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By Dan Frio, Automotive Editor on December 2, 2015 When we took delivery of our long-term, we already had a Mercedes-Benz CLA250 in the long-term fleet. We wanted to see how these two new compact entry-level lux sedans matched against one another, given how much was riding on their flight or flop. By Matt Jones, Senior Editor on October 23, 2015 Our long-term is close to hitting the 20,000-mile mark, and that means its time with us is coming to an end. It might be gone by the time you read this.

• 2017 Audi A4 Owners Manual

And I'm going to miss it. The A3's smart interior layout, subtle styling and great road manners easily made it one my top picks in our fleet.

Don't get me wrong, though. It wasn't perfect. A few things about the A3 drove me nuts. By Reese Counts, Vehicle Testing Assistant on October 20, 2015 After Matt Jones had the misfortune to while attending a wedding in Oakland, we decided to put a matching set of tires on our long-term.

Matt replaced the tire on his trip, but replacing a tire on a Sunday meant taking what you could get. This meant a Nitto Motivo instead of the original Continental ProContact TX that suffered the puncture.

We decided to replace two tires instead of just the one odd one based on warnings in the Audi's owner's manual. Simply put, having tires with different tread depths can adversely affect the Quattro all-wheel drive system and possibly damage the car. By Scott Oldham, Editor-in-Chief on October 15, 2015 Last Saturday our long-term and I spent 500 miles together. Such a day of driving can kill a friendship, or worse, end a love affair.

Not this time. The Audi and I are still hot for each other. By Carlos Lago, Road Test Editor on October 12, 2015 I came back from the weekend rather impressed with our. It takes the stuff Audi does best — interior design, especially — and puts it in a smaller package with few downsides. In fact, the A3's smaller proportions make it easier to park and maneuver. As luck would have it, an all-wheel drive Mercedes-Benz CLA250 4Matic showed up for testing right after I turned in the Audi's keys.

In being able to drive the two back-to-back, I was able to revisit the comparison James Riswick wrote 4. The short version? The comparison is still right, almost two years later. By Carlos Lago, Road Test Editor on October 7, 2015 One bit of trickle-down tech benefiting our junior is a power hideaway infotainment screen. Press a button and it quickly tucks into the dash.

The feature is neat. And it's not long for this world. The 2017 Audi A4, which I test drove a few weeks ago, didn't have a hideaway touchscreen. Audi skipped the feature on the new car, citing an internal study that showed too few people actually used it on the previous A4. This made me realize that I didn't use it much, either. And what's true for the upcoming A4 is likely true for the next A3. By Scott Oldham, Editor in Chief @ 18,608 miles on October 5, 2015 In August and September combined, we drove our long-term about 2,500 miles and averaged 25.2 miles per gallon of 91 octane.

Those miles included a grand mix of environments, from longer highway hauls to the short-trip shuffle on Saturdays. Mileage for the nine fill-ups ranged from 20.7 mpg to 29.2 mpg. By Cameron Rogers, Associate Editor @ 16,933 miles on October 2, 2015 One of the most groan-inducing experiences of car ownership is seeing the check engine light illuminated in the instrument panel. Unfortunately, one of these beauties popped up recently in our.

I wanted to get out from behind my desk for a few minutes, so I volunteered to make the run. I didn't notice any odd behavior from the car (and I've in it) during my drive to Santa Monica Audi for a diagnostic check. By Travis Langness, Social Media Editor on September 29, 2015 After a weekend in our long-term I realized that it just isn't big enough for me. Well, that's not true. It's definitely big enough for me.

I like the way it drives, the driver's seat is snug but not uncomfortable. There's plenty of room for a driver like myself who's only 5-foot-9, but it's definitely not big enough for my friends. By Travis Langness, Social Media Editor on September 24, 2015 This one is pretty simple: the air-conditioning in our long-term is one of the coldest systems I've ever used. Set the system to 'LO' and regardless of ambient temperature, the cabin gets really cold, really fast. By Matt Jones, Senior Editor on September 16, 2015 While driving to my brother's wedding in the Bay Area this past Saturday, I blew a tire in our long-term. The good news is that I was only about 100 yards away from my destination when I heard the 'BLAM!'

That threatened to put a damper on what promised to be an awesome weekend. Jones picked a beautiful restaurant in Oakland's beautiful waterfront to exchange vows.

