2013 AUDI RS5 CABRIOLET tire pressure

232 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. 1 87 Tire tread: tre ad wea r ind icators (TWI)
_____ __,.J)
F ig. 1 88 Rotat ing t ires for more ev en wea r
Tread Wear Indicator (TWI)
The o rigi na l t ires on your veh icle have
1/16 inch (1.6 mm) high "wear indicators"
c::> fig . 187 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 t his
reason, tire pressure must be checked at least
once a month
c::> page 228 .
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 recommen d that t he
front and rear t ires are rotated according to
the tire manufact urer'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 fro nt w heels com­
pa red to all wheel d rive (quattro ®).
- Please rotate tires as shown
c::> fig. 188.
-Extra care must be taken when rotating di-
rection-specific tires
c::> page 250 .
Wheel balancing
The wheels on new ve hicles are balanced .
However, various situations during everyday
driving can cause them to become unba l­
anced, re sulting in vibrat ions you can usually
feel through the steer ing wheel.
Un balanced whee ls must be rebalanced to
avo id 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 w heel 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 aut hori zed
Audi dealer or qualif ied workshop .
All wheel drive
Vehicles with q uattro ® mus t always have tires
of the same size, construction and tread type .
For details see
c::> page 181. ..,.

234 Tire s and wheel s
contribution to good road ho lding and safe
handling when in good condition and properly
inflated
¢ ,& .
We recommend that all work on tires and
wheels be perfo rmed by an authorized Audi
dea ler. They are familiar with recommended
proced ures and have the necessary spec ial
too ls and spare parts as well as the proper fa­
cilities for disposing of the old tires.
Authorized Audi dealers have the necessary information about techn ica l requ irements for
installing or changing tires and r ims.
Re placing t ires and whe els
Tires sho uld be rep laced at least in pairs and
not individua lly (for examp le both front tires
or both rear tires together).
Be sure to read and heed the information to
the tire pressure monitoring system*
¢page 240.
A lways buy rep lacement 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 original equipment or approved
optional tires listed in the table
c:> page 226.
Aud i-approved specification ti res are specially
matched to your vehicle and its load limits,
and can contribute to the important road ho ld­
ing, driving characteristics, and safety of the
vehicle. The table (c:>page 226) lists spec ifica­
tions of the tires approved for the Audi mod­
els covered by your Owner's Literature .
The tire pressure labe l located on driver's side
B-pillar (c:>page 226, fig. 186) lists the speci­
f ications of the orig inal equipment tires in­
stalled on your veh icle at the time it was man­
ufactured.
Federal law requires t ire manufacturers to
p lace standard ized information on the s ide­
wall of all tires c:>fig. 189. This information
i dent ifies and describes the fundamental
characterist ics, the quality grade of the tire
and a lso provides a tire ident ificat ion number f
or sa fety standard ce rtification and in case of
a reca ll.
Tire specifications
Knowledge of ti re specificat ions makes it eas­
ier to choose the correct tires. Radial ti res
have the tire specifications marked on the
sidewa ll, for examp le:
P2 65 / 35 R1 9 98Y XL
This co nta ins the following information:
P Indicates the t ire is for passenger cars
(where app licab le)
2 65 Nominal tire width in mm of the tire
from sidewall edge to sidewa ll edge. In
general, the larger the number, the wider
the tire
35 Height/w idth ratio in percent (aspect ra-
t io)
R Tire construction: Radial
1 9 Rim diameter code (in inches)
98 Load rating code
Y Speed rat ing letter code
X L (or "xl", "EXTRA LOAD", or "RF" Indicates
t h at the t ire is a"Re inforced" or an " Extra
Load " tir e
M+S (or "M/S") Indicates that the tire has
some mud and snow capabi lity
The tires could also have the information of
direction of rotat io n
c:> page 222 .
Tire manufacturing date
The manufact uring date is also indicated on
the tire sidewall (possibly on ly on the inner
s ide of the wheel) :
"DOT ... 2212 ... "means, for examp le, that
the tire was produced in the 22nd week of 2012.
Speed rating (letter c ode)
The speed rating letter code on the whee ls in­
dicates the maximum permissible road speeds
c:> & in Winter tires on page 238 .
