2016 AUDI A3 tire size

Inte llig ent Techn olo gy
tak ing risks . This could increase your risk of
a collision.
- Please note the risk of a collision increases
when driving fast, especially through curves
and on slippery or wet roads, and when driv­
ing too close to objects ahead. The ESC and
its integrated systems cannot always pre­
vent collisions - there is still a r isk of acci­
dents!
- Press the accelerator pedal carefully when
accelerating on even, s lippery surfaces such
as ice and snow. The drive wheels can spin
Switching on/off
even when these control systems are instal­
led and this can affect dr iving stability and
increase the risk of a collision.
@ Tips
- ABS and ASR only function correctly when
all four wheels are equipped with identical
tires . Different tire sizes can lead to a reduc­
t ion in engine power.
- You may hear noises when the systems de­
scribed are working.
ESC turns on automatically when you start the engine .
Fig . 1 47 Upper center conso le: ESC butto n
function of the ESC is limited or switched off. The
amount of stabilization contro l will differ de­
pending on the level.
In the follow ing unusual situations it may make
sense to switch the ESC sport mode on to allow
the wheels to spin:
- Rocking the vehicle to free it when it is stuck
- Dr iving in deep snow or on loose g ro und
The ESC is des igned to function in levels. Depend­
ing on the level that is selected, the stabilization
Sport mode on ESC/ASR off Sport mode off or
ESC /ASR on
Beh avio r
The ESC and ASR stabiliza-
The stabilization function is The full stabilization tune-
tion functions are limited not available
¢ &.
. ESC and
tion of the ESC and ASR is
¢&_ . ASR are switched off. avai lable again.
Operati on Press the I~ OFF I button P ress and hold the I~ OFFI Press the I~ OFFI button
briefly . button longer than 3 sec -again.
onds .
Indicat or II turns on. II and lf11f•lH * turn on . II turns off or II and
lights lf111,n~ · turn off .
Driv e r mes- Stab ilization cont rol (E S C): Stabilization control (ESC ):
Stabilizat ion cont rol
sa ge s s port. Warning ! Re st ric ted off . Warning ! Re stri cted (E
SC ): On
st ability stability
160

Safety belts
Safety belts
General notes
Always wear safety belts!
Wearing safety belts correctly saves lives!
This chapter explains why safety belts are neces­
sary, how they work and how to adjust and wear
them correctly.
.. Read all the information that follows and heed
all of the instructions and WARNINGS.
&_ WARNING
Not wearing safety belts or wearing them im­
properly increases the risk of serious personal
injury and death .
- Safety belts are the single most effective
means available to reduce the risk of serious
injury and death in automobile accidents .
For your protection and that of your passen­
gers, always correctly wear safety belts
when the vehicle is moving .
- Pregnant women, injured, or physically im­
paired persons must also use safety belts.
Like all vehicle occupants, they are more
likely to be seriously injured if they do not
wear safety belts. The best way to protect a
fetus is to protect the mother -throughout
the entire pregnancy .
Number of seats
Your Audi has a total of five seating positions:
two in the front and three in the rear. Each seat­
ing position has a safety belt.
&_ WARNING
Not wearing safety belts or wearing them im­
properly increases the risk of serious personal
injury and death.
- Never strap more than one person, includ­
ing small children, into any belt .
It is espe­
cially dangerous to place a safety belt over a
child sitting on your lap.
- Never let more people ride in the vehicle
than there are safety belts available.
176
-Be sure everyone riding in the vehicle is
properly restrained with a separate safety
belt or child restraint.
~ Safety belt warning light
Your vehicle has a warning system for the driver
and front seat passenger (on USA models only) to remind you about the importance of buckling­
up .
Fig. 151 Safety be lt warning light in the instrument clu s­
ter -enlarged
Before driving off, always:
.. Fasten your safety belt and make sure you are
wearing it properly .
(0
"'
"' 9
"' .. Make sure that your passengers also buckle up
and properly wear their safety belts .
.. Protect children with a child restraint system
appropriate for the size and age .
The warning light . in the instrument cluster
lights up when the ignition is on as a reminder to
fasten the safety belts. In addition , you will hear
a warning tone for a certain period of time.
Fasten your safety belt and make sure that your
passengers also properly put on their safety
belts.
&_ WARNING
-
-Safety belts are the single most effective
means available to reduce the risk of serious
injury and death in automobile accidents.
For your protection and that of your passen­
gers, always correctly wear safety belts
when the vehicle is moving.
- Failure to pay attention to the warning light
that come on, could lead to personal injury.

