2016 AUDI A3 CABRIOLET ESP

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-Never open the vehicle battery. Do not try to
change the battery electro lyte level. Other­
wise explosive gas will escape from the bat­
tery and increase the r isk of an explos ion .
(D Tips
If your vehicle is not driven for several weeks
in very cold temperatures, remove the battery
and store it in a place where it will not freeze.
This prevents the battery from being dam­
aged and needing to be replaced .
Working on the battery
Be especially careful when working on or near
the battery .
The battery (12 V) is located in the engine com­
partment.
Always heed the
safety warnings, when working
on the vehicle battery or the vehicle electrical
system to prevent injury.
The following WARNINGS are very important
when working on the battery:
Always heed the following WARNING SYM-
BOLS and safety precautions when working on
the battery.
®
Always wear eye protection.
&
Battery acid contains sulfuric acid. Al-
ways wear gloves and eye protection.
@
No
- sparks
- flames
- smoking.
A
When a battery is charged, it produces
hydrogen gas which is explosive and
.
could cause personal injury .
®
Always keep the battery well out of
reach of children.
A WARNING
Whenever working on the battery or on the
electrical system, there is the risk of injury,
-
Checking and Filling
accident and even fire . Read and heed the fol­
low ing WARNINGS:
- Always wear eye protection. Do not let bat­
tery acid or any lead particles get on your
skin or clothing. Shield your eyes. Explosive
gases can cause blindness or other injury.
- Battery acid contains sulfur ic acid. Sulfuric
acid can cause blindness and severe burns.
- Always wea r gloves and eye protection. Do
not tilt the battery because acid could lea k
out of the ventilation openings.
- If you get battery acid in yo ur eyes or on
you r skin, immed iate ly r inse with cold wa­
ter for severa l min utes and get medical at­
tent ion .
- If you shou ld ingest any battery acid, seek
medica l attention immediate ly.
- Do not expose the battery to an open flame,
electric sparks or an open light.
- Do not smoke.
- Do not interchange the positive and nega-
tive cables.
- When working on the battery, be sure not to
short-circuit the termina ls with tools or oth­
er metal objects. This would cause the bat­
tery to heat up very quickly, which could
lead to damage or exp losion and personal
inj ury.
- When a battery is charged, it produces hy­
drogen gas which is explosive and could
cause persona l injury.
- Always keep the battery well out of the
reach of children.
- Before work is done on the e lectrical sys­
tem, disconnect the negative ground cable.
- Before performing any work on the electri­
cal system, switch off the engine and igni­
tion as well as any electrical equipment. The
negat ive cab le on the battery must be dis­
connected. If you are just going to replace a
light bulb, then it is enough to switch off
the lights.
- Before disconnecting the battery, switch off
the anti-theft a larm system! Otherwise you
will set off the alarm .
- When disconnecting the battery, first dis­
connect the negat ive cable and then the
positive cable.
199

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can be cracked due to ice format ion and can leak
battery acid.
Battery charging (Maximum charging rate of
30 amps/ 14.8 Volt)
When charging at
low voltages (e.g. with a trick­
le charger), the battery cables do not have to be
d isconnected first. The battery caps should
not
be opened when charging a battery.
It is not necessary to remove the battery from
the luggage compartment, and it is also not nec­
essary to disconnect the cables.
Fast charging the battery (charging rate
above 14.8 Volts)
F or technical reasons do not use a battery charg­
er that uses voltage greater than 14.8 Volts to
charge your vehicle's battery.
A WARNING
Charging a battery can be dangerous.
- Always follow the operating instructions
provided by the battery charger manufactur­
er when charging your battery.
-Never charge a frozen battery. It may ex­
plode because of gas trapped in the ice. Al­
low a frozen battery to thaw out first.
- Do not reuse batteries which were frozen.
The battery housing may have cracked and
weakened when the battery froze .
- Charge the battery in a well ventilated area.
Keep away from open flame or electrical
spark. Do not smoke . Hydrogen gas generat­
ed by the battery is exp losive.
- To reduce the danger of explosion, never
connect or disconnect charger cables wh ile
the charger is operat ing.
