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.
~check the tire sidewall
(¢page 236, fig. 160) to de
termine the designated load
rating for a specific tire.
Tire service life
The service life of tires depends on a lot of
different things including proper installation
and balan cing, correct tire pressure and driv
ing style.
Fig. 158 T ir e tread: tread wea r ind icators (TWI)
Fig. 159 Rotat ing t ires for more even wea r
Tires and wheels 235
Tread Wear Indicator (TWI)
The orig inal tires on your vehicle have
1/16 inch ( 1.6 mm) hig h "wear indicators"
r:::>fig. 158 run ning across the tread. Depend
ing on the make, there will be six to eight of
them evenly placed around the tire. Marks on
the tire sidewall (for examp le "TWI" or other
symbols) indicate the positions of the tread
wear indicators . Worn tires must be replaced .
D ifferent figures may apply in other countr ies
¢ Lr:,. .
Tire pressure
Incorrect t ire pressure causes premature wear
and can cause sudde n tire blow-out. For this
reason, tire pressure must be checked at least
once a month
r::> page 231.
Driving style
Driving fast around curves , heavy acce lerat ion
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 according to
the tire manufacturer's suggested tire rota
tion intervals. Please remember the follow
i ng:
- Tire rotation intervals may differ from the
veh icle 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 recommend that you
follow the tire manufact urer's suggested
tire rotation intervals.
- Ve hicl es w ith front -wheel dr ive experience
more tread wear on the fro nt wheels com
pared to a ll-wheel drive (quattro) .
- Please rotate tires as shown
r:::> fig . 159 .
-Extra care must be taken when rotating di-
rection-specific tires
r::> page 253 .
Wheel balancing
The wheels on new vehicles are balanced .
However, various s ituations during everyday
driv ing can cause them to become
Emergency situations
General
This chapter is intended for trained emer
gency crews and working personnel who have the necessary tools and equipment to
perform these operations.
Starting by pushing or
towing
(D Note
Vehicles with an automatic transmission
cannot be started by pushing or towing.
Starting with jumper
cables
If necessary, the engine can be started by
connecting it to the battery of another vehi
cle.
If the engine should fail to start because of a
discharged or weak battery, the battery can be
connected to the battery of
another vehicle,
using a
pair of jumper cables to start the en
gine.
Jumper cables
Use only jumper cables of sufficiently large
cross section to carry the starter current safe
ly. Refer to the manufacturer's specifications.
Use only jumper cables with
insulated termi
nal clamps which are distinctly marked :
plus(+) cable in most cases colored red
minus(-) cable
in most cases colored black.
A WARNING
Batteries contain electricity, acid, and gas.
Any of these can cause very serious or fatal
injury. Follow the instructions below for
safe handling of your vehicle's battery.
- Always shield your eyes and avoid lean
ing over the battery whenever possible.
- A discharged battery can freeze at tem
peratures just below 32 °F (0 °C). Before
Emergency situations 259
connecting a jumper cable, you must
thaw the frozen battery completely, oth
erwise it could explode.
- Do not allow battery acid to contact eyes
or skin. Flush any contacted area with
water immediately .
- Improper use of a booster battery to start a vehicle may cause an explosion.
- Vehicle batteries generate explosive gas
es. Keep sparks, flame and lighted ciga
rettes away from batteries.
- Do not try to jump start any vehicle with a low acid level in the battery.
- The voltage of the booster battery must
also have a 12-volt rating. The capacity
(Ah) of the booster battery should not be
lower than that of the discharged bat
tery . Use of batteries of different voltage
or substantially different "Ah" rating
may cause an explosion and personal in
JU ry.
- Never charge a frozen battery. Gas trap
ped in the ice may cause an explosion.
-Never charge or use a battery that has
been frozen. The battery case may have
be weakened.
- Use of batteries of different voltage or
substantially different capacity (Ah) rat
ing may cause an explosion and injury.
The capacity (Ah) of the booster battery
should not be lower than that of the dis
charged battery.
- Before you check anything in the engine
compartment, always read and heed all
WARNINGS
¢ page 210.
(D Note
-Applying a higher voltage booster bat
tery will cause expensive damage to sen
sitive electronic components, such as
control units, relays, radio, etc.
- There must be no electrical contact be
tween the vehicles as otherwise current
could already start to flow as soon as the
positive(+) terminals are connected. ..,. •
•
•
