2018 AUDI A8 tow

u. co .... N
" N .... 0 0 :c ' reactivated the next time you switch the ignition
on.
C lea n the head lights. The headlight washer sys ­
tem operates only when the low beam headlights
are switched on . If you move the lever to position
@ , the headlights and the night vision assist
camera* are cleaned at intervals .
A WARNING
-The rain sensor is only intended to assist the
dr iver. The driver may still be responsible
for manually sw itching the w ipers on based
on v is ib il ity conditions.
-The w indshie ld may not be treated with wa­
ter-repell ing windsh ield coating agents . U n­
favorable conditions, such as wetness, dark­ ness, and whe n the s un is low, can cause in­
cr eased g la re, which in cre ases the risk of a n
acc iden t. W iper blade ch atter is also poss i­
ble.
-Prope rly f unct ion ing winds hield wiper
blades are require d fo r a clear view and s afe
driving¢ page 51, Replacing the wiper
blades.
(Llj) Note
-If there is frost, make s ure t he windsh ie ld
wiper b la d es are not frozen to the wind ­
s h ield. Switching on the windshield wipers
when the blades are frozen to the wind­ s h ield can damage the wiper blades.
-Prior to using a car was h, the windshield
wiper system must be switched off (lever in
pos ition @). This prevents the wipers from
switching on un intent ionally and causing
damage to the w indshie ld w iper system .
(D Tips
-The windshield wipe rs switch off when the
i gnition is sw itched off. You can act ivate the
winds hield wipers after the ig nition is
switched back on by moving the winds hield
wiper leve r to any pos it ion .
-Worn or dirty w indshield wiper blades result
i n streak ing . This can affec t the ra in se nsor
f u nct ion . Check yo ur windsh ield wipe r
b lades regu lar ly.
Light s and Vision
-The washer fluid no zz les for the windshield
washer system are heated at low tempera­
tures when the ign ition is on .
-When stopping temporari ly, such as at a
traffic light, the speed of the windshield
w ipers automatica lly reduces by one level.
Cleaning the wiper blades
Clean the wiper b lades when you see w iper
streaks. Clea n the wiper blades with a soft towel
and glass cleaner .
.. Place the windshie ld w iper arms in the service
position
¢ page 51.
.. Fold the windshie ld wiper arms away from the
w indshield .
A WARNING
Dirty windsh ie ld w iper b lades can impa ir vi­
sion, w hich in creases the r is k of an acc ident.
Replacing the wiper blades
The service position is set in the Infotainment
system .
Fig. 57 Remov ing w indsh ield wiper b lades
Windshield wiper s erv ice position /blade
repl ace ment posit ion
-
~ ~ M 0 :i: ... m
.. Switch the ignit ion off and move the windshield
w iper lever to
position @) briefly¢ page 50,
fig. 56. The windshield wipers move into the
serv ice position .
.. To bring the wiper blades back into the o rig inal
position, sw itch the ignition on and ope rate the
w indshie ld w iper lever.
You can also turn the se rvice posit ion on or off in
the Infotainment system:
.,.
51

lL t:0 ....
"' ......
"' .... 0 0 :c ' Folding table in the center console
Applies to: ve hicles with fold ing tab le in the center console
The folding table is stored in the front area of
the center console.
Fi g. 73 Rea r center console : ope ning the folding tab le
F ig. 74 Rea r ce nter console : fold ing tab le in clined pos ition
Opening
"" Pull the handle @towa rd the rear r=;, fig. 73.
The folding table extends out partially by i tself
¢ &, .
... Pull the folding table up until it locks into place
® ·
... Fold the tabletop back and down ©-
Storing
... Release the tabletop @to fold it back .
... You can now move the folding table vertica lly
back into its original position.
.&_ WARNING
- Do not open the folding table wh ile driving.
Open ing the folding table wh ile driving in­
creases the risk of injury in the event of a
co llision or sudden brak ing.
- To reduce the risk of pinch ing, open and
close the fo ld ing table carefully and in a
contro lled manner.
S eats and storag e
Storage
Cup holders
Fig. 75 Cente r conso le : front cup holders
F ig. 76 Section o f the rear bench seat: cup hol der in rear
center console
Front cup holders
"" Tap on the cove r to open the cup holders
r=;, fig. 75.
Cup holde rs in the rear center console
.. Tap on the front strip to open the cup holders.
• Set your beve rage in the holder .
• To close the cup holder , fo ld the cover back un-
til it clicks into place .
In veh icles with a full-length center console in
the rear, the cup holder is located at @
¢page 62, fig. 72 .
.&_ WARNING
-
-Do not put any hot beverages in the cup
holder while t he vehi cle is moving . Hot bev ­
erages could spill, which can cause injury.
- Do not use any breakab le beverage contain­
ers (for example, made out of g lass or por­
celain). Yo u could be injured by them in the
event of an accident .
...,
63

