2018 AUDI A3 SEDAN transmission

Driving
- If the vehicle sti ll does not move in the de ­
sired direction, there is a system malfunc­
tion. See an authorized Audi dealer or au­
thori zed Audi Service Facility for assistance
to have the system checked.
(D Tips
Plug -in hybrid drive* : the transmission
switches automatically to the normal mode
" D" if the
l.,,f' I button ¢ page 98 is pressed
while i n sport mode "S" .
Driving tips
Applies to: ve hicles with a utomat ic transmissions
F ig . 9 2 Sect io n of the cente r co nso le: se le cto r lever w it h
i nte rlock butto n
Starting the engine
• Select the "P" or "N" selector lever position . At
low temperatu res (be low 14 °F ( -10 °C)), the
engine can only be started when t he se lec to r
l ever is in the "P " posit io n.
Starting from a stop
• Press and hold the brake pedal.
• Press and hold the interlock button in these­
lector lever handle, se lect the des ired sele ctor
lever posit io n such as "D" ¢
page 84 and re­
lease the loc k bu tton.
• Wait a moment unti l the transmission shifts.
Yo u w ill not ice a slight movement when the
gear engages.
• Release the brake pedal and press the accelera­
tor
pedal ¢,&. .
Various convenience functions are avai lab le for
starting on hills ¢
page 83.
86
Stopping temporarily
• Keep the vehicle st ationary using the bra kin g
peda l, for examp le a t traffic ligh ts.
• Do not press the acce le rato r pedal when doing
this.
• To prevent the vehicle from rolling when you start driving, set the pa rking brake when stop­
ping on steep
hills ¢.&. and ¢(Q).
• The parking brake will release a utomat ica lly
and the vehicle will start moving once yo u press
the acce le rato r pedal. Requirement: the d riv­
er's doo r mus t be closed.
Stopping/parking
If the selector lever is not in the "P" pos ition
whe n you open the d river's door, the vehicle
could roll. In vehicles with a conven ience key *,
the message :
Shift to P, otherwise vehicle can
roll away. Door s do not lock if lever is not in P
appe ars . A wa rning tone wi ll also sound.
• Press and hold the brake peda l¢ ,&. .
• Set t he par king brake.
• Select the "P" se lector lever posi tion .
Un der certai n circumstances, (such as dr iving in
the mo unta ins or towi ng a trailer), it may be use­
ful to switch temporar ily to the m an ual shift pro­
gr am in or der to ad ju st t he gears to the driv ing
cond it ions by hand ¢
page 88.
When parking on a level surface, s imp ly place the
se le ct or lever i n the "P" pos ition. On inclines, a c­
tivate the par king b rake first and then move the
se lector lever to the "P " posit ion ¢
page 81. Thi s
prevents the locking mechanism from being
l oaded too heavily and will make it easier to
move the selector lever out of the "P" position.
A WARNING
- The vehicle can roll even whe n the engi ne is
sw itched off .
- Unintended vehicle movement can lead to
serio us injuries.
- 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, set
t he par king brake and move the se lecto r lev ­
er to the "P " posi tion .

u. 00 .-< N l'­ N .-< 0 N > 00
-Power is still transferred 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
the "D", "S" or "R" position or "tiptronic"
mode is selected.
- Do not inadvertently press the accelerator
peda l when the vehicle is stopped if a gear is
engaged. Otherwise the risk of an accident
increases because the vehicle will start to
move immediately, even if the parking brake
is set.
- To reduce the risk of an accident, do not
press the acce lerator pedal when changing
the selector lever position while the vehicle is stationary and the engine is running.
- Never engage the "R" or "P" selector leve l
positions while driving. It could cause a
crash.
- Before driving down a steep slope, reduce
your speed and shift into a lower gear with
"ti ptron i c".
- Do not ride the brakes or press the brake
pedal too often or too long when driving
downhill. 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.
- If you must stop on an incline, always hold
the vehicle in p lace with the foot brake or
park ing brake to prevent it from rolling
back.
- Never hold the veh icle on an incline with a
sl ip ping clutch. The clutch opens automati­
cally when it becomes too hot from the
overload. The
ml indicator light turns on
and a message appears
¢ page 89 when
the clutch is over loaded .
{LlJ) Note
- When stopping on an incline, do not try to
ho ld the vehicle in place by pressing the ac­
ce lerator pedal while a driving gear is se ­
l ected. This can cause the automatic trans ­
mission to overheat and can damage it. Set
Driving
the parking brake or press the brake pedal
to prevent the vehicle from rolling.