But Embarcadero West, the street leading into the parking lot, isn't nearly as beautiful nor is it in the best condition. I was doing about 20 mph when I hit a pothole and boom: damaged sidewall city. August 26, 2015 My mini-vacation mission was simple: drive up north on Pacific Coast Highway, visit wine country, see as much as possible, and hopefully do it in a company car. Well, luck was on my side as I, a lowly video producer, somehow scored our long-term. At first glance, it's hard to differentiate the A3 to the A4.

It's only when you get in that you can see and feel how the interior space is more condensed. But besides the size difference, the other thing that struck me is the interior's minimalist design. Other than the slick-looking screen that slides in and out of the dash, the only other real focal points are the jet turbine-looking air vents. August 17, 2015 It's been a while since the last fuel economy update on our. Since that post in (for the month of May) we've added almost 5,000 miles to the A3's odometer.

Multiple road trips to and Northern California helped pile on the miles. As a result, the A3 has increased its lifetime mpg and improved its best fill. August 10, 2015 I put a bike in our over the weekend (not pictured).

I was pleasantly surprised by the cargo space with the seats folded flat. With its front wheel removed, the entire bike (a large 29-inch wheeled mountain bike) fit without rubbing on the front seats. I've put the same bike in certain compact hatchbacks (I'm looking at you Ford Focus) and couldn't say the same. August 3, 2015 I wasn't planning to take my daughter to visit her grandparents 380 miles north in California's Central Valley.

But they're 90 -as in years old - so anytime it works into our schedule, I figure we'd better make the trip. Typically for these adventures, I'd drag home an SUV or minivan, something big and comfortable. But since this was a last-minute decision and it was just me and the kid, I instead grabbed the keys to the that drove home. He was out of town for the weekend, and the A3 has Wi-Fi, a feature I knew would please my teenage travel hostage.

What an awesome decision it was to take the Audi. July 29, 2015 I'm new to the whole auto journalist gig. I haven't had the opportunity to drive as many cars as my co-workers and most of the cars I have driven belonged to friends or family, with the occasional rental, taxi or dealership test drive thrown in. That was the only way I could get behind the wheel of something new or different until now. I recently moved to Santa Monica, near the Edmunds headquarters.

I grabbed the key fob to our long-term and decided to drive around my new city. Sitting in traffic - something I'm growing accustomed to - gave me plenty of time to explore the Audi's cabin. July 26, 2015 I our repaired in Boise, Idaho, 900 miles from home. There were several return routes to choose from, and I decided on a modified version of the route our team took when they picked up the. I planned to mirror their trip from Boise to Twin Falls via Interstate 84, then south on U.S. Route 93 to Ely, Nevada. From there I would divert to U.S.

Route 6 and Nevada State Route 318 to reconnect with 93, ultimately hitting Interstate 15 near Las Vegas. After a night in Sin City, I'd travel south on I-15 and take I-10 west to the California Route 57 home. I grabbed a few large bottles of water and began my journey back to California. July 23, 2015 In the last eight weeks, our racked-up an easy 5,000 miles.

Playing chase car from for the purchase of our glorified test car earned us 1,800 miles round-trip, although the return was delayed when the A3 took a hit to its. July 14, 2015 I'm a simple guy.

I like 1980s-era video games. My mountain bike doesn't have a bunch of gears. I use a Crock-Pot. I'm all about simple and easy. So it should come as no surprise that I absolutely love the HVAC system in our long-term. Three simple knobs to control what should be a simple operation.

Simply wonderful. Turn the knob closest to you to change the temperature. That little knob in the middle controls the fan speed or turns the system off.

The knob on the passenger's side controls the passenger temperature. These functions can be done without taking your eyes off the road. Three cheers for simple. As an added bonus, these knobs look and feel substantial.

July 6, 2015 I drove our long-term quite a bit, and I remember struggling at first to get the hang of the Multi Media Interface (MMI) system. What would it be like now that I was in our for the first time? June 30, 2015 When we last left our, the injured sedan was sitting at the only Audi dealer in Idaho. We had accidently run over a hidden stump just off the road, tore the A3's plastic oil pan and dumped its contents all over the grass.

We had it towed to Audi Boise on a Saturday, where it sat over the weekend awaiting inspection on Monday. Our team continued home but someone still needed to retrieve the car after the repairs. I volunteered and flew out on a Wednesday evening, the same day the work was completed. June 24, 2015 Our suffered the ride of shame on the back of a tow truck in Boise, Idaho after suffering damage at the precise moment we arrived at our destination. We were extremely fortunate, however. The nearest Audi dealer was only three miles away. Even better fortune?

