brakes AUDI A6 2014 User Guide

90 Audi adaptive cruise control and braking guard
Audi braking guard
Descript ion
Applies to vehicles: with Audi adaptive cruise control
Fig. 93 Instrument cluster: approach warn ing
Braking guard uses radar sensors and a video
camera . It also functions within the limits of
the system when adapt ive cruise control is
switched off .
What can braking guard do?
When detected in time, the system can assess
situations when a vehicle ahead brakes sud­
denly or if your own vehicle is traveling at a
high speed and approaching a vehicle up
ahead that is moving more slowly . Brak ing
guard does not react if it cannot detect the
situation.
The system advises you of various situations:
- The
distance warning is given if you are too
close to the vehicle ahead for a long time. If
the vehicle ahead brakes sharply, you will not be able to avoid a collision . The indicator
light
I in the display comes on .
- The
approach warning is given when a de­
tected veh icle up ahead in your lane is mov ­
i ng much more slowly than you are or if it
brakes sharply . When this warning is given,
it may only be possible to avoid a collision
by swerving or braking sharply. Th e indicator
light
I and indicato r in the display will warn
you about the danger¢
fig. 93. You will a lso
hear an acoustic signal.
ll This is not ava ilable in some co un tri es .
If you do not react fast enough or do not react
at all to the situation, braking guard will inter·
vene by braking.
- If a coll is ion is imminent, the system will
first provide an
acute warning by briefly and
sharply applying the brakes.
- If you do not react to the acute warning,
braking g uard can brake wit h increas ing
force w ith in the limits of the system . This
reduces the vehicle speed in the event of a
collision.
- The system can initiate maximum braking
short ly before a collision
1l . Full deceleration
at high speeds occurs only in vehicles with
adapt ive cruise control and side assist (pre
sense plus).
- If the braking guard senses that you are not
braking hard enough when a collision is im·
m inent, it can increase the braking force.
- The pre sense functions also engage when a
collision is imminent¢
page 192.
Which functions can be controlled?
You can switch braking guard and the dis­
tance/approach warning on or off in the MMI
¢ page 91, Settings in the MMI.
A WARNING
Lack of attention can cause collisions, oth­
er accidents and serious personal injuries.
The braking guard is an assist system and
cannot prevent a collision by itself. The
driver must always intervene. The driver is
always respons ible for braking at the cor­
rect time.
- Always pay close att ent ion to traffic,
even when the braking guard is switched
on. Be ready to intervene and be ready to
take comp lete control whenever necessa­
ry . Always keep the safe and legal dis­
tance between your vehicle and vehicles up ahead.
- Braking guard works within limits and
will not respond outside the system lim· its, for example when approaching a ..,.

108 Automatic Transmission
N - N eutr al
The transmission is in neutral in this position.
Shift to this position for stand ing with the
brakes applied
q .&. in Driving the automatic
transmission on page 11 O.
When the ve hicle is stationary o r at speeds
be low 1 mph (2 km/h), you must always apply
the footbrake befo re and while moving the
l ever out of N .
DIS -Normal position for driving forward
In the D/S position, the transmiss io n can be
operated e ither in the normal mode Dor i n
the sport mode S. To select the sport mode S,
pu ll the se lector lever back briefly . Pulling the
lever back aga in will select the normal mode
D. The instrument cluster display shows the
selected driving mode.
In the normal mode D, the transmission a uto ­
mat ica lly selects the suitab le gea r ratio.
It de­
pends on engine load, veh icle speed and driv­
ing style.
Select the sport mode S for sporty driving .
The vehicle makes fu ll u se of the engine's
power. Shifting may become noticeable when
accelerating.
When the ve hicle is stationary o r at speeds
be low 1 mph (2 km/h), you must always apply
the foot brake before and while moving the lever to D/S out of N .
A WARNING
Read and follow all WARNINGS q .&. in
Driving the automatic transmission on
page 110.
