2015 AUDI R8 SPYDER emergency towing

Table of contents
Vehicle liter ature ..... ... .. .. .. .. .
4
About this Owner's Manual . . . . . . 5
Controls and equipment . . . . . . . . . 6
Cockpit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Gene ral illus trat ion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Instruments and warning/
indicator lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
8
Instruments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Warning/ indicato r lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
11
Driver information system . . . . . . 20
I ntroduct ion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 0
Trip computer ... .. . ..... ... .. .. .. ...
2 1
Menu display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Service interval disp lay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Lap t imer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
On -Board Diagnostic system (OBD) . . . . . . 26
Opening and closing . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Powe r locking system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Fr ont lid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Anti- theft alarm system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
P ower windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Garage door opener (Homelink) . . . . . . . . 3 5
Convertible top . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Conver tible top . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Wind deflector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 0
Rear window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Convertible top emergency operation . . . .
41
Clear vision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 6
Interior lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
V1s1on . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
W iper and washer system . . . . . . . . . . . . .
51
Dig ital compass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Seats and storage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Gene ral recommendat ions . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
P owe r seats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
H ead restraints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Cup holder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Ashtray . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
2
Cigaret te lighter/soc ket . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Storage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Warm and cold . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Climate controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
On the road . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Steering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Ignition loc k/Ignition switch . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Starting and stopp ing the engine . . . . . . . 67
Parking brake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Speed warning system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Cruise contro l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
71
Audi magnet ic r ide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Sporty d rivi ng . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Transm1ss1on . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Manua l transm ission . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
S tronic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Parking system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
Pa rking system advanced
Safety first .. .. ................. . .
Driving Safely ... .............. .. .
General no tes .. .. .. ............. ... .
P roper o cc u pan t seating positions .. .. . .
Driver and passenger side foo twell . ... . .
Pedal area ... .... .. .. .. .. .. .... ... . .
Stowing luggage ... ... .. ..... ... .. . .
Reporting Sa fety Defects .......... .. . .
Active rollover protection system 80
86
86
86
8
7
90
90
91
92
93
Safety belts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 5
General notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Why safety belts? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Safety be lts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
Safety belt pre tensioners . . . . . . . . . . . . .
100
Airbag system ...... ........... ... 10 2
Important t hings to know . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Front ai rbags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Moni to rin g the Advanced Ai rbag System . 112

..... N
r-­N "': ..... \!) 1.1'1
N 1.1'1 .....
Kneeairbags .. ........... .. .. .. .. ... 116
Side airbags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
Ch ild Safety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
Important things to know . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
C hild safety seats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
Instal ling a chi ld safety seat . . . . . . . . . . . 130
Additional Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
Vehicle operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
Intelligent technology . . . . . . . . . . . 134
Notice about data recorded by vehicle
control modules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
Electronic Stabilization Control (ESC) . . . . 134
Braking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
Rear spoiler . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
Power steering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
D ry s ump lubr ication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
Driving with your quattro . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
Energy management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
Driving and environment . . . . . . . . 142
Break-in period . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
Avoid damaging the vehicle . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
Driving through water on roads . . . . . . . . 142
Catalytic converter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
Shutting down vehicle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
Operation and maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . 143
Trailer towing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
Vehicle care . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
Vehicle c are and cleaning . . . . . . . . 145
General information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
Car washes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
Cleaning and care information . . . . . . . . . 146
Fuel supply and filling your fuel
tank ... .. .. .... ............. .. .. .. .
151
Gasoline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
Fu el tank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
Checking and filling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
Engine compartment lid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
Engine oil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
Eng ine cooling system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
Brake fl uid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
Table of contents
Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
Windshield washer container . . . . . . . . . . 168
Tires and wheel s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
Tires . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
Tire pressure monitoring system . . . . . . . 196
Do-it-yourself service . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
What do I do now? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
Trunk escape handle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
Vehicle tool kit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
Tire repair . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
What should I be aware of when changing
a tire? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
Jump-starting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
Emergency towing with commercial tow
truck . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208
Fu ses and bulb s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
El ectr ical fuses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
Bulbs......... .. .. ........... .. .. .. 211
Technical data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212
Technical Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212
Vehicle identification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 12
Weights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212
Dimensions......................... 213
Capacities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
Gasoline engines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214
Consumer Information . . . . . . . . . . 215
Warranty coverages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21S
Operating your vehicle outside the U.S.A .
o r Canada . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21S
Audi Servi ce Repair Manuals and
Literature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
Maintenance. .. .. ... .......... .. .. .. 215
Additional accessor ies, modifications and
parts replacement 217
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
3

