2015 AUDI S3 Owners Manual

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General information
Applies to vehicles: with Audi side assist
®
®
©
Fig . 92 Dr iv ing s it uat ions
I AU DI
Fi g. 93 Rear of ve hicle: se nsor pos it ions
Side assist functions at speeds above app rox i­
mately 19 mph (30 km/h) .
@Vehicl es that ar e approaching
In certain cases, a vehicle will be classified as
cr itical for a lane change even if it is still
somewhat far away. The fas ter a vehicle ap­
p roaches, t he sooner the display in the exteri ­
or m irror will t urn on.
@ V ehicles traveling with you
Vehicles traveling w ith you are indicated in the
exterior m irror if they are classified as cr itical
for a lane change. All vehicles detec ted by
side assist are indi cated by the time they en­
t er your "blind spot", at the latest.
Aud i side assist 103
© Veh icles left behind
If you s low ly pass a vehi cle that s ide assist has
detected (the difference in speed between the
vehicle and you r vehicle is less than 9 mph or
15 km/h), the display in the exterio r mir ro r
turns on as soon as the vehicle enters your blind spot.
T he disp lay will not t urn on if you quickly pass
a vehicle that side assist has detected (the dif­
ference in speed between the veh icle and your
vehicle is greater than 9 mph or 15 km/h).
Functional limitations
The radar sensors are designed to detect the
left and right adjacent lanes when the road
lan es are the normal width . In some sit ua­
tions, the d isp lay in the exterior mirror may
turn on even though there is no ve hicle locat­
ed in the area that is cr itical for a lane cha nge.
For example:
- If the lanes are narrow or if your are driving
on the edge of your lane.
If this is the case,
the system may have detected the vehicle in
another lane that is
not adjacent to you r
current lane .
-If you are dr iving through a curve . S ide as ­
sis t may react to a vehicle that is one lane
over from the adjacent lane.
- If side assist reacts to other objects (such as
high or d isp laced guard rails) .
- In poor weather conditions. The side assist
functions are limited .
Do not cover the radar sensors
c> fig. 93 w ith
stickers, depos its, bicycle wheels or other ob­
jects, because this will affect the funct ion. For
information on cleaning, see
c> page 205.
A WARNING
- Always pay attention to traffic and to the
a rea a round your ve hicl e. Side assi st can­
not repla ce a d river's attention . Th e driv ­
er a lone is always responsible for la ne
cha nges and s imilar dr iv ing ma ne uvers.
- In some si tua tions, the system may not
function or its function may be limited.
F or examp le:

104 Audi side assist
-If vehicles are approaching or being
left behind very quickly. The display
may not turn on in time.
- In poor weather conditions such as
heavy rain, snow or heavy mist.
- On very wide lanes, in tight curves, or if
there is a rise in the road surface.
Vehicles in the adjacent lane may not
be detected because they are outside
of the sensor range.
- Audi side assist cannot detect all vehicles
under all conditions, which can increase
the risk of accidents.
- Please note that side assist only displays
approaching vehicles or vehicles in your
blind spot if your vehicle is traveling at
least 19 mph (30 km/h).
- In certain situations, the system may not
work or its function may be limited. For
example:
- The display may not turn on at the
right time if vehicles are approaching
or passing very quickly.
- In poor weather conditions, such as
heavy rain, snow or fog.
- In very wide lanes, in tight curves or
when there are slopes in the roadway,
vehicles in the neighboring lanes may not be detected because they are out­
side of the sensor range.
The sensors can be displaced by impacts or damage to the bumper, wheel housing and
underbody. This can affect the system. Have your authorized Audi dealer or au­
thorized service facility check their func­
tion.
{D) Tips
- If the window glass in the driver's door
or front passenger's door has been tint­
ed, the display in the exterior mirror may
be misinterpreted .
- For an explanation on conformity with
the FCC regulations in the United States and
the Industry Canada regulations, re­
fer to~
page 292.
Switching on and off
Applies to vehicles: with Aud i s ide ass ist
The system and be switched on and off in the
MMI.
.. Select: the I MENU I button >Car> Systems*
control button > Driver assistance > Audi
side assist.
With Off, the system is switched
off.
An activated system will signal every time the ignition is switched on by turning the displays
in the exterior mirrors on briefly.
Adjusting the display brightness
Applies to vehicles: with A udi side ass ist
The display brightness can be adjusted in the
MMI.
.. Select: the I MENU I button >Car> Systems*
control button > Driver assistance > Audi
side assist.
The display brightness adjusts automatically
to the brightness of the surroundings, both in
the information and in the warning stage. In
very dark or very bright surroundings, the dis­ play is already set to the minimum or maxi­
mum level by the automatic adjustment. In
such cases, you may notice no change when
adjusting the brightness, or the change may
only be noticeable once the surroundings
change.
Adjust the brightness to a level where the dis ­
play in the information stage will not disrupt
your view forward. If you change the bright­
ness, the display in the exterior mirror will
briefly show the brightness level in the infor­
mation stage. The brightness of the warning
stage is linked to the brightness in the infor­
mation stage and is adjusted along with the
information stage adjustment. .,_

