2016 AUDI A3 CABRIOLET tires

Tires and wheels
be happy to provide more infor­
mation .
® Mud and snow capability
"M/S" or "M+S" indicates the tire
is suitable for driving on mud and
snow.
& indicates a winter tire.
@ Compos ition of the tire cord
and materials
The number of plies indicates the
number of rubberized fabric lay­
ers in the tire . In general: the
more layers, the more weight a
tire can carry. Tire manufacturers
must also specify the materia ls
used in the tire. These include
steel , nylon, polyester and other
materials.
@ Ma ximum permitted load
T his number indicates the maxi­
mum load in kilograms and
pounds that the tire can carry.
@ Uniform tire quality grade
standards for treadwear,
traction and temperature resistance
Tread wear, t raction and temper­
ature ranges
¢page 221 .
@ Running direction
The arrows indicate the running
direction of unidirectional t ires.
You must always follow the speci -
206
fied running direction
¢page 238 .
(8) Maximum permitted
inflation pressure
This number indicates the maxi­
mum pressure to which a t ire can
be inflated under normal operat­
ing condit ions.
Glossary of tire and loading
terminology
Accessory we ight
means the combined weigh t (in
excess of those standard items
which may be replaced) of auto­ matic transmission, power steer­
ing, power brakes, power win­
dows, power seats , radio, and
heater, to the extent that these
items are available as factory -in ­
stalled equipment (whether in­
stalled or not).
Aspect ratio
means the rat io of the height to
the width of the tire in pe rcent.
Numbers of 55 or lower indicate a
low s idewall for imp roved steer­
ing response and better overa ll
handling on dry pavement.

Bead
means the part of the tire that is
made of steel wires, wrapped or
reinforced by ply cords and that is
shaped to fit the rim.
Bead separation
means a breakdown of the bond
between components in the bead.
Cord
means the strands forming the
plies in the tire.
Cold tire inflation pressure
means the tire pressure recom­
mended by the vehicle manufac­
turer for a tire of a designated size that has not been driven for
more than a couple of miles (kilo­
meters) at low speeds in the
three hour period before the tire pressure is measured or adjusted .
Curb weight
means the weight of a motor ve­
hicle with standard equipment in­
c luding the maximum capacity of
fuel, oi l, and coolant, air condi­
tioning and add itional weight of
optional equipment.
E xtra load ti re
<( a:,
~ means a tire designed to operate
N
~ at higher loads and at higher in ­
s: a:,
Tires and wheels
flation pressures than the corre­
sponding standard tire . Extra load
tires may be identified as "XL",
" xl", "EXTRA LOAD", or "RF" on
the sidewall.
Gross Axle Weight Rating ( " GAWR")
means the load -carrying capacity
of a single axle system, measured
at the tire-ground interfaces .
Gross Vehicle Weight Rating
("GVWR ")
means the max imum total loaded
weight of the vehicle.
Groove
means the space between two ad­
jacent tread ribs .
Load rating (code)
means the maximum load tha t a
tire is rated to carry for a given in­
flat ion pressure . You may not find
this informat ion on all tires be­
cause it is not requ ired by law.
Maximum load rating
means the load rating for a tire at
the maximum permissible infla­
tion pressure for that tire.
Maximum loaded vehicle
weight
means the sum of:
2 0 7
..

Tires and wheels
(a) Curb weight
(b) Accessory weight
(c) Vehicle capacity weight, and
(d) Production options weight
Ma ximum (permissible )
inflation pressur e
means the maximum cold infla­
tion pressure to which a tire may be inflated. Also called "maxi­
mum inflation pressure ."
Normal occupant weight
means 150 lbs . (68 kilograms)
times the number of occupants
seated in the vehicle up to the to­
ta l seating capacity of your vehi­
c le .
Occupant d istribution
means distribution of occupants
in a vehic le .
Outer diameter
means the overall diameter of an
inflated new tire.
Overall width
means the l inear distance be ­
tween the exteriors of the side­
walls of an inflated tire , including
elevations due to labeling , deco ­
rations, or protective bands or
ribs .
208
Ply
means a layer of rubber -coated
parallel cords.
Production options weight
means the comb ined weight of
those installed regular production
options weighing over 5 lbs . (2 .3
kg) in excess of those standard
items which they replace, not pre­
vio usly considered in c urb weight
or accessory weight, inc luding
heavy duty brakes, ride levelers,
roof rack, heavy duty ba ttery, and
special trim.
Radial ply tire
means a pneumatic tire in which
the ply cords that extend to the beads are laid at subs tantially 90
degrees to the centerline of the
tread .
Recommended inflation
pressure
see~ page 207, Cold tire infla­
tion pressure.
Reinforced tire
means a tire designe d to operate
at higher loads and at higher in­
flat ion pressures than the corre­
spond ing standard tire . Rein­
forced tires may be identified as .,.

