2012 AUDI R8 SPYDER four wheel drive

Driving with your
quattro ®
With all-wheel drive, all four wheels are driv­
en .
Gene ral inform ation
W ith all-wheel dr ive, power is distributed to
all four wheels . This happens automatically
depending on your driving style and the road
conditions at the t ime . See also <::;>
page 142.
Winter t ires
When driving in the winter, your vehicle with
all-wheel drive has an advantage, even with
regular tires. In winter road conditions it may
be advisable to mount winter tires (or all -sea­
son t ires) for improved driveability and brak­
ing: these tires must be mounted on
a ll f our
wheel s.
Snow chain s
Where snow chains are mandatory on certain
roads, th is normally also applies to vehicles
with all-wheel drive
Qpage 198, Snow
chains.
Replacing wheel s/tire s
Only the wheel/tire sizes specified by the
manufacturer may be used on vehicles with
all-wheel drive
<=> page 193 .
A WARNING
-Always adjust your driving to road and
traffic conditions. Do not let the extra
safety affo rded by a ll-wheel d rive tempt
you into taking extra risks .
- Although a ll-wheel drive is ve ry effect ive,
always remember that braking capacity
is limited by tire traction . You should
therefore not drive at excessive speeds
on icy or slippery road surfaces.
- On wet road surfaces, be careful not to drive too fast because the front wheels
cou ld begin to slide on top of the water
(aquaplaning). If this should occur, you
will have no warning from a sudden in­ crease in engine speed as with a front-
-
Int ellig ent technolog y 147
wheel drive vehicle. Always drive at
speeds which are su ited to the road con­
ditions. -risk of crash.
Energy management
Starting ability is optimized
Energy management controls the distribution
of electrical energy and thus optimizes the
availability of electrical energy for starting the engine.
If a vehicle with a conventional energy system
is not driven for a long per iod of t ime, the bat­
te ry is d ischarged by idling current consumers
(e .g. immobi lizer). In certain circumstances it
can resu lt in the re being insufficient energy
available to start the engine.
Intelligent energy management in your vehi­
cle handles the distribution of e lectr ica l ene r­
gy. Starting ability is markedly improved and
the life of the battery is extended .
Bas ica lly, energy management consists of
b atte ry diag nosis, idling current m an age­
m ent
and dy namic energ y manag ement .
Batte ry diagno sis
Battery diagnosis continuously determines
the state of the batte ry. Sensors determine
battery voltage, battery current and batte ry
temperature . This determines the current
state of charge and the power of the battery.
Idling current manag ement
Idling current management reduces energy
consumption while the vehicle is standing.
Wi th the ign ition switched off, it controls the
energy supply to the various electrica l compo ­
nents. Data from battery diagnosis is consid­
ered.
Depend ing on the ba ttery's state of charge,
individual cons umers are gradually turned off
to prevent excessive discharge of the battery
and thus maintain starting capability. .,..
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186 Tires and wheels
Tread
means that portion of a tire that comes into
contact with the road.
Tread separation
means pull ing away of the tread from the tire
carcass .
Treadwear indicators (TWI)
means the projections within the principal
grooves designed to give a v isual ind ication of
the degrees of wear of the tread. See
~ page 192, Tread Wear Indicator (TWI) for
more informat ion on measuring tire wear.
Uniform Tire Quality Grading
is a tire information system developed by the
United States National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration (NH TSA) that is designed to
help buyers make relative comparisons among
tires. The UTQG is not a safety rating and not a
guarantee that a tir e will last fo r a prescribed
number of miles or perform in a certain way.
It simply gives tire buyers additional informa­
tion to combine w ith other considerations,
such as price, brand loyalty and dea ler recom­
mendations. Under UTQG, tires are graded by
the tire manufacturers in three areas: tread­
wear, traction and temperature resistance.
The UTQG information on the tires, molded in­
to the sidewalls .
U.S. DOT Tire Identification Number (TIN)
This is the tire's "serial number" It begins
with the letters "DOT" and indicates that the ti
re meets a ll federal standards. The next two
numbers or letters indicate the plant where it
was manufactured, and the last four numbers
represent the week and year of manufacture.
