2014 AUDI Q7 wheel

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 information on all tires be­
cause it is no t 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 weight, 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 diamete r of an inflated new
tire.
Overall width
means the linear distance between the exteri­
ors of the sidewalls of an inflated tire, includ ­
in g elevations due to labeling, decorations, or
protective bands or ribs.
Ply
means a layer of rubber-coated parallel cords.
Tires and wheels 275
Production options weight
means the combined weight of those installed
regular production options we ighing over 5
lbs. (2.3 kg) in excess of those standard items
which they replace, not previously considered
in curb weight or accessory weight, including
heavy duty brakes, ride levelers, roof rack,
heavy duty battery, and spec ial tr im .
Radial ply tire
means a pneumatic tire in which the ply cords
that extend to the beads are laid at substan­
tia lly 90 degrees to the center line of the
tread .
Recommended inflation pressure
see ¢ page 2 7 4, 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
re sp onding standard 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 t ire and
tube assembly upon which the tire beads are
seated.
Rim diameter
means nom inal diameter 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
tread and bead.
•
•

2 76 Tires and wheels
Speed rating (letter code)
means t he speed at wh ic h a tir e is des igned to
be d riven for extended per io d s of t ime. The
ratings range from 93 mph (150 km/h) to
186 mph (298 km/h)
¢ page 285. You may
not find this informat ion on all tires because
it is not required by law.
The speed rating letter code, w here applica­
b le, is molded on the tire sidewa ll and indi­
cates the maxim um permissible road speeds
¢ &. in Winter tires on page 289.
Tire pres sure monitoring sy stem
means a sys tem that detects when one or
mo re of a vehicle's t ires are under inflated and
i l lum inates a low t ire p ress ure warn ing te ll­
tale.
Tread
means t hat port ion of a tire tha t comes into
con tact w it h t he road.
Tread separation
means pull ing away of the t read from the t ire
car cass.
Treadwear indicators (TWI)
means t he p rojections withi n the pr inc ipal
g rooves desig ned to give a v isua l ind ication of
the deg rees of wear of the tre ad. See
¢
pag e 283, Tread W ear Indicator (TWI) for
mo re in format io n on measu ring tire we ar.
Uniform Tire Quality Grading
is a ti re i nfo rmation system developed by the
United States Nat io nal Highway Traffic Safety
Admin istration (N HTSA) that is designed to
h e lp buye rs make re lative compa risons among
tires. The UTQG i s not a s afety r ating and not a
g ua ran tee t hat a tire will las t fo r a presc ribed
n umber of m iles (kilome ters) or pe rform in a
certain way. It s imply gives tire b uye rs addi­
tional information to combine with other con- s
iderations, such as p rice, b rand loya lty and
dealer recommendations. Un der UTQG, tires
are grade d by the t ire manufacturers in three
areas: treadwear, traction, and temperature
resistance. The UTQG informat ion on the tires,
molded into the sidewalls .
U.S. DOT Tire Identification Number (TIN)
T his is the tire's "se ria l number" It begins
with the letters "DOT" and ind icates that the
t ire meets all federa l standards. The next two
numbers o r letters ind icate the plant where it
was ma nufactu red, and the last four numbers
represe nt th e week and year of ma nufact ure.
For exampl e,
DOT ... 2213 ...
means that the tire was produced in t he 22nd
wee k of 2013. The other numbers are market­
ing codes that may or may not be used by the
t ire manufacturer. This information is used to
contact consumers if a tire defect requires a
r ecall.
Vehicle capacity weight
means the rated cargo and luggage load plus
150 lbs. (68 k ilograms) times the vehicle's to­
ta l seating capacity as listed on the label lo­
cated on the driver's side B-p illa r.
Vehicle maximum lo ad on the tire
means that load on an individua l tire that is
determined by distributing to eac h ax le its
share of the maxim um loaded vehicle weight
and divid ing by two.
Vehicle normal load on the tire
means that load o n an individua l t ir e that is
determined by distrib uting to eac h ax le its
share of the curb weight, accessory weight, and normal occ upant weig ht (d istr ibuted in
accordance with tab le below¢
page 2 77)
and divid ing by two .

Tires and wheels 277
Occupant loading and distribution for vehicle normal load fo r various d esignated seat ing
capaci tie s
Designated seating capacity , Vehicle normal load , number Occupant distribution in a nor-
number of occupants of occupants mally loaded vehicle
5/6*/7" 3 2 in front, 1 in second seat
Cold tire inflation pressure
Tire pressure affects the overall handling, performance and safety of a vehicle.