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@ Tips
-Side assist is not active wh ile you are
making the adjustment.
- Your settings are automati cally stored
and ass igned to the remote control key
being used.
Driver messages
App lies to vehicles: with Audi side assist
If t h e side assist switc hes off automatically, a
message appea rs in the instrument cluster
d is p lay.
@j Audi side assist: currently unavailable
No sensor vision
The radar sensors' vision is affected . Do not
cover the area in front of the senso rs with bike
wheels, s tickers, dirt or other obj ects . Clean
the area in front of the senso rs, if necessa ry
~p age 103, fig. 93.
@j Audi side assist: currently unavailable
Side assist can not be switched o n tempo rar ily
beca use there is a mal func tion (for exam ple,
the battery charge leve l may be too low) .
@j Audi side assist: System fault!
The system cannot guara ntee that it w ill de­
tect ve hicles correctly and it is switched
off.
The senso rs have been displaced o r are faulty.
H ave the sys tem check ed by a n authorized
Aud i dea le r or autho rized Aud i S ervic e Facility
soon.
Audi side assist 105
•

106 Audi drive select
Audi drive select
Driving settings
Introduction
Applies to vehicles: with Audi drive select
Aud i d rive select makes it possibl e to expe ri­
e nce diffe ren t types of vehi cle sett ings in o ne
ve hicl e. The dr ive r can se lect from three
c om­
fort , auto and dynamic modes using the t.'i:.:1
button in the center conso le or the MM I to
switch between a sporty an d a comfortable
driving mode, for examp le. In the
individual *
mode, the sett ings can be ad justed to your
pe rsonal preferences. This makes it poss ib le
to comb ine settings such as a sporty eng ine
tuni ng with lig ht steer ing.
A WARNING ,_
Using Audi dr ive se lect i ncorrect ly can lead
t o co llisions, othe r accidents an d serio us
inju ries.
Description
Applies to vehicles: with Audi drive select
The vehicle setup in each mode depends on
the vehicle's features. However, t he engine
and steering are always affected .
Engine and automatic transmission
Depending on the m ode, the e ng ine and au to­
ma tic transm iss ion * respond more quickly or
in a more ba la nce d manner to acce lerator
pedal movements.
Adaptive dampers (Audi magnetic ride)*
T he adaptive dampers use senso rs to reco rd
in fo rma tion rega rding s teering moveme nts,
b rak ing and a cce le ra ti on ope rat ions by t he
d river, road s urface, driving spee d, an d load.
W ith Aud i drive se lect yo u can adjust the
adaptive dampe rs sporty (dynamic), comfort­
ab le (comfort) or balanced (auto).
Steering
T he stee ring ad apts in te rms o f stee ring assis­
tance. There are different modes
~ page 10 7.
Indirect stee ring that moves eas ily as in com -f
ort mode is es pec ially suited to long drives
o n a hig hway. The dynam ic mode provi des
spo rty, direct steer ing.
F o r vehicles wi th progressive stee ring * the
stee ring pe rformance is mo re agile.
Cornering light*
T he co rne ring light adjusts when driv ing on
c u rves a t speeds between 6 mph ( 10 km/h)
and 68 mph (1 10 km/h). The pivo ting act io n
and the light ing a re a lso adapted to the
mode.
Adaptive cruise control*
T he be hav io r whe n accelerating can be adjust­
ed from comfor tab le to spor ty, depend ing on
t h e Au di drive sele ct mo de. Ad aptive cr uise
control also responds to the driving behavior
of the vehicle ahead in a more co nservative or
spo rty manne r.
(D Tips
In some mo dels, the maxim um vehicle
sp eed can on ly be reache d in t he a uto and
d ynam ic modes.

