2018 AUDI Q3 Owners Manual

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Tire designations
Fig. 144 Tire designations on the side­
wall
(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 .
Wheels
© 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. Also
see
¢ &. in General information
on page 166.
"EXTRA LOAD", "xl" or "RF" indi­
cates that the tire is reinforced or
i s 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)
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 (210 km/h)
V up
to 149 mph (240 km/h?)
z above 149 mph (240 km/h)a)
w up to 168 mph (270 km/h)a)
y up to 186 mph (300 km/h)a)
a) For tires above 149 mph (240 km/h),
tire manufacturers sometimes use the
code "ZR".
167

Wheel s
(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 s ide of the tire) :
DOT ... 2217 ...
means, for example, tha t the ti re
was produced in the 22nd week of
the year 2017.
@ Audi Original Tires
Audi Original equipment tires
with the designation "AO" have
been specially matched to your
Audi. When used correctly, these
tires meet the highest standards
for safety and handling. An au ­
thorized A udi dealer or author­
ized Audi Service Facility will be
able to provide you with more in­
formation .
® Mud and snow capability
"M/5" or "M+S" indicates the tire
has properties ma king it suitable
to drive in mud or snow.
& indi­
cates a winter t ire .
@ 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
168
tire can carry. Tire manufacturers
must also specify the materials
used in the tire . These include
steel, nylon, polyester and other
materials .
@Maximum permitted load
This number indicates the maxi ­
mum load in kilograms and
pounds that the tire can carry.
@ Uniform tire quality grade
standards for treadwear,
tr action and temper atur e
resistance
Treadwear, traction and tempera­
ture ranges
¢ page 182.
@ Running direction
The arrows indicate the running
direction of unidirectional tires.
You must always follow the speci­
fied running direction
¢ page 196 .
@) Maximum permitted
inflation pressure
This number indicates the maxi­
mum pressure to which a tire can
be inflated under normal operat­
ing condit ions .

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Glossary of tire and loading
terminology
Accessory weight
means the combined we ight (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 a re available as factory- in­
stalled equipment (whether in­
stalled or not) .
Aspect ratio
means the ratio of the height to
the width o f the tire in percent .
Numbers of 55 or lower indicate a
low s idewal l for improved steer­
ing response and better overall
handling on dry pavement.
Bead
means the part of the t ire 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 .
Wheels
Cord
means the strands forming the
plies in the tire.
Cold tire inflation pressure
means the tir e pressure recom­
mended by the vehicle manufac ­
tu rer for a tire of a designated
size that has not been driven for
more than a couple of m iles (k ilo­
meters) at low speeds in the
three hour period before the t ire
pressure is measured or adjusted .
Curb weight
means the weight of a motor ve­
hicle with standard equipment in­
cluding the maximum capacity of
f u el, o il, and coolant, a ir cond i­
tioning and additional weight of
optio nal eq uipment .
Extra load tire
means a tire designed to operate
at higher loads and at higher in­
flat ion pressu res than the corre­
sponding standard tire . Extra load
tires may be ident ified as "X L",
"xl", "EXTRA LOAD", or "RF" on
the sidewall. .,.
169

Wheel s
Gross Axle Weight Rating
("GAWR ")
means the load-carrying capacity
of a single axle system , measured
at the tire -ground interfaces.
Gross Veh icle Weight Rating
(" GVWR ")
means the maximum total loaded
weight of the vehicle .
Groove
means the space between two ad­
jacent tread ribs .
Load rating (code )
means the maximum load that a
tire is rated to carry for a given in­
flation pressure. You may not find
this information on all tires be­
cause it is not required by law.
Ma ximum load rating
means the load rating for a tire at
the maximum permissible infla­
tion pressure for that tire.
Ma ximum loaded veh icle
weight
means the sum of:
(a) Curb weight
(b) Accessory weight
(c) Vehicle capacity weight, and
(d) Production options weight
170
Ma ximum (permissible)
inflation pressu re
means the maximum cold infla­
tion pressure to which a tire may be inflated. A lso 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
tal seating capacity of your vehi­
cle.
Occupant d istribution
means distr ibution of occupants
in a vehicle.
Outer d iameter
means the overall diameter of an
inflated new tire.
Overall width
means the linear distance be­
tween the exteriors of the side ­
walls of an inflated tire, includ ing
elevations due to labeling, deco­ rations, or protective bands or
ribs .
Ply
means a layer of rubber-coated
parallel cords.

