256 Tires a nd whee ls
Driving style - Extra care must be ta ken when
Driving fast around curves , rotat
ing direction-specific
heavy acceleration and hard tires
¢
page 2 77.
b raking increase tire wear.
Wheel balancing
Rotating tires for more even
The wheels on new vehicles are
wear ba lanced. However, various sit-
For all four tires on your vehicle uations during everyday driving
to have the same service life, can cause them to become un-
we recommend that the front balanced, resulting in vibra-
and rear tires are rotated ac -tions you can usually feel
cording to the tire manufactur- through the steering wheel.
er's suggested tire rotation in- Unbalanced wheels must be re-
tervals . Please remember the
balanced to avoid excessive
following: wear on steering, suspension
-T ire rotation intervals may dif -and tires. A wheel must also be
fer from the vehicle service in· rebalanced when a new tire is
tervals outlined in your War- insta
lled.
ranty
& Maintenance booklet . Incorrect wheel alignment
-The longer one tire is used in
Incorrect wheel alignment can
one location on the vehicle,
cause excessive tire wear, im-
the more it wears at certain
pairing the safety of the vehi-
points; therefore, we recom-
cle. If tires show excessive
mend that you follow the tire
wear, have the wheel alignment
manufacturer's suggested tire
checked by an authorized Audi
rotation intervals.
dealer or qualified workshop.
-Vehicles with front-wheel
dr ive experience more t read
All-wheel drive
wear on the front wheels com-
Vehicles with quattro must al-
pared to all-wheel drive (quat- ways have tires of the same
tro) .
size, construction and tread
-Please rotate tires as shown type. For details see
¢
fig . 198. ¢page 197. ...
Vehicle tool kit
Vehicle tool kit and jack
The vehicle tool kit is located in the luggage
compartment under the cargo floor cover.
Fi g. 204 Luggage compa rtme nt: cargo floor cover
folded upward/spare tire
Fig. 205 Trunk lid: Vehicle too l kit
.. Lift the cargo floor by the plastic handle
c:> fig . 204.
.. Hook the handle into the luggage compart
ment weather strip .
.. Turn the handwheel counter-clockwise
c:> fig. 204 and remove the spare tire to
reach the vehicle too l kit.
.,. Unhook the ca rgo floor before clos ing the
rear lid.
The onboard tool kit includes:
- Hooks to remove the wheel covers*
- Plastic hook to remove wheel bolt covers*
- Wheel bolt wrench
- Alignment pin for changing wheels
- Screwdriver w ith reversible blade
- T owing eye
~ -Jack
0
~ Before storing the jack, make sure it is wound rl
:5: back down as far as it will go.
rl l/1 rl
What do I d o now ? 271
A WARNING
Im proper use of the vehicle jack can cause
serious personal injur ies.
- Never use the screw driver hex head to
tighten wheel bolts, since the bolts can
not attain the necessary tighten ing tor
que if you use the hex head, potentially
causing an accident.
- The factory-supplied jack is intended on
ly for yo ur vehicle model. Under no c ir
cumstances should it be used to lift heavy veh icles or other loads; you risk in
ju ring yo urself.
- Never start the engine when the vehicle
is raised, wh ich could cause an acc ident.
- Support the vehicle securely with appro
priate stands if work is to be performed
underneath the vehicle; otherwise, there
is a potentia l risk for injury.
- Never use the jack supplied wit h your
Audi on another vehicle, particularly on a
heavier one. The jack is only s uitable for
use on the vehicle it came with.
(D Tips
- Some of the onboard items listed above
are provided on certain models only or
are optional ext ras .
- Before yo u can raise your vehicle using
the jack, you must activate the jacking
mode
c:!) page 2 75 .
Space-saving spare tire (compact spare
tire )
The spare tire/wheel is located in the luggage
compartment under the cargo floor cover. It
is intended for short-term use only.
Ta king out the spare tire
.. Lift the cargo floor by the p lastic handle
<=) page 271, fig . 204 .
.. Hook the handle into the luggage compart
ment weather strip.
.. Turn the large screw
¢ page 271, fig. 204
counter -clockwise .
.,. Take out the spa re tire .
276 What do I do now?
-On hard, slippery surface (such as tiles)
use a rubber mat or similar to prevent
the jack from slipping.
- To help prevent injury to yourself and
your passengers:
- Do not raise the vehicle until you a re
sure the jack is securely engaged.
- Passengers must not remain in the ve
hicle when it is jacked up.
- Make sure that passengers wait in a
safe place away from the vehicle and
well away from the road and traffic.
- Make sure jack position is correct , ad
just as necessary and then continue to raise the jack.
