towing capacity AUDI A3 2012 Owner´s Manual

Intelligent technology Notice about data
recorded by vehicle
control modules
Your vehicle is not equipped with an Event Da­
ta Recorder (EDR), installed by some manu­
facturers for the express purpose of capturing
data for retrieval after an accident or crash
event. EDR's are sometimes called "crash re­
corders".
Some state laws restrict the retr ieval or down­
loading of data stored by EDR's that were in­
stalled in a vehicle for the express purpose of
retrieving data after an accident or crash
event without the owner's consent.
Although your vehicle is not equipped with an
EDR, it is equipped with a number of electron­
ic control modules for various vehicle systems
such as, for examp le, engine function, emis­
sion control, as well as for the airbags and
safety belts.
These electronic control modules also record
vehicle-related data during norma l vehicle op­
eration for diagnostic and repair purposes.
The recording capacity of the electronic con­
trol modules is limited to data (no sound is re­
corded) and only a small amount of data is ac­
tually recorded over a very limited period of
time and stored when a system fault or other
condition is sensed by a control unit. Some of
the data then stored may relate to vehicle
speed, direction, braking as we ll as restraint
system use and performance in the event of a
crash or other condition. Stored data can only be read and downloaded with special equip­
ment.
Electronic Stabilization
Program (ESP)
Description
ESP helps to improve road holding and vehicle
dynamics to help reduce the probability of
skidding and loss of veh icle control. It works
only when the engine is running. ESP detects
Intelligent technology 161
certain difficult driving situations, including
when the vehicle is beginning to spin (yaw)
out of control and helps you to get the veh icle
back under control by se lectively braking the
wheels, and/or reducing engine power and
providing steering ass istance to help hold the
vehicle on the driver's intended course. The in­
dicator light
G] in the instrument cluster
blinks when ESP is taking action to help you
control the vehicle.
ESP has limitations. It is important to remem­
ber that ESP cannot overcome the laws of
physics.
It will not always be able to help out
under all conditions you may come up against.
For example, ESP may not always be able to
help you master situations where there is a
sudden change in the coefficient of friction of
the road surface. When there is a section of dry road that is suddenly covered with water,
slush or snow, ESP cannot perform the same
way it would on the dry surface . If the vehicle
hydroplanes (rides on a cushion of water in­
stead of the road surface), ESP will not be
able to help you steer the vehicle because con­
tact with the pavement has been interrupted
and the vehicle cannot be braked or steered .
During fast cornering, particularly on winding
roads, ESP cannot always deal as effectively
with difficult driving situations as at lower
speeds. When towing a trailer, ESP is not able
to help you regain control as it would if you
were not tow ing a trailer.
A lways adjust your speed and driving style to
road, traffic; and weather conditions. ESP can­
not override the vehicle's physical limits, in­
crease the available traction, or keep a vehicle
on the road if road departure is a result of
driver inattention. Instead, ESP improves the
poss ibility of keeping the vehicle under con­
trol and on the road dur ing extreme maneu­
vers by using the driver's steering inputs to
help keep the vehicle going in the intended di­
rection. If you are traveling at a speed that
causes you to run off the road before ESP can
provide any assistance, you may not experi­
ence the benefits of ESP .
•
•

222 Tires and wheels
and luggag e loa d cap acit y
c alcul ated in St ep 4.
6 . If your v ehi cle will b e towing
a trail er, load fro m your trail ­
er will b e tr ansferr ed to your
vehi cle. Con sult thi s manual
to determin e how thi s re­
d uces the available cargo
and luggage lo ad capacity of
y our vehicle.
..., Check the tire sidewall
(q page 223, fi g . 171) to de­
termine the d esignated lo ad
rating f or a specific tire.
Tire service life
The service life of tires depends on a lot of
different things including proper installation
and balan cing, correct tire pressure and driv­
ing style.
