ECU AUDI R8 SPYDER 2012 User Guide

Driving Safely
General notes
Safe driving habits
Please remember -safety first!
This chapter contains important information,
tips, instructions and warnings that you need
to read and observe for your own safety, the
safety of your passengers and others . We have
summarized here what you need to know
about safety belts, airbags, child restraints as
well as child safety. Your safety is for us
priori­
ty number 1.
Always observe the information
and warnings in this section - for your own
safety as well as for that of your passengers.
The information in this section applies to all
model versions of your vehicle . Some of the
features described in this sections may be
standard equipment on some models, or may
be optional equipment on others. If you are
not sure, ask your authorized Audi dealer.
A WARNING
- Make certain that you follow the instruc­
tions and heed the WARNINGS in this
Manual. It is in your interest and in the
interest of your passengers.
- Always keep the complete owner's litera­
ture in your Audi when you lend or sell
your vehicle so that this important infor­
mation will always be available to the
driver and passengers.
- Always keep the owner's literature handy
so that you can find it easily if you have
questions.
Safety equipment
The safety features are part of the occupant
restraint system and work together to help
reduce the risk of injury in a wide variety of
accident situations .
Your safety and the safety of your passengers
should not be left to chance. Advances in
technology have made a variety of features
available to help reduce the risk of injury in an
Driving Safely 91
accident. The following is a listing of just a
few of the safety features in your Audi:
- sophisticated safety belts for driver and all
passenger seating positions,
- safety belt pretensioners ,
- front airbags,
- knee airbags,
- side airbags in the seats
- adjustable head restraints,
- adjustable steering column.
These individual safety features can work to­
gether as a system to help protect you and
your passengers in a wide range of accidents.
These features cannot work as a system if
they are not always properly adjusted and
properly used!
Safety is everybody's responsibility!
Important things to do before driving
Safety is everybody's job! Vehicle and occu­
pant safety always depends on the informed and careful driver.
For your safety and the safety of your passen­
gers,
before driving always:
~ Make sure that all lights and signals are op­
erating correctly .
~ Make sure that the tire pressure is correct.
~ Make sure that all windows are clean and
afford good visibility to the outside.
~ Secure all luggage and other items carefully
c::>page 62.
~ Make sure that nothing can interfere with
the pedals.
~ Adjust front seat, head restraint and mir­
rors correctly for your height .
~ Instruct passengers to adjust the head re­
straints according to their height .
~ Make sure to use the right child restraint
correctly to protect children¢
page 130,
Child Safety.
~ Sit properly in your seat and make sure that
your passengers do the same¢
page 59,
Seats and storage. .,..
•
•

96 Driving Safely
Pedal area
The pedals must always be free to move and
must never be interfered with by a floor mat
or any other object.
• Make sure tha t all pedals move freely with­
out interference.
• Make sure that nothing prevents all pedals
from returning to their original positions.
Only use floor mats that leave the pedal area
free and can be secured with floor mat fasten­
ers.
If a brake circuit fails, increased brake pedal
travel is required to bring the vehicle to a full
stop .
A WARNING ,_
Pedals that cannot move freely can cause
loss of vehicle control and increase the risk
of serious injury.
- Never place any objects in the driver's
footwell. An object could get into the
pedal area and interfere with pedal func ­
tion. In case of sudden braking or an ac­
cident, you would not be able to brake or
accelerate!
-Always make sure that nothing can fall or move into the driver's footwell.
Floor mats on the driver side
Always use floor mats that can be securely attached to the floor mat fasteners and do
not interfere with the free movement of the
pedals.
• Make sure that the floor mats are properly
secured and cannot move and interfere with
the pedals
q .&_ .
Use only floor mats that leave the pedal area
unobstructed and that are firmly secured so
that they cannot slip out of position. You can
obtain suitable floor mats from your author­
ized Audi dealer .
A WARNING
Pedals that cannot move freely can result
in a loss of vehicle control and increase the
risk of serious personal injury.
- Always make sure that floor mats are
properly secured .
- Never place or install floor mats or other
floor coverings in the vehicle that cannot be properly secured in place to prevent
them from slipping and interfering with
the pedals or the ability to control the
vehicle.
- Never place or install floor mats or other
floor coverings on top of already instal­
led floor mats. Additional floor mats and
other coverings will reduce the size of
the pedal area and interfere with the pedals.
- Always properly reinstall and secure floor
mats that have been taken out for clean­
ing.
- Always make sure that objects cannot
fall into the driver footwell while the ve­
hicle is moving. Objects can become
trapped under the brake pedal and accel­
erator pedal causing a loss of vehicle
control.
Stowing luggage
Loading the luggage compartment
All luggage and other objects must be prop­ erly stowed and secured in the luggage com­
partment.
Loose items in the luggage compartment can
shift suddenly, changing vehicle handling
characteristics. Loose items can also increase
the risk of serious personal injury in a sudden
vehicle maneuver or in a collision.
In a collision, the laws of physics mean that
even smaller items that are loose in the vehi­
cle will become heavy missiles that can cause
serious injury. Items in the vehicle possess en­
ergy which vary with vehicle speed and the
weight of the item. Vehicle speed is the most
significant factor.