(D Note
-
Coast ing downh ill with the transmission in
N and the e ngine not r unning w ill result in
damage to the automatic transm iss io n
and possib ly the catalyt ic converter.
@ Tips
- Audi drive select : you ca n adj ust the
sporty s hift c haracte ristics in th e
Dy-
namic driving mode.Swi ll appea r in the
instrument cluster display instead of D.
-If you a cc iden tally selec t N whi le driving,
take your foot off the accelerato r pedal
immediately and wa it for the engine to
slow down to idle before select ing D/S.
- If there is a power fai lure, the selector
lever w ill not move out of the P position.
The emergency release can be used if
this happens
c::>page 113.
Automatic Shift Lock (ASL)
Applies to vehicles: with multitronic/5 tronic/tiptron ic
The Automatic Shift Lock safeguards you
against accidentally shifting into a forward or the reverse gear and causing the vehicle to
move unintentionally.
' ) ( )
Fig . 113 Shi ft gate: selector leve r lock pos it ions a nd
re lease button high lig h ted
The selector lever lock is re leased as follows:
.,. Tur n the ignition on .
.,. Step on the brake pedal.
At the same time
press and hold the re lease button on the
side of the gear selector knob
c:> fig . 113
with your thumb until you have moved the
selector lever to the desired posit ion.
Automatic selector leve r lo ck
The selector lever is locked in the P and N po­
s itions when the ignit ion is turned on . Yo u
must press the brake pedal and the re lease
button to select another position . As a re­
minder to the driver, the following warni ng
appea rs in the instrument clus ter display
whe n the selector is in P and N:
When stationary apply brake peda l while se-
lecting gear ..,_

110 Automatic Tran sm iss ion
multitronic transmission : Your vehicle is
equipped with
hill hold assist allowing you to
start while on an incline. The system is acti­
vated when the brake pedal is pressed down
and held
f o r a few s econds . The brake pres­
sure will hold for
a moment after the brake
pedal loosens to prevent the veh icle from roll­
ing backwards whi le starting up .
A WARNING
- The veh icle can also roll when the engine
is stopped.
- Unintended veh icle movement can cause
serious injury .
- Never leave your vehicle with the eng ine
running wh ile in gea r. If you must leave
yo ur vehicle when the engine is running,
act ivate the park ing brake and move the
selector lever to P .
- Power is st ill transmitted to the whee ls
when the engine is running at idle . To
prevent the vehicle from "creeping", you
must keep your foot on the brake when
the engine is running and the selector
lever is in D/S or R or "tiptronic" mode is
selected.
- Do not press the accelerator pedal when
changing the selector lever pos ition
wh ile the vehicle is stat io nary and the
engine is running .
- Never shift into R or P wh ile driving .
- Before driv ing down a steep slope, re-
duce your speed and shift into a lower
gear with "tiptronic" .
- Do not ride the brakes or press the brake
pedal too often or too long when dr iving
down a hill. Constant braking causes the
brakes to overheat and substant ially re­
duces b raking performance, inc reases
braking distance or causes comp lete fail­
ure of the brake system.
- T o prevent the veh icle from rolling back
when stoppi ng on incl ines, always hold it
in place with the brake peda l or parking
brake.
- Never hold the veh icle on an incl ine with
a slipping clutch. The clutch opens auto ­
matically when it becomes too hot from the overload. An indicato
r lamp
[O] illu­
minates and a driver message appears
¢ page 112 when the clutch is overload­
ed.
- If the engine must remain running, never
have any driving posit io n engaged when
checking under the hood . Make sure the
selector lever has securely engaged and is locked in P with the park ing brake set
¢ page 224. O therwise, any increase in
engine speed m ay se t the vehicle in mo­
tion, even with the parking brake ap­ plied .
(D Note
-S tronic- and tiptronic transmission :
When stopping on an incl ine , do not try
to hold the vehicle in place by pressing
the acce lerator pedal while a driving gear
is se lected. This can cause the transmis­
sion to overheat and can damage it. Acti­
vate the parking brake or press the brake
peda l to prevent the vehicle from roll ing.
