194 Tire s and wheel s
contribution to good road ho lding and sa fe
handling when in good condition and properly
inflated
¢ ,& .
We recommend that all work on tires and
wheels be perfo rmed by an authorized Audi
dea ler. They are familiar with recommended
proced ures and have the necessary spec ial
too ls and spare parts as well as the proper fa
cilities for disposing of the old tires.
Authorized Audi dealers have the necessary information about techn ica l requ irements for
installing or changing tires and r ims.
R eplacing t ire s and wheels
Tires sho uld be rep laced at least in pairs and
not individua lly (for examp le both front tires
or both rear tires together).
Be sure to read and heed the information to
the tire pressure monitoring system
¢page 195.
Always buy rep lacement radial tires that have
the same specifications as the tires approved
for your vehicle by Audi. Replacement t ires
must always have the same load rating speci
fication as the original equipment or approved
optional tires listed in the table¢
page 187.
Audi-approved specification ti res are specially
matched to your vehicle and its load limits,
and can contribute to the important road ho ld
ing, driving characteristics, and safety of the
vehicle. The table
(¢page 187) lists spec ifica
tions of the tires approved for the Audi mod
els covered by your Owner's Literature .
The tire pressure labe l located on driver's side
B-pillar (
¢ page 187, fig. 149) lists the speci
f ications of the orig inal equipment tires in
stalled on your veh icle at the time it was man
ufactured.
Federal law requires t ire manufacturers to
p lace standard ized information on the s ide
wall of all tires¢
fig. 151 . This information
i dent ifies and describes the fundamental
characterist ics, the quality grade of the tire
and a lso provides a tire ident ificat ion number f
or sa fety standard ce rtification and in case of
a reca ll.
Tire specifications
Knowledge of ti re specificat ions makes it eas
ier to choose the correct tires. Radial ti res
have the tire specifications marked on the
sidewa ll, for examp le:
P 23 5 / 35 R 18 91 Y
This co nta ins the following information:
P Indicates the t ire is for passenger cars
2 35 Nom inal tire width in mm of the tire
from sidewall edge to sidewall edge. In general, the larger the number, the wider
the tire
35 Height/width ratio in percent (aspect ra-
t io)
R Tire construction : Radial
18 Rim diameter code (in inches)
91 Load rating code
Y Speed rating letter code
XL (or "xl", "EXTRA LOAD", or "RF") indicates
that the t ire is a"Re inforced" or an "Extra
Load" t ire
M +S (or "M/S") Indicates that the tire has
some mud and snow capability
The t ires could also have the information of
direction of rotatio n ¢
page 183.
Ti re manufa ctur ing date
The manufacturing date is also indicated on
the tire sidewall (possibly on ly on the
inner
s ide of the wheel):
" D OT ... 2211. .. " means, for examp le, that
the tire was produced in the 22nd week of 2011.
Speed rating (lette r co de)
The speed rating letter code on the whee ls in
dicates the maximum permissible road speeds
¢ .&. in Winter tires on page 198.
P up to 93 mp h (150 km/h)
Q up to 99 mph (158 km/h)
R up to 106 mph (170 km/h)
S up to 110 mph (180 km/h)
200 Tires and wheels
conditions. Ask your authorized Audi dea ler
for more details.
The low aspect ratio of these tires is indicated
by a numeral of 55 or less in the tire's size
designation. The numera l represents the ratio
of the tire's sidewall height in relation to its
tread width expressed in percentage. Conven
tional tires have a height/width ratio of 60 or
more.
The performance of low-aspect -ratio tires is
particularly sensitive to improper inflation
pressure. It is therefore important that low
aspect ratio tires are inflated to the specified
pressure and that the inflation pressure is reg
ularly checked and maintai ned. Tire pressures
should be checked at least once a month and
a lways befo re a long t rip
~ page 189, Check
ing tire pressure.
What you can do to avoid tire and rim
damage
L ow aspect ratio tires can be damaged more
eas ily by impact with potholes, curbs, gullies
o r ridge5 on the road, particu larly if the tire i5
underinflated.
