
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 "hydroplaning" and loss of
control.
- Always keep chemicals that can cause
tire damage, such as grease, oil, gasoline
and brake fluid away from t ires.
- Tires age even if they are not be ing used
and can fail suddenly, especially at high
speeds . Tir es that are more than 6 years
old can only be used in an emergency
and then with special 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. Tires and wheels 241
New tires and replacing tires and wheels
New tires and wheels have to be broken in
.
Fig. 178 Tir e specificat ion codes on t he s idewall o f a
tire
No. Description
CD Passenger car tire (where applicable)
@ Nominal width of tire in millimeters
® Ratio of height to width (aspect ratio)
© Radial
® Rim diameter code
® Load index and speed rat ing
(f) U.S. DOT tire identification number
® Audi 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 ti res and rims approved
by Audi are spec ially matched to the charac
teristics of the vehicle and can make a major .,.
•

242 Tire s and wheels
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 technica l requ irements for
installing or changing tires and r ims.
Replacing tires and wheels
Tires should be rep laced at least in pairs and
not individually (for example both front tires
or both rear tires together).
Be sure to read and heed the information to
the tire pressure monitoring system*
¢page 248.
Always 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 234.
Aud i-approved specification tires are specially
matched to your vehicle and its load limits,
and can contribute to the important road hold
ing, driving characteristics, and safety of the
vehicle. The table
(c:> page 234) lists specifica
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 234, fig. 175) lists the speci
fications of the orig inal equipment tires in
stalled on your veh icle at the time it was man
ufactured.
Federal law requires tir e manufacturers to
place standard ized information on the s ide
wall of all tires
c:> fig. 178. This information
identifies and describes the fundamental
characterist ics, the quality grade of the tire
and also provides a tire ident ificat ion number f
or sa fety standard ce rtification and in case of
a recall.
Tire specifications
Knowledge of tire specificat ions makes it eas
ier to choose the correct tires. Radial tires
have the tire specifications marked on the
sidewa ll, for examp le:
P255 / 35 R19 96Y XL
This co nta ins the following information:
P Indicates the tir e is for passenger cars
(where app licab le)
255 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
19 Rim diameter code (in inches)
96 Load rating code
Y Speed rating letter code
XL (or "xl", "EXTRA LOAD", or "RF" Indicates
that the tir e is a"Re inforced" or an "Extra
Load" tire
M+S (or "M/S") Indicates that the tire has
some mud and snow capability
The tires could also have the information of
direction of rotat ion
c:> page 230 .
Tire manufacturing date
The manufact uring date is also indicated on
the tire sidewall (possibly on ly on the
inner
side of the wheel) :
"DOT ... 2212 ... "means, for examp le, that
the tire was produced in the 22nd week of
2012.
Speed rating (letter code)
The speed rating letter code on the whee ls in
dicates the maximum permissible road speeds
c:> & in Winter tires on page 246.
P up to 93 mph (150 km/h)
Q up to 99 mph (158 km/h)
R up to 106 mph ( 170 km/h)

driving a few yards and correct if neces
sary . Follow the instructions from the
snow cha in manufacturer when doing so.
(D Tips
Where snow chains are mandatory oncer
tain roads, this norma lly also applies to
veh icles with all wheel drive.
Wheel bolts
Wheel bolts must always be tightened to the
correct torque.
The design o f whee l bolts is matched to the
factory insta lled r ims . If different rims are fit
ted, the correct wheel bo lts wit h the right
l ength and correctly shaped bolt heads must
be used. This ensures that wheels are f itted
securely and that the brake system functions
correctly .
In certain circumstances, you may not use
wheel bo lts from a different vehicle -even if it
is the same model
<=> page 274.
A WARNING
Improperly tightened or maintained wheel
bolts can become loose caus ing loss of
cont ro l, a co llision and serious persona l in
Jury .
- Always keep the w heel bolts and the
threads in the wheel hubs clea n so the
w hee l bolts can t urn easily and be p rop
erly t igh tened.
- Never grease or oil the wheel bolts and
the threads in the wheel h ubs. They can
become loose wh ile d riving if greased or
oiled, even if tightened to the specified
torq ue.
- Only use whee l bo lts that belong to the
rim being installed .
- Never use different whee ls bolts on your
vehicle.
- Alw ays m ain ta in the co rrec t tig hten ing
torq ue fo r the wheel bo lts to reduce the
risk of a wheel loss . If the tightening tor
que of the wheel bo lts is too low, they
can loosen and come out when the vehi-
Tire s an d wheel s 24 7
cle is mov ing. If the tightening torq ue is
too high, the wheel bolts and threads
can be damaged and the whee l can be
come loose.
@ Note
The specified torque for the whee l bolts is
90 ft lbs . (120 Nm) w ith a tolerance of
± 7,4 ft lbs. (± 10 Nm). Torque whee l bolts
diagonally . After changi ng a wheel, the
torque m ust be checked as soon as poss i
ble with a to rque wrench -preferably by an
a uthorized Aud i dea le r or qualified wor k
shop.
Low aspect ratio tires
Your A udi is fac tory -eq uipped w ith low aspect
ratio tires . These tires have been tho ro ughly
tested and been se lected specifically for your
model for their superb performance, road fee l
and handling under a variety of driving condi
tions . Ask your authorized Aud i dealer for
more details.
The low aspect ratio of these t ires is ind icated
by a numeral of
55 or less in the tire's size
designation. The numera l represents the ratio
of the tire's sidewa ll height in relation to its
tread width exp ressed in percentage. Conven
tiona l tires have a he ight/w idth ratio of 60 or
more.
The performance of low-a spect-r atio tire s is
particularly sensit ive to improper inflation
pre ssure. It is therefor e important that low
a spect ratio tire s are inflated to the specified
pres sure and that th e inflation pr essure i s
regularly checked and maintained. Tire pre s
sure s should be chec ked at lea st once a
month and always before a long trip
<=> page 236, Checking tire pressure.
What you can do to avo id tire and rim
damage
Low aspect ratio tires can be damaged mo re
easily by impact w ith potholes, curbs, gull ies
or ridges on the road, particularly if the tire is
under inflated . ..,.
•
•