For example, in a frontal collision at a speed
of 30 mph (48 km/h), the forces acting on a 10- lb (4.5 kg) object are about 20 times the
normal weight of the item. This means that
t he we ight of the item would suddenly be
about 200 lbs . (90 kg). You can imagine the
in juries that a 200 lbs. (90 kg) item flyi ng
freely through the passenge r compartment
could cause in a collision like t his.
_& WARNING
Imprope rly stored luggage or other items
can fly through the vehicle ca us ing se rious
personal inj ury in the event of hard b rak ­
ing or an acc ident. To help reduce the r is k
of serious personal injury :
- Always put objects, for examp le, luggage
o r othe r heavy items in the luggage com­
partment .
_& WARNING
Heavy loads will influence the way your ve­
hicle handles. To help reduce the r isk of a
loss of control leading to ser ious personal
injury:
- Always keep in m ind whe n transporting
heavy objects, t hat a change in t he cen ­
ter of g ravity can also cause changes in
vehicl e handling.
- Never exceed the G ross Ax le Weight Rat­
ing or t he Gross Veh icle We ight Rating
spe cified on t he safety compliance stic k­
er on the left door jamb. Exc eeding pe r­
missib le we igh t standa rds can cause the
vehicle to s lide and handle differently.
- Please observe info rm ation on s afe driv­
ing
~ page 91.
_& WARNING ,~ ~
Always make su re that the doors, all win ­
dows and the front lid are securely closed
an d locked to red uce the risk of in jury
when the veh icle is not being used .
- After closing the front lid, a lways make
s u re that it is properly closed and locked.
- Never leave you r vehicle unatten ded es­
pecially with the front lid left open . A
Dr iving S afel y 97
child cou ld craw l into the luggage com­
pa rtment and close the front lid becom­
ing trapped and unable to get out. Be ing
trapped in a veh icle can lead to serious
pe rsonal injury .
- Never let ch ildren play i n or around the
veh icle .
- Never let passengers ride in t he luggage
compartment . Vehicle occupants must
always be prope rly restra ined in one of
the vehicle 's seating pos it ions .
(D Tips
The t ire pressure must correspond to the
l oad . The t ire press ure is shown on the tire
p ressure label. The tire pressure label is lo­
cated on the d river 's s ide B-pillar. The t ire
pressure label lists the recommended cold
tire inflation pressures for the vehicle at
it s m aximum c apac ity we igh t a nd the tires
that we re on your vehicle at the t ime it
was manufacture d. For recommended tire
pressures fo r normal load cond it ions,
pleas@ s@@ chapter c::> page 187.
Reporting Safety
Defects
Applicable to U.S.A.
If you believe that your vehi cle
ha s a defect which could cau se
a crash or could caus e injury or
death, you should immediately inform the National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in addition to notify­
ing Audi of Amer ica , Inc .
If NHTSA recei ves similar com­
plaints, it may open an investi­
gation , and if it finds that a
s afet y defect s exists in a group .,.
•
•

100 Driving Saf ely
retract them without specia l tools . The sys­
tem is ready for use again once they are re­
tracted.
"" Remove the w ind deflector, if necessary
¢ page 42.
"" Lower the rear window, if necessary
¢page 43.
"" Pull the loop upward in the direction of the
arrow and hold it in place
(D ¢ fig. 108.
"" Slide the rollbar down@¢&, .
"" Release the loop just before the rollbar
reaches its end position 1-2 in. (3-5 cm) .
"" Press the rollbar dow n firm ly until it stops.
"" Make sure the rollbar is secure before re­
leasing it .
"" Close the cover@¢
fig. 109.
"" Repeat the procedure on the other rollbar.
A WARNING
-
- Make sure your head or other parts of
your body are not located in the area above the rollbar when pressing the roll­
bar down. If the rollbar is not secured
co rrectly, it could dep loy again as soon as
yo u r elease it and ca use i nju ries.
- Have the rollover protection system
checked by your au thorized Audi dealer if
i t malfunct ions. Otherwise the system
may not deploy co rrec tly in a co llision.
- Modifying the ro llover p rotection system
o r individ ua l components is not permi t­
ted.
- Work on t he rollover pro tect io n sys tem
sho uld only be performed by your au­
thori zed Aud i dea le r. Othe rwise the sys ­
tem may not function correct ly in a colli­
sion or it could dep loy unexpected ly .
- Have the system inspected at service in ­
tervals. This ens ures the system will a l­
ways be ready for use. Have yo ur autho r­
ized Audi dea ler check the rollover pro­
tection system every two years at the lat­
est.
If the rollbars dep loy when the convert ib le
top is closed, do not open the top. Doing so cou
ld result in damage to the vehicle.
P lease see your authorized A udi dealer for
ass istance.