.... N
l'­
N "1: .... I.O
"' N
"' ....
(D Note
If S tronic has switched to emergency opera­
tion mode, you should have the malfunction corrected as soon as possible.
Parking lock emergency release
App lies to vehicles: with S tro nic
The parking lock must be released using the
emergency release before towing the vehicle.
F ig. 87 Engine compart men t: emergency release
Fig. 88 Engine compa rtment: parking lock emergency re·
lease
The emergency release is located in the engine
compartment.
Releasing the parking lock using the
emergency release
.,. Turn the engine off .
.,. Set the parking brake to prevent the vehicle
from rolling unintentionally .
.,. Remove the removable plastic key from the lug­
gage compartment and extend the key to its
full length .
.,. Remove the cover over the emergency release
mechan ism .
Tran smission
.,. Insert the plastic key into the emergency re­
lease mechanism and turn it all the way to the
r ight ~
fig. 88.
Resetting the parking lock
.,. Turn the key all the way to the left.
.,. Install the cover.
The
[il indicator light appears in the instrument
cluster if the parking lock was released from
P
using the emergency release. The message Risk
of rolling! P not possible. Please set the parking
brake
also appears.
,&_ WARNING
- Only activate the emergency release whi le
on a level surface or a slight s lope.
- If you release the parking lock using the
emergency release, secure your vehicle with
the parking brake. The vehicle can roll away if it is not secured and cause a crash.
(D Tips
The transmission cannot detect if the parking
l ock was released with the emergency re lease.
An error message appears in the instrument
cluster as soon as the transmiss ion requires
the
P position but th is position is not engag­
ed.
79

What do I do now? Trunk escape handle
Appl ies to vehicles: with trunk escape handle
In case of an emergency, the front lid can be
opened from the inside using the trunk escape
handle.
.. To open the front lid pull the handle.
The trunk escape handle inside t he luggage com ­
partment is made of fluorescent material to glow
in the dark .
.&_ WARNING
The trunk escape handle is to be used only in
an emergency.
Vehicle tool kit
The tools are stored underneath the floor panel
in the luggage compartment.
Fig. 151 Luggage compartment: veh icle tool kit
"' Swing the luggage compar tment floo r up-
wards .
.. Remove the vehicle tool kit.
The onboard tool kit incl udes:
- Hook for removing hub cap
- Lug wrench
- Alignment pin for changing wheels
- Screwdr iver w ith reversible blade
- Towing eye
- Jack* (not a vehicle component; contact your
,..... authorized Aud i dealer i f needed)
N
I'-
~ Some of the on board items listed above are pro-
.... :5: vided on certa in models only or are optiona l ex-
N l/1 .... tras.
What do I do no w?
Before returning the jack* to its p lace, retract the
jack arm fully.
.&_ WARNING
-
Improper use of the vehicle jack can cause se-
rious personal injuries.
- Never use the screw driver hex head to
tighten wheel bo lts, since the bolts cannot
attain the necessary tightening torque if yo u
use the hex head, potentially causing an ac­
cident.
- The factory-supplied jack is intended only
for your veh icle model. Under no circum­
stances should it be used to
lift heavy
veh icles or other loads; you risk injuring
yourse lf.
- Never start the engine when the vehicle is
raised, which could cause an accident.
- Support the vehicle securely with appropri­
ate stands if work is to be pe rformed under­
neath the vehicle; otherwise, the re is a po­
tential risk fo r injury.
- Never use the jack supplied with your Aud i
on another vehicle, part icularly on a heavier
one. The jack is only suitable for use on the
vehicle it came with.
Tire repair
General and safety pointers
Applies to vehicles: with Tire Mobility System
Tire repair is intended only for temporary, short­
term use.
Fig. 152 Tire damage for which the Tire Mobility System Is
not suited
Your vehicle is equipped with a tire repa ir kit, the
T ire Mob il it y Sy stem ( TMS). .,.
19 9

