2013 AUDI A8 height

216 Cleaning and protec tio n
Automatic car wash
The vehicle can be washed in almost any
modern automatic car wash .
The vehicle paint is so durable that the vehicle
can normally be washed without problems in
an automatic car wash. However, the effect on
the paint depends to a large extent on the de­
sign of the facility, the filte ring of the wash
water, the type of wash and care mater ial , etc.
I f the pa int has a dull appearance afte r going
through the car wash or is scratched, bring
this to the attention of the operator immedi­
ately. If necessary, use a different car wash.
Before going through a car wash, be sure to
take the usual precautions such as closing the
windows and power roof . Factory installed an­
tennas must not be removed.
I f you have installed additional accessor ies on
the vehicle - such as spoilers, roof rack, etc. -
it is best to ask the car wash operator if these
should be removed .
When driving through an automatic car wash,
fi rst se lect the N position and then switch the
engine off. If you switch the engine off when N is engaged, the transmission remains in N
for approximately 30 m inutes and then Pis
engaged.
Further information for automatic gearboxes
~ page 115.
A WARNING
Always read and heed all WARNINGS and
other information
r:::;, page 215.
- Before washing the vehicle in an auto­
matic car wash, p lease make sure to re­
tract the exterior mirrors to prevent
them from being damaged. Power fold­ i ng exter ior mirrors must not be folded
i n or out by hand . Always use the electri­
ca l power control.
- Compare the track of your vehicle with the d istance between the guide rails of the facility - the
re is a risk of damage to
the whee ls and tires .
- Compare the height and width of your
vehicle with the height and width of the tunnel at the facility .
Washing the vehicle by hand
A lot of water is needed when washing a vehi ­
cle by hand.
.,. Before yo u start washing, make su re you
have read and understood the WARNINGS
~ A in General information on page 215.
.,. First soak all dried dirt unti l it is soft, then
rinse it off.
.,. As you clean your vehicle, start with the
roof and work your way down to the bottom,
using a sponge, a sponge glove or a clean brush .
.,. Rinse the sponge o r the sponge g love often,
flushing it clean each time.
.,. Use spec ial car shampoo only for very per­
sistent dirt .
.,. Rinse the car thoroughly with water.
.,. Use a chamois leather to gently wipe the ex-
ter ior dry.
Use a separate sponge for cleaning the
whee ls , door si lls and other regions exposed
to road dirt. In this way, you will not scratch
the pa int with coarse particles imbedded in
the sponge the next time you wash the car.
A WARNING
-- Wash your vehicle only when the ign ition
is switched off to reduce the risk of a
crash.
- Do not clean the underside of the chas­ sis, fenders, wheel covers, or other hard
to reach parts without protect ing your
hands and arms . You may cut you rself on
sha rp-edged metal pa rts.
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS and other info rmation
c;, page 215. ~

260 Tires and wheels
-Vehicles with front-wheel drive experience
more tread wear on the front wheels com­
pared to all-wheel drive (quattro ®).
- Please rotate tires as shown
¢fig. 207.
- Extra care must be taken when rotating di-
rection-specific tires
¢ page 2 78.
Wheel balancing
The wheels on new vehicles are balanced .
H owever, various situations during everyday
driving can cause them to become unbal­
anced , resu lting in vibrations you can usually
feel through the steering wheel.
Unba lanced wheels must be rebalanced to
avoid excessive wea r on steering , suspens ion
and tires . A wheel must also be rebalanced
when a new tire is installed.
Incorrect wheel alignment
Incorrect whee l alignment can cause exces­
sive tire wear, impair ing the safety of the vehi­
cle .
If tires show excess ive wear, have the
wheel alignment checked by an authorized
Audi dealer or qualified workshop.
All Wheel Drive
Vehicles with quattro® must always have ti res
of the same size, construction and tread type.
F or details see
¢page 203.
A WARNING
Sudden tire failure can lead to loss of con­
trol, a crash and serious personal injury!
- Never drive a vehicle 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 laning" and loss of
control.
- Always keep chemicals that can cause
tire damage, such as grease, oil, gasoline
and brake fluid away from tires.
- Tires age even if they are not be ing used
and can fail suddenly, especially at high
speeds. Tires that are more than 6 years old can only be used in an emergency and then with specia
l care and at lower
speeds.