Audi Boise is the only Audi dealer in all of Idaho, and their service department was open on this Saturday afternoon. According to Travis, the service manager, the next closest Audi dealers are in Portland, Oregon (429 miles) and Salt Lake City, Utah (345 miles). I called Audi Roadside Assistance and waited for a flatbed to arrive while the other guys looked at our new long-term acquisition, paid the seller his cash, and retrieved the tires from the Audi's trunk so they could go have them installed. You want to know what happened.

June 22, 2015 I don't remember visiting Idaho before. It has never come up. That changed this week.

Someone found a unique classic car for our long-term test fleet, and I went along to help get it home in one piece. I figured the would be the right car for the job. Besides, I had already our new acquisition would need. We chose U.S. Route 395 up California's eastern flank of the Sierra Nevada. It's a slightly more direct route than the interstate options, but the real reason was we figured the scenery would be more beautiful. This was a good move.

June 16, 2015 You might have second thoughts about the size of the trunk in the if you just dwell on the rated capacity. As, 10.0 cubic feet is not a terribly impressive figure.

Interestingly, that number goes with the 2.0T version, which is what we have. Audi says the 1.8T can hold a more respectable 12.3 cubic feet in its trunk. Same goes for the TDI. Why the difference? June 11, 2015 The 'Drive Select' feature in our is a nice piece of technology. It allows you to adjust the throttle sensitivity, transmission program, steering weight and, if equipped, the suspension settings. June 4, 2015 Our long-term, which is all-wheel drive and powered by a 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder, only traveled a scant 1,300 miles during the month of May.

Basically we've been busy testing other cars, but the A3 remains a staff favorite, and one of my personal favorite cars. Those 1,300 miles of driving were a mix of environments, from longer highway hauls to the short-trip shuffle on Saturday. And mileage for the five fill-ups ranged from 22.5 mpg to 27.8 mpg. June 3, 2015 This set of Craigslist slot mags have been collecting dust in the corner of my garage for about seven years. I bought them for $100 from an old guy in the San Fernando Valley who was using them as lawn art, it seemed, since the early 1980s.

I knew they would fit both my '55 Chevy and my '76 Pontiac Trans Am (and now my more recently acquired '69 Camaro) but I didn't really have a plan. I just knew I had to have them. Well, it's about time I did something with them.

But first, they had to go to the polisher. I was sure our long-term would get the job done, but I figured I'd have to utilize the sedan's 60/40 split-folding rear seat. June 2, 2015 Hardly. But the is a hot-seller for the Four Ring circus.

In May, it outsold its larger sibling by 700 units. Year-to-date, the A3 is outpacing the A4 by more than 3,700 units. The A3 is in fact Audi's best-selling sedan year-to-date (this includes A3 convertible and S3 models as well). That would seem to indicate that the A3 is doing exactly what Audi hoped it would: bring more buyers to the badge at a lower price, without sacrificing overall quality or cachet. Can Audi let the A3 cannibalize A4 sales?

June 1, 2015 We have three entry-level luxury sedans in our long-term fleet right now: the Acura TLX, the and the. I haven't driven our TLX yet, but I've spent more than a week in both the A3 and S60. I like them both, but of the two, I'd buy the A3. May 10, 2015 When we, many months ago, we'd spent the day flying to Houston, retrieving our from the port and knocking out a photoshoot. The next day we awoke to dreary skies, intending to make Lubbock that night, and setting us up for a run through New Mexico, Tucson, and the last leg home.

A flash rain shower outside of Houston let us test the A3's wipers. Freakishly well and fast, actually, as this was a hole in the sky that slowed interstate traffic to 35 mph.

Then, just as abruptly, it ended. We had smooth sailing into the town of Lockhardt, near Austin, where we stopped for a late breakfast. Is legend, but we opted instead for and a half-pound of brisket, sausage links, mac-n-cheese and mini pecan pies.

May 8, 2015 My daughter likes to remind me that she's all about the bass, no treble, and I tell her that's great if she wants to play in a good rhythm section someday. It worked well enough for Charles Mingus, Ron Carter and Carol Kaye, after all. I then like to remind her that the Volkswagen group does great, old school-style digital audio controls better than anyone, like in our and our of days past. That's about when she fixes me with a quizzical stare, says I'm weird, and I realize that I'm on a fast track to no longer being the coolest guy in her world.

May 5, 2015 Here is the April fuel economy for our. Last month we covered 1,717 miles, which is right on pace with our monthly goal.

