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Wheels
Glossaryoftireandloading
terminology
Accessoryweight
meansthecombinedweight(in
excessofthosestandarditems
whichmaybereplaced)ofauto-
matictransmission,powersteer-
ing,powerbrakes,powerwin-
dows,powerseats,radio,and
heater,totheextentthatthese
itemsareavailableasfactory-in-
stalledequipment(whetherin-
stalledornot).
Aspectratio
meanstheratioofthe heightto
thewidthofthetireinpercent.
Numbersof55orlowerindicatea
lowsidewallforimprovedsteer-
ingresponseandbetteroverall
handlingondrypavement.
Bead
meansthepartofthetirethatis
madeofsteelwires,wrappedor
reinforcedbyplycordsandthatis
shapedtofittherim.
Beadseparation
meansabreakdownofthebond
betweencomponentsinthebead.
Cord
meansthestrandsformingthe
pliesinthetire.
Coldtireinflationpressure
meansthetirepressurerecom-
mendedbythevehiclemanufac-
turerforatireofadesignated
sizethathasnotbeendrivenfor
morethanacoupleofmiles(kilo-
meters)atlowspeedsinthethree
hourperiodbeforethetirepres-
sureismeasuredoradjusted.
Curbweight
meanstheweightofamotorve-
hiclewithstandardequipmentin-
cludingthemaximumcapacityof
fuel,oil,andcoolant,aircondi-
tioningandadditionalweightof
optionalequipment.
Extraloadtire
meansatiredesignedtooperate
athigherloadsandathigherin-
flationpressuresthanthecorre-
spondingstandardtire.Extraload
tiresmaybeidentifiedas“XL”,
“xL’,“EXTRALOAD”,or“RF”on
thesidewall.
327
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Wheels
GrossAxleWeightRating
(“GAWR”)
meanstheload-carryingcapacity
ofasingleaxlesystem,measured
atthetire-groundinterfaces.
GrossVehicleWeightRating
(“GVWR”)
meansthemaximumtotalloaded
weightofthevehicle.
Groove
meansthespacebetweentwoad-
jacenttreadribs.
Loadrating(code)
meansthemaximumloadthata
tireisratedtocarryforagivenin-
flationpressure.Youmaynotfind
thisinformationonalltiresbe-
causeitisnotrequiredbylaw.
Maximumloadrating
meanstheloadratingforatireat
themaximumpermissibleinfla-
tionpressureforthattire.
Maximumloadedvehicle
weight
meansthesumof:
(a)Curbweight
(b)Accessoryweight
(c)Vehiclecapacityweight,and
(d)Productionoptionsweight
328
Maximum(permissible)
inflationpressure
meansthemaximumcoldinfla-
tionpressuretowhichatiremay
beinflated.Alsocalled“maxi-
muminflationpressure.”
Normaloccupantweight
means150lbs.(68kilograms)
timesthenumberofoccupants
seatedinthevehicleuptotheto-
talseatingcapacity ofyourvehi-
cle.
Occupantdistribution
meansdistributionofoccupants
inavehicle.
Outerdiameter
meanstheoveralldiameterofan
inflatednewtire.
Overallwidth
meansthelineardistancebe-
tweentheexteriorsoftheside-
wallsofaninflatedtire,including
elevationsduetolabeling,deco-
rations,orprotectivebandsor
ribs.
Ply
meansalayerofrubber-coated
parallelcords.
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80A012721BG
Wheels
Productionoptionsweight
meansthecombinedweightof
thoseinstalledregularproduction
optionsweighingover5lbs.
(2.3kg)inexcessofthosestand-
arditemswhichtheyreplace,not
previouslyconsideredincurb
weightoraccessoryweight,in-
cludingheavy dutybrakes,ride
levelers,roofrack,heavyduty
battery,andspecialtrim.
