2016 AUDI A3 Owner´s Manual

,....,
N
0 > co ,...., Starting from a stop
The start assist function ensures that the park­
ing brake is released automatically upon start­
ing.
Stopp ing and sett ing the p arking br ake
.. Pull the switch@¢ page 85, fig. 80 to set the
parking brake.
Starting and aut omatically rele asing the
par king b rake
Requirement: the driver's door must be closed
and the driver's safety belt must be fastened.
.. When you press the accelerator pedal, the
parking brake is automatically released and
your vehicle begins to move.
When stopping at a traffic signal or stopping in
city traffic, the parking brake can be applied . The
vehicle does not have to be he ld with the brake
pedal. The parking brake eliminates the tendency
to creep when a selector lever pos ition is engag­
ed. As soon as you press the accelerator pedal,
the park ing brake re leases automatically and the
vehicle starts to move.
Starting on slope s
When starting on inclines, the hill start assist
prevents the vehicle from unintentionally rolling
back . T he braking force of the parking brake is
not released until the wheels bu ild up enough
d riving force.
(D Tips
For safety reasons, the parking brake is re­
leased automatically only when the dr iver's
safety belt is fastened and the dr iver's door is
loc ked.
Emergency braking function
In the event that the conventional brake system
fails or locks.
.. To brake your vehicle in an emergency, pull the
@ switch¢
page 85, fig. 80 and hold it pulled.
.,. As soon as you release the @switch or acce le r­
ate, the brak ing p rocess stops.
D riv ing
Pu lling and ho lding the @switch while driving at
a speed of about 2 mph (3 km/h) or higher ini­
t iates the emergency braking funct ion. The vehi­
cle brakes at all four wheels by activating the
braking hydraulics. The brake performance is
s imilar to heavy braking. ¢
&
To help prevent act ivat ing the emergency braking
by mistake, an aud ible warn ing tone (buzzer)
sounds when the @switch is pulled. Emergency
braking stops as soon as the @switch is released
or the accelerator pedal is pressed.
A WARNING ,__ -Emergency braking should only be used in an
emergency, when the normal brake pedal has
failed or the brake pedal is obstructed. Du ring
emergency braking, your veh icle wi ll brake
similar to heavy braking. ESC and the associ­
ated components (ABS, ASR, ED L) cannot
overcome the laws of physics. In corners and
when road or weather conditions are bad, a
fu ll brake application can cause the vehicle to
skid or the rear end to break away, which in­
creases the r isk of an accident.
Hill hold
Applies to vehicles: wit h Hill Ho ld
Hill hold makes it easier to start on hills .
Requirement: the driver's door must be closed
and the engine must be running.
The system is activated when the brake pedal is pressed while the vehicle is stationary.
T o prevent the vehicle from rolling back when
starting, the brake power is held for a brief mo­
ment after re leasing the brake pedal. During this
time, you can easily begin to move your vehicle .
A WARNING
--
-The intelligent technology of Hill Hold can­
not overcome the limitat ions imposed by
natural phys ical laws. The increased comfort
offe red by Hill Hold shou ld not cause you to
take safety risks.
~
87

Driving
- Hill Hold cannot hold the vehicle in all h ill
start situations (for example, if the ground
is slippery or icy).
- If you do not begin moving immediate ly af­
ter releasing the brake pedal, the vehicle
could beg in to roll backward under certain
c ir cumstances . Press the brake pedal or set
the parking brake immediately.
- If the engine "sta lls", press the brake pedal
o r set the parking brake immediately.
- Stop-and-go traff ic on incl ines: to help pre­
vent the veh icle from rolling back when con ­
t inuing to drive, p ress and hold the brake
pedal for several seconds when the vehicle
is stationary.
(0 Tips
You can find out if your vehicle is equipped
w ith Hill Hold by check ing at an authorized
Audi dea le r or authorized Audi Service Facili­
ty.
88

,....,
N
0 > co ,...., Automatic transmission S tronic
Introduction
App lies to vehicles: with S tronic transm ission
Your veh icle is equipped with an e lectron ically­
controlled DSG transmiss ion called S tronic. Two
independent clutches transfer the power be­
tween the engine and transmission . It allows the
vehicle to accelerate without a noticeable inter­ ruption in traction.