-Always keep feet in the footwell in front
of the seat while the vehicle is being driv­
en .
- Never let any person ride with feet on
the instrument panel or sticking out the
window or on the seat.
- Never remove a safety belt while the ve­ hicle is moving. Doing so will increase
your risk of being injured or killed .
- Never wear belts twisted.
- Never wear belts over rigid or breakable
objects in or on your clothing, such as
eye glasses, pens, keys, etc., as these
may cause injury.
- Never wear the shoulder part of the belt
under your arm or otherwise out of posi­
t ion .
- Several layers of heavy clothing may in­
terfere with correct positioning of belts
and reduce their effectiveness .
- Always keep belt buckles free of anything
that may prevent the buckle from latch­
ing securely .
- Never use comfort clips or devices that
create slack in the shoulder belt. Howev­
er, special clips may be required for the
correct use of some chi ld restraint sys­
tems.
- Never allow safety belts to become dam­
aged by being caught in door or seat
hardware.
- Torn or frayed safety belts can tear and
damaged belt hardware can break in an
accident. Inspect belts regularly.
If web ­
bing, bindings, buckles, or retractors are
damaged, have belts replaced by an au­
thorized Audi dea ler or qualified work­
shop.
- Safety belts that have been worn and
loaded in an accident must be replaced
with the correct replacement safety belt
by an authorized Audi dealer or qualified
workshop . Replacement may be necessa ­
ry even if damage cannot be clearly seen.
Anchorages that were loaded must also
be inspected .
- Never remove, modify, disassemble, or
try to repair the safety belts yourself.
Safety belts 103
-Always keep the belts clean. Dirty belts
may not work properly and can impair
the function of the inertia reel
c:> page 162, Safety belts .
Illustrating the
principle of an accident
Frontal collisions and the law of physics
Frontal crashes creat e very strong forces for
people riding in vehicles .
Fig. 112 Unbelted occupants in a vehicle heading for a
wa ll
Fig. 113 The ve hicle c rashes in to the wal l.
The physical principles are simple. Both the
vehicle and the passengers possess energy
which vari es with vehicle speed and body
weight. Eng ineers cal l this energy "k inetic en­
ergy."
The higher the speed of the vehicle and the
greater the vehicle's weight, the more energy
that has to be "absorbed" in the crash.
Vehicle speed is the most significant factor.
If
the speed doubles from 15 to 30 mph (25 to
50 km/h), the energy increases 4 times!
Because the occupants in this vehicle are not
using safety belts
c:> fig. 112, they will keep
moving at the same speed the veh icle was .,,_

