2008 VOLKSWAGEN GOLF tires

Booklet 3 .2 Tips and Advic e
recommend that you have the
thi ckne ss of your brake pads checked by an au­
t horized Vol kswagen dealer mo re fre quent ly
t h an recommende d in the serv ice sched ule.
you drive with wet brakes, for example afte r a
dri ving through water, after heavy rainfall or after washing the ve hicle, braking power be
reduced and s to ppin g distances will be longer
because the brake discs will be we t or in winter mayb e eve n frozen-the brakes must be dried
with several ca re ful brak e applicatio ns.
Brak e fluid absor bs water
and must be changed
every two years. Heavy use of the brakes can cause vapor lock if the brake fluid is too old.
Vapor lock redu ces braking power, increases
stopping distances and ca n even cause total
brake failure.
New tires and new bra ke pads do no t pro­
v id e m aximum gri p, control o r b raking abil ity.
To red uce the risk of l osi ng control, a s io n an d se rio us perso nal injuries, drive with
specia l ca re for the first 350 miles (560 km).
New brake pads do not have th e best sto p­
ping power for the fir st ISO mile s (240 km ) and
m ust be b roken in. can compensate for the slightly reduced braki ng abil ity by dri ving care and applyin g more pressure on th e
brake pedal.
Never follow oth e r veh icles to close ly or
p u t you rse lf in to other s ituations th at might
requ ire su d den , hard bra king especially when the brake pads have not been broken in.
apply brakes for a test.
Always dry brakes and clea n off icc coat­
i ngs an d salt coatings with a few cautious brake applications.
A lways read and heed in in tire s and brake on page 12.
Always avoid overheati ng the brakes!
When driving downhill, t11 e brakes have to
work har d and h eat up quickly.
Before driving down a lo ng, steep hill, al­
ways reduce speed and downshift to a lower
gear. This will let the vehicle usc engine
Always ch ange th e brake fluid at l east
every two years. Hard braki ng wi th o ld flui d may cause a va po r lock . Vapor loc k duces powe r, inc reases stoppin g di s­tan ces and can even cause tota l b rak e failure.
A damaged front spoiler or n ew non stan­dard spoiler can reduce t h e airflow to th e
brakes and cause them to ove rh eat.
Always see an authorized Volkswag en
dealer or qualified workshop
Be sure to re ad and heed all and th e page
Driving and protecting the environm ent 13

An improperly installed or incorrec t hitch from the towi ng vehicle leading to serious personal in­juries.
Neve r in stall a on your vehicle . The vehicl e was not designed for these kin ds
o f trailer hitches. The hitch attachment to tear loose from the
ve hicl e.
When you n o longer need t o tow trailer, re ­
move the trailer hitc h . Alway s seal all bolt holes to prevent water and deadly exhaust fumes entering the ve hicle.
Operating instructions
Maximum trailer weight
You can only tow typical class I or class 2 trailers
with your vehicle.
T he m ax
imum gross trailer we ight and the tongue load must n ever exceed the specifica­
tion s listed bookle t3 .3 "Tec hnical
Neve r exceed the gross ve hicl e we ight, w hi ch i s the we ight o f th e vehicle, includin g driver, pas­senge rs, luggage, trailer hit ch and tongu e we ight of the loaded trailer.
At alt itudes above ft. m), redu ction of of combined towin g weight (ve hicl e plu s trailer) for the beginning of every m ) should be observed.
Trailer l
oad distribution
Be sure the load in the traile r is held securel y in place to guard agains t be it forw ard.
b ackwar d or sideways. A load that shift s can make it hard or even impossibl e to control your vehicl e, parti cularly in an e m erge ncy situ ation.
W ith the tow vehicle empty and the trailer
l oade d , we ight distribution is es pecially bad. If
yo u absolut ely mus t driv e w ith this combina­
tion, d rive with extra
Do not use a trailer whic h has LED (light emitting diodes) taillig ht s. This type of t a illi ght can damage the electrical co ntrol unit of your veh icle.
If the traile r socke t is in co rrectly connected .
damage co uld result to the ve hicles electrical
system.
I f th e maximum power consumption for the
trail er is pag e 15, damage could re­sult to the e lectrica l sys te m of th e ve hicle.
Never connect the e lectr ical sys te m for th e
t raile r directly to the electrica l c o nne ctions for the rear lights or to other unsu itable power sources. Use onl y a su itab le trailer soc ket to pro ­
vide power to the trailer .
Tongue load
For bes t ve hicle ha ndli ng when towing a trail er, adjus t the trailer load so tha t th e tongue load is at the maximum allowable or slightly lower. You can ge t an approx imation of the to ngu e load
with a ba throom scal e or yo u can measure the load at a tru cking company or we ighing station.
The tongu e load incre ases the weigh t of the rear axle and correspondingly reduces the other load that your ve hicle ca n
The max im um tong ue load on ly a ppl ies if both of the ho les o n the o uter upright wall of th e rear side rail are used to secure the trailer hitch.
Tire pressu re
tow ing a trailer, inflate t h e tires of your ve ­
hicle to the col d tire press ure lis ted under on the sticker o n the open ed ge of the
dri ver's door. Inflate trailer tires to trai ler and tire manufactur ers' specificat ions.
lights
A lw ays check
the headlight settin gs wit h the tr ai le r hooked up before driving off. Adju st as n ecess ary so th a t yo u can see th e road ahead but not blind on coming
C he ck and make sur e th a t all veh icle and trailer lights are workin g properly -especially the brake light s.
16 Driving and protecting the environment