The transm ission upshifts or downsh ifts auto­
matica lly. The driving sty le continuously influen ­
ces the selection of the driving program.
When a
moderate driving style is used , the
transmission selects the most economical driving
mode. The transmission upshifts at a lower RPM
and downshifts at a higher RPM to improve fuel
efficiency.
The transm ission switches to a sporty mode after
a kick-down o r when the driver uses a
sporty
driving style
characterized by quick accelerator
pedal movements, heavy acce leration , frequent
changes in speed and traveling at the maximum
speed.
If desired, the driver can also select the gears
manually (tiptronic mode) ¢ page 94, Shifting
manually (tiptronic mode) .
Selector lever positions
Applies to vehicles: with S tro nic t ra n sm issio n
Fig. 81 Instrument clus te r: selec tor leve r posi tions
-~ 0 > (X) a,
The instrument cluster display shows the current
selector lever position and current gear .
Automatic transmission
P -Park
The wheels are mechan ically locked in this posi­
tion. You can only shi ft into Park when the vehi­
cle is
stationary ¢&. .
To s hift in and out of the P selector lever posi­
tion, press the interlock button in the selector
lever
while pressing the brake pedal.
R- Reverse
Only shift into reverse gear when the vehicle is
stationary and the engine is running at idle
speed¢ ,&..
T o select the R selector lever position, press the
interlock button
while pressing the brake pedal.
T he back- up lights switch on in the R position if
the ignition is switched on.
N - Neutral
The transmission is in idle in this position .
D/S - Normal position for driving forward
In the D/S se lector lever position, the transmis­
sion can be operated either in the normal D mode
or in the S sport mode. To select the S sport
mode, pull the selector lever back briefly . Pulling
the lever back again will select the normal D
mode . The instrument cluster display 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 driving
style .
Se lect the
sport mode S for sporty driving. The
vehicle makes full use of the engine's power .
Sh ifting may become noticeable when accelerat­
ing.
To move from selector lever position N to D, you
must press the brake pedal and the vehicle must
be traveling less than 1 mph (2 km/h) or be sta­
tionary ¢&. .
,&. WARNING
Read and follow all WARNINGS.
- The vehicle can roll even if the ignit ion is
switched off.
89

Automat ic t ra nsm iss io n
-Never select R or P while driving, because
this increases the risk of an accident.
- Power is still transmitted to the wheels
when the engine is running at idle. To pre­
vent the vehicle from "creeping" , you must
keep your foot on the brake in all selector
lever positions (except P) when the engine is
running. Otherwise, this increases the r isk
of an accident.
- Do not inadvertently press the accelerator
pedal when the veh icle is stopped if a gear is
engaged. Otherwise the vehicle will start to
move immediately, even if the parking brake
is set. This cou ld result in a crash.
- Do not press the accelerator pedal when
changing the selector lever position wh ile
the vehicle is stationary and the engine is running .
- Never leave yo ur vehicle with the engine
running whi le in gear. If you must leave
your vehicle when the engine is running, set
the parking brake and move the selector lev­
er to the P position.
- To decrease the risk of an accident, these­
lector lever must be in the P position and
the parking brake must be set before open­ ing the hood and working on a running en­
gine . Always read and follow the applicable
warnings
q page 236, Working in the en­
gine compartment.
(D Note
Never let the veh icle roll downhill with engine
off and the selector lever in the
N position,
because this could damage the automatic
transmission and catalytic converter .
(D Tips
-Audi drive select: Sporty shifting character ­
i stics can be selected us ing the
D ynami c
driving mode.Swill appear in the instru­
ment cluster disp lay instead of D.
- Plug-in hybrid drive*: the transm iss ion
switc hes automatically to the normal D
mode if the
l a ' I butto n ¢ page 104 is p ress­
ed while in spo rt mode 5 .
90
-If you accidentally select N whi le dr iving,
take your foot off the accelerator peda l im­
mediately and wait for the eng ine to slow
down to idle before selecting Dor
5.
- If there is a power failure, the selector lever
will not move out of the P position. The
emergency release can be used if this hap­
pens ¢
page 96.
