..... N
co ~ CX)
..... I.Cl U"I
..... I.Cl ..... brake before and wh
ile moving th e le ver to D/S
out of N.
A WARNING
Read and follow all WARNINGS¢ & in Driv
ing the automatic transmission on
page 124.
(D Note
Coasting downhill with the transmission in N
and the engine not running will result in dam
age to the automatic transmission and possi
bly the catalytic converter .
(D Tips
-On vehicles with Audi drive select*, you can
adjust the sporty shift characteristics in the
Dynamic driving mode .Swill appear in the
i nstrument cluster display instead of 0.
- If you accidentally 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 selecting D/S .
- Hybrid drive*: if the
l-,,sv ! button r::::;, page 100
is pressed while in sport mode S, the trans
mission switches automatically to the nor
mal mode D.
- If there is a power failure, the selector lever
will not move out of the P posit ion. The
eme rgency release can be used if this hap
pens
¢ page 127.
'
Automatic transmission
Automatic Shift Lock (ASL)
The Automatic Shift Lock safeguards you again st
accidentally shifting into a forward or the re
verse gear and causing the vehicle to move unin
tentionally .
Fig. 13S Shi ft gat e: se lec tor le ver loc i< po sition s and re
lea se butto n highlighted
The selector lever lock is released as follows :
.,. Turn the ignition on.
"" Step on the brake pedal.
At the same time
press and hold the release button on the side of
the gear selector knob
r::::;, fig. 135 with your
thumb until you have moved the selector lever
to the desired position .
Automatic selector lever lock
The selector lever is locked in the P and N po si
tions when the ignit ion is turned on . You must
press the brake peda l and the release button to
select another position. As a reminder to the
driver , the following warn ing appears in the in
strument cluster d isplay when the se lector is in P
and N:
When stationary apply brake pedal while select
ing gear
The Automatic Shift Lock only functions when the
vehicle is stat ionary or at speeds be low 1 mph
(2 km/h) .
At speeds above about 1 mph (2 km/h) the Auto ·
matic Shift Lock is automatically deact ivated in
the N pos it ion .
A time delay element preven ts the selec tor lever
from locking when it is moved through the N po
sition (going from R to D/S). The locking element
will lock the selector lever if the lever is left in N .,..
123
Automatic transmissio n
(N eu tra l) for more than approx imately 1 second,
w ithout th e brake peda l being pressed.
Release button
The release button on the se lec to r lever preven ts
the lever from being accidentally sh ifted into cer
tain posit ions . Press ing t his but ton deactivates
the selector lever lock . Depending on the direc
tion of the shift, the selector lever locks at differ
ent positions. The positions are high lighted in
the illustrat ion ¢
fig. 135 .
Ignition key safety int erlock
The key cannot be removed from the igni tion un
less the selector lever is in the P park pos ition .
When the ignition key is removed, the selector lever will be locked in the P pos ition.
Driving the automatic transmission
F ig. 1 36 Shi ft gat e on t he c en te r co nsole : se lecto r lev er
w ith release b utto n
Starting the engine
~ The 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 posit ion such as D/S and release 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
cele rate .
Stopp ing temporarily
~ Keep the veh icle stationary us ing the braking
pedal, for example at traffic lights .
124
~ Do not press the acce lerato r pedal when doing
this.
~ To prevent the veh icle from ro lling when you
start driving, set the parking brake when stop
ping on steep incl ines¢ &_.
The parking brake wi ll re lease automatically and
the ve hicle w ill start moving once you press the
acce lerator pedal.
Stopping /par king
If the se lector lever is not in the P position whe n
you open the driver's door, the vehicle cou ld roll.
The message
Tr ansmis sion: Car may roll! Shift
to park!
appears.
~ Press and hold the brake peda l un til the vehicle
has come to a comp lete stop .
~ Apply the parking brake¢ page 90, Parking .
~ Select the P selector lever posit ion ¢ &_ .
Stopping on an incline
~ Always press the brake pedal to ho ld the vehi
cle in p lace and prevent it from "rolling back"
¢ &_ . D o
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 incline
~ Ac tivate the pa rk ing br ake.
~ With the d riving gear selected, press the accel
erator pedal carefully. The parking brake will
release a utomatica lly if your seat belt is fas
tened.
Under certain circumstances, such as driving in
the mounta ins, 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
¢ page 126.
On slopes, activate the parking b rake first and
then move the selector lever to the P position.
This prevents too m uch stress from being placed
on the locking mechanism.
