
236 Tires and wheels
weight of all of the occupants and luggage or
other cargo that the vehicle can carry. For the
location of the tire pressure label¢
fig. 174.
_& WARNING
Overloading a vehicle can cause loss of ve
hicle control, a crash or other accident, se
rious personal injury, and even death .
- Carrying more weight than your vehicle
was designed to carry will prevent the
vehicle from handling properly and in
crease the risk of a loss of vehicle con
tro l.
- The brakes on a veh icle that has been
overloaded may not be able to stop the
vehicle within a safe distance.
- Tires on a vehicle that has been overload
ed can fail suddenly causi ng loss of con
tro l and a crash.
- Always make sure that the total load be
ing transported -including the we ight of
a trailer hitch and the tongue weight of a
loaded trailer -does not make the vehi
cle heavier than the vehicle's Gross Vehi
cle Weight Rating.
A WARNING
-Incorrect tire pressures and/or underin
flation can lead to a serious or fatal acci dent.
- Incorrect tire pressures and/or underin
flation cause increased tire wear and can
affect the handling of the vehicle.
- Incorrect tire pressures and/or underin
flation can also lead to sudden tire fa il
ure, including a blowout and sudden de
flation, causing loss of vehicle control.
Checking tire pressure
-
The correct tire pressure for the tires original
ly installed on your vehicle is listed on the tire
pressure label located on driver's side 8-pil
lar .
The recommended tire pressures are on the
tire pressure label and in the table
¢ page 234, Cold tire inflation pressure .This
means that the pressure m ust be checked and
adjusted when the tire has not been driven for
more than a couple of miles (kilometers) at
low speeds during the previous three hours.
Air in the tires expands when the tire heats up
as a result of internal frict ion as it flexes in
use. The tire pressure is higher when the tire
has warmed up than when it is "co ld ."
It is the inflation pressure in a "cold" tire that
counts. Therefore, you should never let a ir out
of a warm tire to match "Cold t ire inflat ion
pressure" recommendations ¢
page 234. The
tires would then be underinflated and could
fail suddenly .
The tire pressure label on your Audi lists the
recommended cold tire inflation pressures at
maximum capacity for the new, original
equipmen t tires that were on your vehicle at
the time it was manufactured. For the loca
tion of the labe l
¢page 234, fig. 174.
Most tires lose air naturally over t ime. They
can also lose some air if yo u drive over a pot
hole or hit a curb while parking. It is usually
not possible to see whether the radial tires
used today are underinflated just by looking
at them.
T here fore, be sure to check ti re pressures at
least once a month and a lways before going
on a long trip . Make sur e to take the number
of peop le and the amount of luggage into ac
count when adjust ing tire pressure for a trip -
even one that you would not consider to be
"long ." See ¢
page 238, Tires and vehicle
load limits
for more important information .
Always use an accurate tire pressure gauge
when checking and adjusting inflat ion pres
sures. Check all of the tires and be sure not to
forget the spare tire.
If the pressure in any tire
i s too h igh when the tire is "cold", let air out
of the tire slowly with the edge of the tire
gauge and keep check ing the pressure until
you reach the pressure that is correct for the
load (passengers and luggage) and kind of
driving you plan to do.
If the pressure in any tire is too low, note the
difference between the pressure in the cold .,..

252 What do I do now?
has been designed specifically fo r you r type of
vehicle . It must not be swapped with a com
pact spare t ire from another type of veh icle.
Snow cha ins
F or technical rea son s, the use of snow chains
on the compact spare tire is
not p ermitt ed .
If you do have to dr ive with snow cha ins and a
front tire fails, mount the spare whee l w ith
tire instead of a rear t ire. Install the snow
cha ins on the rear tire and use it to rep lace
the defective front tire .
A WARNING
-Never use the spare tire if it is damaged
or if it is worn down to the tread wear in
dicators.
- If the spare tire is more than 6 years o ld,
use it only in an emergency and w ith ex
treme caution and careful driving.
- The spare tire is intended only for tem
porary and short-term use. It should be
replaced as soon as possib le w ith the
normal wheel and tire.
- After mounting the compact spare tire,
the tire pressure must be checked as
soon as poss ible. The tire pressure of the
compact spa re tire must be 4.2 bar; oth
erw ise, you risk hav ing an accident.
- Do not drive faster than SO mph (80 km/
h). You risk having an acc id ent.
-Avoid full-throttle acce le rat ion, heavy
braking, and fast corner ing . You risk hav
ing an acc ident.
- Never drive us ing more than one spare
wheel and tire. You risk having an acci
dent .
- Normal summer or winte r tires must not
be mounted on the compact spare whee l
rim.
- For technical reasons, the use of ti re
c hains on the spare tire is not permitted.
If it is necessa ry to dr ive wi th tire ch ains,
the spare whee l must be mounted on the
front axle in the event o f a f lat in a rear
t ir e. The newly ava ilable front wheel
must then be installed in place of the rear whee
l with the flat tire. Installing
the t ire cha in before mounting the whee l
and tire is recommended.
- Loose items in the passenger compart
ment can cause serious personal injury
during hard brak ing or in an accident.
Never store the inflatable spare tire or
jack and tools in the passenge r compart
ment.
Changing a wheel
Before changing a wheel
Observe the following precautions for your
own and your passenger's safety when chang
ing a wheel .
.,. After you experience a t ire failure, p ull the
car we ll away from moving traffic and try to
reach
level ground before you stop ¢ A .
.,. All passengers should lea ve the car and
move to a safe location (for instance, behind
the guardrail)¢
A.
.,. Engage the park ing brake to prevent your
ve hicle from rolling unintentionally ¢
A.
.,. Shift into 1st ge ar on veh icles with manual
transmiss ion, or move th e
selector lever to
the P positi on
on vehicles w it h automatic
transmiss io n.
.,. If you are towing a trai ler : u nhitch the trail
er from your vehicle .
.,. Take the
jack ¢ page 251 and the spare tire
¢ page 251 out of the luggage compart
ment.
A WARNING
You or your passengers could be injured
while changi ng a wheel if you do not fo l-
l ow these safety precaut ions:
- If you have a flat tire, move a safe d is
tance off the road. Turn off the engine,
tur n the eme rgency flashers on and use
o ther warni ng device s to a le rt othe r mo
torists.
- Make sure that passengers wait in a safe
place aw ay from the vehicle a nd well
-
away from the road and traffic . ~