We would have missed the mark if not for a weekend over-and-back to Phoenix to visit family. Take the jump for an A3 fuel economy recap. May 1, 2015 Volkswagen is recalling more than 6,000 vehicles for possible fuel-pump failure, and some models are included in that sweep. In its recall summary, the says that 'improper nickel plating of the components within the fuel pump may result in the fuel pump failing. If the fuel pump fails, the vehicle will not start, or if the engine is running, it will stop and the vehicle will stall, increasing the risk of a crash.'

April 30, 2015 Although I'm only 5-foot 7-inches tall, I love the extending bottom seat cushions in our test car. The extra few inches of thigh support makes for a much more comfortable driving position. But what I don't like is the constant gunk that falls into those cracks. April 28, 2015 On the way to school, my kid lifted the lid on the 's center console to attach her iPhone to the handy power cord inside. I didn't hear any noise when she initially lifted the lid, but when she closed it, we both heard a loud squeeeeak. So I moved the lid up and down one more time. It sounded like this: April 23, 2015 A few months ago.

It was a trip that my cemented my impression of the car as underwhelming. Recently I took our long-term on the same route. Call it a comparison test of sorts. And you know what? April 7, 2015 In addition to the usual day-to-day duties, our long-term 2014 A3 has spent some time with editor Brent Romans and made a day trip out to the desert.

April 1, 2015 I've driven our quite a few times the past three months. Most of that time has been spent commuting, kid schlepping and general life stuff.

But occasionally I've zipped through a turn quickly and thought to myself, 'Dang, this thing is pretty capable.' Just yesterday I made a special trip on some lightly- trafficked roads to learn more about the A3's handling characteristics in further detail.

March 26, 2015 Recently, a few of us in the office decided to attend the 2015 BNP Paribas tennis tournament in Indian Wells, Calif. Adjacent to Palm Springs, Indian Wells is about 140 miles from our offices in Santa Monica. This tennis tournament, though not as significant as grand slam events like Wimbledon or the U.S. Open, is still a major tournament with all the top players. I also noticed that Audi was a major sponsor of the tournament this year. Our long-term seemed like a natural fit to drive to the event.

March 24, 2015 The is one of the first vehicles to offer a 4G LTE connection as part of its $2,600 MMI Navigation Plus package. This package includes things like the MMI interface knob with handwriting recognition, a color driver-information display and Audi Connect. Audi Connect is the suite of programs that take advantage of the high-speed connection to provide things like Google Earth, Google Voice search and social media integration.

It also creates an in-car Wi-Fi hotspot for up to eight devices. The idea is that maybe you need to get some work done on your laptop while at an offsite. Or maybe you have kids in the back that would be quiet if only they could watch some cartoons on an iPad. Seems like a handy enough feature, but is it actually good? I ran an informal test to find out.

March 20, 2015 I. Not only do I like the way the air vents look in our, but I like the adjustability of them. March 12, 2015 There's a wicked-awesome guitar solo at the 2:50-mark in the Red Hot Chili Peppers song, '.' If you were living under a rock in 2006 and missed the Stadium Arcadium album, I recommend you stop reading this and go listen to it now. It's a double album (sub-titled Mars and Jupiter) and it's an excellent way to spend 123 minutes. Last week, I drove to work in our long-term with Stadium Acradium pumping through the Audi's speakers the only way it should be played: at full volume. It wasn't quite 9:00 a.m.

By the time I parked at the Edmunds garage, and I should've been in the throes of a full-blown air-guitar solo. I wasn't though and it was the Audi's fault. March 6, 2015 February is the shortest month and not exactly prime road-trip season. Our long-term consumed 40.8 gallons of fuel over 957 miles.

We managed to earn a new 'worst' fill of 17.8 mpg, and with the other three stops at the pump, the monthly fuel economy worked out to 23.5 miles per gallon, just a tick under the EPA estimate for city driving. March 2, 2015 Both and have written about the surprising amount of rear passenger space in our.

For a small car, I'm surprised by how much space is allocated for the driver. I know I'm short-legged, but I checked with some of our taller editors and they agree. February 19, 2015 After installing a in the rear center position of our long-term sedan, I observed that due to the backseat's relatively narrow dimensions, it would be a squeeze to have an adult ride on either side of the car seat. Over the weekend, I became that adult. February 18, 2015 With the exception of the R8, Audis have looked pretty much the same for the last 10 years. I feel like I should be tired of this design by now, and on a car like the A6 (which I feel is too big to be fun on a good road, yet too small to be out-and-out luxurious), I really am tired of it. Yet, our long-term sedan looks fresh and new to me every time I walk up to it.