Improper us e of power was hers can ca use riou s, invisib le and permane nt tir e damage leading to tire failure and los s of vehicle
Neve r wash tires with a jet that sprays the water out in a direct strea m eve n from a ta n ce or fo r a v ery sh ort time.
3.2 Tips and Advice
tances.
Carefull y apply brakes for a te st.
few cautious brake applicat ions.
A lwa ys read and heed all 13,
The underbody of the ve hicl e is coated to help prot ect it from corrosion and
damage.
The undercoat ing could be da m age d during
normal use but, particularly when dri vin g
road. recommend th at the undercoa ting un
th e ve hicle and the prot ective coat ings on th e
s u sp en sion be in sp ec te d, an d re paired if n eces­
sary, bef o re and after the winter season.
R
epair wo rk and additio nal undercoating
s hou ld be carried out onl y by an a uth orized Volkswage n deale r or qualified workshop .
the engine compartment
The sys tem gets very ho t when the hicle is drive n and can cause fir e res ultin g in serious pe rso na l injury.
Neve r a ppl y additional undercoating or rust proofin g on or near the exl ta u st manifold,
exl ta ust pip es, catalytic conve rter or heat shie ld s.
Be especially carefu l w hen cleaning the engine compartment!
Anti-corrosion treotment
The engine compartment is treated at t h e page 39.
Good corro sion protection is pa rti cularl y impor­
tant in th e w inter where road salt is used. To ve nt salt damage , th e en tir e e ng in e ment should be th orou ghly cleaned befor e and after th e salt ing perio d.
Your authorized
Volk swag en dealer has th e right cleane rs and prese rva tives and th e
ommend hav ing this w ork perform ed by an thorize d Volkswage n dea ler.
Corr osio n prot ection i s re mov ed when th e engin e compart m ent is cleaned with grea se
s ol ve nts. th e engin e is cleaned , m ake s
ur e th at corrosion protec
tion is app lied to surfaces, seams, jo in ts and co mponents in the
e n g in e compartment.
Plenum
Remove leaves from th e plenum in front of the w indshie ld unde r th e e ngin e hood. Hcmovi ng
l eaves and d ebris reg ularl y he lp s preve nt th e
wate r dr ain ho les from beco min g bloc ke d, and it
h elps to preve nt debris from gettin g in sid e th e
ve hicl e throu gh th e heati ng and ventilation ducts.
The en gin e compartment of any motor ve hicl e
is a potentially dangerous area and can cause seriou s perso nal injury .

