258 Tires and wheels
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. 20 5 Tire tread: tre ad wea r ind icators (TWI)
F ig. 206 Rotat ing t ires for more ev en wea r
Tread Wear Indicator (TWI)
The o rigi na l tires on your veh icle have
1/16 inch (1.6 mm) high "wear indicators"
c::> fig . 205 running across the tread. Depend
i ng on the make, there will be six to eight of
them evenly p laced around the t ire. Marks on
the tire sidewa ll (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 o ther countries
c::> & .
Tire p ressure
Incorrect tire pressure causes premature wear
a nd can cause sudden t ire blow-out. For th is
reason, tire pressure must be checked at least
once a month
c::> page 254.
Driving style
Driving fast aro und curves, heavy acce leration
and hard braking increase tire wear.
Rotating tires for more even wear
F or all four tires on your ve hicl e to h ave the
same service life, we recommend that the
front and rear t ires are rotated according to
the tire manufacturer's suggested tire rota
tion intervals. Please remember the follow
ing :
- Tire rotation intervals may differ from the
vehicle service inte rva ls o utlined in your
Ma intenance and Warranty Book let .
- 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 manufact urer's suggested
tire rotation intervals .
- Vehi cles w ith front-wheel dr ive experience
more tread wear on the front wheels com
pa red to all-wheel drive (quattro ®).
- Please rotate tires as shown
c::> fig. 206.
-Extra care must be taken when rotating di-
rection-specific tires
c::> page 278 .
Wheel balancing
The wheels on new ve hicles are balanced .
However, various situations during everyday
driving can cause them to become unbal
anced, re sulting in vibrat ions you can usually
feel through the steer ing wheel.
Un balanced whee ls must be rebalanced to
avoid excessive wear on steering, suspension
and t ires. A whee l m ust also be reba lanced
when a new tire is insta lled.
Incorrect wheel alignment
Incor rect wheel alig nment can cause exces
sive tire wear, impairing the safety of the veh i
cle . If tires show excessive wear, have the
whee l alignment checked by an authori zed
Audi dealer or qualif ied workshop .
All-wheel driv e
Vehicles with q uattro ® mus t always have tires
of the same size, construction and tread type .
For details see
c::> page 202 . ..,.
310 Index
Selector lever ..... ..... ... .. .. .... . 123
Emergency release . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
Service and disposal
Safety belt p retens ioner . .. .. .. .. .. .
156
Service interval d isp lay ....... ... .. .. .. 22
Service pos ition for windshield wipers .. . 55
SET button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 1
Shift buttons .............. .. .. .... . 127
Ship transport ...................... 106
Side airbags
Descr ipt ion . .............. ... .. ...
172
H owtheywork .................... 174
Side assist
Ac tiva ting and deactivating . .. .. .. .. .
118
Adjusting the brightness ............ 118
C leaning sensors .............. .... 2 19
D escr ipt ion ... ........... .. .. .... . 116
Sensor range . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
Side curta in airbags ........ .. .. .. .. . 175
Descr ipt ion . .............. ... .. ... 175
H owtheywo rk .................... 176
Safety instructions ......... ... .. .. . 177
Side marker lights ................... 49
Snow chains .... ... .... ... .. .. .... . 264
Socket .. ... ................... ... .. 75
Sound system display
Driver information display . . . . . . . . . . . .
20
Sources o f informat io n about c hild re-
straints and their use .. ... .. .. .. .... .
19 6
Speedometer ... .... ...... .. .. .. .. .. 13
Speed rating letter code ..... .. .. .. .. . 260
Speed warn ing system ................ 93
Start-Stop-System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Eng ine does not switched off ... ...... 92
E ng ine starts automatically .......... 92
Ind icator lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
M essages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
S tarting/stopping the eng ine . .. .... .. 92
Sw itching off/on . ..... ... .. .. .... .. 93
START ENGINE STOP button (Conven ience
key) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
86, 87
Starting from rest .......... .. .. .... .. 90
Starting off with a tra ile r .. .. .. .. .. .. . . 90
Starting the eng ine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83, 86
Start ing (engine) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
Stee ring
E lectromechanical power assist . . .
201, 0
Indicator light ... ... .. ..... ... .. .. 201
Locking the steering ............... . 83
Malfunction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Manually adjusting the steering wheel . . 83
also refer to Electromechanical power as-
s ist ......... ....................
201
Steering wheel column
Adjusting manually .............. .. .
83
Steps for determin ing correct load limit . 257
Stopping the eng ine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85, 87
Stopping (engine) ... .............. .. . 98
Storage ............................ 76
Cu pholder door pockets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 4
G love compartment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
76
Sun shade ........ .. .............. .. 54
Sun visors .. .. .. .. .. ........... .... . 54
Supplementa ry (climate contro l) ... .... . 82
Switches
Emergency flashe rs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
52
Symbols
Red ..............................
28
Yellow .... .... .. ............. .... . 31
T
Tachometer ..... .. ............. .... . 11
Technical modifications .......... .... 298
Tether anchors .. .................. . 194
Tether strap . ..... ... .. ..... ... .. .. 194
T he first 1,000 miles (1,500 km) and after -
wa rds .............................
205
Tie-down rings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68, 146
tiptronic ... .... .. .. ... ..... ... .. .. 123
Automatic Shift Lock (ASL) ... .... . .. 124
Driving . .. .. .. .. ............. .. .. 125
Emergency mode .... .......... .. .. 128
Hill descent control .............. .. 126
K ick -down ........................ 127
Manual shift prog ram .. ....... ... .. 127
Se lector lever .. .. ............. .. .. 123
Tire Mobility System . . . . . . . . . . . . 104, 272
T ire pressure . ... .. .. .... .... ... .. .. 254
T ire pressure mon itoring system ....... 266
Loss of ai r pressure . . . . . . . . . . . . 16, 267