length AUDI A3 2015 Owners Manual

Page 55 of 288

restraint so that it is as close to this position
as possible
q page 55 . Move the head re­
stra int so that it is as close to the back of
the head as possible .
A WARNING
Never place any objects in the driver's foot­
well. An object could get into the pedal
area and interfere with pedal function. I n
case of sudden braking or an accident, you
would not be ab le to brake or acce lerate.
Front passenger's seat
Always move the front passenger seat into
the rearmost position.
To avoid contact with the airbag while it is de­
ploying, do not sit any closer to the instru­
ment panel than necessary and always wear
the three -point safety belt provided adjusted
correctly . We recommend that you adjust the
passenger's seat in the following manner :
• Bring the backrest up to an (almost) upright
pos ition.
D o not ride w ith the seat reclined.
• For adjustable head restraints : adjust the
head restraint so the upper edge is as even
as possib le with the top of your head. If that
is not possible, try to adjust the head re­
straint so that it is as close to this position
as possible
q page 55 . Move the head re­
straint so that it is as close to the back of
the head as possible.
• Place your feet on the floor in front of the
passenger's seat .
Sea ts a nd s to rage 53
Front seats
Manual seat adjustment
App lies to vehicles: with manually adjustab le seats
Fig . 42 Fro nt seat: man ual seat adjustment
(D-Moving the seat forward/back : pull the
lever and slide the seat.
@-Lengthening/shortening the upper thigh
support*:
lift the handle.
@ -Adjust ing the a ngle of the seat surface*:
pull/press the lever.
@ -Adjusting the lumbar support*: press the
button in the des ired direction.
® -Moving the seat up/down: pull/press the
lever .
®-Adjust ing the backrest angle : turn the ad­
justing wheel.
A WARNING
-Only adjust the front seat with whe n the
veh icle is stationary. Otherwise, this in­
creases the risk of an accident
- Exerc ise caution when adjusting the seat
he ight. Ad justing the seat care lessly or
without check ing can p inch hands and
fingers .
- The front seat backrests must be not tilt­
ed too far bac k when driving, because
this affects the effective ness of the safe­
ty belts and airbag system, which in­
creases the risk of injury.
- To reduce the risk of injury in the case of
sudden braking o r accident, front pas­
sengers must never ride in a moving ve­
hicle with the backrest reclined. Safety
be lts and the airbag system only offer

Page 56 of 288

54 Seats and storage
maximum protection when the backrest
is upright and the safety belts are prop­
erly positioned on the body. The more
the backrest is reclined, the greater the
risk of personal injury from an incorrect
seating position and improperly posi­
tioned safety belts.
Power seat adjustment
Appl ies to vehicles: with power a djustable seats
Fig. 43 Front seat: power seat adjustment
@-Adjusting the lumbar support: press the
button in the desired direction.
@-Moving the seat up/down: press the but­
ton up/down . To adjust the front seat cushion,
press the front button up/down. To adjust the
rear seat cushion, press the rear button up/
down .
@-Moving the seat forward/back: press the
button forward/back.
©-Adjusting the backrest angle: press the
button forward/back.
@-Lengthening/shortening the upper thigh
support*: lift the handle.
.&_ WARNING
- Only adjust the front seat with when the
vehicle is stationary. Otherwise, this in­
creases the risk of an accident
- The power adjustment for the front seats
also works with the ignition switched off
or with the ignition key removed. For this
reason, children should never be left un­
attended in the vehicle -they could be in­
jured! -
Exerc ise caution when adjusting the seat
height. Unsupervised or careless seat ad­
justment can pinch fingers or hands
causing injuries .
- The front seat backrests must be not tilt­
ed too far back when driving, because
this affects the effectiveness of the safe­
ty belts and airbag system, which in­
creases the risk of injury.
- To reduce the risk of injury in the case of sudden braking or accident, front pas­
sengers must never ride in a moving ve­
hicle with the backrest reclined. Safety
belts and the airbag system only offer
maximum protection when the backrest
is upright and the safety belts are prop­
erly positioned on the body. The more
the backrest is reclined, the greater the
risk of personal injury from an incorrect
seating position and improperly posi­
tioned safety belts.
Front center armrest
App lies to vehicles: wit h front cente r armrest
The center armrest con be adjusted to several
levels.
Fig. 44 A rmr est between the driver's/fro nt passenger's
seats
.. To adjust the ang le, raise the armrest
¢ fig. 44 notch by notc h.
.. To bring the armrest back down, raise it out
of the top notch and fold it back down . Then
lift the armrest to the desired position, if
necessary .
Please note that the driver 's arm movements
may be restricted with the armrest folded
Ill>

