2015 AUDI R8 SPYDER ESP

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This owner's manua l contains important informa ­
tion, tips, suggestions, and warnings for the use
of your vehicle.
Make sure that this owner 's manua l is always lo­
cated in the vehicle . This is especia lly important
if you allow other peop le to drive the vehicle, or if
you sell it.
This owner's manua l describes the
equipment
range
specified for this model at the editoria l
deadline date. Some of the equipment described here will only be available at a later date, or only
in specific markets.
Some sections in this owner's manua l do not ap ­
p ly to all vehicles. In that case, the
ra nge of ap­
plicability
is g iven at the beginning of the sec­
tion, e.g. "Applies to vehicles: with Audi Parking
System". In addition, optional or vehicle-specific
equipment is indicated by an asterisk''*".
The details in the
illustrations may be different
from those in your vehicle, and are intended to be
viewed as a bas ic guide.
You will find a
table of contents at the beginning
of this book, which displays a ll top ics described
in this manual in order of appearance. You will
f ind an alphabetical
index at the end of this
book.
All
directions , such as "left", "right", "front",
"back", are relative to the direction of travel.
* Optional or vehicle -specific equipment
... This section continues on the next page.
c::> .&. Cross-reference to a "WARNING! " within a
section. For indicat ion with a page number, the
cor responding "WARNING! " can be found outside
of the section.
_& WARNING
Text with this symbol contains important in­
formation on safety and how to reduce the
risk of personal injury or death.
(D Note
Text with this symbol draws your attention to
potential sources of damage to your vehicle .
-
About this Owner 's Manual
{® For the sake of the environment
Text with this symbo l contains information
about the environment and how you can help
protect it.
(D Tips
Text with this symbo l contains special tips
and other informat ion about gett ing the most
out of your veh icle and its features.
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Instrument s and warning /indicator ligh ts
the electrical system . In thi s case, conta ct your
Audi de ale r.
If the ABS fails, the ABS warning/ind icator light
II (USA mode ls)/ ii] (Canada mode ls) flashes to­
gether with the brake system warning/indicator
light¢ &.
(USA models):
If the wa rning light~ and the
warn ing light
riJ ill umina te together, immed i­
ately contact your authorized Audi dea ler or
qua lified workshop to have all brake pads in­
spected ¢
page 16.
When the light comes on, an audib le warn ing sig­
na l is also given .
Parking brake set
The parking brake warning light./. (Canada
models) illuminates when the park ing brake is
set. In add ition, a warning tone will so und afte r
you have driven for longer than 3 seconds and
faster than
3 mph (5 km/h).
P ar king brake set
The ~ warning/ind icator light illuminates
when the parking brake is set¢,&. .
_& WARNING
-Always observe the w arnings in
¢ page 155, Working in the engine com ­
partment, before opening the engine hood
and checking the b rake fluid .
- Driving with low brake fluid is a safety haz­
ard! Stop the car and get professional assis­
tance.
- USA models: If both, the~ warning
light and the
II warning light come on at
the same time, the rear whee ls cou ld lock
up first under hard braking. lock-up of the
rear wheel brakes can cause loss of veh icle
control and an accident. Have your vehicle
repai red immediately by your author ized
Audi dealer or a qualified wo rkshop. Dr ive
slowly and avoid sudden, ha rd b rake appli­
cat ion .
- Canada models: If both, the brake warning
ligh t. and the ABS warning light
ii] come
on at the same time, the rear whee ls co uld
lock up first under har d braking. lock -up of the rear wheel brakes can cause
loss of vehi­
cle control and an accident. Have your veh i­
cle repaired immed iately by your authorized
Aud i deale r or a qua lified workshop. Drive
slowly and avo id sudden, hard brake appli­
cation.
- If the brake warning/ind icator light does
not go out after a few seconds and the pa rk­
ing brake is released, or lights up wh ile you
are driving, the fl uid level in the brake flu id
reservoir is too low.
If you believe that it is
safe to do so, proceed immedia tely at low
speed to the nearest authorized A udi dealer
or qualified workshop and have the brake
system inspected.
- Always keep in mind that after severa l brake
applications, you will need greater press ure
on the brake pedal to stop your vehicle. Do not rely on strained brakes to respond with
maximum stopp ing power in cr itical s itua­
tions . You must allow for increased braking
distances. The ext ra d istance used up by
fading brakes could lead to an accident.
tli1 !'! r Safety systems
T he . (USA models), . (Canada mode ls) indi­
cator lig ht monitors the safety sys tems e.g. air­
bags, pretensioners and ill uminates for a few
seconds each time you switc h the ignition on .
If the . (USA models)/ . (Canada models) in­
dicator light does not go ou t, o r if i t illumin ates
whi le you a re d riving, or if it starts to blink, then
t h ere is a ma lfunction somewhere in the system .