A WARNING
- Unintended vehicle movement can cause se
rious injury .
,....,
N
co
er::
co
,....,
running while in gear. If you must leave
your vehicle when the engine is running, ac tivate the parking brake and move the selec
tor lever to P.
- 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 when the en
gine is running and the selector lever is in D/
5 or R or "tiptronic" mode is selected .
- Do not press the accelerator pedal when
changing the selector lever position while
the vehicle is stationary and the engine is running.
- Never shift into R or P while 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
[ijJ illuminates
and a driver message appears
c> page 126
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
c> page 220. 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-
Automatic transmission
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.
(!) 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
The hill descent control system assists the driver
when driving down decline s.
Hill descent control is activated when the selec
to r lever is in D/S and you press the brake pedal.
The transmission automatically selects a gear
tha t is suitable for the incline. Hill descent con
trol tries to maintain the speed achieved at the
time of braking, within physical and technical
limitations. It may still be necessary to adjust the
speed with the brakes .
Hill descent control switches off once the decline
levels out or you press the accelerator pedal.
When the speed is set in the cruise control sys
tem
c> page 95 , hill descen t control is also ac ti
vated .
A 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.
125
Automatic transmission
Manual shift program
Using the manual shift program you can man
ually select gears .
Fig. 137 Center console: shifting the gears man ually
Fig. 138 Stee rin g whee l: S hift 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.
u, N
N
N
" ll1
An M appears in the instrument cluster displa y
as soon as the transmission has shifted.
• To upshift, push the selector lever forward to
the plus position
G) ¢ fig. 137 .
• 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 button on the right
G)
¢fig. 138.
• To downshift, touch the button on the left 0-
• If you do not press a shift paddle within a short
time while in the D/S position, the transmission
will return to automatic mode. To keep shifting
126
using the shift paddles, move the selector lever
to the right out of the D/S position .
The transmissron automatically shifts up or down
before critical engine speed is reached.
The transmission only allows manual shifting
when the engine speed is within the permit ted
range.
(D Tips
- When you shift into the next lower gear, the
t ransm ission will downshift only when there
is no possibili ty of
over-revving 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.
- Tiptr onic is inoperat ive when the transmis
sion is in the fail-safe mode.
- Hybrid drive*: elect ric driving is not possible
in t iptronic mode .
Kick-down
Kick-down enables maximum acceleration .
When you depress the accelerator pedal beyond
the resistance point, the automat ic transmission
downshifts into a lower gear, depending on vehi
cle speed and engine speed. T he upsh ift into the
next higher gear takes place once the maximum
specified eng ine speed is reached.
A.::!!. ARNING
-Please note that the drive wheels can spin if
kick-down is used on a smooth slippery road -
there is a risk of skidd ing.
Transmission malfunction
ml Transmission: Press brake pedal and select
gear again.
Press the brake pedal and select the desired se
lector lever position again. You can then continue
driving.
ml Transmission overheating: Please drive con-
servatively . .,,.
..... N
co ~ CX)
..... I.Cl U"I
..... I.Cl ..... The transmission temperature has increased sig
nificantly due to the sporty driving manner. Drive
in a less sporty manner until the temperature re
turns to the normal range and the indicator light
switches of .
rm Transmission malfunction: You can continue
driving
There is a system malfunct ion in the transmis
sion. You may continue driving. Drive to your au
thorized Audi dealer or qualified repair facility
soon to have the malfunction corrected.
rm Transmission malfunction: Limited driving
functionality
There is a system malfunction in the transmis
sion . T he transmission is sw itching to emergency
mode. This mode only shifts into certain gears or
will no longer shift at all. The engine may stall.
Drive to your authorized Audi dea ler or qualified
repair facility immediately to have the malfunc
tion corrected .
rm Transmission malfunction: Stop vehicle and
shift to park.
Do not continue driving. Select the P selector lev
e r position and see your a uthorized Aud i dea ler
or qualified repair facility for assistance .
(D Note
If the transmission switches to emergency
mode, you sho uld take the vehicl e to an au
thorized Audi dealership as soon as possible
to have the condition corrected.
Automatic transmission
Selector lever emergency release
If the vehicle 's power supply fails, the selector
lever can be released in an emergency .
Fig. 139 Front center conso le: Removing the ashtray insert
Fig. 140 Selector lever emergency release
.,. To access the emergency re lease mechanism,
remove the ashtray insert@ using the release
switch @Qfig.139.
.,. Loosen and remove the cap in the ashtray
mount
Q fig. 140.