- S tronic- and tiptronic transmission : A l­
lowing the vehicle to ro ll when the en­
gine is stopped and the selector lever is
in N will damage the transmission be­
cause it is not l ubricated unde r those cir­
cumstances.
{!) Tips
For safety reasons, the parking brake is re­
l eased automatically only when the d riv­
er's safety belt is engaged in the buckle.
Hill descent control
Applies to vehicles: with multitro nic/5 tronic/t iptronic
The hill descent control system assists the
driver when driving down declines .
Hill descent control is activated when these­
lector lever is in D/S and you press the brake
pedal. The transmission automatically selects
a gear that is sui table fo r the incline. H ill de­
scent contro l tries to ma inta in the speed ach-
ieved at the time of b raking, with in physica l .,.

and technical limitations. If may still be necessary to adjust the speed with the brakes.
H ill descent control switches off once the de­
cline levels out or you press the accelerator
pedal.
On vehicles w ith the c ruise control system*
c::> page 82, hill descent con trol is also activat­
ed when the speed is set.
A WARNING
-
Hil l descent control cannot overcome
physical limitations, so it may not be able
to maintain a constant speed under all
conditions. Always be ready to app ly the
brakes.
Manual shift program
App lies to vehicles: with multitron ic/S tronic/t iptronic
Using the manual shift program you can
manually select gears.
Fig . 115 Center co nsole: sh ift ing the gears manually
Fig . 116 Steering wheel: S hift b uttons*
Gear selection with selector lever
The tiptron ic mode can be selected either with
the vehicle stationary or on the move .
.,. Push the selector lever to the right from D/
5. An M appears in the instrument cluster
Automatic Transmission 111
display as soon as the transmission has
shifted.
.,. To upshift, push the selector lever forward
to the plus position
0 c::> fig. 115 .
.,. To downshift, push the lever to the minus
position
0 .
Gear selection with paddle levers*
The shift buttons are activated when the se­
lector lever is in D/S or the tiptronic manual
shift program.
.,. To upshift, touch the button on the right
0
c::>fig. 116.
.,. To downshift, touch the button on the left
0 .
.,. If you do not press a shift button within a
short time while in the D/S posit ion, the
transmission will return to automatic mode.
To keep shifting using the shift buttons,
move the selector lever to the r ight out of
the D/S position.
The transm iss ion automatically sh ifts up or
down before cr itical engine speed is reached.
The transmission only allows manual shifting
when the engine speed is with in the permit­
ted range .
(D Tips
-When you shift into the next lower gear,
the transmission will downshift only
when the re is no possibility of over-rev­
ving the engine.
- When the kick-down comes on, the
transmission will shift down to a lower
gear, depending on vehicle and engine
speeds.
- T iptron ic is inoperative when the trans­
mission is in the fail-safe mode.

ESC includes and/or works together with the
anti-lock brake system (ABS) , brake assist sys ­
tem, anti -slip regulation (ASR) , e lectronic dif­
ferential lock ( EDL) and e lectronic interax le
d ifferential lock* . ESC is swi tched on all the
time. In certain situat ions when you need less
traction , you can switch off ASR by pressing
the button
[ru <::;> page 196, fig . 178 . Be sure
to switch ASR on again when you no longer
n eed less t raction.
Anti-lock br aking s ystem (ABS)
ABS prevents the wheels from locking up
when braking . The veh icle can still be steered
even during hard braking . Apply steady pres­
sure to the brake pedal. Do not pump the ped ­
a l. A puls ing in the bra ke peda l indicates that
the system is he lping you to brake the vehicle.
Brake assist system
The brake assist system can decrease brak ing
d istance.
It increases braking power when the
driver p resses the brake pedal quic kly in emer­
gency situations. You must press and ho ld the
b rake peda l until the situation is over . In
vehicles with adaptive cruise control* , the
brake assist system is more sensitive if the
d istance detected to the vehicle ahead is too
small.
