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General information
Your Audi was designed primarily for passenger
transportation .
If you plan to tow a trailer, please remember that
the additional load will affect durability, econo my and performance.
T railer towing not only places more stress on the
vehicle, it also calls for more concentration from
the driver.
For this reason, always follow the operating and
driving instructions provided and use common
sense.
Technical requirements
Trailer hitch
Use a weight-carrying hitch conforming to the
gross trailer weight. The hitch must be suitable
for your vehicle and trailer and must be mounted
securely on the vehicle's chassis at a technically
sound
location . Use only a trailer hitch with a re
movable ball mount . Always check with the trail
er hitch manufacturer to make sure that you are
using the correct hitch.
Do not use a bumper hitch.
The hitch must be installed in such a way that it
does not interfere with the impact -absorbing
bumper system . No modifications should be
made to the vehicle exhaust and brake systems .
From time to time, check that all hitch mounting
bo lts remain securely fastened.
When you are not towing a trailer,
remove the
tra iler hitch ball mount . This prevents the hitch
from causing damage should your vehicle be
struck from beh ind ¢
,&. .
Trailer brakes
If your trailer is equipped with a braking system,
check to be sure that it conforms to all regula
tions .
Trailer mode
The trailer hydraulic brake system must not be
directly connected to the vehicle's hydraulic
brake system ¢.&. .
Safety chains
Always use safety chains between your vehicle
and the trailer.
Trailer lights
T ra iler lights must meet all regulations . Be sure
to check with your author ized Audi dealer for cor
rect wiring, switches, and relays.
Mirrors
If you are unable to see the traffic behind you us
ing the regular outside mirrors, then you
must in
stall extended mirrors. It is important that you
always have clear vision to the rear.
,8. WARNING
-If a trailer has electrical brakes please note
that these brakes are not activated by the
factory-fitted control unit -risk of accident!
- After removing the trailer hitch, do not store it in your vehicle. In case of sudden
braking, the hitch could fly forward and in
jure you or your passengers.
- Never install a "weight distributing" or
"load equalizing" trailer hitch on your vehi
cle. The vehicle was not designed for these
kinds of trailer hitches . The hitch attach
ment can fail, causing the trailer to tear
loose from the vehicle.
- The Gross Vehicle Weight Rating for your
vehicle, found on the safety compliance la bel on the driver's side B-pillar, must never
be exceeded under any circumstances. Ex
ceeding the Gross Vehicle Weight Rating of
your vehicle is likely to damage your vehicle,
and such damage will not be covered by
your Limited New Vehicle Warranty. Exceed
ing the Gross Vehicle Weight Rating will al
so change the performance and handling
characteristics of your vehicle, which could
cause a crash resulting in serious injury or
death.
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pecia lly we ll for winter or summer driving. Dur
ing seasona l change-over, we suggest that you
f ill up at busy gas stations where the seasonal
adjustment is more likely to be made in time.
- Fuels containing a high percentage of etha
no l such as ESO and E85 may only be used in
vehicles with flexible fuel* eng ines. Using
high ethanol fuel in veh icles not equ ipped
with flexible fuel* engines can cause severe
engine damage .
- Methanol fuels which do not meet these re quirements may ca use corros io n and dam
age to plast ic and r ubber components in the
fuel system.
- Do not use fuels that fail to meet the spec i
fied c rit er ia i n this c hapter.
- If you a re unable to determine whether or
not a particular fue l blend meets the spec i
fi cat ions, ask your service station o r its fuel
su pplier.
- Do not use fue l fo r w hich the contents can
not be identified.
- Fuel sys tem damage and performance prob
l ems result ing from the use of fue ls diffe r
ent from those specified are not the respon
s ibility o f Audi and are no t covered under
the New Vehicle or the Emissio n Contro l
System Wa rranties .
- If you experience a loss of fue l economy o r
driveability an d performance prob lems d ue
to the use o f one of these fuel b lends, we
r ecommend that you switch to unblended
fuel.
Ethanol fuel (Bio-ethanol)
App lies to vehicles: with flexib le fuel engine
You con recognize vehicles with a flexible fuel
engine by looking a t the label on the inside of
the fuel filler flop.
Veh icles with flexibl e fu el engines may be op er
ated w ith bio -ethanol fuels such as E85 (85%
ethano l and 15% gasoline) or with un leaded gas
oline (9 1 AKI/RO Z 95). The ve hicle may a lso be
ope rated with a mixture of these fuels.
