wheel alignment AUDI A5 CABRIOLET 2013 Owners Manual

and luggag e load c apaci ty of
y our vehicle.
.,. Check the tire sidewall
(c:::> fig . 18 6) to d etermine th e
de sign ated load rating f or a
s p ecific tir e.
Tire service life
The service life of tires depends on a lot of
different things including proper installation
and balan cing , correc t tire pressure and driv­
ing style.
Fi g. 1 84 Tire t rea d: tread we ar ind ic a tors (TWI)
.__ __ __,, ,.)
Fig . 185 Rotat ing t ires for more eve n wea r
Tread Wear Indicator (TWI)
The origina l tires on your vehicle have
1/16 inch (1.6 mm) high "wear indicators"
<=> fig. 184 running across the tread. Depend­
ing on the make, there will be six to eight of
t hem evenly p laced around the t ire. Marks on
the t ire s idewall (for example ''TWI " or other
symbols) indicate the positions of the tread
wear ind icators . Worn t ires m ust be replaced.
D ifferen t fig ures may apply in o ther co untries
¢ ,& .
Tires and wheels 23 7
Tire pressure
Incorrect tire press ure c auses prema ture wear
and can cause sudden tire blow-out . For this
reason , tire pressure must be checked at least
once a month
r:!) page 233.
Driving style
Driving fast around c urves, heavy acce le ra ti on
and har d brak ing inc rease tire wear .
Rotating tires for more even w ear
For all four tires on your vehicle to have the
same service life , we recommend that the
front and rear t ires a re rotated a ccording to
the tire man ufactur er's suggested tire ro ta­
tion intervals . Please remember the follow­
ing:
- Tire rotation in tervals may differ from the
veh icle servi ce inte rv al s o utli ned in your
Ma intenance and Warranty Boo klet.
- The longer one tire is used in one lo cation
on t he veh icle, the more it wears a t cer tain
points ; the re fore, we recommend that you
follow the tire man ufact urer's suggested
tire rotation intervals .
- Vehi cles w ith front-wheel dr ive experience
more tread wear on the front wheels com­
pared to a ll wheel drive (quattro ®).
- Please rotate tires as shown¢
fig. 185 .
-Extra care mus t be taken when ro ta ti ng di -
rection -specific tires
q page 2 54.
Wheel balancing
T he w heels on new ve hicles are balanced .
Howeve r, various s ituations duri ng eve ryday
driv ing ca n ca use t hem to become unba l­
anced, resulting in vib rat ions you ca n usually
feel through the steer ing whee l.
Un balanced wheels must be rebalanced to
avo id excessive wear on steering, s uspension
and t ires. A whee l m ust also be reba lanced
when a new tire is insta lled .
Incorrect wheel alignment
Incor rect wheel alignment can cause exc es­
s ive tire wear, impa iring the safe ty of the vehi-
cle. If tires show excessive wear, have the
)I>-

238 Tires and w hee ls
wheel alignment checked by an authorized
Audi dealer or qualified workshop.
All wheel dri ve
Vehicles w ith quattro ® must always have tires
of the same size, construction and tread type. F or detai ls see
¢ page 184 .
.8, WARNING
Sudden tire failure can lead to loss of con­
trol, a crash and serious personal injury!
- Never drive a veh icle when the tread on
any tire is worn down to the wear indica­
tors.
- Worn tires are a safety hazard, they do not grip well on wet roads and increase
your risk of "hydrop lan ing" and loss of
control.
- Always keep chemicals that can cause
tire damage, such as grease, oil, gasoline
and brake fluid away from tires.
- Tires age even if they are not being used
and can fail suddenly, especially at high
speeds. Tires that are more than 6 years
old can only be used in an emergency
and then with special care and at lower
speeds.
- Never mount used tires on your vehicle if
you are not sure of their "previous histo­
ry." Old used tires may have been dam­
aged even though the damage cannot be
seen that can lead to s udden tire failure
and loss of vehicle control.
New tires and replacing tires and wheels
New tires and wheels have to be broken in .
Fig. 186 Tir e specificat ion c odes on t he s idewall o f a
t ire
N o. Descri ption
(!) Passenger car tire (where applicable)
@ Nom inal width of tire in millimeters
@ Ratio of height to width (aspect ratio)
© Radial
® Rim diameter code
@ L oad index and speed rating
(J) U.S. DOT tire identification number
@ Audi Orig inal tire
@ Sever snow conditions
@ Tire ply compos ition and mate rials
used
Maximum load rating
Treadwear, traction and temperature
grades
Maximum permissible inflation pres­
sure
T he t ires and rims are essential parts of the
vehicle 's design . The tires and rims approved
by Audi are spec ially matched to the charac­
teristics of the vehicle and can make a major .,..

