ion P c:::> ,&. .
• If you are towing a trailer, unhitch the trailer
from your ve hicle.
• Take the
jac k and the sp are tire out of the
luggage compartment
c:::> page 267,
c:::> page 268 .
& WARNING
You o r you r passengers could be i njured
while changing a wheel if you do not fo l­
low these safety precaut ions:
-I f you have a flat tire, move a safe d is­
tance off the road. Turn off the engine,
turn the eme rgency flashers on and use
other warning devices to a lert 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 f ully set the parking brake
and b lock 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
ground is level and firm. If necessary,
use a sturdy board under the jac k.
-

.... N .... N
0 J:
'SI: .... \!) ..,.,
.... ..,., ,....,
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 281
connecting a jumpe r cab le, you must
thaw the fr ozen 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 22 8.
(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 228.
(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. 236. 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 283
-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 283 and ¢ page 284 .
_& 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. 237 Fr ont bu mpe r: cove r
Fig. 238 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 .

284 Emergency situations
• Press inward strongly on the upper left side
of the cap to remove it from the bumper
¢ fig . 237 .
• Screw the towing loop tightly in the thread­
ed hole as far as it will go and tighten it with
the wheel wrench
¢ fig . 238 .
Remove the towing loop when you are done
using it and place it back in the vehicle tool
kit . Install the cover in the bumper. Always
keep the towing loop in the vehicle.
A WARNING
If you do not screw the tow ing loop com­
pletely, it could come out of the threaded
hole while the vehicle is being towed caus­
ing damage to the vehicle and possible se­
rious personal injury.
Rear towing loop
Only install the rear towing loop when it is
needed.
Fig . 239 Rear bum per: cover
Fig. 240 R ear bum per: screw ing in towin g loop
There are threads located behind the right
side of the rear bumper where a towing loop
can be installed . The threads are located be ­
hind a cover.
-
• Remove the towing loop from the vehicle
tool kit.
• Press inward strong ly on the upper right
side of the cap to remove it from the bump­
er¢
fig. 239.
• Screw the towing loop tightly in the thread­
ed hole as far as it will go and tighten it with
the wheel wrench ¢
page 283, fig. 238.
Remove the towing loop when you are done
using it and place it back in the vehicle tool
kit . Always keep the towing loop in the vehi­
cle.
A WARNING
If yo u do not screw the towing loop com­
pletely, it could come out of the threaded
hole while the vehicle is being towed caus­
ing damage to the vehicle and possible se­
rious personal injury.
Loading the vehicle onto a flat bed truck
Fig. 241 Vehicle on fla t bed truck
Front hook up
• Align the vehicle with the centerline of the
car carrier ramp.
• Attach the winch hook to the front towl ine
eye previously installed.
Rear hook up
• Align the vehicle with the centerline of the
car carrier ramp .
• Attach the winch hook to the rear tow line
eye prev iously installed.
-

@ Tips
Check carefully to make sure the hook-up
is secure before moving the car up the flat­
bed truck ramp.
Vehicle transport
Whenever you hove your vehicle transported,
be sure to note the following:
(D Note
Mount the tie-down chains/cables over the
running surface (circumference) of the
tires. Never secure the vehicle by the axle,
the suspension struts or the front or rear
towline eye. For technical reasons, the
pressure in the suspension struts may
change du ring the transport and this will
adve rsely affect vehicle handling.
Lifting vehicle
Lifting with workshop hoist and with
floor jack
The vehicle may only be li~ed at the lifting
points illustrated.
Fi g. 2 42 Front l ift ing po int
Fig. 2 43 Rea r lifti ng point
• Read and heed WARNING Q ,&. .
Emergenc y situ ation s 285
• Activate the vehicle jack mode in the MMI :
!CAR I function button > Ca r system s control
button>
Ser vici ng & ch ecks > Air su sp. :
jack mo de > On .
• Locate lifting points Q fig. 242 and
¢fig. 243.
• Adjust lifting arms of wo rkshop hoist o r
floor jack to match veh icle lifting points.
• Insert a rubber pad be tween the floo r jack/
workshop hoist and the lift ing po ints .
The vehicle jack mode must be activated so
that the automat ic adjustment of the Adap­
tive Ai r Suspens ion does not make it more dif­
fic ult to raise the vehicle with the floor ja ck.
If you mu st l ift your vehicle with a fl oor jack
t o wo rk underneath , be sure the vehi cle i s
s af ely s upported on stand s intended for thi s
purpose.
Front lifting point
The lifting point is located on the floor pan re­
i nforcement about at the same leve l as the
jac k mounting point
Q fig . 242. Do not lift
t h e v ehi cle at the verti cal sill reinf orcement .
Rear lifting point
The lifting point is located o n the vert ical rein ­
forcement of the lower sill for the on-board
jack ¢
fig. 243 .
Lifting with vehicle jack
Refer to ¢ page 2 72 .
&_ WARNING ,-~
-To reduce the risk of serious injury and
vehicle damage .
- Always lift the vehicle only at the spe­
c ia l workshop ho ist and floor jack lift
points illustrated
¢fig . 242 and
¢ fig. 243 .
- Fail ure to lift the vehicle at these
po ints co uld cause the vehicle to tilt or
fall from a lift if there is a change in ve­
hicle weight distribution and balance.
This might happen, for example, when h eavy components such as the eng ine
block or transmission are removed.