Winter tires
Winter tires can improve vehicle handling on
snow and ice . At temperatures below 45 °F
(7 °C) we r ecommend changing to winter
tires.
In some heavy s now areas, local governments
may require true winter or "snow " tires, those
with ve ry deeply cut tread. These t ires shou ld
only be used in pa irs and be insta lled on all
fou r wheels. Ma ke sure yo u pu rchase snow
tires that are the same size and construction
type as the other tires on your vehicle .
Your veh icle is equipped w it h all-wheel drive,
this will improve tra ct io n du ring w inte r driv
ing, even with the s tandard tires. However, we
strongly recommend that yo u always eq uip a ll
four whee ls on your vehicle with cor rectly fit
ted w inter tires or all-se ason tires, when w in
te r r oad conditions are expected . This also im
proves the vehicle's braking performance and
reduces stopping distances .
Summe r tires provide less grip on ice and
snow.
W inter t ires (snow t ires) must a lways be fitted
on all four whee ls .
Ask yo ur autho rized Aud i dea ler o r qualified
wo rkshop fo r permi tted
winter tire siz es . Use
on ly radia l winter tires.
W inte r tir es lose the ir effectiveness when the
tread is worn down to a depth of 0.15 7 inch
(4 mm) .
Only drive with wi nter tires under winter con
d it ions . Summer tires hand le better when
there is no snow or ice on the roads and the
temperature is above 45 °F ( 7 °C).
I f you have a flat tire, see notes on replace
men t wheel ¢
page 239.
Please always remember that w inter tires may
h ave a lower speed rating than the t ires origi
n a lly installed on your veh icle at the t ime it
was manufactured. Plea se see ~
page 240,
Speed rating (letter code)
for a List ing of the
speed rat ing letter codes and t he maxim um
speed at w hic h the tir es can be driven.
Tire s an d wheel s 243
The speed rating letter code(¢ page 231) is
o n the side wall of the tire~
page 239 .
A WARNING
Winter t ires have maximum speed limits
that may be lower than your vehicle's max
imum speed. Always know the max imum
speed before driv ing off . Never drive faster
than the speed permitted for yo ur specific
winter tires . This wi ll ca use damage to the
tires leadi ng to an accident and ser ious
personal injury to you and your passen
gers .
A WARNING ,._.__
Driving faster than the maximum speed
for which the winter tires on your vehicle
were designed can cause tire fail ure in
cluding a blowout and sudden deflation, loss of contro l, crashes and ser ious per
sonal injuries. Have worn or damaged tires
replaced immediately .
- Wi nter tires have maximum speed rating
that may be lower than your vehicle 's
maximum speed .
- Never drive faster than the speed for
which the w inter or othe r tires installed
on you r vehicle a re rated .
A WARNING
Always a djust yo ur dr iv ing to the road and
traffic cond it ions . Never let the good ac
celer atio n of the winter t ires and al l-wheel
d rive tempt yo u into ta king ext ra risks. Al
ways remember:
- W hen braking, an all-wheel drive veh icle
handles in the same way as a front drive
vehicle .
- Drive c arefully and reduce your speed on
icy and slippery roads, even w inter t ires
cannot help under black ice conditions .
@ For the sake of the environment
Use summer tires when weather condi
tions permi t. T hey are qu iete r, do not wear
as quickly and reduce fuel consumpt ion .
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24 4 T ire s and wheel s
Snow chains
Snow chains may be fitted on ly to the front
wheels, and only to certain tire sizes. Ask your
authorized Audi dealer on whic h tire sizes
snow chains can be used.
I f you are going to use snow chains , then you
must install them on the front wheels at
l east.
The snow chains must have low-profile links
and must not be thicker than 0.4 inch (10 ,5 mm), including the lock .
Remove wheel center covers and tr im discs
before putting snow cha ins on your vehicle
c:;, Q) _ For safety reasons cover caps must the n
be fitted over the whee l bolts. These are ava il
ab le from authorized Audi dea lers.
A WARNING
Using the wrong snow chains for yo ur vehi
cle or installing them incorrectly can in
crease the risk of loss of control leading to
ser ious personal inj ury.
