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.
F ig. 185 Tire tread: tread wea r ind ica tors (TWI)
f r-------~
{ \ .___ _____ ___,,
Fi g. 186 Rotat ing t ires fo r m ore even wea r
Tread Wear Indicator (TWI)
The origina l tires on your veh icle have
1/16 in ch (1.6 mm) high "wear ind icators"
c::> fig . 185 run ning across the tread. Depend
ing on the make, there will be six to eight of
them evenly p laced around the t ire . Marks on
the t ire s idewall (for example "TWI" or other
symbols) indicate the positions of the tread
wear ind icators . Worn t ires must be replaced.
Different fig ures may apply in other countries
c::> & .
Tir e pressure
Incorrect tire pressure causes premat ure wear
and can cause sudden tire blow-out . For th is
reason, tire pressure must be checked at least
once a month
c::> page 241.
Dri ving sty le
Driving fast around curves , heavy acceleration
and hard braking increase tire wear. Tires and wheels 245
Rotating tires for more even wear
For all four tires on your ve
hicl e 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 inte rvals. Please remember the follow
ing :
- Tire rotation intervals may differ from the
veh icle service inte rva ls o utlined in your
Warranty & Maintenance 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 manufactu rer 's suggested
tire rotation intervals .
- Vehicles w ith front-wheel dr ive exper ience
more tread wear on the front wheels com
pared to all -wheel d rive (quattro ®).
- Please rotate tires as shown
c::> fig. 186.
-Extra care must be taken when rotat ing di-
rection-specific tires
c::> page 264 .
Wheel balancing
The wheels on new veh icles are balanced .
However, various situations during everyday
driving can cause them to become unba l
anced, resulting in vibrat ions you can usually
feel through the steer ing wheel.
Unbalanced wheels must be rebalanced to
avoid excessive wear on steering, s uspension
and t ires. A whee l must also be reba lanced
when a new tire is insta lled.
Inco rrect wheel alignment
Incorrect wheel alignment can cause exces
sive tire wear, impair ing the safety of the vehi
cle . If tires show excessive wear, have the
whee l alignment checked by an authori zed
Audi dealer or qualified workshop.
All Wh eel Driv e
Vehicles wi th quattro ® mus t always have tires
of the same size, construction and tread type. For details see
c::> page 191.
CD Note
Do not lift the vehicle by the sill. Position
the vehicle jack only at the designated lift ing points on the sill. Otherwise, your vehi
cle will be damaged.
(D Tips
The vehicle jack mode switches off auto
matically at speeds above 10 km/h.
Taking the wheel off/installing the spare
Follow these instructions step-by-step for
changing the wheel.
Fig . 201 Chang ing a whee l: using the screwdrive r han
dle (with the blade removed) to turn the bolts
Fi g. 202 Ch anging a wheel: alignment pin inside the
top hole
After you have loosened all wheel bolts and
raised the veh icle off the ground, remove and
replace the wheel as follows:
Re moving th e wh eel
.. Use the hex agon al so cket i n the s cre wdr iv
e r handle
to completely remove the top
most wheel bolt and set it aside on a
clean
surface ¢fig. 201.
What do I d o now ? 263
.. Sc rew the threaded end o f the alignment
pin
from the tool kit hand-tight into the
empty bolt hole¢
fig. 202 .
.. Then remove the other wheel bolts as de
scribed above.
.. Take off the wheel leaving the alignment
pin in the bolt hole
¢ (D .
Putting o n the spare w heel
.. Lift the spare wheel and carefully slide it
over the alignment p in to guide it in place
¢(]) .
.. Use the hexagonal socket in the screwdriver
handle to screw in and tighten all wheel
bolts
slightly.
.,. 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 bolt wrench to tighten all
wheel bolts firmly¢
page 261. Tighten
them
crosswise, from one bolt to the (ap
proximately) opposite one, to keep the
wheel cente red.
CD Note
When removing or installing the wheel,
the r im cou ld hit the b rake rotor and dam
age the rotor. Wor k carefully and have a
second pe rson help you.
@ Tips
Neve r use the hexagonal socket in the han
dle of the screwdr iver to loosen or tighten
the wheel bo lts.
- Pull the reversible blade from the screw
dr iver before you use the hexagonal
socke t in the hand le to turn the wheel
bolts.
- Whe n mount ing tires w ith
unidire ctional
t read de sign
make sure the tread pat
tern is pointed the right way
¢page 264.
- The wheel bo lts s hou ld be clean and ea sy
to turn . Check for dirt and corrosion on
the mating surfaces of both the wheel
