2012 VOLKSWAGEN GOLF Owners Manual

Manual transmission: Gearshift lever
Fig. Gea rshift pattern of a 6-speed manual
t r ansmission .
Please first read and note the introduc­tory information and heed the o n page 171.
The positions of the
individua l gea rs are shown on
t he gearshift leve r
Depress the clutch pedal the way and hold.
Move the gearshift lever into the desired
Release the clutc h pedal to engage the gear.
T he c
lutch pedal must be
shift to the reverse gear when the vehic le
is not moving.
Depr ess the and hold
Move the gearshift lever to neutral and press
down .
Move the shift lever to the left and then push
f orward into the reverse gear position @.
Release the clut ch pedal to engage the gear .
Downshifting
You should always downshift gear by gear when
driving , meaning always in to the next lowes t gear. Do not downshift when the engine rpm (revo lutions
At fast speeds or high
engine rpms, skipping over one or more gears
when downshifting can cause damage to the clutch
and transmission, even
if a gear is not engaged
... -
Down shifting to a lowe r gear incorrectly can result in loss of vehicle control and can
cause accidents and serious personal inju-ries.
When the engine is running and a gear is en-
gaged, the vehic le will start to move as soon
as the c lutch pedal is released, even when
th e parking brake is applied. This a lso ap-plies when the parking brake is engaged.
Never shift into reverse when the vehicle
is moving.
Shifting
down to a gear that is too low when driving at fa st spee ds or high engine rpms can
cause extensive damage to the clutch and
transmission. That is true even if the clutch pedal is pressed so that the clutch is not
To help prevent damage and premature wear:
Do not rest your hand on the gearshift leve r
while driving. time, the pressure ca use premature wear in the transmission.
Make sure that the vehicle has come to a
comple te stop before shifti ng into reve rse.
Do not hold the vehicle on a hill using

Automatic transmission:
Auto mati c transmissio n wit h sh ift
first re ad and note the tory information and heed the on page 171.
posi-Designation Meaning tion
Automa tic tra nsm issio n ic With you must depress
th e brake and pres sing
th e
in order to
move the
is in Neu-(N) , yo u before you can move the to Drive (D), Drive or Reverse (R).
sett ing is sho wn in the ins trument as the current gear (if
p Park is not moving. To change the
button
R Reverse The
re ver se gea r is en gage d. into Reverse when the
Transmis sion is in
D Drive (sta ndard dri v-fo rwa rd gears shift up and down auto m atica lly. The transmi s-
ing pos ition) sion
shifts as needed depending on engine individual driving and
forward gears automa tica lly upshift later and dow nshift earlier
s than in th e (Dri ve) position , to take advan ta ge of the engin e's
driving position) p
ower reserves. The tran smi ssion shift s as needed dependi ng on
e ng ine in divid ual driving and speed.
Automatic
The Automati c Lock in Park (P) and (N) prevents drive posit ions fro m b eing g aged inadvertentl y, w hich ca use the to move.
wards if it is stuc k in sno w or mud. The gages automa tically if th e brake pr esse d and the is in is traveling no
fast er than abo ut 3 mph (5 km/h ).
To the depress and the brake wit h th e ign ition switched on. Press the
(N) (e.g ., when shifting from Reverse (R) to Drive (D)). Th is mak es
i t possib le to "roc k" the
ra re cases , th e m ay not eng age on vehicles
w ith Direct Gea rbox. this happens,
power to th e drive ven t th e and a tex t sage Lock
sh ift ing , parking 175

Moving the selector lever to the wrong posi-tion can cause loss of vehicle control, a co sion, and serious personal injury.
Unintended vehicle movement can cause se-rious personal injury.
you must leave your vehicle while the engine is running, al-ways set the parking brake and shift the transmission into Park (P).
Shifting with Tiptronic®
Fig . 111 lever in Tiptronic position.
Please first read and note the introduc­
on page 171.
176 While driving
WARNING (continued )
will roll down hills, whether the engine is
When the engine is running and a drive gear-Drive (D), or Reverse
(R) -has been selected, press and hold the
brake pedal to keep the vehicle from moving.
The vehicle may and move forward or backward even if the engine is idling ly.
the selec tor lever is moved into Neutral (N) by mistake when the vehicle is moving , take
your foot off the accelerator pedal. Wait until the
engine speed has dropped to idle speed before
mov ing the selector lever into a drive gear.
Leaving the selector le ver for a long period of
whe el with optional Tiptronic
shift paddles .
Tiptronic lets yo u upshift and downshift manually
with
the a utomatic transm ission. When Tiptronic
mode is used, the transmi ssio n stays in the curren t
gea r and does not upshift or dow nshift

