-If the ti re is not flat and y ou do not have
to change a wheel immed iate ly, drive at
reduced speed to the nearest service sta
t ion to check the tire pressure and add
air as required.
(D Note
Dr iving without va lve stem caps can cause
damage to the t ire va lves . To prevent this,
always make sure that factory installed
valve stem caps on all wheels are secu re ly
mounted on the va lve .
@) For the sake of the environment
Underinflated tires will a lso increase the
fue l consumption.
Tires and vehicle load limits
There are limits to the amount of load or
weight t hat any veh icle and any t ire ca n car ry.
A vehicle that is overloaded w ill not handle
well and is more difficult to stop. Overload ing
can not on ly lead to loss of vehicle contro l,
but can a lso damage important parts of the
vehicle and can lead to sudden tire failure, in
cluding a blowout and sudden deflation that
can cause the ve hicle to crash.
Your safety and that of yo ur passenge rs a lso
depends on making sure th at load limits are
no t exceeded. Vehicle load includes everybody
and everyth ing in and on the vehicle. These
load limits a re tech nica lly referred to as the
ve hicle's
Gross Veh icle Weight Rating
("GVWR").
The "GVWR" includes the we ight of the basic
ve hicle, all factory installed accessories, a full
tank of f uel, oil, coo lant and othe r fluids plus
max imum load. The maximum load includes
the number o f passenger s that the ve hicl e is
intended to carry ("se ating capacity") w it h an
assumed weig ht o f 150 lbs (68 kg) for each
passenger at a designated seating position
and the tota l weight of any luggage in the ve
h icle. If you tow a trailer, the weight of the
trailer hitch and the tong ue weight of the
Tire s an d wheel s 243
loaded tra ile r must be included as part of the
vehicle load .
T he
Gro ss Ax le Weight Rating (" GAWR") is
the max imum load th at can be applied at each
of the vehicle's two axles .
T he Gross Vehicle Weight Rat ing and t he
G ross Ax le Weig ht Ra ting are l iste d on the
s af ety comp liance s tic ke r la bel lo cated on the
driver's side 8 -pillar . Yo ur Audi has 5 sea ting
positions,
2 in the front and 3 in the rear fo r
total seating capacity of
5. Eac h seating posi
tion has a safety be lt
c> page 133 , Safety
belts.
The fact that there is an upper limit to yo ur
vehicle's Gross Vehicle We ight Rating means
that the total weig ht of whatever is being car
ried in the vehicle (includ ing the weight of a
tra ile r hitch a nd the tongue weight of the
loaded tra ile r) is lim ited . The more passen
gers in the vehicle or passengers w ho are
heavier than the sta ndard we ights assumed
me an t hat less we igh t ca n be ca rried as lug
gage.
T he tire pr essure label on your Audi also lis ts
t h e maximum combined weight of a ll of the
occupants and l uggage or other cargo that
t h e ve hicl e can carry. For the locat ion of the
label
c> page 239, fig . 178.
.&_ WARNING
-=
Overloading a vehicle can cause loss of ve-
h icle cont ro l, a c rash or other accident, se
rious pe rsonal injury, and even death.
- Ca rrying more we ight tha n your veh icle
was des igned to carry wi ll prevent the
veh icle from handling properly and in
crease the risk of the loss of vehicle con
trol.
- The brakes on a vehicle that has been
overloaded may not be able to stop the
ve hicle w it hi n a safe distance .
- Tires o n a vehicle that has been over load
ed can fail suddenly, including a blowout
a nd sud den defla tion , causing loss of
cont rol and a crash .
li1'-
•
•
252 Tire s and wheel s
Where snow chains are mandatory oncer
tain roads, this normally also applies to ve
hicles with all-wheel drive.
Wheel bolts
Wheel bolts must always be tightened to the
correct torque .
The design of whee l bolts is matched to the
factory insta lled rims . If different rims are fit
ted, the correct wheel bolts with the r ight
length and correctly shaped bolt heads must
be used. This ensures that wheels are fitted
securely and that the brake system functions
correctly .
In certain circumstances, you may not use
wheel bolts from a different vehicle -even if it
is the same model
r=> page 280.
A WARNING
Imprope rly tightened o r maintained wheel
bolts can becom e loose ca using loss of
c ont ro l, a co llision and serious persona l in
Jury .
- Always keep the w heel bolts an d the
threads in the wheel hubs clean so the
w heel bolts can turn easily and be p rop
er ly tigh tened .
- N ever grease or oil the wheel bo lt s an d
the threads in the w heel hubs. They can
become loose while d riving if greased or
oi led, even if tightened to the specified
torq ue.
- Only use wheel bolts that belong to the
rim being installed.
- N ever use different whee ls bolts on your
vehicle.
- Alw ays maintain the co rrec t tighten ing
torq ue fo r th e wheel bo lts to reduce the
risk of a wheel loss . If the tightening tor
que of the wheel bo lts is too low, they
can loosen and come out w hen the veh i
cle is moving. If the tighteni ng torque is
too high, the whee l bolts and threads can be damaged and the whee
l can be
come loose.
@ Note
The specified torque for the whee l bolts is
90 ft lb (120 Nm) with a tolerance of± 7,4
ft lb(± 10 Nm) . Torque whee l bolts diago
nally. After changing a whee l, the torque
must be checked as soon as possible with a
torque w rench -preferably by an author
i zed Audi dealer or qualified workshop .