Page 193 of 288

Your vehicle is equipped w ith an intelligent
energy management system for distrib uting
e lectricity. This sign ificantly improves the
start ing ability and increases the battery life.
The energy management system Is made up
of
battery diagnosis , idling current manage­
ment
and dynamic ene rgy man agement.
Battery diagnosis
The b attery diagnos is determines the ba tte ry
cha rge leve l. The sensors de termine the bat ­
tery vo ltage, the battery c urrent , and the bat ­
tery temperature . The c urrent charge level
and the performance of the battery are deter­
mined based on th is.
Idling current management
The idling current ma nagement decreases the
ene rgy used whi le par ked . W it h the engine
switche d off, it ma nages the ene rgy distribu ­
tion to the d ifferent e lectr ica l components.
Date from battery d iagnosis is taken into ac­
count for th is .
D epending on t he battery charge level, elec­
tr ica l equipment is sw itched off one item after
the ot her, to prevent the battery from dra in­
i n g a nd to retain the starting abil ity.
Dynamic energy management
W hile dr iving, dynamic energy management
d istributes the approp riate amount of energy
to the electrical equipment. It contro ls the
battery c harge level so that more energy is
n ot used the n is being generated in o rder to
main tain an opt imal batte ry charge level.
{!) Tips
- Energy management cannot overcome
the laws of physics . Note that the charge
l eve l and length of the battery life are
li mi ted.
- Wh en the star ting ability is endangered,
the (•) indica to r li ght turns on
9page20.
Smart Technolog y 191
What you should know
Maintaining the starting ability is the highest
priority .
A lot of stress is placed o n the batte ry when
driv ing s hort d ista nces, in traffic, and at cold
times of the year . A lot of e ne rgy is used but
li ttle is generated .
It is also cr it ica l when the
engine is not r unning but electr ical eq uip­
ment is switc hed on. In this case, e nergy is
u sed but none is gener ated.
In si tuat ions like this , energy management
will active ly r egu lated t he di st ribution of e n­
ergy.
Long periods without use
If you do not d rive your vehicle for several
days or weeks, elect rical eq uipment is gradu­
a lly scaled back or sw itched off. This reduc es
energy u se and en sures the ve hicl e w ill be
a ble to s tart aft er long per iod s of ti me . S ome
co nve nience fun ctions such as ope ning wi th
the remote con tro l key may not be available.
T hese convenience functions
will be ava ila bl e
again once you switch t he ignit io n on and
start the eng ine.
With the engine switched off
F o r example, if you listen to the r adio w hen
th e engine is swi tc h ed off, the bat tery will
drain .
If the st arting ability is en dangere d due to the
energy cons umption, an error message ap­
p ears in vehicles wi th a driver informat ion sys ­
tem *.
T he mess age s hows th at y ou n eed to s tart t he
engine in order to c harge t he battery.
With the engine running
Althoug h elec trical en ergy is g enerate d while
driv ing , th e bat tery ca n dra in . T his can happen
whe n littl e e ne rgy is ge nera ted, a nd much is
u sed and th e ch arge leve l o f th e batt ery is no t
o ptimal.
IJI>