Tires and wheels
(D Tires for passenger vehicles
(if applicable)
P indicates a tire for a passenger
vehicle. T indicates a tire desig­ nated for temporary use.
@ Nominal width
Nominal width of the tire be­
tween the sidewalls in millime­
ters. In general: the larger the number, the wider the tire.
@ Aspect ratio
Height/width ratio expressed as a
percentage.
@ Tire construction
R indicates a radial tire.
® Rim diameter
Size of the rim diameter in inches.
@ Load index and speed rating
The load index indicates the tire's
load-carrying capacity.
The speed rating indicates the maximum permitted speed
¢ & in
Winter tires on page 269 .
"EXTRA LOAD", "xl" or "RF" indi­
cates that the tire is reinforced or
is an Extra Load tire.
Speed rat- Maximum permitted speed
ing
p
up to 93 mph (150 km/h)
Q up to 99 mph (160 km/h )
254 Speed rat- Maximum permitted speed
ing
R
u p 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 (210 km/h)
V up to 149 mph (240 km/h)al
z above 149 mph (240 km/h)al
w up to 168 mph (270 km/h)al
y up to 186 mph (300 km/h)al
a) Tire manufacturers sometimes use "ZR"
for ti res with a maximum speed above
149 mph (240 km/h).
(j) US DOT number (TIN) and
manufacture date
The manufacture date is listed on
the tire sidewall (it may only ap­
pear on the inner side of the tire):
DOT ... 2215 ...
means, for example, that the tire
was produced in the 22nd week of
the year 2015.
@ Audi Original equipment
tires
Audi Original equipment tires
with the designation "AO" or "RO"
have been specially matched to
your Audi . When used correctly,
these tires meet the highest standards of safety and handling.
An authorized Audi dealer or au­
thorized Audi Service Facility will .,..

Tires and wheels
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 vehic le 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
cluding the maximum capacity of
fuel, oil, and coolant, air condi ­
tioning and additiona l weight of
op tional equipment.
E x tra load tire
means a tire designed to operate
at higher loads and at h igher in-
2 56
flation pressures than t he corre­
sponding standard tire. Extra load
tires may be identified as "XL",
"xl" , "EXTRA LOAD" , or "RF" on
the sidewall.
Gross A xle 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 im um 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
flation pressure. You may not find
this informat ion on all tires be­
cause it is not required by law .
Maximum load rating
means the load rating for a tire at
t he maximum permissible infla­
tion p ressure for that tire .
Maximum loaded vehicle
weight
means the sum of:

Tires and wheels
"XL" "xl" "EXTRA LOAD" or "RF" I I I
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 designation
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 which a tire 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)
c::> table
on page 254.
You may not find
this information on all tires be ­
cause it is not required by law.
25 8
The speed rating letter code,
where applicable, is molded on
the tire sidewall and indicates the maximum permissible road
speeds
c::> .&. in Winter tires on
page 269 .
Tire pressure monitoring
system*
means a system that detects
when one or mo re of a vehicle's
tires are underinflated and illum i­
na tes a low tire pressure warning
telltale .
Tread
means that portion of a tire that
comes into contact w ith the road .
Tread separation
means pulling away of the tread
from the t ire carcass .
Treadwear indicators (TWI)
means the projections within the
principal grooves designed to give
a visua l indication of the degrees
of wear of the tread. See
c::> page 262, Treadwear indicator
for mo re information on measur-
ing tire wear. .,.

Tires a nd wh eels
Occupant loading and distri­
bution for vehicle normal load
for various designated seating
capacit ies
Refer to the tire inflation pres­
sure label¢
page 263, fig . 205
for the number of seating posi­
tions . Refer to the table¢
table
on page 265
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 wheels performed by
an authorized Audi dealer or au­
thorized Audi Service Facility .
These facilities have the proper
knowledge and are equipped with
the required tools and replace­
ment parts.
.,. New tires do not yet have the
optimum adhesion properties .
Drive carefully and at moderate
speeds for the first 350 miles (500 km) with new tires .
.,. Only use tires with the same de­
sign, size (rolling circumference)
and as close to the same tread pattern as poss ible on all four
wheels .
260
.,.Do not replace tires individually .
At least replace both tires on the
same axle at the same time.
.,. Audi recommends that you use
Audi Original equipment tires . If
you would like to use d ifferent
tires, please note that the tires may perform differently even if
they are the same size ¢
,&.
.,. If you would like to equip your
vehicle with a tire/rim combina ­
t ion that is different from what
was installed at the factory, con­
sult with an authorized Audi dealer or authorized Audi Service
F acility before making a pur­
chase ¢&, .
The spare tire* is different 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 drive vehicles, all
four wheels must be equipped
with tires that are the same brand and have the same construction
and tread pattern so tha t the
drive system is not damaged by .,.