- Allowing the vehicle to roll when the engine
is stopped while the selector lever is in the
"N" position will damage the automatic
transmission, because it is not lubricated
under those circumstances
¢ page 3 78,
Towing with a tow truck.
- The transmission can overheat and be dam­
aged under certain driving and traffic condi­
tions such as frequent starts, creeping for a
long time, or stop-and-go traffic. When the
ml or. indicator light turns on, stop the
vehicle at the next opportunity and let the
transmission cool¢
page 89.
(D Tips
For safety reasons, the park ing brake only re­
l eases automatically when the driver's door is
closed.
Hill descent control
App lies to : vehicles wi th automatic transmiss ions
The hill descent control system assists the driver
when driving down hills.
Hill descent control is act ivated when the selec­
tor lever is in the "D" or "S" posit ion and you
press the b rake pedal. The transmission auto ­
matically se lects a gear that is suitab le for the
hill. Hill descent contro l tries to ma inta in the
speed achieved at the time of braking, within
physical and technica l limitations. If may still be
necessary to adjust the speed with the brakes.
Because hill descent control cannot shift down
farther than 3rd gear, it may be necessary to
shift into tiptronic mode in very steep areas . In
th is case, shift into 2nd or 1st gear in t iptronic
mode to use the engine's braking force to rel ieve
the brakes.
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 120, hill descent control is also activated
when the speed is set .
.,,.
87

Driving
& WARNING
Hill descent control cannot overcome phys ical
limitations, so it may not be able to maintain
a constant speed under all condit ions. Always
be ready to apply the brakes .
Manual shifting (tiptronic mode)
Applies to: vehicles with automatic transmissions
The tiptronic mode allows the driver to shift the
gears manually.
F ig. 9 3 Center conso le : shifting manually w ith the se lector
l ever
F ig . 94 Steering wheel: shifting manual ly w it h the s hift
paddles*
Shifting with the selector lever
You can sh ift into tiptro nic mode while stationary
a nd while driv ing.
• To s hift into tiptronic mode, p ush the selector
lever from the "D/S" position to the right in the
t ip tr onic sh ift gate . Once the transmission has
swi tched modes, t he se lec tor lever posi tion
M
is shown in the instrumen t clus ter display
¢ page 84, fig. 90. For example, M4 means the
fo urth gear is engaged.
• To shift up a gear, tap the se lector lever for­
ward
0 ¢ fig. 93 .
88
• To shift down a gear, tap the selecto r lever
backward
0 -
Shifting with the shift paddles*
You can operate the s hift paddles in the "D/S" or
" M " (tiptro nic shift ga te) se lec tor lever posi tions.
• To shift up one gear, tap the shift paddle 0
¢fig . 94.
• To shift down a gear, tap the 0 shift paddle.
• Applies to: RS models: to select the lowest/
highest possi ble gear, press and hold the sh if t
paddle
0 10 .
If the shift paddles a re tapped wh ile in the "D/S"
selector lever position, a utomat ic mode sw itches
off briefly . To swit ch from manually shift ing bac k
to automatic shifting immediate ly, tap t he shift
padd le
0 ¢ fig . 94 for 1 second .
To keep sh ift ing using the shift padd les, move
the selec to r l ever to the right o ut o f th e "D/S" po­
sition into the tiptronic shift gate .
The tra nsmission a utomatically sh ifts up or dow n
before cr itical engine speed is reac hed.
Applies to: RS models: when accelerating, the
transm iss ion does
not au tomatically shift to the
next gear short ly before the maxim um permitted
engine RP M is re ached. Shift to the next highest
gear at the right time.
The tra nsmission on ly allows manual shifting
whe n the engine speed is w ith in the perm itted
r a nge.
Kick-down
Applies to: vehicles with automatic transmissions
Kick-down enables maximum acceleration.
When you p ress the accelerator pedal down be­
yo nd the res istance point (called kick-down), the
automat ic transmission downshifts into a lower
gear, depending on vehicle s peed and engine
RPM .
It shifts up into the next higher gear once
t h e maximum specified engine RPM is reached .
Applies to: RS models: in tipt ronic mode, the
transm iss ion does
not automa tic ally shift down
i nto a lower ge ar. If yo u m ust accelera te, for ex ­
ample to pass a vehi cle, you mus t sh ift manually .
..,.

u. co ... N l'­ N
A WARNING
Please note that the wheels could spin on
slick or slippery roads when kick-down is ac­
tive .
Launch control program
App lies to: ve hicles with S tro nic tra nsm issio n an d La unch
Co ntrol P rogram
-
The launch control program provides the best
possible acceleration when starting from a stop .
Requirement: the eng ine must be at operating
temperature and t he steer ing whee l must not be
turned.