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Production options weight
means the combined weight of
those installed regular production
options weighing over 5 lbs.
(2 .3 kg) in excess of those stand­
ard items which they replace, not
previously considered in curb
weight or accessory we ight, in­
cluding 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 substantially
90 degrees to the centerline of
the tread.
Re commended inflation
pressure
see ¢ page 169, Cold tire infla­
tion pressure .
Reinforced tire
means a tire designed to operate
at higher loads and at h igher in ­
flation pressures than the corre­
sponding standard tire. Rein­
forced tires may be identified as
"XL" "xl" "EXTRA LOAD" or "RF" 1 , ,
on the sidewall.
Wheels
Rim
means a metal support for a tire
or a tire and tube assembly upon
which the tire beads are seated.
Rim diamet er
means nominal d iameter 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
r im
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 rat ings
range from
93 mph (150 km/h)
to
186 mph (298 km/h) ¢ table
on page 167.
You may not find
this information on all tires be­
cause it is not required by law.
The speed rating letter code,
where applicable, is molded on
the tire sidewall and indicates the ...
17 1

Wheels
maximum permissible road
speeds . See also ¢&.
in General
information on page 166 .
Tire pressure monitoring
system *
means a system that detects
when one or more of a vehicle's
tires are underinflated and illumi­ 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 the degrees
of wear of the tread. See
¢ page 175, Treadwear indicator
for more information on measur­
ing tire wear.
Uniform Tire Quality Grading
is a tire information system devel ­
oped by the United S tates Nat ion­
a l Highway Traffic Safety Admin­
istration (NHTSA) that is designed
to help buyers make relative com-
1 72
parisons among tires . The UTQG
is not a safety rat ing and not a
guarantee that a tire will last for
a prescribed number of miles (kilome ters) or perform in a cer­
tain way. It simply gives tire buy­
ers add it iona l information to
combine with other considera ­
tions, such as price, brand loyalty and dealer recommendations. U n­
der UTQG , tires are graded by the
tire manufacturers in three areas:
treadwear, tract ion, and tempera ­
t ure res istance. 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 beg ins with the letters "DO T"
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 fo ur numbers
represent the week and year of
manufacture. Fo r example,
DOT ... 2217 ...
means that the ti re was produced
in the 22nd week of 2017. The
other numbers are ma rketing co­
des that may or may not be used .,..

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by the tire manufacturer. This in­
formation is used to contact con­
sumers if a tire defect requires a
recall.
Ve hicle 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 ma ximum load on the
tire
means that load on an individual
tire that is determined by distrib­
uting to each axle its share of the
maximum loaded vehicle 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 share of the
curb weight, accessory weight,
and normal occupant weight (dis­
tributed in accordance with¢
ta­
ble on page
178) and dividing by
two.
Occupant loading and distr i­
bution for vehicle normal load
for various design ated seating
capacities
Refer to the tire inflation pres­
sure label¢
page 176, fig. 147
Wheels
for the number of seating posi­
tions . Refer to the table ¢
table
on page
178 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 gripp ing 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 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 ...
173

Wheels
differently even if they are the
same size
c::> .,&..
~ 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
c::> ,& .
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.
Applies to: vehicles with all wheel
drive: 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 dam­
aged by different wheel speeds. For this reason, in case of emer­
gency, only use a spare tire that has the same circumference as
the regular tires.
174
A 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.
-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 ...