2018 AUDI A4 tires

Wheels
Wheels
Whee ls and Ti res
General information
.,. Check your tires regularly for
damage (punctures, cuts, cracks
and bulges). Remove foreign ob ­
jects from the tire tread.
.,. If driving over curbs or similar
obstacles, drive slowly and ap­ proach the curb at an angle.
.,.Have faulty tires or rims re­
placed immediately.
.,.Protect your tires from oil,
grease and fuel.
.,.Mark tires before removing
them so that the same running
direction can be maintained if
they are reinstalled .
.,. Lay tires flat when storing and
store them in a cool, dry location
with as little exposure to light as
possible.
(D N ote
-Please note that summer and
winter tires are designed for
the conditions that are typical in those seasons . Audi recom­
mends using winter tires dur­
ing the winter months . Low
temperatures significantly de­ crease the elasticity of summ­
er tires, which affects traction
33 4
and b raking ability. If summer
tires are used in very cold
temperatures, cracks can form
on the tread bars, resulting in
permanent tire damage that
can cause loud driving noise
and unbalanced tires.
-Burnished, polished or chromed rims must not be used in winter driving condi­
tions. The surface of the rims
does not have sufficient corro­
sion protection for this and
could be permanently dam­
aged by road salt or similar
substances.
Tire designations
F ig. 27 4 Tire des ignat ions on the side-
wall II>

a co .... N ,....
N .... 0 0
3 co
(D Tires for passenger vehicles
(if applicable)
"P" indicate s a tir e for a p ass enger
vehi cle . "T" indicates a tire de sig­
nated for temporary us e.
@ 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
Siz e of the rim diameter in inches.
@ Load index and speed rating
The load ind ex indi cates the tire' s
lo ad-ca rry in g ca pacity.
The speed rating indicates the maximum permitted
speed ¢.& in
W inter tires o n page 349 .
"EXTRA LOAD", "xl" or "RF" indi­
cate s that the tire i s reinfor ced or
is an Extra Load tire.
Speed rat- Maximum permitted speed
ing
p
up t o 93 mph ( 150 km/h)
Q up to 99 mph (160 km/ h)
Wheels
Speed rat- Maximum permitted speed
ing
R up to 106 mph (170 km/h)
s u p to 11 0 mph ( 180 km/h)
T up to 118 mph (190 km/h)
u u p to 124 mph ( 200 km/h)
H up to 130 mph (210 km/h)
V up to 14 9 mph (2 40 km/h) al
z above 149 mph (240 km/h)al
w u p to 168 mph (270 km/h) al
y up to 1 86 mph (300 km/h)al
a) Fo r tir es ab ove 149 mph (2 40 km/h),
t ir e man ufact ure rs sometimes use the
co de
"Z R".
(j) US DOT number (TIN) and
manufacture date
The m anufac ture date i s listed on
the tire sidewall (it ma y only ap­
pear on the inner side of the tire):
DOT ... 2216 ...
means, for example , that the tire
was produced in the 22nd week of
the year 2016.
@ Audi Original Tires
Audi Original equipment tire s
with the de signation "AO" ha ve
been specially matched to your
Audi. When used correctl y, these
tires meet the high est standards
for safety and handling. An au­
thorized Audi dealer o r author­
ized Audi Ser vice Fa cilit y will be
a ble to pr ovide you with more in-
formation .
""
335

0 C0 .-< N ..... N .-< 0
~ a:,
Bead separa tion
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 capac ity of
fuel, oi l, and coolant, a ir condi­
tioning and add itional weight of
optional equipment.
E xtra load tire
means a tire designed to operate
at higher loads and at h igher in ­
flation pressures than the corre­ sponding standard tire. Extra load
tires may be identified as
"X L",
"xl", "E XTRA LOAD" , or "RF" on
the s idewal l.
Wheels
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 maxim um load that a
tire is rated to carry for a given in­
flat ion pressure . You may not f ind
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
the maximum permissible infla­
tion pressure for that tire .
Maximum loaded vehicle
weight
means the sum of:
(a) Curb weight
(b) Accessory weight
(c) Vehicle capacity we ight , and
(d) Production options we ight
33 7

Wheel s
Maximum (permissible)
inflation pressure
means the max imum cold infla­
tion pressure to which a t ire may
be inflated . Also called "maxi ­
mum inflation pressure."
Normal occupant weight
means 150 lbs. (68 k ilograms)
times the number of occupants seated in the vehicle up to the to­
tal seating capacity of your vehi­
cle .
Occupant distribution
means distribution of occupants
in a vehicle.
Outer d iameter
means the overall diamete r of an
inflated new tire.
Overall width
means the linear 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 .
Ply
means a layer of rubber-coated
para llel cords.
338
Production options we ight
means the combined weight of
those installed regular product ion
options weighing over 5 lbs . (2 .3
kg) in excess of those standard
items which they replace, not pre­
viously considered in curb weight or accessory weight , including
heavy duty brakes, ride levelers,
roof rack, heavy duty battery, and
special trim.
Radial ply ti re
means a pneumatic tire in which
the ply cords that extend to the beads are la id at substantially 90
degrees to the centerline of the
tread.
Recommended inflation
pressure
see ¢ page 33 7, Cold tire infla­
tion pressure.
Reinforced tire
means a tire designed to operate
at higher loads and at higher in­
flation pressures than the corre­
sponding standard tire . Rein ­
forced tires may be identified as
"XL", "xl", "EXTRA LOAD", or "RF"
on the sidewall. ...

