2006 VOLKSWAGEN GOLF PLUS ESP

Driving with a
Please fir st read and note the introductory
o n page 152.
Headlight settings
Towing a tra
ile r can ra ise the fron t end of th e ve­
hicle enough fo r the low beam s to blind other road u sers. the headlight ra nge adjustment feature
to lower the light cones as req uired . your vehicle does not have headlight range adjustment, have
the headli gh ts adjusted by an authorized Volk­swage n dealer or au th orized Volkswagen Serv ice Facility . Vehicles with gas-d ischa rge lamps self-adjus t to vehicle load an d do not need manual adjustme nt.
Special towing
considerations
Due to th e combined towing weig h t includin g the hi gh er gross vehicle weight, the stopping dis­tance is longer .
Before driving downhill , especially on hills that
a re long or steep, shift in to a lower gea r (m anual
t ransmi ssion) or a lower drive position (automatic
t ra n smi ssion) so that the eng in e helps to brake th e vehicl e. Otherwise, the b rake system could ove r­heat and might fail.
The ve hicle's center of grav ity and, i n
Weigh t dis tr ibutio n i s especially bad if the
tow ing veh icle is e mpty and the traile r i s loaded. If
you absolutely must d rive with this combination , drive with extra care an d at a reduced speed.
Starting off with a trail er on hills
Depend ing o n how steep the h ill is and the com­bined tow ing weig ht, a parked vehicle wi th trailer can roll backwards when yo u firs t sta rt mov ing.
When sta rti
ng off with a trailer on a hill :
Depress and ho ld the brake pedal.
Befo re driv ing
Ma nual transmiss io n : d epress th e clutch fully.
Shift into fir s t gear or drive posi t ion D page 179,
Unlock the par ki ng brake and release it
w hil e ho ld ing th e unl ock butto n.
page assistance systems.
Do not re lease th e parkin g bra ke leve r until the engine sta rt s to move th e vehicle fonvard. your veh icle has an automatic t ransmissio n, yo u can
also depress a nd ho ld the brake pedal for added b raking and then letup on th e brake pedal w hen
you feel th a t the vehicle to move fo rward.
Drive ahead slowly at first.
A lways watch what i s happening up a head
and a round you. Brake earlier than you would if yo u were not to wing a trailer.
Drive especially care full y and accel erate gently. Always avoid sudde n m an euvers and h ard braking.
Be especiall y care ful when p ass ing other hicles. Reduce speed immediate ly if t he trailer
s hows the s lightes t sig n of swayin g. Reduce speed immediatel y if the t ra ile r shows even the
slightest sig n of sway ing.
Neve r try to sto p th e swayin g by accelerating.

Storage compartment in the center
Fig . Storoge comportment in the cente r console .
first read and no te th e information and heed the on page
Th e c up ho lder in the center page 166
can be use d as a storage
To th e s torage fig. ce nter co nsole forwar d.
th e boule opener in th e recess on the bouom of the storage as shown in
th e illu stration.
To close th e s torage slid e the
cove r o n the cent er co nsole backwar d.
Storage com portment in the front center
armrest .
information and heed the on pa ge
lift up the center armre st far as it will go
in th e d irection of the fig.
Before driving
To close, put th e armrest down.
Th e
center armrest can restrict the driv er' s
Always keep storage compartments in the center armrest clo sed while driving.
Neve r let a passenger, especially a ch ild, ride on the center armres t.
A ph one ho lder for the mobile phone package can be found in th e uppe r section of the storage Mobile

Shifting
Introduction
In this section you'll find information on
. . . . . . . .
Pedals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
Manual transmi ssion: Gearshift lever . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
Automa tic transmission: Selector lever . . . . . . . . . . . 182
with Tiptronic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
Driving with automatic transmission . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
E xplanatory no tes in thi s chapter also apply rect Gearbox.
When the ignition is switched on and th e
T he backup light comes on.
Th e air co nd itionin g sys te m sw itch es ically r ecirculat ing air verse.
The rear window wiper swi tches on when
sis t sys te m , a nd camera For
Instrum em s
Brak ing, and
D is tance
H everse driving assista nl (Rea r Assist)
Clima te comrol
Eng in e contro l and emission cont rol sys tem
Eme rgen cy closi ng and page 322
accelera tion can cause skidding and loss of t ract ion, especially on slipp ery roads, sulling in loss of vehicl e control , collision s,
and seriou s personal injury.
kick -d own feature or fast ti on onl y if vis ibility, weather, road , and traffi c
co nditi ons permit.
Neve r
or apply the p edal often or lo ng. Constant brakin g ca uses the brakes to over hea t. This subs ta nti ally duce performance, increase stop1> ing
d is tance, and cau se complete failure of th e
Note
Neve r the brakes by keeping your foot
o n brake ped al when you do not want to brake.
Thi s
Before driving downhill , es peci all y on that are lon g or steep, alw ays reduce speed an d into lower gear (manual or auto mati c mission) so that th e engin e help s to brake hi cle. Otherwi se, th e brake system could over hea t and possibl y fail. use th e when yo u
n eed them slow v ehicl e dow n more or

