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General information
Applies to vehicles: with side assist
®
©
Fig . 102 Dr iving situations
AUDI
Fig. 103 Rear of t he ve hicle: positio n of t he se nsors
Side assist functions at speeds above approx i
mately 19 mph (30 km/h).
@ Vehicl es th at ar e approaching
In certain cases, a vehicle will be classified as
cr itical for a lane change even if it is still
somewhat far away. The faster a vehicle ap
p roaches, the sooner the display in the exteri
or m irror will t urn on.
@ V ehicles traveling with you
Vehicles traveling w ith you are indicated in the
exterior m irror if they are classified as cr itical
for a lane change. All vehicles detec ted by
side assist are indicated by the time they en
ter your "blind spot", at the latest.
Audi side assist 9 7
© Vehicle s left behind
If you s low ly pass a vehi cle that s ide assist has
detected (the difference in speed between the
vehicle and you r vehicle is less than 9 mph or
15 km/h), the display in the exterior mirror
turns on as soon as the vehicle enters your blind spot.
The disp lay will not t urn on if you quickly pass
a vehicle that side assist has detected (the dif
ference in speed between the vehicle and your
vehicle is greater than 9 mph or 15 km/h).
Functi onal limitation s
The radar sensors are designed to detect the
left and right adjacent lanes when the road
lanes are the normal width. In certain situa
tions, the d isp lay in the exterior mirror may
turn on even though there is no veh icle locat
ed in the area that is cr itical for a lane change.
For example:
- if the lanes are narrow or if your are dr iving
on the edge of your lane.
If this is the case,
the system may have detected the vehicle in
another lane that is
not adjacent to your
current lane .
- if you a re driving through a curve. Side assist
may react to a vehicle that is one lane ove r
from the adjacent lane.
- if side assist reacts to other objects (such as
high or d isp laced guard rails) .
- In poor weather conditions. The side assist
functions are l imited .
Do not cover the radar sensors
c> fig. 103 with
stickers, depos its, bicycle wheels or other ob
jects, because this will affect the funct ion. Do
not use s ide ass ist when towing a trailer. For
i nformation on cleaning, refer to
c> page 209 .
_&. WARNING
-Always pay attention to traffic and to t he
area around your ve hicl e. S ide assist can
not replace a driver's attention. The driv
er a lone is always responsible for lane
changes and similar driving mane uvers.
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-If you notice unusual vibration 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.
(D Note
-Please note that summer and winter tires are de
signed for the conditions
that are typical in those sea
sons. Audi recommends using winter tires during the
winter months. Low tem peratures significantly de
crease the elasticity of
summer tires, which affects
traction and braking ability.
Tires and wheels 239
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.
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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.
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Maximum load rating
means the load rating for a tire
at the maximum permissible in
flation 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 infla
tion 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 occu pants in a vehicle.
Outer diameter
means the overall diameter of
an inflated new tire.
Tires and wheels 241
Overall width
means the linear distance be
tween the exteriors of the side
walls of an inflated tire, includ ing elevations due to labeling,
decorations, or protective bands or ribs.
Ply
means a layer of rubber-coated
parallel cords.
Production options weight
means the combined weight of
those installed regular produc
tion options weighing over 5 lbs. (2 . 3 kg) in excess of those
standard items which they re
place, not previously consid
ered in curb weight or accessory
weight, including heavy duty
brakes, ride levelers, roof rack,
heavy duty battery, and special
trim.
Radial ply tire
means a pneumatic tire in
which the ply cords that extend
to the beads are laid at sub stantially 90 degrees to the
centerline of the tread.
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242 Tires and whee ls
Recommended inflation Sidewall
pressu re
means that portion of a tire be -
see
c:::> page 240, Cold tire infla-tween the tread and bead.
tion pressure.
Spe ed rating (letter code )
Reinforced tire
means the speed at which a tire
means a tire design to operate
is designed to be driven for ex-
at higher loads and at higher tended periods of time. The rat-
inflation pressures than the ings range from 93 mph (150
corresponding standard t ire .
km/h) to 186 mph (298 km/h)
Reinforced tires may be identi -
c:::> page 260. You may not find
fied as "XL", "xl", "EXTRA
this information on all tires be-
LOAD", or "RF" on the sidewall.
cause it is not required by law.
