wheel alignment AUDI RS5 CABRIOLET 2013 Owners Manual

232 Tires and wheels
Tire service life
The service life of tires depends on a lot of
different things including proper installation
and balancing, correct tire pressure and driv­
ing style.
F ig. 1 87 Tire tread: tre ad wea r ind icators (TWI)
_____ __,.J)
F ig. 1 88 Rotat ing t ires for more ev en wea r
Tread Wear Indicator (TWI)
The o rigi na l t ires on your veh icle have
1/16 inch (1.6 mm) high "wear indicators"
c::> fig . 187 running across the tread. Depend ­
i ng on the make, there will be six to eight of
them evenly p laced around the t ire. Marks on
the tire sidewa ll (for example "TWI" or other
symbols) indicate the positions of the tread
wear ind icators . Worn t ires must be replaced .
Different fig ures may apply in o ther countries
c::> & .
Tire p ressure
Incorrect tire pressure causes premature wear
a nd can cause sudden t ire blow-out. For t his
reason, tire pressure must be checked at least
once a month
c::> page 228 .
Driving style
Driving fast aro und curves, heavy acce leration
and hard braking increase tire wear.
Rotating tires for more even wear
F or all four tires on your ve hicl e to h ave the
same service life, we recommen d that t he
front and rear t ires are rotated according to
the tire manufact urer's suggested tire rota­
tion intervals. Please remember the follow­ ing :
- Tire rotation intervals may differ from the
vehicle service inte rva ls o utlined in your
Ma intenance and Warranty Book let .
- The longer one tire is used in one location
on the vehicle, the more it wears at certain
points; therefore, we recommend that you
follow the tire manufact urer's suggested
tire rotation intervals .
- Vehi cles w ith front-wheel dr ive experience
more tread wear on the fro nt w heels com­
pa red to all wheel d rive (quattro ®).
- Please rotate tires as shown
c::> fig. 188.
-Extra care must be taken when rotating di-
rection-specific tires
c::> page 250 .
Wheel balancing
The wheels on new ve hicles are balanced .
However, various situations during everyday
driving can cause them to become unba l­
anced, re sulting in vibrat ions you can usually
feel through the steer ing wheel.
Un balanced whee ls must be rebalanced to
avo id excessive wear on steering, suspension
and t ires. A whee l m ust also be reba lanced
when a new tire is insta lled.
Incorrect wheel alignment
Incor rect w heel alig nment can cause exces ­
sive tire wear, impairing the safety of the veh i­
cle . If tires show excessive wear, have the
whee l alignment checked by an aut hori zed
Audi dealer or qualif ied workshop .
All wheel drive
Vehicles with q uattro ® mus t always have tires
of the same size, construction and tread type .
For details see
c::> page 181. ..,.

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 a wheel
Follow these instructions step-by-step for
changing the wheel.
Fig. 198 Changing a wheel: using the screwdrive r han ·
die (with the blade removed) to turn the bolts
Fig . 199 Ch anging a wheel: alignment pin inside the
top hole
After you have loosened all wheel bolts and
ra ised the vehicle off the ground, remove and
replace the wheel as follows :
Removing the wheel
.. Remove the topmost wheel bolt completely
with the
he xa gona l socket in the screwdriv­
er handle (vehicle tool kit) <=>
fig. 198 and
set it as ide on a
clean surface.
.. Screw the threaded end of the
alignm ent
pin
from the tool k it hand-tight into the
empty bolt hole
r=>fig. 199.
.. Then remove the other wheel bo lts as de­
scribed above.
What do I d o now ? 249
.. Take off the whee l leaving the a lignment pin
in the bo lt ho le
r=> (D.
Putting on th e other wh eel
.. Push the whee l over the alignment pin.
.. Screw 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 handle 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
r=> page 247. 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
r=> page 246, After changing a
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 removing or i nstalling the whee l,
the r im could hit the brake rotor/ceramic
brake rotor* and damage the rotor. Work
carefully and have a second person to help
you.
(D Tips
- When mount ing tires w ith unidi rectional
tread design
make sure the tread pat­
tern is po inted the right way
~page 250.
-The wheel bo lts should 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
surfa ces before remounting the whee l.
- Do not use the hexagonal socket in the
s cr ewd river handle to loosen or t igh ten
t he whee l bolts.