Selector lever posi- Designation tion
The drive wheels are mecha nica lly locked.
p Se le c t only when the ve hicle is
N Neutral Tran
smissio n i s in Ne utral positi on. No power is tra nsferre d to
th e wheels and no e ng in e brakin g effect is available.
D Driv e (standard All forwa rd gears shift up and d ow n automatically. The tran smi s-
dri vin g pos ition) s
ion shift s as nee ded dep endin g on engin e load , indiv idual dri vin g sty le, and dri ving speed.
A
ll f orwa rd gea rs aut omatically up shift/aterand dow nshift ear-
s Sport Dri ve
leve r lock
Th e
selector leve r lo ck in
the re le ase button on th e selec tor leve r a t th e sam e time .
Th e se lec to r leve r l
ock is no t e ngaged if these­
(R) to Dri ve (D)).
T hi s makes it possibl e to
second and th e
ve hicl e is tra velin g no faste r than approx imate ly
3 mph (5 km /h).
ra re cases. the Dir ect Gea rbox. thi s ha ppens, th e eng ine w ill be disab led to pre­
ve nt the vehicle from m oving unexpec te dly. Th e
gree n ind ica tor light will blink and text mes­
sage will be di sp layed. To e n gage th e selec tor lever lock, do as follows:
6-speed trans missions: Depress and then re le a se the brak e pedal; try to e ngage th e se lector l oc k again.
Starting, shifting, parking
Never accelerate when m ovi ng the selector lever.
Whe n the en gin e is running and a drive posi­tio n is engaged, the ve hicle will start to move as soon as the brake pedal is re leased.
Never shift into Reverse or
Never get out of the driver's seat whil e the engine is running, especially when the tra nsmi s­
s ion is in a drive gear. lfyou m ust leave your ve­
hicl e while the engi ne is running, alwa ys set the
p a rkin g brake and shift the transmi ssio n into (P).
182

Driving with automatic transmission
Please fir st read and n ote the int rod uctory informatio n and heed th e WARN INGS on page 179.
All forwa rd gea rs shift up and down automatically.
Driving on
Th e steeper grade, lower the gea r that must be selec te d. Lowe r gea rs in crease the b raking ef­
fect o f th e e ng ine. Neve r coast downhill in (N).
Heduce sp eed.
Switch to Tiptron ic mod e by m oving these­lecto r l eve r fro m Drive (D) t o the rig ht into the Tip­p age 185.
Dow nshift by pullin g th e selec to r l ever back briefly(-).
page 185.
Emergency shift
program
trans­
m issio n will th en operate in th e em ergency shif t
p rogram. The emergency shift progra m lets you drive th e ve hicle, bu t at a re duced speed and w ithout bein g able to use all of th e forwa rd gears.
I n
som e cases, vehicles with Direct Gearbox (DSG® ) may not be able to shift into reverse.
I n
any event, have the automatic tra nsm iss ion checke d by an authorized Volkswage n dealer or authorized Volkswage n Service Facility.
O verload prot ection for Direct
Drive
With k ick-down actu ate d , t he tran sm iss io n will stay in th e current gear lo nge r an d not ups hift un til
t h e e ng ine reaches m aximum rpm.
Launch control
program
The launch control p rogra m lets you ta ke ad van­
t age of maximum acce lera tion from a standstill.
Switc h off Anti -Sli p H egulation 188.
De press and ho ld th e bra ke pedal with your le ft
foot.
Move th e selector leve r in to Dr ive
W ith your rig ht foot, depress the accelerator
pedal un til the engine reaches rpm.
Hemove you r left foo t from the stop at the m aximum rate.
y o u h ave acce le rated, swit ch back on aga in!
H apid
accele rati on ca n cause skidding and loss of trac ti o n, esp eciall y on slippery roa ds, re ­
s ultin g in loss of ve hicl e co ntrol , co llisio ns,
and se rious pe rso na l injury .
Use th e kic k-down feature or fa st accelera­tion only if vis ibilit y, weather, road , and traffic conditions permit.
A lways adapt your dri vin g to th e tr affi c flow.
use the launc h contro l progra m if road and traffic co nditi ons a llow it and oth er dri ve rs
w ill no t b e endangered by your drivin g and th e
ve hicle's accele rati on .
Note tha t th e drive whee ls ca n spin and the
ve hicle can swerve when
back