Radialplytire
meansapneumatictireinwhich
theplycordsthatextendtothe
beadsarelaidatsubstantially
90degreestothecenterlineof
thetread.
Recommendedinflation
pressure
see>page327,Coldtireinfla-
tionpressure.
Reinforcedtire
meansatiredesignedtooperate
athigherloadsandathigherin-
flationpressuresthanthecorre-
spondingstandardtire.Rein-
forcedtiresmaybeidentifiedas
“XL”,“xl”,“EXTRALOAD”,or“RF”
onthesidewall.
Rim
meansametalsupportforatire
oratireandtubeassemblyupon
whichthetirebeadsareseated.
Rimdiameter
meansnominaldiameterofthe
beadseat.Ifyouchangeyour
wheelsize,youwillhavetopur-
chasenewtirestomatchthenew
rimdiameter.
Rimsizedesignation
meansrimdiameterandwidth.
Rimwidth
meansnominaldistancebetween
rimflanges.
Sidewall
meansthatportionofatirebe-
tweenthetreadandbead.
Speedrating(lettercode)
meansthespeedatwhichatireis
designedtobedrivenforextend-
edperiodsoftime.Theratings
rangefrom93mph(150km/h)
to186mph(298km/h)>table
onpage325.Youmaynotfind
thisinformationonalltiresbe-
causeitisnotrequiredbylaw.
Thespeedratinglettercode,
whereapplicable,ismoldedon
thetiresidewallandindicatesthe>
329
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Wheels
maximumpermissibleroad
speeds.Seealso>AinGeneral
informationonpage324.
Tirepressuremonitoring
system
meansasystemthat detects
whenoneormoreofavehicle's
tiresareunderinflatedandillumi-
natesalowtirepressurewarning
telltale.
Tread
meansthatportionofatirethat
comesintocontactwiththeroad.
Treadseparation
meanspullingawayofthetread
fromthetirecarcass.
Treadwearindicators(TWI)
meanstheprojectionswithinthe
principalgroovesdesignedtogive
avisualindicationofthedegrees
ofwearofthetread.See
=>page333,Treadwearindicator
formoreinformationonmeasur-
ingtirewear.
UniformTireQualityGrading
isatireinformationsystemdevel-
opedbytheUnitedStates Nation-
alHighwayTrafficSafetyAdminis-
tration(NHTSA)thatisdesigned
tohelpbuyersmakerelativecom-
330
parisonsamongtires.TheUTQGis
notasafetyratingandnotaguar-
anteethatatirewill lastfora
prescribednumberofmiles(kilo-
meters)orperforminacertain
way.Itsimplygivestirebuyers
additionalinformationtocom-
binewithotherconsiderations,
suchasprice,brandloyaltyand
dealerrecommendations.Under
UTQG,tiresaregradedbythetire
manufacturersinthreeareas:
treadwear,traction,andtempera-
tureresistance.TheUTQGinfor-
mationonthetires,moldedinto
thesidewalls.
U.S. DOTTireIdentification
Number(TIN)
Thisisthetire’s“serialnumber”.
Itbegins withtheletters“DOT”
andindicatesthatthetiremeets
allfederalstandards.Thenext
twonumbersorlettersindicate
theplantwhereitwasmanufac-
tured,andthelastfournumbers
representtheweekandyearof
manufacture.Forexample,
DOT...2218...
meansthatthetirewasproduced
inthe22ndweekof2018.The
othernumbersaremarketingco-
desthatmayormaynotbeused>
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80A012721BG
Wheels
bythetiremanufacturer.Thisin-
formationisusedtocontactcon-
sumers
ifatiredefectrequiresa
recall.
Vehiclecapacityweight
meanstheratedcargoandlug-
gageloadplus150lbs.(68kilo-
grams)timesthevehicle'sdesig-
natedseatingcapacity.
Vehiclemaximumloadonthe
tire
meansthatloadonanindividual
tirethatisdeterminedbydistrib-
utingtoeachaxleitsshareofthe
maximumloadedvehicleweight
anddividingbytwo.
