2016 AUDI A6 automatic transmission

Table of contents
Owner's Literature
5
About this Owner's Manual . . . . . . 6
Operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Cockpit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
General illustration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Instruments and indicator lights 10
Instruments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Indicator ligh ts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Driver information system . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
On Board Diagnostic System (OBD) . . . . . 28
Opening and closing . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Central locking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Luggage compartment lid . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Ch ild safety lock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Power Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
40
Va let parking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Sunroof. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Garage door opener (Home link) . . . . . . . . 42
Lights and Vi sion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
E xterior lighting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
I n terior lighting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
V1s1on . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Windshield wipers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
51
Seats and storage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
General information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Fr ont seats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Head restra ints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
56
Memory function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Ashtray . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
C igarette lighter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
12 Volt sockets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Storage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Roof rack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Luggage compartment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Pa ss- throug h w it h ski bag . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Warm and cold . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 7
Climate control system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Three-zone climate control . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
F our-zone automatic climate control . . . . 70
Steering wheel heating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
2
Driving .... . .. .. .. .. ... . .. .... ... . .
Steering . ... .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .... ... . .
73
73
Starting and stopping the eng ine . . . . . . . 74
E lectromechanical parking brake . . . . . . . 77
Start-Stop-System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Speed warning system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
81
Cruise cont rol system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Audi adaptive crui se control and
braking guard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
84
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
General information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Audi adaptive cruise control . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Audi braking guard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
91
Audi active lane as sist . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Lane assist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Audi side as sist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Side assist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Audi drive select . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Driving settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Raising/lowering the vehicle . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Driver messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Night vision a ssist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Night vision assist with pedestrian and
wild animal h ighlighting . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
103
Automatic transmission . . . . . . . . . 106
5 tronic, t iptronic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Parking systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
General information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Parking system plus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
Rearv iew camera . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
Periphera l cameras . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
Adjusting the display and the warning
tones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
123
Error messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
Trail er hi tch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
Safety ..... .. .. .. .. ... ..... ..... .. 125
Driving safety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
Correct passenger seating positions . . . . . 126

Instruments and indicator lights
indicator light corresponds with the location on
the vehicle.
Drive to an autho rized Aud i de aler or autho rized
Aud i Service Facility immediately to have the
malfunct ion corrected .
Vehicle lights : Malfunction
There is a malfunction in the headlights or the
light switch .
Drive to an authorized Aud i dea ler or authori zed
Aud i Serv ice Facility immediately to have the
malfunct ion corrected .
~(i) Headlight range control
II Headlight range control: defective!
If the symbol illuminates, the headlight range
control is no longer work ing properly. Have the
system checked and repa ired at your Audi dealer .
isO Adaptive Light
Applies to vehicles: with Adaptive Light
IIJ Audi adaptive light: system fault
If the indicator light turns on and th is message
appears, there is a malfunction in the adaptive
light system . The headlights st ill function .
Go to an authori zed dea lership to have the head­
lights or the control unit for the Adaptive Light
repaired .
~D Light/rain sensor
!I Automatic headlights/ automatic wipers :
System fault
The light/rain sensor is malfunct ion ing.
F or safety reasons, the low beams are turned on
permanently with the sw itch in
AUTO . However,
you can continue to turn the lights on and off us­
ing the light switch. You can still control a ll func­
tions that are independent of t he rain sensor
through the w indshield wiper lever .
Drive to an authori zed Aud i dea ler or authori zed
Aud i Serv ice Facility immediately to have t he
malfunct io n corrected.
22
I-! Sport differential
Applies to vehicles: with sport differentia l
I'll Sport differential: system fault
There is a malfunction with the sport d ifferential.
Drive to your authorized A udi dealer immediately
to have the malfunction corrected .
I'll Sport differential: overheating
The transmission temperature has increased sig­
nificantly due to the sporty driving manner. Drive
in a less spo rty manner until the temperature re­
turns to the norma l range and the indicator light
switches of .
A WARNING
-
Contact your authorized Audi dealer or a
qualified workshop if the sport differential is
faulty or malfunctioning. The repair must be
performed by trained personnel using the cor­
rect oil in order to ensure safety .
¢¢Turn signals
The indicator light blinks when you use either
turn signal.
Whenever yo u use the left II or the right B
turn s ignal, the ind icator light blinks. When you
use the emergency flashers, both indicator lights
flash.
If one of the turn signa l light bulbs burn out, the
turn s ignal will blink twice as fast as normal.
Carefully drive to your authorized Aud i dea ler im­
med iately to have the malfu nction corrected. The
i ndicator light does not indicate a ma lfunction if
a turn signal on the trailer or on the vehicle fails
i n trailer towing mode.
0) Tips
For more information on the turn signa ls, re­
fer to¢
page 45.
CRUISE /l~) Cruise control
The wa rning/indicator light (ijjrn~i~ (USA models)/
... (Canad a models) il lum inates when the cruise
contro l is activated ¢
page 82.

