tires AUDI A5 COUPE 2012 Owners Manual

Safet y fir st ..... .... ... .. .. .. . .
Driving Safely .. .... ... .. .. .. . .
General notes ... ...... ... .. .. .. . .
Proper occupant seating posit ions . . .
Driver and passenger side footwell . . .
Pedal area .. .. .............. ... . .
Stowing luggage ... ...... .. .. .. . .
R eport ing Safety Defects . ......... . 1
4 4
144
144
145
149
149 150
152
Safety belts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
General notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
Why safety bel ts? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 55
Safety belts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
Safety belt p re tens ioners . . . . . . . . . . 160
Airbag system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 2
I mpor tant th ings to know . . . . . . . . . . 16 2
Fr ont airbags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
M onitoring the Advanced Airbag
System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
Knee airbags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
Side airbags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
Side curta in a irbags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
Ch ild Safety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
Important things to know . . . . . . . . . . 186
C hi ld safety seats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
Install ing a chi ld safety seat . . . . . . . . 195
L A TC H L ower ancho rages and tethe r
fo r ch ild ren . ............. .... .. .. 199
Addit io nal Informa tion 20 3
Vehicle operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
Intelligent technology . . . . . . . . 204
N ot ice about da ta recorded by vehi cle
control mod ules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 04
Electron ic stabilization Program (ESP) 204
Braking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
Servot ronic ® - advanced power
steering system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
Driving w ith your quatt ro ® . . . . . . . . . 210
Ene rgy management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 1
Driving and environment . . . . . 213
The first 1,000 m iles (1,500 km) a nd
afterwards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 13
Avoid damaging the vehicle. .. .. .. .. 2 14
Dr iving thro ugh w ater o n roads . . . . . 2 14
Table of contents 3
Cata lyt ic converter . .. .. .. ..... ... .
Operate yo ur vehicle economically and
min imize poll ution . .. .. ... .... ... .
Trailer towing .... .. .. ..... ... .
Driving with a trailer . .. ..... ... .. .
Trai ler tow ing tips 214
215
218
218
220
Vehicle care
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
Cleaning and protection . . . . . . 221
General information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
Care of exterior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
Care of interior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226
Fuel supply and filling your
fuel tank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
232
Gasoline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232
Fuel tank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233
Checking and filling . . . . . . . . . . . 237
En gine hood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237
E ngine compartment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239
E ngine o il . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239
E ngine cooling sys tem . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244
Brake fluid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246
Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247
Windsh ie ld/headligh t* was her
container . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251
Tires and wheels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252
Tires ..... .. .. .. ............... .
Tire pressure monitoring system 252
270
Do-it-yourself service
. . . . . . . . . 273
What do I do now? . . . . . . . . . . . . 273
Vehicle tool kit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273
Space -saving spare tire (compact
spare t ire)* . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273
Chang ing a wheel. .. . .. .. ..... ... . 274
Fuses and bulbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280
Fuses ... .. .. .. .. .. . .. .... .... .. . 280
B ulbs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283
Emergency situations . . . . . . . . . 284
Genera l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 4
Star ting by p ushing or towing . . . . . . . 28 4
Star ting with jumper cables . . . . . . . . 284
•
•

In o rder to make an accu rate diagnosis, the
stored data can only be displayed using spe­
cial diagnostic eq uipment (gener ic scan tool
for OBD).
I n o rder to connect the special diagnostic
equipment, push the plug into the Data Link
Connector (DLC) . The DLC is located to the
right of the hood re lease
c:> fig. 23.
Your authorized A udi dealer or qualified work­
shop can interpret the code and perform the necessary repa ir.
Electronic speed
limiter
Your veh icle may be factory equipped with
tires that are rated for a maximum speed of
130 mph (210 km/h) . Th is is less than the
maximum speed of you r vehicle. To reduce the
ri sk of s udden tire failure and loss of control if
t he veh icle is ope rated at excessive speeds,
your vehicle also has an electronic speed lim it ­
er . The electronic speed limiter prevents yo ur
ve hicle from going faster than the tire speed
rating. For more informat ion
c:> page 263 .
If the engine contro l unit receives fa ulty vehi ­
cle road speed signals, the Malfunction Indi­
cator Lamp (MIL)
¢1111ij) will i llum inate. If t his
occ urs, contact the nearest authorized Aud i
dealer for assistance.