I n order to minimize the occurrence of impact
damage to the tires of your vehicle, we recom
mend that you observe the following precau
tions:
- Always maintain recommended inflation
pressures. Check your tire pressure every
2.000 miles (3.000 km) and add air if neces
sary .
- Drive carefully on roads with potholes, deep
gullies or ridges. The impact from driving
through or over such obstacles can damage
your tires. Impact with a curb may also cause damage to your tires.
- After any impact, immediately inspect your
tires or have them inspected by the nearest
authori zed Aud i dealer. Rep lace a damaged
t ir e as soon as possible.
- Inspect your tires every 2.000 miles (3.000 km) for damage and wear . Damage is not al
ways easy to see. Damage can lead to loss of
air and underinflation, wh ich could eventu
ally cause t ire failure . If you believe that a tire
may have been damaged, rep lace the
tire as soon as possible.
- These tires may wear more quickly than oth
ers.
- Please also remember that, while these tires
delive r responsive handling, they may ride
less comfortably and make more noise than
other choices .
Reduced performance in winter/cold
season conditions
All tires are designed for certain purposes.
The low aspect ratio, ultra high performance
t ir es or iginally installed on your vehicle are in
tended for maximum dry and wet road per
formance and handling . T hey are not suitable
for cold, snowy or icy weather conditions . If
you drive under those c ircumstances, you
should equ ip your vehicle with winter tires,
which offer better traction under those condi
tions . We suggest yo u use the recommended
snow tires specified for your vehicle, or their
equivalent.
Refer to~
poge 197 for more detailed infor
mation regarding winter tires.
Ti re pressure
monitoring system
General notes
Eac h tire, including the spare (if provided),
shou ld be checked mon thly when cold and in
flated to the inflat ion pressure recommended
by the ve hicle manufacturer on the vehicle
placard or tire inflation pressure labe l (If your
vehicle has tires of a different si ze than the
s ize indicated on the vehicle placard or tire in
flat ion pressure label, you should determine
the proper t ire in flation pressure for those
t ir es .) .
As an added safety feature, your vehicle has been equipped with a tire pressure monitoring
system (TPMS) that illum inates a low tire
pressure telltale when one or more of your
tires is significantly under-inflated. Acco rding
ly, when the low tire pressure telltale illumi
nates, you shou ld stop and check you r tires as
Ill>-
208 What do I do now ?
-On hard, slippery surface (such as tiles)
use a rubber mat or similar to prevent
the jack from slipping.
- To help prevent injury to yourself and
your passengers:
- D o not raise the vehicle u nti l yo u a re
sure the ja ck is sec urely engaged.
- P assenge rs must not rema in i n the ve
h icl e when it is ja ck ed up.
- M ake sure t hat passengers wait in a
safe p lace away fro m the vehicle and
well away from the road and traffi c.
- M ake sur e jac k position is correct, ad
just as necessary and then co ntinue to
r ai se the j ack .
CD Note
A floo r jack or the pads o n the hoist arms
m ust
not be posit ioned at the points
s hown
-arrows-.
Remov ing the wheel
Follow these instructions step-by-step for
changing the wheel.
F ig. 1 59 Whee l change: alignment pin inside the top
hole
Afte r you have loosened a ll wheel bolts and
ra ised the veh icle off the ground, perform the
following steps to remove a nd rep lace the
wheel :
Removing the wheel
" Use the hexagonal socket in the screwdri v
er handle
to comp lete ly tu rn out the top
most wheel bo lt and set it as ide on a
clean
surface. "
Sc rew the th readed end of the
alignment
pin
from th e tool kit hand-tight into t he
now vacant bolt ho le
c::> fig . 159.
" Then complete ly unscrew the other wheel
bolts as described above.
" Take off the whee l leaving the a lignment
p in in the bolt hole
c::>(D .
Putting on the wheel
" Lift the spare whee l and carefully s lide it
over the alignment pin to guide it in place
c::>(D .