- Fast charging a battery is dangerous and
should only be attempted by a competent
technician with the proper equipment.
- Battery acid that may spill during charging
should be washed off with a solution of
warm water and baking soda to neutralize
the acid.
Checking and Filling
(D Note
Never use a fast charger as a booster to start
the engine. This will seriously damage sensi­
tive electronic components, such as control units, relays, radio, etc., as well as the battery
charger.
Battery replacement
The new battery must hove the some specifica­
tions and dimensions as the original equipment
battery.
Intelligent energy management in your vehicle is
responsible for distribut ing the e lectrical energy
throughout your vehicle
c;, page 121 . The intelli ­
gent energy management system will keep the
engine battery charged better than vehicles with­
out this system. To make sure the additional
electrical energy is available once again after you
have changed the battery, we recommend that
you install batteries of the same type and manu­
facture only (the same as those installed at the
t ime your vehicle was delivered). Specifications
are listed on the battery housing . Your author­
ized dealer must code the battery in the energy
management system to enable you to use the en­
ergy management functions correctly after re­
plac ing the battery.
The new battery must have the same capacity,
voltage (12-volts), amperage, construction and plug seal ing.
When install ing the battery, make sure the ign i­
t ion and all electr ical consumers are switched
off .
(D Note
Make sure the venti lation hose on the s ide of
the battery is connected, otherwise fumes or battery acid can leak out .
@ For the sake of the environment
Because of the problem of proper d isposal of
a battery, we recommend your authorized
Audi dealer change the battery for you. Bat­
teries contain sulfur ic acid and lead and must
always be disposed of properly in compliance .,.
201

Check ing and F illing
with all environmental regulations. D isposing
of vehicle batteries improperly is very danger­
ous to the env ironment .
Windshield washer
system
F ig. 16 7 Engin e co mpartment : washer fluid reservoir cap
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The washer flu id reservoir§ contains the wind­
shie ld wash er fluid
¢ page 191, fig. 161. The res­
ervoir capacity is found in
9 page 251.
.. Read and follow a ll WARNINGS before wo rking
in the engine compartment ¢
page 188, Work­
ing in the engine compartment.
.. Open the cap .
.. Add the washer fluid and close the cap .
To reduce the risk of lime sca le deposits on the
spray nozzles, use clean water w ith low amounts
of calc ium . A lways add window cleaner to the wa­
t er. When the outs ide temperatures are co ld, an
anti-freezing agent should be added to the water
so that it does not freeze .
(D Note
-The concentration of anti-freezing agent
must be ad justed to the vehicle operating
cond itions in the respect ive climate . A con­
ce ntration that is too high can lead to veh i­
cle damage.
- Neve r add rad iator ant i-freeze or ot her addi­
tives to the washe r fl uid .
- Do not use a glass cleaner that conta ins
paint solvents, beca use this cou ld damage
the pa int.
202
Service interval display
T he service interval display detects when your ve­
hicle is due for service.
The service interval display works in two stages :
-Inspe cti on or oil change reminder: afte r a cer-
tain dis tan ce dr ive n, a message appears in the
instrument cluster display each t ime the igni ­
tion is switched on or off . The remaining dis­
tance or tim e is disp layed briefly.
- Inspection or oil change due : if your vehicl e
has reached an inspection or oil change inte rval
or both intervals at the same t ime, the mes­
sage
Inspection due! or Oil change due! or Oil
change and inspection d ue!
appears briefly af­
ter switching the ignition on/off.
Check ing ser vice inter vals
You can check the remaining d istance or t ime un­
ti l the next oi l change or next inspection in the
MMI. Select the
i MENU I button> Car> Systems *
control button > Ser vice & control > Service in ­
tervals .
Resetting the indic ator
Your a uthorized Audi dea ler or authorized Audi
Service Facility w ill reset the service interva l dis­
play after perform ing service .
If you perform an o il change yourse lf to the Audi
specifications, you must reset the service interval
display .
To rese t the disp lay, select the
I MENU I but ton>
Car > Systems * control button > Service & con­
t rol > Service inter vals > Re set oil change inter ·
val.