.,. Deact ivate l) the S tart/Stop system*
~ page 81. The L ED in the ~ button turns on .
.,. Wi th the engine runn ing, p ress the I.!, O FF ! but­
ton briefly one time . The
11 indicator light
turns on and the message
Stabili zation control
( ESC ): s port. W arning! Rest ricted st a bilit y
ap­
pears in the instrument cluster display.
.,. Pull the selector lever back out of the "D/S" po­
s it ion br iefly to select the S pos it ion, or press it
toward the right into the t iptronic pos ition or
select the
Dynamic d riving mode in d rive se­
lect* ~ page 140.
.,. Press t he b rake peda l firmly with you r left foot
and hold it all the way down for at least one
second .
.,. At the same time, press the gas pedal a ll the
way down with your right foot unt il the engine
reaches and stays at a high RPM level.
.,. Remove your left foot from the brake pedal
within five
seconds ~,&. .
A WARNING
-Always adapt yo ur driv ing to the traffic flow.
- Only use Launch Control when road and traf-
fic cond itions allow it and other dr ivers will
not be endangered or impacted by you r driv­
ing and the vehicle 's accele ration.
- Please note tha t the drive whee ls can sp in
and the vehicle can break away when sport
8 l ) It is n ot poss ib le to deac tiv ate t he system wit h all ve rs io n s N &j of th e tran sm iss ion.
Driving
mode is switched on, especially when the
road is slippery.
- Once the vehicle has started moving, press
the !.!> OFF I button briefly to turn the sport
mode off.
(D Tips
- The transmission temperat ure may increase
significant ly after using the launch control
program. If that happens, the program may
not be ava ilable for a few minutes. It will be
availab le aga in after a cool-down period.
- When accelerating using the launch contro l
program, all vehicle parts are subject to
heavy loads . This can lead to increased
wear .
Transmission malfunction
Applies to: vehicles wit h automatic transmissions
• Transmis sion : malfunction! Pl eas e s top ve ­
hicle and shift to P
There is a malfunction in the transmission . Park
the vehicle securely and do not cont inue driv ing .
See an author ized Audi dealer or author ized Audi
Se rvice Facility for assistance .
• Transmission o verhe ating! Plea se stop th e
vehicle!
The transmission is too hot and can become dam­
aged. Stop and let the transmiss ion cool w ith the
engine running (at idle) i n the "P" selector lever
pos ition . T hen the ind icator light and the mes­
sage turn off, d rive to an authorized Aud i dealer
o r auth o rized Aud i Serv ice Facility immediately to
have t he malfunct ion cor rected . If the indicato r
light and the driver message do not turn off, do
not continue driving . See an authorized Audi
dealer or authorized Audi Service Facility for as­
s istance.
[O] Tran smission: malfunction! You can contin-
u e dri ving. See owne r's manual
.,.
89

Driving
Drive to an authorized Audi dealer or authorized
Audi Service Facility immediately to have the
malfunct ion corrected .
[i1 Transmission: malfunction! You can contin­
ue driving with limited function. No reverse
gear
There is a system malfunction in the transm is­
sion. The transmission is switching to emergency
mode. This mode only shifts into certain gears or
will no longer shift at all. The engine may stall.
You cannot engage the reverse gear. Drive to an
authorized Audi dealer or author ized Audi Service
Facility immediately to have the malfunction cor­
rected .
[i1 Transmission: malfunction! You can contin­
ue driving in
D until engine is off
Drive the vehicle away from movi ng traffic and
park. See an authorized Audi dealer or authorized
Aud i Serv ice Facility for assistance.
[i1 Transmission: too hot . Please adapt driving
style
The transmission tempe rature has increased s ig­
n ificant ly. Dr ive very cautiously or take a break
from driving unt il the temperature returns to the
normal range and the indicator light turns off.
[O] Transmis sion: please press brake pedal and
select gear again
If the transmission malfu nctions because the
temperature is too high, a message appears
when the transmission is cooled .
90
Selector lever emergency release
Applies to : vehicles wi th automatic transmissions
If the vehicle's power supply fails, the selector
lever can be released in an emergency .
Fig. 95 Selector leve r: remov ing the shifter boot
Fig. 96 Selector lever: using the emergency release to
move out of the Pa rk posit ion
To maneuver or tow the vehicle, the emergency
release must be used to move the selector lever
from the P position .
The emergency release mechanism is located in
the right area under the selector lever shift gate .
Using the emergency release can be complicated .
We recommend contacting an authorized Audi
dealer or authorized Aud i Service Facility for as­
s is tance, if necessary.
