2012 VOLKSWAGEN TOUAREG Owners Manual

Menu option Meaning
Medium Original setting.
Strong Intensive vibration of the steering wheel.

The factory settings of the warning time and the vibration level are set to Medium.

Side Assist

Warning and indicator lights

If no other vehicle is detected by the Side Assist system in the critical area of your vehicle, the indica-
tor lights in the outside mirrors will not light up ⇒ .
The closer the detected vehicle is to your vehicle, the more indicator lights light up in the outside mirrors. If the approaching vehicle is very close, 4 indicator lights light up.
WARNING
Failure to heed warning lights and instrument cluster text messages can cause the vehicle to break down in traffic and result in a collision and serious personal injury.
x Never ignore warning lights or text WARNINGS.
x Always stop the vehicle as soon as it is safe to do so.
NOTICE
Failure to heed warning lights or text WARNINGS can result in vehicle damage.
How Side Assist works

Fig. 280 In the outside mirrors: Side Assist indicator lights

Fig. 281 Rear view of the vehicle: Areas of the Side Assist radar sensors.

does not work below speeds of about 20 mph (30 km/h). If Side Assist detects one or more vehicles in the monitored area, indicator lights light up in the outside mirrors.
Indicator lights in the outside mirrors
The indicator lights ⇒ fig. 280 in the outside mirrors inform you about the traffic behind your vehicle.
The indicator lights in the left outside mirror ⇒ fig. 280 inform you about traffic on the left side and the
indicator lights in the right outside mirror ⇒ fig. 280 inform you about the traffic on the right side of your vehicle.

Indicator lights in the out-
side mirror
Possible cause
Stay off. No other vehicle detected by Side Assist in
the critical area of your vehicle.
Light up briefly once. Side Assist is switched on and is ready.
Light up. Side Assist detected a possible critical situ-
ation.
Repeatedly light up brightly. The turn signal is switched on and Side
Assist detected a possible critical situation
on the corresponding vehicle side ⇒  in
Warning and indicator lights

Radar sensors
The Side Assist radar sensors are located on the left and right side above the rear bumper ⇒ fig. 281. They cover an area of about 50 m (160 ft) behind your vehicle as well as the blind spots on the left and right vehicle side. On the left and right side of your vehicle Side Assist covers an area of about the width of one driving lane.
However, Side Assist does not recognize the exact width of the driving lanes next to your vehicle. In some cases, such as driving in the middle of 2 lanes or with very narrow lanes, this can lead to an incorrect indication. In other cases, vehicles moving on further driving lanes like the second to left lane, or even fixed objects, such as guide rails, can cause the indicator lights to light up.

Driving with Side Assist

Fig. 282 Driving with Side Assist: A: Moving to another lane with rear traffic. B: Side Assist indicator lights in the left outside mirror.

Fig. 283 Driving with Side Assist: A: Passing another vehicle and moving to the right lane. B: Side Assist indicator lights in the right outside mirror.

Activate and deactivate
Select Assistants from the main menu in the instrument cluster, then select

Rear Assist with dynamic orientation lines