If the light does not illum inate when yo u switch
on the ignition, this also means there is a ma l­
funct ion.
_& WARNING
-If you have a ma lfunction in the safety sys-
tems, contact you r authorized Audi dea le r i m­
mediately. Otherwise the safety systems may
not wor k properly in an accident.
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Instruments and warning/indicator lights
4 Safety belt warning light
Applies to vehicles: with safety belt warning light
The warning light is a reminder to fasten safety
belts.
The warning light . comes on for a few seconds
after the ignition is sw itched on as a reminder to
fasten your safety belt.
Additiona l information on safety be lts
¢page 95.
D Battery
This warning/indicator light detects a malfunc­
tion in the generator or in the vehicle's electrical
system.
The. warning/indicator light ill uminates when
you switch on the ignition and must go out after
the engine has started.
• Alternator fault: Battery is not being charg­
ed
If the indicator light turns on and the message
appears, there is a malfunction in the generator
or vehicle electrical system .
D riv e to you r aut horized Aud i dea le r or qualified
wo rkshop immediately. Because the vehicle bat ­
tery is discharging, turn off all unnecessary elec­
trica l equipment suc h as the radio. Seek profes­
siona l assistance if the battery charge level is too
low.
(•) Low battery: battery will be charged while
driving
If the indicator light turns on and the message
appears, there may be limited star ting ability.
If th is message turns off after a little wh ile, the
battery charged enough wh ile driving .
If the message does not turn off, have your au­
thor ized Audi dealer or qualified workshop cor­
rect the malfunct ion.
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·~Engine oil pressure
The red engine oil pressure warning symbol re­
quires immediate service or repair .
If the . symbol appears in the display and
flashes, the o il pressure is too low. In add ition to
the symbol, the following message also appears i n the d isp lay:
Switch off engine! Oil pressure is too low
.. Pull off the road and stop the vehicle .
.. Shut the engine down.
.. Check the engine oil level¢
page 159 .
.. Contact your authorized Audi dealer for assis-
tance if necessary.
Engine oil level too low
If the engine oil leve l is too low, top off oil to the
proper level
¢page 160.
Engine oil level OK
If the. symbol starts flashing again even
though the engine oi l level checks OK on the dip­
stick,
do not sta rt driving again and do not let
the engine run at idle .
Instead, contact your au­
thorized Audi dealer for assistance .
(D Tips
- The engine oil pressure symbol. is not
an indicator for a low engine oil level. Do
not rely on it. Instead, check the oil level in
your engine at regular intervals, preferably each time you refuel, and always before
going on a long trip.
- The yellow oil level warning indication
II
requires oil refill or workshop service with­
out delay. Do not wait until the red oil
pressure warning symbol. starts to flash
before you respond to the low oil level
warning
Ill. By then, your engine may al­
ready have suffered serious damage.
-L Engine cooling system
A malfunction in the engine cooling system must
be repaired as soon as possible.
When the. symbol in the display flashes, then
either the engine coo lant
temperature is too IJ,,

Instruments and warning /indicator light s
-The warning/indicator light ill uminates whi le
driving.
The ESC ind icator light a lso illuminates if there is
a ma lf u nction in the ABS. The message
Stabiliza­
tion p rogr am and ABS: fault! See o wner 's man­
ual
also appears in the instr ument cluster disp lay
and a warning tone sounds .
The b rake sy stem will still respond even with­
out the ass is tance of th e ABS sy stem. See your
a utho riz ed Audi dealer a s soon as po ssible to re­
s tore full braking perfo rmance.
For more infor­
mat ion regarding the ABS
¢ page 134.
Malfunction in th e brake s ystem
If the b rake warning light¢ page 12 and the ABS
warning i lluminate
together there may be a mal ­
function in the ABS, and there may also be a ma l­
function in the brake system itself ¢ & .
The ABS
will not wo rk and you w ill notice a change in
bra king response and per formance.
In the event of a malfun ct ion in the br ake sy s ­
tem
the warning/indicator light 1111 (USA mod­
els)/ . (Canada models) in the instrument clus­
ter flashes¢
page 12.
Malfunction in th e electronic diffe renti al
lock (EDL )
The EDL works together with the ABS. The ABS
warn ing light w ill come on if there is a malfunc­
tion in the EDL system¢
page 134 . See your au­
thor ized Audi dealer as soon as possible.
.&_ WARNING
- If the II (USA models) ;tiJ (Canada mod­
els) warning light does not go out, or if it
comes on while driving, the ABS system is
not working properly . The vehicle can then
be stopped only with the standard brakes
(without ABS) . You will not have the protec­
t ion ABS prov ides. Contact your Audi dealer
as soon as possible.