I
JJ
0
Fig. 249 Tire pressure labe l: located on driver 's s ide B·
p ill ar
Tire pressure genera lly refers to the amount
of air in a tire that it needs it to do its job and
safely carry the combined load of the entire
vehicle and its contents . Tire pressure is
measured in kilopasca ls (kPa), the i nte rna­
tional measur ing unit and in pounds pe r
squa re i nch (PSI). Tire pressure is based in
part on the vehicle 's design and load limi t -
the greatest amount of weight that the vehi­ cle can carry safe ly and the t ire size . The prop­
er tire pressure is frequent ly referred to as the
"recommended cold tire inflation pressure."
A ir in the tires expands when the tire heats up
because of internal friction when it flexes in
use . The tire p ressu re is higher when the tire
has warmed up than when it is "cold ."
It is the
i nflat ion p ressure i n a "cold " tire that counts.
Therefo re, you shou ld neve r let air out of a
warm tire to ma tch "cold tire infla tion pres­
sure" recommendations. The t ires wo uld then
be underinflated and could fail suddenly .
M aintaining p roper t ire press ure is one of the
most impor tant things you can do to he lp
avoid sudden tire failure. Underinflated t ires
are a ma jo r cause of s udden tire failure . Keep·
ing tires at the right pressure is also impor­
tant for safe and responsive vehicle handling,
-tD
-
---------------------.. ,;
•(==.: I :::; I :,,. I)@ gi n. ............ .,_____, .... -.ito._.. ____ .... _ ...
&..p0idit,101111-~--.,...,....-- ..... ~ .... ..
-··-­.....
-
-Dlst<:OURS
- KPA.. a PSI
- KPA..
a PS I
- KPA.. a PSI
Fig. 2 50 Tire pressu re labe l
traction, braking and load carrying. Tire p res­
sures are particularly importa nt when the
vehicle is being dr iven at higher speeds, and
th en e spe cially when heav ily load ed even
with in the permissible load-carrying capaci­
ties approved for your veh icle.
The recommended tire pressures for your Audi
depend on the kind of tires on your ve hicle
and the n umbe r of passengers and/o r amount
of luggage you w ill be transporti ng.
The tire pressure label is located on the driv­
er's side B -pillar . The tire pressure labe l lists
the recommended cold t ire inflat io n pressures
for t he vehicle at its maxi mum capac ity
weight and tires that were on your veh icle at
t he time it was m anufactu red.
If you wish to improve comfort wh en operat­
ing the vehicle at normal load (up to 3 occu ­
pant s), you can adju st tire press ures to those
spe cified for n ormal vehi cle load . Before op­
erating the vehicle at maximum load , you
must increase the tire pre ssure s to those
specified for ma ximum vehicle load
¢ & .
Bear in mind that the tire pressure mon itor ing
system can only monitor the tire pressures
II>

278 Tires and wheels
you have stored. The system does not recog­
nize the load condition of your vehicle.
The effectiveness of the tire pressure monitor­
ing system w ill be impaired if yo u store nor­
mal load pressures but then operate the vehi ­
cle at its maximum load¢.&. .
See the illustration¢
fig. 249 for the location
of the label on driver's side 8-pillar (color of
the actua l label and exact location on the ve­
hicle wi ll vary slightly).
Note that the following table is accurate at
the time of going to press and is subject to
Model/ Tire designation
change. In the event of discrepancies, the tir e
pressure label located on the driver's side 8-
pillar always takes precedence.
T he table below lists the recommended cold
ti re inflation pressures for the Audi mode l
covered by your Owner's Literature at the vehi­
cle's capacity weight and the t ire sizes instal­
l ed on the respective models as original
equipment, or as a factory option.
Tire pressure
Engine normal load condition full load condition
front rear
front rear
PSI kPA PSI kPA PSI kPA PSI kPA
255/55 Rl8 109H XL
35 240 35 240 44
300 49 340 All Season
265/50 Rl9 llOH XL
35 240
35 240
44
300 49 340 All Season
Q7: 275/45 R20 llOH XL
3 .0 liter
35 240
35 240 44
300 49 340 All Season
6-cylinder
275/45 R20 llOYXL
35 240 35 240 44 300 49 340 High Performance
295/35 R21 107V XL
36 250 35 240 44 300 49 340
High Performance
XL= reinforced or extra load tire. It may also appear as xl, EXTRA LOAD, or RF on the tire side-
wall.