unless the transmission senses a sit­
uation where upshifting or downshifting is necessa­ry to keep the engine from over-or under-revving.
Using Tiptronic with the selector lever
Push the selector lever sideways to the right
from Drive (D) position into the Tiptronic position
in Automatic transmission :
Briefly push the selector lever forward to up­
shift into a higher gear or backward to down ­
shift into a lower gear 111.
Using Tiptronic with the shift paddles behind the steering wheel
Th e paddles 112 (arrows) work when the
selector lever is in the Tiptronic position or when the selector lever is in Drive (D) or
To upshift, on the right to­
ward you.
Driving with automatic transmission
on page 171.
in
Neutral (N).
Reduce speed.
Downshift by the selector l ever back
briefly(-).
Downshift using the paddles on the steer ­
ing wheel
you should use Hold 195 as long as the engine is running .
To downshift , on the left to­
ward you.
To switch off Tiptronic mode,
switch off
shift automatically into the next higher gear be­
fore reaching maximum engine speed (rpm).
you use Tiptronic to shift into a lower gear, the transmission not over-rev the engine. Kick-down acceleration
The kick-down feature permits maximum tion when the selector lever is in the Drive (D ), or Tiptronic mode.
you push the accelerator automatica lly downshift , depe nding on
vehicle speed and engine speed (rpm). This
With kick-down actuated, the transmission
Regulation 179.
Depress and
Move the selector lever into Driv e or Tiptronic position.
With your rig ht foot, depress the accelerator
peda l until the engine reaches about rpm.
shifting, parking

Remove your left foot from the brake => The accelera te from a stop at the maximum
rate .
you have accelerated , swi tch
weather, road, and traffic conditions permit and other drivers not be gered by your driving and the vehicle's
tory on page 171.
Emergency shift program
selec to r ment
of the forward gears.
some cases, vehicles with a Direct
is then impossible to drive
the vehicle backwards .
any event , have the automatic transmission
checked by an authorized
Overheating of Direct automatic transmission
The automa tic transmission may overheat ,
for example , due to frequent starts , extended o r stop-and-go traffic. Overheating is and, if by a text message in the in strument ditional warning chime may sound. and let the
tr ansmission coo l down => 178
is switched off, when the road is slippery.
you have accelerated, switch back on again.
with the
wards. This can cause the automatic sion to overheat and be damaged.
in Neutral (N), not be lubricat-ed and be damaged . The vehicle does not move forward or in reverse even though a drive position is selected with the selector
the vehicle does not move in the desired tion , the system may not have engaged the drive
position Press the brake pedal and select the drive position again.
does not move in the desired rection , there is a system malfunctio n.
ther park the vehicle in a safe place or drive faster than 12 mph km/h) .
the tex t message and acoustic warning seconds or so, you must park the vehicle in a safe place as soon as you can safely do so and stop the engine .
L et the transmission cool down.
To help prevent damage to the sion, do not drive the vehicl e agai n until the
acoustic warning has s topped. As long as the
e ngine is overheated, avoid stop and start driv-ing and avoid low speed s pace") .

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.

Lights cause or up
I
ES deactivated.
I Together with indicator malfunction .
T ogethe r with warning
or BRAKE:
Brake not dep ressed.
cause
I
The butt on in the is not
engaged .
When the ign ition is switch ed on,
text messages can cause the to break down in traffic and
or text WARN­
stop the as soon as it is safe to do so.
Driving with bad brakes can cause a and serious
the brake warning BRAKE or does not go out, or comes on when driving, either the brake or there is a the as soon as you can do so and get expert assistance 187, Brake
fluid.
the brake warning comes on at the same time as the or the
187 . automatically
turns on when you turn the ignition on and off.
an authorized Volkswagen or an thorized Volkswage n The brake s work without
to
Adapt driving to
road conditions.
E ngage the Automatic
Lock
This up brake
you is safe to drive, drive and very authorized Volkswagen Service or other
spected. Avoid sudden hard braking and steering.
or does not go out, or if it comes on while driving, the system is not working can then be stopped with the
s tandard brakes (without not have the protection
thorized Volkswagen Service as soon as
Starting, shifting, parki ng 181