General information
Applies to vehicles: with side assist
®
©
Fig . 100 Dr iving situations
AUDI
Fig. 101 Rear of t he ve hicle: positio n of t he se nsors
Side assist functions at speeds above approx i
mately 19 mph (30 km/h).
@ Vehicl es th at ar e approaching
In certain cases, a vehicle will be classified as
cr itical for a lane change even if it is still
somewhat far away. The fas ter a vehicle ap
p roaches, the sooner the display in the exteri
or m irror will t urn on.
@ V ehicles traveling with you
Vehicles traveling w ith you are indicated in the
exterior m irror if they are classified as cr itical
for a lane change. All vehicles detec ted by
side assist are indicated by the time they en
ter your "blind spot", at the latest.
Audi side assist 9 7
© Vehicle s left behind
If you s low ly pass a vehi cle that s ide assist has
detected (the difference in speed between the
vehicle and you r vehicle is less than 9 mph or
15 km/h), the display in the exterio r mirror
turns on as soon as the vehicle enters your blind spot.
The disp lay will not t urn on if you quickly pass
a vehicle that side assist has detected (the dif
ference in speed between the veh icle and your
vehicle is greater than 9 mph or 15 km/h).
Functi onal limitations
The radar sensors are designed to detect the
left and right adjacent lanes when the road
lanes are the normal width. In certain situa
tions, the d isp lay in the exterior mirror may
turn on even though there is no veh icle locat
ed in the area that is cr itical for a lane change.
For example:
- if the lanes are narrow or if your are dr iving
on the edge of your lane.
If this is the case,
the system may have detected the vehicle in
another lane that is
not adjacent to your
current lane .
- if you a re driving through a curve. Side assist
may react to a vehicle that is one lane ove r
from the adjacent lane.
- if side assist reacts to other objects (such as
high or d isp laced guard rails) .
- In poor weather conditions. The side assist
functions are l imited .
Do not cover the radar sensors¢
fig. 101 with
stickers, depos its, bicycle wheels or other ob
jects, because this will affect the funct ion. Do
not use s ide ass ist when towing a trailer. For
i nformation on cleaning, refer to ¢
page 210.
_&. WARNING
-Always pay attention to traffic and to t he
area a round your ve hicl e. S ide assist can
not replace a driver's attention. T he driv
er a lone is always responsible for lane
changes and similar driving mane uvers.
242 Tire s and wheels
Groove
means the space between two adjacent tread
ribs .
Load rating (code)
means the maximum load that a tire is rated
to carry for a given inflation pressure. You
may not find this informat ion on all tires be
cause it is not req uired by law.
Maximum load rating
means the load rating for a t ire at the max i
mum permissible inflation pressure for that
tire.
Maximum loaded vehicle weight
means the sum of:
(a) Curb weight
(b) Accessory weight
(c) Vehicle capacity we ight, and
(d) Production options weight
Maximum (permissible) inflation pressure
means the maximum cold inflation pressure
to which a tire may be inflated. Also called
"maximum inflation pressure ."
Normal occupant weight
means 150 lbs. (68 kilograms) times the
number of occupants seated in the vehicle up
to the total seating capacity of your vehicle .
Occupant distribution
means distribution of occupants in a vehicle.
Outer diameter
means the overa ll diameter of an inflated new
tire.
Overall width
means the linear distance between the exteri
ors of the sidewalls of an inflated tire, includ
ing elevations due to labeling, decorations, or
protective bands o r ribs .
Ply
means a layer of rubber-coated parallel cords.
Production options weight
means the combined weight of those insta lled
regular production options weighing over 5
lbs. (2.3 kg) in excess of those standard items
which they replace, not previously considered
in curb weight or accessory we ight, including
heavy duty brakes, ride levelers, roof rack,
heavy duty battery, and special tr im .
Radial ply tire
means a pneumat ic tire in which the ply cords
that extend to the beads are laid at substan
t ia lly 90 degrees to the center line of the
tread .
Recommended inflation pressure
see<=> page 241, Cold tire inflation pressure.
Reinforced tire
means a t ire design to operate at higher loads
and at h igher inflation pressures than the cor
responding standa rd tire. Reinforced tires
may be identified as "XL" "xl" "EXTRA LOAD"
' ' '
or "RF" on the sidewa ll.
Rim
means a metal support for a tire or a tire and
tube assembly upon which the tire beads are
seated.
Rim diameter
means nom inal d iameter of the bead seat. If
you change your wheel s ize, you will have to
purchase new tires to match the new rim di
ameter.
Rim size designation
means r im diameter and width .
Rim width
means nominal distance between rim flanges.
Sidewall
means that portion of a tire between the
t read and bead.
unbalanced, resulting in vib rations you can
usually feel through the steering wheel.
Unba lanced wheels mus t be rebalanced to
avoid excessive wea r on s teer ing, suspens ion
and tires. A wheel must a lso be rebalanced
when a new tire is installed.