The correct tire pressure for the spare wheel is
located on a label on the driver's side 8-p illar .
Because technical changes may be made to
vehicle equipment dur ing the model year, al­
ways compare the tire size designation on the
tire pressure label on your vehicle w ith the
tires on your vehicle. Make sure that the tire
size info rmation on the vehicle label is the
same as the size of the tires on the vehicle.
This is especially important if the vehicle be­
l ongs to someone else or you bought the vehi­
cle with different rims/tires or you bought the
vehicle as a previously owned vehicle.
Remember, your safety and that of yo ur pas­
sengers also depends on making s ure that load
limits are not exceeded . Veh icle load in­
cludes everybody and eve ryth ing in and on the
vehicle. These load limits are techn ica lly refer­
red to as the veh icle's Gross Vehicle Weight
Rating ("GVWR"). The Gross Axle We ight Rat­
ing ("GAWR") is the maximum load that can
be applied at each of the vehicle's two ax les.
The Gross Vehicle Weight Rating and the Gross Axle Weight Rating are listed on the
safety comp liance sticker label located on the
driver's side 8-pillar . The tire pressure label on
your Audi lists the maximum combined
weight of all of the occupants and luggage or
other cargo that the veh icle can carry . For the
location of the tire pressure label¢
fig. 249. ..,_

& 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 yo ur vehicle
was designed to carry will prevent the
vehicle from handling properly and in­ crease the risk of a loss of veh icle con­
trol.
- 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 causing loss of con­
tro l and a crash .
- Always make sure that the tota l load be­
ing transported -including the we ight of
a tra ile r hi tch and the tongue weight of a
loaded trailer -does not make the veh i­
cle heav ier than the veh icle's Gross Vehi­
cl e Weight Rating.
& WARNING
- Incorre ct tire pressures and/or underin­
fla tion can lead to a serious o r fatal acci­
dent.
- Incorrect tire pressures and/or underin­
flation cause increased tire wear and can
affect the handling of the vehicle .
- Incorre ct tire pressures and/or underin­
fla tion can also lead to sudden tire fa il­
ure, incl uding a blowo ut 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 tab le
c:::> page 277, Cold tire inflation pressure .Th is
means that the pressure must be checked and
adjusted when the tire has not been driven for more than a couple of m iles (kilometers) at
low speeds during the p revious three hours .
Tires an d wheel s 2 79
Air in the tires expands when the tire heats up
as a result of internal friction as it flexes in
u se . The tire pressure is h igher when the tire
has warmed up than when it is "cold."
It is the inflation pressure in a "co ld" t ire that
counts . The refore, you should never let air o ut
of a warm tire to match "Cold t ire in flat ion
pressure" recommendat ions ¢
page 277 . The
tires wo uld then be underinf lated and could
fail suddenly .
The t ire pressure label on your Audi lists the
recommended co ld tire inflation pressures at
maximum capacity for the new, orig inal
equipment tires that were on your ve hicle at
the time it was ma nufactured . For the loca­
tion of the labe l
¢page 277, fig . 249 .
Most tires lose air naturally over t ime . They
can a lso lose some air if you drive over a pot ­
hole or hit a curb while park ing.
It is usually
not poss ible to see whethe r the rad ia l tires
u sed today are under inflated just by loo kin g
at them.
T herefo re, be su re to check t ire pressu res at
l east once a mo nth and a lways befo re go ing
o n a long tr ip. Ma ke s ure to ta ke t he number
of peop le and the amount of luggage in to ac­
count when ad justing tire pressu re for a trip -
even one that yo u wo uld not conside r to be
"long." See¢
page 281, Tires and vehicle
load limits
for more important information .
A lways use an acc ura te tire pressu re ga uge
when checking and adj usting inf lation pres ­
s ur es . Check a ll of the tires and be sure not to
forget the spare tire. If the pressure in any t ire
is too high when the tire is "cold," let a ir o ut
of the t ire s low ly w ith the edge of the tire
gauge and keep checking the pressure until
yo u reach the pressure that is correct for the
load (passengers and luggage) and k ind of
driv ing you plan to do.