Anti -slip regulation (ASR )
ASR reduces engine power when the d rive
wheels begin to spin and adapts the force to
the road condit ions. This makes it eas ie r to
s tart, accelerate and drive up hills.
El ectronic diffe rential lock (EDL )
The ED L brakes wheels that are spinn ing and
transfers the drive powe r to the other drive
wheel or whee ls if the vehicle is equipped with
all-whee l drive*. This function is available up
t o about 75 mph (120 km/h).
I n extreme cases , ED L automatica lly switches
off to help keep the brake on the braked whee l
from overheating.
E DL wi ll switch on again au­
tomatically when conditions have returned to normal.
Int ellig ent technolog y 195
Electronic intera xle differential l ock */
se le ctive wheel torque cont rol *
The electronic interaxle differential lock (front
whee l drive) or the se lective whee l torque
cont rol (all-wheel dr ive) operates when dr iv­
ing through curves . The front wheel on the in­
s ide of the curve or both wheels on the inside
of the curve are braked selectively as needed .
T his min imizes sliding in the front wheels and
allows for more p recise d riving through
curves . T he applicable system may no t acti­
vate when driv ing in wet or snowy conditions.
A WARNING
-- ESC, ABS, ASR, EDL and the electronic in­
teraxle diffe rential lock function* cannot
overcome the laws of physics. This is es­
pecially important on slippery or wet
roads . If the systems begin acting to sta­
bilize your veh icle, you should immedi­
ately change yo ur speed to match the
road and traffic cond itions. Do not let
the increased safety provided by these
systems tempt you to take risks. Do ing
so will increase the r isk o f a loss of vehi ­
cle control, collision and serious personal inju ries.
-Always adapt your speed to road, traffic and weather conditions . The risk of los­
ing control of the vehicle increases when
driving too fast, espec ially through
curves and on slippery or wet roads, and
when dr iv ing too close to vehicles up
ahead . ESC, ABS, the brake assist sys­
tem, EDL, ASR and the e lectronic inte r­
axle d iffe ren tial lock function* cannot
preven t coll is ions.
- Always accelerate with spec ial care on
even, smooth surfaces su ch as those that
are wet or covered with ice and snow.
The drive wheels can spin even with
these assistance systems that cannot al­
ways he lp to red uce the risk of loss of ve-
hicle control. .,.
•
•

to have your brake pads inspected can result
in reduced brake performance.
On steep slopes, you should use the brak ing
effect of the engine. This way, yo u prevent un­
necessary wea r on the brake system . If you
must use your brakes, do not hold the brakes
down continuously. Pump the brakes at inter ­
vals.
Moi stu re or r oad salt
Under certain conditions, for examp le, when
driving through water or very heavy rain, or
even after washing your vehicle , the braking
effect can be reduced due to moisture (or in
free zing conditions ice) on the brake pads. A
f ew care ful brake applications should dry off
the brake pads or remove any ice coatings.
When you a re d riving at higher speeds with
the w indshield wipers on, the brake pads will
briefly touch the brake d iscs in regular inter­
vals so as to improve reaction t ime when brak­
ing on wet surfaces . You the driver will not no­
tice anything .
The effectiveness of the brakes can be reduced
when the vehicle is dr iven on a salt -covered
road and the brakes are not used . Here too ,
you should clean off accumu lated salt coat ing
from brake discs and pads with a few carefu l
appl ications o f the brake ¢,&. .
Cor ro sion
There may be a tendency for dirt to build up
on the brake pads and corrosion to form on
the discs if the car is not dr iven regularly or
on ly for short trips with l ittle use of the
brakes .
If the brakes are not used frequently , or if cor­
rosion has fo rmed on the discs, it is advisable
to clean off the pads and discs by brak ing
firm ly a few times from a moderately h igh
speed ¢.&. .
F a ults in the brake system
If you should notice a
sudden increase in
b rake pedal travel, then one of the two bra ke
circu its may have failed¢,&. .
