Attention to the following notes may affect tyre wear.
Driving style
Fast cornering, sharp acceleration and braking increase the wear of your tyres.
Wheel balance
The wheels of a new vehicle are balanced. When driving, however, there are a
range of factors that may result in an imbalance. This may become apparent by
a “vibration” in the steering. If this is the case, have the wheels checked by a
specialist garage.
Have the wheels likewise rebalanced after replacing the tyres.
Setting the vehicle geometry
Incorrect wheel alignment at the front or rear leads to excess wear on the
tyres and impairs driving safety. With a distinctive tyre wear, we recommend
that you check the setting of the vehicle geometry in a specialist workshop.WARNING■ An incorrect wheel alignment at the front or rear impairs handling.■Unusual vibrations or pulling of the vehicle to one side could be a sign of
tyre damage. If there is any doubt that a wheel is damaged, immediately re-
duce your speed and stop! If no external tyre damage is evident, drive slow-
ly and carefully to the nearest specialist garage to have the vehicle
checked.
Tyre wear indicator and wheels exchange
Fig. 126
Principle sketch: Replace tire tread with wear indicators / wheels
Read and observe on page 148 first.
Wear indicators
The base of the tread of the tyres contains has a 1.6 mm high wear indica-
tor » Fig. 126 -
. In some countries, different tyre wear rates may apply.
Markings on the walls of the tyres through the letters “TWI”, triangular sym-
bols or other symbols identify the position of the wear indicators.
Exchanging the wheels
For uniform wear on all tyres, we recommend that you change the wheels ev-
ery 10 000 km according to the scheme » Fig. 126-
. You will then obtain ap-
proximately the same life for all the tyres.
After a wheel has been replaced, the tyre pressure has to be adjusted.
In vehicles with tyre pressure monitoring, tyre pressure values are to be stor-
ed » page 115 .
WARNING■
You must have your tyres replaced with new ones at the latest when the
wear indicators have been worn down.■
Worn tyres impair necessary adhesion to the road surface, particularly at
high speeds on wet roads. This could lead to “aquaplaning” (uncontrolled vehicle movement – “swimming” on a wet road surface).
Tyre damage
Read and observe
on page 148 first.
We recommend checking your tyres and wheel rims for damage (punctures,
cuts, splits and bulges, etc.) on a regular basis. Remove foreign bodies (e.g.
small stones) from the tyre tread immediately.
Drive over kerbs and other such obstacles slowly and at right angles wherever
possible in order to avoid damage to tyres and wheel trims.
Immediately replace damaged wheel rims or tyres.
WARNINGNever drive with damaged tyres – there is the risk of an accident occurring. 150General Maintenance
Raising the vehicle159Anti-theft wheel bolts160
For your own safety and the safety of the passengers, the following instruc-
tions must be observed before changing a wheel on the road.
Switch on the hazard warning lights system.
The warning triangle must be set up at the prescribed distance - observe
the national legal provisions when doing so.
Park the vehicle as far away as possible from the flow of traffic.
Choose a location with a flat, solid surface.
Have all the occupants get out. The passengers should not stand on the
road (instead they should remain behind a crash barrier, for instance) while
the wheel is being changed.
The following instructions must be followed if the vehicle is subsequently fit- ted with tyres or rims that differ from the factory-fitted ones » page 151, Ex-
planation of the tyre labelling .
The national legal requirements must be observed when changing a wheel.
Preliminary work
Before changing the wheel, the following work must be carried out.
›
Switch off the engine.
›
Engage the 1st gear or place the selector lever of the automatic transmission
in the P-position .
›
Firmly apply the handbrake.
›
Uncouple any trailers.
›
Remove the vehicle tool kit » page 155 and the spare wheel » page 155 from
the boot.
Full wheel trim
Before removing the wheel bolts, remove the wheel cover.
Extracting
›
Hook the clamp found in the vehicle tool kit » page 155 into the reinforced
edge of the wheel trim.
›
Push the wheel wrench through the clamp, support on the tyre and pull off
the wheel trim.
Installing›Press the wheel trim onto the wheel rim at the designated valve open-
ing » .
›
Then press the trim into the wheel rim until its entire circumference locks
correctly in place.
CAUTION
Notes from the factory or from the ŠKODA Original accessory delivered trim..■When using an anti-theft wheel bolt, make sure that this has been fitted ac-
cording to the position marked on the back of the wheel cover position.■
On the back of the wheel cover, the position for the anti-theft wheel bolt is
marked by means of a symbol. If the wheel cover is set outside the position
marked for the anti-theft wheel bolt, there is a risk of damaging the wheel
cover.
CAUTION
■ Use the pressure of your hand only, do not strike the full wheel trim. The
cover could be damaged.■
If wheel trims are fitted, an adequate flow of air must be assured in order to
cool the brake system.
Note
We recommend that you use wheel trims from ŠKODA Original Accessories.
Wheel bolts
Fig. 132
Remove the cap
Before removing the wheel bolts, remove the covering caps.
Extracting
›
Push the extraction pliers » page 155 sufficiently far onto the cap until the
inner catches of the pliers are positioned at the collar of the cap.
›
Remove the cap in the direction of the arrow » Fig. 132.
157Emergency equipment and self-help