(D Note
- Only reset the oil c hange indicator if the oi l
was changed .
- Following the service in terva ls is cr itica l to
mainta ining the se rvice life and val ue of
your vehicle, especially the engine. Even if
the mileage on the ve hicle is low, do not ex­
ceed the time for the next service.
- Calculat ing the time to the next oil change
is inte rrupted when the vehicle battery is

Tires and wheels
be happy to provide more infor­
mation .
® Mud and snow capability
"M/S" or "M+S" indicates the tire
is suitable for driving on mud and
snow.
& indicates a winter tire.
@ Compos ition of the tire cord
and materials
The number of plies indicates the
number of rubberized fabric lay­
ers in the tire . In general: the
more layers, the more weight a
tire can carry. Tire manufacturers
must also specify the materia ls
used in the tire. These include
steel , nylon, polyester and other
materials.
@ Ma ximum permitted load
T his number indicates the maxi­
mum load in kilograms and
pounds that the tire can carry.
@ Uniform tire quality grade
standards for treadwear,
traction and temperature resistance
Tread wear, t raction and temper­
ature ranges
¢page 221 .
@ Running direction
The arrows indicate the running
direction of unidirectional t ires.
You must always follow the speci -
206
fied running direction
¢page 238 .
(8) Maximum permitted
inflation pressure
This number indicates the maxi­
mum pressure to which a t ire can
be inflated under normal operat­
ing condit ions.
Glossary of tire and loading
terminology
Accessory we ight
means the combined weigh t (in
excess of those standard items
which may be replaced) of auto­ matic transmission, power steer­
ing, power brakes, power win­
dows, power seats , radio, and
heater, to the extent that these
items are available as factory -in ­
stalled equipment (whether in­
stalled or not).
Aspect ratio
means the rat io of the height to
the width of the tire in pe rcent.
Numbers of 55 or lower indicate a
low s idewall for imp roved steer­
ing response and better overa ll
handling on dry pavement.

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Occupant loading and distri­
bution for vehicle normal load
for various designated seating
capacities
Refer to the tire inflation pres­
sure label
c::> page 214, fig. 171
for the number of seating posi­
tions. Refer to the table
c::> table
on page 216
for the number of
people that correspond to the ve­
hicle normal load.
New tires or wheels
Audi recommends having all work
on tires or whee ls perfo rmed by
an authorized Audi dealer or au ­
thorized Audi Service Facility .
These facilities have the proper
knowledge and are equ ipped with
the required tools and replace­
ment parts .
.,,. New tires do not yet have the
opt imum adhesion properties.
Drive carefully and at moderate
speeds for the first 350 m iles
(500 km) with new tires .
.,,. On ly use tires w ith the same de­
sign, size (rolling c ircumference)
and as close to the same tread pattern as possible on all four
wheels.
Tire s and wheel s
.,,.Do not replace tires individually.
At least replace both tires on the same axle at the same time .
.,,. Audi recommends that you use
A udi Original equipment tires. If
you would like to use different
tires, please note that the tires may perform differently even if
they are the same si ze
c::> ,&. .
.,,. If you would like to equip your
vehicle w ith a tire/r im comb ina­
tion that is different from what
was installed at the factory, con ­
sult w ith an authorized Audi
dealer or authorized Audi Service
Facility before making a pur­
chase ¢
..1,..
The spare t ire* is diffe rent from
the regular tires installed on the
vehicle - for example, if winter
tires or wide tires are installed -
then only use the spare tire* tem­
porarily in case of emergency and
drive carefully while it is in use . It
should be replaced with a regular
tire as soon as possible.
On
all wheel d rive vehicles, all
four wheels must be equipped
with tires that are the same brand
and have the same construction
and tread pa ttern so that the
drive system is not damaged by
2 11

Tires and wheels
This can especially have a nega ­
t ive effect on handling, on the
risk aquaplaning when driving
through water, when driving
through curves and when brak­ ing, which increases the risk of
an accident.
