20" Tire Pressure
09-20-2015, 02:23 PM
#12
AudiWorld Super User
Disagree, unless you have 5 people in the car with full luggage load setting to 46 -48 ire pressure on 20" tires will turn them
Into bricks
Read the manual for a drive and one fronts seat passenger go with 38 - 39
As a good alternative or 39-40 tops when and those are only COLD tire morning pressures before driving at all and not after you have warmed up
The engine which heats up the front tires a good deal too.
Into bricks
Read the manual for a drive and one fronts seat passenger go with 38 - 39
As a good alternative or 39-40 tops when and those are only COLD tire morning pressures before driving at all and not after you have warmed up
The engine which heats up the front tires a good deal too.
09-20-2015, 08:21 PM
#13
Funny i was just contemplating the same thing as my car had 48 all around, i set it to 44 at the front and 48 at the back (i think whatever is on the door jamb sticker).
I do like the ride better as its smoother but i wonder if i should keep it at 46 or 48 all around as our cars are front heavy?
Anyone played with the tire pressure to get the best possible combo?
On my bmw i used to keep a lot lower air pressure on 18" wheels - i think 34 all around.
P.S I did read the whole thread, as my post may suggest i just blindly posted
I do like the ride better as its smoother but i wonder if i should keep it at 46 or 48 all around as our cars are front heavy?
Anyone played with the tire pressure to get the best possible combo?
On my bmw i used to keep a lot lower air pressure on 18" wheels - i think 34 all around.
P.S I did read the whole thread, as my post may suggest i just blindly posted
Last edited by porksoda; 09-20-2015 at 08:30 PM.
09-21-2015, 05:11 AM
#14
AudiWorld Member
This topic has been covered Indepth recently in another thread, the 46-48 lb front to rear pressure on the door is ONLY for max load curb weight with 4 to 5 passengers and a load of luggage.
If its just you driving 90% of the time, or you and your wife or kid in the front two seats then 39lb front 37 to 38lb rear is ideal for best balance of even tire wear, smooth ride and crisp taut handling in my experience and which conforms well with the actual manual recommendations for my 2016 3.0T V6.
This is with the V6 engine due to the added front load weight of the bigger engine, as you need a bit more pressure on the front tires than the rear unless you've got three folks in the back seat plus a full load of luggage in the trunk.
Again, these are only cold early morning tire pressure readings before sun or fully heated engine heat expand pressure in at least the front tires.
Try it, you will see how smooth this car really is with a sports suspension and 20" wheels and still with very response, taut and remarkably flat turning for a car this size.
It is very much smoother over bumps than our wife's 2015 Prestige S-line A4 with 18" Pirelli P7 Centurato tires, which isn't bad in its own rite.
My car has the prestige, sports, 20" and drivers assist packs and in taking detailed photos of the undercarriage of my car when brand new on June 12th of this year, while it was up on a hydraulic lift, it appears that the suspension layout has been tweaked some relative to earlier C7 - A6 I've seen pix of their suspensions too, so it's possible the 2016 ride is slightly different than earlier models, but I doubt it's a major change.
You definitely feel the connection to the road and it doesn't just roll over bumps like they are not there at all, which anyone buying a sports suspension shouldn't be looking for anyway, but its quite smooth and never jarring in the least in my now heading toward 4 months on Oct 12 and 2,500 miles of driving over a wide variety of roads and highways here in Arizona.
I'm just looking forward too to adding the Conti Extrreme Contact DWS-06 as soon as tire rack or Audi gets them in stock for 20" rims which is supposed to be any week now for the coming winter in a couple months.
Am extremely happy with my car overall, a real joy to strap on each day and with plenty of power and acceleration on tap, ready to get up and fly at nearly any speed.
I actually love the ACC as well that some reviewers complain about who obviously did not spend enough time understanding how it works to get used to it.
At least in the 2016 iteration which I understand has undergone further refinements in ACC as well from earlier iterations of ACC, it works very well indeed in combination with effortless adjustment of cruise speeds up or down in either 2.5 or 5 mph increments with the flick of the cruise control stalk up or down on longer highway trips at speed.
It is wonderfully relaxing arriving where ever after a long drive more alert and relaxed than had you been fully working the pedals the whole way.
I never thought I would use it until I did and got the hang of it. Same with the start and stop which is easy to turn off in any event. Learning how much pressure to apply on the brakes when coming to a stop makes a big difference in a having a very smooth and instant on/off response with no delay or minor lurching with engine restart.