- Changes in temperature or load can af
fect the height of the vehicle.
(D Note
Do not lift the vehicle by the sill. Position
the vehicle jack only at the designated lift
ing points on the sill. Otherwise, your vehi
cle will be damaged.
(D Tips
The vehicle jack mode* switches off auto matically at speeds above 6 mph (10 km/
h).
Removing and installing the sill cover
Applies to vehicles: with sill
Fig . 211 Sill: remov ing t he cover
.. Pull the cover down to remove it¢ fig . 211.
.,. To install the cover again , insert it into the
retainers and then swing it upward until it
clicks into place. The cover must be flush
with the sill.
(D Tips
Some models may also have a cover for the
rear vehicle lift point.
Taking the wheel off /installing the spare
Follow these instructions st ep-by-step for
changing the wheel.
Fig. 212 Changing a wheel: using the screwdrive r han
dle (w it h th e blade re m oved) to turn the bolt s
Fig. 213 Changing a wheel: alignment p in ins ide t he
top hole
After you have loosened all wheel bolts and
raised the vehicle off the ground, remove and
replace the wheel as follows:
Removing the wheel
.. Use the hexagonal socket in the screwdriv
er handle
to completely remove the top
most wheel bolt and set it aside on a
clean
surface ¢ fig. 212 .
.,. Screw the threaded end of the alignment
pin
from the tool kit hand-tight into the
empty bolt hole
¢ fig . 213 .
.,. Then remove the other wheel bolts as de
scribed above .
.. Take off the wheel leaving the alignment pin
in the bolt hole
¢(D . Ill>
M N
0 <.J 'SI: ,...., \!) ..,.,
,...., ..,., ,....,
Putting on the spare wheel
"'Lift the spare wheel and ca refully slide it
over the alignment pin to guide it in place
¢ (D .
"' Use the hexagonal socket in the screwdriver
handle to screw in and tighten all wheel
bolts
slightly.
"' Remove the alignment pin and insert and
t ighten the remaining wheel bolt s lightly
like the rest .
"'T urn the jack handle counte r-clockw ise to
lower the vehicle unt il the jac k is f ully re
l eased .
"' Use the whee l bolt wrench to tighten a ll
whee l bolts firmly
¢ page 274. Tighten
them
crosswis e, from one bolt to the (ap
proximate ly) opposite one, to keep the
wheel cen tered.
When removing or install ing the wheel,
the rim could hit the brake rotor and dam
age the rotor. Work carefully and have a
second person help you .
{D) Tips
Never use the hexagonal socket in the han
dle of the screwdriver to loosen or t ighten
the wheel bolts .
- Pull the reversib le blade from the screw
driver before you use the hexagonal
socket in the handle to turn the whee l
bo lts.
- When mounting tires with
un id ire ctional
tread design
make s ure the tread pat
tern is poi nted the right way
¢ page 277.
- The wheel bolts should be clean and easy
to tu rn . Check for d irt and corrosion on
the mat ing su rfaces of both the whee l
and the h ub. Remove a ll dir t from these
su rfaces before remo unting the wheel.
What do I do now? 277
Tires with unidirectional tread design
Tires with unidirectional tread design must be
mounted with their tread pattern pointed in the right direction .
Usi ng a spa re ti re with a tre ad patte rn
intended for use in a specific direction
When using a spare t ire with a tread patter n
intended for use in a spec ific d irection, please
note the following :
- The d irect ion of rotation is marked by an ar
row on t he side of the ti re .
- If the spare tire has to be installed in the in
correct direct ion, use the spare tire only
temporarily s ince the t ire will not be able to
achieve its optimum performance cha racte r
istics w it h regard to aquap la ni ng, no ise and
wear .
- We recommend that you pay part icu lar at
ten tion to th is fact during we t wea ther and
t ha t you adjust your speed to match road
conditions .
- Replace the fl at t ire wi th a new one and
have i t installed on your vehicle as soon as
possible to restore the hand ling advantages
of a un idirectional tire .
Notes on wheel changing
Please read the information¢ page 257, New
tires and replacing tires and wheels
if you a re
go ing to use a spare tire wh ich is different
from the tires on you r vehicle .
After you change a tire:
- Check the tire pre ssure on the spare imme
diately after installation.
- Have the wheel bolt tightening torqu e
checked with a torque wrench as soon a s
possible by your authorized Audi dealer or
a qualified service station.
- With steel and alloy wheel rims , the wheel
bolts are cor re ctly tightened at a torque of
90 ft lb (120 Nm ).
- If you notice that the wheel bolts are cor
roded and diff icult to turn while changing
a tire , they should be replaced before you
check the t ightening torque. .,,.
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