towing capacity AUDI A8 2014 Owners 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
Control (ESC)
Description
ESC 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. ESC detects
Intelligent technology 199
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
JjJ in the instrument cluster
blinks when ESC is taking action to help you
control the vehicle.
ESC has limitations .
It is important to remem­
ber that ESC 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, ESC 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, ESC 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), ESC 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, ESC cannot always deal as effectively
with difficult driving situations than at lower
speeds. When towing a trailer, ESC 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. ESC 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, ESC 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 ESC can
provide any assistance, you may not experi­
ence the benefits of ESC.
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A WARNING ,~
Overloading a vehicle can cause loss of ve­
hicle control, a crash or other accident, se ­
rious persona l injury, and even death .
- Carrying more weight than your vehicle
was designed to carry will prevent the
vehicle from handling properly and in­ crease the risk of the loss of vehicle con­
trol.
- The brakes on a vehicle that has been
overloaded may not be able to stop the
vehicle within a safe distance.
- Tires on a vehicle that has been overload­
ed can fail suddenly, including a blowout
and sudden deflation, causing loss of
control and a crash.
- Always make sure that the total load be­
ing transported -including the weight of
a trailer hitch and the tongue weight of a
loaded trailer -does not make the vehi­
cle heavier than the vehicle's Gross Vehi­
cle Weight Rating.
Determining correct load limit
Use the example below to cal­
culate the total weight of the
passengers and luggage or oth­
er things that you plan to trans­
port so that you can make sure
that your vehicle will not be
overloaded.
Steps for Determining Correct Load Limit
1. Locate the statement "THE
COMBINED WEIGHT OF OC­
CUPANTS AND CARGO
SHOULD NEVER EXCEED XXX
KG OR XXX LBS" on your ve­
hicle's placard (tire inflation
Tires and wheels 257
pressure label) ¢ page 252,
fig. 208.
2. Determine the combined
weight of the driver and pas­
sengers that will be riding in
your vehicle.
3. Subtract the combined weight of the driver and pas­
sengers from
"XXX" kilo­
grams or
"XXX" pounds
shown on the sticker
¢ page 252, fig. 208.
4. The resulting figure equals
the available amount of car­
go and luggage load capaci­
ty. For example, if the
"XXX"
amount equals 1400 lbs.
and there will be five 150
lbs. passengers in your vehi­
cle, the amount of available
cargo and luggage load ca­
pacity is 650 lbs. (1400-7 50
(5
X 150) = 650 lbs.)
5. Determine the combined weight of luggage and cargo
being loaded on the vehicle.
That weight may not safely
exceed the available cargo
and luggage load capacity
calculated in Step 4.
6. If your vehicle will be towing
a trailer, load from your trail­
er will be transferred to your
i,,,.
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Emergency situations
General
This chapter i s intended for trained emer­
gency crews and working personnel who have the necessary tools and equipment to
perform these operations.
Starting by pushing or
towing
(D Note
Ve hicles w ith an au tomatic tra nsmission
cannot be started by pus hing o r tow ing.
Starting with jumper
cables
If necessary, the engine can be started by
connecting it to the battery of another vehi­
cle.
If the engine shou ld fail to start because of a
discha rged o r wea k battery, the battery can be
connected to the battery o f
another vehicle,
using a
pair of jumper cables to start the en­
g ine.
Jumper cables
Use only jumper cables of sufficiently la rge
c ross section to carry the starter c urrent safe­
l y. Refer to the man ufacturer's specifications.
Use only jumper cables with
insulated te rm i­
na l clamps wh ic h are d istinctly marked:
plus(+) cable i n mos t cases co lore d red
minu s(-) cable
in most cases colored black .
A WARNING
Batterie s contain e lec tricity, ac id, an d gas.
A ny of these can cause ve ry ser io us or fatal
inju ry. Follow the instructions below f or
safe han dling of your veh icle's b attery .
- Alway s shield you r eyes and avoid lean­
ing over the bat te ry whenever possib le.
- A dis ch arged battery c an free ze at tem­
peratures ju st be low 32 °F ( 0 °C ). Befo re
Emergency situations 283
connecting a jumpe r cab le, you must
thaw the frozen battery c omp lete ly, ot h­
erwise it could explode.
- Do not allow battery acid to contact eyes
or skin. Fl ush any contacted area with
wate r immediately.
- Improper use of a booster battery to start a vehicle may cause an explosion.
- Vehicle batter ies genera te exp losive gas­
es. Keep spar ks, flame and lighted c iga ­
rettes away from batte ries.
- Do not try to jump start any ve hicle w ith
a low ac id leve l in the battery.
- The vo ltage of the booste r batte ry m ust
a lso have a 12-Vol t rating. T he capacity
(Ah) of the booster battery sho uld not be
lowe r tha n that of the discharged bat­
tery . Use of batte rie s of d iffe ren t voltage
or substantially diffe rent "Ah" rat ing
may c au se an exp losion and persona l in­
JU ry.
- N ever cha rge a fro zen battery. Gas trap­
pe d in the ice may cause a n ex plosion.
- Never cha rge or use a batte ry tha t h as
been fr ozen. T he battery case may have
be weakened.
- Us e of b atter ies of differe nt voltage or
sub stant ia lly diffe ren t ca pa city (Ah) ra t­
i ng may c ause an ex plosion an d injury .
Th e capac ity (Ah) of the booster bat tery
should not be lower than that of the dis ­
charged batte ry .
- Before you chec k any thing in the engine
compa rtment, always read and hee d all
WARNINGS
¢page 231.
(D Note
-App lyin g a higher vo ltage booster ba t­
t ery w ill cause expens ive damage to se n­
sit ive e lectronic com ponents, such as
cont ro l units, relays, rad io, etc.
- The re must be no electrical contact be­
tween the vehicles as ot herwise c urrent
co uld a lready start to f low as soon as the
p o sit ive(+) term inals a re connected. ..,. •
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