Driving With Your Quattro - Audi A4 2012 Owner's Manual

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Tips
- When the engine is running, never hold
the steer ing whee l turned a ll the way to
the right or t o the left for longer than 15
seconds. The power steering pump w ill
overheat the hydraulic fluid if you keep
hol ding the steer ing wheel turned all the
way. This is likely to damage the power
steering system.
- If the power steer ing system should fail
ent irely, or if the engine is not running
(fo r example, while being towed), you
will still be a ble to steer the vehicle.
However, considerably more effort will
be required to do so.
- If t he power st eer ing system should
have a leak, or is not f unctioning proper -
ly, contact your authorized Audi deale r
immediately.
- The power stee ring system requires a
spec ially formulated hydraulic fl uid. The
power steer ing reservo ir is the one locat-
ed farthest to the rear on the left side of
the engine compartment
c>
page
234.
The correct flu id leve l in the reservoi r is
important for proper functioning of the
power steer ing.
Driving with your
quattro ®
Applies to vehicles: with all wheel drive
With all wheel drive, all four wheels are driv-
en.
General information
With all whee l dr ive, power is d ist ribute d to
all four wheels. This happens automa t ica lly
depending on your driving sty le and the road
conditions at the t ime. See a lso ¢ page 200,
Electronic differential lock (EDL).
The a ll wheel drive concept is designed for
high engine power. Your vehicle is exception -
ally powerful and has exce llent driving charac-
ter istics both under normal driving conditions
and on snow and ice . Always read and follow
safety precautions ¢ .& .
Int e llig e nt technolog y 205
Winter tires
When dr iving in t he wint er, your vehicle wit h
a ll wheel d rive has an advantage, even w it h
regular tires. In winter roa d 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 four
wheels. See also¢ page 262, Winter tires.
Tire chains
Where tire chains are man datory on certain
roads, this no rma lly also app lies to veh icles
with all wheel d rive ¢ page 263, Snow
chains.
Replacing wheel s/tires
Vehicles with a ll wheel d rive mus t a lways have
ti res of the same size. Also avo id tires with
different tread depths. For detai ls see page
¢
page 2 58, New tires and replacing tires
and wheels.
Off-Road driving?
Your Audi does not have enough g round clear -
ance to be used as an off-road vehicle . It is
therefore best to avoid rough tracks and un-
even terrai n as much as possib le. Also refer to
¢ page 209.
A
WARNING
Always adju st your dr iving to road and t raf-
fic conditions. Do not let t he extra safety
affor ded by all whee l dr ive temp t you int o
taking ext ra risks.
- Altho ugh the a ll whee l drive is very effe c-
tive, always remember that braking ca-
pacity is limited by tire t ract ion. You
should therefore not d rive at excessive
spee d s on icy or slippe ry road surfaces.
- On wet road surfa ces, be careful not to
drive too fast because t he fron t wheels
could begin to slide on top of the water
(aquaplaning) . If th is should occur, you
will have no warning from a s udden in-
crease in engine speed as with a front-
wheel drive veh icle. Always drive at
speeds which are su ited to the road con-
ditions - risk of crash.
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