Start and driving
applied if the brake is not pressed and the se-
l ect
or l
ever is moved to position N for more
than 2 seconds.
The selector lever only locks when the is vehi-
cle stationary or driving at a speed lower
than 5 km/h (3 mph). At a higher speed, it au-
tomatically disconnects in the N position.
Interlock button
The interlock button on the selector lever
knob prevents the driver from inadvertently
engaging a gear. Press the button to unlock
the selector lever.
Safety interlock for ignition key 1)
After switching the ignition off, the ignition key
can be removed only when the selector lever
is in position P. If the key is not in the ignition,
the selector lever is locked in position P.
Driving programmes Your vehicle is equipped with an electronical-
ly-contr
oll
ed aut
omatic gearbox. Shifting up
or down depends on the programme selec-
ted.
For a calm driving style, the gearbox uses
the most economic programme. The gearbox shifts up as quickly as possible and shifts
down as lat
e as possible, thus increasing driv-
ing economy.
With a sporty driving style, characterised by
sudden acceleration, heavy acceleration,
speeds that often increase and decrease and
maximum speed, the gearbox adapts to this
driving style when the accelerator is pressed
down fully (kick-down) by shifting down as
quickly as possible and can even shift down
by several gears at once.
Selecting the best driving programmes is an
endless job. Regardless of this, the driver can
also make the gearbox switch to a more dy-
namic gear shift programme by pressing the
accelerator quickly. This makes the automat-
ic gearbox shift down into a lower gear than
the one that would normally apply to the cur-
rent speed, allowing for more rapid accelera-
tion (e.g. to overtake another vehicle) without
having to press the accelerator until the kick-
down position. On shifting up in a corre-
sponding driving style, the gearbox returns to
the original programme.
When driving along mountain roads, the
gearbox adapts to the gradients. This avoids
having to frequently change gears when driv-
ing uphill. In Tiptronic mode, it is possible to
shift down manually when driving downhill to
use the braking effect of the engine. Emergency program A back-up programme exists in case of faults.
In the ev
ent of a f
ault in the gearbox electron-
ics, it will continue to work in one of the corre-
sponding back-up programmes. All segments
of the screen are lit up or switched off.
The fault can be seen as follows:
Start and driving
Steering Inf ormation r
el
ating to vehicle
steering Electro-mechanical power steering assists
the driver when st
eering.
El
ectro-mechanical power steering adapts
electronically to the speed of the car, torque
and turning angle.
If the power steering should fail at any time or
the engine is switched off (for instance when
being towed), the car can still be steered, as
long as the key remains in the ignition. How-
ever, more effort than normal will be required
to turn the steering wheel. WARNING
If the power steering does not work, you
will need much more str ength t
o turn the
wheel. This has a considerable effect on
vehicle safety.
Driving
The system is automatically switched on ev-
ery time the ignition is s wit
ched on.
The syst
em automatically switches off the
engine when the vehicle is stationary, e.g.
waiting at traffic lights.
The current status of the Start-Stop system is
displayed on the general instrument panel
display.
Automatic engine shut down (Stop phase)