A WARNING
Always observe the posted speed limits
and ad just you r speed to suit p revailing
road, t raff ic and weather conditions. Never
drive your vehicle faster than the maxi­
mum speed rating of the tires insta lled.
Speed warning system
Overview
The speed warning system helps you to keep
your driving speed below a set speed limit.
The speed warning system wa rns if the driver
exceeds a prev iously stored maxim um speed.
A warning tone will sound as soon as the vehi-
Dri ver information di spla y 2 7
cle speed exceeds the set speed by about
3 mph (3 km/h). At the same time, a warning
symbol appears in the display. The symbo l's
appearance might be different in some mod­
els.
The speed warning system has two warning
thresholds that funct ion independent ly of
each other and that have somewhat different purposes:
Speed warning 1
You can use speed warning 1 to set the maxi­
mum speed while you are driving. This setting
will remain in effect until yo u turn off the ign i­
tion, assuming that you have not changed or reset the setting.
The . (USA mode ls)/ . (Canada models)
speed warning symbo l in the warning 1 dis­
play appears when you exceed the maximum
speed . It goes out when the speed falls be low
the stored maximum speed .
The speed warning symbol will also go o ut if
the speed exceeds the stored maximum speed
by more than about 2S mph (40 km/h) for at
least 10 seconds . The stored max imum speed
is deleted.
Speed w arning 2
Storing warning 2 is recommended if yo u al­
ways want to be reminded of a certain speed,
for example whe n you are trave ling in a coun­
try that has a genera l maximum speed limit,
o r i f you do not want to exceed a specified
speed for wi nte r tir es.
The . (USA models) . (Canada models)
speed warning 2 symbol appears in the dis ­
play when yo u exceed the sto red speed limit.
Unlik e warning 1, it will not go out unt il the
vehicle speed drops below the s to red speed
li mi t.
Setting speed warn ing 2
c:> page 28 .
(D Tips
Even though your vehicle is equ ipped w ith
a speed war ning system, you sho uld still

area because the rear lid cannot be fully
closed.
-If you absolutely must drive with the rear
lid open, observe the following notes to
reduce the risk of poisoning:
- Close all windows,
- Close the panoramic tilting sunroof*,
- Open all air outlets in the instrument
panel,
- Switch off the air recirculation,
- Set the fresh air fan to the highest
speed.
A WARNING
Always make sure that the doors, all win­
dows, the panoramic tilting sunroof* and
the rear lid are securely closed and locked
to reduce the risk of injury when the vehi­
cle is not being used.
-After closing the rear lid, always make sure that it is properly closed and locked.
- Never leave your vehicle unattended es­
pecially with the rear lid left open. A
child could crawl into the vehicle through
the luggage compartment and close the
rear lid becoming trapped and unable to
get out. Being trapped in a vehicle can
lead to serious personal injury.
- Never let children play in or around the
vehicle.
- Never let passengers ride in the luggage
compartment. Vehicle occupants must
always be properly restrained in one of
the vehicle's seating positions.
(D Tips
- Air circulation helps to reduce window
fogging. Stale air escapes to the outside
through vents in the trim panel. Be sure
to keep these slots free and open.
- The tire pressure must correspond to the load. The tire pressure is shown on the
tire pressure label. On USA vehicles, the
tire pressure label is located on the driv­
er's side B-pillar. On Canada vehicles, the
tire pressure label is located either on
the driver's side B-pillar or inside the fuel
.
Driving Safely 151
filler flap. The tire pressure label lists
the recommended cold tire inflation
pressures for the vehicle at its maximum
capacity weight and the tires that were
on your vehicle at the time it was manu­
factured . For recommended tire pres­
sures for normal load conditions, please
see chapter
~page 256.
Tie-downs
The luggage compartment is equipped with
four tie-downs to secure luggage and other
items.
Use the tie -downs to secure your cargo prop­
erly ~
page 150, Loading the luggage com­
partment .
In a collision, the laws of physics mean that
even smaller items that are loose in the vehi­
cle will become heavy missiles that can cause
serious injury. Items in the vehicle possess en­
ergy which vary with vehicle speed and the
weight of the item. Vehicle speed is the most
significant factor.