Int ellig ent technolog y 197
Low br ake fluid lev el
Malfunctions can occu r in the brake system if
the b rake fluid level is too low. The brake fluid
level is monitored electronica lly.
Brake booster
T he brake booster wo rks with vacuum pres­
s ur e which is created only when the engine is
runn ing ¢.&. .
Brake lining we ar statu s
Brake lining wear may be checked by visual in­
spect ion of the condition of the brake pads
th rough the open ings in the wheel. If neces­
sary, the wheel may be removed for th is in­
spection ¢
page 263, Changing a wheel.
A WARNING
-=
-You should perform braking maneuvers
for the purpose of cleaning the brake
system only if road conditions permit.
Other road users must not be put at risk -
you may cause an accident!
- Before descend ing a steep grade, reduce
speed and sh ift transmission into a lower
gear or lower dr iving range. Do not ride
the brakes or hold the pedal down too
long or too often . Th is could cause the
brakes to get hot and diminish braking
efficiency.
- Do not "ride the brakes" by rest ing your
foot on the pedal when you do not intend
to b rake. This may cause the brakes to
overheat, premature wear and increased
stopping distance.
- Unde r ce rtain cl imatic and operat ing
conditions such as passing thro ugh wa ­
ter, driving in heavy rain or after washing
the vehicle, the effectiveness of the brakes can be reduced . In winter, ice can
accumulate on the brake pads, lin ings,
discs and drums . Carefully app ly brakes
for a test . Brakes will dry and ice coat­
ings w ill be cleaned off after a few care­
fu l brake applicat ions.
- Driving for an extended period of time on
salt-covered roads without using your brakes can a lso affect bra king efficiency. ..,.
•
•

198 Intelligent technology
Clean off accumulated salt coating from
brake discs and pads with a few caref ul
brake applications.
- If you damage the front spoiler, or if you
install a different spoiler, be sure the air
flow to the front brakes is not obstruct­ ed . Otherwise the brake system could
overheat reducing the effectiveness of
the ent ire brake system.
- Failure of one brake c ircuit will impair
the braking capability resulting in an in­ creased stopp ing distan ce. Avoid driv ing
the vehicle a nd have it towed to t he near­
est Aud i dea ler o r qualified workshop.
- Never let the vehicle rol l to a stop w ith
the engine shu t off.
- If the brake booster is not working, the
brake pedal must be pressed conside ra­
bly harder to make up for the lac k of
booster assistance.
Electro-mechanical
power assist
The electro-mechanical power assist helps
the driver when steering.
Power steering adapts electronically based on
the vehicle speed.
Ind icator light s and m essages
• Steerin g defecti ve! Stop the vehicle
If th is indicator light turns on and stays on
and this message appears, t he power steering
may have fa iled.
Do
not cont inue driving . See you r autho rized
Aud i dealer or other qualified repa ir facility
fo r assistance.
l~ ij Ste ering: Sy stem malfunction ! You m ay
cont inue dri ving
If the indicator light turns on and the mes­
sage appears, the steer ing may be more diffi­
cult to move or more sens itive than usual.
Drive s low ly to your authorized Audi dealer or
qua lified workshop to have the malfunction
corrected.
(D Tips
If the . or
£'I' ij indicator light on ly stays
on for a short t ime, yo u may continue dr iv­
i ng.
Driving with your
quattro
App lies to vehicles: wit h all-w hee l drive
With a/I-wheel drive, all four wheels ore driv­
en.
General information
With all Wheel Drive, power is distributed to all four wheels. This happens automatically
depend ing on your driving style and the road
condit ions at the time. See also ¢
page 194.
With the sport diffe rent ia l*, power distribu­
t ion to the rear wheels is variable and can be
adjusted with Audi drive select*¢
page 100.
Always read and follow safety precautions
¢ &.
Winter tires
When dr iving in the win ter, yo ur vehicle wi th
all-wheel drive has an advantage, eve n with
regular tires. In winter road conditions it may
be advisable to mount winter tires (or all-sea­
son tires) for improved driveability and brak­
ing : these tires must be mounted on
all fou r
w heel s.