Fuel and R efueling
Your fuel consumpt ion w ill increase when using
bio-ethano l fue ls due to th e lower amount of en
ergy conta ined per un it vol ume in ethanol.
Warming up the flexible fuel engine in low
temperature s
Due to the chemica l composition of b io -ethanol ,
a certa in amount of fue l ends up in the engine o il
when driving short distances in very low temper
atures . This fuel evaporates again when the en
gine is warmed up.
II Please warm up eng ine .
If the drive r message appears in the instr ume nt
cluster disp lay, drive with a warm engine to re
duce the oil leve l.
(D Note
- N ever fill wi th metha nol o r with a higher
percentage of b io -ethanol than 85% (E85).
A highe r percentage of bio-ethanol in the
fuel can cause damage to the engine or to the fuel system.
- If you use on ly E85, it is recommended to
fill the fue l tank complete ly w ith unleaded
premium grade gasoline every 5,000 mi les.
- If you expe rience starting, rough id le or hes
itat ion d riveab ility prob lems, f ill the fuel
tank complete ly w ith unleaded p remium
grade gaso line and drive it norma lly until
the gaso line is used. See your author ized
Audi dea ler if the problem persists.
- Inform your author ized Audi dealer that you
are operating o r have operate d the vehicle
w ith E8S.
- Read and follow the i nformat ion and tips
abou t gasoli ne <=:>
page 212 .
(D Tips
It may take longer to start the engine when
the outs ide temperatu re is very cold . If possi
ble, use w inte rized fue l if tempe ratures are
below free zing .
213

Checking and Filling
Engine compartment
Engine compartment
These are the most important items that you can check.
Fig. 197 Typical layout for con tainers and eng ine oil filler cap
® Eng ine oil filler cap ("1::7':) ........ 224
© Coolant expansion tank (- L) ..... 226
® Jump start point(-) with hex head
screw
. .. .. .... .............. 231,271
® Windshield/headlight washer con-
tainer
(Q) ................... 233
The position of the engine oil filling hole
¢ fig. 197 (item @) can differ depending on the
engine design .
A WARNING
Before you check anything in the engine com
partment, always read and heed all WARN
INGS ¢.&.
in Working in the engine compart
ment on page 220.
222
Engine oil
Engine oil specifications
~ r--0 d::
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The engine oil used must conform to exact speci
fications.
The serv ice interval display in the instrument
cluster of your vehicle will inform you when it is
time for an oi l chang e. We recommend that you
have your oi l changed by an authorized Audi Serv
i ce Advisor.
If you have to top off the oil between oil changes,
us e the Audi oil quality standard specified in the
ta ble.
~

Audi oil quality standard
Gas oline
VW 502 00 or
engi ne vw 504 00
Die sel vw 507 00
en gin e
Using the prope r engine oil is important for the
functiona lity and service life of the eng ine. Your
engine was factory-filled with a high -quality oil
which can usually be used throughout the entire
year.
@ Note
Your Limited New Vehicle Warranty does not
cover damage or malfunctions due to failure
to follow recommended maintenance and use
requirements as set forth in the Audi Owner's Manual and Warranty
& Maintenance booklet.
- Use only a high quality eng ine oil that ex-
pressly complies with the Aud i oil quality
standard specified for your vehicle's engine.
Using any other oil can cause serious engine
damage .
- Do not mix any lubricants or other additives
into the engine oil. Doing so can cause en
gine damage.
(D Tips
If you need to add oil and there is none availa
ble that meets the Audi o il quality standard
your eng ine requ ires, you may add a total of
no more than 0.5 quart/liter of a h igh-quality
"synthet ic"oil that meets the followi ng speci
fications.
- Vehicles with gasoline eng ine: AC EA A3 o r
API SM wi th a viscosity g rade of SA E OW-30,
SAE SW-30 or SAE SW-40.
- Vehicles wit h diesel eng ine: ACEA C3 o r
API CF with a v iscosi ty grade of SA E OW-30
or SA E SW -30.
- Fo r more information abou t engine o il that
has been approved for your vehi cle, please
contact either you r a utho rized Audi dea ler
or A udi Customer Relations at
~ 1 (800) 822-2834 or visit our web site at co
g:; www.audiusa.com or www.aud icanada.ca.
Ch eck ing and Filling
Engine oil consumption
The engine in your vehicle depends on on ade
quate amount of oil to lubricate and cool oil of
its moving ports.