For example, in a frontal collision at a speed
of 30 mph (48 km/h), the forces acting on a
10-lb (4.S kg) object are about 20 times the
normal weight of the item. This means that
the weight of the item would suddenly be
about 200 lbs. (90 kg). You can imagine the
injuries that a 200 lbs. (90 kg) item flying
freely through the passenger compartment
could cause in a collision like this.
A WARNING
Weak, damaged or improper straps used
to secure items to tie-downs can fail dur­
ing hard braking or in a collision and cause
serious personal injury.
- Always use suitable mounting straps and
properly secure items to the tie-downs in
the luggage compartment to help pre­
vent items from shifting or flying for­
ward as dangerous missiles.
- When the rear seat backrest is folded
down, always use suitable mounting
straps and properly secure items to the
•
•

206 Intelligent technology
Driving off
When driving off, a lways be sure to keep road
conditions in mind as you accelerate. If one
drive wheel spins because it is on a surface
with less grip, apply
plenty of throttle until
the car starts to
move .
Overheating of brakes
To prevent the disc b rake o f the bra ked wheel
from overheating if subjected to excessive l oads on this whee l, the EDL cuts out tempo­
rarily. The vehicle remains operational and be­
haves in the same way as a vehicle without
EDL.
As soon as the brake has coo led down, EDL
switches on again automatically .
A WARNING
-When accelerating on slippery surfaces,
such as on ice or snow, always be careful
when depressing the accelerator pedal. Even with the EDL working, the drive
wheels can spin and reduce your ability
to control your car. Risk of crash!
- The increased safety afforded by EDL
does not mean that you can take safety
risks. Always adapt your dr iving style to
the road conditions and traffic situation.
0) Tips
If a fault occurs in the ABS, the EDL is also
not funct ion ing. Thi s is indicated by the
ABS war ning light ¢
page 16.
Anti-Slip Regulation System (ASR)
The Anti-Slip Regulation System prevents the
driven wheels from spinning when the car is
accelerating.
General notes
The Anti -Slip Regulation System (ASR) is inte­
grated in the electronic stabilization program
( E SP). When the vehicle starts up and acceler­
ates, the wheels are p revented from spinning
by adjusting the engine power to match the amount of grip available
from the road sur­
face.
How the system works
ASR performs automat ically, i .e. w ithout the
driver's intervention. With the aid of the ABS
sensors ¢
page 208, ASR monitors the speed
of the driven whee ls. If the whee ls start to
spin, engine torque is reduced automatica lly
until the tires find enough grip to lock onto
the road surface. The system is active across
the entire speed range.
The ASR works in conjunction with the ABS . If
a malfunction should occur in the ABS, the
ASR will also be out of act ion.
Activating
T he ESP is automatica lly activated when the
engine is started and it performs a se lf-test .
You can activate a deactivated ASR if required by pressing the
¢ page 204, fig. 196 button.
When it is act ivated, the message
ESP/ASR
on
appears briefly in the display .
Deactivating
You can deactivate the ASR if required by
pressing the button (for less than 3 seconds)
¢
page 204, fig . 196. With the ASR deactivat­
ed, the ESP check light comes on, see
¢
page 15 . The message ASR off appears in
the d isplay as well. The ASR can be deact ivat­
ed at any speed.
The ASR s hould normally be activated all the
time . Only in certain exceptional situations
when some slip is desirable does it make
sense to deact ivate the ASR . Examples :
- when driving with tire cha ins
- when driving in deep snow or on loose
ground and
- when rocking the vehicle loose after it has
become stuck.
When the abnormal situation is
over, you
shou ld activate the ASR again .

A WARNING ,~
The increased safety afforded by ASR does
not mean that you can take safety r isks .
Always adapt your driv ing style to the road
conditions and traffic situation .
@ Tips
To ensure that the ASR works properly, all
four wheels must be fitted with identical
tires. Any differences in rolling radius of
the t ires can cause the system to reduce
engine power when this is no t des ired. See
also ¢
page 263, New tires and replacing
tires and wheels.
Braking
General information
What affects braking efficiency?
Operating conditions and driving habits
The brakes on today's automob iles are st ill
subject to wea r, depend ing largely on operat ­
ing conditions and dr iving habits ~.&. . On ve­
h icles that are either driven mostly in stop­
and-go city traffic or are driven hard, the
brake pads should be checked by your a uthor­
ized Audi dealer more often than specified i n
the
Warranty & Maintenan ce booklet . Failure
to have your brake pads inspected can result
in red uced brake performance.