Seats and storage
Tie-downs and luggage compartment net
The luggage compartment net* prevents smaller
objects from sliding out of place .
Fig . 79 Luggage compartment: location of the t ie-dow ns
Fig . 80 Luggage co mpartment : ca rgo net stretc hed out
• To secure the luggage compartment net*, fold
the tie-down retainer
upward ¢ fig. 79.
• Attach the hooks for the luggage compartment
net* into the
tie-downs ¢ fig. 80.
Pass-through with ski
bag
Preparing the pass-through
Applies to: vehicles with pass-through and ski bag
Long objects, such as skis, can be transported in
the bag.
Fig. 81 Rear bench seat: removing th e protect ive cove r
66
Fig. 82 Rear center armrest : app ly in g the protective cover
• Fold down the rear center arm rest and the cov­
er behind i t.
• To remove the protective cover, press the but­
ton¢
fig. 81.
• To protect the front area of the center armrest,
position the cover as shown in the image
¢ fig. 82 and press down on its suction cups.
• Push the packed bag* through the opening
from the luggage compartment. The zipper
must face toward the rear .
.,. Secure the bag ¢ page 66.
Securing the ski bag
Applies to: vehicles with pass-through and ski bag
Fig. 83 Luggage compartme nt: secur ing the bag*
Fig . 84 Rear bench se at: secur ing the bag

lL t:0 ....
"' ......
"' .... 0 0 :c ' Electromechanical
parking brake
Fig. 94 Center console: parking brake
Your vehicle is equipped with an electromechani ­
cal parking brake ®
i=)fig. 94. The parking brake
is designed to prevent the vehicle from rolling
unintentionally and replaces the hand brake.
Setting/manually releasing the parking
brake
.. Pull the C®> switch to set the parking brake. The
LED in the switch turns on. The
-(USA mod­
els) . (Canada models) indicator light also
turns on in the instrument cluster display.
.. To release the parking brake manua lly, press
the brake or acce lerator pedal while the igni­
t ion is switched on and press
the(®) switch at
the same time. The LED in the button and the
indicator light in the display turn off.
Releasing the parking brake automatically
Requirement: the driver's door must be closed,
the driver's safety belt must be latched and the parking brake must be set.
.. To start driving and release the parking brake
automatically, press the accelerator pedal as
usual.
In addition to releasing the parking brake auto­
matically, other convenience and safety functions
are available when you start driving
i=)page 82,
Starting to drive.
Preventing the automatic parking brake
release
The vehicle could begin rolling unintentionally,
depending on the hill or if towing a trailer.
Driving
.. To prevent the parking brake from releasing au­
tomatically, pull and hold the<®> switch and press the accelerator pedal. The parking brake
remains set and prevents the vehicle from roll­
ing backward .
.,. You can release the<®> switch again once you
are sure that you are giving enough driving
force to the wheels by pressing the accelerator
pedal.
Emergency braking function
You can use the emergency braking function in an
emergency situation, or if the standard brake op­
eration malfunctions or is disabled.
.. Pull and hold the<®> switch.
.. As soon as you release the <®> switch or acceler-
ate, the braking stops.
Pulling and ho lding
the(®) switch while driving
the vehicle activates the emergency braking func­
tion. The vehicle is braked at all four wheels by activating the hydraulic brake system. The brak­
ing effect is similar to heavy braking
i=) ,& .
To reduce the risk of activating the emergency
braking by mistake, a warning tone (buzzer)
sounds when the
<®l switch is pulled. Emergency
braking stops as soon as
the© switch is released
or the accelerator pedal is pressed.
Parking
.. Press the brake pedal to stop the vehicle.
.. Pull the<®> switch to set the parking brake .
.,. Select the P selector lever position .
.,. Turn the engine off i=) ,&.
.,. Turn the steering wheel when parking on in­
clines so that the wheels w ill roll into the curb
if the vehicle starts moving.
8_ WARNING
-Do not press the acce lerator pedal inadver­
tently if a gear is selected when the vehicle
is stationary and the engine is running. Oth­
erwise, the vehicle will start to move imme­
diately and this could result in an accident.
-Eme rgency braking should only be used in
an emergency, when the normal brake pedal
has failed or the brake pedal is obstructed .
.,.
81