Audi drive select
Audi drive select
Driving settings
Introduction
Drive select makes it possible to experience d if­
ferent types of vehicle settings in one vehicle.
The driver can select
Comfort, Auto and Dynami c
modes in the Infotainment system to switch be­
tween a sporty and a comfortable driving mode.
In the
Individual mode, the settings can be ad­
justed to your personal preferences. This makes it possible to combine settings such as a sporty
engine tuning with light steering.
A WARNING
-
Improper use of the Audi dr ive select can
cause collisions, other accidents and serious
personal injury.
Description
The follow ing systems are affected by drive se­
lect:
Engine and transmission
Depending on the mode, the eng ine and the
transmission respond quicker or in a more bal­
anced manner to acce lerator pedal movements.
I n the sporty dynamic mode, the transmission
shifts at h igher RPMs.
Air suspension*
The adaptive air suspension/adaptive air suspen­
sion sport*
(Air suspension in the MMI) is an
e lectronically controlled air suspens ion and
damping system. They are adjusted depend ing
on the selected dr iv in g mode, the driver's steer­
ing, braking and acceleration input and the road
surface, vehicle speed and load. A sporty setting
is generally used in vehicles with adaptive air sus­
pension sport*.
The vehicle clearance varies depending on these ­
lected mode and the speed.
The highway setting is activated automatically
when yo u drive above 75 mph (120 km/h) for
mo re than 30 seconds in the
Auto or Dynamic
100
mode. The ground clea rance is increased auto­
matically if the speed drops below 44 mph (70
km/h) for more than 120 seconds.
Steering
The steering adapts in terms of steering effort
and steering ratios. Indirect stee ring that moves
easily, like the steering in comfort mode, is best
suited to long drives on a highway. In contrast,
dynamic mode provides sporty, direct steering.
The following applies to vehicles with dynamic
steering*: the steering ratio changes based on
vehicle speed in order to maintain optimum
steering effort for the driver at a ll times . This
sets the steering to be less sensitive at higher
speeds in order to provide improved vehicle con­
trol. At reduced speeds, however, steering is
more direct in order to keep the steering effort as
min imal as possible when the dr iver is maneuver­
i ng the vehicle. At low and average speeds, dy­
namic steering additionally provides more re­
sponsive steering performance.
Sport differential*
As a component of the all wheel dr ive system
(quattro)
c::;> poge 191, the Sport differentia l*
distributes the d riving powe r to the rear axle de­
pending on the situation . T he distr ibutio n of
power varies depending on the selected mode,
from ba lanced (comfort) to agile (dynamic). The
goal is a high level of agility and ability to accel­
erate on curves. The vehicle is very responsive to
steering.
Curve light*
The curve light adapts to driving on curves. The
pivoting action and the lighting are also adapted
to the mode.
Adaptive cruise control*
The behav ior when accelerating can be adjusted
from comfortable to sporty, depending on the
drive select mode. Adaptive cruise control also
responds to the driving behavior of the vehicle
ahead in a more conservative or sporty manner . .,..

