2012 VOLKSWAGEN GOLF start

emergency. For example , depending on the time of year, people trapped in the vehicle
ca n be exposed to very high or very low tem­
peratures .
Heat
quickly reach levels that can cause uncon­sciousness and death , particularly to
runn in g and the drive r doo r is op ened , a
chime sounds. T he chim e is also a re minde r to swi tch off the engine and turn off the ignition b efore
leavin g and locki ng th e veh icle from the out side . on page 165.
(auto m atic) , or into Neut ral (manu a l o nly) .
167-
3. Turn the veh icle ke y to posi tion -do no t dep ress the accelerator p ed al. A n au-
do not depr ess the accele ra to r p ed al. t
h oriz ed vehicle key must be insi de t he ve h ic le
i n order to start th e engin e .
4 . Wh en the engi ne s ta rts, release th e v ehic le W
he n the e ng ine starts, release th e sta rte r but-
key . to n .
the engi ne does not start , swi tc h off the igni- tion an d s tart aga in after ab ou t o ne minute .
t io n and sta rt again after about one minut e. Use
the em ergenc y sta rt function if n ecessary 16 7 .
6 .
R elease the pa rking brake when you are ready to s tart dr iving 179 .
Never leave the vehicle unattended while the
engine is running. The vehicle could move suddenly, espec ially when the vehicle is in
gear, resulting in accidents and persona l in-jury.
can explode and can cause a vehicle condition.
Never use starting assist fluids .
moving, or if you try to restart the engine right after switching it off.
Avoid high engine speeds,
Do not le t your ve hicle warm up while stan d­ing; in stead . start drivi ng right awa y aft er making s ur e that yo u have good visib ilit y t hro ug h w indows. This help the e ngine reac h opera t­
ing temp e rature faste r an d ke ep d own emissions.

Major con sumers of are sw itched off when the engine is being started .
Stopping the engine
After start ing a engin e, there may be creased operating noises fo r a few seconds .
This is
first read and note the introductory information and heed the on
perform each step
without Keyless Access Vehicles with Access
1. Bring the to a
2. Dep res s and down the brake s tep 4 is
3 . A ut omatic transmission: th e transmission into Park (P) .
4 .
the parking brake to fr om moving
in Briefly press the starter button 167. 5. the engine 167.
6 . With
a
tran smi ssion , shift into 1st gear or re-
ve rse pointin g down hill).
Never stop the engine before the has
come to a trol of the vehicle, crash, and be
be needed to stop the
not be able to steer the
the engine
running and the driver door is opened, a
c him e sounds. Th e c hime is a re minder to
sw itch off the engine and turn off the igniti on before and from the outside.
with automatic t ransmissio ns. the be remov ed from the
ignition when the transmission is in Park (P).
After the engi ne has been switched off. the radiato r fan in the engine compartment may
keep running for ning after the even if the ignition is sw itche d off and t he ve hicle
key has bee n remo ved. Th e radiat or fan sh uts off
automatically when th e engine has down
enough.
Starting, shifting, parking 169

on page 165.
The immobilizer helps to pre ve
nt the engine fr om
being started and driven with an unauth orized
vehicles with Keyless
Access , th e vehicle key must be outside the
driving The
engine can therefore
dependent repair facilities and locksmiths who are to make vehicle keys 36.
an unauthorized vehicle key is used , Immobil­izer active! appears in the instr ument cluste r
display . Th e
Using genuine mize the risk of malfun ctions .

Pedals in vehicles with manual sion : Accele rator pedal ,® Brake
on page 171.
peda ls must always be able to move freely in
a n d out without interference from floor mats or oth ­
er thing s.
te ners to help preve nt slid ing.
a brake circu it malfunct ions, more brake pedal
tr ave l is needed to bring the ve hic le to a stop ,
and it is important that noth ing is in the way when
yo u have to depress the brake pedal harde r and
farth er than
Objects in the driver footwell can prevent the pedals from moving freely . This can cause loss of vehicle control and increase the risk of serious personal injuries. Fig.
Pedals
in vehicles with au tomatic Acce le rator pedal ,® Brake
a brake circuit fails, more brake pedal
travel will be needed to bring the vehicle to a
stop. The brake pedal must be pressed harder and farther than normal.
Starting, shifting, parking

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

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

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