Automatic transmission
Automatic transmission Manual transmission
Gearshift lever
A pp lies to veh icles: w ith manu al transmiss ion
The clutch pedal must be depressed all the way
before you can start the engine .
The manual transmission in your Audi is equip
ped with an
interlock-feature.
• Depress the clutch pedal a ll the way.
• Start the engine w it h the gearshift lever in Neu
tral and the clutch pedal depressed.
(D Note
Always depress the clutc h pedal fu lly when
chang ing gears. Do not ho ld the vehicle on a
hill with the clutch pedal partially depressed.
This may cause premature clutch wear or
damage.
@ Tips
- Resting your hand o n the gearshift leve r
k nob while driving will cause premature
wear in the transmiss io n.
- The back-up lights go on when you shift into
Reverse w ith the ignition o n.
Gearshift pattern (6-speed manual
transmission)
Ap plies to veh icles: w ith man ual transmiss ion
F ig . 104 Gears h ift pattern: 6-speed manual transm iss io n
Engaging reverse gear (R)
• Move the shift lever all the way to the left,
press it down, the n push it forward.
90
Espec ia lly after driving forward, stop the vehicle
completely, shift into
Neutral and rest the shift
l ever br iefly in Neutra l before s hift ing into
Re
verse.
multitronic, S tronic,
tiptronic
Introduction
Applies to vehicles : wi th mult itro nic/S tro nic/ tip tronic
The automatic transmission is controlled elec
tronically. The transmission upshifts or down
shifts automatically depend ing o n which drive
program is se lected .
When a
moderate driving style is used, the
transm ission selects the most economica l driv ing
mode . It will the n change up early and delay the
downshifts to give better fuel economy .
The transmission switches to a sporty mode after
a kick-down or when the driver uses a
sporty
dri ving style
characterized by quick accelerator
pedal movements, heavy acceleration, frequent
c hanges in speed and traveling at the maxim um
speed.
If desired, the driver can also select the gears
manually (tiptronic mode ) ¢ page 90.
Various automatic transmissions may be insta l
l ed, depending on the model :
multitronic transmission
The mu ltitron ic t ransm iss ion is a continuously
variable transmission. Power is transferred using
a multidisk cl utch . In contrast to conventional
automat ic transmissions using shifting opera
tions, the transmission ratio in the continuously
variable transmission is changed continuously.
This opt imizes the comfort leve l and conserves
fuel.
S tronic t ran smission
The S tronic is a d ua l-clutch transmission. Power
i s transferred using two clutches that work inde
pendently from one another . They rep lace the
torque converter used in convent io nal automatic
transm issions and allow the vehicle to accelerate
withou t a noticeable inte rru pt io n in traction. ..,.
,....,
N
0
""' CX) ,....,
I.Cl U"I ,....,
I.Cl ,....,
tiptronic transmission
In the tiptron ic tr ansmission, power is transfer
red by a torque converter.
Selector lever positions
Applies to vehicles: with multitronic/S tronic/tiptronic
Fig. 105 Display in the instrume nt clus ter: selector lever in
pos it io n P
The selector lever position engaged appears next
to the selector lever as well as in the instrument
cluster display .
P • Pa rk
In this selector lever pos ition the transmission is
mechanically locked. Engage P only when the ve
hicle is
completely stopped¢ A in Driving the
automatic transmission on page 93.
To shift in or out of position P, you must first
press and ho ld the brake pedal and then press
the re lease button in the selector lever handle
while moving the selector lever to or from P. You can shift out of this position only with the igni
tion on .
R - Reverse
Select R only when the vehicle is at a full stop
and the engine is running at idle speed ¢&. in
Driving the automatic transmission on
page 93 .
Before you move the se lector lever to R, press
both the release button in the handle of these
lector lever
and the brake pedal at the same
time.
When the ignition is on, the backup lights illumi
nate when the selector lever is moved into R.
Automatic transmission
N -Neutral
The transmission is in neutra l in this position.
Shift to this position for stand ing with the brakes
applied
c:> A in Driving the automatic transmis
sion on page 93.
When the vehicle is stationary or at speeds below
1 mph (2 km/h), you must always apply the foot
brake before and whi le moving the lever out of N.
DIS -Normal position for driving forward
In the D/S position, the transmission can be op
erated either in the normal mode Dor in the
spo rt mode S. To select the sport mode S, pull
the selector lever back briefly. Pulling the lever
back aga in will select the normal mode D. The in
strument cluster display shows the selected driv
ing 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 fu ll use of the engine 's power.
Shifting may become noticeable when accelerat
ing.
When the vehicle is stationary or at speeds be low
1 mph (2 km/h), you must always apply the foot
brake before and whi le moving the lever to D/S
out of N.
A WARNING
-Read and follow all WARNINGS¢ & in Driv-
ing the automatic transmission on
page 93 .