For example,
DOT . .. 2211 ...
means that the tire was produced in the 22nd
week of 2011. The other numbers are market­
ing codes that may or may not be used by the
tire manufacturer . This information is used to
contact consumers if a tire defect requires a
recall.
Vehicle capacity weight
means the rated cargo and luggage load plus
150 lbs. (68 kilograms) times the vehicle's to­
ta l seating capacity as listed on the label lo­
cated on the driver's side B-pillar.
Vehicle maximum load on the tire
means that load on an individua l tire that is
determined by distributing to each axle its
share of the maximum loaded vehicle weight
and dividing by two.
Vehicle normal load on the tire
means that load on an individua l tire that is
determined by distributing to eac h axle its
share of the curb weight, accessory weight,
and normal occupant weight (distributed in
accordance with tab le below ~
page 186)
and dividing by two.
Occupant loading and distribution for vehicle normal load fo r various designated seating
capacities
I Designated seating capacity, Vehicle normal load,
number of occupants number of occupants
2 2
Normally loaded vehicle,
occupant distribution
•
2 in front

198 Tire s and wheel s
equip a ll four wheels on your vehicle with cor ­
rectly fitted winter tires or all-season tires,
when winter road conditions are expected .
This a lso improves the vehicle's braking per­
formance and reduces stopping distances.
Summer tires provide less grip on ice and
snow.
W inter t ires (snow t ires) must always be fitted
on all four whee ls .
Compat ible tire pressure mo nitor ing sensors
must be installed on all fo ur winter tires for
the tire pressure monitoring system to func­
tion proper ly
i=;, poge 195 .
Ask your autho rized Aud i dea ler o r qualified
wo rkshop fo r permitted
winter tir e size s . Use
on ly radia l w inte r tires .
W inter t ires lose the ir effectiveness when the
tread is worn down to a depth of 0.157 inch
(4 mm) .
Only drive with wi nter tires under winter con­
d itions . Summer tires hand le better when
there is no snow or ice on the roads and the
temperature is above 45 °F (7 °C).
Please always remembe r that w inte r tires may
have a lower speed rating than the t ires origi­
na lly installed on your veh icle at the t ime i t
was manufactured. Please see
r=;, page 194 ,
Speed roting (letter code) for a list ing of the
speed rating letter codes and the maximum
speed at which the tires can be driven.
The speed ra ting lette r code
(i=;, poge 185) is
on the s ide wall of the tire
i=;, poge 193.
A WARNING
Winter tires have maximum speed limits
that may be lower than your vehicle's max ­
im um speed . Always know the maxim um
speed before driving off. Never drive faster
than the speed permitted for your specific
w inte r tires . This will cause damage to the
tires leading to an accident and serious
personal in ju ry to you and yo ur passen­
gers.
A WARNING
Driving faster than the maximum speed
for which the winter tires on your veh icle
were designed can cause t ire failure in­
cluding a blowout and sudden deflation,
l oss of cont ro l, crashes and ser ious per­
sonal injuries. Have wo rn o r damaged ti res
r eplaced immedia tely.
- W inte r ti res have maxim um speed rating
tha t may be lower than your vehicle 's
maximum speed.
- Never drive fas ter than the speed for
which the win ter or othe r ti res installed
on yo ur vehicle are rated.
A WARNING ~
A lways ad just your driving to the road and
traffic condit ions. Never let the good ac­
celeration o f the winter tires and a ll-wheel
drive tempt yo u into taking extra risks. Al­
ways remember:
- When braking, an all-wheel drive veh icle
handles in the same way as a front drive
veh icle.
- Drive carefully and reduce your speed on
icy and slippery roads, even w inter t ires
cannot help under black ice conditions .
~ For the sake of the environment
Use summer tires when weather condi ­
tions permit. They are qu ieter, do not wear
as quickly and reduce fuel consumpt ion.
Snow chains
-
Snow cha ins may be fitted only to the rea r
whee ls, and o nly to certa in tire sizes . Ask your
autho rized Aud i dea le r o n whi ch t ire si zes
snow c hains ca n be used.