.. Hold the be lt by the tongue and pull it
evenly across the chest and pelvis
¢ _&..
.. Insert the tongue into the correct buckle of
your seat until you hear it latch securely
¢fig. 116.
.. Pu ll on the be lt to make sure that it is se -
curely latched in t he buckle .
Automatic safety belt retractor s
Every safety belt is eq uipped with an automat­
ic belt retractor on the shoulder belt . This fea­
ture locks the belt when the belt is pulled out
fast, dur ing hard braking and in an accident .
The belt may also lock when you drive up or
down a steep hill or through a sharp curve .
Du ring normal driving the belt let s you move
freely.
Switchable locking feature
Every safety belt except the one on the driver
seat is equ ipped w ith a switchable locking fea­
ture that
must be used w hen the safety belt is
used to atta ch a child sea t. B e s ure to read the
i mportant information abo ut this fea ture
¢ page 138.
A WARNING
Imprope rly positioned safety belts can
cause serious injury in an accident
Q page 105, Safety belt position .
-Safety belts offer optimum protection
only when the seatback is upright and
belts are properly positioned on the
body.
-
- Never attach the safety belt to the buck­
le for another seat. Attach ing the belt to
the wrong buckle w ill reduce safety belt
effect iveness and can cause serious per­
sonal inj ury .
- A passenger who is not properly restrain­
ed can be seriously in jured by the safety
belt itself whe n it moves from the stron­
ger parts of the body into c ritical a reas
like the abdomen.
- Always lock the convert ible lock ing re­
tra ctor when yo u are secur ing a chi ld
sea t in the vehicle¢
page 140 .
Safety belts 105
@ Tips
Depending on veh icle equipment, micro­
phones * are located on the safety be lt to
i mprove hands-free call quality. For addi­
tional information about safety belt m icro­
phones, refer to the infotainment system
owner's manual.
Safety belt position
Correct bel t position is the key to getting
maximum protection from safety belts .
Fig. 117 Safety belt posit ion
Standard features o n your ve hicle help yo u ad­
j ust the pos ition o f the safety belt to ma tc h
your body size.
- he ight-adjustable front seats.
A WARNING
I mproperly posit ioned safety be lts ca n
cause ser ious perso na l injury in an a cci­
dent .
-
-The shou lde r belt should lie as close to
the center o f the ca lla r bone as possible
a nd should fit well on the body. Hold the
be lt above the latc h tongue and pull it
even ly across the chest so that it sits as
low as possible on the pelv is and there is
no pressure on the abdomen. The belt
should always fit snug Ly
Q fig. 117. Pull
on the belt to t ighten if necessary.
- The lap be lt portion of the safety belt
must be posit ioned as low as possible
across pelv is and never over the abdo­
men. Make sure the belt lies flat and
snug
¢ fig. 117. Pull on the belt to tight-
en if necessary. .,..

106 Safety belts
-A loose-fitting safety belt can cause seri­
ous injuries by shifting its position on
your body from the strong bones to more
vulnerable, soft tissue and cause serious injury .
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS and
other important information
c::> page 102.
Pregnant women must also be properly
restrained
The best way to protect the fetus is to make
sure that expectant mothers always wear
safety belts correctly -throughout the preg­
nancy.
Fig. 118 Safe ty belt pos it io n durin g pregnancy
To provide maximum protection, safety belts
must always be positioned correctly on the
wearer's body
c::> page 1 OS.
.. Adjust the front sea t and head restraint cor­
rectly
¢ pag e 59, Seats and storage.
.. Hold the belt by the tongue and pull it
evenly across the che st so tha t it sits as low
as possible on the pelvis and there is no
pressure on the abdomen
c::> fig . 118 c::> .&_ .
.. Insert the tongue into the correct buckle of
your seat until you hear it latch securely
¢page 104, fig . 116.
.. Pull on the belt to make sure that it is se­
curely latched in the buckle .
A WARNING
Improperly positioned safety belts can
cause serious personal injury in an acci­
dent. -
Expectant mothers must always wear the
lap portion of the safety belt as low as
possible across the pelvis and below the
rounding of the abdomen .
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS and
other important information
c::> & in Fas­
tening safety belts on page 1 OS.
· Unfastening safety belts
Unbuckle the safety belt with the red release
bu tton only after the vehicle has stopped.
Fig. 119 Re leas ing the tong ue from the bu ckle
.. Push the red release button on the buckle
c::> fig. 119 . The belt tongue will spring out
of the buckle
c::> .&_ .
.. Let the belt wind up on the retractor as you
guide the belt tongue to its stowed position.
A WARNING
-Never unfasten safety belt while the vehi-
cle is moving . Doing so will increase your
risk of being injured or killed.
Improperly worn safety belts
Incorrectly positioned safety belts can cause
severe injuries.
Wearing safety belts improperly can cause se­ rious injury or death . Safety belts can only
work when they are correctly positioned on
the body. Improper seating positions reduce
the effectiveness of safety belts and will
even
increase the risk of injury and death by mov­
ing the safety belt to crit ical areas of the
body . Improper seating positions also in­
crease the risk of serious injury and death