.,. You now have access to a pin . Using a screw
driver or sim ilar object, press the pin down and
hold it in that position .
.,. Now press the release button and move these-
lector lever to the N position.
The selector lever can only be moved from the P
pos ition if the key is in the lock and the ignition is
switched on. If the power supply fails (for exam
ple, the battery is discharged) and the vehicle
must be pushed or towed, move the selector lev
er to the N position f irst using the emergency re
lease .
127
,....,
N
co
er::
co
,....,
recorded by the Event
Data Recorder and
vehicle control modules
E ve nt Dat a Record er
This vehicle is equipped wi th an Event Data Re
corder (EDR) . The main purpose of an EDR is to
record, in certain crash or near crash-like situa
tions, such as an a irbag deployment or hitting a
road obstacle, data that will assist in understand
ing how a vehicle's systems performed. The EDR
is designed to record data related to vehicle dy
namics and safety systems for a short period of
time, typically 30 seconds or less. The EDR in this
ve hicle is designed to reco rd such data as:
- How various systems in your vehicle were oper
at ing;
- Whether or not the driver and passenger safety
belts were buckled/fastened;
- How far (if at all) the dr iver was depressing the
accelerator and/or brake pedal; and,
- How fast the vehicle was traveling.
These data can he lp provide a better understand
ing of the c ircumstances in which crashes and in
juries occur. NOTE: EDR data are recorded by your
veh icle only if a non-trivia l crash situation occurs;
no data are recorded by the EDR under normal
driving conditions and no personal data (e .g .,
name, gender, age, and crash location) are re
corded . H owever, other parties, such as law en
forcement, cou ld combine the EDR data w ith the
type of personally identifying data routine ly ac
quired during a crash investigation.
To read data recorded by an EDR, specia l equip
ment is req uired, a nd access to the ve hicle or the
E DR is needed. In add it ion to the vehicle manu
facturer, other parties, such as law enforcement,
that have the specia l equipment, can read the in
formation if they have access to the vehicle or the EDR .
Some state laws restrict the retr ieval or down
l oading of data stored by ED Rs insta lled in a vehi
cle for the express purpose of retrieving data af-
Intellig ent Technology
ter an accident or crash event without the own
er 's consent.
Audi will not ac cess the EDR and/or sim ilar data
o r give it to others -
- unless the vehicle owne r (or lessee if the vehi
cle has been leased) agrees; o r
- upon the official request by the police; or
- upon the order of a court of law or a govern-
ment agency; or
- for the defense of a lawsuit through the jud ic ial
discovery process.
- Aud i may a lso use the data for research about
veh icle operation and safety performance or
prov ide the data to a third party for research
purposes without identify ing the specific veh i
cle or info rmat io n about the ident ity of its own
er or lessee and only afte r the reco rded veh icle
data has been accessed.
Vehicle control modules
Your vehicle is also equ ipped w ith a number of
electronic control modules for va rious vehicle
systems, such as engine management, emiss io n
contro l, airbags , and s afety be lts .
These electronic control modules record data dur ing norma l vehicle operation that may be
needed by trained tech nicians for diagnost ic and
r epa ir purposes. The re cording capab il ity of these
modules is lim ited to data (no sound is record
ed). Only a sma ll amount of data is actua lly re
corded over a very limited period of time, or stor
ed when a system fault is detected by a control
module . Some of the data stored may relate to
vehicle speed, direction, or braking, as well as re
straint system use and performance in the event
of a crash . Stored data can also on ly be read a nd
down loaded w ith specia l equipment that is d i
rectly connected to the vehicle.
(D Tips
Your vehicle may be equipped w ith Aud i con
nect. Your use of certain Aud i connect fea
tures requi res wire less serv ices that are pro
v ided by a third party wireless telecomm uni
cations provi der. For de tails regarding how in
formation obtained through Aud i connect is
collected, processed, transmitted, used, and ..,.
189
..... N
co ~ CX)
..... I.Cl U"I
.... I.Cl .....
wheels can spin even with these ass istance
systems that cannot always he lp to reduce
the risk of loss of vehicle control.
@ Tips
-ABS and AS R on ly work correctly when a ll
fo ur whee ls are e quipped w ith ide ntical
Switching on /off
Intelligent Technology
tires. Diff eren t tire s izes can lead to a red uc
tion i n engine po wer .
- You may hear noises when t he sy stems de
scribe d are workin g.
- Whe n in sta lling a facto ry-s up plied roo f ra ck
system o n the roof r ailing , the ESC wi ll
adapt itself to a different center of gravity .