Selector lever lock
Applies to vehicles: with S tronic transmiss ion
The sele ctor lever lock prevents you from select ­
ing a gear accidentally, causing the vehicle to
roll .
Fig. 82 Selecto r lever lock
To release the se lector lever lock :
.,. Sw itch on the ignition .
12 0
0
> Q) a)
.,. Press the brake pedal while pressing the in ter-
lock button.
Automat ic shift lock (ASL )
The selector lever is locked in the P and N posi­
tions when the ign it ion is switched on. You must
press the brake peda l to select another position .
You must also press the in terlock button if you
are moving from the P posi tion . The follow ing
message appears in the d isp lay when the se lector
lever is in the P or N posit ion to rem ind the driv­
er:
When stati onar y ap pl y fo otbrake while select­
ing ge ar
The automatic sh ift lock only functions when the
vehicle is stationa ry or at speeds be low 1 mph
(2 km/h) . At highe r speeds, the lo ck is automati-
ca lly deactiva ted in the N pos ition . ..,.

.... N
0 > CX)
.... I.Cl U"I
.... I.Cl ....
The selector lever is not locked when shifting
quickly through N, for examp le from R to D . This
makes it poss ible to free the vehicle when it is
stuck by "rocking" it . The selecto r lever lock en­
gages if the lever stays in the N position longer
than approximately 2 seconds when the brake
pedal is not pressed .
Interlock button
The interlock button in the selector lever handle
prevents you from moving the selector lever in­
adverten tly while in some sele ctor lever posi­
tions . The posit ions that require the lock button
to be pressed are marked in color in the illustra­
tion
¢ fig . 82 .
Ignition key safety interlock*
You can only remove the key from the ignition af­
ter switching the ignition off if the selec tor lever
is in the P position . The selector lever will be
l ocked in the P pos ition as long as the key is not
in the ignition .
.&, WARNING
Read and follow all WARNINGS.¢ & in Selec­
tor lever positions on page 89.
{O) Tips
-If the select or lever does not engage, there
i s a malfunction. The eng ine is disabled to
prevent the vehicle from driving off unin­
tentionally. Press the brake pedal briefly to
allow the selector lever lock to engage
again.
- If the vehicle does not move forward or in
reverse even though a drive position is se­
l ected, proceed as follows:
->If the veh icle does not move in t he desired
direction, the system may not have engaged
the drive position correctly. Press the brake
pedal and select the drive position again .
-> If the vehicle still does not move in the de­
sired direction, there is a system malfunc­
tion. See an authorized Audi dealer or au­
thorized Audi Service Facility for assistance
to have the system checked.
Automatic transmission
Driving tips
Applies to vehicles : wit h S t ronic transmiss ion
T he transmission shifts up and down automati­
cally when in the driving gears .
Fig. 83 Section of t he center conso le: sel ector leve r wit h
inte rlock butto n
The engine will only be able start when the selec­
tor lever is in the P or N pos itions . At low temper ­
atures (below 14 °F (-10 °()), the eng ine can only
be started when the selector lever is in the P po­
sition.
Starting from a stop
.,. Press and hold the brake pedal.
.,. Press and hold the interlock butto n in these­
lector lever handle, select the desired selector
lever position such as D ¢
page 89 and release
t he lock button.
.,. Wait a moment until the transmission shifts.
You w ill not ice a slight movement when the
gear engages .
.,. Release the brake pedal and press the accelera­
tor pedal ¢&, .
Stopping temporarily
.,. Keep the vehicle stationary using the braking
pedal, for examp le at traffic lights.
.,. Do not press the accelerator pedal when doing
this .
.,. To prevent the vehicle from rolling when you
start driving, set the parking brake when stop­
ping on steep incl ines ¢&, .
.,. The parking brake will release automat ically
and the vehicle will start moving once yo u press
the acce le rator pedal. Requirement: the driv­
er 's doo r must be closed and the driver's safety
be lt must be fastened . ..,.
91

Automatic transmissio n
Stopp ing /park ing
If the se lecto r lever is not in the P posit ion when
you open the driver's door, the vehicle could roll .
