Unbalanced whee ls must be rebalanced to
avoid excessive wea r on steering, suspension
and tires. A wheel must a lso be rebalanced
when a new tire is installed .
Incorrect wheel alignment
Incorrect whee l alignment can cause exces
sive tire wear, impairing the safety o f the vehi
cle. If tires show excess ive wear, have the
wheel alignment checked by an authorized
Audi dealer or qualified workshop .
All-wheel d rive
Vehicles w ith quattro ® must always have tires
of the same size, construction and tread type .
F or detai ls see
r=!:> page 201 .
A WARNING
Sudden tire failure can lead to loss of con
trol, a crash and serious persona l injury!
- Never drive a veh icle when the tread on
any tire is worn down to the wear indica
tors.
- Worn tires are a safety hazard, they do not grip well on wet roads and increase
your risk of"hydrop lan ing" and loss of
co ntrol.
- Always keep chemicals that can cause
tire damage, such as grease, oil , gasoline
and brake fluid away from t ires.
- Tires age eve n if they are not be ing used
and can fail suddenly, especially at high
speeds. T ires that are more than 6 years
o ld can only be used in an emergency
and then with spe cial care a nd at lower
s peeds.
- Never mount used ti res on yo ur vehicle if
yo u a re not s ure of their "prev ious histo
ry." Old used ti res may have been dam
aged even though the damage cannot be
seen that can lead to s udden tire failure
and loss of vehicle control. Tires and wheels 25
7
New tires and replacing tires and wheels
New tires and wheels have to be broken in .
Fig. 20 0 Tir e spec ificat io n codes on t he s idewall o f a
tire
No. De sc ription
CD Passenger car tire (where applicable)
@ Nomina l w idth of t ire in mill imeters
® Ratio of height to width (aspect ratio)
© Rad ial
® Rim diameter code
® Load index and speed rating
(f) U.S. DOT tire identification number
® Aud i Origina l tire
® Sever snow conditions
@ T ire ply composition and mater ials
used
@ Maximum load rating
@ Treadwear, traction and temperat ure
grades
@ Maximum permissible inflation pres-
sure
T he tires and rims are essential parts o f the
vehicle's design . The ti res and rims app roved
by Audi a re spec ia lly matched to the charac
teris tic s of the ve hicl e and can m ake a major .,.
•
What do I do now? Emergency warning
triangle
App lies to vehicles: with emerge ncy warning triangle
The warning triangle is located on the inside
of the trunk lid .
"' M ~
D -~ .. m
!I l
Fig. 203 Trun k lid: Warn ing triang le
.,. To open the cover, turn the locking mecha
nism and pull the cover downward .
.,. Remove the warning triangle from its hold
er.
The rear lid is only designed to ho ld the warn
ing triangle offered by the original accessories
program. If you would like to retrofit your ve
hicle with a warning triangle, p lease contact
your authorized Audi dealer.
Vehicle tool kit
Vehicle tool kit and jack
The vehicle tool kit is located in the luggage
compartment under the cargo floor cover.
F ig . 204 Luggage compa rtment: cargo floo r cover
folded upward/spa re tire
What do I d o now ? 267
Fig. 20 5 Trunk lid: Veh icle too l kit
.,. Fold the floor to the seatback with the help
of the handle .
.,. Turn the handwheel counter- clockwise
q fig. 204 and remove the spare t ire to
reach the vehicle tool kit.
T he onboard tool k it includes:
- Hooks to remove the whee l covers*
- Plastic hook to remove wheel bolt covers*
- Wheel bolt wrench
-Alignment pin for changing wheels
- Screwdriver with reversib le blade
- Tow ing loop
-Jack
Before storing the jack, make sure it is wound
back down as far as it will go.
A WARNING
Im proper use of the vehicle jack can cause
serious personal injuries.
- Never use the screw driver hex head to
tighten w heel bolts, since the bolts can
not attain the necessary tighten ing tor
que if you use the hex head, potentially
causing an ac cident.
- The factory-supplied jack is intended on
ly for yo ur vehicle model. Under no c ir
cumstances sho uld it be used to lift
heavy ve hicles o r other loads; yo u risk in
juring yo urself.
- Never start the engine when the vehicle
is raised, wh ich co uld cause an acc ident.
- Support the vehicle secu rely with appro
pria te stands if wor k is to be per formed
underneath the vehicle; otherwise, there
is a potentia l risk for injury.
Taking the wheel off/installing the spare
Follow these instructions step-by-step for
changing the wheel.
Fig. 2 12 Changing a wheel: using the screwdriver han
dle (with the blade removed} to turn t he bo lts
F ig . 2 13 Changing a wheel: alignm en t pin ins ide the
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:
R emoving the wheel
.. Use the hex agon al so ck et in th e scr ew dr iv
e r handle
to comp letely remove the top
most wheel bo lt and set it aside on a
clean
s u rface Q fig. 212 .
.. Screw the threaded end of the alignm ent
pin from the tool k it hand -tight into the
empty bolt hole
Qfig . 213.
.. Then remove the other wheel bo lts as de
scribed above .
.. Take off the wheel leaving the alignment
pin in the bolt hole
Q (D.
Putting on the spar e wheel
.. Lift the spare wheel and carefully slide it
over the alignment pin to guide it in place
Q (D.
What do I d o now ? 273
.. Use the hexagonal socket in the screwdriver
handle to screw in and tighten all wheel
bolts
slightly.
.. Remove the alignment pin and insert and
tighten the remaining wheel bolt slightly like the rest.
.. Turn the jack handle counter-clockwise to
lower the veh icle until the jack is fully re
leased .
.. Use the wheel bo lt wrench to tighten all
wheel bo lts firm ly
Q page 271. Tighten
them
crosswise, from one bolt to the (ap
proximately) opposite one, to keep the
wheel centered.
(D Note
When removing or installing the whee l,
the rim could hit the brake rotor and dam
age the rotor. Work carefully and have a
second person help you.
@ Tips
Never use the hexagonal socket in the han
dle of the screwdriver to loosen or tighten
the w heel bolts.
- Pull the reversible blade from the screw
dr iver before you use the hexagonal
socket in the hand le to turn the wheel
bolts.
- When mounting tires w ith
unidi rectional
tread design
make sure the tread pat
tern is po inted the right way
~page 274.
-The wheel bo lts shou ld be clean and easy
to turn . Check for dirt and corrosion on
the mating surfaces of both the wheel
and the hub. Remove all d irt from these
surfaces before remounting the whee l.