See also¢ page 255, Winter tires .
Tire chain s
Where tire chains are mandatory on certain roads, this norma lly also app lies to ve hicles
with all-wheel drive¢
page 256, Snow
chains .
Replacing wheel s/tire s
Vehicles with a ll-wheel drive must always
have tires of the same size. A lso avoid tires
with different tread depths . For detai ls see
page ¢
page 251, New tires and replacing
tires and wheels.
Off -Road dr iving?
Your Audi does not have enough gro und clea r-
ance to be used as an off-road vehicle .
It is jll,,

Driving and
environment
The first 1
1000
miles
(11500 km) and
afterwards
New engine
The engine needs to be run-in during the first
1,000 miles (1 ,500 km) .
For the first 600 mile s (1,000
kilometers ):
.,. Do not use full throttle.
.,. Do not drive at engine speeds that are more
than 2/3 of the max imum permitted RPM .
.. Avoid high engine speeds .
From 600 to 1,000 mile s (1 ,000 to
1,500 kilometers):
.. Speeds can gradually be increased to the
maximum pe rm iss ib le road or eng ine speed .
During and after break-in per iod
.,. Do not rev the engine up to high speeds
when it is cold. This applies whether the
transmission is i n N (Neutra l) or in gear.
After the break- in peri od
.. Do not exceed maximum engine speed un­
der any circumstances.
.,. Upshift into the next higher gear
before
reaching the red area at the end of the tach­
ometer scale
¢ page 11.
During the first few hours of driving, the en­
g ine's interna l friction is higher than later
when all the moving parts have been broken
i n. How well this break-in p rocess is done de­
pends to a considerable extent on the way the
ve hicl e is driven du ring the first 1,000 miles
(1,500 ki lome ters).
(D Note
Extremely h igh engine speeds are auto­
mat ica lly reduced. However, t hese rpm
lim its are progr amme d for an eng ine well
r u n- in, not a new engine .
Driving and environment 201
@) For the sake of the environment
Do not drive with unnecessarily high en­
g ine speeds -upshifting ear ly saves f uel,
reduces noise and protects the environ­
ment.
New tires
If your vehicle is running on new tires, drive
particularly caref ul for the first 350 miles
(500 kilomete rs) afte r fitt ing.
.&, WARNING
N ew tires tend to be sl ippery and mus t al­
so be "b roken -in" . Be sure to remember
this dur ing the f irst 350 m iles (500 kilo­
meters) . Brake gently . Avoid fo llowing
closely behind other vehicles or other sit­
uations that m ight require sudden, hard
b raking .
New brake pads
Remember that new brake pads do not have a
full brak ing effect dur ing the first 250 m iles
(400 ki lomete rs) afte r they are installed.
New brake pads have to be "burnished in" be­
fore they have optima l grab¢ .&. .
D uring the brea k-in period, yo u should avo id
putting severe loads on the brakes. Severe
l oads include , for example, sudden hard brak­
i ng, in particular at very h igh speeds or, for
example, on mounta in passes .
.&, WARNING
New b rake pads don't have the best stop­
p ing power and must be "broken-i n" dur­
ing the initi al 100 to 150 miles (150 to
2 00 kilometers) o f no rma l ci ty driving . You
can compensate for this by pressing the b rake peda l more fi rm ly . This also applies
later when new pads are installed.
•
•

A WARNING ,~
- Do not park your vehicle over flammable
materials such as grass or leaves because
the high temperature of the diesel par­
t icu late filter cou ld start a fire .
- Do not apply an underbody protectant in the exhaust system area or a fire could sta rt.
Avoid damaging the
vehicle
When you are driving on poor roads, o r over
curbs, steep ramps, etc., make ce rtain that
l ow -lying parts such as spoi lers and exhaust
system parts do not bottom out and get dam­
aged.
This is especially true for vehicles with low ­
slung chassis (sports chassis)* and f ully load ­
ed veh icles.