(D Note
Coasting downhill with the transmission in N
and the engine not running w ill result in dam
age to the automatic transmiss ion and possi
bly the catalytic converter.
@ Tips
-On vehicles with dr ive select*, you can ad
just the sporty shift characteristics in the
Dynamic driving mode.Swill appear in the
instrument cluster display instead of D.
91
Automatic transmission
-If you accidenta lly select N while driving,
take your foot off the accelerator pedal im
mediately and wa it for the engine to slow
down to idle before select ing 0/5 .
- If there is a power fa ilure, the selecto r lever
will not
move out of the P pos it ion. T he
emergency release can be used if this hap
pens
c:;, page 97.
Automatic Shift Lock (ASL)
App lies to veh icles: w ith multitronic/S tronic/tiptronic
The Automatic Shift Lock safeguards you against
accidentally shi~ing into a forward or the re
verse gear and causing the vehicle to move unin
tentionally.
F ig. 106 S hi ft gate : selector leve r loc k pos it io ns and re
l ease butto n high lig hte d
The selector lever lock is released as follows :
.. Turn the ign it ion on .
a, 0 ~ N ~ OJ ID
.,. Step on the b rake pedal. At the same time
press and hold the release button on the side of
the gear selector knob
c:;, fig . 106 with your
th umb until you have
moved the selector lever
to the des ired posi tion .
Automatic selecto r lever lock
The se lector lever is locked in the P and N pos i
tions when the ignition is tur ned on. You must
press the brake pedal and the release b utton to
selec t anothe r pos ition. As a reminder to the
d river, the following warning appears in t he in
s tru men t clus ter display when the sele ctor is in P
a nd N :
When stationary apply brake pedal while select
ing gear
92
The Au tomatic Shift Lock o nly functions whe n the
veh icle is stationa ry o r at speeds be low 1 mph
(2 km/h).
A t spee ds above abou t 1 mp h (2 km/ h) the A uto
m at ic Shift Lock is automatically deact ivated in
the N pos ition .
A time de lay ele men t pr event s the se lec tor lever
fr om lo cking whe n it i s
move d through the N po
s ition (going from R to 0/5) . T he locking eleme nt
will lock the selector leve r if the lever is left i n N
(Ne utral) for mo re than approximate ly 2 sec
onds, witho ut the brake peda l being pressed .
Release button
The release butto n on the sele ctor lever p reve nts
the leve r from being accidenta lly shifted into cer
tain positions. Depend ing on the direction of the
shi ft, the selector lever locks at different pos i
tions. The positions are highlighted i n the ill us
tration
c:;, fig. 106.
Ignition key safety interlock
The key cannot be removed from the ignition un
l ess the se lector lever is in the P park position.
When the ignition key is removed, the selector
l ever wi ll be locked in the P posit ion.
Driving the automatic transmission
Applies to vehicles: with mult itro nic/S tro nic/ti ptronic
Fig. 107 Sh ift ga te o n th e ce nter co nso le : se lec tor leve r
w it h re lease b utton
Starting the engine
.,. The se lector lever must be in P or N.
Starting off
.. Press an d hold the brake peda l.
..... N
0 ::..:: co .....
tor lever handle, select the desired selector lev
er position such as D/5 and release the button.
~ Wait briefly until the transmission has shifted
(you w ill fee l a slight movement) .
~ Remove your foot from the brake pedal and ac
celerate .
Stopp ing tem pora ril y
~ Keep the vehicle stationary using the braking
pedal, for example at traffic lights.
~ Do not press the accelerator pedal when doing
th is .
~ To prevent the vehicle from rolling when you
start driving, set the park ing brake when stop
ping on steep inclines ¢
,&.
~ The pa rking brake w ill release automatically
and the vehicle will start moving once you press
the accelerator pedal.
Stopping /park ing
If the se lecto r lever is not in the P position when
you open the d river 's door, the vehicle could roll.
The message
Tr an smi ssion: Car ma y roll! Shift
t o pa rk!
appears .
~ Press and hold the brake pedal unt il the vehicle
has come to a comp lete stop.
~ Apply the pa rking brake ¢ page 86, Parking .
~ Select the P selector leve r position ¢ .&,.
Stopp ing on an incline
~ Always press the brake peda l to hold the vehi
cl e 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
c reasing the eng ine speed ¢(!).
Starting on an incline
~ Activate the parki ng b rake .
~ With the driving gea r se lected, press the acce l
erator pedal caref ully. The parking b rake will
r e lease automatically if your seat belt is fas
tened .
Unde r ce rtain c ircumstances, suc h as dr iv ing in
the mountai ns, it may be usef ul to switch tempo
rari ly to the manua l shift program in order to ad-
Autom atic tran sm iss ion
just the gears to the driv ing conditions by hand
¢ page 94.