Note
When stopping on hills with the transmission in a drive gear, do not use the accelerator to help prev ent the vehicle from rolling backward s. This can cause the automatic transmission to overhea t and be damaged.
Starting, shifting, parking
Note (continued)
Never let the vehicle coast or roll down a hill in Neutra l (N), especial ly when the engine is not running. The transmission not be lubricated and be
186 187

Lights cause or up
I
Together w ith indicator
m alfun ction.
T oge th
er with warning light
cause
or is opera ting.
W hen the ig nition
is sw itched on,
light s and instrument cluster text messages can cause the vehicl e to
break down in traffic and result in a collision and serious personal injury.
Never ignore warning light s or text WARN­
Always stop the vehicl e as soon as it is safe to
do so.
Driving
with bad brake s can cause a collision and serious p ersonal injury .
does
not go out, or co mes on w hen driving, either the brak e fluid leve l in the reservoir is too low or there is a fault in the brake sys tem. Immediately
s top driving and get expert assista nce
response
Take the veh icle to an authori zed Volkswage n
d ealer or authori zed Volkswagen Service Fa-The ve hicl e brake s will work without
response
foot off accelerator pedal. Adapt driving to road conditi ons.
If the brake warnin g light BRAKE or co mes on at the same time as the warning light or th eABS may not be working properly. Thi s
could cause th e rear whee ls to lock up re latively
quickly during braking. Rear wheel brake lock­
u p can cause loss of veh icle control. If yo u be­
lieve that it is safe to do so, reduce your speed and d ri ve carefully and at low speeds to the neares t authorized Volkswagen dealer or a qual­
the indicator light or does not go out , or if it comes on driving, the sys tem is not workin g properly. The vehicle can th en be stopped onl y with the standard brake s
(wi thout ABS). w ill not have the protection provides. Contact your authorized Volk­
swage n dealer or an authorized Volkswagen vice Facility as soon as possib le.
lights up in the
in strument cluster display, whether alo ne or to ­gether with a te xt message, immediately contact an authorized Volkswagen dealer or authorized Volkswage n Facility to have the brake pad s ch ecked and, if necessary, replaced.
Note
Failure to heed warning lights or text WARNINGS can re sult in vehicle damage

first read and note the imrod uctory
on pag e 188.
Setting the parking brake
the parkin g br ake lever up firml y.
Wh en th e ignitio n is on, the in dicator light
189.
R e leasing the parking
brake
the lever up slightl y and press the release fig. (arrow).
W hil e ho ldin g th e re lease butt on down, move
t h e leve r all th e way down.
info rmatio n and hee d th e on page 188.
n o te lega l regulations when stopping and parking your veh icle.
th e vehicle on a suitabl e
Hold th e brak e pedal dow n until the engin e is
switc h ed off.
App ly the parking page 191.
Fo r a utomatic tra nsmiss ions: th e tra ns­
mi ssio n in to Park
Starting, shift ing, parking
Improper use of the parking brake ca n cause ac ­cidents and seve re injurie s.
Never use the pa rkin g brake to slow down the ve hicl e when it is moving , except in an emer­
gency . Braking distance is much longe r, since only the rear wheels are brak ed. Always use the
foot brake.
Never drive with the parking brake partiall y
engage d. Thi s can cause the brake to overheat and negatively affect the brake syste m. It also cause the rea r brake pads to wea r prema­turely.
Never acti va te t he throttl e manually from
th e e ngin e compartment when th e engine is running and the automatic tra n smissio n is in gear. The ve h icl e w ill start to move eve n iftl1 e parking brake is on.
Note
Even t11ough the transmi ssio n is in th e
ve hicl e may move a couple of inches forward s or backwar ds if you take your foot off the brake pedal after s toppin g the vehicle without set­
ting tl1e parking brake.
A wa rning sig nal sounds if yo u driv e faste r th an 4 mph (6 km/h ) w ith th e parking brake
off the engin e and th en tak e yo ur foot
off brak e.
Rem ove the veh icle ke y from th e ign ition .
manual transm iss ion in to 1 st gea r (on
l evel ground or if pointed uphill) o r re ve rse (if
point ed
Make sure all passengers and esp ecially chil­dren leave th e ve hicle.
Take all ve h icle keys with you w he n le a vin g your ve hicl e.
Lock the ve hicl e.
19 1