In order to provide effect ive lubrication and cool
i ng of internal engine components, all internal
combust ion eng ines consume a certa in amount
of oil. Oil consumption varies from eng ine to en
gine and may change s ign ificantly ove r the life of
the engine. Typ ica lly, engines w ith a specified
break-in period (see
¢ page 197) consume more
oi l during the break -in period than they consume
after oil consumption has stabilized.
Under normal cond itions, the rate of oil con
sumption depends on the q uality and viscosity o f
the oil, the RPM (revol utions per minute) at
which the engine is operated, the ambient tem
perature and road condit ions. Further factors are
the amount of oil dilution from water condensa
tion or fuel residue and the oxidation level of the o il. As any engine is subject to wear as mileage
builds up, the oil consumption may increase over
time unt il replacement of worn components may
become necessary.
With all these variables coming into play, no standard rate of o il consumption can be estab
li shed or spec ified . T he re is no alte rnative to reg
u la r and frequent checking of the oi l level , see
Note .
If the yellow engine o il leve l warning symbo l in
the instrument cluster
II lights up, yo u should
c h eck the o il level as soon as possible
¢ page 224. Top off the o il at your earlies t con
venience
¢ page 224.
A WARNING
--=-
Before you check anything in the engine com-
partment, always read and heed all WARN
INGS
¢ &. in Working in the engine comport
ment on page 220.
(D Note
Driving wit h an insufficient oil level is likely to
cause severe damage to the eng ine. ..,.
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to prevent oil from be ing sprayed on the hot
engine and exhaust system when the engine
is running -fire hazard!
- If your skin has come in contact with the en
gine oil, you must subsequently cleanse it
thoroughly .
@ Note
-Check the oil level using the radio or the
MM!*. If the message
Ple ase redu ce oil l ev
el
appears, contact your authorized Aud i
dealer or other qualified workshop to have
excess oil extracted if necessary.
- Audi do es not recommend th e use of o il
addit ive s. The y ma y damage the eng ine
and ad verse ly affect your New Vehicle
Wa rranty.
@ For the sake of the environment
- Under no circumstances can the o il come in
contact with the sewage network or the soil.
- Observe and follow legal regulations whe n
dispos ing of empty oil conta iners.
Changing the engine oil
We recommend that have your oil changed by an
authorized Audi dealer or a qualified service sta
tion.
Before you check anyth ing in the eng ine compart
ment,
alw ays read and h eed all WARNING S c:> .&.
in Working in the engine compartment on
page 220 .
The engine oil must be changed according to the
intervals specified in your Warranty
& Mainte
nance booklet . This is very important because the
l ubricat ing propert ies of o il d iminish gradually
du ring normal vehicle use.
Under some circumstances the engine o il should
be changed more frequently . Change oil more of
ten if you drive mostly short distances, operate
the veh icle in dusty areas or under predominant ly
stop-and -go traffic condit ions, or have yo ur vehi
cle whe re temperatures remain below freezing
for extended periods.
Ch eck ing and Filling
Detergent additives in the oi l will make fresh oil
look dark after the engine has been running for a
short time . This is normal and is not a reason to
change the oi l more often than recommended.
Because of the problem o f proper disposal, along
with the specia l tools and necessary expertise re
quired, we strongly recommend that yo u have
your o il changed by an authori zed
Audi dealer or
a qual ified service stat ion.
If y ou choo se to chan ge your oil your self , please
note the following important information:
A WARNING "--
To reduce the risk of persona l injury if you
must change the eng ine oil in your vehicle
yourself:
- Wear eye protection.
-
-To reduce the r isk of burns from hot engine
oil, let the engine cool down to the touch.
- When remov ing the oil drain plug w ith your
f ingers, stay as far away as possible. Always
keep your forearm parallel to the ground to
he lp prevent hot oil from running down your
arm.
- Drain the oil into a container designed for
this purpose, one large enough to hold at least the tota l amou nt of oil in your engine.
- Engine oil is poisonous. Keep it well out of
the reach of childre n.
- Continuous contact with used engine o il is
harmful to your skin. Always protect your
skin by washing oil off thoroughly with soap
and water .
«I) Note
Never mix oil additives with your engine oil.
These additives can damage your engine and
adverse ly affect yo ur Audi limited New Vehi
cle Warranty .
@ For the sake of the environment
-Before chang ing yo ur oi l, first make sure
you know where you can properly d ispose of
the used oil.
- Always dispose of used engine o il properly .
Do not dump it on ga rden soil, wooded
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partition of the engine compartment on the left
side ¢
page 222.
The fl uid level may drop slightly after some time
due to the automatic adjustment of the brake
pads . This is not cause for alarm.