If the pressure in any tire is too low, note the
difference between the pressure i n the cold
t ir e and the pressu re you need and add the air
t h at you need to reach the cor re ct pressure for
the ve hicle load (passengers and luggage) for
the tires on your vehi cle as listed on the on •
•

28 0 T ire s and wheel s
your veh icle and in this manua l and the kind
of driving yo u plan to do .
Neve r e xcee d the m ax imum inflati on pres­
s u re list e d on th e tir e s ide wall f or a ny r ea­
s on.
Remember that the vehicle manufacturer, not
the tire manufacturer , determ ines the co rrect
tire pressure for the t ires on your veh icle .
It is important to check the tire pressure when
the tires a re cold .
- Read the required t ire pres sure from the tire
pressure label. The ti re pressure label is lo­
cated on the driver's side 8-p illar . The t ire
pressure label lists the recommended cold
t ire inflat ion p ressu res for the veh icle at its
maximum capacity we ight and the tires that
were on you r vehicle at the time it was man­
ufactured . For recommended tire pressures
for normal load condit ions, please see chap­
ter
c:> page 2 77.
- Turn the valve stem cap counter-clockwise
to remove it from the tire valve.
- Place the a ir pressure gauge on the valve.
- T he tire pressures should on ly be checked
and adjusted when the tires are cold. The
s li ghtly raised pressures of warm tires must
not be reduced.
- Adjust the tire pressure to the load you are
carrying .
- Reinsta ll the va lve stem cap on the valve.
When should I check the tire pressur e?
The correct tire pressure is especially impor­
tant at high speeds. The pressure should
therefore be checked at least once a month
and always befo re starting a journey. Do not
forget to check the tire pressure for the spare wheel.
When should I ad ju st th e tire p re ss ures?
Adj ust the tire p ressure to the load you are
carry ing . After chang ing a wheel
or replacing
wheels you have to adjust the tire pressures
on all wheels . In addition, you must then
store the new tire press ures in the tir e pres­
sure monito ring system
c:> page 293.
A WARNING
Incorrect tire pressures and/or underinfla­
tion can lead sudden tire fa ilure, loss of
control, collision, serious personal injury
or even death .
- When the warn ing symbol
[I] appears in
the instrument cluster, stop and inspect
the t ires.
- Incorrect tire pressure and/or underinfla­
tion can cause increased tire wear and
can affect the hand ling of the vehicle and
stopping abi lity.
- I nco rrect tire pressures a nd/or underin­
f lation can a lso lead to sudden t ire fail­
ure, including a blowout and sudden de­
flation, ca using loss of vehicle contro l.
- The drive r is responsible for the correc t
tire pressures for all tires on the veh icle.
The applicable pressure values are locat ­
ed on a sticker on the driver's side B -pil­
lar.
- On ly when all tires on the vehicle are fil­
led to the correct pressure, the tire pres­
sure mon itoring system can work cor­
rectly.
- The use of incorrect tire pressure va lues
can lead to acc idents or other damage.
Therefore it is essential that the driver
observe the spec ified t ire pressure values
for the tires and the correct pressures for
the function of the t i re press ure monitor­
ing system.
- Always inflate t ires to the recommended
and correct t ire p ressure before dr iv ing
off.
- Driving with underinf lated tires bend
mo re, letting them get too hot resulting
in tread sepa ration, s udde n tire failure
and loss of cont ro l.
- E xcessive speed and/overloadi ng can
cause heat b uild- up, sudden tire failure
and loss of cont ro l.
- I f the tire pressure is too low or too high,
the t ires will wear prema turely and the
vehicle wi ll not handle well. ..,

-If the ti re is not flat and y ou do not have
to change a wheel immed iate ly, drive at
reduced speed to the nearest service sta­
t ion to check the tire pressure and add
air as required.
(D Note
Dr iving without va lve stem caps can cause
damage to the t ire va lves. To prevent this,
always make sure that factory installed
valve stem caps on all wheels are secu re ly
mounted on the va lve.
@) For the sake of the environment
Underinflated tires will a lso increase the
fue l consumption.
Tires and vehicle load limits
There are limits to the amount of load or
weight t hat any veh icle and any t ire ca n car ry.
A vehicle that is overloaded w ill not handle
well and is more difficult to stop. Overload ing
can not on ly lead to loss of vehicle contro l,
but can a lso damage important parts of the
vehicle and can lead to sudden tire failure, in­
cluding a blowout and sudden deflation that
can cause the ve hicle to crash.