Tire pressure
Fig. 170 Dr iver's side 8-pillar: tire pres­
sur e lab el
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TN 11D COt..O TN Nl&AUM. ,_U ~ ,,,...,..00,....AMOID
- KP aPSt
- KPA. a PSI
- KPA. a PSl
Fig. 171 Tire pressure label
SIE OWNl:llt'S MAN UAL FOR AD0010NAl 1NfOAMAT101-4 ~l[M.ANUCL DU PMCM"M T Al!IJ[ POW. ,tU$ Dl MNSC.JONlMtNTS
The correct tire pressure for tires
mounted in the factory and for
the spare tire* is indicated on a la­
bel. The label is located on the B­
pillar
¢fig. 170, ¢fig. 171.
When the vehicle is partially load­
ed (up to 3 people), use the tire
214
pressure specified for normal
loads¢
table on page 216. If
driving the vehicle when fully loaded, you must increase the tire
pressure to the maximum speci­
fied pressure ¢.&, .
Checking/correcting tire
pressure
.,.Check the tire pressure at least
once per month and also check it
before every long drive .
.,.Always check the tire pressure
when the tires are
cold . Do not
reduce the pressure if it increas­
es when the tires are warm .
.,.Check the label ¢
fig. 171 for
the correct tire pressure based
on vehicle load.
.,.Correct the tire pressure if nec­
essary .
.,.Vehicles with Tire Pressure Mon­
itoring System*: store the modi­
fied tire pressure in the Infotain ­
ment system ¢
page 223.
.,.Check the pressure in the emer ­
gency tire* /spare tire*. Always
maintain the maximum temper­
ature that is specified for the
tire. .,.

Tires and wheels
"' Check and cor rect the seating of the snow
c h ains if necessa ry after dr iving a few feet. Fo l­
l ow the instructions from the manufacturer .
"' Note the maximum permitted speed when d riv­
i ng with snow chains. Do not exceed 30 mp h
(SO km/h) .
Snow chains not only improve the
driving in win­
ter road conditions, but also the
broking .
Use of snow cha ins is o nly pe rmitted with certain
rim/t ire combinations due to tec hnical reasons .
C hec k with an authorized A udi dealer o r autho r­
i z ed Audi Service Fac ility to see if yo u may use
snow cha ins.
Use
fine-mesh snow chains . They must not add
mo re t han 0.53 inch (13.5 mm) in height, includ­
i n g the chain loc k.
You must remove the c hains when d riving on
roads that are
free of snow . W hen roads a re free
of snow, snow c hains ca n impair handling and
damage the ti res, and the chai ns w ill quickly be
destroyed.
A WARNINC
Us ing inco rrect snow c hains or insta lling snow
c hai ns inco rre ctl y can resul t in loss o f vehicle
c o ntro l, w hich incr ease s th e ris k of an a cci­
d ent .
(D Note
Snow chains can damage th e rims/wheel cov­
ers* i f the cha ins come in to d irect contact
w it h t hem. R emove the w heel c overs* first .
U se coat ed sn ow cha ins.
Low aspect ratio tires
Your Au di is fac to ry-equipped wi th low aspec t ra­
tio tires . These ti res have been tho roughly tested
a nd been se lected specifically fo r yo ur model fo r
their supe rb per fo rmance, road feel and handling
un der a variety of driving conditions . As k yo ur au­
thor ized Audi dealer for mo re details.
The low aspect ratio of these t ires is i ndicated by
a numeral of
55 or less in t he tire's size designa­
tion. The nume ra l rep resents the rat io of the
tire's sidewall he ight i n relat io n to its tread width
220
exp ressed in perce nta ge . Conventiona l tir es h ave
a height/width ratio of 60 or more.
The performance of low-aspect -ratio tires is par­
ticularly sensitive to improper inflation pres­
sure. It is therefore important that low aspect ratio tires are inflated to the specified pressure
and that the inflation pressure is regularly
checked and maintained. Tire pressures should
be checked at least once a month and always
before a long trip
r=> pog e 214.
What you can do to avoid tire and rim
damage
Low aspect ratio tires can be damaged more eas i­
l y by impact with potho les, curbs, gullies or
r idges on the road, particularly if the tire is un ­
der inflated .
