2018 AUDI S3 SEDAN wheel

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Glossary of tire and loading
terminology
Accessory weight
means the combined weight ( 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 i n­
stalled or not) .
Aspect ratio
means the ratio of the height to
the width of the tire in percent .
Numbers of 55 or lower indicate a
low s idewall for improved steer­
ing response and better overall
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 .
Wheel s
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
cluding the maximum capacity of
fuel, oil , and coolant, air condi­
tioning and additional weight of
optional eq uipm ent .
Extra load tire
means a tire designed to operate
at higher loads and at highe r in­
flation pressures than the corre­
sponding standard tire . Extra load
tires may be identified as "X L",
"xl", "EXTRA LOAD", or "RF" on
the sidewall.
.,.
333

Wheel s
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 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 .
Max imum load rating
means the load rating for a tire at
the maximum permissible infla­
tion pressure for that tire.
Ma ximum loaded vehicle
weight
means the sum of:
(a) Curb weight
(b) Accessory weight
(c) Vehicle capacity weight, and
(d) Production options weight
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Maximum (permissible)
inflation pressu re
means the maximum cold infla ­
tion pressure to which a t ire may
be inflated. A lso called "maxi­
mum inflat ion 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 distribution
means distribution of occupants
in a vehicle.
Outer diameter
means the overall diameter of an
inflated new tire.
Overall width
means the linear distance be­
tween the exteriors o f 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
c luding 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.
Recommended inflation
pressure
see ¢ page 333, Cold tire infla­
tion pressure .
Reinforced tire
means a tire designed to operate
at higher loads and at h igher in ­
flat ion pressures than the corre­
sponding standard tire. Rein­
forced t ires may be identified as
"XL " "xl" "EXT RA LOA D" or "RF" , , ,
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 diameter
means nominal diameter of the
bead seat. If you change your
whee l 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 ti re 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 331.
You may no t find
this info rmat ion on all tires be­
cause it is not required by law.
T he speed rating letter code,
where applicable, is molded on
the tire sidewall and indicates t he
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Wheels
maximum permissible road
speeds . See also ¢
A in General
information on page 330 .
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 co ntact with the road.
Tread separat ion
means pulling away of the tread
from the tire carcass.
Treadwear indicators (TWI)
means the projections within the
pr incipal grooves designed to g ive
a vis ual indication of the degrees
of wear of the tread . See
¢ page 339, Treadwear indicator
for more information on measu r­
ing tire wear.
Uniform Tire Quality Grading
is a tire information system devel ­
oped by the United States Nat ion­
a l Highway Traffic Safety Admin­
istration ( NHTSA) tha t is designed
to he lp buyers make relative com-
33 6
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 (kilo meters) or perform in acer ­
t ain way . It simply g ives tire buy ­
ers add itiona l information to
combine with other considera ­
tions , such as price, brand loyalty
and dealer recommendations. U n­
de r UT QG, tires a re graded by the
tire manufacturers in three areas: treadwear, tract ion, and tempera ­
ture res istance. The UTQG info r­
mation on the tires , molded into
the si dewalls .
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 s tandards. The next
two numbers or le tters indicate
the plant whe re it was ma nufac ­
tured, and t he last four num bers
represent the week and year of
manufacture. Fo r example,
DOT ... 2217 .. .
means that the tire was produced
in the 22nd week o f 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.
Vehicle capacity weight
means the rated cargo and lug­
gage load plus 150 lbs . (68 kilo­
grams) times the vehicle's desig­
nated seating capacity.
Vehicle ma ximum load on the
tire
means that load on an indiv idual
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 indiv idual
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 342)
and dividing by
two .
Occupant loading and distr i­
bution for vehicle normal load
for various designated seating
capacities
Refer to the tire inflation pres­
s u re
label¢ page 341, fig . 2 78
Wheels
for the n umber of seating posi­
tions . Refer to the table
¢ table
on page 34 2
for the number of
people tha t correspond to the ve­
hicle normal load.
New tires or wheels
Audi recommends having all work
on tires o r wheels performed by
an authorized Audi dealer or au­
thorized Audi Service Facility.
These facilities have the proper
knowle dge and are eq uipped with
the requ ired too ls and replace­
ment parts.
.,. New tires do not yet have the
optimum g ripping properties .
Drive carefully and at mode rate
speeds for the first 350 miles
(500 km) with new tires.
.,. Only use tires with the same de­
s ign , size (rolling circumfer­
ence), and as close to the same
tread pattern as possible on all
four whee ls .
.,. Applies to: RS models : only use
tires with the same design and
the same tread pattern on all
four whee ls.
.,. Do not replace tires indiv idually .
At least replace both tires on the
same axle at the same time .
...
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Wheels
.,.Audi recommends that you use
Audi Original Tires. If you would like to use different tires, please
note that the tires may perform
differently even if they are the
same size
¢ 11:,. .
.,. 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¢ ,&.
Because the spare tire* is differ­
ent from the regular tires instal­
led on the vehicle (such as winter
tires or wide tires), only use the
spare tire* temporarily in case of
emergency and drive carefully
while it is in use. It should be re­
placed 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
338
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.
-Only use tires that are more than six years old when abso­
lutely necessary and drive
carefully when doing so.
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-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. 276 T ire profile : treadwear indica­
tor
Tire wear
Check the tires regular ly 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.
l ) Obey any applicable regulations in your
country.
Wheels
-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
vehicle components could wear more quickly.
Treadwear indicator
Original equipment tires contain
treadwear indicators in the tread
pattern, which are bars that are 1/16 in (1.6 mm) high and are
spaced evenly around the tire per­ pendicular to the running direc­
tion
c::> fig. 2 76. The letters "TWI"
or triangles on the tire sidewall indicate the location of the tread­
wear indicators.
The tires have reached the mini ­
mum tread depth
l) when they
have worn down to the treadwear
indicators. Replace the tires with
new ones
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Tire rotation
Applies to: RS models: tires may
only be rotated if the tires on the
..,.
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Wheels
front and rear axles are the same
size¢&.
Rotating the tires regularly is rec­
ommended to ensure the tires
wear evenly . To rotate the tires,
install the tires from the rear axle
on the front axle and vice versa.
This will allow the tires to have
approximately the same length of
service life.
For unidirectional tires, make
sure the tires are installed accord­
ing to the running direction indi­
cated on the tire sidewall
¢page 368.
Hidden damage
Damage to tires and rims can of­
ten occur in locations that are hidden . Unusual vibrations in the
vehicle or pulling to one side may
indicate that there is tire damage.
Reduce your speed immediately.
Check the tires for damage. If no
damage is visible from the out­
side, drive slowly and carefully to
the nearest authorized Audi deal­
er or authorized Audi Service Fa­
cility to have the vehicle inspect­
ed .
340
.&_ WARNING
-Tread that has worn too low or
different tread depths on the
tires can reduce driving safety.
This can increase the risk of an
accident because it has a neg­
ative effect on handling, driv­
ing through curves, and brak­
ing, and because it increases
the risk of hydroplaning when
driving through deep puddles.
- Applies to: RS models: de­
pending on the equipment,
the widths of the standard
summer tires may be different
on the front and rear axles.
The wider tires are mounted
on the front axle. The tires
must not be rotated .