- Snow chains are ava ilable in different
sizes. Always make sure to follow the in
struct ions provided by the snow chain
manufacturer .
- When driving w ith snow chains never
dr ive faster than the speed permitted for
your specific snow cha ins.
- Always observe local regulat ions .
([) Note
-Remove snow cha ins before driving on
roads not covered with snow to avoid
damaging t ires and wear ing the snow
chains down unnecessar ily.
- Snow chains, wh ich come into d irect con
tact with the wheel rim, can scratch or
damage it . Therefore, make sure that the
snow chains are suitab ly covered . Check
the position of the snow chains after
driving a few yards and correct if neces
sa ry. Follow the i nstructions from the
snow cha in manufacture r when doing so.
- If the Adaptive Air Suspension* should
malfunction, do no t mo unt or use snow chains because the vehicle will be ex
treme ly low. If you do drive with snow
chains on while the vehicle is at this lev
el, the snow cha ins might severely dam
age the whee lhouse and other parts of
the vehicle .
(D Tips
Where snow chains are mandatory on cer
tain roads, th is normally a lso applies to
vehicles with all-wheel drive.
Wheel bolts
Wheel bol ts mus t alway s be tightened to the
correc t torque.
The design of wheel bolts is matched to the
factory installed rims . If different r ims are fit
ted, the correct wheel bol ts with the righ t
length and correct ly shaped bolt heads must
be used . T his ensures that wheels are fitted
securely and that the b rake system functions
co rrect ly.
In certa in circumstances, you may not use
wheel bolts from a different veh icle -even if it
is the same model
c:;, page 275 .
A WARNING
Imp rope rly t ightened or ma inta ined wheel
bo lts can become loose c ausing loss of
control, a col lision and serio us pe rsonal i n
jury .
- Always keep the wheel bo lts and the
threads in the wheel hubs clean so the
wheel bo lts can turn easily and be prop
erly tightened.
- Never g rease or oil the wheel bolts and
the threads in t he wheel hubs . They can
become loose while driv ing if greased or
oiled, even if t ightened to the specified
torque.
- On ly use wheel bolts that belong to the
rim being installed .
- Never use different wheels bolts on yo ur
veh icle.
- Always maintain the correct t ightening
torque for the whee l bolts 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
cle is moving. If the tightening torque is
too high, the whee l bolts and threads
can be damaged and the wheel can be
c ome loose.
(D Note
The spec ified torque for the wheel bo lts is
90 ft lb (120 Nm) w ith a tolerance of ± 7,4
ft lb(± 10 Nm) . Torque wheel bo lts d iago
na lly . After chang ing a wheel, the torque
m ust be che cked as soon as possib le w it h a
t orque wrenc h -preferab ly by an a utho r
ized Audi dealer or qualified workshop.
Low aspect ratio tires
Your Audi is factory-equipp ed with low aspect
ratio t ires. These t ires have been thorough ly
tested and been selected spec ifically for your
model for the ir superb performance, road feel
and handling unde r a va riety of driving condi
tions. Ask your a uthorized Aud i dea le r fo r
mo re deta ils.
T he low aspect ratio of these tires is indicated
by a nume ral of
55 or less in the tire's size
des ignation . T he numeral represents the rat io
of the ti re's sidewall height in relat io n t o its
tread wid th expressed in per cen tage . C o nven
tional t ires have a height/width ra tio of 60 or
mo re.
Th e performan ce of low -aspe ct-ratio tir es is
parti cularl y se nsitive to improper inflation
pressure . It is therefore impor tant that low
a s pect ratio tire s are inflated to the specified
pressure and that the inflation pre ssure is
regularly checked and maintained. Ti re pres
sures should be checked at least once a
month and always before a long trip
c::> page 234, Checking tire pressure .
What you can do to avoid tire and rim
damage
Low aspect ratio tires can be damaged more
eas ily by impact with potho les, curbs, gu llies
Tire s an d wheel s 245
or r idges on the road, partic ularly if the tire is
u nderinflated.
In orde r to minimize t he occ urren ce of impact
dam age to the tires o f your vehi cle, we recom
mend that you observe the following p reca u
tions:
- Always ma int ain re commended inflation
pressu res . Check your tire pressu re eve ry
2,000 miles ( 3,000 km) and add air if neces
sary.