On slopes, act ivate the park ing brake first and
then move the selec to r l ever to the P posi tion .
T his prevents too m uch stress from being placed
on the locking mechanism .
Vehicles with mult itro nic tr ansmission : Your ve
hicle is equipped wi th
hill hold assist allowing
you to start whi le on an incl ine. The system is ac
tivated when the brake peda l is pressed down
and held
for a few second s. The brake pressure
will ho ld for
a momen t after the brake peda l
loosens to prevent the veh icle from rolling back
wards while starting up .
A WARNING
--The vehicle can also ro ll when the eng ine is
stopped .
- Unintended vehicle movement can cause se rious injury .
- Never leave your veh icle with the engine
running while in gear .
If you must leave
your ve hicle when the eng ine is running, ac
tivate t he pa rking brake and move the selec
tor lever to P.
- Power is still transmi tted to the wheels
when the engine is runn ing at idle. To pre
vent the vehicle from "creepi ng", yo u m ust
keep your foot on the brake when the en
gine is running and the selector lever is in D/
Sor R or "tiptronic" mode is se lected .
- Do not press the acce le ra t or peda l when
changing the se lector lever position while
the vehicle is stationary and the engine is
running.
- Never sh ift into R or P whi le driving.
- Before driving down a steep slope, reduce your speed and sh ift into a lower gear w ith
"t i ptronic".
- Do not ride the brakes or press the brake
pedal too often or too long when driving
down a hi ll. Constant brak ing causes the
brakes to overheat and substant ially re
duces brak ing performance, increases brak
ing d istance or causes comp lete failure of
the brake system.
~
93
Automat ic t ra nsm iss io n
-To prevent the vehicle from rolling back
when stopping on inclines, a lways hold it in
place with the brake pedal or parking brake.
- Never hold the vehicle on an incline with a
s li pping clutch. The clutch opens automati
cally when it becomes too hot from the
overload . An indicator lamp
mJ illuminates
and a driver message appears
~ page 96
when the cl utch is overloaded.
- If the engine must remain running, never
have any dr iv ing pos ition engaged when
checking under the hood. Make sure these
lector lever has secure ly engaged and is
locked in P with the parking bra ke set
~ page 203. Otherwise, any increase in en
gine speed may set the vehicle in motion,
even with the parking brake applied.
- S tronic- and tiptron ic transmission: When
stopping on an incline, do not try to ho ld
the vehicle in place by pressing the acce lera
tor pedal while a driving gear is selected.
This can cause the transm ission to overheat
and can damage it. Activate the parking brake or press the brake pedal to prevent
the vehicle from rol ling .
- S tronic- and tiptron ic transmission: Allow
i ng the veh icle to roll when the eng ine is
stopped and the selector leve r is in N will
damage the transmission because it is not
l ub ricated under those c ircumstances .
(D Tips
For safety reasons, the parking brake is re
leased automatically only when the driver's
safety belt is engaged in the buckle.
Hill descent control
Applies to vehicles: with multitro nic/5 tronic/tip tronic
The hill descent control system assists the driver
when driving down declines.
H ill descent control is activated when the selec
tor lever is in D/S and you press the brake pedal.
The transmission au tomatically selects a gear
that is suitable for the in cl ine. Hill descent con-
94
trol tries to maintain the speed achieved at the
time of braking, within physica l and techn ical
li mitations .
It may still be necessary to adjust the
speed with the brakes .
Hill descent control switches off once the decline
l evels out or you press the accel erator pedal.
On vehicles with the cruise control system*
~ page 88 , hill descent control is a lso activated
when the speed is set.
./1. WARNING
Hill descent control cannot overcome physical
limitations, so it may not be able to maintain
a constant speed under all conditions . A lways
be ready to apply the brakes .
Manual shift program
Applies to vehicles: with multitronic/5 tronic/tiptronic
Using the manual shift program you con man
ually select gears.
Fig. 108 Cente r co n sole: s hift in g the gea rs m anually
Fig. 109 Stee ring whee l: shift paddle s•
Gear selection w ith selector lever
The tiptronic mode can be se lected either w ith
the veh icle stat ionary or on the move .
"' N N
N
"' CD m
N ~ N ><'. co m
.... N
0
""' CX)
.... I.Cl U"I
.... I.Cl ....
Selector lever emergency release
Applies to vehicles: with multitronic/5 tronic/tiptronic
If the vehicle's power supply fails, the selector
lever can be released in an emergency.
Fig. 110 Front center console: Remov ing the ashtray insert
Fig. 111 Selector lever emergency release
~ To access the emergency release mechanism,
remove the ashtray insert@ using the release
switch @~fig.110.
~ Loosen and remove the cap in the ashtray
mount .
~ You now have access to a pin. Using a screw
driver or s imilar object, press the pin down and
hold it in that position
~ fig. 111 .