For th e sake of e nvironment
Baueries contain toxi c substances including aci d and lead. must b e disposed propriately and not with ordinary garbage.
Tires and
General notes
Tips
After connecti n g a battery and switching on the ig nit ion, the indicator light comes on continuously. It goes out when the ve hicl e is dri ven straigh t for a short distance at 15 mph km/h ).
Tire s may be the least appreciated and most abused parts of a motor vehicle.
Tires may be the lea st appreciated and most abuse d pa rts of a motor ve hicle. Tire s are, eve r, one of the mos t important parts of
safe ly handle,
avoi din g from road h aza rds and inspecting tires for damage including cuts,
sl ash es irregular wea r you can do to help avoid sudden tire fa ilur e including tread separation and blowouts.
Avo iding
damage
lfyou have to drive over stacle, drive very slowly and as close as poss ibl e
Wher e ap pli cabl e W
h
en removed, the wheels or t ires should be stored in cool. dry and p re ferably dark plac e.
tires in ve rtical position if they are not mounted on rims, in ho rizontal posi tion if they
in " 'B reaking in tire s and brake
type tern.
Hidd
en damoge
Da
mage t o tire s rims is often not readily
swage n dealer or qu alified workshop.
Unidir ection al tires
A unidirectio nal tire can b e idemified by arrows on the sidewall, that p oint in the direction the tire is designed to rota te.
p ag e "Unidirectional
Rims with threaded rim ring4l
Light-allo y wheels w ith a bolted rim ring consis t
o f several parts. T hese parts are screwe d to-
57

changea ble deco rat ive cove rs a re att ached to th e rim with s elf- locking sc rews . lfyou would ro re pla ce damaged wheel covers, contact your authorized Volkswa gen d eale r or
WARNING
New ti res or tires tha t are old, worn or aged cannot provide maximum control and braking ability.
New tires tend to be s lipp ery and must be broken in . To reduce the risk of losing co ntrol,
a co llisio n and serio us personal injuri es, drive with sp ecia l care for the first km).
(cont inued )
Driving with worn or damaged tire s can lead to lo ss of control, sudden tire failur e, cluding a blowou t and sudden deflation ,
c ras hes and seriou s personal injuries. Have wo rn or damaged tires rep laced imme di ate ly.
To redu ce the riskoflosingcontrol, crashes and s erio us personal injuries, never loose n
th e bolts on w heels with bolted rim rings.
more than 6 years old can onl y be used in an em erg en cy and then
w ith specia l care and at low speed.
Neve r m ount u se d tires on your ve hicle if
yo u are not sure of their used tires may have been damaged ev e n
t h oug h the damage cannot be seen th at can
lead to sudden tir e failure and loss of ve hicl e control.
hicl e pull s to one sid e when dri ving, always
s top as soo n as it is safe to do so and ch eck the
whee ls and tires for damage.
Accessory weight
Means the combined we ight ( in excess of those
sta ndard ite m s w hi ch may be repl aced) of mati c tran smission. power steering. po wer
bra kes, power windo ws. p owe r seats , radio, and heater, to th e ex te nt th at th ese item s are
or lowe r indica te
a short s id ewall for improved steering respo nse and better ove rall handling on dry pave ment.
Bead
Mean s the pa rt of the tire t hat is m ad e of stee l
wires , w rap ped or re inforce d by pl y cords and that is shap ed to fit t he rim.
Bead separation
Mean s a breakdow n of th e bond between
Means the strand s forming the in th e tire.
weight
Me ans th e weig ht of motor vehicl e w ith dard equ ipment including the m aximum pacity of fu el, oil. and coolant . a ir conditio nin g
a nd additional weight of opt io n al equipm ent.
E xtra load lire
M ea ns tire desi gn to operate at higher loads and at hi gher inflat ion pressure s th an th e corre -
s ponding sta ndard tire.