138 Child Saf ety
will receive serious or possibly even fata l
injury .
I n o rder for the airbag to offe r protection, it is
important that all vehicle occ upants, especia l­
l y any children, who must be in the front seat
because of exceptional circ umstances, be
properly restrained and as far away from the
a irbag as poss ible. By keep ing room between
the child's body and the front of the passen­
ger compartment, the airbag can inflate com ­
p letely and provide supplemental protection
in certain frontal col lisions.
_& WARNING
Not using a booster seat, using the boos­
t er sea t imprope rly, incorre ct ly ins talling a
booste r seat or using the vehicle safety
belt improperly increases the risk of se ri­
ous personal injury and death in a collision
or other eme rgency s ituation. To help re­
duce the risk of ser ious persona l injury
and/or death:
- The shoulder be lt must lie as close to the
center of the child 's collar bone as poss i­
ble and must lie and snug on the upper
body. It mus t never lie across the throat
o r neck . The lap belt must lie across the
pelvis and never across the stomach o r
abdomen. Make sure the belt lies flat
and snug. Pull on the be lt to t igh ten if
necessary.
- F ailure to properly route sa fety belts
over a ch ild' s body will cause severe inju­
ries in an acc ident or other emergency
situation
<:!;,page 101.
- Children on the front seat of any car,
even w ith Advanced A irbags, can be seri­
o usly injured or even killed when an a ir­
bag inflates.
- Never let a child stand or knee l on the
seat.
- Never let a child ride in the ca rgo a rea of
yo ur vehicle.
- Always remember that a chi ld leaning
forward, sitt ing s ideways or out of posi­
t ion in any way during an acc ident can be
-
struck by a dep loying a irbag . This will re­
sult in ser ious personal injury or death .
- If you must install a booster seat on the
front passenger seat because o f excep­
tional circ umstances the
PASSENGER
AIR BAG OFF
li ght must come on and
stay on , whenever the ignition is switch­
ed on .
-If the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not come on and stay on, pe rform
the ch ecks descr ibed ¢
page 120, Moni­
toring the Advanced Airbag System .
-If the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not come on and stay on whenever
the ig nit ion is switched on the infla ting
ai rb ag w ill hi t the child sa fe ty seat or in­
fant car rier with g reat force an d will
smash the child sa fety seat and child
aga inst the backrest, door or roof . Have
the airbag system inspected immed iately
by your Audi dea ler.
- Always read and heed all WAR NIN GS
whenever using a child restrained in ave­
h icle is being used
¢ page 101, Safety
belts,
¢ page 109 , Airbag system and
r:!;, page 130, Important things to know.
Installing a child safety
seat
Securing a child safety seat using a
safety belt
Safety belts for the front passenger con be
locked with the convertible locking retractor
to properly secure child safety seats .
The safety belts emergency locking retracto rs
for the front passenger's seat safety belt have
a convertible locking retracto r for child re ­
stra ints . The safety be lt must be loc ked so
that be lt webb ing cannot unree l. The r etrac­
tor can be a ctivated to lock the safety belt and
prevent the s afety be lt webb ing from loosen­
ing up d uring norma l dr iv ing. A child safety
seat can only be properly insta lled when t he
safety belt is locked so that the chi ld and child
safety seat will stay in place. ..,.

168 Fuel supply and filling your fuel tank
• Pull the red loop in the direction of the ar­
row until the fuel filler flap opens
¢fig. 136 .
• Once the fue l filler f lap is open, secure the
cable on the crossmember again.
• Close the engine compa rtment lid
¢ page 170 .

1 7 0 Che cking and filling
(D Note
When adding fluids, a lways make sure that
they are poured into the proper container or filler opening, otherwise serious dam­
age to veh icle systems will occur.
@ For the sake of the environment
To detect leaks in time, inspect the vehicle
floor pan from underneath regu larly . If
you see spots from oil or other vehicle flu­ ids, have your vehicle inspected by an au­
thorized Audi dealer.
Releasing the engine compartment lid
The engine compartment lid is released from
inside the vehicle .
Fig. 137 Driver's side: releasing t he engine co mpart ­
ment lid
Requirement : The ignition must be switched
on.
... Make sure the rear spoiler is retracted
¢page 144 .
... Pull the button @. The eng ine compart­
ment lid opens slightly .
... Open the engine compartment lid
c> ,& .
A WARNING
-
Hot engine coo lant can burn you . To re­
duce the risk of being bu rned, never open
the engine compartment lid if yo u see or
hear steam or coolant escaping from the
eng ine compartment. Wait until no steam
or coolant can be seen or heard before
carefully opening the engine compartment
lid.
(D Note
To prevent damage to the vehicle, on ly
open the engine compartment lid when
the convert ible top storage bay lid is
closed.
(D Tips
An emergency re lease can be used if the
engine compartment lid cannot be re­
leased with the button
® ¢ page 171.
Closing the engine compartment lid
... Make sure that the rear spoiler is retracted
Qpage 144.
.,. Pull the eng ine compartment lid down unti l
the pressure from the struts is reduced .
... Press the engine compartment lid closed
Q&. .
A WARNING
A engine compartment lid that is not com­
plete ly latched could fly up and b lock your
view wh ile driving.
- When you close the engine compartment
lid, check it to make sure the safety catch
has properly engaged. The engine com­
partment lid should be flush with the
surrounding vehicle body parts.
- If you notice while driving that the en­
gine compartment lid is not secured
properly, stop at once and close it.