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. 178 Tire tread: tread wea r ind ica tors (TWI)
Fi g. 179 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"
r::!;> fig . 178 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
r::!) & .
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
r::!;> page 23 7.
Dri ving sty le
Driving fast around curves , heavy acceleration
and hard braking increase tire wear. Tires and wheels 241
Rotating tires for more even wear
For all four tires on your ve
hicl e to have the
same service life, we recomme nd 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
r::!;> fig. 179.
-Extra care must be taken when rotat ing di-
rection-specific tires
r::!;> page 258 .
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-whe el drive
Vehicles wi th quattro ® mus t always have tires
of the same size, construction and tread type. For details see
r::!;> page 189.
Side assist Activating and deactivating . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Cleaning sensors ............ ... .. . 202
Description . ............. .... .. .... 88
Informational and alert stage signals .. 90
Messages in instrument cluster display . 94
MMI settings .... .. ...... .. .. .. .. .. 93
Operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Safety tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Sensor detection area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Side curtain airbags ........... .... .. 160
Description .... .. .. ...... .. .. .. .. . 160
How they work .............. ... ... 161
Safety instructions ........ .. .. .. .. . 161
Side marker lights ......... .. .. .. .. .. 41
Ski sack ..... .. ................ ..... 62
also refer to Trunk pass-through .. .. .. 63
Sliding/tilting sunroof Emergency closing .......... .. .. .. .. 40
Opening and closing ...... .. .. .. .. .. 39
Snow chains . ................ ... ... 247
Socket . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Sources of information about child re-
straints and their use ....... .. .. .. .. . 181
Space-saving spare tire ...... .. .. .. .. . 253
Spare tire .... ................ ... ... 253
Speedometer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Speed rating letter code ..... .. .. .. .. . 243
Speed warning system ...... .. .. .. .. .. 76
Star button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
START ENGINE STOP button ........... 71
Starting from rest .......... .. .. .. .. .. 75
Startingoffwithatrailer .... .. .. .. .. .. 75
Starting the engine .................. 71
Steering Electrically adjustable steering wheel .. 70
Manually adjustable steering wheel .. .. 70
also refer to Electro-mechanical power
assist ..... .. ................ .... 189
Steering wheel Easy entry feature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Indicator light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Steering wheel heating .... .. .. .. .. .. 69
Steering wheel column Adjusting electrically ...... .. .. .. .. .. 70
Adjusting manually ....... .. .. .. .. .. 70
Steps for determining correct load limit . 239
Index 287
Stopping the engine . ............... .. 73
Storage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55, 60
Sunroof .... .. .. .. ... ............ ... 39
Sun shade .. .. .. .. ................. . 45
Sun visors ........ .. ................ 45
Symbols
refer to Warning/indicator lights ..... . 11
T
Tachometer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11, 22
Technical modifications .............. 276
Temperature display ............. .. .. . 22
T ether anchors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
Tether strap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
The first 1,000 miles (1,500 km) and after-
wards ...... .. .. .. ................. 192
Three-zone climate control . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Tie-downs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61, 125
Tips for the environment
Saving fuel . ... .. .. ................ 58
tiptronic ... .. .. .. ................. 102
A ut omatic Shift Lock (ASL) ...... .. .. 104
Driving .......................... 102
Dynamic shift program ............. 105
Emergency mode ... ............... 106
Kick-down . .. .. .. ................. 104
Manual shift program .............. 105
Selector lever .. .. ... ... ...... ..... 103
Tire pressure . ...................... 23 7
Tire pressure monitoring system ....... 249
Loss of air pressure ................ 250
Malfunction . .. .. ................. 250
Resetting tire pressures ............ . 251
Tires ...... ... .. .... .......... ..... 231
Service life ....... ................ 241
Speed rating letter code ........ .. .. 243
Tire manufacturing date ........ .. .. 243
Tire specifications ................ . 243
Tread depth ....... ............... 241
Uniform tire quality grading ........ . 245
Winter tires . .. ...... ............. 246
T ires and vehicle load limits ....... .... 239
Tires and wheels Checking tire pressure ............. . 237
Cold tire inflation pressure ......... . 235
Dimensions .. .. .. ................. 242
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