2015 AUDI A3 CABRIOLET tire type

228 Tires an d whee ls
Tires and wheels
Tires
General notes
Tires may be the least appreci­
ated and most abused parts of
a motor vehicle.
Ti res may be the least appreci­
ated and most abused parts of
a motor vehicle. Tires are, how­
ever, one of the most important
parts of a vehicle, particularly
considering the comparatively
small patch of r ubber on each
tire that assures that all-impor­
tant contact between you, your
vehicle and the road.
Maintaining the co rrect tire
p ressure, making sure that your
vehicle and its tires do not have
to carry more we ight than they
can safe ly handle, avoiding
damage from road hazards and
regularly inspecting tires for
damage including cuts, s lashes
irregular wear and overall con ­
d ition are the most important
things that you can do to help
avoid sudden tire failure inc lud­
ing tread separation and blow­
outs.
Avoiding damage
If you have to drive over a curb
or similar obstacle, drive very
slowly and as close as possible
at a right angle to the curb.
Always keep chemicals includ­
ing grease, oil, gasoline and
brake fluid off the tires.
Inspect the tires regularly for
damage (cuts, cracks or blis­
ters, etc.). Remove any foreign
bodies embedded in the treads.
Storing tires
Mark tires when you remove
them to indicate the direction
of rotation. This ensures you to be able to mount them correct ­
ly when you reinstall them.
When removed, the wheels or
tires should be stored in a cool,
dry and preferably dark p lace.
Store tires in a vertical position if they are not mounted on
rims, in a horizontal position if
they are mounted on rims.
New tires
New tires have to be broken in
¢ &.
The tread depth of new tires
may vary, according to the type .,.

230 Tires and wheels
-If you notice unusual vibra­
tion or if the vehicle pulls to
one side when driving, al­
ways stop as soon as it is
safe to do so and check the
wheels and tires for dam­
age.
0 Note
-Please note that summer and winter tires are de­
signed for the conditions
that are typical in those sea­
sons. Audi recommends us­
ing winter tires during the
winter months. Low tem­ peratures significantly de­
crease the elasticity of
summer tires, which affects
traction and braking ability. If summer tires are used
in
very cold temperatures, cracks can form on the tread
bars, resulting in perma­
nent tire damage that can
cause loud driving noise and
unbalanced tires. Audi is not
responsible for this type of
damage.
-Burnished, polished or chromed rims must not be used in winter road condi­
tions. The surface of the
rims does not have suffi­
cient corrosion protection
for this and could be perma­
nently damaged by road salt
or similar substances.
Glossary of tire and loading terminology
Accessory weight
means the combined weight (in
excess of those standard items
which may be replaced) of auto­ matic transmission, power
steering, power brakes, power
windows, power seats, radio, and heater, to the extent that
these items are available as fac­
tory-installed equipment (whether installed or not).
Aspect ratio
means the ratio of the height to
the width of the tire in percent.
Numbers of 55 or lower indi­
cate a low sidewall for im­
proved steering response and
better overall handling on dry
pavement.
...

M N
" > co ,...., \!) 1.1'1 ,...., 1.1'1 ,....,
Driving style
Driving fast around curves,
heavy acceleration and hard
braking increase tire wear.
Rotating tires for more even
wear
For all four tires on your vehicle
to have the same service life,
we recommend that the front
and rear tires are rotated ac­
cording to the tire manufactur­
er's suggested tire rotation in­
tervals. Please remember the
following:
-Tire rotation intervals may dif­ fer from the vehicle service in­tervals outlined in your War­ranty
& Maintenance booklet .
-The longer one tire is used in one location on the vehicle ,
the more it wears at certain points; therefore, we recom­
mend that you follow the tire
manufacturer's suggested tire
rotation intervals.
-Vehicles with front-wheel drive experience more tread
wear on the front wheels com­
pared to all-wheel drive (quat­
tro).
-Please rotate ti res as shown
¢ fig. 175.
Tires and wheels 24 7
-Extra care must be taken when rotating direction-specific
tires ¢
page 268.
Wheel balancing
The wheels on new vehicles are
balanced. However, various sit­
uations during everyday driving
can cause them to become un­ balanced, resulting in vibra­
tions you can usually feel
through the steering wheel.
Unbalanced wheels must be re­
balanced to avoid excessive
wear on steering, suspension
and tires. A wheel must also be rebalanced when a new tire is
installed.
Incorrect wheel alignment
Incorrect wheel alignment can
cause excessive tire wear, im­pairing the safety of the vehi­
cle. If tires show excessive
wear, have the wheel alignment checked by an authorized Audi
dealer or qualified workshop.
All-wheel drive
Vehicles with quattro must al­
ways have tires of the same size, construction and tread
type . For details see
¢ page 192 .
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Tires and wheels 253
sure of their "previous histo-and sudden deflation and
ry." Old used tires may have loss of control.
been damaged even though -Temperature grades apply
the damage cannot be seen to tires that are properly in-
that can lead to sudden tire flated and not over or un-
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failure and loss of vehicle derinflated.
control. -For technical reasons it is
-All four wheels must be fit- not always possible to use
ted with radial tires of the wheels from other vehicles -
same type , size (rolling cir-
in some cases not even
cumference) and the same wheels from the same vehi-
tread pattern. Driving with cle model.
different tires reduces vehi- -If you install wheel trim
cle handling and can lead to discs on the vehicle wheels,
a loss of control. make sure that the air flow
-If the spare tire is not the to the brakes is not blocked.
same as the tires that are Reduced airflow to the
mounted on the vehicle - for brakes can them to over-
example with winter tires - heat, increasing stopping
only use the spare tire for a distances and causing a col-
short period of time and lision.
drive with extra ca re. Refit -Run flat tires may only be
the normal road wheel as used on vehicles that were
soon as safely possible. equipped with them at the
-Never drive faster than the factory. The vehicle must
maximum speed for which have a chassis designed for
the tires on your vehicle are run flat tires. Incorrect use
rated because tires that are of run flat tires can lead to
driven faster than their rat- vehicle damage or acci-
ed speed can fail suddenly. dents. Check with an au-
-Overloading tires cause heat thorized Audi dealer or tire
' M • N
" build-up, sudden tire fail- specialist to see if your vehi-> co ......
ure, including a blowout cle can be equipped with ... \!) 1.1'1
...... 1.1'1 ......