Automatic transmission
Automatic transmission S tronic, tiptronic
Introduction
The automatic transmission is controlled elec­
tronically. The transmission upshifts or down­
shifts automatically depending on which drive
program is selected.
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 transmission switches to a sporty mode after
a kick-down or when the driver uses a
sporty
driving style
characterized by quick accelerator
pedal movements, heavy acceleration, frequent
changes in speed and traveling at the maximum
speed.
If desired , th e driver can also select the gears
manually (tiptronic mode) 9 page 110.
Various automatic transmissions may be instal­
led, depending on the model:
S tronic transmission
The S tronic is a dual-clutch transmission. Power
is transferred using two clutches that work inde­
pendently from one another. They replace the
torque converter used in conventional automatic
transmissions and allow the vehicle to accelerate
without a noticeable interruption in traction.
tiptronic transmission
In the tiptronic transmission, power is transfer­
red by a torque converter.
106
Selector lever positions
Fig. 115 Display in the instrument cluster: selector lever
position
The selector lever position engaged appears next
to the selector lever as well as in the instrument
cluster display.
P -Park
In this selector lever position the transmission is
mechanically locked. Engage P only when the ve­
hicle is
completely stopped¢&. in Driving the
automatic transmission on page 108.
To shift in or out of position P, you must first
press and hold the brake pedal and then press
the release 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 108.
Before you move the selector lever to R, press
both the button in the handle of the selector lev­
er
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.
N -Neutral
The transmission is in neutral in this position.
Shift to this position for standing with the brakes
applied
9 A in Driving the automatic transmis­
sion on page 108.
...

.... N
0 CJ ' M I.Cl ......
When the vehicle is stationary or at speeds below 1 mph (2 km/h), you must always app ly the foot­
brake before and while moving the lever out of N.
DIS -Normal position for driving forward
In the D/S position, the transmission can be op­
e rated either in the no rmal mode Dor in the
sport mode S. To select the sport mode S, pull
the selector lever back briefly. Pu lling the lever
back again 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 ­
matica lly selects the suitable gear ratio. It de­
pends on engine load, vehicle speed and driving
style .
Select the
sport mode S for sporty driving. The
vehicle makes full use of the engine's power.
Shifting may become noticeable when accelerat­
ing.
When the vehicle is stationary or at speeds below 1 mph (2 km/h), you must always app ly the foot
brake before and while moving the lever to D/S
out of N.
A WARNING
Read and follow all WARNINGS¢&. in Driv­
ing the automatic transmission on
page 108.
(D Note
Coasting downhill w ith the transm iss ion in N
and the engine not running will result in dam­
age to the automatic transmission and poss i­
bly the catalytic converter.
@ Tips
-Audi drive select: you can adjust the sporty sh ift characteristics in the
Dynamic driving
mode.Sw ill appea r in the instrument clus­
ter display instead of D.
- If you accidentally select N while driving,
take your foot off the accelerator pedal im­
mediately and wait for the engine to slow
down to idle before selecting 0/5.
Automatic transmission
-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 if t his hap­
pens
¢ page 112.
Selector lever lock
The selector lever lock prevents you from select­
ing a gear accidentally, causing the vehicle to
roll.
)
Fig . 11 6 Selector lever lock
To release the se lector lever lock:
" Switch the ignition on.
" Press the brake pedal
while pressing the inter-
lock button .
Automatic shift lock (ASL)
The selector lever is locked in the P and N posi­
tions when the ignition is switched on. The re­
move it from t hese positions, the driver must
press the brake pedal and press the lock button
at the same time. The following message ap­
pears in the instrument cluster display when the
selector lever is in the P or N position to remind
the driver:
Brake pedal must be applied to shift from P
The Automatic Shift Lock only functions when the
vehicle is stat ionary or at speeds below 1 mph
(2 km/h) . At speeds above about 1 mph (2 km/h)
the Automatic Shift Lock is automatically deacti­
vated in the N position .
The selector lever is not locked when shift ing
quickly through N, for example from R to D. This
makes it possible to free the vehicle when it is
stuck by "rocking" it. Th e selector lever lock en-
gages if the leve r stays in the N position longer ...
107