I f the b rake fl uid level fa lls
considerably be low
the "MIN" mark, the brake wa rning/ind icator
light (U .S. mode ls:
1111 , Canadian models:.)
will come on¢
page 18 and ¢ page 28 . Do not
continue to operate the vehicle. The complete brake system should be thoroughly checked by an
author ized Audi dealer or qualified workshop and
the cause corrected . If the brake fluid level is too
low, the brake warning/ind icator light will illumi
nate. Contact an authorized Audi dealer
immedi
a te ly.
Changing brake fluid
Have the brake fluid changed by an experienced technician.
Brake fluid absorbs mo isture from the air. If the
water conte nt in the brake fluid is too h igh, cor
ros ion in the brake system may resu lt after ape
riod of time. The boiling poi nt of the brake flu id
will also dec rease cons iderably and decrease
braking pe rformance.
Therefore, the b rake fluid must be changed
e ve ry
two year s.
Always use new b rake fluid wh ich con
forms to Fede ral Motor Veh icle St andard "FMVSS
116 DOT 4".
The brake fluid reservoir can be diff icult to reach,
therefore, we re commend that yo u have the
b rake fl uid changed by yo ur autho rized
Audi
deal er.
Your dealer has the cor rect too ls, the
right brake fluid and the know -how to do this for
you.
A WARNING
- Brake fluid is poisonous. It must be stored
only in the closed original container out of
the reach of chi ldren!
- B rake failure can resu lt from old or inappro
pr iate brake flu id. Observe these precau
t io ns:
Ch eck ing and Filling
-Use only brake fluid that meets SAE speci
ficat ion
J 1703 and conforms to Federal
Motor Vehicle Standard 116. Always check
with your authorized Aud i dealer to make
sure you are us ing the correct brake fluid .
The co rrect type of brake flu id is also i ndi
cated on the b rake fluid reservoir.
- The brake flu id must be new. Heavy use of
the b rakes can cause a vapo r lock if the
bra ke fluid is left in the system too long.
T his can se riously affe ct the efficiency of
t h e b rakes as we ll as you r safety . This
could resu lt in an accident.
(D Note
B rake flu id will damage the paint of your ve h i
cle.
@) For the sake of the environment
Because of the p roblem of proper d isposa l of
brake fluid as well as the spec ial too ls re
q uire d and the necessary expertise, we rec
ommend that yo u have the bra ke fluid
c hanged by yo ur authorize d Au di dealer.
Battery
General information
Under normal ope rat ing condit ions, the batte ry
in you r A udi does not need any mainte nance.
Wi th
high o utside temperatures or long daily
drives we recommend that yo u have the elec tro
lyte level checked by an authorized A udi dealer or
qualified workshop . The electro lyte level should
also be checked each time the battery is charged
~ page 231.
Have the batte ry checked when you take your ve
hicle in for service. You are we ll advised to re
place a battery that is older than S years.
Wi th certain types of airbag deployment, the
battery is d isconnected from the veh icle electri
ca l system for safety reasons¢.&.
in Repair, care
and disposal of the airbags on page 164.
Hyb rid dr ive *: yo u can find impo rtant informat ion
about the high voltage battery under ¢
page 97. .,.
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-Do not interchange the positive a nd nega
tive cables.
- When working on the battery, be sure not to
short-circuit the terminals with tools or oth
er metal objects. This would cause the bat
tery to heat up very quickly, which could
lead to damage or explosion and personal
injury.
- When a battery is charged, it produces hy
drogen gas which is explosive and could
cause personal injury.
- Always keep the battery well out of the reach of children.
- Before work is done on the electrical 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
negative cable on the battery must be dis
connected. If you are just going to replace a
light b ulb, then it is enough to sw itch off
the lights.
- Before disconnecting the battery, switch off
the ant i-theft alarm system! Otherw ise you
will set off the a larm.
- When disconnecting the batte ry, first dis
connect the negative cable and then the
positive cab le.
- Before reconnecting the battery, make sure
all e lectrical consumers are switched off .
Reconnect the posit ive cable first and then
the negative cable . Never interchange the
cables -this could start a fire!
- Never charge a frozen or a thawed-out bat
tery. It could exp lode! If a battery has fro
zen, then it must be replaced. A discharged
battery can freeze over at 32°F (0°C).
- Make sure the vent hose is a lways attached
to the opening on the side of the battery.
- Never use batteries which are damaged.
There is the danger of an explosion! Always replace a damaged battery.
