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)
___ __,J.)
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
Ma intenance and Warranty 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 w heel drive (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 wheel drive
Vehicles wi th quattro ® must a lways have tires
of the same size, construction and tread type. For details see
r=> page 190 .
252 What do I do n ow ?
What do I do now?
Vehicle tool kit
The tools ore stored underneath the floor
panel in the luggage comportment.
Fig. 182 Luggage compartment: tool kit
When you need access to the vehicle too l kit
or jack*, you will need to take out the spare
tire* and cover ¢
page 252.
The vehicle tool kit includes:
- Hook for removing wheel covers*
- Alignment pin for changing the whee l
- Screwdriver w ith reversible blade
- T ool for chang ing ligh t bu lbs
- Reversible bit (reversible Torx bit for chang-
ing light b ulbs)
- Rod for jack
- Jack*
- Lug wrench
- Towing eye
Some o f the ve hicl e items listed above a re
p rovided on certain models o nly or are option
a l extras.
Before returning the jack* to its place, retra ct
the jack a rm fully .
_&. WARNING
- Never use the screw driver hex head to
tighten whee l bolts, s ince the bolts can
not attain the necessa ry tightening tor
que i f you use the hex head, potentially
causing an accident.
- The factory -supplied jack is intended on
ly for your veh icle model. Under no cir
c u mstances should it be used to lift heavy vehicles or othe
r loads; yo u risk in
juring yo urself .
- Never start the engine when the vehicle
is raised, wh ich could cause an acc ident.
- Support the vehicle securely wit h app ro
priate stands if work is to be performed
underneath the vehicle; otherwise, there
is a potentia l risk for injury.
Space-saving spare tire
(compact spare tire)
App lies to vehicles: wit h space-saving spare t ire
The spore tire/wheel is located in the luggage
compartmen t under the cargo floor cover. It
is intended for short-term use only.
F ig . 1 83 Spa re tire
Removing the spare t ire
.. Lift t he cargo floor by the p lastic handle
¢fig . 183.
.. Hook the handle into the luggage compart
ment weather strip.
.. Turn the large screw ¢
fig. 183 counter
clockw ise .
.. Take out the spare tire .
.. Always store the vehicl e tool kit, the jack*,
and the rep laced tire in the luggage com
pa rtment
¢page 130.
.. Unhook the cargo floor be fo re closing the
rea r lid.
Using the spare tire (compact spare tire)
T he compact spare ti re is only inte nded for
eme rgen cies unt il you can reach a rep air shop.
Repl ace it as quickly as possible with a stand
ard wheel and tire.
T he re a re some restr ictions on the use of the
c ompac t spa re tire. The compact spa re tire ...
-Do not raise the vehicle until yo u are
sure the jack is securely engaged.
- Passenge rs must not remai n in the
ve
hicle when it is jacked up.
- Make sure that passengers wait in a
safe place away from the vehicle and
well away from the road and traffic.
- Make sure jack position is correct, ad
just as necessary and then contin ue to
ra ise the jack.
CD Note
Do not lift the vehicle by the si ll. Position
the vehicle jack only at the designated lift
ing points on the sill. Otherwise, your vehi
cle will be damaged.
Taking the wheel off /installing the spare
tire
Follow these instructions step-by-step for
changing the wheel.
Fi g. 189 Changing a wheel: using the screwdrive r han
dle (with the blade removed) to turn the bolts
Fig . 1 90 Changing a wheel: alignm en t pin ins ide t he
top hole
After you have loosened a ll wheel bolts and
ra ised the veh icle off the ground, remove and
replace the wheel as follows:
What do I d o now ? 257
Removing the wheel
.,. Remove the topmost whee l bolt completely
with the
he xagonal so ck et in the screwdriv
er handle (vehicle tool kit)
o fig. 189 and
set it aside on a
clean surface .
.,. Screw the threaded end of the
alignment
pin from the tool kit hand-t ight into the
empty bolt hole
o fig. 190.
.,. Then remove the other wheel bolts as de
scribed above .
.,. Take
off the whee l leav ing the a lignment
pi n in the bolt hole
o(D .
Putting on the inflat able spar e tire
.,. Push the spare tire over the alignment p in.
.,. Screw on the wheel bo lts and tighten them
slightly us ing the hexagonal socket .
• Remove the a lignment pin and inse rt and
tighten the rema ining wheel bolt slightly
like the res t.
.,. Turn the jack hand le co unter -clockwise to
lower the veh icle until the jack is fully re
leased .
.,. Use the wheel bolt wrench to tighten all
wheel bo lts f irm ly
o page 255 . Tighten
them
in a crisscross pattern, from one bolt
to the (approximately) opposite one, to keep
the wheel centered .
• Perfo rm the steps required afte r changing
the wheel
o page 254, After changing a
wheel.
T he hexagonal socket makes it easie r to re
move th e wheel bo lts from the rim. Care
sho uld be taken when remov ing the reversib le
blade .
CD Note
When removi ng or insta lling the whee l,
the r im cou ld hit the bra ke roto r and dam
age the roto r. Work carefu lly and have a
second person to help you .
(l} Tips
-When mount ing tires w ith unidir ectional
tread de sign
make sure the tread pat
tern is pointed the right way
o page258. II>-