Again I swore I'd never use it before I bought the car, but now find I almost never bother to turn it off, so seamless it has become with just some minor adaptation to brake pedal pressure.
But I digress, and porksoda the reason your BMW 18" wheels have 34 lb pressure is because they were probably 40 to 45 profile tires and not 35 low profile as with the A6 255/35 R 20 tires. The low profiles require more pressure but NOT 46-48 without a full load on the car!
My service manager also confirms what the manual says too and for simplicity they just set all 3.0T V6 A6 to 39lbs all around to all such cars that comes into Audi North Scottsdale, one of the biggest and most successful Audi dealers in the US.
Hulamau
If its just you driving 90% of the time, or you and your wife or kid in the front two seats then 39lb front 37 to 38lb rear is ideal for best balance of even tire wear, smooth ride and crisp taut handling in my experience and which conforms well with the actual manual recommendations for my 2016 3.0T V6.
This is with the V6 engine due to the added front load weight of the bigger engine, as you need a bit more pressure on the front tires than the rear unless you've got three folks in the back seat plus a full load of luggage in the trunk.
Again, these are only cold early morning tire pressure readings before sun or fully heated engine heat expand pressure in at least the front tires.
Try it, you will see how smooth this car really is with a sports suspension and 20" wheels and still with very response, taut and remarkably flat turning for a car this size.
It is very much smoother over bumps than our wife's 2015 Prestige S-line A4 with 18" Pirelli P7 Centurato tires, which isn't bad in its own rite.
My car has the prestige, sports, 20" and drivers assist packs and in taking detailed photos of the undercarriage of my car when brand new on June 12th of this year, while it was up on a hydraulic lift, it appears that the suspension layout has been tweaked some relative to earlier C7 - A6 I've seen pix of their suspensions too, so it's possible the 2016 ride is slightly different than earlier models, but I doubt it's a major change.
You definitely feel the connection to the road and it doesn't just roll over bumps like they are not there at all, which anyone buying a sports suspension shouldn't be looking for anyway, but its quite smooth and never jarring in the least in my now heading toward 4 months on Oct 12 and 2,500 miles of driving over a wide variety of roads and highways here in Arizona.
I'm just looking forward too to adding the Conti Extrreme Contact DWS-06 as soon as tire rack or Audi gets them in stock for 20" rims which is supposed to be any week now for the coming winter in a couple months.
Am extremely happy with my car overall, a real joy to strap on each day and with plenty of power and acceleration on tap, ready to get up and fly at nearly any speed.
I actually love the ACC as well that some reviewers complain about who obviously did not spend enough time understanding how it works to get used to it.
At least in the 2016 iteration which I understand has undergone further refinements in ACC as well from earlier iterations of ACC, it works very well indeed in combination with effortless adjustment of cruise speeds up or down in either 2.5 or 5 mph increments with the flick of the cruise control stalk up or down on longer highway trips at speed.
It is wonderfully relaxing arriving where ever after a long drive more alert and relaxed than had you been fully working the pedals the whole way.
I never thought I would use it until I did and got the hang of it. Same with the start and stop which is easy to turn off in any event. Learning how much pressure to apply on the brakes when coming to a stop makes a big difference in a having a very smooth and instant on/off response with no delay or minor lurching with engine restart.
Again I swore I'd never use it before I bought the car, but now find I almost never bother to turn it off, so seamless it has become with just some minor adaptation to brake pedal pressure.
But I digress, and porksoda the reason your BMW 18" wheels have 34 lb pressure is because they were probably 40 to 45 profile tires and not 35 low profile as with the A6 255/35 R 20 tires. The low profiles require more pressure but NOT 46-48 without a full load on the car!
My service manager also confirms what the manual says too and for simplicity they just set all 3.0T V6 A6 to 39lbs all around to all such cars that comes into Audi North Scottsdale, one of the biggest and most successful Audi dealers in the US.
Hulamau
Last edited by Hulamau; 09-21-2015 at 05:34 AM.
09-21-2015, 07:48 AM
#15
Hulamau, thanks for the detailed and in depth response - I appreciate it.
I use the compressor to fill up the air while in garage so i will adjust it to 39 all around and see how that goes.
For my bmw they recommended a higher pressure but i kept it low after trial and error over the course of couple of years. I dont want to do the same because of the low profile with the c7, I am in canada and i purchased the 18" winter combo and i will do the research on the tire pressure on those as well.