P up to 93 mph (150 km/h)
Q u p to 99 mp h (158 km/h)
R up to 106 mph ( 170 km/h)

S up to 110 mph (180 km/h)
T up to 118 mph (190 km/ h)
U up to 124 mph (200 km/ h)
H up to 130 mph (210 km/h)
V up to 149 mph (240 km/h)
1
)
Z over 149 mph (240 km/h)1
)
W up to 168 mph (270 km/h)1
)
Y up to 186 mph (298 km/h)1>
Your vehicle is no rma lly facto ry equipped with
tires , which possess excellent driving cha rac­
ter istics and give yo ur Audi opt imum driving
comfort .
U.S. DOT Tire Identification Numbe r (TIN)
and tire manufactur e date
This is the t ire's "serial n umber". It beg ins
with the le tte rs "DO T" and indicates that the
tire meets all federal standards . The next two
numbers o r letters indicat e the p lant wher e it
was manufactured, and the l ast four numbers
represen t the week and year of manufacture.
For example, the numbers 2212 mean that
the t ire was produced in the 22nd week of
20 12. Th e other numbe rs a re marketing co ­
des that may or may not be used by the t ire
manufacturer. This informa tion is used to con­
tact consume rs if a t ire defect requires a re­
call.
Audi Original tire
T ires with the ident ificat ion "ROl" have been
specia lly matched w ith your Audi. We re com­
mend using only these t ires be ca u se they
meet the highest standards rega rding safety
and dr iving characteristics when used correct ­
l y. Your authorized A udi dealer wi ll gladly pro ­
vide you with more information .
Tire ply composition and materials used
The number of p lies ind icates the n umbe r of
l ayers of rubber-coated fabri c in the t ire. In
general, the greater the number of plies, the more weight a tire can s upport . Tire manufac ­
turers a lso must indic ate the mate rials in the
ll Fo r tires wit h a m ax im um s pee d ca pabil ity over
1 4 9 mp h (24 0 k m/h) , tire m an ufa ctur ers somet ime s
use th e let ters "ZR."
Tire s an d wheel s 235
tire, which incl ude stee l, nylon, po lyester, and
others .
Maximum Load Rating
This number ind icates the max imum load in
kil ograms and po unds that can be ca rr ied by
the tire .
Tire quality grading for treadwear ,
tract ion , and temperature resistance
T read wear, t raction and tempe ra tur e grades
<:!vpage 236 .
Maximum Permissible Inflation Pressure
This number is the greatest amount of a ir
pressure that should ever be put in the tire
u nder norma l dr iv ing cond itions .
.&_ WARNING
-Using incorrect o r unm atc hed tires and/
or wheels or improper tire and wheel
comb inat ions can lead to loss of control ,
collision and serio us personal in jury.
- A lways use t ires, rims and whee l bolts
that meet the specifications of original
factory- insta lled tires or other combina­
tions that have been specifically ap­ proved by the vehicle manufacturer.
- Tires age even if they are not being used
and can fai l sudden ly, especially at hig h
speeds. Tires that are more than 6 years
old can only be used in an emergency
and then w ith special care and at lower
speeds .
- Never mo unt used tir es on your veh icle if
you are not sur e of the ir "previo us histo­
ry ." O ld used tires may have been dam­
a ged even thoug h the damage cannot be
seen tha t can lead to sudden tire f ail u re
and loss of vehicle control.
- All f our whee ls must be fitte d wit h ra dial
tires of the same type, size (rolling cir­
cumference) an d the same tread pattern .
.
Driving with different tires reduces ~
•
•

236 Tire s and whee ls
vehicle handling and can lead to a loss of
control.
- If the replacement tire is not the same as
the tires that are mounted on the vehicle
- for example with winter tires - only use
the replacement t ire for a short period of
t ime and dr ive with extra care . Refit the
normal road wheel as soon as safely pos­
sible.
- Never drive faste r than the maximum
speed for which the tires on your veh icle
are rated because ti res that are driven
faster than their rated speed can fail
sudden ly.
- Overloading t ires cause heat build-up,
sudden tire failure, including a blowo ut
and sudden deflation and loss of control.
- T emperature grades app ly to tires that
are properly inflated and not over or un­
derinflated.
- For technical reasons it is not a lways
possible to use wheels from othe r
vehicles -in some cases not even wheels
from the same vehicle model.
- If you install wheel trim discs on the ve­ hicle whee ls, make sure that the air f low
to the brakes is not blocked . Reduced air­
flow to the brakes can them to overheat, increasing stopping distances and caus­
ing a collision .
