Booklet  3.2  Tips  and Advice 
will be s ix 10 eight  of  them evenly  pla ced aroun d tire. Marks  on  the  tire s idewa ll (fo r ex amp le o r  oth er symbols)  indicate  the  p ositions 
of  the  tread  w ear in dica tor s. Wo rn tires  mu st be 
rep laced . Different  figu res  may  apply  in  oth er 
Tir e pressure 
In co rrec t lir e pr ess ure cause s pr ematur e wear 
and  can  cause s udden  tire blow -out.  F or  thi s 
r easo n, tir e pressure  must  be c hec ke d  at  leas t 
o nce  a m ont h 
56. 
Driving  style 
Drivin g fast around  cu rves,  heavy  acce lera tio n 
and  hard  braking  increase  t ir e  w ear. 
Rotating  tir es for  more  even  wear 
I f th e front  tires  are  worn  consid era bly m ore 
than  t he  re ar  ones,  rotate th em  as  sh own 
59,  fig. 15 . All  the  tir es will  then  last  for 
about sa me of  tim e. 
A ll 
tir es s hou ld have  th e sam e am ount  of 
wear.  All  four  w heels  must  have the sa me ro lling 
ci rc umf ere nce. 
Wheel  balancing 
Th e wh eels  on  ne w  ve hicl es  are  balan ced.  H ow
eve r. various  situations  during every d ay  driv ing 
can  cause  them 
b ecom e unbalan ced,  r e
s ultin g in  vib rat io ns y ou  can  usuall y fe el throug h 
th e steering  wheel. 
Unbalan ced w hee ls  mu st be  reb alan ced  to  avoid 
e x cessive  wear on  stee ring,  suspen sion  and 
60  Checking  and  Filling 
tire s. A  wheel also  be  rebalan ced w hen  a 
new  lire  i s in stalled . 
In correct  whee l alignment 
Incorr ect whee l alignment  can  cause  exc ess ive 
ti re  wea r,  impa ir in g 
safe ty  of  the ve hicle.  If 
t ir es s how  excess ive wear,  have wheel align
m en t ch ecke d  by an  authori zed Vol ksw age n 
d ea le r  or  qualifi ed work sh op. 
WARNING 
Sud den tir e fa ilur e ca n le ad  to  lo ss  of  con trol , 
a  cra sh  and  serious  persona l injury! 
•  Neve r drive  a vehicle  wh en  th e trea d  on 
any  tire is wo rn dow n to  the wea r indicator s. 
•  Worn  tires  a rc a sa fety hazar d,  the y do  not 
gr ip  we ll on  wet roads  and  increase  y our risk 
of "h yd ropl anin g" and  lo ss of  contro l. 
•  Always  kee p ch emi cals  that  can ca use  tir e 
d amage,  s uch  as  g rease,  oil , gaso line and 
brak e fluid  away  from  tire s. 
•  Tire s age  even  if  th ey  a rc not b ein g use d 
and  can fail  sudd enl y, es pecially  al high 
s pe eds . Tir es that a re  more  than  6 year s old 
can  onl y be  use d in  an  emergen cy and  th en 
w ith  sp ecia l care  a nd at lowe r sp eeds. 
•  Neve r mount  u sed  tire s on  your vehicl e if 
you  a rc  not  sur e of  their  "pr ev iou s hi stor y." 
Old  use d  tir es ma y ha ve  been  d amaged  eve n 
th ough  the  d am age  ca nnot  b e seen that  can 
lead  t o sudd en  tir e failure  and loss  of vehicle