- USA models: If the 1111 warning light, the
J_i) warning light and the II warn ing light
come on together, the rear wheels could
l ) - : USA models only
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lock up first under hard braking . Rear wheel
lock- up can cause loss of veh icle contro l and
an accident. Have your vehicle repaired im­ mediately by your author ized Audi dealer or
a qualified workshop. Dr ive slowly and avoid
sudden, ha rd brake applications.
- Canada models: If the brake warning light
• • the
JjJ warn ing light and the ABS warn­
ing light
EIJ come on togethe r, the rear
wheels could lock up fi rst under hard bra k­
ing. Rear wheel lock-up can c ause loss o f ve­
hicle control and an accident. Have your ve ­
hicle repai red immediately by your author­
ized Audi dealer or a qualified workshop.
Dr ive slow ly and avoid sudden, hard brake
applications.
(0) Worn brake pads
£i1 Check brake pads!
If the warning light i lluminates, immediate ly
contact your authorized Audi dealer or qualified
workshop to have all brake pads inspected. On
USA mode ls the warning light £i1 comes on to·
gether w ith the warning light 1111 . Both sets of
brake pads on an ax le must always be replaced at
the same time .
.&_ WARNING
Driving w ith bad bra kes can cause a collision
and se rious personal injury.
- If the warn ing light
£i1 and the warn ing
light
llll1 l with the message Brake pad s!
comes on in the ins trumen t clus ter display,
immed iate ly contact yo ur authorized Audi
dea le r or q ualified workshop to have all
brake pads checked or rep laced if necessary.
EPC Electronic power control
This warning/indicator light monitors the elec­
tronic power control .
The~ warning/indicator l igh t (E lec tronic Powe r
Control) illuminates when you swi tch on the igni­
tion as a function check .

Driver information system
Driver information
system
Introduction
The Driver information display inside the instru­
ment cluster provides you, the driver, with im­
portant information.
F ig. 6 Instr um en t cluster: center display
Fig. 7 Wiper lever: controls for the menu display
Center display
With the ignition on, the display in the Driver In­
formation System shows the following informa­
tion :
- CD inserted or Radio station set
- Outs ide temperature: At temperatures below
41 °F (+ S
0
(), a snowflake symbol appears in
front of the temperature display ¢,& .
- Warning when a door, the engine compartment
lid or the trunk lid is not closed.
Additional functions
You can open the following functions in the Driv­
er Information System disp lay by pressing the
I RES ET I button ¢ fig. 7 one or more times:
Digital speedometer*
T ir e pressu re monitoring
¢page 196
20
Trip computer ¢ page 21
Menu display ¢ page 22
Service interval display¢ page 24
Lap timer* ¢page 25
Speed warn ing ¢ page 69
Auto Check Control
Some functions and vehicle components are
scanned for their operating status when you
switch the ignition on and whi le you are driving .
Malfunctions or required service procedures are
signaled audib ly and ind icated by red and yellow
ill uminated symbols and reminders in the dis­
play.
& WARNING -
- Never re ly exclusively on the outside tem­
perature display to determine if a road sur­
face is icy or not. Keep in mind that road sur­
faces, especially bridges and overpasses,
could be ice covered and slippery even at an
outside temperature above 41 °F (+S °C).
-Always remember, even if the "snowflake"
symbol (ice warning) does not appear in the
display, black ice could be on the road.
- Always reduce your speed and drive with
special care in cold weather cond itions when
the chance of encountering icy road surfaces
increases.
(D Tips
On vehicles with Aud i Navigation system, the
displays may differ from their normal appear­
ance during navigation.

Driver information system
the current trip information. If the trip is inter­
rupted for
more than 2 hours the memory is re­
set automat ically.
Total-trip memory (Trip computer 2)
Unlike the sing le-trip memory, the total-trip
memory is not reset automatically. This permits
you to evaluate your driving data for the entire
period between manual resets.
Operation
The trip computer is controlled by two switches
on the windshield wiper lever.
------- ®
Fig. 10 Wiper a rm/wiper leve r: controls for the t rip com ·
puter
Selecting the trip computer
• Tap the I Reset ! button @ unt il the trip comput­
er (memory level 1 or 2) appears in the disp lay
¢ page 21, fig. 8.
Selecting the functions
• Push in the upper ( lower) protrusion on the
function selector switch @~
fig. 10. The func­
tions for the trip computer are displayed in suc­
cession on the respective memory levels.
Resetting the function to zero
• Push the I RESE T I button @ for at least two sec-
onds.
You can reset the follow ing values to zero:
- driving time
- distance
- average fuel mileage
- average speed
22
The trip computer only operates when the igni­
tion is on . When you turn on the ignition, the
funct ion that was in use when you last turned the
ignition off will be displayed.
(D Tips
-You can also set the values for the functions
to zero in the menu display
( Reset )
c':) page 2 2.
-All stored values will be lost if the vehicle
battery is disconnected.