- Run flat tires may only be used on
vehicles that were equipped w ith them
at the factory . The vehicle must have a
chassis des igned for run flat t ires and a
factory-installed t ire pressure monitor­
ing system* that indicates a loss of ti re
pressure. Incorrec t use of run flat tires
can lead to vehicle damage or accidents .
Check with an authorized Audi dea ler or
tire spec ialist to see if your vehicle can be
equipped with run flat tires . If run flat
tires are used, they must be installed on
all four wheels. M ixing tire types is not
permitted .
(D Note
-For technica l reasons, it is not genera lly
possible to use the wheel r ims from oth- er vehicles.
This can hold true for wheels
of the same vehicle type.
- If a rep lacement tire is different from
the tires that you have mounted on your
vehicle (for example winter tires or wide profile tires), then use the rep lacement
tire for a short period of time only and dr ive with extra care. Replace the flat tire
w ith the tire match ing the others on your
vehicle as soon as possible.
- Never drive without the valve stem cap .
The valves could get damaged .
® For the sake of the environment
D ispose of o ld tires in accordance with the
local requirements .
Uniform tire quality grading
-Tread wear
- Traction AA A B C
- Tempe rature ABC
Quality grades can be found where applicab le
on the t ire s ide wall between tread shou ld er
and maximum section width c> page 233,
fig. 189 .
For exampl e: Tread wear 200 , Traction AA,
Temperature A.
All passenger car t ires must conform to Feder­
al Safety Requirements in addition to these
grades.
Tread wear
T he tread wear grade is a comparative rating
based on the wear rate of the t ire when tested
u nder controlled conditions on a specified
government test course .
For example, a tire graded 1S0 would wear
one and one ha lf (11/2) times as well on the
gover nment course as a t ire graded 100 .
The relative performance of tires depends upon the actual conditions of their use, how­
ever, and may depa rt s ignificantly from the
norm due to va ria tions in d riving hab its, serv­
ice practices and differences in road character-
istics and climate.
ll-

Wheel bolts
Wheel bolts must always be tightened to the
correct torque .
The design of wheel bolts is matched to the
factory installed r ims. If differen t rims are fit­
ted, the correct wheel bolts with the right l ength and correctly shaped bolt heads must
be used. This ensures that wheels are fitted
securely and that the brake system functions
correctly .
In certain circumstances, you may not use
wheel bo lts from a different vehicle -eve n if it
i s the same model
¢ page 266.
_&. WARNING
Improperly tig htened or maintained whee l
bolts can become loose ca using loss of
contro l, a co llision and serious persona l in­
jury.
- Always keep the wheel bolts and the threads in the wheel hubs clean so the
whee l bolts can turn easily and be prop­
erly t ightened.
- Never grease or oil the wheel bo lts and
the threads in the wheel hubs. They can become loose wh ile driving if greased or
o iled, even if tightened to the specif ied
torque .
- Only use wheel bolts that belong to the
rim being installed.
- Never use different whee ls bolts on your
vehicle .
-Always maintain the correct tighten ing
torque for the wheel bo lts 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
cl e is moving.
If the tightening torque is
too high, the whee l bolts and threads
can be damaged and the wheel can be­
come loose.
Q;) Note
The spec ified torque fo r the wheel bo lts is
90 ft lbs. (120 Nm) with a tolerance of
± 7,4 ft lbs.(± 10 Nm). Torque wheel bo lts
Tire s an d wheel s 239
diagonally. After changing a wheel, the
torque m ust be checked as soon as possi­
ble with a torque wrench -preferably by an
a uthori zed Audi dea ler or qualified work­
shop.
Low aspect ratio tires
Your Aud i is factory -equ ipped w ith low aspect
ratio tires . These tires have been tho roughly
tested and been se lected specifically fo r your
model for their superb perfo rmance, road fee l
and hand ling under a var iety o f driving cond i­
tions. Ask your authorized Audi dealer for
more details .
T he low aspect ratio of these t ires is ind icated
by a numeral of
55 or l ess in the tire's s ize
designation. The numera l rep resents the ra tio
of the tire's sidewa ll height in relation to its
tread width expressed in percentage . Conven­
tiona l tires have a he ight/w idth ratio of 60 or
more.
T he performance of low-a spe ct- ra tio tire s is
p ar tic ul ar ly se nsi tiv e to i mprop er i nfl ation
pre ssure. It is the refo re important that low
a spect ratio t ires are inflated to the specified
pr ess ure and that th e inflation pr essur e is
r e gula rly ch ecked and maintain ed. Tir e pre s­
s ure s should b e check ed at l east once a
m onth and alwa ys befo re a long trip
¢ page 228, Checking tire pressure.
