256 Tires and wheels
6. If your vehicle will be towing
a trailer, load from your trail
er will be transferred to your
vehi cle. Consult thi s manual
to determine how this re
duces the available car go
and luggage lo ad capacity of
yo ur vehicle .
.,. Check the tire sidewall
(9 fig . 200 ) to de termine the
de signated load rating for a
s pe cifi c tir e.
Tire service life
The s ervi ce life of tires dep ends on a lot of
different things including proper installation
and balancing, correc t tire pressu re and driv
ing style.
Fig. 198 Tire tread: tread wea r ind icators ( TWI)
Fi g. 1 99 Rotat ing t ires fo r m ore eve n wear
Tread W ear Indicator (TWI)
The o rigi na l t ires on your ve hicle have
1/16 inch (1.6 mm) high "wear indicators" ¢
fig. 198 r
u nning across the tread. Depend
ing on the make, t here will be six to eight of
them even ly placed aro und the tire. Marks on
the tire sidewall (for examp le "TWI" or other
symbols) ind icate the positions of the tread
wear indicato rs . Wor n tires must be rep laced.
D iffere nt f igures may apply in othe r countr ies
Q ,&. .
Tire pressure
Incorrect t ire pressure ca uses premature wear
and can cause sudde n tire blow-out. For this
reason, tire pressure must be checked at least
o nce a month ¢
page 2 52.
Driving style
Driving fast around c urves, heavy acce lerat ion
and hard braking increase tire wear .
Rotating tires for more even wear
Fo r all four tires on your ve hicle to have the
same service life, we recommend that the
front and rear t ires a re rotated according to
the tire manu fact urer's suggested tire rota
tion intervals. Please remember the follow
ing :
- Tire rotation intervals may differ from t he
veh icle service interva ls outlined in your
Warranty
& M aintenance booklet.
- The longer one tire is used in one location
o n t he vehicle, the more it wears at certain
points; theref ore, we recommend t hat y ou
follow the tire manufacturer's suggested
tire rotation int ervals .
- Veh icles w ith front-wheel dr ive experience
more tread wear on the fro nt wheels com
pa red to a ll-wheel drive ( quattro ®).
- Please rotate tires as shown¢
fig. 199.
- Extra care must be taken when rotating di-
rection-specific tires ¢
page 274.
Wheel balancing
The wheels on new ve hicles are balance d.
Howeve r, various s ituations during everyday
dr iv ing can cause them to become unba l
anced, resulti ng in vibrations you can usually
feel th rough the steer ing wheel.
liJJ,-
304 Index
Steering whee l w ith tip tronic ... .. .... . 1 13
Steps fo r determining correct load lim it . 255
Stopping the engine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
S to rage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59, 63
S tron ic transm issio n
L aunch Cont ro l Program . ....... ....
114
S tron ic® .. .. ... ... .... ... .. .. .... . 109
Sunroof . .... ............. .. .. .. .. .. 42
Sun shade . .. ... ....... ...... ... .. .. 47
Sun visors ... ... .. ..... ... .. .. .... .. 47
Symbo ls
refer to Wa rni ng/ind icator lig hts ...... 12
T
Tachometer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 2, 23
Tec hnical modifications ..... .... .... . 292
Tempe ratu re d isp lay .................. 23
Tether anchors ................. .... 192
Tether strap .... .. ..... ... .. .. .... . 192
The first 1,000 miles (1,500 km) and after-
wards . .. .. ................... .... .
204
Three-zone climate control ...... .... .. 69
Tie -downs 65,137
T ips fo r th e env ironment
Saving fue l ................ .. .. .. . .
tiptronic
6 2
109
tiptronic (au tomatic transmission) .... . 1 13
T ire pressure .... .... ...... ... ... .. . 252
Tire pressure monitoring system .. .. ... 264
Loss of air pressure ................ 265
Malfunct io n ...................... 265
Res ett ing t ire p ressures ......... .... 266
Tires . ..... .. ... .. ..... ... .. .. .... .
Service life .................. .... .
Speed rating letter code ... .. .. .... .
Tire man ufacturing date ....... .... .
r 'f . ire spec, 1cat1ons ......... .... ... .
Tread depth .................. ... .
246
256
258
258
258
256
Unifo rm t ir e quality g rading .. .. .. ... 260
W in te r tir es ...................... 26 1
Tires and vehicle load lim its .... .. .. .. . 254
Tires and whee ls
C hecking tire pressu re ... .. .. .... .. .
2 52
Cold t ire inflat ion pressure ... .. .. .. . 250
Dimensions . ...................... 257
General notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246
G lossary of tire and loading terminolo -
gy .. ... .. .. .. .. .. ... .. ..... ... . .
Low aspect ratio tires . .. ..... ... .. . .
New t ires and wheels ........... ... .
Replac ing . .... .................. .
Snow c ha ins ..................... .
T ires and veh icle load limits ... .. .. . .
Whee l bolts
. ' ............. ...... .
w· t · in er tires ... . .............. .. . .
Tire service life .................... .
T oo ls
. . .. .. .... .. .. ... ..... ... .. ..
T o rn o r frayed safety belts ........... .
247
263
257
258
262
254
263
2 61
256
2 67
143
T h . ouc -up paint ..................... 218
Towing
T ow t ruck p roced ures . .. ..... ... .. ..
2 81
T PMS
T ire pressure mon itoring system .....
265
Trailer tow ing . .... ................. 209
Operating instructions .............. 209
p
k " ar mg system ........ ........... . 127
Technical requirements . . . . . . . . 209,210
Tra ile r tow ing ti ps ................ . 211
Train (transporting your vehicle) ... .... 283
T ra nsmis sion
S tronic ® .. .... .. ... .. ..... .... . ..
109
tipt ronic . ..... .. .. .... .... ... .. .. 109
T ransmission malfunction ( indicato r
li ght) ...... .... ...................
11 4
Transport Canada ................... 138
Transporting yo ur vehicle . ... ... .. .. .. 2 83
Tread Wea r In dicator (TW I) .. ... ...... 256
Tr ip odometer .................... ... 27
What does it mean when DEF appears in
th e tr ip odometer display? ...........
27
Tru nk
refer to Luggage compartment ... .. .. . 63
Tru nk pass -through .................. 67
Turn signals . .... ................... . 45
Warning/indicator lights . .......... .. 23
u
Un dercoating . .. .. ................. 219
U nfastening sa fety belts .... ... .. .. .. 14 5
Un idirec tional tires . ................ . 246
Uniform tire quality grading . ... .. .. .. 260