What do I do now?
- Be fo re you check a nything in t he e ngine
compartment, always read and heed all
WARNINGS
Q page 155, Working in the en­
gine compartment .
CD Note
Improper hook-up of jumper cables can ruin
the generator.
- Always connect POSITIVE( +) to POSITIVE
( + ), and NEGA TIVE(-) to NEGATIV E(-)
gro und post of the battery manager control
unit.
- Check that a ll screw plugs on the battery
cells are screwed in firmly . If not, tighten
plugs prior to connect ing clamp on negat ive
battery terminal.
- Please note that the procedure for connect­
i ng a jumper cable as described above ap­
plies specifically to the case of your vehicle
being jump started. When you a re g iving a
ju mp sta rt to another vehicle, do
not con­
n e ct the neg ative(- ) ca b le to the negative
( - ) terminal o n the discharged battery @.
Instead, se curely connect the negative(-)
cab le to either a solid metal component
that is f irm ly bolted to the engine block or
to the engine block itself . If the battery that
i s bei ng charged does not vent to the out­
s ide , escap ing battery gas could ignite and
explode!
Emergency towing with
commercial tow truck
General hints
Your Audi requires special handling for towing.
The fo llow ing in formation is to be used by com ­
mercial tow truck operators who know how to op ­
erate their equipment safely .
- Never tow your A ud i, tow ing will cause damage
to the engine and transmiss ion .
- Never wrap the safety chains o r winch cables
around the b rake lines.
- To preven t un ne cessary d am age, yo ur Audi
mus t be transpor ted with a car carrier ( flat bed
t ruck) .
208
-To load the vehicle on to the flat bed , use the
tow ing loop found in the vehicle tools and at­
tach to the front anchorage
Q page 208.
_& WARNING
A veh icle being towed is not safe for passen­
gers. Never a llow anyone to ride in a vehicle
being towed, fo r any reason.
CD Note
The vehicle has ver y low ground clearance.
M ake sure that no damage is caused to the
underside of the vehicle when it is being load­
ed onto a flat bed truck .
Front towing loop
Do not install the front towing loop un til it is
needed.
Fi g. 163 Righ t fro nt bu m per w it h ou t gr ille: Tow ing loo p
full y screwe d in
On the right front in the bumper , there is a
t h readed hole behind the air intake g rill into
which the tow ing loop is screwed .
.,. Remove the tow ing loop from the vehicle tool
kit
Q page 199 .
.,. Pull the lower part of the gr ill forward a nd out .
.,. Sc rew the tow ing loop t ightly into t he threaded
hol e as fa r as it will go
Q fig . 163 and tighten it
w ith the wheel w rench .
When it is no longer needed, unscrew the towing
l oop and put it back into the on-boa rd too lkit .
Make sure to have th e towing loop sto red in the
vehicle at all times .
When install ing the grill for the air duct, be sure
that the tabs on t he g rill a re first inserted into .,..

Index
Eme rgency r elease
Fr ont lid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Park ing lock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
79
Eme rgency sta rting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
Eme rgency towing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208
Energy management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 0
Batte ry power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 1
Driver notification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
Eng ine
Coolan t . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
16 1
Data . ... .... .. ... .. ..... ... .. .. ... 214
Eng ine compartment lid . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
155
Starting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66, 67
Stopping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Engine compartmen t . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 7
Safety instructions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
Engine compa rtment lid
Closing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1 56
Release lever . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
Engine coolant system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
Malfunct io n . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Temperature ga uge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
En gine oi l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
158
Adding .. .. .. .. ............. .. . 160,161
Addit ives. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
160, 161
Checking the eng ine oi l level . . . . . . . 159, 160
Dry s ump lubr ication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
Indications and cond it ions requ iring ext ra
checking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
159, 160
O il c ons umption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 58
O il grades . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 8
Specification and viscos ity . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
Temperature disp lay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
E ngi ne oi l level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Engine oil pressure (malfunction) . . . . . . . . . 14
Engine oi l sensor defective . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
17
Engine speed limitat ion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
E nvironment
Cataly tic converter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
142
Disposing of your vehicle batte ry . . . . . . . 165
Fue l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
Unleaded f uel ..................... .. 15 1
What should I do wi th an old batte ry? . . . 16 5
EPC
refer to Electronic power control . . . . . . . . 16
ESC (Electronic Stabilization Co ntro l)
Warning/indicator lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
15
222
Event Data Recorde r (ED R) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
Exhaust tail pipes Cleaning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 7
Expansion tank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
162
Exterior m irrors
Adjusting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
49
Dimming . ... .... .. .. .. .. .. .... ... .. . 50
Heating... ...... .. ............... .. . 49
F
Fan ..... .... . .. .. .. .. ... .. ..... ... .. . 62
Faste ning
Boos ter sea ts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
128
Convertib le child sa fety se ats . . . . . . . . . . 12 7
Infant seats
Flat bed truck
Flat tire 127
208
Changi ng . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
Floor mats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
Fo ld ing master key with remo te control . . . . 27
Foot peda ls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
90
Fo r the sake of the environment
Gasoline fumes and t he env ironme nt . . . . 153
Letting yo ur eng ine warm up . . . . . . . . . . .
67
Ref ueling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
Front a irbags
Des cription . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
106
How they wor k . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
Frontal collis io ns and the laws of phys ics . . . 96
Front lid
Emergency release . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
49
Power locking system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Trunk escape handle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
Front passenger
refer to Seating position . . . . . . . . . . . . 87, 88
Front seat s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Child rest rain ts in the fron t seat . . . . . . . . 103
Front towi ng loop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208
Fuel
Additives.. .. .... .. .. .. ......... .. ..
151
B lended gasoline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
Current fuel mileage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Filler neck . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
152
Fuel supply too low . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Gasoline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
151