On steep slopes, you should use the brak ing
effect of the eng ine . This way, you p revent un­
n ecessary wea r on the brake system . If you
must use you r brakes, do not ho ld the bra kes
down continuously . Pu mp the b rakes at in ter ­
va ls.
Noises may occur when braking depending on
the speed, bra king for ce and outside condi­
tions s uch as temperatu re a nd humidity .
Moisture or road salt
If you are driving faster than 31 mph (SO km/
h) and the windsh ie ld w ipers are on, the brake
pads will briefly touch the b rake d iscs in regu­
l ar i nte rva ls so as to imp rove reaction t ime
Int ellig ent technolog y 207
when b rak ing on wet surfaces . You, the driver,
will not notice anything.
U nder certa in cond itions , fo r example, when
d riv ing th rough wa ter or very heavy ra in , or
even after washing your veh icle, the braking
effect can be reduced due to moisture (or in
freez ing cond itions ice) on the brake pads. A
few carefu l brake applications should dry off
the brake pads or remove any ice coatings.
The effectiveness of the brakes can be red uced
when the vehicle is driven on a salt-covered
road and the brakes are not used. Here too,
you should clean off accumulated salt coating
from brake discs and pads w ith a few careful
applications of the brake¢,&. .
Corrosi on
There may be a tendency for dirt to b uild up
on the brake pads and corros ion to form on
the d iscs if the car is not driven regularly or
o nly for short trips w ith litt le use of the
brakes .
If the brakes are no t used frequently, or if cor­
ros ion has formed on the discs, i t is adv isable
to clean off the pads and d iscs by braking
firmly a few times from a moderately high speed ¢,& .
Fault s in the brake s ystem
If you should notice a sudden increase in
brake pedal trave l, then one of the two brake
c ircuits may have failed ¢,&. .
Lo w br ake fluid le vel
Malfunctions can occ ur in the brake system if
the brake fluid level is too low. The brake flu id
level is monitored electronically.
Brake lining wea r status
Brake lining wear may be checked by visual in­
spection of the condition of the brake pads
through the open ings in the wheel. If neces­
sary, the wheel may be removed for th is in­
spection ¢
page 2 74, Changing a wheel.
•
•

210 Intellig ent technol ogy
- If the power steer ing system should fail
entirely, or if the engine is not running (for example, while being towed), you
will still be ab le to steer the vehicle.
However,
considerably more effort w ill
be required to do so .
- If the power steer ing system should
have a leak, or is not functioning proper­
ly, contact your authorized Aud i dealer
i mmediately.
- The power steering system requires a
spec ially formulated hydraulic flu id . T he
power steer ing reservoir is the one locat­
ed farthest to the rear on the left side of
the engine compartment~
page 239.
The correct flu id leve l in the reservo ir is
important for proper functioning o f the
power steering.
Driving with your
quattro ®
With all wheel drive, all four wheels are driv­
en.
Gener al inform ation
W ith all wheel dr ive, power is distr ibuted to
all four wheels . This happens automatically
depending on your dr iving style and the road
conditions at the t ime . See also ~
page 205,
Electronic differential lock (EDL) .
The all wheel drive concept is designed for
h igh engine power . Your vehicle is exception­
ally powerful and has excellent dr iving charac­
ter istics both under normal driving conditions
and on snow and ice . Always read and follow
safety precautions
~ ,&. .
Winter tires
When driving in the w inter, your vehicle w ith
all wheel drive has an advantage, even with regular t ires. In winter road conditions it may
be adv isable to mount winter t ires (o r all-sea ­
son t ires) for improved driveability and brak­
ing : these tires must be mounted on all four
wheel s. See also
q page 267, Winter tires .
Tir e chain s
Where tire chains are mandatory on certain roads, this norma lly also app lies to vehicles
with all wheel drive~
page 268, Snow
chains.
Replacing wheels /tires
Vehicles with a ll wheel d rive must always have
ti res of the same s ize. A lso avo id tires w ith
different t read dep ths . For detai ls see page
~ page 263, New tires and replacing tires
and wheels .
Off-Road dr iv ing?
Your Audi does not have enough g round clea r­
ance to be used as an off-road vehicle .