~ Now p ress the release button and move the se-
lector lever to the N position .
The selector lever can only be moved from the P
position if the key is in the lock and the ignition is
sw itched on. If the power supply fails (for exam
p le, the battery is discharged) and the vehicle
must be pushed or towed, move the se lector lev
e r to the N position first using the emergency re
l ease .
Automatic transmission
97
..... N
0 ::..:: co .....
promptly detected or may not be detected
at all.
- Reflective surfaces including crash barriers
or tunnel entrances may impair the function
of the radar sensor.
(D Tips
- You can cancel the braking that is initiated
by the system by braking yourse lf, by accel
erating noticeably or by swerving.
- Braking guard error messages ~page
105 .
-Keep in mind that braking guard can brake
unexpected ly. Always secure any cargo or
objects that you are transporting to reduce
the risk of damage or injury.
Settings in the radio/MM!
A ppl ies to vehicles: with Audi adaptive cruise co ntro l
... Se lect : I CARI funct ion button > C ar s ystem s*
control button > Driver a ssi st > Audi brak ing
guard .
Or
... Select:
~I C-A-R~I funct ion button > A udi braking
g uard .
S ystem -
Switch Audi braking guard On and Off.
When you sw itch the ignition on, the message
Audi bra king gua rd off appears if the system is
switched off.
Ea rly warn ing -The distance and approach warn
ings in the display can be switched
On /Off .
(D Tips
-Your settings are automatically stored and
ass igned to the remote control key being
used at the times the sett ings are made.
- If you restrict or sw itch off the ESC, the
braking guard also sw itches itself off
~ page
178 .
- Switch braking guard off when you are load
ing the veh icle onto a vehicle ca rr ier, train,
sh ip or other type of transportation . This
can p revent undesired warnings from the
braking gua rd system .
Messages
Applies to vehicles: wi th Aud i adapt ive c ruise control
Braking guard : Off
This dr iver message appears if the system is
tu rned off via the radio/MM I*. O therwise, if the
system is turne d off, the information appears ev
ery time shortly after t he start o f the trip .
T he driver message a lso appea rs if the system is
not avai lab le due to a ma lfunction o r if the ES C i s
not switched on¢ page
178 . If th is is the case,
the system wi ll not provide warnings about a
possib le collision .
Braking guard : A ctivated
This dr iver message appears if sharp brake pres
su re was applied due to an acute warning .
•••
Three white dots appear if a setting cannot be se
l ected with the operating lever. For example, this
happens if you want to raise/lower the speed
even though there was no previously saved
speed .
ACC: Deacti vation
The driver message appears in vehicles wi th ma n
u al transmission. If the clutch pedal was pressed
down for too long , the adaptive cr uise control
tu rns off. A chime sounds as a reminder.
ACC : Sen sor blocked
This message appears if the senso r view is ob
structed, for examp le by leaves, snow, heavy
spray or dirt. Clean the sensor¢ page
98,
fig. 112 .
ACC : not availa ble
The driver message appears if there is a malfunc
tion. The adaptive cruise control turns off . A
chime so unds as a reminder . Have the system
c h ecked by an author ized Audi dealer or au thor
ized Audi Service Facili ty.
A CC: una vailable
The driver message appears if, for examp le, the
brake temperature is too high. The adapt ive .,.
105
Audi side assist
(D Tips
-Si de assist is not active w hile you are mak
i ng t he a dju stment .
- You r settings are automatic ally store d an d
assi gned to t he remote co ntrol key being
u sed.
Driver messages
App lies to veh icles: w ith Audi side assist
If s ide ass ist switches off by itself, the LED in the
button turns off a nd a message will appear in the
i n str ument cluster d isp lay :
Aud i side assist unavailable: Sensors blocked
T he rada r senso rs ' vision is affe cted . Do not cove r
the area in front of the sensors wit h bike wheels,
sticke rs, dirt o r other objects. Clean the area in
front of the sensors, if necessary
c> page 108,
fig. 126.
Audi side assist : Currently unavailable
S ide assist c an no t be swi tc h ed on tem pora ril y be
c a use there is a mal func tio n (fo r ex am ple, the
bat tery ch arge level may be too low) .
Audi side assist: System fault!
The system cannot guarantee that it wi ll detect
ve hicles co rrectly and it is swi tched off . The sen
sors have bee n disp lace d or are fa ulty . Have the
sys tem chec ked by a n aut hori zed Audi de aler or
a uthor ized Audi Se rvice F acility soon.
Audi side assist: Unavailable when towing
Side assist sw itches off automatica lly when a fac
tory-installed trailer hitch is connected to the
electr ica l co nnector on the trailer. The re is no
gua rantee the system will sw itch off when usi ng
a retrofi tte d t raile r hi tc h. D o not use s ide ass is t
w hen towing a trailer.
110