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Selecting the driving mode
Applies to vehicles: with Audi drive select
You can choose between comfort, auto, dy­
namic and individual* .
Fig. 94 Center conso le : drive select button
Fig. 95 MMI: dr ive se lect
.. To set the mode, press the ~:/:a button
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Q fig . 94 repeatedly until the desired mode
is d isplayed in the instrument cluster . Or
Adjusting the Individual mode Audi drive
select 107
.. Select in the MMI: the !MENU I button> Car
> Systems* contro l button > Comfort , Auto ,
Dynamic
or Individual*.
You can change the driving mode when the ve­
hicle is stationary or while driving. If traffic
permits, after changing modes, briefly take
your foot off the acce lerator pedal so that the
recently selected mode is also activated for
the engine .
Comfort -provides a comfort-oriented vehicle
setup and is suited for long drives on high­
ways.
Auto -provides an overall comfortable yet dy­
namic driving feel and is suited for every day
use.
Dynamic -gives the driver a sporty driving
feel and is suited to a sporty driving style.
Individual* -Qpage 107.
The last chosen mode is retained when the ve­
hicle is started aga in .
.&_ WARNING
Pay attention to traffic when operating the
drive select to prevent potential risk of an
accident.
You can adjust the vehicle settings to your personal preferences .
.. Select: I MENU I button >Car > Systems* con­
trol button >
Set individual control button.
Once you select the menu, you will automat­
ically drive in the
Individual* mode.
After you have closed the settings, you are au­
tomatically driving in the
individual* driving
mode .
Systems comfort
engine
and transmission comfortable
Steering comfortable
Cornering light* comfortable
Audi adaptive cruise control* comfortable The
equipment in your vehicle will determine
which settings you can adjust . The following
table gives an overview of the characteristics .
auto dynamic
balanced sporty
ba lan ced sporty
ba lanced sporty
ba lanc ed sporty

108 Audi drive select
Systems comfort
Adaptive dampers*
comfortable
Engine sound* subtle
al Subt le in t he se lector lever pos it io n D and spo rty in 5 .
{i) Tips
Your individual* mode settings are auto­
matically stored and assigned to the re­
mote control key being used.
auto dynamic
balanced
sporty
subtle/sportyal sporty

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Automatic
transmission S tronic-transmission
Introduction
Applies to vehicles: with S tronic transmiss ion
Your vehicle is equipped with an electronical­
l y -controlled DSG transmission called S tronic.
T wo independent clutches transfer the power
between the engine and transmission. It al­
lows the vehicle to accelerate without a no­
ticeable interruption in traction .
T he transmission upshifts or downshifts auto­
matically. The driving style continuously influ­
ences the selection of the driving program .
When a
moderate driving style is used, the
transmission selects the most econom ica l
driving mode. The transmission upshifts at a
lower RPM and downshifts at a higher RPM to
improve fuel effic iency .
T he transmission switches to a sporty mode
after a kick-down or when the driver uses a
sporty driving style characterized by quick ac­
celerator pedal movements, heavy accelera­
tion, frequent changes in speed and traveling
at the maximum speed.
If desired, the driver can also select the gears
manually (tiptronic mode) r=> page 114,
Shifting manually (tiptronic mode) .
Selector lever positions
Applies to vehicles: with S tro nic transmission
Fig. 96 Instrument cluster: selector leve r positions
The instrument cluster display shows the cur­
rent selector lever position and current gear.
Automatic transmission 109
P -Park
The wheels are mechanically locked in this po­
sition. You can only shift into Park when the
vehicle is
stationary r=> &..
To shift in and out of the P selector lever posi­
tion, press the interlock button in the selector
lever
while pressing the brake peda l.
R- Reverse
Only shift into reverse gear when the vehicle is
stationary and the engine is running at idle
speed
r=> &. .
To select the R selector lever position, press
the interlock button
while press ing the brake
pedal. The back-up lights sw itch on in the R
pos ition if the ignition is switched on .
N -Neutral
The transm iss ion is in idle in this position .
DIS -Normal position for driving forward
In the D/S selector lever position , the trans ­
mission can be operated either in the normal
D mode or in the S sport mode. To select the S
spor t mode, pull the selector lever back brief­
ly. Pulling the lever back again will select the
normal D mode . The instrument cluster dis­
play shows the selected driving mode.
In the
normal mode D, the transmission auto­
matically selects the suitable gear ratio . It de­
pends on engine load, vehicle speed and driv­
ing style .
Select the
sport mode S for sporty driving .
The vehicle makes full use of the eng ine's
power. Shift ing may become noticeable when
acce lerat ing.
To move from selector lever position N to D,
you must press the brake pedal and the vehi­ cle must be traveling less than 1 mph (2 km/
h) or be stationary~ &.-
.&_ WARNING
Read and following all WARNINGS.
- The vehicle can roll even if the ignition is
switched off.
~
•