In vehicles with a convenience key*, the message:
Shift to P , vehicle can roll away . Doors c an be
lo cked onl y in P
appears. You will a lso hear a
warn ing tone.
... Press and hold the brake pedal¢_&. .
... Set the parking brake.
.,. Se lect the P selector lever position.
Stopp ing on an inclin e
.,. Always press the brake peda l to hold the vehi ­
cle in place and prevent it from "rolling back"
¢ _&. . Do
not try to prevent the vehicle from
"ro lling back" when a gear is engaged by in­
creasing the engine speed ¢(D.
Starting on an inclin e in vehicl es without Hill
H old *
... Set the parking brake.
.,. With the driving gear selected, press the acce l­
erator pedal carefully. The parking brake re­
leases automatically . Requirement : the driver's
door must be closed and the driver's safety belt must be fastened .
Starting on an incline in veh icles with Hill
Hold*
.,. With the driving gear selected, remove your
foot from the brake pedal and press the accel­
erator pedal~
page 87, Hill hold.
Under certain c ircumstances, (such as driv ing in
the mountains or towing a trailer), it may be use­
fu l to sw itch temporarily to the manua l shift p ro­
g ram in o rde r to adjust the gea rs to the driving
conditions by hand
c:? page 94.
When parking on a level surface, simply place the
selecto r leve r in the P position. On inclines, act i­
vate the parking brake first and then move the
selector lever to the P posi tion
~ page 85. This
prevents the loc king mechanism from being
loaded too heav ily and wi ll make it easier to
move the selector lever out of the P position.
92
A WARNING
- The vehicle can roll even when the engine is
sw itched off.
- Unintended vehicle movement can lead to
serious injuries.
- Never leave your veh icle with the engine
running while in gear. If you must leave
your veh icle when the engine is running, set
the park ing brake and move the selector lev­
er to the P posit ion.
- Power is still transferred to the wheels when the engine is running at idle . To pre­
vent the vehicle from "creeping", yo u must
keep your foot on t he b rake when the en­
gine is ru nning and the selector lever is in
the D, Sor R position or "tip tronic" mode is
selected.
- Do not inadve rten tly p ress the accelerator
pedal when the vehicle is stationary. Other ­
wise the vehicle will start to move immedi­
ately, even if the parking brake is set. This
could result in a crash.
- Do not press the acce lerator pedal when
changing the selector lever posit ion while
the vehicle is stat ionary and the engine is
running.
- Never engage the R or P selector level pos i­
tions while dr iv ing. It could cause a crash.
- Before driving down a steep slope, reduce your speed and shift into a lower gear w ith
"t i ptronic".
- Do not ride the brakes or press the brake pedal too often o r too long when dr iv ing
downhill. Constant braking causes the brakes to overheat and substant ially re­
duces bra king performance, increases b rak­
ing d istance or causes comp lete failure of
the bra ke sys tem.
- If you must stop on an incline, always hold
the vehicle in place w ith the foot brake or
p ar king bra ke to p revent it from rolling
back.
- Never hold the vehicle on an incline with a
slipping clu tch. The clutch opens automati­
cally when it becomes too hot from the
over load . T he
l§1 indicator light turns on

,....,
N
0 > co ,...., and a message appears ¢ page 95 when
the clutch is over loaded.
- If the engine must run while you are work­
ing in the engine compartment with the
hood open, make sure a gear is not engag­
ed. The selector lever must be firmly in the
P position and locked in place and the park­
ing brake must be set¢
page 236. Other­
w ise, the vehicle could begin moving when
the engine speed is high, even w ith the
par king brake set.
(D Note
- When stopping on a n incline, do not t ry to
ho ld the vehicle in place by press ing the ac­
ce le ra to r pedal wh ile a driv ing gear is se­
l ected. This can ca u se the au toma tic trans­
mission to overheat and can damage it. Set
the pa rking brake or press the brake pedal
to prevent the vehicle from ro lling .
- Allow ing the vehicle to ro ll when the eng ine
is stopped and the se lector lever is in the N
pos ition w ill damage the automatic trans­
mission because it is not l ubricated under
those circumstances.