Low aspect ratio tires
Your A udi is facto ry-eq uipped w it h low aspect
ra tio tires. These tires have been tho roughly
tested and been se lected specific ally fo r your
model fo r their superb perfo rmance, road fee l
and hand ling under a variety of d riving condi
t ions . Ask your author ized A udi dealer for
more details.
T he low aspect ratio of these tires is ind icated
by a numera l of
55 or less in the tire's s ize
designation. The n umera l represents the ratio
of the tire's sidewa ll height in relation to its
tread width expressed in percentage. Conven
t iona l tires have a he ight/w idth rat io of 60 or
more .
The performance of low-aspect -ratio tires is
particularly sens iti ve to imp roper inflation
pressure. It is therefore important that low
a spect ratio tires are inflated to the specified
pre ssure and that the inflation pressure i s
regularly ch ecked and maintain ed. Tire pre s·
sure s should be checked at lea st once a
month and always before a long trip
r=> page 241, Checking tire pressure .
What you can do to avoid tire and rim
damage
Low aspect ra tio tires can be d amage d more
easily by impact w it h potholes, curbs, g ull ies
or ridges on t he road, particularly if the tire is
u nd eri nflated.
28 4 Index
Automatic transmission . . . . . . . . . 10 1, 106
Automatic Shift Lock (ASL) . . . . . 103, 109
Driving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101, 107
Dynamic shift program . . . . . . . . 104, 110
Emergency mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106, 111
Emergency release . . . . . . . . . . . . 106, 112
Kick-dow n . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104, 109
M anual sh ift program . . . . . . . . . 105, 1 10
Selec to r l eve r . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102 , 108
Shift b uttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105, 1 11
Steer ing whee l w ith mu lti tronic ... .. . 105
Steering whee l with tiptronic ....... . 11 1
Automatic wipe rs ........... ... .. ... . 46
Auto Safety Hotline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
Average consumption ....... .. .. .... .. 24
Average speed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Avoid damaging the vehicle . ... ... ... . 197
B
Battery ..... .. . .. ..... ... .. .. .... . 230
Charging .... .. .. ..... ... .. .. .... . 233
Important warnings . ... .. .. ... ... . 23 1
Jump starting .............. .. .... . 268
Locat ion . ............... .. .. .... . 231
low . .. .. .. ... .. ..... ... .... .. .. . 194
Replacing the battery ......... .. ... 234
State of charge ..... ...... .. .. .. .. . 194
W inter operation ......... .. .. .. .. . 230
Wo rking on the battery .... .. .. .. .. . 231
Before driving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
Blended gasoline .. ..... ... .. .. .... . 215
Blower (automatic climate cont rol) .. .. .. 67
Blower (climate control) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Body cav ity sealing ....... .. .. .. .. .. . 209
Booster seats .............. ... .. .. . 177
Brake fl uid
Changing the brake fl uid ... .. .. .... .
230
Check ing the brake fluid level . .. ..... 229
What is the correct brake flu id leve l? .. 229
What should I do if the brake fluid warn -
ing light comes on? ........ ..... .. .
229
Brake system
Anti-lock braking system ... .... .... ..
19
Brake ass ist system ....... .. .. .. .. . 189
Brake booster .. .... ...... .. .. .. .. . 192
Brake fl uid . ..... ......... ... .. ... 229
B rake fluid specifications fo r r efill and re -
placement . ..... .. ... ..... ... .. ..
230
Brake light defective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Brake pads .... .. ............. .... 196
Electromechanical parking brake . .... . 73
Fluid reservo ir . .. ................ . 229
How does moisture or road salt affect the
brakes? ....... .. .. ........ ...... .
191
Warning/ind icator lights ...... .. .. .. . 14
Worn b rake pads symbo l ........ .. .. . 20
braking guard . .. .. .......... ...... .. 78
Messages ... .. .. .. ... .. ... ..... .. . 85
Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Break -in period .. .. ... .......... .. .. 196
Brake pads .... .. ............. .... 196
Tires ...... ... .. .. ... ........... . 196
Bulbs . ... .. .... .. .. ... ..... ... .. .. 267
C
Cali forn ia Proposition 65 Warn ing . .... 221
Battery specific . ... ... ..... ... .. .. 232
Capac,t,es ...... .. .. ... ........... . 276
Engine oil . .. .. .. ............. .. .. 2 22
Car care .... .... .. ............. .... 204
Exterior . .. .. ... ... ... .. ... ... .. .. 204
Interior ...... ... .. .............. . 210
Cargo area ...... .. ... .. .. ... .... . .. 129
Cargo ne t ... .. .. .. .. ........... .... . 61
Catalytic converter . ............. .. .. 197
Center armrest
Cockpit ... .... .. .. .... . ... ... .. .. .
51
Central lock ing .. .. ............. .. ... 32
E mergency loc king ............... .. . 36
Certification ...... ............... .. 281
Changing a wheel . ... ... ..... ... .. .. 258
Changi ng engine oil ................ . 226
Chassis (undercoat ing) ............. .. 209
Checking
Engine coolant level ..... .... ... .. ..
227
Tire pressure ..... ... .. ..... .... . .. 241
Child rest raints
Danger of using child rest rain ts in t he
fron t seat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
144
Where can I get additional in format ion
about child restraints and their use? . .
186
Child rest raint system a nchors .. .. .. .. 182