254 Tires and wheels
run flat tires. If run flat tires
are used, they must be in­
stalled on all four wheels. Mixing tire types is not per­
mitted.
@) Note
-For technical reasons, it is not generally possible to
use the wheel rims from
other 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 vehicle
(for example winter tires or
wide prof ile tires), then use
the spare tire for a short pe­
riod of time only and drive
with extra care. Replace the
flat tire with the tire match­ ing the others on your vehi­
cle 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 accord­
ance w ith the local require­
ments.
Uniform tire quality grading
- Tread wea r
- Traction AA A B C
- Temperature ABC
Quality g rades can be foun d where applicab le
on the t ire s ide wall between t read sho ulder
and maximum section width
¢ page 248,
fig . 176 .
For example: Tread wear 200 , Traction AA,
Tempera ture A .
All passenge r ca r tir es must con fo rm to Feder ­
al Safety Req uirements in ad dition to these
grades.
Tread wear
T he tread we ar g rade is a c omparative r ati ng
b as ed on the wea r ra te of the tire when tes ted
u nder con tro lled cond itions o n a specifie d
government test course .
F o r ex am ple, a tire gr aded 1 S0 would wear
o n e and one h alf ( 11/ 2) times as well on the
government course as a tire gr aded 10 0 .
T he re lative per forman ce of tires depen ds
up on the actu al cond itions of the ir use, h ow­
ever, and m ay dep art s ignific antly from the
no rm due to va ria tions i n driving ha bits, se rv ­
ice p ractices and differe nces in road c haracter­
ist ics and climate.
Traction
The tr actio n gr ad es, fro m hig hest to lowest,
are AA, A, Ban d
C. Those grades represent t he
ti re 's ability to stop on wet pavement as
measured unde r cont rolled conditions on
specified g overnment test surfaces of aspha lt
and co ncrete. A t ire mar ked C may have poor
traction performance
¢ A .
Temperature
The temperature g rades are A (the highest),
B, an d C, represe nting the tire's resistance to
the generation of heat and its ab ility to dissi­
pate heat when tested unde r controlled condi­
t ions on a specif ied ind oor l abo rato ry test
whee l.

