towing capacity AUDI S7 2012 Owners Manual

184 Intelligent technology
Intelligent technology
Notice about data
recorded by vehicle
control modules
Your veh icle is not equipped with an Event Da­
ta Recorde r (EDR), ins talled by some manu­
facture rs fo r the express p urpose of capturing
data for retrieval after an accident or cras h
event . EDR's are sometimes ca lled "crash re­
corders".
Some state laws restr ict 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.
A ltho ugh yo ur vehicle is not equ ipped wit h an
EDR, it is equipped with a number of electron­
ic control modules for various vehicle systems
such as, for examp le, eng ine f unction, em is­
sion control, as well as for the airbags and
safety belts.
These electronic contro l modules also record
vehicle-re lated data during norma l vehicle op­
erat ion for diagnostic and repa ir 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 ove r a ve ry limited pe riod of
time and stored when a sys tem faul t or o ther
cond ition is sensed by a cont ro l u nit. Some of
the data then stored may re late to vehicle
speed, direction, braking as we ll as restraint
system use and performance in the event of a
crash or other condit ion. Stored data can only
be read and downloaded w ith special equip­
ment.
Electronic stabilization
program (ESP)
Description
ESP helps to improve road holding and vehicle
dynamics to help reduce the probability of
skidd ing and loss of veh icle control. It works
only when the eng ine is running. ESP detects certain difficult driving situat
ions, including
when the vehicle is beginning to spin (yaw) o ut of control and helps you to get the veh icle
back under contro l by se lectively braking the
whee ls, and/or reducing engine power and
providing steer ing ass istance to he lp hold the
vehicle o n the dr ive r's intended cou rse. The in­
dicato r light
G] in the instrument cluste r
blinks when ESP is taking action to help you
control the veh icle.
ESP has l imitations.
It is importa nt to remem­
ber that ESP cannot overcome the laws of
physics. It will not always be able to help out
under a ll cond it ions you may come up aga inst.
F or example, ESP may not always be able to
help you master situations where there is a
s u dden change in the coefficient of friction of
the road surface. When there is a section of dry road that is sudden ly covered w ith water,
s lush or snow, ESP cannot perform the same
way it wou ld on the dry surface . If the ve hicle
hydroplanes (rides on a cushion of water in­
stead of the road surface), ESP will not be
able to help you steer the vehicle be cause con­
tact with the pavement has been interrupted
and the vehicle cannot be braked or steered .
D uring fast cornering, particularly on winding
roads, ESP cannot a lways deal as effectively
with difficult driv ing situations than 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.
Always adjust your speed and driving style to road, traffic; and weather condit ions. ESP can­
not override the vehicle's physical limits, in­
crease the availab le tract ion, or keep a ve hicle
on the road if road departu re is a result of
drive r inattent io n. Instead, ESP improves the
poss ibil ity of keeping the vehi cle under con ­
trol and on the road during extreme maneu­
vers by using the d river's steering inputs to
help keep the vehicle going in the intended di­
rection . If you are traveling at a speed that
ca uses you to run off the road before ESP can
provide any assistance, you may not experi­
ence the benefits of ESP .

240 Tires and whee ls
transport 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
pressure label)
c:::> page 235 ,
fig. 176 .
2. Determine the comb ined
weight of the driver and pas­ sengers that will be riding in
your vehicle.
3. Subtract the combined
weight of the dr iver and pas­
sengers from "XXX" kilo­
grams or
"XXX" pounds
shown on the sticker
c:::> page 235, fig . 176 .
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
l bs . passengers in you r vehi­
cle, the amount of available
cargo and luggage load ca- pacity is 650 lbs. (1400-750
(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
calcu lated in Step
4 .
6. If your vehicle will be towing
a trailer, load from your trail ­
er will be transferred to your
vehicle. Consult this manual
to determine how this re­
duces the available cargo
and luggage load capacity of
your vehicle .
.,. Check the ti re sidewall
(c:::> page 242 , fig. 180) to de­
termine the designated load rating for a specific tire.

264 Emergency situations
Emergency situations
General
This chapter is intended for trained emer­
gency crews and working personnel who
have the necessary tools and equipment to
perform these ope rations.
Starting by pushing or
towing
Q;) Note
Vehicles w ith an automatic transmission
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 should fail to start because of a
discharged or weak battery, the battery can be
connected to the battery of
another veh icle,
using a
pair of jumpe r cables to start the en­
g ine .
Jumper cables
Use only jumper cables of sufficiently large
cross section to carry the starter current safe­
ly. Refer to the manufacturer's specif ications.
Use only jumper cables with
insulated termi­
na l clamps which are distinctly marked:
plus(+) cable in most cases colored red
minu s(-) cable
in most cases colored black .
A WARNING
Batteries contain electricity, acid, and gas.
Any of these can cause very serious or fatal
inju ry. Follow the instructions below for
safe handling of your veh icle's battery.
- Always shield you r eyes and avoid lean­
ing over the battery whenever possible.
- A discharged battery can freeze at tem­
peratures just be low 32 °F (0 °C). Before connecting a
jumper cable, you must
thaw the frozen battery complete ly, oth­
erwise it could explode.
- Do not allow battery acid to contact eyes
or skin. Flush any contacted area with
water immediately.
- Improper use of a booster battery to start a vehicle may cause an explosion.
- Vehicle batteries generate explosive gas­
es. Keep sparks, flame and lighted ciga­
rettes away from batteries.
- Do not try to jump start any vehicle with a low acid level in the battery.
- The vo ltage of the booster battery must
also have a 12-Volt rating. The capacity
(Ah) of the booster battery should not be
lower than that of the discharged bat­
tery . Use of batteries of d ifferent voltage
or substantially different "Ah" rating
may cause an exp losion and personal in­
jury.
- Never charge a frozen batte ry. Gas trap­
ped in the ice may cause an explosion.
- Never charge or use a battery that has
been frozen. The battery case may have
be weakened.
- Use of batter ies of different voltage or
substantially different capacity (Ah) rat­
ing may cause an exp losion and injury.
The capacity (Ah) of the booster battery
should not be lower than that of the dis ­
charged battery.
- Before you check anything in the engine
compartment, always read and heed a ll
WARNINGS
¢page 210, Engine com­
partment.
«I) Note
-Applying a higher voltage booster bat­
tery will cause expensive damage to sen­
sitive electronic components, such as
contro l units, relays, rad io, etc.
- There must be no electrical contact be­
tween the vehicles as otherwise current
could already start to flow as soon as the
positive(+) terminals are connected. ..,_