Fig. 16 9 Tire tread: trea d wea r in di cators (TWI)
fr
Fig. 1 70 Rotat ing t ires for more even wear
Tread Wear Indicator (TWI)
The or ig inal tires on you r vehicle have
1/ 16 inch ( 1.6 mm) hig h "wear indica tors"
c::> fig. 169 ru nning across the tread . Depend­
ing on the ma ke, there will be six to eight of
them even ly placed aro und the tire. Marks on
the tire sidewall (for example "TWI" or other
symbols) ind icate the positions of the tread
wear indica to rs. Wor n tires must be replaced .
Different figures may apply in other countr ies
c::> .&_ .
Tire pressure
Incor rect t ire pressure causes premature wea r
and can cause sudde n tire blow-out . For this
reason, tire pressu re must be checked at least
o nce a month
c::> page 218 .
Driving style
Driving fast around c urves , heavy accelerat ion
and hard braking increase tire wear .
Rotating tires for more even wear
F or all four tires on your ve hicle to have the
same service life, we recomme nd that the
front and rear tires are rotated accord ing to
the tire manufact urer's suggested tire rota­
tion intervals. Please remembe r th e follow­
i ng:
- T ire rotation intervals may differ from the
veh icle service intervals o utli ned in your
Warranty
& M ain tena nce Booklet .
- The longer one tire is used in one location
on t he vehicle, the more it wears at certain
points; the refore , we recommend that you
follow the tire man ufac turer's suggested
tir e rotat ion intervals.
- Vehi cles with front -wheel dr ive experience
more trea d wear on the fro nt wheels com­
pa red to all-wheel d rive (q uattro ®).
- Please rotate tires as shown
c::> fig . 170 .
-Extra care must be taken when rotating di-
rection -spec ific tires
c::> page 241 .
Wheel balancing
The wheels on new ve hicles are balanced .
However, various s ituations during everyday
driv ing ca n cause them to become
...

236 What do I do now?
-After installing the compact spare wheel,
the tire inflation pressure should be
checked and, if necessary, increased to
60 psi (4.2 bar).
- The load carrying capacity is marked on
the tire sidewalls and must not be ex ­
ceeded.
- After installing the compact spare wheel,
make sure that you remount the flat tire
in its storage area properly.
- The compact spare tire should be proper­
ly remounted in its storage area as soon
as the standard road tire can be re­ placed .
- Because the compact spare tire was spe­
cifically designed for your vehicle, it must not be used on any other vehicle .
Likewise, compact spare wheels from
other vehicles must not be used on your
vehicle.
- The compact spare tire must not be
mounted on any other wheels, nor must
standard tires, snow tires, wheel covers
or trim rings be used with the compact
spare wheel. If such use is attempted,
damage to these items or other vehicle
components may occur .
(D Tips
Check the inflation pressure of the com­
pact spare tire (60 psi/4.2 bar) periodically
to keep the tire ready for use.
Wheel change
Before changing a wheel
Observe the following precautions for your
own and your passenger's safety when chang­
ing a wheel .
.. After you experience a tire failure, pull the
car well away from moving traffic and try to
reach
level ground before you stop c:> ,&. .
.. All passengers should leave the car and
move to a safe location (for instance, behind
the guardrail)
c:> _&. .
.. Apply the parking brake firmly c:> _&. .
.. Move selector lever to position Pon an au­
tomatic transmission ; put manual transmis­
sion in
first gear c:> _&..
.. If you are towing a trailer : unhitch the trail­
e r from your vehicle.
.. Take the
tool and the spare tire c:> page 234
out of the luggage compartment .
.&, WARNING
You or your passengers could be injured
while changing a wheel if you do not fol­
low these safety precautions:
- If you have a flat tire, move a safe dis­
tance off the road. Turn off the engine,
turn the emergency flasher on and use
other warning devices to alert other mo­
torists.
- Make sure that passengers wait in a safe place away from the vehicle and well
away from the roadway and traffic .