- Never mount used tires on your vehicle if
you are not sure of their "previous histo­
ry." Old used tires may have been dam­
aged even though the damage cannot be
seen that can lead to sudden tire failure
and loss of vehicle control.
New tires and replacing tires and wheels
New tires and wheels have to be broken in.
Fig. 208 Tir e spec ificatio n codes on the s idewall of a
tire
No.
©
®
®
0
®
®
@
Description
Passenger car tire (where applicable)
Nominal width of tire in mill imeters
Ratio of height to width (aspect ratio)
Rad ial
Rim diameter code
Load index and speed rating
U.S. DOT tire identification number
Aud i Original tire
Sever snow conditions
Tire ply composition and materials
used
Maximum load rating

@ Treadwear, traction and temperature grades
@ ·· Maximum permissible inflation pres­
. . sure
The tires and rims are essential parts of the
vehicle's design. The tires and r ims approved
by Aud i are specially matched to the charac­
ter istics of the vehicle and can make a major
contribution to good road ho ld ing and safe
handling when in good condition and properly
inflated ¢
&.
We recommend that all work on tires and
wheels be performed by an authorized Audi
dea ler. They a re familiar with recommended
procedu res and have the necessary spec ial
too ls and spare par ts as we ll as the prope r fa ­
cilities for disposing of the old tires.
Author ized Audi dealers have the necessary
informat ion about techn ica l requ irements for
installing or changing tires and r ims.
R eplacing t ires and whe els
Tires should be replaced at least in pairs and
not individua lly (for example both front tires
or both rear tires togethe r) .
Be sure to read and heed the information to
the t ire pressure monitoring system*
¢page 267 .
Always buy replacement radial tires that have
the same specifications as the tires approved
for your vehicle by Audi . Replacement t ires
must always have the same load rating speci­
fication as the or iginal equipment or app roved
optional ti res listed in the table ¢
page 253.
Audi-approved specification tires are specially
matched to you r vehicle and its load lim its,
and can cont ribute to the important road ho ld­
i ng, d riving character istics, and safety of the
vehicle . The table(¢
page 253) lists spec ifica ­
tions of the tires approved for the A udi mod­
e ls covered by your Owner's Literature.
The ti re p ress ure label located on dr iver's side
B-pillar
(¢page 253, fig. 205) lists the speci­
fications of the original equipment tires in-
Tire s an d wheel s 261
stalled on your vehicle at the time it was man­
u factured.
Federa l law requ ires tire man ufactu rers to
place standardized info rmation on the side­
wall of all tires¢
fig. 208. This information
identifies and descr ibes the fundamenta l
characteristics, the q uality grade of the t ire
and also provides a t ire identification number
for safety standard certification and in case of
a reca ll.
Tir e s pecific ation s
Knowledge of tire specifications makes it eas­
ier to choose the correct tires . Radial tires
have the tire specifications marked on the
s idewall, for example:
2 55 /45 R 19 104 H
T his conta ins the following information:
P Indicates the tire is for passenger cars
(where app licab le)
2 55 Nom inal tire w idth in mm of the t ire
from sidewall edge to sidewall edge . In
general, the larger the number, the wider
the tire
45 Height/w idth ratio in perce nt (aspect ra-
t io)
R Tire construct ion : Radial
19 Rim diameter code (in inches)
104 Load rating code
H Speed rating letter code
XL (or "xl", "EXTRA LOAD" or "RF") Indicates
that the tire is a "Reinforced" or an "Extra Load" tire
M+S (or "M/S") Indicates that the tire has
some mud and snow capability
T he tires could also have the informa tion of
direction of rotat ion ¢
page 249.
Tire manufacturing date
The manufactu ring date is also indicated on
the tire sidewall (possibly on ly on the
inner
s ide of the whee l):
"DOT ... 2212 ... " means, for example, the t ire
was produced in the 22nd week of 2012 . ..,.
•
•

26 6 T ire s and whee ls
- Remove snow chains before driving on
roads not covered with snow to avoid
damaging t ires and wearing the snow
chains down unnecessarily.
- Snow chains, which come into d irect con­
tact with the wheel rim, can scratch or
damage it. Therefore, make sure that the
snow chains are suitably covered . Check
the position of the snow chains after
driving a few yards and correct if neces­
sary. Follow the instructions from the
snow chain manufacturer when doing so.