Driving through water
on roads
Note the following to avoid vehicle damage
when dr iv ing t hrough water, for example on
flooded roads:
- The water must not be any higher than the
bottom of the veh icle body.
- Do not drive faster than wa lking speed.
A WARNING
After driving through water, m ud, slush,
etc., the brakes may be slow to take effect
because of wet brake roto rs and pads. Dry
the brakes fi rst by brak ing carefully to re­
sto re the full b raking effect.
- Vehicle components such as the eng ine,
transmission, suspension or e lectr ical
system can be severe ly damaged by driv­
i ng th rough water.
- Always switch off the Start-Stop-System
when driving through water
r::;> pag e 79.
-
Dri vin g and en vironm ent 203
(D Tips
-Check t he dept h of the water before d riv­
ing through it .
- Do not stop the vehicle, drive in reverse
or switch the e ngine off w hen driving
thro ugh water.
- Keep i n mind t hat oncoming vehicles
may create waves that raise the water
level and make it too deep for your vehi ­
cle to drive through safely.
- Avo id driving through salt water because
it can cause corros ion.
Shutting down vehicle
If you would like your vehicle to remain inop­
erative for a longer period of t i me, contact an
Audi or other spec ia lized dealer. They can ad­
vise you on necessary precautions e.g . corro­
s io n prevention, maintenance and sto rage .
Pay attent io n to additional info rmation con­
ce rning the bat tery. Refe r to ¢
page 235.
Operate your vehicle
economically and
minimize pollution
General
Your per sonal style of driving will de termine
the economy of your vehicle, as well as ex ­
haust and noise levels .
Fuel economy, environme nta l impact, and
wear on your eng ine, brakes and tires la rgely
depe nd on three fac to rs:
- your personal d riving style
- operati ng conditions
- technical limitat ions
If you ant ic ipate what you need to do next and
drive economica lly, yo u can easily cut yo ur
f uel 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 pocketbook. •
•

206 Trailer towing
Trailer towing
Driving with a trailer
General information
Your Audi was designed primarily for passen­
ger transportation .
If you plan to tow a trailer, p lease remember
that the additional load will affect durability,
economy and performance .
Trailer towing not on ly places more stress on
the vehicle, it also calls for more concentra­
tion from the driver.
For this reason, always follow the operating
and driving instructions provided and use
common sense.
@ Note
If you are going to tow a trai ler, you must
activate the trailer operation mode
c:::> page 206, Operating instructions.
Technical requirements
Trailer hitch
Use a weight-carrying hitch conforming to the
gross trailer weight. The hitch must be suita­ ble 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 removable ball mount. Always
check with the trailer hitch manufacturer to
make sure that you are using the cor rect
hitch.
Do not use a bumper hitch.
The hitch must be installed in such a way that
it does not interfere with the impact-absorb­
ing bumper system. No modifications should
be made to the vehicle exhaust and brake sys­
tems . From time to time, check that all hitch
mounting bolts remain securely fastened.
When you are not towing a trailer, remove the
trai ler hitch ball mount. This prevents the
hitch from causing damage should your vehi­
cle be struck from behind
c:::> A.
Trailer brakes
If your trailer is equipped with a brakin g sys­
tem, check to be sure that it conforms to all
regulations.
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 veh icle
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
using the regular outside mirrors, then you
must install extended mirrors. It is important
that you
always have clear v is ion to the rear .
A WARNING
--
After removing the trailer hitch, do not
store it in your vehicle . In case of sudden
braking, the hitch could fly forward and in­
jure you or your passengers.
Operating instructions
Maximum trailer weight
A trailer for your vehicle is limited to a typical
class 1 or class 2 trailer.
Trailer load distribution
Be sure the load in the trailer is held securely
in place to prevent it from shift ing forward,
backward or sideways.
Never allow a passenger to ride in a trailer
c:::> A in Driving instructions on page 208.
Engine cooling system
Towing a trailer makes the engine work hard­
er . It is important that the cooling system 's
performance is up to the additional load.