TPMS Or Not?
 

I don't have a clear answer on this: do the S6 wheels have TPM S sensor's in them or not? I'm about to get winter tires on new winter wheels from OEM Wheels Plus, and I don't think that I need to get TPMS sensor's in them because the ABS system figures out if they're low, but I could be wrong. The RS6 does have sensors I think. Thanks!

I'm 99% sure that it does not have a actual TPMS installed on the rim. My '13 A6 didn't have them. I think the new TPMS model is called the "indirect system" where the computer uses the the size of the tire (circumference?) and rotation rate to figure out the tire pressure. There's always that 1% uncertainty so you may need to call the service department.

Thanks. That's what I thought. Can anyone confirm for sure?

No sensors. As others have said, the system keeps track of the rolling circumference of the wheel and alerts if it changes.

Thanks. This is so much better than having sensors.

Definitely no sensors, as I've changed to and from my winter tires for several seasons now. You just have to remember to tell the computer to relearn the settings whenever you change your tires, or air them up significantly, else a warning will pop up due to the computer sensing a discrepancy. It happened to me a couple times when I replaced tires damaged due to potholes.

Awesome. This is great. Wonder why RS7 had them.

Except for a few select models, i.e. A8/S8, Audi stopped using direct sensor monitored TPMS and switched to the passive, indirect system around MY2010. My 2009 A4 was the last of the B series to use them. Indirect TPMS uses the ABS system to monitor a change in tire pressure:

"Indirect TPMS uses the vehicle's anti-lock braking system's wheel speed sensors to compare the rotational speed of one tire versus the others. If a tire is low on pressure, it will roll at a different number of revolutions per mile than the other three and alert the vehicle's on-board computer."

Advantages of Indirect TPMS are lower cost, elimination of need to replace sensors after batteries are expended. Disadvantages are lower accuracy and a 20-25% differential loss between tires needed before tire pressure alert activates. If all four tires lose air at the about same rate, no alert is provided.

Great info. Thank you.


My experience with the TPMS in all cars I've owned has been that they are not really a good tool at all. It seems like the systems alerts you only when it is painfully obvious that the tire is low or flat, and I don't need a TPMS to tell me that my tire went flat... lol. Seems like when I've had a leak in the past I could visually notice that I had low pressure in a tire(super bad thing with determining tire pressure issues as we all know). And the system only seems to alert you when the tire pressure is like so dam low, I don't see how it is helpful.


I had a Chrysler SRT8 a while back and that had a TPMS system interface which would digitally read out the tire pressure (exact PSI) of each tire right in the dash display. Now that was useful. To be totally honest I would have thought that S6 being more of a higher end sports sedan, would have a integrated system like that, I was disappointed to find out, unfortunately, no.

The A8/S8 have actual readouts by tire. Most likely an Audi marketing decision to add value to the top of the line.

Actually, even an indirect TPMS can indicate a low tire, not just a flat. I had a well hidden nail that caused a slow leak that wasn't noticed while driving and the alert caused me to check it. Once I spied the nail, I had the tire repaired before it went flat saving me a spare tire change. Not fun going out to the garage in the morning all dressed up to go to an appt. only to find a flat tire.