T he snow chains must have low-p rofile links
and must not be t hicker than 0 .53 inch
(13 .5 mm), in cl ud ing the lo ck.
Remove wheel center covers before putt ing
snow c ha ins on your vehicle
r=;, @ . For safety
reasons cover caps must then be f itted over

soon as possible, and inflate them to the
proper pressure . Driving on a significant ly un­
der-inflated tire causes the tire to overheat
and can lead to tire failure. Under-inflation a l­
so reduces fuel efficiency and tire tread l ife,
and may affect the veh icle 's handling and
stopping ab ility.
Please note that the TPMS is not a substitute
for proper t ire maintenance, and it is the dr iv­
er's responsib ility to ma inta in correct t ire
p ress ure , even if under- inflation has not
reached the leve l to t rigger illumination of the
TPMS low tire pressure telltale .
Your veh icle has also been equ ipped with a
TPMS malfunction indicato r to indicate when
the system is not ope rating properly. The
TPMS malfunc tion indica to r i s combined wi th
the low t ire pr essu re tellta le. When the sys ­
tem detec ts a ma lf u nct ion, the te lltale will
flash for approximately one minute and then remain continuo usly ill uminated . This se­
q uence will continue upon subsequent vehicle
start-ups as long as the malfunction ex ists.
When the malfunction indicator is ill uminat ­
ed, the system may not be able to detect or
signa l low t ire pressure as intended . TPMS
malfunct ions may occ ur for a variety of rea­
sons, including the ins talla tio n of replace­
ment or a lternate tires o r whee ls on the veh i­
cle that prevent the TPMS from funct io ni ng
p roperly . Always check the TPMS malfunct ion
t ellta le afte r replacing one o r more t ires or
wheels o n your veh icle to ensure tha t the re­
p lacemen t or a lternate tires and wheels allow
the TPMS to continue to function properly .
Introduction
The tire pressure monitoring system monitors
air pressure in all four road wheels while the
vehicle is moving .
As soon as the tire pressu re mo nitor ing sys­
tem senses a s ignificant loss of a ir pressure in
one or severa l ti res, text messages and yellow
symbo ls appear in the instr ument cluster dis ­
p lay to alert the driver. The
[ti warning light
Tire s an d wheel s 201
in the instrument cluster comes on when the
ti re is significant ly underinflated .
T he wa rni ng lig ht
[ti also illu minates i n the
case of a system mal funct io n.
Be aware that t ire pressure is a lso dependent
o n the tempe ratu re of the t ire. For eve ry 18 ° F
(10 °C) incre ase in tir e te mper ature, tire pres­
s u re inc reases by about 1.5 psi (0 .1 bar). The
ti re warms up while the ve hicle is moving and
tire p ress ure rises . So you sho uld ad just tire
pressure only when they a re
cold, when the
temperature of the tires is ro ughly the same
as the ambient a ir temperature.
In order to keep the tire press ure monito ring
system p roperly ca librated, t ire press ure on
all four tires sho uld be checked at regu lar in­
terva ls.
The tire pressure is shown on the label located
on the dr iver's side B-pillar (v is ib le when the
door is open) .
A WARNING
When the tire pressure mo nitoring system
war ning light is lit , one o r m ore of your
tires is s ignificantly under-infla ted . You
shou ld stop and check your tires as soon as
pos sib le, and in flate t hem to the proper
p ress ure a s in dic ate d on the ve hicle's ti re
p ress ure lab el
¢page 187. Driving on a
significantly under -inflated ti re causes t he
tire to over heat and can lead to tire failure .
Under-inflat ion also is like ly to impair the
vehicle's handling and stopping ab ility.
@ For the sake of the environment
D riving wit h un der -inflated tires red uces
fuel efficiency an d tire t read life.
(D Tips
- E ach tire should be chec ked monthly
w hen the tem perature of the tires is
about the same as amb ient a ir tempera­
t u re and set to the recommended infla­
tion press ure as specified on the tire
pressure label¢
page 187.
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