Tires and wheels 251
Cold tire inflation pressure
Tire pressure affects the overall handling , performance and safety of a vehicle.
Fig. 208 Tire pressur e labe l: located eith er on driver's
side B-pillar or inside the fue l filler flap
Tire pressure generally refers to the amount
of air in a t ire tha t it needs it to do its job and
safely carry the combined load of the entire
vehicle and its contents . Tire pressure is
measured in kilopasca ls (kPa), the inte rna-
tional measuring unit and in pounds per
square inch (PSI). Tire pressure is based in
part on the vehicle's desig n and load li mit -
the greatest amount of weight that t he vehi-
cle can carry safely and the ti re size. The prop -
er tire pressure is freq uent ly referred to as the
"recommended cold tire inf lation pressure ."
Air in the tires expands when the tire heats up
because of interna l frict ion when it flexes in
use. The ti re pressure is higher when the tire
has warmed up than when it is "cold ." It is the
inflat ion pressure in a "cold" tire that counts.
Therefo re, you should never let air out of a
warm tire t o matc h " cold tir e infla ti on pres-
sure" recommendations . The tires would then
be underinf lated and could fail suddenly.
Maint aining proper t ire pressure is one of the
most impor t ant thi ngs you can do t o help
avoid sudden tire f ailure. Underinfla t ed tires
are a major cause of sudden tire failure . Keep-
ing tires at the right pressure is also impor-
tant for safe and responsive vehicle handling,
traction, braking and load carrying .
Tire pres-
sures are particularly important when th e
vehicle is being driven at higher speeds, and
then especially when heavily loaded even
within the permi ssible load-carrying capaci-
tie s approved for your vehicle.
~
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~
~---------------- ~
• (=~: I := I
~
I )§ :ll
,.,,. ........................ ...., .... ~----.... _ ...
t.._.. .... _..,.. .... ......,... .. ~--......... ·- ..
- KPA. . PSI
- KPA. . PSI
- KPA.. PSI
Fig. 209 Tire pressu re labe l
The recommended tire pressures for your Audi
depe nd on the kind of tires on your vehicle
and t he number of passengers and/or amount
of luggage you w ill be t ransporting .
On USA vehicles, the tire pressure label is lo-
cated on the driver's side 8-p illar. On Canada
vehicles, the tire pressure label is located ei-
ther on the driver's side 8-pillar or inside the
fu el fille r flap . The t ire pressure label list s the
recommended cold tire inflation pressures fo r
the vehicle at its maximum capacity we igh t
and t ires th at were on yo ur vehicle at th e t ime
it was manufac tu red.
If you wish to improve comfort when operat-
ing the vehicle at normal load (up to 3 occu-
pants), you can adjust tire pressures to those
specified for normal vehicle load. Before op·
erating the vehicle at maximum load, you
must increase the tire pressures to those
specified for maximum vehicle load
c:> .&..
Bear in mind that the tire pressure mon itoring
system * can on ly mo nitor the ti re pressures
you have stored. The system does not recog-
nize the load condition of your vehicle.
The effec t iveness of the tire pressure monito r-
ing system * w ill be impa ired if you store nor-
mal load pressures but then operate the vehi-
cle at its maximum load
c:> .&..
See the ill ustration ~ fig. 208 fo r the location
of the label either on driver's side 8-pill ar or
inside the f uel f ill er flap (color of the actual .,..
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