Drivin g
you can s hift past the N and R se lector lever
positions.
Selector lever lock
The se lector lever lock prevents you from se lect­
ing a posit ion un intent ionally, causing the vehicle
to ro ll. When engaging some selector lever posi­
tions, you must press the button on the selector
lever ¢ fig. 96 and/or press the brake pedal.
You must p ress t he brake pedal to engage a se­
lector lever posit ion when the engine is running
and the vehicle is stationary . The arrows ¢
fig. 97
indicate when you need to press the button on
the selector lever.
The se lector lever does not lock if you shift from
D to R within one second . This a llows you to
"rock" the vehicle to free it when it is stuck.
P - Park
This se lecto r lever position p revents the veh icle
from roll ing. Only s hift into park w hen the veh i­
cle is
stationary ¢.&. . To engage the P selector
lever position, press the button on the selector
lever and s hift into t he P position .
You can on ly shift out of pa rk when the engine is
running and you are pressing the brake peda l. To
release the parking lock . press the b utton on the
selector lever and select the desired position .
P engages automat ically when you switch the en­
gine
off while D, Sor R is engaged or in manual
mode .
I f you sw itch the engine off w hen the N pos ition
is selected, the t ransm iss ion rema ins in N fo r ap ­
p roximate ly 30 minutes and then Pis engaged .
You must use the park ing lock emergency release
befo re towing the
vehicle¢ page 88.
R- Reverse
The reverse gear is engaged in this pos ition. Only
select reverse gear when the veh icle is stationary
and the eng ine is running at idle
speed ¢.&, . To
e n gage the R selecto r leve r pos it ion, press the
button on the selector lever, p ress the brake ped ­
a l and move the se lector lever into the R pos it io n .
84
The reverse lights turn on when you select the R
selector lever position whi le the engine is run­
ning.
N -Neutral (idle )
The transmission is in idle in th is position. To en ­
gage the N selector leve r position, press the but ­
ton on the selector lever and shift into the N po ­
sition .
If you switc h the eng ine
off when the N pos it io n
i s selected, the transmission remains in N for ap ­
proximately 30 minutes and then Pis engaged.
Yo u cannot se lect t he N pos it ion when the ig ni­
t ion is switched
off. When dr iv ing t hrough an au ­
tomat ic car wash, fi rst select the N position and
t h en turn the engine off ¢
page 306.
For safety reasons, the veh icle cannot be loc ked
whe n the t ransmiss io n is in t he N pos it io n.
D IS -Driving forward
When the transm ission is in the D/S posit ion, it
can be operated e ither in the normal D mode or
i n the S sport mode. Move the selector lever back
to engage the S sport mode. You ca n only select
t h e S se lector lever position when D is engaged.
To se lect the D selector lever position again w hen
S is engaged, move the selector lever
back¢ &..
To s hift from N to D w hen traveling at speeds be­
l ow 1 mp h (2 km/h), press the br ake pedal and
shi ft into the D
position ¢.&. .
In the normal mod e D, the transmission auto­
matically selec ts the su itable gear ratio .
It de­
pends on engine load , veh icle speed a nd d rivi ng
sty le.
Se lect the
s port mod e S for spo rty d riving. The
vehicle makes f ull use of the eng ine's power.
S hi ft ing may become no ticeable when acceler at­
i ng .
The S se lecto r lever posit io n engages automat i­
ca lly w hen you sele ct dynamic mode in d rive se­
l ect .
& WARNING
-The vehi cle can roll even if the ignit ion is
switched
off .
-