It is
therefore best to avoid rough tracks and un ­
even terrain as much as possib le . Also refer to
9 page 214.
A WARNING
-
Always adjust your dr iv ing to road and traf-
f ic conditions. Do not let the extra safety
afforded by all whee l drive tempt you into
taking extra risks.
- Although the all whee l drive is very effec­
tive, always remember that braking ca­ pacity is limited by tire tract ion. You
should t herefore not d rive at excessive
speeds on icy or slippe ry road s urfaces.
- On wet road surfaces, be careful not to
drive too fast because the front whee ls
co uld begin to slide on top of the water
(aquaplaning) . If th is should occur, you
wi ll have no warning from a s udden in ­
crease in engine speed as w it h a front­
wheel drive veh icle. Always drive at
speeds which are su ited to the road con­
ditions -risk of crash.

Driving and
environment
The first 1
1000
miles
(11500 km) and
afterwards
New engine
The engine needs to be run-in during the first
1,000 miles (1 ,500 km) .
For the fir st 600 mile s (1,000
kilometers ):
.,. Do not use full throttle.
.,. Do not d rive at engine speeds that are more
than 2/3 of the max imum permitted RPM .
From 600 to 1,000 miles (1 ,000 to
1,500 kilometers ):
.. Speeds ca n gradually be increased to the
maximum perm iss ible road or eng ine speed .
During and after br eak-in period
.. Do not rev the eng ine up to h igh speeds
when it is cold. Th is applies whether the
transmission is in N (Neutral) or in gear.
After the break- in peri od
.. Do not exceed maximum eng ine speed un­
der any circumstances.
.. Upshift into the next higher gear
before
reaching the red area at the end of the tach­
ometer scale
c.> page 10.
During the first few hours of driving, the en­
g ine's internal friction is higher than later
when all the moving parts have been broken
in . How well this break -in process is done de ­
pends to a considerable extent on the way the
vehicle is driven du ring the first 1,000 miles
(1,500 kilome ters).
(D Note
Extremely h igh engine speeds are auto­
mat ica lly reduc ed. However, t hese rpm
lim its are programmed for a n engine well
r u n- in, not a new engine.
Driving and environment 213
@) For the sake of the environment
Do not drive with unnecessarily high en­
g ine speeds -upshifting ear ly saves f uel,
reduces noise and protects the environ­
ment.
New tires
If your vehicle is running on new tires, drive
very carefully for the first 350 miles (500 ki lo­
meters) after fitting.
.&, WARNING
N ew tires tend to be sl ippery and mus t al­
so be "b roken -in" . Be sure to remember
this dur ing the f irst 350 m iles (500 kilo­
meters) . Brake gently . Avoid fo llowing
closely behind other vehicles or other sit­
uations that m ight require sudden, hard
b raking .
New brake pads
Remember that new brake pads do not have a
full brak ing effect dur ing the first 250 m iles
(400 ki lomete rs) afte r they are installed.
New brake pads have to be "burnished in" be­
fore they have optima l grab
c.> .&. .
During the brea k-in period, yo u should avo id
putting severe loads on the brakes. Severe
l oads include , for example, sudden hard brak­
i ng, in particular at very h igh speeds or, for
example, on mountain passes .
.&, WARNING
New b rake pads don 't have the best stop­
p ing power and must be "broken-i n" dur­
ing the initi al 100 to 150 miles (150 to
200 kilometers) o f no rma l ci ty driving . You
can compensate for this by pressing the b rake peda l more firm ly . This also applies
later when new pads are installed.
•
•

Tire pressure
When towing a tra ile r, inflate the t ires of your
vehi cle to the co ld tire pressure listed under
"Full load" on the label located either on the
driver's side B-pillar (visible when the doo r is
open) or inside the f uel f iller flap. Inf late
trailer tires to trailer and tire manufact urers'
specifications .
Lights
The headlight settings should be chec ked w ith
the t railer attached before dr iv ing off. Check
to make sure both vehicle and trai ler lights
are working properly.
Safety chains
Be s ure trai le r sa fety chains are p roperly con ­
nected from the t railer to the hitch on the ve­
h icle. Leave enough s lack in the chains to per ­
mit turn ing corners . When you install safety
chains, make su re they w ill not drag on the
road when you are driving.
