2018 AUDI A3 SEDAN engine

Driving
transmissions and a llow th e vehicle to a ccelerate
without a noticeab le interruption in traction .
Selector lever positions
Applies to: vehicles w ith automatic t ransmissions
F ig. 9 0 Instru ment cl uster : selector leve r po sit ions
•
F ig. 91 Selec tor lever lock
~ 0
0
> a, Ul
The se lected selector leve r pos ition is shown hear
the selector lever ¢
fig. 91 and in the instrument
cluster display ¢
fig. 90.
.,. Swi tch the ign ition on.
.,. In the "P/N " pos itio n, you mus t release t hese­
lector lever lock ¢
page 84 .
.,. Move the selecto r lever into the desired posi­
tion. The engaged selector lever pos ition is
shown in the shift gate .
Selector lever lock
The selector lever loc k prevents you from se lect­
ing a gea r accidenta lly, causing the vehicle to
ro ll.
The se lector lever is locked in the "P" and " N"
po­
sitions when the ignition is sw itched on. Yo u
must press the bra ke pedal to select another
po ­
sition. You must also press the interlock button if
you are moving from the "P" and "N" position.
84
The selector leve r lock on ly functions when the
vehicle is stationary or at speeds be low approxi­
mately 1 mph (2 km/h) . At higher speeds, the
l ock is automatically deactivated in the "N" posi­
tion.
The selector leve r is not locked when shiftin g
quick ly throug h "N ", for example from "R" to
"DI
S" . This makes it possible to free the veh icle
whe n it is stuck by "rock ing" it. The selector lever
l ock engages if the lever stays in the "N" position
l onger than approximately two seconds when the
brake peda l is not pressed .
Ignition key safety interlock*
Applies to: vehicles with ignition lock
You can only remove the key from t he ignit ion af­
ter switching the ignition off if the selector lever
i s in the "P" pos it ion . T he selector lever will be
locked in t he "P" position as long as the key is not
i n the ig nitio n.
P - Park
This selector lever position prevents the vehicle
from ro lling. You ca n only shift into Park when
the veh icle is
stationary ¢,&. .
To sh ift in and out of the "P" se lector lever posi­
tion, press the selector lever lock (button in the
selector lever handle)
and press t he brake pedal
at the same t ime .
The selector lever will be locked in the "P" posi­
tion if there is a power fa i Lu re
¢ page 90, Se­
lector lever emergency release.
R- Rever se
Only s hift into reverse gear when the ve hicle is
stationary and the engine is runn ing at id le
speed ¢.&. .
To se lect the "R" selec to r l ever positio n, press the
selector lever loc k
while pressing the brake ped­
a l.
N - Neutral
The tran smission is in idle in th is posi tion .
D /S - Normal position for driving forward
In the "D/S " selector lever position, the transmis-
s ion can be operated e ithe r in the normal "D "
llll>

u. 00 .-< N l'­ N .-< 0 N > 00
mode or in the "S" sport mode . To select the "S"
sport mode, pu ll the selector lever back briefly.
Pu lling the lever back again will se lect the nor­
mal "D" mode. The instrument cl uster display
shows the selected driving mode.
In the
no rmal mode "D", the transmission auto­
mat ica lly selects the su itab le gear ratio . It de ­
pends on eng ine load, vehicle speed and driving
s tyle.
The engine's power reserves are used fully in the
Sport mode "S ". Shifting may become noticeab le
when accelerating.
To move from selector lever position "N" to "D",
you must press the brake pedal and the vehicle must be traveling less t han 1 mp h (2 km/ h) or be
stationary ¢.&, .
A WARNING
Read and follow all WARNINGS.
-The veh icle can roll even if the ignition is
switched off .
- Never select "R" or "P" w hile driving, be ­
cause this increases the risk of an accident.
-Power is sti ll transmitted to the w heels
when the eng ine is r unning at idle. To pre­
vent the ve hicle from "creeping", you must
keep your foot on the brake i n all selector
lever posit ions (except "P") when t he engine
is runn ing. Othe rw ise, this inc reases the risk
of an accident.
- Do not inadvertent ly press the accelerator
peda l w hen the veh icle is stopped if a gear is
engaged. Ot herw ise the r is k of an accident
in creases because the vehicle will s tart to
move immediately, even if th e p arking bra ke
is set.
- T o red uce the risk of an acci dent, do no t
press the acce le ra to r pedal when cha nging
the se lecto r lever position while the vehicle
is stationary and the engine is ru nning.
- Never leave yo ur vehicle wi th t he engine
running whi le in gear. If yo u m ust leave
yo ur vehicle when the engine is running, set
the parking brake and move the se lecto r lev­
er to the "P" pos ition.
Driving
- To reduce the r is k of an accident, the se lec ­
to r lever m ust be in the "P" position and the
parking brake must be set before opening
the hood and working on a runni ng engine .
A lways read and follow the app licab le warn­
in gs ¢ page 318, Working in the engine
c ompartment.
- Read and fo llow ing a ll WARNINGS ¢&. in
Driving tips on page 86 .
@ Note
Never let the vehicle roll dow nhill w it h eng ine
off a nd the selector leve r in the
"N" posit io n,
because th is co uld damage the a utoma tic
transm ission and catalyt ic co nverter.
(D Tips
- Audi dr ive se lect: sporty shifti ng character­
ist ics can be selected using the
Dynamic
dr iv ing mode ¢ page 140 "S" w ill appea r in
the inst rument cl uste r display instead of
"D ...
- If you a ccidentally select " N" whil e d riving,
take your foo t off the acce lerator peda l im­
me diately a nd wai t fo r the eng ine to s low
down to id le befo re selectin g "D" or "S".
- If the re is a powe r fail ure, the se lector lever
w ill not move ou t of the " P" position. The
emergency re lease can be used if t his hap­
pens
¢ page 90.
(D Tips
If the se lector lever does not engage, there is
a malfunction . T he engine is disabled to pre­
vent the vehicle from driving off unintention ­
a lly. To allow the selector leve r to engage
again, proceed as fo llows:
- Briefly press the b ra ke peda l.
- If the vehicle does not move forward or in
reverse even tho ugh a d rive positio n is se ­
lected, p roceed as follows :
- If the vehicle does not move in the desired
direction, the system may not have engaged
the drive position cor rect ly. Press the brake
peda l and select the dr ive position again.
IJ>
85