0 C0 .-< N ..... N .-< 0
~ a:,
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 t ire is
designed to be driven for extend­
ed periods of time . The ratings
range f rom 93 mph (150 km/h)
to 186 mph (298 km/h)
¢ table
on page 335.
You may not find
this information on all tires be­
cause it is not required by law.
The speed rating letter code ,
w here applicable, is molded o n
the tire sidewall and indicates the
Wheels
maximum permissible roa d
speeds
¢ A in Winter tires on
page 349.
Tire pressure monitoring
system
means a system that detects
when one or more of a vehicle's
ti res are underinflated and illumi­
na tes a low tire pressure warning
telltale.
Tread
means that po rtion of a ti re that
comes i nto contact with the road .
Tread separation
means pulling away of the tread
from the tire carcass.
Treadwear indicators (TWI)
means the projections withi n the
principa l grooves desig ned to g ive
a visua l indication of the degrees
of wear of the t read. See
¢ page 343, Treadwear indicator
for mo re in fo rmat ion on meas ur­
ing t ire wear .
Uniform Tire Quality Grading
is a tire information system devel­
oped by the United Sta tes Nation­
a l Highway Traffic Safety Admin­
istration ( NHTSA) tha t is designed
to help buyers make re lat ive
339
..

Wheels
comparisons among tires. The
UTQG is not a safety rating and not a guarantee that a tire will
last for a prescribed number of
miles (kilometers) or perform in a
certain way. It simply gives tire
buyers additional information to
combine with other considera ­
tions, such as price, brand loyalty
and dealer recommendations. Un ­
der UTQG, tires are graded by the
tire manufacturers in three areas:
treadwear, traction, and tempera ­
ture resistance. The UTQG i nfor­
mation on the tires, molded into
the sidewalls .
U.S. DOT Tire Identification
Number (TIN)
T his is the tire's "serial number".
It begins with the letters "DOT"
and indicates that the tire meets
all federal standards. The nex t
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,
DOT ... 2216 ...
means that the tire was produced
in the 22nd wee k of 2016. The
other numbers are marketing co­
des that may or may not be used
3 4 0
by the t ire manufacturer . This in­
formation is used to contact con­
sumers if a tire defect requ ires a
recall.
Vehicle capacity weight
means the rated cargo and lug­
gage load pl us 150 lbs. (68 k ilo ­
grams) times the vehicle's desig­ na ted seating capacity .
Vehicle maximum 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
maximum loaded vehic le we ight
and dividing
by two.
Vehicle normal load on the tire
means that load on an individual
tire that is determined by d istrib­
ut ing to each axle its share of the
curb weight, accessory weight,
and normal occupan t weight (dis­
tr ibuted in accordance with
¢ ta­
ble on page 346) and d ividing by
two.
Occupant loading and distri­ bution for vehicle normal load
for various designated seating capacities
Refer to the tire inflation p res -
sure label
¢page 3 4 4, fig. 277 .,.

for the number of seating posi­
tions. Refer to the table ¢
table
on page 346
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 author ized 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 gripping properties. Drive carefully and at moderate
speeds for the first 350 miles
(500 km) with new tires.
.,.Use tires of the same construc­
tion, size (rolling circumference)
and as close to the same tread
pattern as possible on all four
wheels.
.,.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 Tires. If you would
~ like to use different tires, please .-<
~ note that the tires may perform .-< 0
~ a:,
Wheels
differently even if they are the
same
size ¢.&,. .
.,. If you would like to equip your
vehicle with a tire/rim combina­
tion that is different from what
was installed at the factory, con­
sult with an authorized Audi
dealer or authorized Audi Service
Facility before making a pur­
chase¢ .&,..
If 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 that the
drive system is not damaged by different tire speeds. For this rea­
son, in case of emergency, only
use a spare tire that has the same
circumference as the regular
tires.
341

Wheels
&,. WARNING
-Do not use steel rims that are 17 inches or larger . Other­
wise, 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.
-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.
342
-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. 275 Tire profile: treadwear 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.
-Have an authorized Audi dealer or authorized Audi Service Facili­
ty check the wheel alignment if
there is unusual wear .
-Have the wheels rebalanced if an
imbalance is causing noticeable
vibration in the steering wheel. If you do not, the tires and other
..