192 Tires and wheels
cargo and lugg age load ca
pacity is 650 lbs . (1400-750
(5
X 150) = 650 lb s.)
5. De termine the combined
weight of luggage and cargo
being loaded on the vehicle .
That weight may not safely exceed the a vailable cargo
and luggage lo ad capacity
c alcul ated in Step
4.
6. If your vehicle will be towing
a tr ailer , load from your trail
er w ill be tran sferred to your
vehi cle . Consult this manual
to determine how thi s re
duces the available cargo
and luggage load capacity of
your vehicle.
.,. Check the tire sidewall
(¢ page 193 , fig. 151) to de
termine the designated load rating for a specific tire.
Tire service life
The service life of tires depends on a lot of
diff erent things i ncluding prop er installation
and balancing, correct tire pressure and driv ·
ing s tyle.
Fig. 150 T ire tread: trea d wea r ind icators (TWI)
Tread Wear Indicator (TWI )
The orig inal tires on yo ur vehi cle ha ve
1/ 16 inch ( 1.6 mm) hig h "wear indic ators"
¢ fig . 150 ru nning acro ss the tread . Depend·
ing on the ma ke , t here will be six to e ight of
them even ly placed aro und the tire . Marks on
the tire sidewall (for example "TWI" or other
symbols) ind icate the pos itions of the tread
wea r indica to rs. Wor n tires must be replaced .
Different figures may apply in othe r countries
¢ .&_ .
Tire pressure
Incor rect t ire pressure causes premature wea r
and can cause sudde n tire blow-out . For this
reason, tire pressu re must be checked at least
o nce a month
¢ page 189 .
Driving style
Driving fast around c urves, heavy accele rat ion
and hard braking increase tire wear .
Wheel balancing
The wheels on new ve hicles are balance d.
However, va rious s ituations dur ing eve ryday
driv ing can cause them to become unbal·
anced, resulting in vib rations you can usually
feel th rough the steer ing whee l.
Un balanced w hee ls m ust be rebalance d to
avo id excessive wear on steering, suspension
and t ires. A whee l must also be reba lanced
whe n a new tire is insta lled.
Incorrect wheel alignment
Incor rect wheel alig nment can cause exces
s ive tire wear , impa iring the sa fety of the vehi
cle.
If tires show excessive wear, have the
whee l alignment chec ked by an authoriz ed
Audi deal er or qualified wo rksh op.
All-wheel drive
Only the wheel/ti re sizes specif ied by the
manufacture r may be used on veh icles with
all-wheel d rive. For details see
c::> page 147.