Incorrect wheel alignment
Inco rrect whee l alignment can cause exces
sive tire wea r, impair ing t he safety of the veh i
cle. If t ires show excess ive wear, have the
wheel alignment checked by an authorized
Audi dealer or qualified workshop.
All-wheel d rive
Ve hicles w it h quattro must always have tires
of the s ame s ize, construction and tread type.
F or detai ls see
¢ page 198 .
A WARNING
Sudden tire failure can lead to loss of con
trol, a crash and serious persona l injury!
- Never drive a veh icle when the tread on
any t ire 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 lan ing" and loss of
co ntrol.
- 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 being 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 special care and at lower
sp eeds.
- Never mount used tires on yo ur vehicle if
yo u are not sure of their "previous histo
ry." Old used ti res may have been dam
aged even though the damage cannot be
seen that can lead to s udden tire failure
and loss o f vehicle control.
Tires and wheels 251
New tires and replacing tires and wheels
New tires and wheels have to be broken in.
Fig. 199 Tire spec ification codes on the s idewall of a
tire
No . Description
@ Passenger car tire (where applicable)
@ Nominal w idth of t ire in millimeters
@ Ratio of height to width (aspect ratio)
© Rad ial
® Rim diameter code
® Load index and speed rati ng
0 U.S. DOT tire identification number
® Audi Original tire
® Sever snow conditions
@ Tire ply composition and ma terials
used
@ Maximum load rating
@ Treadwear, traction and tempe rat ure
grades
@ Maximum permissible inflation pres-
sure
T he tires and rims are essential parts of the
vehicle's design . The ti res and rims approved
by Audi a re spec ia lly matched to the charac
teris tics of the ve hicl e and can m ake a major .,.
252 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 258.
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 244.
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 244) 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 244, fig. 196) 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. 199. 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:
255 /40 R 19 100 H XL
This co nta ins the following information:
P Indicates the t ire is for passenger cars
(where app licab le)
2 55 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
40 Height/w idth ratio in percent (aspect ra-
t io)
R Tire construction: Radial
1 9 Rim diameter code (in inches)
100 Load rating code
H Speed rat ing letter code
X L (or "xl", "EXTRA LOAD" or "RF") Indicates
t h at the t ire is a "Reinforced" or an "E xt ra
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 240 .
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 ... 2213 ... " means, for example, the tire
was produced in the 22nd week of 2013.
Speed rating (letter cod e)
The speed rating letter code on the whee ls in
dicates the maximum permissible road speeds
¢ .&. in Winter tires on poge 256.
P up to 93 mp h (150 km/h)
Q up to 99 mph (158 km/h)
R up to 106 mph (170 km/h)
S up to 110 mph (180 km/h)
254 Tires and wheels
Driving with different tires reduces vehi
cle handling and can lead to a loss of
control.
- I f the spare tire is not the same as the
tires that are mounted on the vehicle -
for example with winter tires - only use
the spare tire for a short period of time
and drive with extra care . Refit the nor
mal road wheel as soon as safely possi
ble.
- Never drive faster than the maximum
speed for which the tires on your vehicle
are rated because tires that are driven
faster than their rated speed can fail
suddenly.
- Overloading tires cause heat build-up,
sudden tire failure, including a blowout
and sudden deflation and loss of control.
- Temperature grades apply to tires that
are properly inflated and not over or un
derinflated .
- For technical reasons it is not always
possible to use wheels from other
vehicles -in some cases not even wheels
from the same vehicle model.
- If you install wheel trim discs on the ve
hicle wheels, make sure that the air flow
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 with them
at the factory . The vehicle must have a
chassis designed for run flat tires . Incor
rect use of run flat tires can lead to vehi
cle damage or accidents. Check with an
authorized Audi dealer or tire specialist
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 . Mixing tire types is not permit
ted .
(D Note
-For technical reasons, it is not generally
possible to use the wheel rims from oth- er vehicles.
This can hold true for wheels
of the same vehicle type.
- If the spare tire is different from the
tires that you have mounted on your ve
hicle (for example winter tires or wide
profile tires), then use the spare tire for a
short period of time only and drive with
extra care. Replace the flat tire with the
tire matching 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
Dispose of old tires in accordance with the
local requirements.
Uniform tire quality grading
-Tread wear
- Traction AA A B C
- Tempe ra ture ABC
Quality grades can be found where applicable
on the tire side wall between tread should er
and maximum section width
c;, page 251,
fig. 199.
For example:
Tread wear 200, Traction AA,
Temperature A.
All passenger car tires must conform to Feder
al Safety Requirements in addition to these
grades.
Tread wear
The tread wear grade is a comparative rating
based on the wear rate of the tire when tested
under controlled conditions on a specified
government test course.
For example, a tire graded 1S0 would wear
one and one half (11/2) times as well on the
government course as a tire graded 100.