February 13, 2015 A couple of months ago I struck up a conversation with a software developer from Mountain View, California. It turned out we had two similar interests: cars and babies. He told me about how he was planning to sell his previous-generation WRX STI hatchback because he had ordered a, which he thought would be more practical for family use. He had even picked out an infant car seat for his 3-month-old son and color-matched it to the Audi's interior. Ever the bearer of bad news, I congratulated him on the S3 purchase but said, 'Don't be surprised if the rear-facing convertible car seat your son will need in a few months doesn't fit so well in the Audi. Those are a lot bigger, you know.'

However, after a couple of nights in our identically sized sedan, I have to eat my words. See, I was way wrong.

This car is a parent's dream for installing rear-facing convertible car seats. It's almost like Audi and its seat supplier factored that into the seat design. February 11, 2015 I had just parked our long-term and was preparing to disembark when the alert you see above flashed up with a chime. Drivers sans skill?

Welcome to Los Angeles. February 4, 2015 In January, our long-term added 1,195 miles to its odometer while consuming just shy of 45 gallons of California's premium 91-octane gasoline. All up, this equates to 26.7 mpg for the month. February 3, 2015 A few days ago, I took our in for its 5,000-mile service. I had some time to kill since I was waiting for the car, so I wandered around the dealership showroom checking out the latest Audi hardware. I stopped by an A4.

Out of curiosity, I hopped in the back to see how the A4's rear seat compared to the one in our A3. February 2, 2015 A few hundred miles before our cleared 5,000 miles the car started providing notifications in the gauge cluster display that a service would soon be due. This would be our A3's first service and includes an oil change and tire rotation. Audi pays for the first service, too. I booked an appointment at my local dealership,. January 30, 2015 Our has a fair amount of equipment on it. We've got the bigger 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine, the mid-grade Premium Plus trim level, the MMI interface with navigation, and a Sport package.

One feature conspicuously missing, however, is a rearview camera. January 28, 2015 Approximately three months into the year-long test of our, we've cleared 5,000 miles.

Based on our updates so far, the remaining nine months should be pretty great. January 23, 2015 When Dan and Kurt drove our then-new from back in November, they observed that the A3 was pretty invisible on the roadway. No real head turns, no thumbs-up, no cell phone paparazzi. I suppose this shouldn't be a surprise. The A3's styling is pretty similar to Audi's other sedans, and that familiarity just isn't going to wow the motoring public when you're moving along at 65 mph. That said, I've gotten quite a few compliments about our A3 when the car's been parked.

January 20, 2015 Audi builds some fantastic highway cruisers. Los Angeles to New York? Sure, no problem if you've got the keys to, say, an A8, A6 or Q7. But along comes the new entry-level. Some concern would be justified.

2017 Audi A4 Owners Manual

How much of the traditional luxury sedan experience do you still get from this $29,900 (base price) vehicle? Well, at least in terms of my highway driving experiences with our long-term car so far, a pretty decent amount, I'd say. January 16, 2015 I was poking around the menu of our and wondered what 'Service Wallet' was. It turns out it should be called 'Tutorial Materials' or something similar.

Dive on in and you'll find a wealth of information, including but not limited to the proper use of the S Tronic automated manual transmission. There's a thorough explanation of how the transmission works (with nifty cut-away video) and how to use it properly. Pretty cool Easter Egg. January 15, 2015 Even if our was my own car, looking down at all those button blanks would always make me wonder, 'What option or feature did I not get on this car?'

I had had enough, so I checked the owner's manual to find what labels might adorn this line of fixed blocks. January 13, 2015 From the simple luxury of its cockpit to the wonderful driving dynamics, it is easy to see why the is one of our s.

Having hard data to back up our driving impressions is crucial to objectively analyze a car, and the A3 gives its competitors a real workout on the performance front. We brought our new A3 to our test track to get a full picture of how the luxury subcompact fares against our old long-term and. January 8, 2015 We recently tested our and part of the pre-flight check-in procedure is to check and/or inflate the tires to the recommended values. Often, this means opening the driver's door (or fuel-filler door), checking the placard for the recommended pound-per-square inch (psi) and setting front and rear pressures.