- If the Adaptive Air Suspension should
malfunction, do not mo unt or use snow
cha ins beca use the veh icle will be ex­
tremely low. If you do drive with snow
chains on while the vehicle is at this lev­
el, the snow chains might severely dam­
age the wheelhouse and other parts of
the veh icle.
Where snow chains are mandatory oncer­
tain roads, this normally also applies to
veh icles with All Wheel Drive.
Wheel bolts
Wheel bolts must always be tightened to the
correct torque.
The design of whee l bolts is matched to the
factory installed rims. If different rims are fit­
ted, the correct wheel bolts with the r ight
length and correctly shaped bolt heads must
be used. This ensures that wheels are fitted
securely and that the brake system functions
cor rectly .
In certain circumstances, you may not use
wheel bolts from a different vehicle - even if it is the same model
~ page 298.
A WARNING
Imprope rly tightened o r maintained wheel
bolts can be come loose caus ing loss of control, a col
lision and serio us personal in­
jury.
- Always keep the wheel bo lts and the
threads in the whee l hubs clean so the
wheel bo lts can turn easily and be prop­
erly tightened.
- Never grease or oil the wheel bolts and
the threads in the wheel hubs. They can become loose while driv ing if greased or
oiled, even if t ightened to the specified
torque.
- Only use wheel bolts that belong to the rim being installed .
- Never use different wheels bolts on your
veh icle.
- Always ma intain the correct tightening
torque for the whee l bolts to reduce the
risk of a wheel loss. If the tightening tor­
que of the wheel bolts is too low, they
can loosen and come out when the vehi­
cle is mov ing. If the tig htening torq ue is
too high, the wheel bolts and threads
can be damaged and the whee l can be ­
come loose .
(D Note
The specified torque for the whee l bolts is
90
ft l b (120 Nm) with a tolerance of± 7,4
ft lb(± 10 Nm) . Torque whee l bolts diago ­
nally . After changing a whee l, the torque
must be checked as soon as possible with a
torque wrench -preferably by an author­
i zed Audi dealer or qualif ied workshop.
Low aspect ratio tires
Your Audi is factory-equ ipped w ith low aspect
ratio tires . These tires have been thoroughly
tested and been se lected specifically fo r your
model for their superb perfo rman ce, road fee l
and hand ling under a variety o f driving condi­
tions. Ask your authorized A udi dealer for
more details .
T he low aspect ratio of these tires is ind icated
by a numera l of
55 o r less in the tire's s ize
designation. The numeral rep resents the ratio
of the tire's sidewa ll height in relation to its
ll-

tread width expressed in percentage. Conven­
tional tires have a height/width ratio of 60 or
more .
The performan ce of low-aspe ct-ratio tires is
particularly sensitive to improper inflation
pressure . It is therefore important that low
aspect ratio tires are inflated to the specified
pressure and that the inflation pressure is
regularly checked and maintained . Tire pres­
sures should be checked at least once a
month and always before a long trip
¢ page 2 55, Checking tire pressure .
What you can do to avoid tire and rim
damage
L ow aspect ratio tir es can be damaged more
eas ily by impact with potho les, curbs, gu llies
or r idges on the road, part icu larly if the tire is
under inflated.
In order to minimize the occurrence of impact
damage to the tir es of your veh icle, we recom­
mend that you observe the following precau­
tions :
- Always maintai n recommended inflation
pressures . Check your tire pressure every
2,000 miles (3,000 km) and add air if neces­
sary.
- Drive carefully on roads with potholes, deep
gullies or r idges. The impact from driving
through or over such obstacles can damage
your tires. Impact with a curb may a lso
ca use damage to your tires .
- After any impact, immediately inspect your
tires or have them inspected by the nearest
autho rized Audi dealer. Replace a damaged
t ir e as soon as possible.
- Inspect yo ur tires every 2,000 miles (3,000
km) for damage and wear. Damage is not al­
ways easy to see. Damage can lead to loss of
air and underinflation, wh ich could eventu­
ally cause tire failure . If you be lieve that a
t ir e may have been damaged, replace the
t ir e as soon as poss ible .
- These tires may wear more quick ly than oth ­
ers .
- Please a lso remember that, while these tires
deliver respons ive handling, they may ride
Tires and wheels 267
less comfortably and make more noise than
other choices.