Your safety and that of yo ur passenge rs a lso
depends on making sure that load limits are
not exceeded. Vehicle load includes everybody
and everyth ing in and on the vehicle. These
load limits a re tech nica lly referred to as the
ve hicle's
Gross Veh icle Weight Rating
("GVWR").
The "GVWR" includes the we ight of the basic
ve hicle, all factory installed accessories, a full
tank of f uel, oil, coo lant and othe r fluids plus
max imum load. The maximum load includes
the number o f passenger s that the ve hicl e is
intended to carry ("se ating capacity") w it h an
assumed weig ht o f 150 lbs (68 kg) for each
passenger at a designated seating position
and the tota l weight of any luggage in the ve­
h icle. If you tow a trailer, the weight of the
trailer hitch and the tong ue weight of the
Tire s an d wheel s 281
loaded tra ile r must be included as part of the
vehicle load .
T he
Gro ss Ax le Weight Rating (" GAWR") is
the max imum load th at can be applied at each
of the vehicle's two axles .
T he Gross Vehicle Weight Rat ing and t he
G ross Ax le Weig ht Ra ting are l iste d on the
s af ety comp liance s tic ke r la bel lo cated on the
driver's side 8 -pillar . Your Audi has 5 seating
positions, 2 in the front and 3 in the rear fo r
total seating capacity of 5. On vehicles with
s ix seats*, your vehicle has two front seats,
two seats in the second row seat ing and two
seats in the th ird row seati ng. On veh icles
with seven seats*, your vehicle has two front
seats, t hree seats in the second row s eating
and two seats in t he third row seating. Ea ch
seat ing pos itio n has a se at belt
~page 174,
Safety be lts .
The fact that ther e is a n upper limit to you r
vehicle's G ross Vehicle Weigh t Rati ng means
that the to tal weig ht of whatever is bei ng car­
ried in the vehicle ( in cl ud ing the weight of a
trailer hitch and the tongue weight of the l oa ded trai le r) is limite d. The more passen­
gers in the vehicle or passengers who are heavier than the standard we ights assumed
mean that less we ight can be carried as lug­
gage.
The tire pressure label on your Audi also lists
the max imum combined weight of all of the
occupants and luggage or other cargo that
t h e ve hicle can carry. Fo r the locat ion of the
label
~page 277, fig . 249.
A WARNING
Overloading a veh icl e can cause loss of ve­
h icl e cont ro l, a crash or o ther accide nt, se­
rio us pe rson al inj ury, a nd eve n death .
- Ca rrying more we ight tha n your ve hicle
was des igned to carry w ill prevent the
veh icle from h andling proper ly and in ­
crease the risk of the loss o f vehicle con ­
trol.
•
•

282 Tires and wheels
-The brakes on a vehicle 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, including a blowout
and sudden deflation, causing loss of
control and a crash.
- Always make sure that the total load be­
ing transported -including the weight 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.
Determining correct load limit
Use the example below to cal­
culate the total weight of the
passengers and luggage or oth­
er things that you plan to trans­
port so that you can make sure
that your vehicle will not be overloaded.
Steps for Determining
Correct Load Limit
1. Locate the statement "THE COMBINED WEIGHT OF OC­
CUPANTS AND CARGO
SHOULD NEVER EXCEED XXX KG OR XXX LBS"on your vehi­
cle's placard (tire inflation pressure label)
¢ page 2 77,
fig. 249.
2. Determine the combined
weight of the driver and pas­
sengers that will be riding in
your vehicle. 3
. Subtract the combined
weight of the driver and pas­ sengers from
"XXX" kilo­
grams or
"XXX" pounds
shown on the sticker
¢page 277, fig. 249.
4. The resulting figure equals the available amount of car­
go and luggage load capaci­
ty. For example, if the
"XXX"
amount equals 1400 lbs.
and there will be five
150
lbs. passengers in your vehi­
cle, the amount of available
cargo and luggage load ca­
pacity is
650 lbs. (1400-7 50
(5 X 150) = 650 lbs.)
5. Determine the combined
weight of luggage and cargo
being loaded on the vehicle.
That weight may not safely
exceed the available cargo
and luggage load capacity
calculated in Step 4.
6. If your vehicle will be towing
a trailer, load from your trail­
er will be transferred to your
vehicle. Consult this manual
to determine how this re­ duces the available cargo
and luggage load capacity of
your vehicle. ..,