M N
" > co ,...., \!) 1.1"1 ,...., 1.1"1 ,....,
Sustained high tem perature can cause the
materia l of the tire to degenerate and reduce
tire life, and excessive temperature can lead
to sudden tire failure <=>,& .
The grade C corresponds to a level of per form­
ance which a ll passenger car tires must meet
under the Federa l Motor Veh icle Safety Stand­
ard No. 109. Grades Band A represent higher levels of performance on the laboratory test
wheel than the m inimum required by law.
_&. WARNING
The traction grade assigned to this t ire is
based on stra ight-ahead b raking t raction
tests, and does not include acceleration,
c o rnering, hydrop lan ing o r peak tr actio n
character istics .
_&. WARNING
The temperature grade for this t ire is es­
tablished for a ti re that is p roperly inflated
and not overloaded . Excessive speed, un­
derinflation, or excessive loading, either
separately or in combination, can cause
heat buildup and possible tire fa ilure.
Winter tires
Winter tires can improve vehicle handling on
snow and ice. At temperatures below 45 °F
(7 °C) we recommend changing to winter
tires .
In some heavy snow areas, loca l governments
may require true winter or "snow" tires, those
with very deeply cut tread. These tires shou ld
only be used in pa irs and be installed on all
four wheels. Make sure you pu rchase snow
tires that are the same size and const ruct ion
type as t he other tires on your ve hicle.
If your vehicle is equipped with all-wheel
d rive*, this will improve tract ion during winte r
d riving, eve n w it h the standard t ires. Howev­
e r, we strong ly recommend t hat you a lways
eq uip a ll four wheels on yo ur vehicle wi th cor­
rectly fitted win ter t ires or a ll-season tires,
when winter road conditions are expected .
Tires an d wheel s 255
This also improves the veh icle's b rak ing per ­
formance and reduces stopping distances.
Summe r ti res prov ide les s gr ip on i ce and
snow.
Winter t ires (snow tires) must always be fitted
o n all fo ur whee ls.
Ask your authorized Audi dealer or qualified
workshop for permitted winter tire sizes. Use
o nl y rad ial winter t ires.
Winter tires lose their effectiveness whe n the
tread is worn down to a depth of0 .157 inch
(4 mm) .
Only drive w ith w inter t ires under w inter con­
dit ions. Summer t ires handle better when
there is no snow or ice on the roads and the
temperature is above 45 °F (7 °() .
If you have a flat tire, see notes on spare
whee l¢
page 248.
Please a lways remember that winter tires may
have a lower speed rating t han the tires o rigi­
nally installed on your vehicle at the time it
was manufactured. P lease see¢
page 251,
Speed rating (letter code)
for a listing of the
speed rating le tter codes and the max imum
speed at which the tires can be d rive n.
The speed rating letter code(¢
page 233) is
o n the side wall of the tire ¢
page 248.
_&. WARNING
Winter t ires have maximum speed limits
that may b e lower than yo ur vehicle's max­
imum speed. Always know the max imum
speed before dr iv ing off. Never dr ive faster
than the speed permitted for yo ur spe cific
win ter tires . This wi ll ca use damage to the
tires leading to an accident and ser ious
personal injury to you and your passen­
gers.
_&. WARNING
Driving faster than the maximum speed
for which the winter tires on your ve hicle
were designed can cause t ire fail ure in­
cluding a blowout and sudden d eflation,
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262 What do I do now ?
Cargo flo or cover
,. Hang the plastic hook on the l uggage com­
partment weather str ip -arrow-. ¢
fig. 179
Spare tire
General information
Applies to vehicles: wit h space -sav ing s pare tire (com pact
spare t ire)
Fi g. 180 Luggage co m pa rt m en t: cargo f loo r cover
folded upward
F ig . 181 Compact spare t ire
T he spare tire ¢ fig . 181 is intended for short­
term use only. Have the damaged tire checked and replaced if necessary by an authorized
Audi dealer or qualified repair facility as soon
as poss ible .
There are some restrictions on the use of the compact spare tire. The compact spare t ire
has been designed specifically for your type of
vehicle . Do not replace it w ith the spare t ire
from another type of veh icle .
Remo ving the spa re tir e
,. Lift the cargo floor by the plastic handle.
,. Hang the plastic hook on the luggage com­
partment weather strip @ ¢
fig. 180.
,. Remove the subwoofer*, if necessary
Q page 263 .
,. Turn the large screw counter-clockwise . ,.
Remove the spare ti re .
Snow chains
For techn ical reasons, the use of snow chains
o n the compact spa re tire is not perm itted .
If you have to drive with snow chains and a
front tire fails, mount the spare wheel in place of a rear tire. Install the snow chains on the
rear tire that you removed, and install that in
place of the front tire that fa iled.
A WARNING
- After insta lling a spare tire, the tire pres ­
sure must be checked as soon as possi­
b le. The tire press ure is available on
¢ page 235 , fig. 173
-If the spare tire is more than 6 years old,
use it only in an emergency and with ex­
treme caution and careful driv ing.
- The spare tire is intended only for tem­
porary and short-term use. It shou ld be
replaced as soo n as poss ible with the
normal wheel and tire.
-After mounting the compact spare tire, the tire pressure must be checked as
soon as possible. The tire pressure of the
compact spare t ire must be
4.2 bar; oth­
erwise, you risk having an acc ident .
- Do not dr ive faste r than
50 mph (80 km/
h) . Yo u risk having an accident .
- Avoid full-thrott le acceleration, heavy
b rak ing, and fast cornering. You risk hav­
ing an accident .
- Never d rive using more than one spare
wheel and ti re . You r isk having an acc i­
dent .
- Normal summer or winter t ires must not
be mounted on the compact spare wheel
nm.
- For technical reasons, the use of tire
chains on the spare tire is not permitted .
If it is ne cessary to d rive wi th tire c ha ins,
t he spare w heel must be mounted on the
front ax le in the event of a flat in a rear
tire. The new ly available front whee l
m ust t hen be insta lled in p lace of the
rear whee l w ith the flat tire. Installing .,.