Automatic transmissio n
than 2 seconds when the brake pedal is not
pressed.
Lock button
The lock button in the selecto r lever hand le pre­
ve nts yo u from moving the selector lever un in­
tentionally while in some se lector lever positions .
The positions that require the lock button to be
pr essed are marked in co lor in the i llustration
¢ fig. 116 .
Driving the automatic transmission
Starting the engine
~ T he selector lever must be in P or N.
Starting off
~ Press and hold the brake pedal.
~ Press and hold the release button in the selec­
tor lever handle, se lect the des ired selector lev­
er position such as D/S and r ele ase the button.
~ Wait briefly until the transmission has shifted
(you w ill feel a slight movement).
~ Remove your foot from the brake pedal and ac­
celerate .
Stopping t emporar ily
~ 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 rk ing brake w ill release automatically
and the vehi cle will start moving once you press
the accelerator pedal.
Stopping /parking
If the se lector lever is not in the P posit ion when
you open the d river's door, the vehicle could roll.
The message
Tran smission : Car ma y roll! Shift
to park!
appears .
~ Press and hold the brake pedal unt il the vehicle
has come to a complete stop.
~ Apply the pa rking brake ¢ page 77, Parking .
~ Select the P selector leve r position ¢ ,& .
108
Stopping on an incline
~ Always press the brake pedal to ho ld the vehi­
cle in p lace and prevent it from "rolling back"
¢
,& . Do not try to prevent the vehicle from
"rolling back" when a gear is engaged by in­
creas ing the engine speed ¢(D .
Starting on an inclin e
~ Activate the pa rk ing br ake.
~ With the driving gear selected, press the accel ­
erator pedal carefully. The parking brake will
re lease a utomatically if your seat belt is fas­
tened.
Under certain circumstances, such as driving in
the mountains, it may be useful to switch tempo­ rarily to the manual sh ift program in order to ad­
j ust the gears to the dr iv ing cond it ions by hand
Q ,&. .
On s lopes, activate the parking brake first and
then move the selector lever to the P position.
This prevents too much stress from being placed
on the locking mechanism.
A WARNING
- The vehicle can also roll when the eng ine is
stopped .
- Unintended vehicle movement can cause se­
rious injury .
- Never leave your veh icle with the engine
r u nning while in gear. If you must leave
your veh icle when the eng ine is r unning, ac­
tivate t he pa rking bra ke a nd move the selec­
to r lever to P.
- P owe r is still transmitted to the wheels
when the engine is runn ing a t idle . To p re­
ve nt the vehicle from "creeping ", yo u m ust
keep your foot on the b rake when the en­
gine is running and the se lector lever is in D/
5 or R or "tiptronic" mode is se lected .
- D o not press the acce le ra tor peda l when
changing the se lector lever posit ion while
the vehicle is stationary and the engine is
r u nning.
- Never sh ift into R or P whi le driving.