T he chains shou ld cross under the trai ler
tongue to prevent it from droppi ng in case of
separat io n from the hitch .
Driving instructions
Driving with a trailer always requires extra
care and consideration.
To obtain the best poss ible handling of vehicle
and trai ler, p lease note the following:
.,. Do no t tow a loa ded tra iler whe n your car i t­
self is no t loaded .
.,. Be especia lly careful when passing other ve ­
hicles.
.,. Observe speed limits.
.,. Do not drive at the maximum permissible
speed.
.,. Always apply brakes early .
.,. Monito r the t em perature gauge.
Weight distribution
Tow ing a loaded trai ler with an empty car re­
sults in a highly unstable distribution of
weight . If this ca nnot be avo ided, drive at very
Trailer towin g 219
low speeds on ly to avo id t he ris k of losing
steering cont ro l.
A "b alanced " rig i s ea sier to op erat e and con­
tr ol. T his means t hat t he tow vehi cle should
be loaded to the extent possible and permissi ­
ble, while keep ing the trai ler as light as possi­
ble under the c ircu mstances . Whenever poss i­
ble, transfer some ca rgo to the luggage com­
partment of the tow vehicle while obse rvi ng
tongue load requirements and vehicle load ing
cons idera tions .
Speed
The higher the speed, the more d iff icu lt it be­
comes for the driver to contro l the rig. Do not
drive at the maxim um permissib le speed. Re­
duce your speed even more if load, weather o r
wind conditions are unfavo rable -pa rticula rly
whe n going downhill .
Red uce ve hicle speed
immediately if the trail­
er shows the slig htest s ign of sway ing .
Do not
try to stop the swaying by accelerating .
Observe speed limits. In some areas, speeds
for vehicles tow ing tra ile rs are lowe r than for
regular ve hicles .
A lways apply brakes early. When driving
down hill, shift into a lowe r gear to use the en­
gine braking effect to s low the vehicle. Use of
the b rakes alone ca n cause them to overhea t
and fail.
Coo lant temperature
The coo lant temperat ure ga uge ¢ page 10
must be observed carefu lly. If the need le
m oves cl ose to t he upper end of t he scale, re­
duce speed immediately and/or turn off t he
a ir condi tioner .
If the coolant temperature warning light .
in the instrument cluster starts flashing, pull
off the road , stop and let the engine
i dle for
abo ut two minutes to prevent heat build-up .
A WARNING
Anyone no t properly restra ined in a mov­
in g ve hicle i s at a much gre ater r isk in an
a cci dent . N ever le t anyone rid e in yo ur car
-
•
•

Washing your vehicle with a power
washer
Cleaning the exterior of your car with a high­
pressure power washer is safe as long as you observe a few simple rules.
~ Before using the powe r washer, make sure
you have read a nd u nderstood the WARN­
INGS¢ &.
in General information on
page 221.
~ Always fo llow the operating instructions for
the power washer .
~ Make sure that the jet on the spray hose
produces a "fan shaped spray" .
~ Do not hold the spray nozzle too close to
soft materia ls.
When clean ing the veh icle w ith a power wash­
er
always follow the operating instructions.
This applies particularly to the
operating
pressure
and the s praying distanc e. Maintain
a sufficient d istance to soft materials such as
r ubber hoses and sound/vib rat ion deadening
materia ls (par ticu larly on the underside of the
engine hood) . Do not use a jet which sprays
water in a direct st ream or one t hat has a ro­
tat ing
jet.
Wa ter tempe ratu re shou ld no t excee d 140 ° F
(60 °().
& WARNING
Never wash tires w ith a jet that s prays wa ­
ter in a direct stream . This cou ld cause in­
visib le damage to the tires and weaken
them, even if the spray is from a relatively
long distance a nd for a short time . Dam­
aged a nd weakened t ires can fai l and cause
accidents and persona l injury .
(D Note
To avo id damag ing your vehicle, always
make sure that there is sufficient distance
between t he spray head a nd soft mate rials
like rubber hoses, plastic parts and sound­
deadening mate rials. Never a im the spray
head at t he sa me po in t for a long ti me.
This also applies to clea ning he ad lig hts
and p ainted bumpe rs . Remember: the
Cleaning and protec tion 223
closer the no zzle is to the surface of the
mater ia l, the greater the stress on t he ma­
terial.