What you c an do to avo id tire and rim
damage
Low aspect ratio tires can be damaged mo re
easily by impact w ith potholes, curbs, g ull ies
o r ridges on the road, pa rticularly if the tire is
u nderinflated.
In orde r to minimize the occurrence of impact
damage to the tires of your vehicle, we recom ­
mend that you observe the following p reca u­
tions:
- Always ma inta in recommended inflation
pressu res. Check your tire pressure eve ry
2,000 miles (3,000 km) and add air if neces-
sary . .., •
•

24 0 T ire s and wheel s
- Drive carefu lly on roads with potholes, deep
gullies or ridges. The impact from driving
through or over such obstacles can damage
your tires. Impact with a curb may also
cause damage to your tires.
- After any impact, immediately inspect your tires or have them inspected by the neares t
authorized Aud i dealer. Replace a damaged
t ire as soon as possible .
- Inspect your t ires 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 t ire failu re. If you be lieve that a
t ire may have been damaged, replace the
t ire as soon as poss ible.
- T hese tires may wea r more quick ly than oth­
ers.
- Please also remember that, whi le these t ires
deliver respons ive handling, they may ride
less comfortably and make mo re no ise than
othe r choices.
Reduced perf ormance in winter /cold
sea son condit ion s
All ti res are des igned for certa in pu rposes.
The low aspect ratio, u ltra high performance
tires originally installed on your vehicle are in­
tended for max imum dry and wet road per­
formance and handling . They are not suitable
for cold, snowy or icy weather condit ions. If
you dr ive under those circumstances, you
should equip your vehicle with all-season or
winter tires, which offer better traction under
those cond it ions . We suggest you use the rec­
ommended snow or all-season tires specified
for your vehicle, or their equ ivalent .
Refe r to
<=> page 23 7 for more deta iled infor­
ma tion regarding w inter tires.
Tire pressure
monitoring system
(l) General notes
App lies to vehicles: with tire pressure monitoring system
Each tire shou ld be checked monthly when
cold and inflated to the inflat ion p ressu re rec- ommended by the vehicle manufacturer on
the ve hicle p lacard or tire inflation press ure
label. (If yo ur vehicle has tires of a d ifferent
s iz e than the si ze indicated on the veh icle
placard or tire inflation pressure label, you
should determine the proper tire 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 or more of you r
tires is significantly under-inflated . Acco rding­
ly, when the low tire pressure telltale illumi­
nates, yo u shou ld stop and check you r tires as
soon as possib le, and inflate them to the
proper pressure . Driving on a signi ficantly 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,
and may affect the vehicle's handling and
stopp ing ability.
P lease note that the TPMS is not a substitute
for proper tire ma intenance, and it is the driv­
er's responsibility to maintain correct tire
pressure, even if under-inflation has not
r eached the level to tr igger illuminat ion of the
T PMS low tire pressu re tellta le.
Your vehicle has also been equipped with a
TPMS ma lfunction indicator to ind icate when
the system is not operating prope rly. The
T PMS ma lfunction ind icator is comb ined w ith
the low t ire pressure telltale . Whe n the sys­
tem detects a malfunc tion , the telltale will
flash fo r approxima tely one min ute and then
remain continuously i lluminated. This se­
quence wi ll continue upon subsequent vehicle
start-ups as long as the malfunct ion exists .
When the malfunction indicato r is illum inat­
ed , the system may not be ab le to detect or
signal low tire pressure as intended . TPMS
malfunctions may occur for a var iety of rea ­
sons, including the installation of replace­
ment or alternate tires or wheels on the vehi­
cle that prevent the TPMS from functioning
properly . Always check the TPMS malfunction
te lltale after rep lacing one or more tires o r
whee ls on your vehicle to ens ure that the

replacement or alternate tires and wheels a l­
l ow the TPMS to continue to function proper­
l y.
Tire pressure indicator appears
Applies to vehicles: with tire pressure monitoring system
The tire pressure indicator in the instrument
cluster informs you if the tire pressure is too
low or if there is a system malfunction.
