238 Trailer towing
Trailer towing
Driving with a trailer
General information
Your Audi was designed primarily for passen
ger transportation .
If you plan to tow a trailer, p lease remember
that the additional load will affect durability,
economy and performance .
Trailer towing not on ly places more stress on
the vehicle, it also calls for more concentra
tion from the driver.
For this reason, always follow the operating
and driving instructions provided and use
common sense.
@ Note
If you are going to tow a trai ler, you must
activate the trailer operation mode
c:::> page 161, Towing a trailer.
Technical requirements
Trailer hitch
Use a weight-carrying hitch conforming to the
gross trailer weight. The hitch must be suita ble for your vehicle and trailer and must be
mounted securely on the vehicle's chassis at a
technically sound location . Use only a trailer
hitch with a removable ball mount. Always
check with the trailer hitch manufacturer to
make sure that you are using the cor rect
hitch.
Do not use a bumper hitch.
The hitch must be installed in such a way that
it does not interfere with the impact-absorb
ing bumper system. No modifications should
be made to the vehicle exhaust and brake sys
tems. From time to time, check that all hitch
mounting bolts remain securely fastened.
When you are not towing a trailer, remove the
trai ler hitch ball mount. This prevents the
hitch from causing damage should your vehi
cle be struck from behind
c:::> A.
Trailer brakes
If your trailer is equipped with a brakin g sys
tem, check to be sure that it conforms to all
regulations.
T he trailer hydraulic brake system must not be
directly connected to the vehicle's hydraulic
brake system
c:::> A .
Safety chains
Always use safety chains between your veh icle
and the tra iler.
Trailer lights
Trailer lights must meet all regulations. Be
sure to check with your authorized Audi dealer
for correct wiring, sw itches, and relays.
Mirrors
If you are unable to see the traffic behind you
using the regular outside mirrors, then you
must install extended mirrors.
It is important
that you always have clear v is ion to the rear .
A WARNING ,-
- If a trailer has electrical brakes please
note that these brakes are not activated
by the factory-fitted control unit -risk of
accident!
- Afte r removing the trailer hitch, do not
store it in yo ur vehicle. In case of sudden
braking, the hitch could fly forward and
injure you or your passengers.
- Never install a "weight distributing" or
"load equalizing" trailer hitch on your ve
hicle. The vehicle was not designed for
these kinds of trailer hitches. The hitch
attachment can fail, causing the trailer
to tear loose from the vehicle.
- The Gross Vehicle Weight Rating for your
vehicle, found on the safety compliance
label on the driver's side B-pillar, must
never be exceeded under any circumstan
ces. Exceeding the Gross Vehicle Weight
Rating of your vehicle is likely to damage
your vehicle, and such damage will not
be covered by your Limited New Vehicle
-
Warranty. Exceeding the Gross Vehicle ~
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Emergency situations
General
This chapter is 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
Your v ehicl e is e quipped w ith an automatic
tra nsm iss io n. Cons eque ntly, the e ngine
cann ot 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 th e engine shou ld fail to start because of a
d ischarged o r weak battery, the battery can be
connected to the battery of
another veh icle,
usi ng a
pair of jumper cables to start the en
gine .
Jumper c ables
Use only jumper cab les of sufficiently large
cross section to carry the starter cur rent safe
l y. Refer to the man ufacturer's specifications.
Use only jumper cables with
insulated te rm i
na l clamps w hich are d istinctly mar ked:
plus(+ ) cable in mos t ca ses co lore d red
minus(-) cable
i n most cases colored black .
A WARNING
Batteries con tai n elec trici ty, a cid, and gas.
Any o f these c an caus e ve ry ser ious or f atal
injury . Foll ow the instruc tions below fo r
safe han dling of your veh icle's battery .
- Alw ays s hield y our eyes and a void le an
ing over the batte ry w henever possib le .
Emergency situations 31 7
- A discharged battery can freeze at tem
pe rat ures just below 32 °F (0 °C). Before
connecting a jumpe r cable, you must
thaw the frozen battery c omp lete ly, ot h
e rwise it could explode.
- Do not allow battery acid to co ntact eyes
or skin . Fl ush any con tacted area wi th
wat er immediately .
- Imp roper use of a booster battery to
s tart a vehicle may cause an ex plosion.
- Vehicle batter ies generate expl osive gas
es. Keep sparks, flame and lighted c iga
rettes away from ba tte ries.
- Do not t ry to jump start a ny ve hicle w it h
a low ac id leve l in the battery.
- The voltage of the booste r batte ry m ust
also have a 12-Vo lt rat ing. T he capac ity
(Ah) of the booste r batt ery sho uld not b e
lowe r than that of th e discharged bat
t ery. Use o f batt eries of d iffe ren t vol tage
or su bstan tia lly differen t "Ah" rat ing
may cause an exp losion and pers onal in
jury .
- N ever ch arge a fr ozen batt ery. Gas t ra p
pe d i n the ice may c ause an ex plosion .
- N ev e r ch arge o r use a batt ery th at h as
been fro zen . Th e batte ry case may have
be weake ned.
- U se o f batter ies of di ffere nt vol tage or
substantially differen t ca pa city (Ah) rat
i ng may cause an exp losion and injury .
T he ca pa c ity (Ah) of the booster battery
should not be lower than that of the dis
charged battery.
- Before you check anything in the engine
compa rtment, always read an d heed a ll
WARNINGS¢
page 256.
(D Note
- App lyi ng a hi gher vo ltage booste r ba t
t ery wi ll cause expens ive damage to sen
sit ive e lectronic components, such as
cont ro l units, relays, rad io , etc.
- There must be no electrical c ontact be
tween the vehicles as otherw ise current
co uld already start to f low as soon as t he
posi tive(+) terminals a re con nect ed. ..,. •
•