2012 AUDI A5 COUPE wheel alignment

262 Tires and wheels
Tire service life
The service life of tires depends on a lot of
different things including proper installation
and balancing, correct tire pressure and driv­
ing style.
Fig. 212 Tire tread: tread wear ind icators (TWI)
_____ __,.J)
Fig. 213 Rotating t ires for more even wear
Tread Wear Indicator (TWI)
The origina l tires on your veh icle have
1/16 inch (1.6 mm) high "wear indicators"
¢
fig . 212 running across the tread. Depend­
ing on the make, there will be six to eight of
them evenly placed around the tire. Marks on
the tire sidewa ll (for example "TWI" or other
symbols) indicate the positions of the tread
wear ind icators . Worn tires must be replaced .
Different figures may apply in other countries
¢ & .
Tire pressure
Incorrect tire pressure causes premature wear
and can cause sudden t ire blow-out. For th is
reason, tire pressure must be checked at least
once a month
¢ page 258.
Driving style
Driving fast around curves, heavy acceleration
and hard braking increase tire wear.
Rotating tires for more even wear
For all four tires on your vehicle to have the
same service life, we recommend that the
front and rear tires are rotated according to
the tire manufacturer's suggested tire rota­
tion intervals. Please remember the follow­
ing:
- Tire rotation intervals may differ from the
vehicle service interva ls outlined in your
Ma intenance and Warranty Booklet .
- The longer one tire is used in one location
on the vehicle, the more it wears at certain
points; therefore, we recommend that you
follow the tire manufacturer's suggested
tire rotation intervals .
- Vehicles with front-wheel drive experience
more tread wear on the front wheels com­
pa red to all-wheel drive (quattro ®).
- Please rotate tires as shown¢
fig. 213.
-Extra care must be taken when rotating di-
rection-specific tires¢
page 279.
Wheel balancing
The wheels on new vehicles are balanced.
However, various situations during everyday
driving can cause them to become unbal­
anced, resulting in vibrations you can usually
feel through the steer ing wheel.
Unbalanced wheels must be rebalanced to
avoid excessive wear on steering, suspension
and tires. A wheel must also be rebalanced
when a new tire is installed.
Incorrect wheel alignment
Incorrect wheel alignment can cause exces ­
sive tire wear, impairing the safety of the vehi­
cle. If tires show excessive wear, have the
whee l alignment checked by an authorized
Audi dealer or qualif ied workshop.
All wheel drive
Vehicles with quattro ® must a lways have tires
of the same size, construction and tread type.
For details see
¢page 210. ..,.

What do I do now?
Vehicle tool kit
The tools ore stored underneath the floor
panel in the luggage comportment.
F ig . 2 17 Lug gage compar tment: tool kit
When you need access to the veh icle tool kit
or jack*, you will need to take o ut the spare
tire* and cover¢
page 2 73.
The vehicle tool kit includes:
- Hook for removing wheel covers*
- Alignment pin for changing the whee l
- Screwdriver w ith reversible blade
- T ool for chang ing light bulbs
- Reversible bit (reve rsible Torx bit for chang-
ing light b ulbs)
- Rod for jack
- Jack*
- Lug wrench
- Towing eye
Some o f the ve hicle items listed above are
p rov ided o n certain models on ly or are opt ion­
a l extras.
Before returning the ja ck* to its place, ret ract
the jack a rm fully.
& WARNING
- Never use t he screw driver hex head to
tighten whee l bolts, since the bolts can­
not attain the necessary tightening tor ­
que if yo u use the hex head, potentially
caus ing an accident.
- The factory-supplied jack is intended on­
ly for your ve hicle model. Unde r no cir­
c u mstances should it be used to
lift
What do I d o now ? 273
heavy ve hicles o r other loads; yo u risk in­
juring yo urself.
- Never start the engi ne when the vehicle
is raised, which could cause an acc ident.
- Support the vehicle secu re ly wit h app ro­
priate stands if wor k is to be performed
underneath the vehicle; otherwise, there
is a pote ntia l risk for injury .
Space-saving spare tire
(compact spare tire)*
App lies to vehicles: wit h space-saving spare tire
The spore tire/wheel is located in the luggage
comportment under the cargo floor cover. It
is in tended for short -term use only.
Fi g. 2 18 Spa re tire
Removing the spare ti re
.. Lift
th e cargo floo r by the p lastic handle
r:!) fig. 218.
.. Hook the handle into the luggage compart­
ment weather strip.
.. Turn t he large screw¢
fig. 218 counter­
clockw ise .
.. Take out the spare tire .
.. Unhook the cargo floor befo re clos ing the
re ar l id.
Securing the repl aced tire
.. Place the wheel with tire in the spare wheel
we ll and secure the wheel with the large
screw.
.. Unhook the cargo floor befo re closing t he
re ar lid .
Using the spare tire (compact spare tire)
The compact spa re tire is only i ntended for
emergencies unt il you ca n reach a repa ir shop .
l)JI,

278 What do I do now ?
-Make sure that passengers wait in a
safe p lace away from the vehicle and
well away from the road and t raffic.
- Make sure jack position is correct , ad­
just as necessary and then continue to ra ise the jack.
Taking the wheel off/installing the spare
tire
Follow these instructions step-by-step for
changing the wheel.
F ig . 224 Changing a whee l: usi ng the screwdrive r ha n­
dle (with th e blade removed} to turn th e bo lts
Fi g. 225 Changing a whee l: a lignm en t pi n insid e t he
top hole
Afte r you have loosened a ll wheel bolts and
r a ised the veh icle off the ground, remove and
r eplace the wheel as follows:
Removing the wheel
" Remove the topmost wheel bo lt completely
with the
hexagonal socket in the screwdr iv­
er hand le (vehicle tool kit)
~ fig. 224 and
set it as ide o n a
clean surface.
" Screw t he thre aded end of the
alignment
pin
from the too l ki t hand -tig ht into the
empty bolt hole ~
fig. 225.
" Then remove the other wheel bo lts as de ­
scribed above. "
Take off the whee l leaving the a lignment
pin in the bolt hole
~CD .
Putting on the inflatable spare tire
" Push the spa re tire over the alignmen t pin.
" Scr ew on t he wheel bolts an d tig hten them
slightly u sing t he hexagona l socket .
" Remove the a lignment pin and insert and
tighten the rema ining wheel bolt slightly
like the rest.
" Turn the jack hand le counter-clockwise to
lower the vehicle until the jack is fully re­
leased .
" Use the wheel bo lt wrench to tighten all
wheel bo lts firm ly
~page 276. Tighten
t hem
in a criss cross pattern, from one bolt
to the ( approxim ate ly) opposite one, to keep
t he whee l cen tered .
" Perform the steps required after c hangin g
the whee l~
page 275, After changing a
wheel.
T he hexagonal socket ma kes it easie r to re ­
move t he whee l bolts from the rim . Care
sho uld be taken when removing the reversible
blade .
(D Note
When removi ng or insta lling the whee l,
the r im cou ld hit the b rake r oto r and dam­
age the rotor. Work caref ully and have a
second pe rson to help you.
(@ Tips
- Wh en mount ing tires w ith unidirectional
tread design
make sure the tread pat­
tern is po inted the right way
~ page 279.
-The wheel bolts s hou ld be clean and easy
to turn. Check for dirt and corrosion on
the mating surfaces of both the w heel
and the hub. Remove all d irt fro m these
surfaces be fo re remounting th e whee l.
- Do not use the he xagonal socket in the
sc rewd river handl e to loosen or t ight en
t he whee l b olt s.