<( a:, ... N .... N ... 0
s: a:,
"XL" "xl" "EXTRA LOAD" or "RF" ' ' '
on the sidewall.
Rim
means a metal support for a tire
or a tire and tube assembly upon
which the tire beads are seated .
Rim diameter
means nominal diameter of the
bead seat. If you change your
wheel size, you will have to pur­
chase new tires to match the new
rim diameter .
Rim size designat ion
means rim diameter and width.
Rim width
means nominal distance between
rim flanges.
Sidewall
means that portion of a tire be ­
tween the tread and bead.
Speed rating (letter code )
means the speed at wh ich a t ire is
designed to be driven for extend ­
ed periods of time . The ratings
range from 93 mph (150 km/h)
to 186 mph (298 km/h)
¢ table
on page 205.
You may not find
this information on all tires be­
cause it is not required by law .
Tires and wheels
The speed rating letter code,
where applicable, is molded on
the tire sidewall and indicates the maximum permissible road
speeds
¢ & in Winter tires on
page 219 .
Tire pressure monitoring
system*
means a system that detects
when one or more of a vehicle's
tires are underinflated and illum i­
nates a low tire pressure warning
telltale .
Tread
means that portion of a tire that
comes into contact with the road.
Tread separation
means pulling away of the tread
from the tire carcass .
Treadwear indicators (TWI)
means the projections within the
principal grooves designed to give
a visual indication of t he degrees
of wear of the tread . See
¢ page 213, Treadwear indicator
for more information on measur-
ing tire wear. .,.
209

Tires and wheels
Uniform Tire Qu ality Gr ading
is a tire information system devel ­
oped by the United States Nation­
al Highway Traffic Safety Admin­
istration (NHTSA) that is designed
to help buyers make relative com­ parisons among tires. The UTQG
is not a safety rating and not a
guarantee that a tire will last for
a prescr ibed number of miles
(kilometers) or perform in acer­
tain way. It simply gives tire buy­
ers additional information to
combine with other considera­
tions, such as price, brand loya lty
and dealer recommendations. Un­
der UTQG, t ires are graded by the
tire manufacturers in three areas:
treadwear, traction, and tempera­
ture resistance . The UTQG infor­
mation on the tires, molded into
the sidewalls.
U.S. DOT Tire Identification
Number (TIN)
This is the tire's "serial number" .
It begins with the letters "DOT"
and indicates that the tire meets
all federal standards. The next
two numbers or letters indicate
the plant where it was manufac ­
tured, and the last four numbers represent the
week and year of
manufacture . For example,
210
DOT ... 2215 ...
means that the tire was produced
in the 22nd week of 2015. The
other numbers are marketing co­
des that may or may not be used by the tire manufacturer . This in­
formation is used to contact con­ sumers if a tire defect requires a
recall.
Veh icle capacity weight
means the rated cargo and lug­
gage load plus 150 lbs . (68 k ilo­
grams) times the vehicle's desig ­
nated seating capacity .
Vehicle maximum load on the
tire
means that load on an ind ividual
tire that is determined by distrib ­
uting to each axle its sha re of the
maximum loaded veh ic le weight
and dividing by two.
Vehicle normal load on the tire
means that load on an individual
tire that is determined by distrib­
uting to each axle its sha re of the
curb weight, accessory weight,
and normal occupan t weight (dis­
tributed in accordance with
c:::> ta­
ble on page 216) and dividing by
two .
~