-Before driving down a steep slope, reduce
your speed and shift into a lower gear with
"tiptronic" .
- Do not ride the brakes or press the brake
pedal too often or too long when driving
down a hill. Constant braking causes the
brakes to overheat and substantially re ­
duces braking performance, increases brak­
ing distance or causes complete failure of
the brake system .
- To prevent the vehicle from rolling back
when stopping on inclines, always hold it in
place with the brake pedal or parking brake.
- Never hold the vehicle on an incline with a
slipping clutch. The clutch opens automati­
cally when it becomes too hot from the
overload. An indicator lamp
l!] illuminates
and a driver message appears
¢ page 111
when the clutch is overloaded.
- If the engine must remain running, never
have any driving position engaged when
checking under the hood. Make sure these­
lector lever has securely engaged and is
locked in P with the parking brake set
¢ page 216 . Otherwise, any increase in en ­
gine speed may set the vehicle in motion,
even with the parking brake applied .
(D Note
-When stopping on an incline, do not try to
hold the vehicle in place by pressing the ac­
celerator pedal while a driving gear is se­
lected . This can cause the transmission to
overheat and can damage it. Activate the
parking brake or press the brake pedal to
prevent the vehicle from rolling.
- Allowing the vehicle to roll when the engine
is stopped and the selector lever is in
N will
damage the transmission because it is not
lubricated under those circumstances.
(D} Tips
For safety reasons, the parking brake is re­
leased automatically only when the driver's
safety belt is engaged in the buckle.
Automatic transmission
Hill descent control
Hill des cent control assists the driver when driv­
ing down hills .
Hill descent control is activated when the sele c­
tor lever is in the D or S posi tion and you press
the brake pedal. The transmission automatically selects a gear that is suitable for the incline. Hill
descent control tries to maintain the speed ach­
ieved at the time of braking, within physical and
technical limitations . If may still be necessary to
adjust the speed with the brake pedal.
Hill descent control switches off once the hill lev­
els out or you press the accelerator pedal.
On vehicles with a cruise control system*
¢ page 82, hill descent control is also activated
when the speed is set.
,&. WARNING
Hill descent control cannot overcome physical
limitations, so it may not be able
to maintain
a constant speed under all conditions. Always
be ready to apply the brakes.
109

Automatic transmission
Manual shift program
Using the manual shift program you can man­
ually select gears .

)
r
Fig. 117 Center console: shifting the gears manually
Fig. 118 Steering whee l: Shift paddles•
Gear selection with selector lever
The tiptronic mode can be selected eith er with
the vehicle stationary or on the
move.
• Push the selector lever to the right from D/S.
An M appears in the instrument cluster display
as soon as the transmission has shifted.
• To upshift, push the selector lever forward to
the plus position
G) ¢ fig. 117 .
• To downshift, push the lever to the minus posi-
tion
0 .
Gear selection with shift paddles*
The shift paddles are activated when the selector
lever is in D/S or the tiptronic manual shift pro­
gram.
• To upshift , touch the shift padd le on the right
G)¢fig. 118.
• To downshift, touch the shift paddle on the left
0.
The transmission automatically shifts up or down
before critical engine speed is reached .
110
The transmission only allows manual shifting
when the engine speed is within the permitted
range.
(D Tips
- When you shift into the next lower gear, the
transmiss ion will downshift on ly when there
is no possibility of over-rewing the engine .
- When the kick-down comes on, the trans­
mission will shift down to a lower gear, de­
pending on vehicle and engine speeds.
- Tiptronic is inoperative when the transmis­
sion is in the fail-safe mode.
Kick-down
Kick-down enables maximum acceleration.
When you press the accelerator pedal down be­
yond the resistan ce point, the automatic tra ns­
mission downshifts into a lower gear, depending
on vehicle 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 could spin on
slick or slippery roads when kick-down is ac­
tive.
Launch control program
App lies to vehicles: with S t ronic
The launch control program provides the best
possible acceleration when starting from a stop .
Requirement: The engine must be at operating
temperature and the steering wheel must not be
turned.
• Deactivate the Start-Stop-System *¢
page 81 .
The LED in the !CA.l "'! button turns on.
• With the engine running, press the
~,~-0-F F~I but­
ton briefly¢
page 188. The II indicator light
turns on and the message
Stabilization control
(ESC): Off. Warning! Reduced stability
ap­
pears in the instrument cluster display.
• Pull the selector leve r back out of the D/S posi­
tion briefly to select the S position or se lect the .,..