" Use the hexagonal socket in the screwdriver
ha ndle to screw in and tighten a ll whee l
bolts
slightly .
" Uns crew the alignment p in and insert and
tighten the rem aining wheel bol t slightly
like the res t.
" Tur n t he jack hand le co unter-clockwise to
lower the vehicle until the jack is fully re
leased.
T he wheel bo lts must be clean and turn easily.
Check the contact s urfaces of whee l and hub.
Remove contaminants on these surfaces be
fore insta lling the w heel.
T he hexagonal socket in the screwdriver ha n
dle makes it easier to handle the w heel bo lts.
The reversible blade should be removed.
When mounting
unidirectional ti res, observe
the d irection o f rotation
c::> page 206.
CD Note
W hen remov ing or inst alling the whee l,
t he r im cou ld hi t the b ra ke ro tor and dam
age the ro tor . Wor k caref ully an have a
second pe rson hel p you.
(D Tips
Neve r use the he xagona l socket in the han
d l e of t he screwdriver to loosen or tighten
the wheel bo lts .
Tightening wheel bolts
~ Fit the wheel bolt wren ch over the wheel
bolt and push it down as far as it will go
1l.
~ Close your gr ip around the end of the
wrenc h handle fo r maximum torque and
turn each whee l bolt
clockwi se u nti l it sits
t ight.
H ave the
tightening torque of the whee l bolts
checked as soon as possible with a torque
wrench. It shou ld be 120 Nm.
Chec k the
tir e pre ssure as soon as possible .
Return the vehicle tool kit to its proper place .
A WARNING
Loosening the wheel bo lts is prohib ited;
da nger of an accident!
@ Tips
- Never try and use the hexagona l socke t
i n the handle of the screwdr iver to loos
en or tighten the w heel bolts.
- If yo u have dete rm ined t hat wheel bolts
a re cor roded and difficult to t urn, the
bo lts must be rep laced befo re checking
the to rque.
- Unti l the tig hte ning torque is checked,
d rive at redu ced speeds as a precaution .
Notes on wheel change
Please read the information ¢ page 193, New
tires and replacing tires and wheels ,
if you are
going to use a spare t ire which is different
from the tires on you r veh icle.
Afte r you change a tire :
- Check the tire pressure on the spare imme
diately after mounting.
- Have the wheel bolt t ightening torque
chec ked w ith a torq ue wrench as soon as
poss ib le by your author ized A udi dealer or a
qualified service sta tion .
1) You need t he appro pria te adapte r to t ig hte n th e an ti
t h eft whee l bolt s
c:> page 206 .
What do I do now? 209
- With stee l and alloy wheel rims, the whee l
bolts are correctly tightened at a torque of
90 ft lb (120 Nm) .
- If you notice while changing a tire that the
wheel bo lts are corroded and difficu lt to
turn, then they shou ld be rep laced before
you check the tightening torque.
- Replace the flat tire with a new one and
have it installed on your vehicle as soon as
possible . Remount the wheel cover.
Until then , d riv e with e xtra care and at re
duced speeds.
A WARNING
- If you are going to equ ip your vehicle
with tires or rims which differ from those
which were facto ry installed, then be
sure to read the information ¢
page 193,
New tires and replacing tir es and
wheels.
- Always sto re the tools secu rely in lug
gage compartment. Othe rwise, in a n ac
cident o r su dden maneuver they cou ld fly
forwdrd, CciU5ing injury to pd55enger5 in
the vehicle.
(D Note
Do not use comme rcially avai lab le tire
sea lants . Otherwise, the e le ctr ic al compo
nen ts of t he tire p ressu re monitoring sys
tem * wi ll no longe r work proper ly and the
sensor fo r the tire pressure mon itor ing
system will have to be rep laced by a quali
fied workshop.
Jump-starting
General
If necessary, the engine can be started by
connecting it to the battery of another vehi
cle.
If the engi ne should fail to start because of a
discharged or weak battery, the battery can be
II>
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