236 Tires and wheels
-Carrying more weight than your vehicle
was designed to carry will prevent the
vehicle 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
vehicle within a safe distance.
- Tires on a vehicle that has been overload
ed can fail suddenly, including a blowout
and sudden deflation, causing loss of
control and a crash.
- Always make sure that the total load be
ing transported -including the weight of
a trailer hitch and the tongue weight of a
loaded trailer - does not make the vehi
cle heavier than the vehicle's Gross Vehi
cle Weight Rating.
Determining correct load limit
Use the example below to cal
culate the total weight of the
passengers and luggage or oth
er things that you plan to trans
port so that you can make sure
that your vehicle will not be
overloaded.
Steps for Determining Correct Load Limit
1. Locate the statement "THE
COMBINED WEIGHT OF OC
CUPANTS AND CARGO
SHOULD NEVER EXCEED XXX KG OR XXX LBS"on your vehi
cle's placard (tire inflation pressure label)
¢fig. 182.
2. Determine the combined weight of the driver and pas- sengers that will be riding in
your vehicle.
3. Subtract the combined weight of the driver and passengers from
"XXX" kilo
grams or
"XXX" pounds
shown on the sticker
¢fig. 182.
4. The resulting figure equals the available amount of car
go and luggage load capaci
ty. For example, if the
"XXX"
amount equals 1400 lbs.
and there will be five 150
lbs. passengers in your vehi
cle, the amount of available
cargo and luggage load ca
pacity is 650 lbs. (1400-7 SO
(5
X 150) = 650 lbs.)
5. Determine the combined weight of luggage and cargo
being loaded on the vehicle.
That weight may not safely exceed the available cargo
and luggage load capacity
calculated in Step 4.
6. If your vehicle will be towing a trailer, load from your trail
er will be transferred to your
vehicle. Consult this manual
to determine how this re duces the available cargo
vehicle handling and can lead to a loss of control.
- If the spare tire is not the same as the
tires that are mounted on the vehicle -
for example with winter tires -only use
the spare tire for a short period of time and drive with extra care . Refit the nor
mal road wheel as soon as safely possi
ble .
- Never drive faster than the maximum speed for which the tires on your vehicle are rated because tires that are driven
faster than their rated speed can fail
suddenly.
- Overloading tires cause heat build-up,
sudden tire failure, including a blowout
and sudden deflation and loss of control.
- Temperature grades apply to tires that
are properly inflated and not over or un
derinflated.
- For technical reasons it is not always
possible to use wheels from other
vehicles -in some cases not even wheels
from the same vehicle model.
- If you install wheel trim discs on the ve
hicle wheels, make sure that the air flow
to the brakes is not blocked. Reduced air
flow to the brakes can them to overheat, increasing stopping distances and caus
ing a collision .
- Run flat tires may only be used on
vehicles that were equipped with them
at the factory. The vehicle must have a
chassis designed for run flat tires and a
factory-installed tire pressure monitor
ing system* that indicates a loss of tire
pressure. Incorrect use of run flat tires
can lead to vehicle damage or accidents.
Check with an authorized Audi dealer or
tire specialist to see if your vehicle can be
equipped with run flat tires . If run flat
tires are used, they must be installed on
all four wheels. Mixing tire types is not
permitted .
0 Note
-For technical reasons, it is not generally
possible to use the wheel rims from oth-
Tires and wheels 241
er vehicles. This can hold true for wheels
of the same vehicle type.
- If the spare tire is different from the
tires that you have mounted on your ve
hicle (for example winter tires or wide
profile tires), then use the spare tire for a
short period of time only and drive with
extra care. Replace the flat tire with the
tire matching the others on your vehicle as soon as possible .
- Never drive without the valve stem cap .
The valves could get damaged .
(® For the sake of the environment
Dispose of old tires in accordance with the
local requirements.
Uniform tire quality grading
-Tread wear
- Traction AA A B C
- Temperature AB C
Quality grades can be found where applicable
on the tire side wall between tread shoulder
and maximum section width 9 fig. 186.
For example: Tread wear 200, Traction AA,
Temperature A.
All passenger car tires must conform to Feder
al Safety Requirements in addition to these
grades.
Tread wear
The tread wear grade is a comparative rating
based on the wear rate of the tire when tested
under controlled conditions on a specified
government test course.
For example, a tire graded ISO would wear
one and one half (11/2) times as well on the government course as a tire graded 100.
The relative performance of tires depends upon the actual conditions of their use, how
ever, and may depart significantly from the norm due to variations in driving habits, serv
ice practices and differences in road character-
istics and climate.
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