Reduced performance in winter/cold
season conditions
All tires are designed for certain purposes.
The low aspect ratio, ultra high performance
tires originally installed on your vehicle are in­
tended for maximum dry and wet road per­
formance and handling. They are not suitable
for cold, snowy or icy weather conditions .
If
you drive under those circumstances, you
shou ld equip your vehicle w ith all-season or
winter tires, which offer better t raction unde r
those conditions. We suggest you use the rec­
ommended snow or all- season tires specified
for your vehicle, or their equivalent.
Refer to~
page 264 for more detailed infor ­
mation regarding winter tires.
Tire pressure
monitoring system
ill General notes
Applies to veh icles: w ith t ire pressure monitoring syste m
Each tire, including the spare (if provided),
should be checked monthly when cold and in­
flated to the inflation pressure recommended
by the vehicle man ufacturer on the vehicle
placard or tire inflation pressure labe l. (If your
vehicle has tires of a different size than the
s iz e in dicated on the vehicle placard or tire in­
flat ion pressure label, you should determine
the proper tir e inflation pressure for those
tires) .
As an added safety feature, your veh icle has
been equipped with a tire pressure monitoring
system (TPMS) that illum inates a low tire
pressure telltale when one o r more of your
tires is s ignificantly under-inflated. According­
l y, when the low tire pressure telltale illumi­
nates, you shou ld stop and check you r tires as
soon as possible, and inflate them to the
proper pressure . Driving on a significantly un ­
der-inflated tire causes the tire to overheat
and can lead to tire fa ilure. Under-inflation al-
so reduces fuel effic iency and tire tread life, ..,.
•
•

276 What do I do n ow ?
ho ld on to the car to keep your ba lance
and take care not to slip .
Raising the vehicle
The vehicle must be lifted with the jack first
before the wheel can be removed .
Fig. 220 Sill panels : m ark ings
Fig . 22 1 Sill: posit ion ing t he veh icle jack
.. Activate the vehicle jack mode in the MMI:
I CAR ! function button > Ca r sys tem s control
button>
S ervicing & checks > Air susp .:
jack mod e > On .
.. Engage the parking brake to prevent your
vehicle from ro lling u ninten tionally.
.. Move the
se lector l ever to po siti on P .
.. Find the marking (imprint) on the sill that
is nearest the wheel that will be changed
o
fig. 220 . Behind the marking, there is a
lifting point on the s ill for the vehicle jack .
.. Turn the
ve hicle jack located under the lift­
ing point on the si ll to raise the jack until its
arm @o
fig. 221 is located under the des ­
i gnated plastic mount o ,& o0.
.. Align the jack so that its arm@o
fig. 221
engages in the designated lifting po int in
the door sill and the movable base @ lies
flat on the gro und. The base @ must be
ver­
tical
under the lifting point @. ..
Wind the jack up fu rther until the f lat t ire
comes off the ground o
.&,.
Position t he vehicle jack only under the desig ­
nated lifting points on the si ll
c:> fig. 220.
There is exactly one locat ion for each wheel.
The jack must not be positioned at any other location
c:> .&, c:>Q).
An un stable surfac e under the jack ca n cause
the vehicle to slip off the jack . Always provide
a firm base for the jack on the ground . If nec­
essary place a sturdy board or simi lar support
under the jack. On
hard, slipper y surfaces
(such as tiles) use a rubbe r mat or similar to
prevent the jack from slipping
c:> .&, .
A WARNING ~
-You or your passengers co uld be injured
while changing a wheel if you do no t fo l­
low these safety p reca utio ns:
- Position the vehicle jack on ly at the
designated lifting points and align the
jack. Otherwise, the vehicle jack co uld
slip and cause an injury if it does not
have sufficient hold on the vehicle.
- A soft or unstable surface under the
jack may cause the vehicle to slip off
the jack . Always prov ide a firm base for
the jack on the ground. If necessa ry,
u se a st urdy boa rd under the jack.
- On hard, s lippery su rface (such as t iles)
use a rubber mat or sim ilar to prevent
the jack from slipping.
- To help prevent injury to yo urself and
your p asse ngers:
- Do not raise the vehicle until you are
sure the jack is securely engaged.
- Passengers must not remain 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 pos ition is correct, ad ­
just as necessary and then continue to
raise the jack.
- Changes in temperature or load can af­
fect the height of the vehicle.