Page 197 of 288

can reach the catalytic converter . This
could result in overheating of the con­
verter, requ iring its replacement.
- To assure efficient operation of the Emis­
sion Control System :
- Have your veh icle ma inta ined properly
and in accordance with the service rec­
ommendations in your Wa rranty
&
Ma intenance booklet.
- Lac k of proper maintenance as well as
improper use of the vehicle will impa ir
t he funct ion of the emission control
system and cou ld lead to damage.
@) For the sake of the environment
Even when the Emission Cont ro l System is
operating properly, t he exhaus t gas can
have a s ulfu r-like exhaust gas smell unde r
some operating states. This depends on
the s ulfur content of the fue l being used .
Using a different brand of fuel may help,
or filling the tank w ith lead-free super
grade gasoline.
Placing your vehicle
out of service.
I f you wou ld like to take your vehicle out of
service for a longer t ime, contact your aut hor­
iz ed A udi dealer or qualified repair facility .
They will advise you o f important meas ures,
such as cor rosion protection, maintenance
and storage procedures. Also follow the infor ­
mat ion about the battery¢
page 220.
Operate your vehicle
economically and
minimize pollution
General
Your personal style of driving will determine
the economy of your vehicle , as well as ex­
haust and noise levels.
F ue l economy, environmental impact, and
wear on your engine, brakes and t ires largely
depend on three factors:
Dri ving and the en vironm ent 195
-your personal d riving s tyle
- operati ng conditions
- technical limitat io ns
If you ant ic ipate what you need to do next and
drive econom ically , yo u can easily cut your
fuel consumpt ion by 10-15 percent . This sec­
tion w ill give you some tips on how you can
help the env ironment and your po cketbook.
(D Tips
The consumption estimates as published
by ENVIRO NM EN TAL PROT ECTI ON AG ENC Y
( E PA) and Transpo rt Canada may no t cor re­
spond to your actual consump tion on the
r oad, which will va ry depending upon vehi ­
cle load and speed, road and weather con­
ditions, trip length, etc.
Drive smoothly and keep a lookout
ahead
Vehicles use the most fuel when they are ac­
celerating.
.. Avo id u nnecessary accelerating and brak ing.
Vehicles use the mos t fu e l when they are ac­
ce lerating. If you anticipate what is going to
happe n next, you will need to brake less and,
th us, acce lerate less. Let the vehicle coast
whenever possible -for examp le when you see
that the next traff ic light is red.
Avoid full throttle
Driving at moderate speeds saves fuel and
improves your mileage.
.. Try and keep well below your car's maximum
speed.
Acce le rat ing gently re duces fue l cons ump ­
tion, eng ine wear, and does not disturb the
environment .
Fuel consumpt ion, exhaust em iss ions an d en­
gine noise inc rease disproportionate ly at high
speeds . If you drive at approximately three
quarte rs of top speed, fuel consumption wi ll
be reduced by one ha lf. Never drive faster
IJ,-


