Wheels
control,whichincreasestheriskofanacci-
dent.
©)Note
—Snowchainscandamagetherimsand
wheelcovers*ifthechainscomeintodirect
contactwiththem.Removethewheelcov-
ers*first.Usecoatedsnowchains.
—Donotinstallandusesnowchainsifthereis
amalfunctionintheairsuspension*,be-
causethevehicleheightwillbeverylow.If
youdrivewithsnowchainsanyway,the
wheelhousingsandothervehiclecompo-
nentscanbeseverelydamaged.
@)Tips
Whenusingsnowchains,itmaybeadvisable
tolimittheESC>page145.
Low-profiletires
Appliesto:vehicleswithlow-profiletires
Comparedtoothertire/rimcombinations,low-
profiletiresofferawidertreadsurfaceanda
largerrimdiameterwithshortertiresidewalls.
Thisresultsinanagiledrivingstyle.However,it
mayreducethelevelofcomfortandincrease
roadnoise whendrivingonroadsinpoorcondi-
tion.
Low-profiletirescanbecomedamagedmore
quicklythanstandardtireswhendrivingover
largebumps,potholes,manholecovers,and
curbs.Therefore,itisparticularlyimportantto
maintainthecorrecttirepressure>page334.
Toreducetheriskofdamagetothetiresand
rims,driveverycarefullyonpoorroads.
Checkyourwheelsregularlyevery2,000mi
(3,000km)fordamage.Forexample,checkfor
bulges/cracksonthetiresordeformations/cracks
ontherims.
Afteraheavyimpactordamage,havethetires
andrimsinspectedorreplacedimmediatelyby
anauthorizedAudidealerorauthorizedAudi
ServiceFacility.
Low-profiletirescanwearoutfasterthanstand-
ardtires.
340
Uniformtirequalitygrading
—Treadwear
—TractionAAABC
—TemperatureABC
Qualitygradescanbefoundwhereapplicableon
thetiresidewallbetweentreadshoulderand
maximumsectionwidth>page325,fig.264.
Forexample:Treadwear200,TractionAA,Tem-
peratureA.
AllpassengercartiresmustconformtoFederal
SafetyRequirementsinadditiontothesegrades.
Treadwear
Thetreadweargradeisacomparativerating
basedonthewearrateofthetirewhentested
undercontrolledconditionsonaspecifiedgov-
ernmenttestcourse.
Forexample,atiregraded150wouldwearone
andonehalf(11/2)timesaswellonthegovern-
mentcourseasa tiregraded100.
Therelativeperformanceoftiresdependsupon
theactualconditionsoftheiruse,however,and
maydepartsignificantlyfromthenormdueto
variationsindrivinghabits,servicepracticesand
differencesinroadcharacteristicsandclimate.
Traction
Thetractiongrades,fromhighesttolowest, are
AA,A,BandC.Thosegradesrepresentthetire's
abilitytostoponwetpavementasmeasuredun-
dercontrolledconditionsonspecifiedgovern-
menttestsurfacesofasphaltandconcrete.Atire
markedCmayhavepoortractionperformance
>A.
Temperature
ThetemperaturegradesareA(thehighest),B,
andC,representingthetire'sresistancetothe
generationofheatanditsabilitytodissipate
heatwhentestedundercontrolledconditionson
aspecifiedindoorlaboratorytestwheel.
Sustainedhightemperaturecancausethemate-
rialofthetiretodegenerateandreducetirelife,
andexcessivetemperaturecanleadtosudden
tirefailure>A\.