- Dr ive ca re fu lly on roads with potholes, deep
gullies o r 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, immed iate ly inspect your
tires or have them inspected by the nearest
au thor ized Audi dealer. Replace a damaged
tire as soon as possible .
- Inspect your tires every 2,000 m iles (3,000
km) for damage and wear. Damage is no t al
ways easy to see . Damage can lead to loss of
air a nd under inflat ion, which could eventu
ally cause tire failure .
If you believe that a
t ire may have been damaged, rep lace the
t ire as soon as possib le.
- These tires may wear more quickly tha n oth
ers.
- Please also remember that, while these tires
de live r respon sive handling, they may ride
less comfo rtably and m ake more noise tha n
other choi ces .
Reduced performance in winter /cold
season conditions
A ll ti res are designed for cer ta in p urposes.
T he low aspect ratio, ult ra h igh performance
tires originally installed on your vehicle are i n
tended for maxim um dry and wet road per
f ormance and handling. They are not suitable
for cold , snowy or icy weather condi tions. If
you drive under those circumstances, you
shou ld equ ip your vehicle w it h all -season or
winter tires, which offer bette r traction under
those conditions. We suggest you use the rec
ommended snow o r all-season t ires specified
f o r yo ur vehicle , or t hei r equivalent . .,..
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246 Tires and wheels
Refer to ¢page 243 for mo re detailed infor
mation regarding winter tires .
Tire pressure
monitoring system
(D General notes
Each tire, including the spare (if provided) ,
should be checked monthly when cold and in
flated to the inflation pressure recommended by the vehicle manufacturer on the vehicle
placard or tire inflation pressure label. (If your
vehicle has tires of a different size than the
size indicated on the vehicle placard or tire in
flation pressure label, you shou ld determine
the proper tire inflation pressure for those
tires).
As an added safety feature, your vehicle has
been equipped with a tire pressure monitor ing
system (TPMS) that illuminates a low tire
p ressure telltale when one or more of your
tires is significantly under-inflated. According
ly, when the low tire pressure telltale illumi
nates, you should stop and check your tires as
soon as possible, and inflate them to the proper pressure. Driving on a significantly un
der-inflated tire causes the tire to overheat
and can lead to tire failure . Under -inflation al
so reduces fuel efficiency and tire tread life,
and may affect the vehicle's handling and
stopping ab ility.
Please note that the TPMS is not a subst itute
for proper tire maintenance, and it is the driv
e r's responsib ility to ma inta in correct tire
pressure, even if under-inflation has not
reached the level to trigger illumination of the
TPMS low tire pressure telltale.
Your veh icle has also been equ ipped w ith a
TPMS malfunction indicator to indicate when
the system is not operating properly. The
TPMS malfunction indicator is combined with
the low tire pressure telltale . When the sys
tem detects a malfunction, the te lltale will
flash for approximately one minute and then remain continuously illuminated. This se- quence will continue upon subsequent vehicle
start-ups as
long as the malfunction exists.
When the malfunction indicator 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 variety 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
telltale after replacing one or more tires or
wheels on your vehicle to ensure that the re
placement o r alternate ti res and wheels allow
the TPM S to cont inue to function properly.
Description
The tire pressure monitoring system monitors
the pressure in the four tires when driving.
The system uses sensors that measure the
temperature and pressure in the tires. Theda
ta is sent from these sensors to the control
module by radio frequency.
The tire pressure monitoring system shows
the current pressures and temperatures of the
tires in the Infotainment system
¢page 247.
It also compares the current tire pressures
with the stored pressures and gives a warning in the driver information system if the tire
pressure is different from what is stored
¢ page 247.
The system does not detect if the stored tire
pressures match the recommended tire pres
sures. You must resave the tire pressures
¢page 248:
- eve ry time the tire p ressu res change, for ex
ample when the load in the vehicle changes,
- after replacing a t ire, or
- if wheels w ith new wheel sensors are used .
_&. WARNING
-The tire pressu re monitoring sys tem as
sists the driver in monitoring tire pres
sures. The driver is responsible for having
the tires inflated to the correct pressure. ..,.