2009 VOLKSWAGEN CC warning

WARNING
Worn tires are dangerous and can cause loss of vehicle control
including serious personal injuries.
Never drive a vehicle when the tread on any tire is worn down
to the wear indicators, replace them sooner.
Worn tires do not grip the road properly, especially on wet
roads, increasing your risk of “hydroplaning” and loss of con-
trol.
Worn tires reduce the ability of your vehicle to handle well in
normal and difficult driving situations and increase braking dis-
tances and the risk of skidding.
Tire wear and damage

Driving style.
Unbalanced wheels.
Wheel alignment.
Driving style – Fast cornering, hard acceleration and braking increase
tire wear. If you experience increased tire wear under normal driving
conditions, have the vehicle suspension checked by an authorized
Volkswagen dealer or an authorized Volkswagen Service Facility.
Unbalanced wheels – The wheels on a new vehicle are balanced.
When driving, however, various conditions can cause a wheel to be-
come unbalanced. Unbalanced wheels can cause wear to the steer-
ing and suspension systems. Have all wheels rebalanced. A wheel
must always be rebalanced if a new tire has been mounted.
Wheel alignment – Incorrect wheel alignment causes excessive and
uneven tire wear, impairing vehicle safety. If you notice excessive or
uneven tire wear, have the wheel alignment checked by an author-
ized Volkswagen dealer or an authorized Volkswagen Service Facili-
ty.
WARNING
Unusual vibrations or pulling to one side can indicate tire dam-
age.
Reduce speed immediately and stop when it is safe to do so.
Check tires and wheel rims for damage.
Never drive with a damaged tire or rim. Get expert assistance
instead.
If no external damage is visible, slowly and carefully drive to
the nearest authorized Volkswagen dealer, authorized
Volkswagen Service Facility, or other qualified workshop and
have the vehicle checked.

WARNING
Improper use of a spare wheel or a compact spare wheel can
cause loss of vehicle control, a crash or other accident, and se-
rious personal injury.
Never use a spare wheel or compact spare wheel if it is dam-
aged or worn down to the wear indicators.
In some vehicles, the spare wheel or compact spare wheel is
smaller than the original tire. A smaller compact spare wheel is
identified with a sticker and the words “50 mph” or “80 km/h”.
This is the maximum permissible speed when driving with this
tire.
Never drive faster than 50 mph (80 km/h) with a compact
spare wheel. Avoid full-throttle acceleration, heavy braking, and
fast cornering!
Never drive more than 125 miles (200 km) if a compact spare
wheel is installed on the front axle (drive axle).
Replace the compact spare with a normal wheel and tire as
soon as possible. Compact spare tires are designed for brief
use only.
Regularly check the U.S. DOT Tire Identification Number (TIN)
to determine the age of the compact spare wheel ⇒  Tire label-
ing. Tires age even if they are not being used and can fail sud-
denly, especially at higher speeds.
Tires that are more than 6 years old can only be used in an
emergency and then with special care and at lower speeds.
The compact spare wheel must always be secured with the
wheel bolts provided by the factory.
Never drive using more than one compact spare wheel.
After installing the compact spare wheel, the tire pressure
must be checked as soon as possible ⇒  Tire inflation pressure.
Snow chains cannot be used on the compact spare wheel. If
you must use snow chains and have a compact spare wheel
mounted, move the compact spare wheel to the rear axle if a
front tire has to be replaced. The tire taken off the rear axle can
then be used to replace the flat front tire. Be sure you do not
change the tire's direction of rotation. Install the snow chains
on the full-sized road tire.

WARNING
Using incorrect or unmatched tires and/or wheels or improper
tire and wheel combinations can lead to loss of control, colli-
sion and serious personal injury.
Always use tires, wheels and wheel bolts that meet the speci-
fications of the original factory-installed tires or other combina-
tions that have been specifically approved by the vehicle manu-
facturer.
All 4 wheels must be fitted with radial tires of the same type,
the same size (tread circumference), and the same tread pat-
tern. Driving with different tires reduces vehicle handling and
can lead to a loss of control.
Never drive faster than the maximum speed for which the
tires installed on your vehicle are rated because tires that are
driven faster than their rated speed can fail suddenly.
Overloading tires can cause heat build-up, sudden tire fail-
ure, including a blowout and sudden deflation and loss of con-
trol.
Temperature grades apply to tires that are properly inflated
and not over- or underinflated.
Winter tires