Page 244 of 288

24 2 T ire s and wheel s
Where snow chains are mandatory oncer­
tain roads, this normally also applies to
veh icles with all-wheel dr ive.
Wheel bolts
Wheel bolts must always be tightened to the
correct torque.
The design o f whee l bolts is matched to the
factory installed rims . If different rims are fit­
ted, the correct wheel bolts with the right
length and correctly shaped bolt heads must
be used. This ensures that wheels are fitted
securely and that the brake system functions
correctly .
In certain circumstances, you may not use
wheel bolts from a different vehicle -even if it
is the same model
r=> page 270.
A WARNING
Improperly tightened or maintained wheel
bolts can become loose caus ing loss of
c ont ro l, a co llision and serious persona l in­
Jury .
- Always keep the wheel bolts and the
threads in the wheel hubs clea n so the
wheel bolts can turn easily and be prop­ er ly t igh tened .
- Never grease or oil the wheel bo lts and
the threads in the wheel hubs. They can
become loose while d riving if greased or
oiled, even if tightened to the specified
torque.
- Only use wheel bolts that belong to the
rim being installed.
- Never use different whee ls bolts on your
vehicle.
- Always maintain the co rrect tighten ing
torq ue fo r th e wheel bo lts to reduce the
risk of a wheel loss . If the tightening tor­
que of the wheel bo lts is too low, they
can loosen and come out w hen the veh i­
cle is moving. If the tighteni ng torque is
too high, the whee l bolts and threads can be damaged and the whee
l can be­
come loose.
@ Note
The specified torque for the whee l bolts is
90 ft lb (120 Nm) with a tolerance of± 7,4
ft lb(± 10 Nm) . Torque wheel bolts diago­
nally. After changing a whee l, the torque
must be checked as soon as possible with a
torque w rench -preferably by an author­
i zed Audi dealer or qualified workshop .
Low aspect ratio tires
Your Audi is factory-eq uipped w it h low aspect
ra tio tires. These tires have been tho roughly
tested and been se lected specifically fo r your
model for their superb perfo rmance, road fee l
and handling under a variety of d riving condi ­
t ions . Ask your author ized A udi dealer for
more details.
T he low aspect ratio of these tires is ind icated
by a numera l of
55 or less in the tire's s ize
designation. The n umera l represents the ratio
of the tire's sidewall height in relation to its
tread width expressed in percentage. Conven­
t iona l tires have a he ight/w idth ratio of 60 or
more .
The performance of low-aspect -ratio tires is
particularly sens iti ve to imp roper inflation
pressure. It is therefore important that low
a spect ratio tires are inflat ed to the specified
pre ssure and that the inflation pressure i s
regularly ch ecked and maintain ed. Tire pre s·
sure s should be checked at lea st once a
m onth and always bef ore a long trip
r=> page 231, Checking tire pressure .
What you can do to avoid tire and rim
damage
Low aspect ratio tires can be d amage d more
easily by impact w ith potholes, curbs, gull ies
or ridges on t he road, particularly if the tire is
u nd eri nflated.

Page 268 of 288

26 6 Techni cal data
designated s eating position) and luggage
w eight ¢.&, .
Gross Axle W eight Rating
The Gross Axle Weight Rating is the maximum
l oad that can be applied at each axle of the
vehicle ¢Lr!, .
Vehicle cap acit y weight
The vehicle capac ity we ight (max . load) is list­
ed either on the dr iver's side B-pilla r or inside
the fuel filler flap.
_& WARNING
- T he actual Gross Axle Weight Rat ing at
the front and rear axles shou ld not ex­
ceed the permissible weights, and their
combination must not exceed the Gross
Vehicle Weight Rating .
Dimensions
The dimensions can vary depend ing on the
model and equipment.
Length
Width
W idth (ac ross m irrors)
Height (unloaded) a)
Turn ing circle d iameter
-
- Exceeding permissible weight ratings can
result in veh icle damage, acc idents and
personal injury.
(D Note
- The vehicle capacity weight figures apply
when the load is distributed evenly in the
vehicle (passengers and luggage). When
transport ing a heavy load in the luggage
compartment, carry the load as near to
the rear axle as poss ible so that the vehi­
cle's handling is not impaired .
- Do not exceed the maximum permissible axle loads or the maximum gross veh icle
we ight. Always remember that the vehi­
cle's handling w il l be affected by the ex­
tra load. Therefo re, adj ust your speed ac­
cordingly.
- Always observe local regulat ions .
in (mm)
175 .3 (4456)
in (mm) 70 .7 (1796)
in (mm) 77 .l (1960)
in (mm) 55 .7 (1416)
ft (m) 35.8 (10.9)
al The he igh t o f th e ve hicle depe nds o n the tire s and the s usp en sion .
When driving on poor roads, by curb s and on
s teep ramp s, make sure tha t low-lying compo­
nent s such as the spoiler and exhaust sy stem
Capacities
Fuel tank
Front whee l Drive
All wheel drive
Winds hield washer system do not
come into contact w ith these or they
could be dam aged. This applies espe cia lly
when the vehicle is fully loaded .
gal (liters) approx.
13.2 (50.0)
gal (lite rs) approx. 14.5 (55.0)
quarts (liters) approx. 3.2 (3.1)