Gross Axle W eight Ra ting
Mea ns the load-carryin g capacity of a sing le ax le
Mean s th e maximumlOtalloaded weight of the
ve hicle.
Groove
Means the space between adjacent tread
r ib s.
L
oad ratin g (cod e)
Means the load th at a tire is rated to
carry for a give n inflation pressure. You may no t find thi s information o n all tires because it is not require d b y
Maximum load ratin g
Means the load rating for a tire the m aximum permiss ib le inflation p ressure for that tire.
Maximum loaded vehicle weig ht
Means th e sum of:
( a)
weig ht.
( b ) Accessory
weight,
(c) Vehicl e capacity weig ht. and
(d ) Production o pti ons
b e inflat ed. A lso called imum inflatio n pressure."
Normal oc cupant weight
Means lb s. kilog ra ms} times the n u m ber of occupants sea te d i n the ve hicl e up to the seating capacity of your vehicle.
O c
cupant distr ib ution
Means dist ributio n of occupants in veh icle.
Outer d iameter
Means the overall diameter of an inflated new tir e.
inflated including vations due to or tive bands or rib s.
P ly
M
ean s layer uf parallel cord s.
Productio n optio ns weight
Means the com bined weight of those installed
regular produc tion options weighing over Sibs. (2.3 kg) in excess of those standard items whic h they replace, not previously considered in curb weight or accessory
pne u matic tire in which the pl y cords th at ex tend to the beads a rc laid at substa n tially degrees to the center lin e of the tread.
Re commended inflat io n p ressure
page tire inflation p ressure".
Reinforc
ed tir e
Means a tire designed to operate at higher loads and at higher inflation pressures than the sponding tire.
Rim
Means a m etal support for a tire or a tire and tube assembly upon whic h the tire beads are seate d .
Rim d iameter
Means nominal diameter oft he bead seal. you change your w heel size. you will have to
Means that portion of tire between the tread
and bead.
which
km/h) mph ( 298 k.m/ h ). These rat ings are lis ted in the table 74. You may not find this information on all tire s because it is not required by law.
The speed r ating lett er cod e, where is molded on the tir e s idewall and indicates the maxjmurn permissible road in on page 77 74.
Checking and

3.2 Tip s and Advice
Tir e pressure monitoring
tires are underinflated a nd nates a low tire pressure warning tellt ale.
Tread
Means that porti on of tire that comes into tact the road.
Tread separation
Means pulling away of the tread from the tire carcass.
Tread wea r indicators
visual indication of the degrees o f w ear of th e tread. page 72,
Wea r for more tio n on measurin g tire wear.
Un iform
Tire Quality Grading
that is designed to help buyers make re la ti ve comparisons among ti res. The UTQG is not s afety rating and not a
antee that a tire la st for a prescrib ed number of miles o r perform in simply
g ives tire buyers additional information to bin e w ith other consideratio ns. such as price. brand loya lty and dealer recommendations. Under UTQG, tires arc graded b y th e tire fac turers in three areas: tre ad wear, traction and temperature resistance. The UTQ G information o n the tires, molded into the s idewall s.
This is the tire's "ser ia l begin s w ith the letters
sent week and year of manufacture. For ample . the rnran that the tire
pro duced in the 18th The other numbers arc m arketin g codes that no t be used by th e tire manufacturer. T his mation is used to if a tir e fect requires a recall .
Vehicle
capacity weight
Means the cargo and load plu s lb s. (68 kilograms) times the total
s
eatin g capacity as lis ted on the label attached to the ope n edge o f the driver's door.
Vehicle
maximum load on the tire
Mean s that load o n an indi vidual tire that is t ermined b y di stri buting to each axle its share of the maxim um loaded weight and viding by
normollood on th e tir e
Means that load o n an indiv idual tire that i s termined by di stribut ing to axle its sh a re of the curb weigh t. accesso ry weight. and normal occupant weight (di stributed in accordance with table page and di viding by
Occupant loading and distribution for vehicle normal load
normal load, number Occupant distributio n in number of occupants of occupants normally loaded
2 through 4
2 2 in fro nt.
5
3 2 in front. I in
=Tire pres sure
Checking and

3.2 Tips and Advice
refers to the amount of air in a tire that it needs it to do its job and safe ly carry the combined load of the entire
on the d esign and load limit-the greatest amount of we ight that the can carry safel y and the tire size.
Th e proper lire pressure is frequently re ferred to a s the "recommended co ld tire inflation
It is the tion pre ssure in a tire that counts .
respo nsiv e
is being driven at higher speed s, and th e n cially w hen heavily loaded even within the missible load-carrying capacit ies approved for your vehicl e. T
he r
ecommended tire pressures for your d epend on the kind or tires on your h icl e and the number of passengers and/or amount ofluggage you will be t ransporting.
Th e tire
pressure label on the open ed ge of th e
driver's door on your Volk swagen lists the ommended co ld tir e infl ation pressures for the
at th e tim e it was ufactured.
page fig. 15 for the tion of the label on the open edge of the driver's door (colo r of the actual label and exact locat ion on the
flap.
The table below lists the recommended cold tire
i nflatio n pressures for the models covered by your maximum capacit y we igh t and th e tire
sizes on t h e res pective models as inal equipment, or as a factory opti on.
T ir e Tire
pres-Tire pres-
s ur e front sure rear
kPa
17 91 35 245 35 245
6
1