Vehiclenormalloadonthetire
meansthatloadonanindividual
tirethatisdeterminedbydistrib-
utingtoeachaxleitsshareofthe
curbweight,accessoryweight,
andnormaloccupantweight(dis-
tributedinaccordancewith>ta-
bleonpage336)anddividingby
two.
Occupantloadinganddistri-
butionforvehiclenormalload
forvariousdesignatedseating
capacities
Refertothetireinflationpressure
label>page334,fig.267forthe
numberofseatingpositions.Re-
fertothetable>tableon
page336forthenumberofpeo-
plethatcorrespondtothevehicle
normalload.
Newtiresorwheels
Audirecommendshavingallwork
ontiresorwheelsperformedby
anauthorizedAudidealerorau-
thorizedAudiServiceFacility.
Thesefacilitieshavethe proper
knowledgeandareequippedwith
therequiredtoolsandreplace-
mentparts.
>Newtiresdonotyethavethe
optimumgrippingproperties.
Drivecarefullyandatmoderate
speedsforthefirst350miles
(500km)withnewtires.
>Onlyusetireswiththesamede-
sign,size(rollingcircumfer-
ence),andas close tothesame
treadpatternas possibleonall
fourwheels.
>Donotreplacetiresindividually.
Atleastreplacebothtiresonthe
sameaxleatthesametime.
>Audirecommendsthatyouuse
AudiOriginalTires.Ifyouwould
liketousedifferenttires,please
notethatthetiresmayperform>
331
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Wheels
differentlyeveniftheyarethe
samesize>A.
>Ifyouwouldliketoequipyour
vehiclewithatireandrimcom-
binationthatisdifferentfrom
whatwasinstalledatthefacto-
ry,consultwithanauthorized
AudidealerorauthorizedAudi
ServiceFacilitybeforemakinga
purchase>A.
Becausethesparetire”isdiffer-
entfromtheregulartiresinstal-
ledonthevehicle(suchaswinter
tiresorwidetires),onlyusethe
sparetire*temporarilyincaseof
emergencyanddrivecarefully
whileitisinuse.Itshouldbere-
placedwitha regulartireassoon
aspossible.
Allfourwheelsmustbeequipped
withtiresthatarethesamebrand
andhavethesameconstruction
andtreadpattern sothatthe
drivesystemisnotdamagedby
differenttirespeeds.Forthisrea-
son,incaseofemergency,only
use
aSparetire*thatisthesame
circumferenceastheregulartires.
Z\WARNING
—Donot usesteelrims thatare
17inchesorlarger.Otherwise,
332
damagetothevehicleandan
accidentcouldresult.
—Onlyusetire/rimcombina-
tionsandsuitablewheelbolts
thathavebeenapprovedby
Audi.Otherwise,damageto
thevehicleandanaccident
couldresult.
—Fortechnicalreasons,itisnot
possibletousetiresfromoth-
ervehicles.Insomecases,you
cannotevenusetiresfromthe
samevehiclemodel.
—Makesurethatthetiresyou
selecthaveenoughclearance
tothevehicle.Replacement
tiresshouldnotbechosen
simplybasedonthenominal
size,becausetireswithadif-
ferentconstructioncandiffer
greatlyeveniftheyarethe
samesize.Ifthereisnot
enough
clearance,thetiresor
thevehiclecanbedamaged
andthiscanreducedriving
safetyandincreasetheriskof
anaccident.
—Onlyusetiresthataremore
thansixyearsoldwhenabso-
lutelynecessaryanddrive
carefullywhendoingso.
—Donot userun-flattireson
yourvehicle.Usingthemwhen
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80A012721BG
Wheels
not permittedcanleadtove-
hicledamageoraccidents.