286 Index
Reverse gear S tronic transmission . ... .. .. ... ... .. 90
R ight hand d rive ........... .... .... .. 46
R ims
Cast alloy .. ... . ...... ... .. .. .. .. . 204
Roof rac k . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Roof load . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Roof weight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
s
SA FE ..... .. ... .. ..... ... .. .. .... .. 12
Safe driving hab its ...... ... .. .. .. .. . 126
Safety belt position . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
Safety belt he ight adjustment .. .... . 142
Safety belts worn by pregnant women . 141
Safety belt pretensioner ... .. .. .. .... . 142
Service and disposal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
Safety belts .... ........... .. .. .... . 139
C leaning . .. ............. .... .. .. . 208
D anger to passengers who do not wea r a
safety be lt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 7
Fastening .... ........... .. .. .... . 139
Height adjustment ........ .. .. .. .. . 142
Improperly worn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
Not worn .. .................. .... 137
Safety belt position ........ ... .. .. . 140
Safety instructions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
Secur ing c hild safety sea ts . .. .. .. ... 175
Speci al consider ations fo r pregnant
women . ... .. .. ...... ... .. .. .... . 141
Unfasten ing . .. .. ..... ... .. .. .... . 141
Warning/ indicato r light . ... .. .. .. .. . 136
Warn ing light . ........... .. .. .... .. 17
WhyYOU M USTwearthem . .. .. .. ... 136
Worn properly ............. .. .... . 138
Safety belt warning light . ... .. .. .... . 13 6
Safety compliance st icker . ...... .. .. . 268
Safety equipment ............ .. .... . 126
Safety fe atures for o ccup ant restra int and
p rotec tion ... ... .. ..... ... .. .. .... . 12 6
Safety guidel ines
Seats .. .. .. ........ ..... .. ........ S4
Safety instructions Eng ine compartment ...... .. .. .. .. . 215
for side curtain a irbags .. .. .. .. .. .. . 164
for us ing chi ld safety seats ..... .. ... 168 f
o r using sa fe ty belts . .. ..... ... .. .. 139
Monito ring the Advanced Airbag Sys-
tem . ... .. .. .. .. .. ... .. ..... ... .. 157
Seat adjustment He ad restra ints .. ............. .... 130
Seat belts
refer to Safety belts ............... . 136
Seat heating ...... ............. .... . 70
Se ating c apac ity . .. ... .......... .. .. 136
Seating pos ition
D rive r ... ... .. .. .. ... ... ... .. .. .. 127
Front passeng er .. .......... ...... . 128
How to ad just the fron t seats .. .. .. .. 1 28
Incor re ct sea t position .......... .. .. 130
Occ upan ts ..... .. ... .. ..... ... .. .. 12 7
Rear passengers . .... .. ..... .... . .. 129
Seat memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Seats Adjusting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5S, 56
Driver's seat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Folding ....... .. .. ... ....... ... .. . 64
Front passenger's seat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5S
Head restra ints .. ... .......... .. .. . 57
N umber of sea ts . ............. .. .. 136
Sa fe ty g uid elines ................ .. . 54
Se lective unlock feature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 7
Se lector lever ..... .. ... ..... ... .. .. . 8S
Emergency re lease . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89, 9S
Se lector lever d isp lay . ........... .. .. . 90
Se lector lever emergency release ...... . 9S
Se rvice and disposa l
Safety be lt pretensioner . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
Se rv ice interv al d is play . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
SET button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
S hi ft indicato r (efficiency program) ... .. . 28
S ide a irbags
Des cription ...... ............. .... 159
How they wor k ... ............. .... 161
s ide ass ist
Adjus ting the b rightness . ........... 109
Senso r range .. .. ................ . 108
S ide assist
Activati ng and deactivating .... .. .. .. 109
Cleaning sensors .... .. .. ... ..... .. 201
Desc ription .. .. .. .......... ... ... . 107