110 Autom atic tr an smi ssion
-Never select R or P while driving, because
this increases the risk of an accident.
- Power is still transmitted to the whee ls
when the eng ine is running at idle. To
prevent the vehicle from "creeping", you
must keep your foot on the brake in all
selector lever positions (except P) when
the engine is runn ing. Otherwise, th is in­
creases the risk of an accident.
- Do not inadvertently press the accelera­
tor pedal when the vehicle is stopped if a
gea r is engaged. Otherwise the vehicle
will star t to move immediately, even if
the parking bra ke is set . This could result
in a crash .
- Do not press the accelerator pedal when
changing the selector lever position
whi le the vehicle is stationary and the
engine is running.
- Never leave your vehicle with the engine
running whi le in gear . If you must leave
yo ur vehicle when the engine is running,
set the park ing brake and move these ­
lector lever to the P position.
- Before opening the hood and working on
a running engine, select the P position
with the se lector lever and set the park­
ing brake. Always read and follow the ap­
plicable warnings
~ page 217, Working
in the engine compartment.
Q) Note
Never let the veh icle roll downhill with en­
gine off and the selector lever in the N po­
sition, because this cou ld damage the au­
tomatic transmission and cata lytic con­
verter.
@ Tips
- Audi drive select : Sporty shift ing cha rac­
terist ics can be se lected using th e
dy·
nam ic driving mode. Swill appear in the
i nstrument cl uste r display i nstead of D.
- If you accidenta lly sele ct N while driv ing,
take your foot off the acce le rator pedal
i mmedia tely and wait for the engine to
s low down to idle be fore se lecting Dor S . -
If there is a power failure, the selector
lever wi ll not move out of the P position.
The emergency re lease can be used i f
this happens
¢ page 116.
Selector lever lock '
Applies to vehicles: wi th S t ronic tra nsmi ssio n
The selector lever lock prevents you from se­
lecting a gear occidentally, causing the vehi­
cle to roll.
Fig . 97 Selecto r lever lock
To release the selector lever lock:
.. Switch on the ignition .
8 0 :,l. CX) .,
.. Press the brake pedal while pressing the in-
terlock button .
Automat ic shift loc k (AS L)
The selector lever is locked in the P and N po­
sitions when the ign ition is switched on. You
must press the brake pedal to select another
position. You must also press the interlock
button if you a re mov ing from the P position .
T he following message appears in the display
when the selector lever is in the P or N pos i­
t ion to remind the drive r:
When stationar y apply footbrake while se­
l e cting gear
The automatic shift lock only functions when
the vehicle is stationary or at speeds be low 1
mph (2 km/h) . At higher speeds, the lock is
automat ica lly deactivated in the N pos it ion.
The selector lever is not locked when shifting
quick ly through N, for example from R to D.
T his makes it possible to free the vehicle when
it is stuck by "rocking" it. The se lector lever
lock engages if the lever stays in the N