air suspension AUDI RS5 CABRIOLET 2013 Owners Manual

152 Airbag system
dealer is familiar with these re quirements
and we recommend that you have your
dea ler perform this serv ice for you.
Other things that can affect Advanced
Airbag performance
Changing the vehicle's suspension system can
change the way that the Advanced Airbag Sys­
tem pe rforms in a crash. For example, us ing
tire-r im combinations not app roved by Aud i,
lowering the vehicle, changing the stiffness of
the suspension, incl uding the springs, suspen­
sion struts, shock absorbers etc. can change
the forces that are measured by the airbag
sensors and sent to the electronic control
un it. Some suspension changes can, for exam­
ple, increase the force levels measured by the
sensors a nd make the airbag system deploy in
crashes in w hich it would not dep loy if the
changes had not been made . Other kinds of
changes may reduce the force levels meas ­
ured by the sensors and prevent the airbag
from deploying when it should .
The sensors in the safety belt buckle fo r the
d river and front passe nger seat tell the elec­
tronic control module if the safety belt is
latched or not.
If the safety belt is being used,
the front airbag will deploy at a slightly high­
er rate of vehicle deceleration than if the safe­
ty belt is not being used. Therefore, in a par­
ticular collision, it is poss ible that an a irbag
will not deploy at a seating position whe re the
safety belt is being used but will inflate at the
position whe re the safety belt is not bei ng
used. It is important tha t noth ing inte rfe re
with the safety belt buckles so t hat the sen­
sors can send the correct information a bout
safety belt use to the electronic contro l unit.
A WARNING
Changing the vehicle 's suspension includ­
ing use of unapproved tire-rim c ombina­
tions can change Advanced Airbag per­
formance and increase the risk of ser ious
personal i njur y in a crash.
- Never install suspension components
that do not have the same performance characterist
ics as the components origi­
na lly installed on your vehicle.
- Never use tire-rim com binations that
have not been approved by Audi.
A WARNING
= -
Items stored between the safety be lt
b uckle and the center console can cause
the sensors in the buckle to send the
wrong information to the e lectronic con­
trol module and prevent the Advanced Air­ bag System from wo rking prope rly.
- Always make s ure that nothing can inter­
fe re with the safety belt buckles and that
they are not obstructed.
Knee airbags
Description of knee airbags
Applies to vehicles: with knee airbags
The knee airbag system can provide supple­
mental protection to properly restrained
front seat occupants .
Fig. 1 56 Dr iver 's k nee a irbag
The driver knee airbag is in the instrument
panel underneath the steering wheel
Q fig . 156, the knee a irbag for the passenger
is at about the same height in the inst rument
pane l underneath the g love compar tme nt.
The knee airbag offers additional p rotection
to the driver 's and passenger's knees and up­
per and lowe r th igh a reas and suppleme nts
the p rotec tion provided by t he safety be lts.
If the front a irbags dep loy, the knee a irbags
also dep loy in fron tal coll is io ns w hen the de­
ployment th reshol d sto red in the control un it ..,,

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. ..,.