The relative performance of tires depends upon the actual conditions of their use, how
ever, and may depart significantly from the
norm due to variations in driving habits, serv
ice practices and differences in road character-
istics and climate.
ll-
chains because the vehicle 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 severe ly dam
age the wheelhouse and other parts of
the veh icle .
@ Tips
Where snow cha ins are mandatory oncer
tain roads, this normally also applies to
veh icles with all -wheel dr ive.
Wheel bolts
Wheel bolts mu st always be tigh tened to the
correc t torque .
The design of whee l bolts is matched to the
factory in sta lled r ims. If different rims are fit
ted, the correct wheel bolts with the right
length and correctly shaped bolt heads must
be used . This ensures that wheels are f itted
secure ly and that the brake system f unctions
correctly .
In certain circumstances, you may not use
wheel bolts from a d iffe rent vehicle -even if it
i s the same mode l
¢page 285.
A WARNING
Imprope rly tig hte ned or maintained whee l
bolts can be come loose causin g loss of
contro l, a co llision and serious persona l in
jury .
- Alw ays keep the w heel bolts and the
th reads in the wheel hubs clea n so the
wheel bolts can turn easily and be prop
er ly tightened .
- Never grease or oil the wheel bo lts and
the threads in the w heel h ubs. They can
become loose while 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 co rrect tightening
torq ue for the wheel bo lts to reduce the
Tire s an d wheel s 257
risk of a wheel loss. If the tighte ning tor
que of t he wheel bolts is too low, they
can loosen and come out when the vehi
cle is mov ing . If the tighte ning torque is
too h igh, the wheel bol ts and threads
can be damaged and the whee l can be
come loose.
(I) Note
The specified torque for the whee l bolts is
90 ft lb ( 120 Nm) with a tole ranc e of± 7,4
ft lb(± 10 Nm). Torq ue whee l bolts diago
nally. Afte r cha nging a whee l, the torq ue
must be checked as soon as possible wi th a
torque w rench -prefe rably by an au thor
i z ed Audi dealer or qualif ied workshop .
Low aspect ratio tires
Your Audi is facto ry-eq uipped with low aspect
ratio tires. These tires have been thoro ughly
tested and been se lected specifically for your
model for their superb performance , road fee l
and handling under a variety of driving cond i
tions . Ask your authorized Audi 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 rep resents the ratio
of the t ire's sidewall height in relation to its
t read width ex pressed in perce ntage. Conven
tion al tires have a he igh t/w idth ratio of 60 or
more.
The performance of low-aspe ct-ratio tire s is
particularly sensitiv e to improper infla tion
pres sure. It is therefore important that l ow
a spect ratio tires are inflated to the specified
pre ssure 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 246, Checking tire pressure .
What you can do to avoid tire and rim
damage
Low aspect ratio tires can be damaged more
easily by impact w it h potholes , curbs, gul lies ..,.
•
•
Gros s Axle Wei ght Rati ng
The G ross Axle Weight Rating is the maximum
l oad that can be applied at each axle of the
vehicle
c::> &. .
Vehicle capacit y weight
The vehicle capacity we ight (max. load) is list
ed eithe r on the dr iver's side B-pillar or inside
the fue l filler flap.
& WARNING
-
- The actual Gross Axle Weight Rating at
the front and rear axles shou ld not ex
ceed the perm iss ible weights, and their
combination must not exceed the Gross
Vehicle Weight Rat ing.
Dimensions
Length in (mm)
Width in
(mm)
Width (across mirrors) in (mm)
He ight (unloaded)a) in (mm)
Turning circle diameter
ft (m)
T e chn ic a l da ta 281
- Exceeding permiss ible weight ratings can
result in vehicle damage, accidents and
personal injury.
([) Note
-The vehicle capacity weight figures apply
when the load is d istr ibuted evenly in the
vehicle (passengers and luggage). When
transport ing a heavy load in the luggage
compartment, carry the load as near to
the rear axle as poss ible so that the vehi
cle's handling is not impaired.
- Do not exceed the maximum permissible axle loads or the maximum gross veh icle
we ight. Always remember that the vehi
cle's handling w ill be affected by the ex
tra load. Therefore, ad just yo ur speed ac
co rdingly.
- Always observe local regulat ions.
A6 S6
193.9 (4925) 193.9 (4925)
73.8 (1874) 73 .8 (1874)
82.1 (2086) 82.1 (2086)
57.8 (1468) 57.8 (1468)
39.0 (11.9) 39.0 (11. 9)
•
•
aJ The he ight of the veh icle depen ds on the t ires and the suspe nsion .
When driving up steep ramps, on rough roads,
over curbs, etc. it is important to remember
that some parts of your ve hicle, such as spoil-
Capacities
Fuel ta nk: total capacity
Windshield flu id container
Windsh ield and headlight washer fluid containe r* ers
or exhaust system components, may be
close to the ground. Be careful not to damage
them .
gal (liters) approx. 19.8 (75.0)
quarts (liters) approx. 3.7 (3.5)
quarts (liters) approx. 5.2
(4.9)