<( a:, ... N .... N ... 0
s: a:,
Occupant loading and distri­
bution for vehicle normal load
for various designated seating
capacities
Refer to the tire inflation pres­
sure label
c::> page 214, fig. 171
for the number of seating posi­
tions. Refer to the table
c::> table
on page 216
for the number of
people that correspond to the ve­
hicle normal load.
New tires or wheels
Audi recommends having all work
on tires or whee ls perfo rmed by
an authorized Audi dealer or au ­
thorized Audi Service Facility .
These facilities have the proper
knowledge and are equ ipped with
the required tools and replace­
ment parts .
.,,. New tires do not yet have the
opt imum adhesion properties.
Drive carefully and at moderate
speeds for the first 350 m iles
(500 km) with new tires .
.,,. On ly use tires w ith the same de­
sign, size (rolling c ircumference)
and as close to the same tread pattern as possible on all four
wheels.
Tire s and wheel s
.,,.Do not replace tires individually.
At least replace both tires on the same axle at the same time .
.,,. Audi recommends that you use
A udi Original equipment tires. If
you would like to use different
tires, please note that the tires may perform differently even if
they are the same si ze
c::> ,&. .
.,,. If you would like to equip your
vehicle w ith a tire/r im comb ina­
tion that is different from what
was installed at the factory, con ­
sult w ith an authorized Audi
dealer or authorized Audi Service
Facility before making a pur­
chase ¢
..1,..
The spare t ire* is diffe rent from
the regular tires installed on the
vehicle - for example, if winter
tires or wide tires are installed -
then only use the spare tire* tem­
porarily in case of emergency and
drive carefully while it is in use . It
should be replaced with a regular
tire as soon as possible.
On
all wheel d rive vehicles, all
four wheels must be equipped
with tires that are the same brand
and have the same construction
and tread pa ttern so that the
drive system is not damaged by
2 11

Tires and wheels
different tire speeds. For this rea­
son, in case of emergency, only
use a spare tire* that is the same
circumference as the regular
tires.
,&. WARNING -
-Only use tire/rim combina­
tions and suitable wheel bolts
that have been approved by
Audi. Otherwise, damage to
the vehicle and an accident could result.
-For technical reasons, it is not possible to use tires from oth­
er vehicles - in some cases,
you cannot even use tires from
the same vehicle model.
-Make sure that the tires you select have enough clearance
to the vehicle. Replacement
tires should not be chosen simply based on the nominal
size, because tires with a dif­
ferent construction can differ
greatly
even if they are the
same size. If there is not
enough clearance, the tires or
the vehicle can be damaged and this can reduce driving
safety and increase the risk of an accident.
212
-Only use tires that are more
than six years old when abso­ lutely necessary and drive
carefully when doing so.
-Do not use run-flat tires on your vehicle. Using them when not permitted can Lead to ve­
hicle damage or accidents.
-If you install wheel covers on
the vehicle, make sure they al­
low enough air circulation to
cool the brake system. If they
do not, this could increase the
risk of an accident.
Tire wear/damage
Fig. 169 Tire profile: tread wear indica­
tor
Tire wear
Check the tires regularly for wear.
-Inflation pressure that is too low
or high can increase tire wear
considerably.
-Driving quickly through curves, rapid acceleration and heavy
braking increase tire wear. ..

Tires and wheels
-Have an authorized Audi dealer wear evenly. To rotate wheels, in-
or authorized Audi Service Facili- stall the wheels from the rear
ty check the wheel alignment if axle on the front axle and vice
there is unusual wear. versa. This will allow the tires to
-Have the wheels rebalanced if an have approximately the
same
imbalance is causing noticeable length of service life.
vibration in the steering wheel.
For unidirectional tires, make
If you do not, the tires and other sure the tires are installed accord-
vehicle components could wear ing to the running direction indi-
more quickly. cated on the tire sidewall
Treadwear indicator ¢page 238.
Original equipment tires contain Hidden damage
treadwear indicators in the tread
Damage to tires and rims can of-
pattern, which are bars that are ten occur in locations that are
1/16 in. (1.6 mm) high and are
hidden. Unusual vibrations in the
spaced evenly around the tire per- vehicle or pulling to one side may
pendicular to the running di rec- indicate that there is tire damage.
tion
¢fig. 169. The letters "TWI"
Reduce your speed immediately.
or triangles on the tire sidewall Check the tires for damage. If no
indicate the location of the tread- damage is visible from the out-
wear indicators. side, drive slowly and carefully to
The tires have reached the mini- the nearest authorized Audi deal-
mum tread depth
l) when they er or authorized Audi Service Fa-
have worn down to the tread wear cility to have the vehicle inspect-
indicators . Replace the tires with ed.
new ones¢ &.
& WARNING
-
Wheel rotation Tread that has worn too low or
Rotating the wheels regularly is different tread depths on the
recommended to ensure the tires tires can reduce driving safety.
..
<( a:, ... N .... l) Obey
any applicable regulations in your N ... 0 .... country. > a:,
213