Rim The speed rating letter code,
means a meta l support for a where applicable
, is molded on
tire or a tire and tube assembly the tire sidewall and indicates
upon which the tire beads are the
maximum pe rmissible road
seated . speeds
c:::> A in Winter tires on
Rim diameter
page 264.
means
nominal diameter of the
Tire pressure monitoring
system
bead seat. If yo u change your
means a system that detects
wheel size, you will have to pur-
chase new tires to ma tch the when one or more of a vehicle's
new rim diameter . tires a
re underinflated and illu-
Rim size designation
m inates a low tire pressure
warning telltale.
means rim diameter and width.
Tread
Rim width
means that portion of a tire
means nominal distance be-
that comes into contact with
tween rim flanges. the road.
...
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_&. WARNING
Sudden tire failure can lead
to loss of control, a crash and serious personal injury!
-Never drive a vehicle when the tread on any tire is worn down to the wear indica
tors.
-
-Worn tires are a safety haz ard, they do not grip well on
wet roads and increase your risk of "hydroplaning" and
loss of control.
-Always keep chemicals that can cause tire damage, such
as grease, oil, gasoline and brake fluid away from tires .
-Tires age even if they are not being used and can fail
suddenly, especially at high
speeds. Tires that are more
than 6 years old can only be used in an emergency and
then with special care and at lower speeds.
-Never mount used tires on your vehicle if you are not sure of their "previous history." Old used tires may have
been damaged even though
the damage cannot be seen
that can lead to sudden tire
Tires and wheels 257
failure and loss of vehicle control.
New tires and replacing
tires and wheels
New tires and wheels hove to
be broken in.
Fig. 199 Tire specification codes on
the sidewall of a tire
No. Description
CD Passenger car tire (where
applicable)
0 Nominal width of tire in
millimeters
® Ratio of height to width
(aspect ratio)
© Radial
® Rim diameter code
Tires and wheels 259
characteristics, and safety of This contains the following in-•
the vehicle. The table formation: • '
(¢ page 244) lists specifica-p Indicates the tire is for pas-
tions of the tires approved for senger cars (where applica-
the Audi models covered by ble)
your Owner's Literature .
255 Nominal tire width in mm
The tire pressure label located of the tire from sidewall
on driver's side B-pillar edge to sidewall edge. In
( ¢
page 244~ fig. 196) lists the
general, the larger the num-
specifications of the original ber, the wider the tire
equipment tires installed on
40 Height/width ratio in per-
your vehicle at the time it was cent (aspect ratio)
manufactured.
R Tire construction: Radial
Federal law requires tire manu-
19 Rim diameter code (in in-
facturers to place standardized ches)
information on the sidewall of
100 Load rating code
all tires ¢
fig. 199. This infor-H Speed rating letter code
mation identifies and describes
XL (or "xl", "EXTRA LOAD" or
the fundamental characteris- "RF
") Indicates that the tire
tics, the quality grade of the is a "Reinforced" or an "Extra
tire and also provides a tire Load" tire
identification number for safety
M+S (or "M/5") Indicates that
standard certification and in the tire has some mud and
case of a recall. snow capability
Tire specifications The tires could also have the in-
Knowledge of tire specifications formation of direction of rota-
tion
c:::> page 238.
makes it easier to choose the
correct tires
. Radial tires have
Tire manufacturing date
the tire specifications marked
The manufacturing date is also
M on the sidewall, for example: indicated on the tire sidewall N
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of the wheel): 1.1'1 .... ,...., 1.1'1 ,....,
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run flat tires. If run flat tires
are u sed , they must be in
stalled on all four wheels. Mixing tire types is not per
mitted.
(D 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 profile tires), then use
the spare tire for a short pe riod of time only and drive
with extra care. Replace the
flat t ire 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 with the local require ments.
Tires and wheels
Uniform tire quality grading
- Tread wea r
- Traction AA A B C
- Temperature AB C
Quality g rades ca n be foun d where applicab le
on the t ire s ide wall between t read sho ulder
and maximum section width
c> page 257,
fig. 199 .
For example : Tread wear 200, Traction AA,
Temperat ure A .
All passenge r ca r tir es must con form to Feder
a l Safety Re quirements in add ition to these
grades.