The screwdr iver from the vehicle tool kit located
i n the luggage compartment is needed to for the
emergency re lease
c::> page 360 . Use the flat side
of the reversible screwdriver blade.
Removing the shifter boot
.,. Set the park ing brake(®) ¢.& to secure your
veh icle from rolling. If this is not possible, se­
cure your vehicle from rolling using another
method .
.,. Switch the ignit ion off.

e-tron
for the high voltage battery can lead to seri­
ous damage and/or a decrease of the capacity
void coverage under the New Vehicle Limited
Warranty.
Starting/driving the vehicle
A pp lies to: ve hicles w ith plug- in hybrid drive
The vehicle is started and stopped with the
IS TAR T ENGINE STOP I button . Please also read
the information under
Q page 76, Starting the
engine.
Establishing drive ready mode
See Q .& in Introduction on page 92.
Requirement: a charging cable must not be con­
nected to the vehicle
Qpage 115 and the selec ­
tor lever must be in the "P" or
"N" position.
- Press the brake peda l.
- Press th e
I START ENGINE STOPI button .
When the veh icle enters drive ready mode, the
status message
e-tron READY appears briefly in
the instrument cluster display and the needle in
the powe r meter points to
READY Q page 95.
Driving
The vehicle starts with the electr ic motor after
establishing the dr ive ready mode and if the con­
ditions for electric drive mode have been met
Qpage98.
The cond itions to drive are essentially the same
as for the automat ic transmission
Q page 83 .
You and your passengers should anticipate the
possibility of a sporty acceleration.
Ending drive ready mode
- Place the selector lever in the P position.
- Switch the ign ition off with the
I START ENGINE STOP ! button.
Vehicle sound1>
The vehicle generates an electronic engine sound
so that you r vehicle can be heard from the out­
side when in electr ic drive mode. The veh icle
l) Not available in all markets.
94
sound automatically fades out at higher speeds
when the sounds from the tires and wind start in­
creasing .
Switching the ignition on/off
You can switch the ignition on without establish­
in g drive ready mode.
- To switch the ign ition on or off, press the
!START ENGINE STOPI button. Do not press the
brake pedal while do ing this.
When the ignition is switched on, the needle
stays pointed at
OFF CD Q page 95, fig. 98 or
OFF is displayed CD~ page 95, fig. 98.
No indicator lights stay turned on when the igni­
tion is switched off.
Ignition is switched off automatically
To prevent the vehicle battery from draining, the
i gnition will switch off automatically under the
follow ing cond it ions:
- The vehicle has already been driven.
- The vehicle is stationary.
- The gasoline engine is not runn ing.
- The driver's door is opened.
- The driver's safety belt is unbuckled .
- The brake pedal is not pressed.
In this case, the activated low beam is replaced
by the parking light. The message
Side marker
lights will switch off automatically in 30 mi­
nutes. See owner 's manual
appears in the instru­
ment cluster display . The parking lights will
switch off after approximately 30 minutes or
when you lock the veh icle.
If the gasoline engine was not stopped, the mo­
tor continues running and the ignition does not
automat ically switch off
Q & .
A WARNING
To reduce the risk of poisoning, never allow
the engine to run in confined spaces .
-

e-tr on
~ To switch between the short -term and long ­
term memory, turn the left thumbwhee l on the
multifunction steering whee l.
Setting plug-in hybrid drive modes
Applies to: vehicles with plug-in hybrid drive
You con select between one electric mode and
two hybrid modes .
Fig . 1 01 Center console: but ton c:=!i'
~ Press the 14• 1 button repeatedly until the de­
s ired dr ive mode is d isplayed in the instrument
cluster/Infota inment system display .
You can change modes when the vehicle is sta ­
tionary or while driving . If the veh icle operat ing
conditions will not allow you to set the mode
manually , the last act ive mode is se lected.
The active mode is displayed the first t ime the
14' 1
button is pressed .
,cf,V e-tron mod e: E V -EV mode is electric driv ing
only . EV mode is active at the beginning of every
tr ip depend ing on the operating condition of the
veh icle . T he LED in the
14"1 button turns on .
The. indicator light also appea rs in the instru­
ment cluste r. T he gasoline eng ine rema ins
t urned off, as long as the cond it io n s for electr ic
driving are
met ¢ page 98, Conditions for elec ­
tric driving.
~ e- tron m ode : H ybrid -the electr ic motor and
t he gasoline engine wo rk efficien tly toge ther in
hybrid mode . The high -vo ltage battery will be
used to the fullest extent when t his mode is
switched on. This mode is best suited for long
d istances .
