2009 VOLKSWAGEN GOLF tires

Braking, stopping, and parking
this sectio n
Parking brake . . . . . . . . . . . 182
P arking . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
About the brakes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
Braking assistance systems
Switching
L ock Brake System (ABS) . Br ak e Assist System
(BAS ), Ele ctronic Differential Lock (EDL), R eg ulatio n (ASR) and Electronic C ontrol
(ESC).
More information:
Trai ler towi ng 149
Starting assistance systems 1 95
Tires and whee ls 258
Driving with bad brakes or worn brake pads can cause a and serious personal
injury.
lights up in the instrument cluster display, whether alone or together with a text message, immediately contact an authorized Volkswagen dealer or authorized Facility to have the brake pads checked and, if necessa­
ry, replaced .
Parking improperly can cause serious sonal injury.
lock and you
haust system or catalytic converter could
fu el, etc.
riously injure you and your passengers.
sonal injury.
mote control vehicle key, trapping passen­gers in the vehicle in an emergency. For ample, depending on the time of year, people trapp ed in the vehicle can be exposed to very high or very low temperatures.
children.
Starting, shifting, parking 179

you are
prevent dam age, stop before the tires of yo u r
v ehicle touc h a parking bar rier or curb.
on page 179.
Lights
Possible cause or me aning Prope r re s ponse up
<®> Parking brake engaged.
Brake fluid too Check brake
or ABS: ized Volkswagen failure.
The brakes wor k withou t
BRAKE
Facili-ty. Check, and if necessary replace. brake pads.
switc hed off by the system.
malf unction . an aut horized Volkswage n deale r or an au-
thorized Volkswagen Facility .
Together with or ABS : Facility. malfunction.
The vehic le brakes
Driv e a s hort distance at a speed of 1 -
12 mph (15-km/ h). th e indicator light battery has been reconnect ed. stays see
an authorized Volkswagen dealer or an authorized Volkswagen 238.

Do not reduce pressure on the brake
up on the brake.
Lock (EDL and XDL)
EDL is applied during regular straight -line
traction (spinning) and redirec ts the drive force to other drive wheels. extreme cases , EDL swi tches off to keep the brake from
switches on again .
XDL is an extension of the Electronic Differential
Lo ck sys tem . X DL does not react to drive wheel
s lippage when driving straight ahead .
XDL
detects slippage of the inside front wheel during
fast corne ring . X DL app lies enough brake pressure
to
this wheel in order to stop the slippage. This
Driving fast on icy, or wet roads can to a of control and result in serious persona l injury for you and your passengers.
Always adjust your speed and driving
style to roa d , traffic, weather, and visibility conditions. Never the additiona l sa fety that and EDL can
come the of physics and always prevent and wet
roads are dangero us eve n with and the o ther syste ms!
to A vehicle that has
1861 While driving
tance from the vehicle in front of you.
cele rator Even with these syste m s,
th e wheels may start to spin, le ading to a
The effectiveness of ca n be significantly reduced if other components and sys te m s that a ffect vehicle dynamic s, including but not limite d to bra kes , tires, and other te m s mention ed above , are not properly
maintained or fun ctioning.
Always remembe r that vehicle alterations or modifications can affect the functioning of the EDL, and systems.
Changing the vehicle su spension or using an unappro ved tire I wheel combination can
c han ge the way the EDL ,
and system s work and re duce their fectiveness .
The effectiveness of is als o
tires in orde r for and to work erly . Diff eren ces in the tread circumference of the
tir es can cause the system to r educ e the engine
p ower when it is not expected .
is not working, and EDL not work .
may hear noises when these systems are

this section find info rmat ion about:
Effi cient driving sty le
....... . 189
Fue l-efficient driv in g . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Fuel consumpti on, envi ronme ntal impact, and wear
a nd tear on eng ine, brakes and tires depend main­
l y on the
pe rsona l d riving style.
External conditions (weather , road condi tions).
Technical requir emen ts.
Efficient driving
on page 189.
Shifting faster
As a rule , th e app lies: The h igh er gear is
a lways the most e ffi cient gear . The rule of thumb
for mos t veh icles is to drive in 3rd gear at
mph
gears when upshifting also saves
Do not run the gea rs up to their lim it. Use 1st gear o nly to s tart movin g and then sm oot hly s hift into
2 n d gear. Avoid kick-do wns in vehicl es with auto ­
matic tra nsm issions.
Coasting
you take your foot off the accel erator, fuel de liv­ery to the engine is interrupted , which lowers fuel consum ptio n.
Therefo re , whe n nearing a red stop for in­
stance , the veh icle to coas t without usin g the
accelerator . Pre ss the peda l a nd release it
o nly if the vehicle mov ing too slowly or the coast­
ing distance is too long. The engine
situa tions where the
swi tch off the eng in e.
conditions. Defensive driving and with traffic
Freq uent braki ng and accelerat ion increase s fuel
cons umption significantly . Just by driving defen­
s ive ly and keep ing a sufficiently large
distance
away fro m the
caused by taking your foot off the accelerator . Active braking and acceler ­
at ing is then not nece ssarily re qu ired .
Calm and smooth driving
Consistency is more important than speed. The
m ore smo oth ly you drive , the less fuel the vehic le
consumes.
Whe n driving
on the highw ay or free way, a co n­
stant , m ode rate speed is more efficien t and eco­
n omi ca l than constantly accelerating and brak ing.
you can reach your dest ination just as
quick ly by driv ing at a mod erate, but steady sp eed.
Th e crui se control syst
em can assist in mainta ining
a un iform dri vin g style.
Moderate use of extra electrical loads
Comfort in sid e the ve hicle is nic e and important ,
but it is importa nt to use the m in an envi ronm enta l­
l y conscious manner.
Some devices can increase fuel consumptio n
whe n activated (exa mples):
Starting, shiftin g, parki ng 189

Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS)
Introduction
this section you'll find information about :
Indic ato r light (telltale) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
and
r e ca librat ion with the
you are drivin g. Th e se nso rs m on itor the tre ad cir cumference (rolling circumfe re nce ) and
vibrati on characteristics of the indiv idu al tires . warn s if there is a significant loss of sure in o n e or m ore tires while the vehi cle is
i n gs and tex t warn in gs in the in strum ent cluste r
disp la y if yo ur veh icle ha s this disp lay (M ulti-Func ­
t io n D isplay
that come with your vehicle . Th is
1 38 . By pres sing the
hicl e
Prope r use of the
More information:
Volk sw age n Information 24
Tr anspo rting
Braking, s top ping and park in g 1 79
E xterior care and clean in g
Tires and wheels
P arts. accessor ies, repa irs and mo difica tions 2 83
Incorrect tire pressures and/or underinflation can cause sudden tire failure , loss of control , collision, serious personal or even death.
Incorrect tire pressure and/or underlnfla­tion can cause increased tire wear and can affect the handling of the vehicle and stop­ping ability .
The driver is responsible for the correct tire pressures for all tires on the vehicle. The
recomm ended tire pressure values are listed on a sticker the driver door 138.
The
Using incorrect tire pressure values can cause accidents or other damage . Always
Always maintain correct cold tire Inflation pressure so that can do its job.
Driving with underinfl ated tires causes them to flex (bend) more, letting them get too hot, resulting in tread separation , sudden tire failure , and loss of control.
Excessive speed and/overloadlng can
cause heat build-up, s udden tire
the tire pressure is too low or too high,
the tires will wear prematurely and the vehi­
c le will not handle well.
and you do not have to cha nge a wheel immediately , drive careful­
station to check the tire pressure and add air as required.
always read and heed the Information and all 258, Tires and whe els.
The Tire Pressure Monitoring
the reinstalled or replacement wheels and

tires are identica l to those that were removed
and even if the tire pressure does not change 264.
WARNING
Improper use of the button can cause the tire sure
and tire wear.
Do not rely on the Tire Pressure Check your tires and have no
signs of damage , such as punctures , cuts , cracks ,
and Remove any objects that become
to the body of tire it self.
When you take delivery of the vehicle, the Tire Pressure Monitoring is calib ra ted
fo r the facto ry- recommended cold tire
pressure for the tires on your vehicle, as shown on
the label inside the driver door 138.
reinstalled or rep lacement wheels and tires are
identical to those that wer e removed and even if
the tire pressure does not change
you have to adjust the tire pressure on a
w arm tire ,
138 .
determines that the air pressure in at least one tire is too low, care fully check the sure in cannot be mined by looking at the tir e . This is especially true of low-profile tires .
you have work done on your wheels or tires, inform the workshop that the vehicle is
equ ipped with a Tire Pressure Monitoring
New tires may expand slightly the first time they are driven at high speeds, which can
trigger a tire pressure warning. Remember that lire
pressu re can only be pro perly measured when the
tire is "co ld "
repla ce old tires with tires that have been approved by Volkswagen for you r vehi-
cle type . on page
P up Proper response
A chime may also sound .
T he infl ation pressure of one or more tires is sign ifica ntly lower than the benchmark pres-Reduce
speed immediately! Avoid fast corne ring
su re set by the driver or a tire has structural and
hard braking! I damage. Depending on vehicle equipment , Check the
condition and pressure of a message may ment cluste r display.
D river assistance systems

Flashes Possible cause or meaning
Flashes for abou t
Incorrect tire pressures and/or underinflation
can cause sudden tire failure, loss of control, serious personal injury, or even
death.
appears in
the instrument cluster, stop the vehicle as soon as it is safe to do so and tires .
job.
4 tires when the tires are cold. Never reduce air pressure in warm tires to match cold tire inflation pressure.
258, Tires and wheels .
While driving
Proper response
C he ck and , if n ecessary, adjust the
tire tio n p ress ure i n 4 tires . th e tire pr essure
i s correc t, swi tc h the ign ition off and back on. the indicato r
4 tir es and
pressing the butt on , ta ke the veh ic le to
an auth ori ze d Volkswa gen deal er or an
Have th e
sys te m checke d.
wear prematurely and the cle
and you do not have to change the tire or wheel immediately , drive at reduced speed to the nearest service
always read and
heed the information and all in the section
Improper use of the to give false warnings or to give no warning despite dangerously low tire pres-
sure

to heed warning and instrument text messages can cause the to break down traffic and sion and serious
or text
stop the as soon as it is
safe to do so.
or text can damage .
the ignition is switched on, an acous tic warning sounds when tir e pressure is tected. a system malfunc tion is detected , no
aco ust ic warn ing sounds .
Driving fo r a lon ge r period of tim e o n roug h roa ds or w ith a dynamic and sporty s tyle can
m ake th e system te mpora rily unavai lable .
Th e in dicato r light
fu nc tio n, b ut
Tire Pressure Monitoring
the
on
page
Your Tire Pressure Monitor­
ing
4 tires
Brake
tires . The
tread circumference
of a tire can
change :
one side of the
than the other .
than the other (such as when towing a
has been
mounted .
a
a tire was changed.
the tire pressure was changed , or
were rotated or
was not reset.
warnings be­
cause snow chains increase tire cir-
cumference.
Dri ver assistance syste m s