ter tire performance decreases with age – independent of the tread
profile depth.
When using winter tires:
Obey state and country-specific legal requirements.
Install winter tires on all 4 wheels.
Use winter tires only under wintry road conditions.
Only use winter tires with dimensions approved for the vehicle.
Use only winter tires of the same tire belt design, the same dimen-
sions (tread circumference), and the same tread design.
Follow speed restrictions according to the winter tire's speed rating
code letter ⇒ .
Speed restrictions
Winter tires are certified up to a top speed identified by speed rating
code letters on the side wall ⇒  Tire labeling.
In some vehicle models it is possible to set a speed warning in the
menu in the instrument cluster display ⇒  Volkswagen Information
System.
Top speed rating and tire inflation pressure for V winter tires depend
on the engine installed in your vehicle. Be sure to ask you authorized
Volkswagen dealer or authorized Volkswagen Service Facility about
the maximum permissible speed and the required tire inflation pres-
sure for the winter tires that you plan to use.
WARNING
Driving faster than the maximum speed for which the winter
tires on your vehicle were designed can cause sudden tire fail-
ure including a blowout and sudden deflation, loss of control,
crashes and serious personal injuries.
Winter tires have a maximum speed rating that may be lower
than your vehicle's maximum speed.
Never drive faster than the maximum speed for which the
winter tires installed on your vehicle are rated because tires
that are driven faster than their rated speed can fail suddenly.
Never exceed the maximum load rating for the winter tires
installed on your vehicle.

Remove center hubcaps and decorative rim rings before installing
snow chains ⇒ . However, for safety reasons, caps must be in-
stalled on the wheel bolts. These are available from authorized
Volkswagen dealers and authorized Volkswagen Service Facilities.
Compact spare wheel
For technical reasons, snow chains cannot be used on the compact
spare
If you must use snow chains and have a compact spare wheel
mounted, move the compact spare wheel to the rear axle if a front tire
has to be replaced. The tire taken off the rear axle can then be used
to replace the flat front tire. Be sure to install the unidirectional tires so
that they will run in the proper direction. Volkswagen recommends
installing the snow chains before mounting the wheel to the vehicle.
WARNING
Using the wrong snow chains or installing snow chains im-
properly can cause accidents and severe personal injuries.
Always use the proper snow chains.
Follow the installation instructions provided by the snow
chain manufacturer.
Never exceed the permissible speed limit when driving with
snow chains.
NOTICE
Remove snow chains when roads are free of snow. Otherwise,
the chains can damage the tires, impair vehicle handling and can
be quickly worn down.
Snow chains can scratch or damage wheel rims if they have
direct contact with the rims. Volkswagen recommends using
coated snow chains.
Glossary of tire and loading terminology

Speed rating (letter code)
A standardized letter code indicating the maximum speed at which a
tire is designed to be driven for extended periods of time. The ratings
range from 93 mph or 150 km/h (“P”) to 186 mph or (300 km/h) “Y”.
The speed rating letter code, where applicable, is molded on the tire
sidewall. You may not find this information on all tires because it is
not required by law.
Tire Pressure Monitoring System
A system that detects when at least one of a vehicle's tires is underin-
flated and illuminates a low tire-pressure warning light.
Tread
The portion of a tire that normally touches the road.
Tread rib
A tread section running circumferentially around a tire.
Tread separation
Tire failure caused by the tread pulling away from the tire carcass.
Tread wear indicators (TWI)
Raised areas within the main tread grooves that show, visually, when
tires are worn and near the end of their useful life ⇒ page 261.
Uniform Tire Quality Grading (UTQG)
A tire information system developed by the U.S. National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) that is designed to help buyers
compare tires. UTQG is not a safety rating, nor is it a guarantee that a
tire will last for a certain number of miles or perform a certain way. It
gives tire buyers more information to compare with factors such as
price, brand loyalty and dealer recommendations. Under UTQG, tires
are graded by the tire manufacturers in 3 areas: tread wear, traction
and temperature resistance. UTQG information is molded into the tire
sidewalls.
U.S. DOT Tire Identification Number (TIN)
A tire's serial number. It begins with the letters “DOT” (“Department of
Transportation”) and indicates that the tire meets all federal stand-
ards. The next 2 numbers or letters indicate the plant where the tire

WARNING
Overloading a vehicle can cause loss of vehicle control, a crash
or other accident, serious personal injury, and even death.
Carrying more weight than your vehicle was designed to car-
ry will prevent the vehicle from handling properly and increase
the risk of the loss of vehicle control.
The brakes on a vehicle that has been overloaded may not be
able to stop the vehicle in a safe distance.
Tires on a vehicle that has been overloaded can fail sudden-
ly, including a blowout and sudden deflation, causing loss of
control and a crash.
Always make sure that the total load being transported – in-
cluding the weight of a trailer hitch and the tongue weight of a
loaded trailer – does not make the vehicle heavier than the ve-
hicle's Gross Vehicle Weight Rating.
Determining the correct load limit