F ig. 190 Display: underinflatio n warn ing
Using the ABS sensors , the t ire pressure mon i­
toring system compa res the t ire tread circum­
fe rence and v ibration characteristics of the in­
d iv idual tires. If the pressure decreases in one
or mo re tires, th is is indicated in the instru ­
ment cluster with a
ti] warn ing symbol and a
message ¢
fig. 190. The driver message in the
disp lay goes out after S seconds. The driver
message can be d isplayed again by pressing
the
! S ET ! button. If only one tire is affected,
the display will indicate its pos ition .
T he t ire pressure monitoring system must be
reset via radio or MMI* each t ime the pres­
sures are adjusted (e.g . when sw itching be­
tween partia l and full load pressure) or after
changing o r replacing a t ire on your vehicle
¢
page 242. The TPMS indicator only moni­
tors the tire p ressure that you have prev iously
stored . Yo u ca n find the recommended tire
p ress ures for you r vehi cle on the labe l on dr iv­
er's side B -pi llar ¢
page 226 .
T ire tread c ircumfe rence and vibration c harac­
ter ist ics can ch ange and ca use a ti re pressure
warn ing if:
- the tire pressure in one o r more t ires is too
low,
Tire s an d wheel s 241
- the t ire has struc tural damage,
- t he t ire press ure w as c hanged, wheels ro ta t-
ed or rep laced but the TPMS was not reset
¢ page 242.
Warning symbols
ti] Loss of pressure in at least one tire¢& .
Check the t ire o r tires and rep lace or repa ir if
necessary. The
ti] indi ca to r li ght in the inst ru­
ment cluster a lso illuminates
¢ page 13.
Check/cor rect the press ures of all fo ur tires
and reset TPMS via radio or MMI*.
11il~1 (T ir e Pressure Monitoring System) Tire
pre ssure: Sy stem m alfunction!.
IfllilB appears after switching the ignition
o n or while d rivi ng and the
ti] ind icator l ight
i n the instr ument cluster blinks for app roxi ­
mately one minute and then stays on, there is
a system malfunct ion .
Attempt to sto re the co rrect tire pressu re
¢
page 242. If the ind ic a tor lig ht does not
turn off or i f it turns on sho rtly the rea fter, im ­
med iate ly dr iv e your vehicle to an authorized
A udi dealer or authorized repair faci lity to
have the malfunct ion corrected.
A WARNING
- If the tire pressure ind icator appears in
the instrument cluster display, one or more of your t ires is sign ificant ly unde r­
inflated . Reduce you r speed immediately
a nd avoid any hard steer ing or b rak ing
maneuvers. Stop as soon as possib le and
check the tires and their pressu res . In­
f late the tire pressure to the prope r pres ­
sure as indicated o n the vehicle's tire
pressure labe l
¢page 226. D riving on a
sign ificantly under-inflated tire causes
the t ire to overheat and can lead to tire
fa ilure. Under-inflation also is likely to
impair the vehicle's ha ndling and stop­
ping ab ility .
- The drive r is responsib le for maintaini ng
the co rrect tire pressures . You must
check the tire pressures regu larly. .,..
•
•

242 Tires and wheels
-Under certain conditions (such as a spor­
ty driving style, winter conditions or un­
paved roads), the pressure monitor indi­
cator may be delayed.
- Ask your authorized Audi dealer if run­
flat tires may be used on your vehicle.
Your vehicle registration becomes invalid
if you use these tires when not permit­
ted. Damage to your vehicle or accidents
could also result.
@ Tips
-The tire pressure monitoring system
stops working when there is an ESC/ABS
malfunction.
- Using snow chains may result in a system malfunction .
- The tire pressure monitoring system on
your Audi was developed using tires with the
"ROl" identification on the tire side­
wall ~
page 233. We recommend using
these tires.
Reset tire pressure monitoring system
Applies to vehicles: with tire pressure monitoring system
If the tire pressure is adjusted, wheels are ro­
tated or chang ed, the
TPMS must be reset via
radio or
MM!* .
.. Before resetting the TPMS, the current pres­
sures of all four tires must correspond to
the specified values. Adjust the tire pressure and reset the pressure in the tire pressure
monitoring system according to the load
you are carrying
~ page 226 .
.. Turn on the ignition .
.. Select : the
ICAR I function button > Tire pres­
sure monitoring > Store now .
Or
.. Select : the ICA RI function button > Car sys­
tems*
control button > Servicing & checks>
Tire pressure monitoring > Store tire pres­
sures.
@ Tips
Do not store the ti re pressure if there a re
snow chains on the tire.