u. co ..... N
" N ..... 0 0 :c ' -To reduce the risk of an accident, never se ­
lect the R or P posit ions w hile d riving.
- Power is sti ll transmitted to the w heels
when the eng ine is r unning at idle. To pre­
vent the veh icle from "creeping", you must
keep your foot on the brake i n all se lector
lever posi tions (except P and N) when the
eng ine is ru nning. Do not inadvertent ly
press the acce le ra to r pedal whe n the veh icle
is sta tionary. Oth e rw ise the vehicle will s tart
to move immed iate ly, even if t he pa rking
bra ke is set . This could r esult in a crash.
- B efore open ing the hood, se lect t he P s ele c­
to r leve r pos it ion and se t the pa rk ing br ake.
T his red uces the r is k of an accident. Always
read and fo llow the applicable warnings
¢ page 2 72, Working in the engine com ­
partment.
- Never leave yo ur vehicle with the engine
running wh ile in gear. If yo u must leave
yo ur vehicle when the engine is ru nning, set
the parking brake and move t he se lector lev­
er to the P pos ition .
(D Tips
If you accidentally se lect N w hile driving, take
your foot off the acce lerato r peda l and wa it
for the engine to s low down to idle before se­
lect ing Dor S.
Driving tips
Starting the engine
.,. T he selector lever must be in the P or the N po­
s it ion.
St arting from a stop
.. Press and hold the brake pedal.
.. Start the engine¢ page 76.
.. Press the button o n the selector lever and se ­
lect the D, Sor R selector lever pos ition
¢ page 83 .
.,. Wait a moment unt il the t ransm iss ion shifts .
Yo u will no tice a slight movement when t he
gear engages.
.. Release t he brake pedal and press the acce le ra­
tor pedal
¢ ,&. .
Driving
Various convenience functions are available for
starting on hi lls
¢ page 82.
Stopping temporarily
.,. Press the bra ke pedal to stop the ve hicle, for
examp le a t a tra ffic lig ht. Do not press the ac­
celerator pedal when doing this .
.. To prevent the vehicle from ro ll ing when you
start driving, set the pa rking brake when stop ­
ping on steep
hills ¢&. and ¢@ .
.. The parking brake will release automat ically
and the vehicle will start movi ng once you press
the accelerator pedal.
Stopping /par king
If the selector lever is not in the P position when
you open the driver's door, the vehicle cou ld roll.
The message
V ehicle may roll! Selector le ver not
in P
appears.
.. Press and hold the b rake peda l¢ ,&. .
.. Set the park ing brake.
.. To engage the P selector lever position, press
the button on the selector lever and shift into
the P position ¢ page 83 .
Under certain conditions, such as driving in the
mountains or when towing a trai ler, it may be
helpful to switch to manual mode temporar ily
and shift manually to adapt to the drivi ng cond i­
tions ¢ page 86 .
On hills, activate the park ing brake first and then
shift into the P
position ¢ page 81 . This prevents
too much stress from being p laced on the lock ing
mechan ism .
.&, WARNING
- The vehicle can roll even if t he ignit ion is
sw itche d off .
- D o not press the acce le rato r peda l when
cha ng ing the se lec to r lever posi tion while
t he ve hicle is s ta ti onary and the engi ne is
r u nning . This could result in a crash.
- T o redu ce the r is k of an accident, neve r se ­
lec t the R o r P posi tions while driv ing.
- P owe r is still tr ansmit ted to t he wheels
when the engine is runn ing at idle . T o pr e­
vent the vehicle from "creepi ng", yo u must
-
85

Driving
-The park ing lock can no longer be engaged.
Drive to an authorized Audi dealer or author­
ized Audi Service Facility immed iately to have
the malfunction corrected.
rm Transmission malfunction: Stop vehicle and
shift to park.
Do not continue driving. Select the P selec tor lev­
er position and contact an authorized Audi dea ler
or authorized Audi Service Facility for assistance.
Parking lock emergency release
The parking lock must be released using the
emergency release before towing the vehicle.
®
Fig. 99 Drive r's side footwe ll: releasin g t he parking lock
u sin g th e emergency release
Fig . 100 Dr iver's s ide footwell: resett ing the park ing lock
The emergency re lease is located under the floor
mat on the driver 's side. You operate the emer­
gency release from the driver's seat.
Releasing the parking lock using the
emergency release
.,. To prevent the vehicle from rolling unintention­
ally, set the parking brake(®)
¢ page 81 or
press the brake pedal.
88
.,. Th ere are two slits on the cover. Position the
screwdriver from the vehicle tool kit in one of
the s lits on the cover and pry the cover off.
.,. Pull the band ® in the direction of the arrow
until the release lever locks in place
¢ fig. 99 .
.,. Fold the upper sect ion of the release lever
down into th e recess.
Resetting the parking lock
.,. Press the button @ and the release lever at the
same time. You can now push the lever back in­
to its original posit ion. Make sure the lever
locks in
place ¢ fig. 100 .
.,. Install the cover .
When the parking lock emergency release is
used, the
rm indicator light and the N selector
lever posit ion turn on in the instrument cluster.
The message
Vehicle may roll! Cannot shift to P.
Please apply parking brake
also appears .
.&, WARNING
-
If you release the parking lock using the
emergency release, secure your vehicle with
the pa rking brake or the brake pedal if the
parking brake is not working. The vehicle can
ro ll away if it is not secured and cause a crash.

lL t:0 ....
'"" ......
'"" .... 0 0 :c ' Trailer towing Driving with a trailer
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.
Trailer 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.
(D Note
If you are going to tow a trailer, you must ac­
tivate the trailer operation mode
c:> page 89, Operating instructions.
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
bolts remain securely fastened.
When you are not towing a trailer, remove the trailer hitch ball mount . This prevents the hitch
from causing damage should your vehicle be
struck from behind
£:=? .&, .
Trailer towing
Trailer brakes
If your trailer is equipped with a braking system,
check to be sure that it conforms to all regula­
tions.
T he 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
Trailer lights must meet all regulations. Be sure
to check with your Audi dealer for correct 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 .
.,&. WARNING
-After removing the trailer hitch, do not store
it in your vehicle. In case of sudden braking,
the hitch could fly forward and injure you or
your passengers.
Operating instruction s
Fig. 101 MMI display: towing mode o n
Maximum trailer weight
A trailer for your vehicle is limited to a typical
class 1 or class 2 trailer.
89