Tread wear
T he tread wear g rade is a c omp arat ive rating
based on the wear ra te of the tire when tes te d
u nder con tro lled conditions o n a specifie d
government test course .
F o r example, a tire gr aded 1S 0 wo uld wear
one a nd one h alf ( 11/ 2) times as well on the
governmen t course as a ti re g raded 100 .
T he re lative perfo rman ce of tires depe nds
up on the actu al c ondition s of the ir u se, how
ever, and m ay depa rt s ignificantly from t he
no rm due to va ria tions i n driving ha bits, se rv
ice p ractices and differences in road c haracter
istics and cl imate.
Traction
T he trac tio n gr ad es, from hig hest to lowes t,
a re AA, A, Ban d
C. Those g rades represe nt the
ti re 's ability to stop on wet pavement as
measured u nder cont rolled conditions on
specified government test surfaces of aspha lt
and concrete. A t ire mar ked C may have poor
traction performance
c> ,&. .
Temperature
The temperature gr ades are A (the highest),
B, and C, represent in g the tire's resistance to
the generation of heat and its ab ility to d issi
pate heat when tested un der controlled condi
tions on a specif ied indoo r labo rato ry test
whee l.
263
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26 6 T ire s and whee ls
Wheel bolts
Wheel bolts must always be tightened to the
correct torque .
The design of wheel bolts is matched to the
factory installed rims. If different rims are fit
ted, the correct wheel bolts with the right
length and correctly shaped bolt heads must
be used. This ensures that wheels are fitted
secure ly and that the brake system functions
correctly .
In ce rtain circumstances, you may not use
wheel bolts from a different vehicle -even if it
is the same mode l
~page 294.
_& WARNING
Improperly tig htened o r maintained whee l
bolts can become loose ca using loss of
contro l, a co llision and serious persona l in
jury.
- Always keep the wheel bolts and the
threads in the wheel hubs clean so the
wheel bolts can turn easily and be prop
erly t ightened.
- Never grease or oil the wheel bo lts and
the threads in the wheel hubs. They can
become loose while driving if greased or
oiled, even if tightened to the specif ied
torque.
- Only use wheel bolts that belong to the
rim being installed.
- Never use different wheels bolts on your
vehicle.
-Always maintain the correct tighten ing
torque for the wheel 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 veh i
cle is moving. If the tightening torque is
too high, the whee l bolts and threads
can be damaged and the wheel can be
come loose.
@ Note
The spec ified torq ue fo r the wheel bo lts is
90 ft lb (120 Nm) w ith a toleran ce of± 7,4
ft lb(± 10 Nm). Torque wheel bo lts diago- nally
. After changing a whee l, the torque
must be checked as soon as possible with a
torque wrench -preferably by an author
i zed Audi dealer or qualified workshop.
Low aspect ratio tires
Your Audi is factory-equ ipped w ith low aspect
r atio tires . These tires have been tho roughly
tested and been se lected specifically for your
model for their superb perfo rmance, road fee l
and hand ling under a variety of d riving cond i
tions . As k your au thor ized A udi dealer for
more de tails .
T he low aspect ratio of these t ires is ind icated
by a numera l of
55 or less in the tire's s ize
designation. The nume ra l represen ts the ra tio
of the tire's sidewall height in relation to its
tread width expressed in percentage . Conven
tiona l tires have a he ight/width ratio of 60 or
more.
The performance of low- aspect-r atio tires is
p ar ticu la rly s ens iti ve to improper infl ation
p re ss ure. I t is th erefore im portant th at low
as pect ratio tires are inflated to the specified
pressure and that the inflation pressu re is
r e gularl y che cked and mainta ined. Tir e pre s
su res should be ch ecked at least onc e a
month and alwa ys bef ore a long trip
~ page 249, Checking tire pressure.
What you can do to a void tire and rim
damage
Low aspect ratio tires can be damaged more
easily by impact w it h potholes, curbs, gull ies
o r r idges on the road, pa rticularly if the tire is
u nderinfla ted .
In order to minimize the occurrence of impact
damage to the tires of you r vehicle, we recom
mend that you observe the follow ing p recau
tions:
- Always ma inta in recommended inflation
pressures. Check your tire pressure eve ry
2,000 miles (3,000 km) and add air if neces
sary .
- Dr ive carefully on roads with potholes, deep
gullies o r ridges. The impact from dr iv ing ..,.