- The transmiss ion can overheat and be dam­
aged under certain driving and traffic condi­
tions such as frequent starts , creeping for a
l ong time, or stop-and-go traffic. When t he
mJ o r. indicator light tu rns o n, s top the
vehicle at the next oppo rt u nity and let the
transm issio n coo l
¢page 95 .
-Allow ing the ve hicle to ro ll when the eng ine
i s s topped w ill damage the S tro nic trans­
mission because it is not lubric ated
¢ page 297, Towing with a tow truck .
(D Tips
For safety reasons, the parking b rake releases
au tomatically on ly w hen the dr iver's door is
closed and driver's sa fe ty belt is fastened.
Autom atic tran sm iss ion
Hill descent control
Applies to vehicles: with S tronic transmission
The hill descent control system assists the driver
when driving down hills.
Hill descent control is act ivated when the se lec­
tor lever is in the D or S position and you press
the brake pedal. The transmission automatically
selects a gear that is su itable for the incline . H ill
descent con trol tr ies to maintain the speed ach­
i eved a t the time of braking, w it hi n physi cal a nd
technical lim itations . If may s till be necessary to
adjus t the speed w ith the bra kes . Because hill de­
scent control cannot shift down farthe r than 3rd
gear, it may be necessary to shift into tiptronic
mode in very steep areas. In this case, shift into 1st or 2nd gear in tiptronic mode to use the en­
gine's braking force to relieve the brakes .
Hill descent control switches off once the decline
levels out or you press the accelerator pedal.
On vehicles with a cru ise con trol system*
¢ page 130, hill descent control is a lso activated
when the speed is set.
A WARNING
-Hill descent control cannot overcome physical
limitat ions, so it may not be able to ma intain
a constant speed under all conditions. A lways
be ready to app ly the brakes.
93

Automatic transmission
Shifting manually (tiptronic mode)
Applies to vehicles: with S tronic transmission/ shift paddles
The tiptronic allow the driver to shift the gears
manually .
Fig. 84 Center conso le : manual shift in g with the selector
l ever
Fig . 85 Steer ing wheel: manual shi ftin g with the shi ft pad­
dles•
Shifting with the selector lever
You can shift into tiptronic mode while stationary
and while driv ing.
• To shift into tiptronic mode, push the selector
lever from the D/S setting to the right in the
tiptronic shift gate. Once the transmission has
switched modes, the selector lever position
M
is shown in the instrument cluster display
¢ page 89, fig. 81. For example M4 , means the
fourth gear is engaged .
• To sh ift up a gear, tap the se lector lever for­
ward
0 ¢ fig. 84.
• To shift down a gear, tap the selector lever to
back Q.
Shifting with the shift paddles*
You can operate the shift paddles in the D/S or M
(tiptronic shift gate) selector lever positions.
94
.,. To shift up one gear, tap the shift paddle 0
¢fig. 85 .
.,. To shift down one gear, tap the shift paddle Q.
If the shift paddles are tapped wh ile in the D/S
selector lever position, automatic mode switches
off briefly. To switch from manually shifting back
to automatic shifting immediately, tap the sh ift
paddle
0 ¢ fig. 85 for 1 second.
To keep shifting using the shift paddles, move
the selector lever to the right out of the D/S posi­
tion into the tiptronic shift gate.
The transmission automatically shifts up or down
before critical engine speed is reached.
The transmission only allows manual shifting
when the engine speed is with in the permitted
range.
(j) Tips
- If you shift to the next lowest gear, the
transmission will only shift if the engine will
not be over-revved.
- With kick-down, the transmission shifts to a
lower gear, depending on vehicle speed and
engine speed.
- ti ptronic does not work if the transmission
is running in emergency mode.
. Kick-down
Applies to vehicles: with S tronic transmission
Kick-down enables maximum acceleration.
When you press the accelerator pedal down be­
yond the res istance point, the automatic trans­
mission downshifts into a lower gear, depending
on veh icle speed and engine RPM. It shifts up in­
to the next higher gear once the maximum speci­
fied engine RPM is reached.
A WARNING
Please note that the whee ls cou ld spin on
slick or slippery roads when kick-down is ac­
tive.
-