Menu display
Introduction
Fig. 11 D isp lay: Start menu
Some functions in your vehicle can be set, acti ­
vated, and controlled by
Menus (e.g . parking sys­
tem•). With these menus you can also select the
i nformation shown in the Driver Information Sys­
tem, which operates only with the ignition
switched on . Operation is contro lled by the
I RESET ! button and the rocker switch on the wip­
er lever
¢page 23, fig. 12 .
The Start menu shows you the different display
types
~ fig . 11. Each dis play type in the Start
menu contains a submenu with additional op-
tions.
Ill-

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Lap timer
Introduction
You can record and evaluate lap times with the
lap timer in the display¢
page 25, fig. 17. The
time is measured in minutes, seconds and 1/10
seconds. The hours are also shown when the lap
time exceeds
60 minutes . The maximum individ­
ua l measurement is
99 hours.
A WARNING
Please devote your full attention to driving.
As the driver, you have complete responsib ili­
ty for safety in traffic. Only use the functions
in such a way that you always ma inta in com­
plete control over your vehicle in all traffic sit­
uations.
0) Tips
When the lap t imer stopwatch is running, you
can call up the trip computer information
w ith the
! RESET I button.
Calling up the lap timer and timing
A ppl ies to vehicles: with la p t ime r
'---- ®
Fig. 16 Controls
Fig. 17 D isplay: Lap timer
Driver inform atio n sy stem
Calling up the lap timer
.,. Press the I RESET !¢ fig. 16 @ button until the
lap timer ¢
fig. 17 appears.
Timing laps
"' To start timing, press the upper section of the
w iper sw itch @. The time meas urement is
shown in line(!)¢
fig. 17.
.,. To stop timing, press the upper section of the
wiper switch @again. This a lso starts timing
the next round. The previous time moves one
line up, first to line @and then to line@. Line
@ shows the current lap number, for example
LAP 5.
Di splaying inte rm ed iat e time and pau sing
timing
"' To display an intermediate time, press the low­
er section of the wiper switch@. The inter­
mediate time appears in line(!) and is marked
w ith *.
"' To pause timing, press the lowe r section of the
w iper sw itch @again.
"' To conti nue tim ing, press the uppe r section of
t he wiper swi tch @ .
If timing is paused, you can continue it later even
if you sw itch the igni tion off.
Evaluating times and continuing or
resetting timing
You can evaluate the fastest, slowest and aver ­
age lap times.
LAP 5
+ 45:12 .9
59:08.8
9J 51:10.8
F ig. 18 Display: lap time evaluat ion
"' To evaluate lap times, press and ho ld the
IRESE TI ¢ page 25, fig . 16 @ button for ap-
proximately 2 seconds. The display shows the
Iii>
25

Opening and closing Keys
Key set
F ig. 20 Key set
Fig. 21 Remote master key : Indicator l ight
@ Ma ste r key with r em ote control
You can centra lly lock and unlock your vehicle and
start the engine with the master key with remote
control. To fold the key out and back in place,
press the release button
c:;, fig. 20 (arrow) .
@Vale t key
The valet key only fits the lock in the driver's door
and the ignition lock. If you have to leave the key
with somebody e lse, you are well-advised to turn
over the valet key o nly.
Be aware that the front lid and glove compart­
ment can be opened from ins ide the vehicle using
the release buttons.
© Emergency k ey
The emergency key is only for temporary use if
;::: the vehicle key should be lost or misplaced.
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Open ing and clo sing
Key replac ement
If you lose a key, contact you r a uthorized Audi
dealer immed iate ly to have the
Lost key disab led .
Be sure to bring all your keys with you.
If a key is lost, you should report it to your insur­
ance company.
Reg istered keys
You can inquire about the number of remote
master keys registered to your vehicle
c:;, page 22 .
In this way, you can be ce rtain of obta ining all
the remote master keys if yo u purchase a used
vehicle.
State of master key battery
When a button is pressed, the check light f lashes
c:;, fig. 21. If the check light does not come on or
flash, the battery is dead and has to be replaced.
Battery replacement
c:;, page 28.
A WARNING ..__
- Do not leave your vehicle unattended with
the key in the ignition lock. Entry by u nau­
thor ized persons could endanger you or re­
sult in theft or damage the vehi cle. Always
lock all doors a nd take the key .
- D o not leave ch ildren unattended in the ve­
h icle, espe cially wi th access to vehicle keys.
Ungua rded access to the keys provides chil ­
dren the opportunity to start the engine
and/or activate vehicle systems such as the power windows etc. Unsupervised operation
of any vehicle system by children can result
i n ser ious injury.
@ Tips
- If you open the driver's door with the key
left in the ignition lock, a chime will so und.
Th is is your rem inder to remove the key and
lock the door.
- For security reasons, rep lacement keys are
only avai lable from Audi dealers.
-
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