ground clearance AUDI A3 SEDAN 2017 Owners Manual

Driving
Driving
General information
Breaking in
A new vehicle must be broken in for the first 1,000 mi les (1,500 km). Do not drive at speeds
that will exceed 2/3 of the maximum perm itted
engine speed (RPM) for the first 600 miles
(1,000 km), and avoid full acceleration during
this period . You may gradually start increasing
the RPM and the speed between 600 miles (1,000 km) and 1,000 miles (1,500 km) .
During the first hours of use, the engine has a
h igher internal friction than later on when all
moving parts have settled into place with each
other.
How the vehicle is driven during the first 1,000
miles (1,500 km) also affects the engine quality.
Drive at moderate engine speeds after the initial
break-in period, particularly when running a cold
engine. This will reduce engine wear and improve
the mileage .
Do not drive at too low of an engine speed (RPM).
Shift down if the engine stops running "smooth­ ly". Extremely high engine speeds are automati­
cally reduced .
Reducing the risk of vehicle damage
CD Note
When driving on poor roads, by curbs and on
steep ramps, make su re that low-hang ing
components such as the spoi ler and exhaust
system do not come into contact with these
or they could be damaged. This especially ap­
plies to vehicles with low ground clearance
and vehicles that are heavily loaded.
Driving through water on roads
Note the following to reduce the risk of vehicle
damage when driv ing through water, for example
on flooded roads:
-The water must not be any higher than the bot­
tom of the vehicle body .
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-Do not drive faster than walking speed .
A WARNING
After driving through water or mud, the effec­
tiveness of the brakes may be reduced due to
moisture on the brake rotors and brake pads.
A few careful brake applications should dry
off the brakes.
CD Note
-Vehicle components such as the engine,
transmission, suspension or electrical sys ­
tem can be severely damaged by driving
through water .
-Always switch the Start/Stop system* off
when driving through water
¢page 81.
(i) Tips
-Determine the depth before driving through
water.
-Do not stop the vehicle, drive in reverse or
switch the engine off when driving through
water.
-Keep in mind that oncoming vehicles may
create waves that raise the water level and
make it too deep for your vehicle to drive
through safely.
- Avoid driving through salt water, because
this can cause corrosion .
Economical and environmentally-friendly
dr iving
The amount of fuel consumption, the environ­
mental impact and the wear to the engine,
brakes and tires depends mostly on your driving
sty le. With an anticipatory and economic driving
style, fuel consumption can be reduced by ap­
proximately 10-15%. The following tips will help
you conserve the environment and your money at
the same time .
Anticipatory driving
A vehicle uses the most fuel when accelerating.
When you drive with anticipation, you do not need to brake as often and so you accelerate less.
When possible, let your vehicle coast with a
gear
engaged,
for example, when you notice that the ..,.

a, a, ..... N
" N ..... 0 N > 00
Which functions can be contr oll ed?
When you sw itch adaptive cruise control on, you
can set the current speed as the "control speed"
¢ page 128 , Switching on/off .
When driving, you can stop cruise co ntro l
¢ page 130 or change the speed ¢ poge 129 at
any time .
You can also set the distance to the veh icle ahead
and set t he adaptive cruise contro l dr iv ing pro ­
g ram
¢ page 131 .
General information
Applies to: vehicles with Audi adaptive cruise control/Audi pre
sense front
F ig. 129 Fro nt o f vehicl e: sensor
T he radar sensor area ¢ fig . 129 mus t not be cov­
ered with st ickers, deposits or any other obstruc ­
tions as it may impair the function of the adap­ tive c ruise control or the pre sense front . For in­
formation on clean ing ,
see ¢ page 347 . The
same applies fo r any modifications made in the
front area .
The funct ion of the adaptive cruise contro l sys­
tem or pre sense fron t is l imited in some cond i­
tions :
- Vehicles can only be detected when they are
within the senso r
range¢ page 126, fig . 128 .
- The system has a limited abil ity to detect
vehicles that are a short distance ahead, off to
t h e side of your vehicle or moving into your
lane .
- Objects that are difficu lt to detect such as mo­
torcycles, vehicles with high ground clearance
or an overhanging load are detected late or not detected at all .
- When driving through curves
¢ page 128 .
Ass is ta nce syst ems
-When the vehicle is stationary ¢ page 128.
A WARNING
Always pay attention to the traffic around you
when adaptive cruise control is switched on.
As the driver , you are still responsible for your
own speed and the d istance to other veh icles .
The adaptive cruise control is used to ass ist
you . The driver m ust always take action to
avo id a co llision . The d river is always responsi­
b le for b raking at the co rrect t ime.
- For safety reasons, do not use adaptive
cru ise control when driving on roads with
many cu rves , when the road s urface is in
poor conditio n and/or in bad wea ther (such
as ice, fog, gravel, heavy rain and hyd roplan ­
ing) . Using the system under these condi­
tions could result in a co llision.
- Sw itch adaptive cruise control off tempora ­
rily when driving in turning lanes, on ex­ pressway ex its or in construction zones . This
prevents the veh icle from acce lerating to
the stored speed when i n these situat ions.
- The adaptive cruise contro l system will not
brake by itself if you put you r foot on the ac­
celerator pedal. Doing so can override the
speed and d istance regulat ion .
- Adapt ive cruise control does not respond to
peop le, animals, or crossing or oncoming
objects .
- The funct ion of the radar sensors can be af­
fected by reflective objects such as gua rd
rails, the en trance to a t unnel, heavy rain or
ice .
(D Note
The sensor can be displaced by impacts or
damage to the bumper, wheel housing and underbody. This can impair the adaptive
cruise control. Have an authorized A udi dealer
o r authorized Audi Service Facility check t heir
f u nct ion.
127