different tire speeds. For this rea­son, 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.
Tires and wheels
-Only use tires that are more
than 6 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 al­low enough air circulation to
cool the brake system. If they
do not, this could increase the
risk of an accident.
Tire wear/damage
Fig. 203 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. ..
261

Tires and wheels
Use of snow chains is o nly pe rmitted with certain
rim/t ire combinations due to tec hnical reasons .
Chec k with an autho rize d Aud i dealer or autho r­
i z ed A ud i Service Fac ility to see if yo u may use
snow chains.
Use
fine-mesh snow chains . They must not add
mo re t han 0 .53 inc h (13 .5 mm) in height, i nclud ­
i n g the chain loc k.
You mus t remove the chains when d riving on
roads that are
free of snow . W hen roads a re free
of snow, snow c hains ca n impair handlin g and
damage the t ires, and the chains w ill quickly be
destroyed.
A WARNING
Us ing inco rrect sno w ch ains or insta lling snow
chains in co rrectly can result in loss o f vehicle
c o ntrol, w hich i ncreas es th e risk of an a cci­
de nt.
(D Note
- Snow cha ins can damage t he rims/whee l
covers* if the chains com e into d ir e ct con ­
tact wi th th em. R emov e th e wh eel covers*
fir st. U se coat ed s now chai ns.
Low aspect ratio tires
Your Aud i is fa cto ry-equippe d wi th low aspec t ra­
tio tires . These ti res have been tho roughly teste d
an d been se lected specifically for yo ur model for
their superb per fo rmance, road f eel and handling
under a variety of d riving conditions . As k yo ur au ­
thor ized Audi dealer for mo re details .
The low aspect ratio of these t ires is indicated by
a nume ra l of
55 or less in the tire's size designa­
tion . The nume ra l r ep resents the rat io o f th e
tire's sidewall he ight i n relat ion to its tread width
expressed in percentage . Conventional tires have
a height/w idt h ratio o f 60 o r more .
The performance of low-aspect-ratio tires is par ­
ticularly sensitive to improper inflation pres­
sure. It is therefore important that low aspect
ratio tires are inflated to the specified pressure
and that the inflation pressure is regularly
c hecked and maintained . Tire pre ssures should
270
be checked at least once a month and always
before a long trip
~ page 263.
What you can do to avoid tire and rim
damage
Low aspect ra tio tires can be damaged more eas i­
l y by impact with potho les, curbs, gullies or
r idges on t he road , particularly if t he tire is un ­
der i n flated.
I n order to min imize the occurrence o f impact
dama ge to the tires o f your veh icle, we recom ­
men d that you observe the following preca u­
tions:
- Always main tain recommende d inf la tion pres ­
sures . Check yo ur tir e pressure eve ry 2,000
m iles (3,000 km) and add a ir if necessary .
- Dr ive ca refully on roa ds w ith potholes, deep
gullies o r ridges . The impact from dr iving
throug h or over such obstacles can damage
your t ires. Impact wit h a curb may a lso cause
damage to your tires.
-After a ny impact, immed iate ly inspect you r
tires or have them inspected by the nearest au­
thorized Aud i dealer. Replace a damaged tire as
soon as poss ible .
- Inspect your tires every 2,000 m iles (3,000 km)
for damage and wear . Damage is no t always
easy to s ee . Damage ca n lead to loss o f air and
unde rin flation, w hich co uld even tually cause
t ire f ailure . If yo u beli eve th at a ti re may have
bee n da mage d, re place the tire as soon as p os­
sible.
- These tires may we ar m ore quick ly th an oth ers.
- Please also rem emb er tha t, whil e the se tires
delive r responsive h andli ng, they may ride less
c omf ortabl y and ma ke m ore noi se th an o ther
choi ces .
Reduced performance in winter/cold season
conditions
A ll ti res are des igned for cert ain pur poses . T he
l ow aspect r atio , ul tra hig h perform ance tires
o rigina lly installed on your vehicle are inten ded
for maximum dry and wet road performance and
handling . T hey a re not suitable fo r co ld, snowy o r
i cy weather conditions. If yo u drive under th ose
c ircumstances, you should equip yo ur vehicle
with all -season o r winter tires, which offer better
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