.. ~ e -t ro n mode: Batt ery Hold -the electric mo­
tor and the gasoline engine work together in Bat -
98
tery Hold mode, so that the high -voltage battery
charge level is maintained as much as possib le .
(D Tips
- Applies to: Battery Hold mode: th e h igh ­
vo ltage battery charge level can sti ll de­
crease depending on the driving behavior.
- If you select the sport driving mode "S"
when in EV mode, the Battery Ho ld mode is
automatically selected.
- If the
14"1 ¢ page 98 button is pressed w hile
in sport driving mode "S", the transmission
switches automatica lly to normal mode "D".
- When temperatures are below approxi ­
mate ly
14 °F ( -10 °C), the vehicle heat out­
put in EV mode is reduced in order to attain
higher ranges. If the windows fog up or a
hig her heat output is desired, switch on the
Hybrid or Battery Hold mode .
Conditions for electric driving
Applies to: vehicles with plug-in hybrid drive
The EV mode ca n only be switched o n if the fol­
l ow ing condit ions are met:
- The charge level of the high-voltage battery
must be sufficient .
- The temperature of the high-voltage battery
must be adequate (outside temperatures not
below approx imately
14°F / -10°( and not
above
1 04°F / 40°C)
- The speed must not be h igher than approxi -
mate ly
80 mph (130 km/h) .
- Kick -down must not be activated .
- The sport drive mode "S " must not be selected .
EV mode is switched off if one or more of the
conditions are not met. The gasoline engine wi ll
start automatically. The
l!'§'J indi cator light turns
on as a message in the instrument cluster. The
LED in the
14" 1 butto n and the . indicator light
turn off .
E lectric drive mode will not contin ue automati -
cally. React ivate the EV
mode ¢ page 98. Ill-

u. 00 .-< N l'­ N .-< 0 N > 00
Engine and automatic transmission
D epending on the mode, the eng ine and auto ­
mat ic transmission * respond more quickly or in a
more balanced manner to accelerator pedal
movements . In the sporty dynamic mode, the
transmission shifts at higher speed ranges.
Suspen sion control (Audi magnetic ride) *
The s uspension contro l uses sensors to reco rd in­
formation regarding steering movements, brak ­
ing and acce leration operations by the driver, as
well as information abo ut th e road s urface, driv ­
ing speed, and load. With Audi dr ive select you
can adjust the suspens ion control to sporty (dy­
namic), comfortable (comfort) or balanced (au­
to) .
Steering
T he steering adapts in terms of steering assis ­
tance. There are different modes
¢ page 142 .
Indirect steering that moves easily as in comfort
mode is especia lly su ited to long drives on a high ­
way . The dynam ic mode p rovides sporty, d irect
steer ing .
For vehicles w ith progressive steering* the steer­
in g performance is more ag ile .
Audi adapt ive light *
The i llumination on curves in adaptive light is
adapted to the se lected mode.
Audi adaptive cruise control*
The behav ior when a cce le ra ting can be adjus ted
from com fortab le to sporty, depending on the
drive select mode . Adaptive cr uise control a lso
r e sponds to the driving behavior of the ve hicle
ahead in a more conservative or sporty manner.
(D Tips
- In some models, the maximum vehicle
speed can only be reached in the auto and
dynam ic modes.
A ss istance systems
- The "S " sele ctor leve r position au tomatically
engages if the dynamic mode is selected.
Selecting the driving mode
Applies to: vehicles with Audi drive select
You con choose between comfort, auto, dynamic
and individual* .
Fig. 144 Ce nter co nso le: dri ve se lect button
"' Press the ~:i;~ ¢ fig . 144 button repeatedly unt il
the desired mode is d isp layed in the instrument
cluste r/ Infotainment system . Or
"' In the Infota inment system, selec t: I M ENU I
bu tton > Vehicl e > left cont rol b utt on > Audi
dri ve select .
"'Select and confirm the desired se tting.
Yo u can change the dr iv ing mode when the veh i­
cl e is stationary or while drivin g. If t raff ic per ­
mi ts, after c hanging mo des, briefly ta ke your
foot off t he accelerator pedal so that the recently
selected mode is also activated fo r th e engine.
Comfort -prov ides a co mfort -or iented vehicle
setup a nd is s uited for long d rives on h ighways .
Auto -provides a n overa ll comfortab le yet dy­
nam ic dr iv ing feel and is suited for eve ryday use.
Dynamic
-g ives the drive r a sporty driving fee l
and is suited to a spo rty d riving style .
Individual * -¢ page 142.
A WARNING
--
Pay attention to traffic when ope rating the
drive select to reduce the r is k of an accident .
141