In orde r to min imize the occur rence of impact
damage to the tires of you r vehicle, we recom­
mend that you observe the following preca u­
tions:
- Always ma intain recommended inflation pres­
sures. Check you r tir e pressure every
2,000 miles (3,000 km) and add a ir if necessa­
ry.
- Dr ive ca refully on roads w it h potholes, deep
gu llies o r ridges . Th e impac t from dr iv ing
t hroug h or over such o bstacl es ca n da mage
your tire s. I mpac t w ith a curb may also cau se
d am age to yo ur ti re s.
- After any impac t, imme diate ly inspect you r
t ire s or h ave them inspe cted by t he nea rest a u­
t hori ze d Audi d ealer. Repl ace a dama ged t ire as
soon as possible.
- Ins pect your tir es eve ry 2,00 0 m iles (3,0 00 k m)
for dama ge and wear. Dam age is no t always
easy to see . Damage can lead to loss of a ir and
unde rinflation, w hich coul d event ua lly cause
tire fa ilure. If yo u be lieve that a tire may have
been damaged, replace the tire as soon as pos­
sible .
- These tires may wear mo re quick ly than others.
- Please also remember that, while t hese tires
delive r responsive hand ling, they may ride less
comfortably and make mo re noise than other
choices. ""

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Reduced performance in winter /cold season
conditions
All tires are designed for certain purposes. The
low aspect ratio, ultra high performance t ires
originally installed on your vehicle are intended
for maximum dry and wet road performance and handling . They are not suitable for cold, snowy or
i cy weather cond it ions. If you dr ive under those
circumstances, you shou ld equ ip your vehicle
with all-season or winter tires, whic h offe r better
traction under those conditions. We suggest you
use the recommended snow or all-season tires
specified for you r vehicle, or their equivalent.
Refer to¢
page 219 for more detailed informa­
tion regarding winter tires.
Uniform tire quality grading
-Tread wear
- Traction AA A B C
- Temperature ABC
Quality grades can be found where applicable on
the tire side wall between tread shoulder and
maximum section w idth ¢
page 204, fig . 168 .
For example: Tread wear 200, Traction AA, Tem­
perature
A .
All passenger car tires must conform to Federal
Safety Requirements in addition to these grades.
Tread wea r
The tread wear grade is a comparative rating
based on the wear rate of the tire when tested
under contro lled conditions on a specified gov­
ernment test course.
F or example, a tire graded
150 would wear one
and one ha lf
( 1 1/2) times as well on the govern­
ment course as a tire graded
100.
The relative performance of tires depends upon
the actual conditions of their use, howeve r, and
may depart significantly from the norm due to
variations in driving habits, service practices and
differences in road characteristics and climate.
Traction
The traction grades, from highest to lowest, are
AA, A, B and
C. Those grades represent the tire's
Tires and wheels
ability to stop on wet pavement as measured un ­
der controlled conditions on specified govern­
ment test surfaces of asphalt and concrete. A tire
marked C may have poor traction performance
¢ &.
Temperature
The temperature grades are A (the highest), B,
and
C, representing the tire's resistance to the
generation of heat and its ability to dissipate
heat when tested under controlled conditions on
a specified indoor laboratory test wheel.
Sustained high temperature can cause the mate ­
rial of the tire to degenerate and reduce tire life,
and excessive temperature can lead to sudden
tire failure¢ &.
The grade
C corresponds to a level of perform ­
ance which all passenger car tires must meet un­
der the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard
No.
109 . Grades Band A represent higher levels
of performance on the laboratory test wheel than
the minimum required by law.
&, WARNING
The traction gra de assigned to this tire is
based on straight-ahead braking traction
tests, and does not include acceleration, cor­
nering, hydroplaning or peak traction charac­
teristics.
.&_ WARNING
= -
The temperature grade for this tire is estab­ lished for a tire that is properly inflated and
not overloaded. Excessive speed, underinfla­
tion, or excessive loading, either separately or
in comb inat ion, can cause heat buildup and
possible tire failure .
.&_ WARNING
--
Temperature grades apply to tires that are
properly inflated and not over or underinflat­
ed.
221