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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
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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.
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a l Standard requires the airbag to meet the "low
risk" deployment criteria to help reduce the risk
of injury through interaction with the airbag.
"Low risk" dep loyment occurs in those crashes
that take place at lower decelerations as defined in the electronic control unit
r;:;. page 23 7.
Al way s remember: Even though your vehicle is
equ ipped w ith Advanced A irbags, the s afest p lace
for children is properly restrained on the back
seat . Please be sure to read the important infor
mat io n in the sect ions that follow and be su re to
h eed a ll of the WARN INGS.
A WARNING
T o red uce the r isk of injury when an airbag in
flates, a lways wear safety be lts properly .
- If you are unrest rained, lean ing fo rwa rd, s it
t ing s idew ays or o ut of pos it ion in any way,
yo ur risk of in jury is much higher .
- Yo u will also receive se rious injur ies a nd
cou ld even be killed if you are up aga inst the
airbag or too close to it when it inflates
-
even with an Advanced Airbag I!!> page 22 7.
A WARNING
A child in a rearward-facing chi ld seat insta l
led on the front passenger seat will be ser i
ously injured and can be k illed if the front air
bag inflates - even with an Advanced Airbag
System .
- Although the Advanced A irbag System in
yo ur vehicle is designed to turn off t he front
airbag when a rearward-facing ch ild re
straint has been insta lled on the front pas
senger seat, nobody can abso lutely g uara n
tee that deployment is impossible in a ll con
c e ivable s ituat ions that may happen dur ing
the usefu l life o f yo ur vehicle .
- T he inf lat ing air bag w ill hit th e chi ld sea t or
infant carrier w it h great fo rce and will
smash the c hild seat and child against the
backrest , center a rmrest, door, or roof.
- Always install rearward -fac ing c hild re
straints on the rear seat .
- If you must install a rearwar d fac ing c hild
seat on the front passenger seat because of
Airbag syste m
except io n al circumstances and the PASSEN
GER AIR BAG OFF
li ght does not come on
and stay on, immed iate ly install the rea r
faci ng chi ld seat in a rear seating pos it io n
a nd have the airbag system inspected by
your Aud i dea le r.
A WARNING
-
If, in exceptional c ircu mstances, you must in
stall a forward-fa cing child rest ra in t on the
fron t passenger's seat:
- Always make su re the forward-facing seat
has bee n des igned and certified by its man
uf acture r for use o n a front sea t with a pas
senge r front and side airbag.
- N eve r put the fo rw ar d-faci ng chi ld restra in t
up ag ainst o r very ne ar th e i nstr ument pan
el.
- Always move the fro nt passenge r seat to
the hig hest posit io n in the up and down ad
justment range and move it bac k to the
rearmost positio n in the seat's fo re and aft
ad justment range, as far away from the a ir
bag as poss ible, before install ing the for
ward-facing ch ild restraint .
- Always make sure that the safety be lt upper
anchorage is behind the c hild restraint and
not next to o r in front of the ch ild restraint
so that the safety be lt will be p roperly posi
tioned .
- Make sure that t he
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
l ight comes on and stays on a ll the time
wheneve r th e ignit ion is switched o n.
Advanced Airbag System components
The front passenge r seat in your ve hicle has a lo t
of ve ry important parts of t he Advanced A irb ag
System in it. These parts incl ude the weight
sensing mat, sensors, wiring, brackets, and
more . The f unction of th e system in the front
passenger seat is checked by the electronic con
trol unit when the ign ition is on. The control unit
moni tors the Advanced Airbag System and turns
the a irbag ind icator light on when a malfunction
i n the system compone nts is detected . The func
t ion of the a irbag ind icator light is described in
greate r deta il be low. Because t he front
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