When i picked the car up it was fairly harsh and i did not worry about it as it has a sports suspension so i chalked it up to the suspension, after adjusting my tire pressure its been a lot better and is smoother than my 5er over bumps. This car feels overall extremely nimble and light compared to my 5 and even compared to the new 5 and the e class. When i opened the door to get in on my test drive the wood sold me and then the drive - its fairly impressive.
Glad to hear you enjoy your vehicle as i am surprisingly happy with mine as well! Lots of things in the car that make it enjoyable and put a smile on my face.
Cheers
I use the compressor to fill up the air while in garage so i will adjust it to 39 all around and see how that goes.
For my bmw they recommended a higher pressure but i kept it low after trial and error over the course of couple of years. I dont want to do the same because of the low profile with the c7, I am in canada and i purchased the 18" winter combo and i will do the research on the tire pressure on those as well.
When i picked the car up it was fairly harsh and i did not worry about it as it has a sports suspension so i chalked it up to the suspension, after adjusting my tire pressure its been a lot better and is smoother than my 5er over bumps. This car feels overall extremely nimble and light compared to my 5 and even compared to the new 5 and the e class. When i opened the door to get in on my test drive the wood sold me and then the drive - its fairly impressive.
Glad to hear you enjoy your vehicle as i am surprisingly happy with mine as well! Lots of things in the car that make it enjoyable and put a smile on my face.
Cheers
09-29-2015, 06:05 AM
#16
AudiWorld Member
you have to understand within minutes of driving and tires heating up the pressure expands 3 to 5 degrees already depending on out side temp and speed .
If you notice the max pressures on the doors ARE already set for a fully loaded car on 20" tires . So be careful about putting too much air in thinking you are doing it to protect your rims and tires.
You can definitely stiffen up the ride getting week up into the 40's as a morning cold pressure reading. 39F 38R works perfect for me in Arizona in the summer and depending on driving can adjust upward a point of two in the winter ...
But check your fully heated driving for a while at speed pressures and don't let them get above 43max for a car only you or you and one passenger are in, regardless of the season , better for tire wear and much better for both handling and nice ride balance.
If you start the morning at 43 with just you in the car you are already behind the eight ball and will not enjoy the same ride quality Audi engineers intended.
If you notice the max pressures on the doors ARE already set for a fully loaded car on 20" tires . So be careful about putting too much air in thinking you are doing it to protect your rims and tires.
You can definitely stiffen up the ride getting week up into the 40's as a morning cold pressure reading. 39F 38R works perfect for me in Arizona in the summer and depending on driving can adjust upward a point of two in the winter ...
But check your fully heated driving for a while at speed pressures and don't let them get above 43max for a car only you or you and one passenger are in, regardless of the season , better for tire wear and much better for both handling and nice ride balance.
If you start the morning at 43 with just you in the car you are already behind the eight ball and will not enjoy the same ride quality Audi engineers intended.
Last edited by Hulamau; 09-29-2015 at 06:08 AM.
10-01-2015, 07:49 AM
#17
If its just you driving 90% of the time, or you and your wife or kid in the front two seats then 39lb front 37 to 38lb rear is ideal for best balance of even tire wear, smooth ride and crisp taut handling in my experience and which conforms well with the actual manual recommendations for my 2016 3.0T V6.
I think 39lbs front and 37-39lbs rear are pretty good pressure values for the 20" on these vehicles.
I did not set the mmi to recognize the new values - Does anyone know when will the mmi warn you for low pressure, how many unit values it needs to be off before it tells you?
10-01-2015, 10:55 AM
#18
Humamau, thanks to your recommendation i have been running 39lbs on all fours and the ride is much smoother and braking distance has been reduced as well.
I think 39lbs front and 37-39lbs rear are pretty good pressure values for the 20" on these vehicles.
I did not set the mmi to recognize the new values - Does anyone know when will the mmi warn you for low pressure, how many unit values it needs to be off before it tells you?
I think 39lbs front and 37-39lbs rear are pretty good pressure values for the 20" on these vehicles.
I did not set the mmi to recognize the new values - Does anyone know when will the mmi warn you for low pressure, how many unit values it needs to be off before it tells you?
10-01-2015, 06:24 PM
#19
10-03-2015, 01:33 PM
#20
But check your fully heated driving for a while at speed pressures and don't let them get above 43max for a car only you or you and one passenger are in, regardless of the season , better for tire wear and much better for both handling and nice ride balance.
If you start the morning at 43 with just you in the car you are already behind the eight ball and will not enjoy the same ride quality Audi engineers intended.
If you start the morning at 43 with just you in the car you are already behind the eight ball and will not enjoy the same ride quality Audi engineers intended.