—Ifyouinstallwheelcoverson
thevehicle,makesuretheyal-
lowenoughaircirculationto
coolthebrakesystem.Ifthey
donot,thiscouldincreasethe
riskofanaccident.
Tirewearanddamage
B4H-0415
Fig.265Tireprofile:treadwearindica-
tor
Tirewear
Checkthetiresregularlyforwear.
—Inflationpressurethatistoolow
orhighcanincreasetirewear
considerably.
—Drivingquicklythroughcurves,
rapidacceleration,andheavy
brakingincreasetirewear.
—HaveanauthorizedAudidealer
orauthorizedAudiServiceFacili-
DObeyanyapplicableregulationsinthe
country
wherethevehicleisbeingoper-
ated.
tycheckthewheelalignmentif
thereisunusualwear.
—Havethewheelsrebalancedifan
imbalanceiscausingnoticeable
vibrationinthesteeringwheel.
Ifyoudonot,thetiresandother
vehiclecomponentscouldwear
morequickly.
Treadwearindicator
Originalequipmenttirescontain
treadwearindicatorsinthetread
pattern,whicharebarsthatare
1/16in(1.6mm)highandare
spacedevenlyaroundthetireper-
pendiculartotherunningdirec-
tion>fig.265.Theletters“TWI”
ortrianglesonthetiresidewall
indicatethelocationofthetread-
wearindicators.
Thetireshavereachedthemini-
mumtreaddepth))whenthey
haveworndowntothetreadwear
indicators.Replacethetireswith
newones>A.
Tirerotation
Rotatingthetiresregularlyisrec-
ommendedtoensurethetires
wearevenly.Torotatethetires,
333
>
Page 336 of 392

Wheels
installthetiresfromtherearaxle
onthefrontaxleandviceversa.
Thiswillallowthetirestohave
approximatelythesamelengthof
servicelife.
Forunidirectionaltires,makesure
thetiresareinstalledaccordingto
therunningdirectionindicatedon
thetiresidewall>page354.
Hiddendamage
Damagetotiresandrimscanof-
tenoccurinlocationsthatarehid-
den.Unusualvibrationsintheve-
hicleorpullingtoonesidemay
indicatethatthereistiredamage.
Reduceyourspeedimmediately.
Checkthetiresfordamage.Ifno
damageisvisiblefromtheout-
side,driveslowlyandcarefullyto
thenearestauthorizedAudideal-
erorauthorizedAudiServiceFa-
cilitytohavethevehicleinspect-
ed.
Z\WARNING
Treadthathasworntoolowor
uneventreaddepthsonthe
tirescanreducedrivingsafety.
Thiscanincreasetheriskofan
accidentbecauseithasanega-
tiveeffectonhandling,driving
throughcurves,andbraking,
334
andbecauseitincreasesthe
riskofhydroplaningwhendriv-
ingthroughdeeppuddles.
Tirepressure
+3S oO
2=7
ao
Fig.266Driver'ssideB-pillar:tirepres-
surelabel
B8K-1151
@‘SEATINGCAPACITYTOTALFRONTREARDEEeNOMBREDEPLACESTOTALAVANTARRIEREsore
xIbs.,a;
TIRESIZE
PNEU_|DIMENSIONS
FRONT
AVANT
REAR
ARRIERE
‘SPARE
DESECOURS
COLDTIREPRESSURE
PRESSIONDESPNEUS AFROID
amKPA,MlPSI
MaKPA,MlPSI
aKPA,MlPSI
Fig.267Tirepressurelabel
Thecorrecttirepressurefortires
installedatthefactoryislistedon
alabel.Thelabelislocatedonthe
B-pillar(driver'sside)>fig.266,
>fig.267.Thelocationmayvary
dependingonthemodel.
Usethetirepressurespecifiedfor
anormalvehicleloadwhenthe
vehicleispartiallyloaded>table
onpage336.Ifdrivingthevehi-
clewhenfullyloaded,youmust>