A WARNING
California Proposition 65 Warn ing:
- Battery posts, termina ls and re lated acces
sories contain lead and lead compounds,
C hecki ng an d Fill in g
chemicals known to the State of Californ ia
to cause cancer and reproductive prob lems.
Wash hands after handling.
(D Note
- Do not disconnect the vehicle battery when
the ignition is sw itched on or when the en
gine is running, otherwise, you will damage
electronic components in the electrical sys
tem .
- If your vehicle is going to stand for a long
period of time w ithout being driven, protect
the battery from "freezing", otherwise it
w ill be damaged and will then have to be re
placed .
Battery charging
Starting the engine requires a well charged bat
tery .
Fig . 202 E ngine compar tmen t: Co nn ectors fo r charg er and
j umpe r cables
Alw ays re ad and heed a ll WARN IN GS below
c;, ,& and r=;, .& in Working on the battery on
page 230 .
., Hybrid drive*: read the important information
concern ing a dead high voltage battery under
¢ page 104 .
., Turn off the ignition and a ll electrical consum
ers.
... Make sure the area is we ll ven tilated when you
charge the battery .
... Open the eng ine hood
r=;, page 220 .
... Remove the cover (D by pressing on the arrow
¢ fig. 202 .
... Open the cover @on the pos itive terminal. ..,_
231

Check ing and F illing
"' Connect the charger connectors according to
the instr uctions to the
jump start bolts . (Bolts
u nder the cover = "posit ive", Bo lts with hex
head = "negative") .
"' Only now plug the mains lead for the charging
equipment into the wall outlet and tur n it on
¢& .
"' Make sure the charging rate is not over
30 amp s/14 .8 Volt.
"' When the batte ry is fu lly charged: T urn the
charg ing equipment off and remove the mains
lead from the wall outlet .
"' Now remove the clamps for the charg ing equip
ment .
"' Close the cover @on the positive term inal and
re-install the cover@.
"' Close the hood
c:::;, page 220 .
A discharged battery can freeze at temperatures
of only 32 °F (0 °C). Allow a frozen battery to
thaw completely before attempt ing to charge it
c:::;, ,& . However, we recommend not us ing a
thawed batte ry again because the battery casi ng
can be cracked due to ice fo rmation and can leak
b attery acid.
Battery charging (Maximum charging rate of
30 amps/14.8 Volt)
W hen cha rging at low vo ltages (e .g . with a trick
le charger ),
the ba tte ry cables do not h ave to be
d isconnected first. The b att ery caps sho uld
no t
be opened when charging a battery.
It is not necessary to remove the batte ry from
the l uggage comp artme nt.
Fast charging the battery (charging rate
above 14.8 Volts)
F or techn ica l reaso ns do not use a battery charg
er that uses vol tage greate r th an 14.8 Volts to
charge yo ur vehicle's bat tery.
A WARNING
Charging a ba ttery can be dangerous .
- Alw ays foll ow the operat ing instru ctions
p rovi ded by the bat tery char ger m anuf actur
er when c harging your battery .
232
-Never cha rge 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 batter ies which were f rozen.
The battery housing may have cracked and
weakened w hen 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 explosive.
- To reduce the da nger of explosion, never
connect or d isconnect c harger cables while
the charge r is ope ra ting .
- Fast c harg ing a battery is dange rous and
should o nly be attempted by a compe ten t
t echnicia n w ith the prope r equipment .
- Battery acid that may spill duri ng charging
should be washed off w it h a so lution o f
warm water and baking soda to neutra lize
t he a cid.
(D Note
Neve r use a fast c harge r as a booster to start
the eng ine . This will seriously damage se nsi
tive electronic components, such as cont rol
units, re la ys, ra d io, e tc., as well as the batte ry
c h ar ger.
Battery replacement
The new battery must have the same specifica
tions and dimensions as the original equipmen t
battery.
Intelligent energy manageme nt in yo ur vehicle is
r esponsib le for d istr ib uting t he e lec trica l energy
t hr oughou t your ve hicl e
c:::;, page 195 . The intelli
gen t energy management system w ill keep the
engine battery charged bette r then vehicles with
out this system . To make sure the additional
e lectrica l ene rgy is available once aga in after you
have changed the batte ry, we recommend that
you install batteries of the same type and manu
facture only (the same as those installed at the
time yo ur vehicle was delivered) . Specifications
a re listed on the ba tte ry ho using . Your a uth or-
iz ed dealer m ust code the battery in the energy
9"'