248 What do I do now?
What do I do now?
Vehicle tool kit
The tools ore stored underneath the floor
panel in the luggage comportment.
Fig. 188 luggage compartment: tool kit
When you need access to the vehicle tool kit
or jack*, you will need to take out the spare
tire* and cover¢
page 248.
The vehicle tool kit includes:
- Hook for removing wheel covers*
- Plastic hook to remove wheel bolt covers*
- Alignment p in for changing the whee l
- Screwdriver w ith reversible blade
- Tool for changing light bulbs
- Reversible bit (reversible Torx bit for chang-
ing light bulbs)
- Rod for jack
- Jack*
- Lug wrench
- Towing eye
Some of the vehicle items listed above are provided on certain models on ly or are opt ion­
a l extras.
Before returning the jack* to its place, retract
the jack arm fully.
A WARNING
-
-Never use the screw driver hex head to
tighten wheel bolts, since the bolts can­
not attain the necessary tightening tor­
que if yo u use the hex head, potentially
causing an accident.
- The factory-supplied jack is intended on­
ly for your vehicle model. Under no cir- cumstances should it be
used to lift
heavy veh icles or other loads; you risk in­
juring yourself.
- Never start the engine when the vehicle
is raised, which could cause an accident.
- Support the vehicle securely with appro ­
priate stands if work is to be performed
underneath the vehicle; otherwise, there is a potential risk for injury .
Space-saving spare tire
(compact spare tire)
App lies to vehicles: with space -saving spare t ire
The spare tire/wheel is located in the luggage
comportment under the cargo floor cover. It
is intended for short-term use only.
Fig. 189 Spa re tire
Removing the spare tire
.. Lift the cargo floor by the p lastic handle
¢ fig. 189 .
.. Hook the handle into the luggage compart­
ment weather strip .
.. Turn the large screw ¢
fig. 189 counter ­
clockwise .
.. Take out the spare tire .
.. Always store the vehicle tool kit, the jack*,
and the replaced tire in the luggage com­
partment
¢ page 127.
.. Unhook the cargo floor before closing the
rear lid.
Using the spare tire (compact spare tire)
The compact spare t ire is only intended for
emergencies until you can reach a repair shop .
R ep lace it as quickly as possible with a stand-
ard wheel and tire. ..,.

CD Note
Do not lift the vehicle by the sill. Position
the vehicle jack only at the designated lift ­
ing points on the sill. Otherwise , your vehi­
cle will be damaged.
Taking the wheel off/installing the spare
tire
Follow these instructions step -by -step for
changing the wheel.
Fig . 195 Ch ang ing a w hee l: us ing the sc rewdriver han ­
d le (with the blade removed) to turn t he bo lts
Fig . 196 Ch ang ing a w hee l: al ig nme nt pin inside t he
top hole
After you have loosened a ll wheel bolts and
ra ised the veh icle off the ground, remove and
replace the wheel as follows:
R emoving th e wheel
.. Remove the topmost wheel bo lt completely
with the
he xagonal sock et in the screwdriv­
er handle (vehicle tool kit)
¢ fig. 195 and
set it as ide on a
clean surface.
.. Screw the threaded end of the
alig nm ent
pin from the tool kit hand -tight into the
empty bolt hole
¢ fig . 196.
.. Then remove the other wheel bo lts as de­
scribed above.
What do I d o now ? 253
.. Take off the wheel leaving the alignment
pin in the bolt hole ¢(D.
Putting on th e spar e tire
.. Push the spare tire over the alignment p in.
.. Sc rew on the wheel bo lts and tighten them
slightly us ing the hexagonal socket .
.. Remove the alignment pin and insert and
tighten the rema ining wheel bolt slightly
like the rest.
.. Turn the jack hand le counter-clockwise to
lower the veh icle until the jack is fully re­
leased .
.. Use the wheel bolt wrench to tighten all
wheel bo lts firm ly
¢page 251. Tighten
them
in a crisscross pattern, from one bolt
to the (approximately) opposite one, to keep
the wheel centered .
.. Perform the steps required after changing
the whee l¢
page 250, After changing o
wheel.
T he hexagonal socket makes it easier to re­
move t he wheel bolts from the rim . Care
shou ld be taken when removing the reversib le
blade .
CD Note
When removin g or i nstalling the whee l,
the r im cou ld hit the brake rotor and dam­
age the rotor. Work carefully and have a
second person to help you.
{l) Tips
- When mounting tires with unidirection al
tread de sign
make sure the tread pat­
tern is po inted the right way
¢ page 254.
-The wheel bolts shou ld be clean and easy
to turn. Check for dirt and corrosion on
the mating surfaces of both the wheel
and the hub . Remove all d irt from these
surfaces befo re remounting the whee l.
- Do not use the hexagonal socket in the
sc rewd river handle to loosen or t ighten
t he whee l bolts .