ESC turns on automatically when you start the engine.
Fig . 18 5 Versio n A: Lowe r cente r conso le,~ OFF b utto n
The follow ing s ituations are except ions where it
may be usef ul to sw itch on offroad mode to allow
the wheels to spi n:
- Rocking the vehicle to free it when it is stuck
- Driv ing in deep snow or on loose ground
Offroad mode on
~ Q:)01_1 _ --.!'3.- -ft.
- Driving with snow chains
- Dr iving down hill wh ile braking on loose ground
- Dr iving on ro ugh te rra in when m uch of the car's
weight is lifted off the wheels (axle articula
tion)
Offroad mode off
Behavio r
The ESC and AS R stabilization f unctions Th
e fu ll sta bilization f unction of the ESC
a re limited
c:> &. .
Operation Press the 1.$ OFF I button.
Indicator II turns on.
lights
Driver mes- Stabilization
control (ESC): Offroad.
sages Wa rning! Restricted stability
A WARNING
- You should only sw itch o ffroad mode o n if
yo ur dr iv ing abilit ies a nd road cond it io ns
permit.
- The stabilization function is limited when offroa d mode is switched on. The dr iv ing
wheels co uld spi n and th e vehicle cou ld
swerve, es pec ially on s lick o r sli ppery roa d
s ur fac es. and ASR
is avai lab le again.
P ress t he
1.$ OFFI button aga in.
II turns off.
Stabilization control (ESC ): On
(D Tips
Offro ad mode ca nno t be switche d on whe n
adaptive c ruise co ntro l* is switched on.
191
Intelligent Technology
brake. This may cause the brakes to over
heat, premature wear and increased stop
ping distance.
- Under certain climatic and operating condi
tions such as passing through water, driving
in heavy rain or after washing the vehicle,
the effectiveness of the brakes can be re duced . In winter, ice can accumulate on the
brake pads, linings, discs and drums. Care
fully apply brakes for a test. Brakes will dry
and ice coatings will be cleaned off after a
few careful brake applications.
- Driving for an extended period of time on
salt-covered roads without using your
brakes can also affect braking efficiency.
Clean off accumulated salt coating from
brake discs and pads with a few carefu l
brake app lications .
-If you damage the front spoiler, or if you in
stall a different spoiler, be sure the air flow
to the front brakes is not obstructed. Other
wise the brake system could overheat reduc ing the effectiveness of the entire brake sys
tem .
- Failure of one brake circuit will impair the
braking capability resulting in an increased
stopping distance. Avoid driving the vehicle and have it towed to the nearest author ized
Audi dealer or qualified workshop.
- Never let the vehicle roll to a stop with the
engine shut off.
- If the brake booster is not working, the
brake pedal must be pressed considerably
harder to make up for the lack of booster
assista nee.
Electromechanical power
assist, Dynamic steering
The electromechanical power assist helps the
driver when steering.
Power steering adapts electronically based on
the vehicle speed.
Indicator lights and messages
• Steering defective! Do not drive vehicle!
194 If
this indicator light turns on and stays on and
this message appears, the power steering may
have failed.
Stop the vehicle in a safe location as soon as pos
sible. Do
not continue driving . See your author
ized Audi dealer or other qualified repair facility
for ass istance .
'-r, ij Dynamic steering: System fault! You can
continue driving
If the indicator l ight turns on and the message
appears, the steering may be more difficult to
move or more sensitive than usual. The steering
may also be at an angle when driving straight.
Drive slowly to your authorized Audi dealer or
qualified workshop to have the malfunct ion cor
rected.
1 :r- ij Dynamic steering: Initializing
Audi drive select* : if the indicator light blinks and
the driver message appears, the dynamic steer i ng* is reinitial ized. After start ing the engine, the
steering wheel will move slightly . Re-initial iza
tion might be necessary if the steering wheel was
moved hard to the left and right while the vehicle
was not moving. The display turns off if the initi
alization was successful.
(D Tips
- If the . or 1:r- ij in dicato r light only stays on
for a short time, you may continue driving.
- T he dynamic steering* stab ility systems
¢ page 190 are not available in the event of
a system malfunction.
- For additional information on dynamic
steering*
¢page 119.
Driving with your
quattro
With all-wheel drive, all four wheels are driven .
General information
With all-wheel drive, power is distributed to all
four wheels. This happens automatically depend
ing on your driving style and the road conditions
at the time. See also
c> page 190. ..,.