A WARNING
Sudden tire failure can lead to loss of con
trol, 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 hazard, 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 t ires.
- Tires age even if they are not be ing used
and can fail suddenly, especially at high
speeds . Tir es 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 histo
ry ." Old used tires may have been dam
aged even though the damage cannot be
seen that can lead to sudden tire failure
and loss of vehicle control.
Tires and wheels 191
New tires and replacing tires and wheels
New tires and wheels have to be broken in .
Fig. 140 Tir e specificat ion codes on t he s idewall o f a
tire
No. Description
@ Passenger car tire (where applicable)
@ Nominal width of tire in millimeters
@ Ratio of height to width (aspect ratio)
© Radial
® Rim diameter code
® Load index and speed rating
0 U.S. DOT tire identification number
® Audi Original tire
® Sever snow conditions
@ Tire ply composition and mater ials used
@ Maximum load rating
@ Treadwear, traction and temperature
grades
@ Maximum permissible inflation pres-
sure
The tires and rims are essential parts of the
vehicle's design . The tires and rims approved
by Audi are spec ially matched to the charac
teristics of the vehicle and can make a major
contribution to good road holding and safe .,.
192 Tire s and wheel s
handling when in good condition and properly
inflated ¢
.&..
We re commend that all wo rk on tires and
wheels be perfo rmed by an authorized A udi
deale r. T hey a re familiar with recommended
procedures and have the necessary special
too ls and spare parts as we ll as the proper fa
cilities for disposing of the old tires .
Authorized Audi dealers have the necessary information about technica l requirements for
installing or changing tires and r ims .
Replacing t ires and wheels
Tires shou ld be rep laced at least in pairs and
not individua lly ( for examp le both front tires
or both rear tires together).
Be sure to read and heed the information to
the tire pressure monitor ing system
¢ page 198.
A lways buy rep lacement radial tires that have
the same specifications as the tires approved
fo r your vehi cle by Audi. Replacement t ires
must always have the same load rating speci
f ication as the original equipment or approved
optional tires listed in the table ¢ page 184 .
Aud i-approved specification tires are speci ally
matched to yo ur vehicle and its loa d l imits,
and can contribute to the important road ho ld
ing, d riving characteristics, and safety of the
vehicle. The table (q page 184) lists spec ifica
tions of the t ires approved for the Audi mod
e ls covered by your Owner's Literature .
The tire press ure labe l located on dr iver's side
B-pillar (q page 184, fig. 137) lists the speci
f ications of the orig inal equipment tires in
stalled o n your veh icle at the time it was man
ufactured .
Federal law requires t ire manufacturers to
place standard ized information on the s ide
wall of all tires q fig. 140. This information
ident ifies and describes the fundamental
characterist ics, the quality grade of the tire
and a lso provides a tire ident ificat ion number
fo r safety standa rd cert ificat ion and in case of
a rec all.
Tire specification s
Knowledge o f ti re specifications ma kes it eas
ier to choose the correct tires. Radial ti res
have the tire specifications marked on the
sidewa ll, for examp le:
P245 /45R1795H
Th is conta ins the following information :
P Indicates the tire is for passenger cars
245 Nominal tire width in mm of the tire
from sidewall edge to sidewall edge. In general, the larger the number, the wider
the tire
45 Height/w idt h ratio in percent (aspect ra-
t io)
R Tire construct ion: Radial
17 Rim diameter code (i n inches)
95 Load rating code
H Speed ra ting letter code
XL (or "xl", "E XTRA LOAD", or "RF") indicates
t h at the t ire is a"Re inforced" or an " Extra
Lo ad " tir e
M+S (or "M/5") Indicates that the ti re has
some mud and snow capab ility
The t ires could also have the information of
direction of rotat ion q page 180.
Tire manufacturing date
The manufact uring date is also indicated on
the tire sidewall (possibly on ly on the inner
s ide of the wheel):
"DOT ... 2213 ... "means, for examp le, that
the tire was produced in the 22nd week of
2013.
Speed rating (lette r code)
The speed rating letter code on the whee ls in
dicates the maximum permissible road speeds
q
.&. in Winter tires on page 196 .
p up to 93 mph (1 50 km/h)
Q u p to 99 mp h (158 km/h)
R up to 106 mph ( 170 km/h)
s up to 110 mph (180 km/h)
T up to 118 mph (190 km/h)
u up to 124 mph (200 km/h)
H up to 130 mph (2
10 km/h)
snow c hains are suitably cove red . Check
the position of the snow chains after
driving a few yards and correct if neces
sary. Follow the instructions from the
snow cha in manufacturer when doing so.
Where snow cha ins are mandatory oncer
tain roads, this normally also applies to
veh icles with all-wheel dr ive.
Wheel bolts
Wheel bolts must always be tightened to the
correct torque.
The design of whee l bolts is matched to the
factory insta lled r ims . If different rims are fit
ted, the correct wheel bo lts with the right
length and correctly shaped bolt heads must
be used. This ensures t hat wheels are fitted
securely and that the brake system functions
correctly .
In certain circumstances, you may not use
wheel bo lts from a different vehicle -even if it
i s the same model
¢ page 227.
A WARNING
Imprope rly tig htened or maintained wh eel
bolts can become loose ca using loss of
con trol, a collision and serious person al in
jury.
- Always keep the w heel bolts and the
threads in the wheel hubs clea n so the
wheel bolts can tu rn easily and be p rop
er ly tightened .
- Never grease or oil the wheel bo lts and
the threads in the wheel hubs. They can become loose w hile driving if greased or
o iled, even if tig htened to the specif ied
torque.
- Only use whee l bolts that belong to the
rim being installed.
- Never use different whee ls bolts on your
vehicle.
- Always maintai n the co rrect tig htening
torq ue fo r the wheel bo lts to reduce the
risk of a wheel loss. If the tightening tor-
Tire s an d wheel s 197
que of t he whee l bolts is too low, they
can loosen and come out when the vehi
cle is mov ing. If the tig htening torq ue is
too high, the wheel bolts and threads
can be damaged and the whee l can be
come loose.
(D Note
The specified torque for the whee l bolts is
90 ft lb (120 Nm) with a tolerance of± 7,4
ft lb(± 10 Nm). Torq ue whee l bolts diago
nally. After changing a whee l, the tor que
must be checked as soon as possible with a
torq ue w rench -prefe rably by an au thor
iz ed A udi de aler or qu alified workshop .
Low aspect ratio tires
Your Audi is factory -eq uipped 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 performance, road fee l
and handli ng under a var iety of driving condi
tions . Ask your authorized Audi dealer for
more d etails.
The low aspect ratio of these t ires is ind icated
by a numeral of
55 or less in the tire's s ize
designation . The numeral represents the ratio
of the t ire's sidewa ll height in relation to its
t read width exp ressed in pe rce ntage. Conven
t iona l tires have a he ight/w idth rat io of 60 or
more.
The performanc e of low-a spect-ratio tire s is
particularly sensitive to impr oper inflation
pre ssure .
It is therefore important that low
a spect ratio tire s are inflated to the specified
pres sure and that the inflation pressure is
regularly checked and maintained. Tire pre s
sures should be checked at least once a month and always befo re a long trip
¢ page 186, Checking tire pressure.
What you can do to avoid tire and rim
damage
Low aspect ratio tires can be damaged mo re
easily by impact w it h potholes, curbs, gul lies ..,.
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