January 7, 2015 We missed last month's fuel economy update, so this report sees almost 2,000 miles added to our 's odometer. Our A3 didn't take any big road trips during that time. It was on mixed city and highway duty. Still, the miles-per-gallon average seems to be holding rather steady. Here are the most recent stats: January 6, 2015 I was driving to an Edmunds testing session in our 2.0T Quattro S Tronic just a few days ago when the infotainment system had a minor meltdown (the photo you see here is a near-reenactment of the event, not the actual event).

I had a CD going in the glove box player, and it was 21 seconds into Shovels and Rope's 'Kemba's Got the Cabbage Moth Blues' when the song stopped and a high-pitched warning sound reverberated throughout the cabin. Now at this point you might be asking, 'Who the heck still listens to CDs?'

Answer: Old Man Monticello, at least when I get a new one in and before I transfer it to my iPod. To that point, I ask, 'Who the heck still puts CD players in glove boxes in 2015?' Answer: Audi. January 2, 2015 The has the best dash vents in the history of dashboards. Seriously, it does. These little ducts are adjustable in any direction, consume minimal dash space, and can be completely shut off by turning the chrome trim ring. Also, they look like they belong in an airplane.

December 30, 2014 Even though the is the smallest sedan in the company's range, it still offers a surprisingly roomy rear seat. In fact, one look at the official specs reveals some surprising numbers. According to Audi, the A3 offers 35.1 inches of rear seat legroom.

A meaningless number until you consider that the Audi A4, which has a nearly 7-inch longer wheelbase only has 35.2 inches of legroom. December 23, 2014 One of the trick new features in our 2015 Audi A3 is a touchpad built into the control knob of the user interface, otherwise known as MMI in Audi speak.

The touchpad allows you to draw numbers and letters when you're inputting an address instead of scrolling though the on-screen keyboard. It's a neat trick, but not all that useful. December 18, 2014 Automotive journalists and automotive enthusiasts tend to think of cars in strict segments. This SUV 'competes' with that SUV because it's based on a truck-based platform, this sport sedan 'competes' with that sport sedan because they both have rear-wheel drive. Apples must compete with apples, plums must compete with plums.

December 17, 2014 In 2012, Apple introduced the 5 which ditched the 30-pin connector and replaced it with the skinny, multi-directional Lightning port. It was a functional win, but apparently, Audi doesn't agree. Our still has a 30-pin.

December 15, 2014 The NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) awarded the the top score of. It scored four stars in the front crash test and rollover crash test, and five stars in the side crash test.

December 5, 2014 I'm sure the is fun and all with its 292-horsepower engine, but the 220-hp 2.0-liter in our feels like the perfect fit for this car. November 21, 2014 On paper our looks like it has a trunk that's too small to fit much of anything. The official number is 10 cubic feet, which is nothing for a modern sedan.

There are convertibles that offer similar space and even our slope-backed boasts over 13 cubic feet. November 20, 2014 This should hardly be worth mentioning in a modern luxury car. I'm talking about simple, easy-to-use climate controls that can be used at a glance. Seems obvious, but plenty of cars get it wrong. Our is not one of them.

If luggage or cargo is to be carried on the roof, you must observe the following: Only a specially designed roof rack may be used on your vehicle. These roof racks are the basis for a complete roof rack system. Additional attachments/carrier systems are necessary to transport luggage and sports equipment.

The permissible roof load for your vehicle is 165 lb (7 5 kg). The roof load is the total of the weight of the roof rack, the attachments and the cargo you are carrying.

However, you must also note the permitted load of the carrier system being used. The permitted axle load and the permitted total vehicle weight.

A new vehicle must be broken in for the first 1,000 miles (1,500 km). Do not drive at speeds that will exceed 2/3 of the maximum permitted engine speed (RPM) for the first 600 miles (1,000 km), and avoid full acceleration during this period. You may gradually start increasing the RPM and the speed between 600 miles (1,000 km) and 1,000 miles (1,500 km). During the first hours of use, the engine has a higher internal friction than later on when all moving parts have settled into place with each other.

How the vehicle is driven during the first 1,000 miles (1,500 km) also affects the engine quality. Drive at moderate engine speeds after the initial break-in period, particularly when running a cold engine. This will reduce engine wear and improve the mileage. Do not drive at too low of an engine speed (RPM). Shift down if the engine stops running 'smoothly'. Extremely high engine speeds are automatically reduced.

The amount of fuel consumption, the environmental impact and the wear to the engine, brakes, and tires depends mostly on your driving style. With an anticipatory and economic driving style, fuel consumption can be reduced by approximately 10-15%. The following tips will help you conserve the environment and your money at the same time.