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
e-tron Plug-in hybrid drive
Introduction
Applies to: vehicles with plug-in hybrid drive
General information
The plug- in hybrid drive is a drive concept that al­
lows you to choose between driving w ith the elec­
tr ic moto r, with the gaso lin e eng ine o r us ing a
comb inat io n of both.
All work done on the high-voltage system must
only be performed by certif ied h igh-voltage tech­
n icians at autho rized Aud i dea le rs or authorized
Aud i Serv ice Facilities in accordance with A udi
gu idelines.
The high-voltage system is composed of the fol­ low ing high-voltage components: the h igh -volt­
age battery, the powe r electron ics, the e lectr ic
motor, the high-voltage A/C compressor, the
high-vo ltage heater, the charging system and
charging port as well as the orange high -vo ltage
wiring.
The pedal referred to in this sect ion of the Own­
er's Manua l is t he equivalent of the acce lerator
pedal (gas peda l) in a standard vehicle.
High-voltage battery
The high -voltage battery is located on the veh icle
underbody in front of t he rear ax le and does not
require any maintenance from t he d river. Addi ­
tional information about the high-vo ltage bat ­
tery can be found
under ¢ page 106.
A WARNING
The voltage in the h igh-vo ltage system is life­
threaten ing. Touching a damaged high-volt­
age component can result in a fatal e lectr ic
shock. The components in the high-voltage
system are ma rked w ith a warning label wh ich
wa rns against t he h igh-vo ltage.
- The voltage level in the high-voltage system
is still dangerous and potent ially life-threat­
ening when t he ignit ion is switched off.
- Never perform work on orange high-voltage
cables or on high-voltage components. Only
92
authorized repair facilities that are certified may perform work on the high-vo ltage sys­
tem.
- Never damage, alter or remove the orange
high-voltage cable or disconnect it from the
high-voltage system.
- Never perform any work using cutting, shap­ ing or sharp-edged too ls or heat sources
near the h igh-vo ltage system and hig h-volt­
age cables .
- Aud i regulat ions must be followed during
all work performed on the high-voltage sys­
tem and h igh-vo ltage components .
- When working on t he h igh-voltage system
and h igh-voltage compone nts, make sure
the remote cont rol key is kept far enough
away from the vehicle so that there is no
r is k of t he ignit io n be ing inadve rtent ly
sw itched on.
- Gases t hat escape from the high-vo ltage
b attery can be poisono us or flammab le.
- Damage to the h igh-voltage battery could
cause t he hi gh-vo ltage battery to lea k im­
mediately or in the fut ure, and poisono us or
flammab le gases co uld escape . Do not in ­
ha le the gases!
- Do not expose yourse lf to any leaking fluids
and do not come into contact with them .
- The h igh -voltage battery e lec troly te flui d is
caustic. If electro lyte fluid comes into con ­
tact with the skin, flus h the affected area
for at least 15 minutes with clean water.
Then wash the affected area with soap.
H ave the affected area examined by a med i­
cal professional.
- In the event of a technica l emergency, in­
form the responders that the vehicle is
equ ipped with a high-voltage battery.
A WARNING
Neve r leave the vehicle unattended when in
drive ready mode
¢ page 94 with a gea r en­
gaged . T he veh icle can start mov ing ("creep­
i ng") even if the gaso line engine is swi tched
off, since the e lectr ic motor is still ope ra ting.
This may ca use coll is ions and severe or fata l
-