Waxing and Polishing
Wa xing
A good wax coating protects the vehicle paint
to a large extent against the environmental
factors listed under¢
page 221, Washing and
even against s light scratches .
You can use a liquid car wax to protect your
paint as soon as one wee k after your vehicle
has been delivered.
Even if you regular ly use a
wa xing process in
automat ic car washes, we recommend that
you manually apply a coat of wax to g ive the
paint extra protection, part icularly if water no
longer beads on t he clean paint .
Protect plastic body parts with car wax in the
same way as the veh icle body.
D uring warm wea ther dead insects tend to
collect on t he front bumper an d on the fo r­
ward area of the hood. They are much easier
to remove from pa int that is waxed
often.
Polishing
Polish your vehicle only if the paint has lost its
shine and the gloss cannot be broug ht back
with wax .
If the po lish used does not co ntain preserva­
t ive compoun ds, the pain t must be waxed a f­
te rwards.
& WARNING
A lways read and heed all WAR NIN GS and
other information ¢
page 221.
(D Note
Do not use ca r wax on
- matte o r anodized met al trim
- ru bber or ru bber- like trim.
•
•

252 Tire s and wheel s
Tires and wheels
Tires
General notes
Tires may be the least appreciated and most
abused parts of a motor vehicle .
Tires may be the least appreciated and most
abused parts of a motor vehicle . Tires are,
however, one of the most important parts of a
vehicle, particularly considering the compara­
tive ly small patch of rubber on each tire that
assures that a ll-impo rtant contact between
you, your vehicle and the road.
Maintaining the correct tire pressure, mak ing
sure that your vehicle and its tires do not have
to carry mo re weight than they can safe ly han­
d le, avoiding damage from road hazards and
reg ularly inspecting t ires for damage includ­
ing cuts, slashes irregu la r wear and ove rall
condition are the most important things that
you can do to he lp avoid sudden tire failure in­
cluding tread separation and blowouts.
Avoiding damage I f you have to drive over a curb or similar ob­
stacle, drive very s low ly and as close as possi ­
b le at a right angle to the curb.
A lways keep chem ica ls includ ing gre ase, o il,
gasoline and b rake fluid off the ti res .
Inspect the t ires regularly for damage (cuts,
cracks or b listers, etc.). Remove any fo reign
bod ies embedded in the treads.
Storing tires Mark tires when you remove them to indicate
the direction of rotation . Th is ensures you to
be ab le to mount them correctly when you re­
install t hem.
When removed, the whee ls or t ires should be
stored in a cool, d ry and preferably dark place .
Store tires in a vertical pos ition if they are not
mounted on rims, in a horizontal pos it ion if
they are mounted on rims. New tire
s
New t ires have to be broken in¢&,. .
T he tread depth of new t ires may vary, accord­
ing to the type a nd make of t ire and the tread
pa tte rn .
Hidden damage
Damage to tires and r ims is ofte n not readily
vis ible . If you notice unusual v ibrat ion or the
vehicle p ulls to one side, th is may ind icate
t h at one of the t ires has been damaged . Th e
t ir es m ust be checked immed iate ly by an au ­
tho rized Aud i dea le r or q uali fied wor ks hop.
Unidirectional t ires
A un idirectional tire can be identified by ar­
rows on the sid ewa ll, that po int in the direc­
t ion the t ire is desig ned to rotate. You mus t
f ol low the specified d irection of rotation . This
is necessary so that these tires can develop
their optimum characterist ics regarding grip,
road no ise, wear and hyd rop laning resistance.
For more information ¢
page 2 79.
A WARNING
-New tires or tires that are old, worn or
damaged cannot provide maximum con­
trol and braking ability .
-
-New tires tend to be slippery and must
also be broken-in. To reduce t he risk of
losing control, a collision and se rious
pe rsonal injuries, drive w it h specia l care
for the first 350 miles (560 km).
- Driving with worn or damaged tires can
le ad to loss of control, sudden tire fail­
ure, including a blowou t and sudden de­
fl ation, c rashes and seriou s personal in­
juries . Have wo rn or damaged t ires re­
p laced immediate ly .
- T ires age even if they are not being used
an d can fai l sudden ly, especially at high
speeds. Tires that are more than 6 years
old can only be used in an emergency
and then w ith specia l care and at low
speed.