- To help prevent the vehicle from moving suddenly and possibly slipping off the
jack, always fully set the parking brake
and block the wheel diagonally opposite
the wheel being changed. When one
front wheel is lifted off the ground, plac ­
ing the automatic transmission in "P"
(Park) , or engaging a gear in a manual
transmission will
not prevent the vehicle
from moving.
- Before you change a wheel, be sure the
ground is level and firm. If necessary,
use a sturdy board under the jack.
- After installing the spare wheel, make
sure that you remount the flat tire/wheel
in its storage area properly and tighten
the knurled retaining screw securely.
Changing a wheel
-
When you change a wheel, follow these­
quence described below step-by-step and ex­
actly in that order .
1. Remove the decorative wheel cover*. For
more details see also
c:> page 23 7, Deco­
rative wheel covers
or c:> page 238,
Wheels with cap-covered wheel bolts.

248 Emergency situations
Emergency situations
General
This chapter is intended for trained emer­
gency crews and working per sonnel who
have the necessary tools and equ ipment to
perform these ope rations.
Starting by pushing or
towing
Q;) Note
Vehicle s with an automati c transmission
cannot be started by pushing or towing .
Starting with jumper
cables
Jumper cable: Note the manufacturer's infor­
mation.
If th e battery is d ischa rged, another vehicle
can provide starting assistance. For this you
req uire a j umper cab le . Both batteries m ust
have the same voltage (V) and a s imilar ca­
pac ity (Ah).
Jumper cables
Use only jumper cab les of sufficiently
large cross section to safely carry the sta rter
cur rent. Refer to the manufacturer 's specifica ­
ti ons.
Use on ly jumper cables with
isola ted termina l
clamps an d properly marke d for distinction :
plus(+) cable in most cases colo red red
minu s(-) cable
in most cases colo red black .
The wire cross section must be at least
0.038 in
2 (25 mm2 ) for gasoline eng ines and
at least 0.054 in
2 (35 mm2
) for diese l en­
gines .
A WARNING
Batte ries co ntain e lec tricity, ac id, a nd gas .
Any of these can cause ve ry ser io us or fatal i
njury . Follow the instructions below for
safe handling o f your vehicle's battery.
- Always shie ld your eyes and avo id lean-
ing over the battery wheneve r poss ib le.
- A discharged battery can a lready freeze
at temperatures just be low 32 °F (0 °() .
N ever attempt to provide start ing ass is­
tance on a frozen or thawed out batte ry -
Da nger of explosion and chemical burns!
Replace a battery if it has bee n froze n.
- Do not allow battery acid to contact eyes
or skin . Fl ush a ny con tacted a rea with
wa te r immediat ely .
- Imp rope r use of a booster battery to
start a vehicle may cause an ex plosion .
- Vehicle batter ies ge nerate explosive gas­
e s . K eep spar ks, flame and lighted c iga ­
r e ttes away from ba tteries.
- Do not try to ju mp start a ny ve hicle w it h
a low ac id leve l in the battery .
- The vo ltage of the bo oste r batte ry m ust
a lso have a 12-Vo lt rat ing. T he capacity
(A h) of the booste r battery sho uld not b e
lowe r than that of the discharged bat­
tery . U se o f batte rie s of d iffe ren t voltage
or subs tan tia lly diffe ren t "Ah" rat ing
may c ause an exp losion and person al in­
jury .
- N ever ch arge a fr oze n b atte ry. Gas t rap­
ped in the i ce may c ause an ex plosion .
- N ever ch arge or use a batt ery th at h as
been frozen . T he battery case may have
be weake ned.
- Us e of batt erie s of diff ere nt vol tage or
subs tanti ally diff eren t ca pac ity (Ah) rat ­
in g may cause an exp losion and injury.
The ca pac ity ( Ah) of the booster battery
should not be lower than that of the dis­
charged batte ry.
- Before you check anythin g in the engine
compa rtment, always read and heed a ll
WAR NIN GS¢
page 187, Engine com­
partment.