CXl CXl .... N ,.__
N .... 0 N > 00
Offroad vehicle?
Your Audi is not an offroad vehicle -th ere is not
enough ground clearance . For this reason, avoid
d ifficult terrain.
& WARNING
- Also, in vehicles with all wheel drive, adapt
your driv ing style to the current road and
traff ic conditions. Do not let the increased
safety provided tempt you into taking risks,
because th is increases the r isk of an acci­
dent .
-The braking ability of your veh icle is limited
to the tract ion of the wheels . In this way, it
is not diffe rent from a two whee l dr ive vehi­
cl e. Do not be tempted to accelerate to a
high speed when the road is slippe ry, be­
cause this increases the risk of an accident.
-Note that on wet streets, the front wheels
c an "hyd roplane" if dr iving at speeds that
are too high . Unlike front whee l drive
vehicles, the eng ine does not rev higher su d­
denly when the vehicle begins hyd roplaning .
For this reason, adapt your speed to the
road conditions to reduce the risk of an acc i­
dent .
Energy management
The starting ability is optimized
The energy management system manages the
electrical energy distribution and optimizes the
availability of electrical energy for starting the
engine .
When a ve hicl e w ith a co nventional energy sys­
tem is not d riven for a long time, the vehicle bat­
tery is dra ined by equipment (for example, the
immobilizer). In certain circumstances, there
could may not be enough energy to start the en­
g ine.
Your veh icle is equipped with an inte lligent ene r­
gy managemen t system for d istr ibuting electrici ­
ty. This significantly improves the starting ability
and inc reases t he vehicle battery life.
Intellig ent Technology
The ene rgy management system Is made up o f
battery diagnosi s, idling cu rrent management ,
and dynamic energy management .
Battery diagnosis
T he battery diagnos is determines the vehicle ba t­
te ry c harge level. The sensors de termine the bat­
te ry vo ltage, the batte ry cu rrent, and the batte ry
temperat ure. The cur rent charge level and the
performa nee of the vehicle battery a re deter ­
mined based on this.
Idling current management
T he idling cur rent management decreases the
energy used while parked . With the engine
switched off, it ma nages the energy distribution
to the d ifferent e lectr ica l components . Data from
the battery d iagnosis is taken into account for
th is.
Depending on the vehicle battery charge level,
electr ical eq uipment is switched
off one item af­
ter the other to prevent the vehicle battery from dra ining and to ma intain the starting ab ility .
Dynamic energy manag ement
While driving, dynamic ene rgy management dis ­
t ributes the appropr iate amo unt of energy to the
electrical eq uipment. It contro ls the battery
charge level so that the amount of energy is not
greater than the amount being generated in or­
der to maintain an optimal vehicle battery charge
level.
(D Tips
-Energy management cannot overcome the
laws of physics . Note that the charge level
and length of the veh icle bat tery life are
li m ited.
-Whe n the sta rting ability is endangered, the
i•) i n dicator light t urns on r=v pag e 29.
What you should know
Maintaining the starting ability is the highest
priority .
A lot of stress is placed on the veh icle battery
whe n driving short distances, during city driving,
..,.
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