wheel VOLKSWAGEN CC 2009 Owner's Manual

Tires and wheels

Consumer information
Wheel trim
Changing a wheel

WARNING
New tires or tires that are old, worn or damaged cannot provide
maximum control and braking performance.
Improper care and handling of tires and wheels can reduce
driving safety and cause accidents and severe injuries.
Install only radial tires of the same make, the same dimen-
sions (tread circumference), and similar tread profile on all
4 wheels.
New tires tend to be slippery and must be broken in. Always
drive with special care for the first 350 miles (560 km) to help
reduce the risk of losing control, a collision, and serious per-
sonal injuries.
Check tire inflation pressure regularly when the tires are cold
and always maintain the prescribed tire pressure. Low tire
pressure can cause tires to get too hot, resulting in tread sepa-
ration, sudden loss of pressure, and blowouts. Tires with ex-
cessively low pressure flex (bend) more, which can cause the
tire to overheat and fail suddenly without warning.
Check tires regularly for wear and damage.
Never drive with worn or damaged tires (for example, tires
with punctures, cuts, cracks, blisters, or bumps). Driving with
worn or damaged tires can lead to loss of vehicle control, sud-
den tire failure including blowouts and sudden deflation, crash-
es, and serious personal injuries.
Have worn or damaged tires replaced immediately.
Never exceed the maximum speed rating or the maximum
load rating of the tires on your vehicle.
The effectiveness of the driver assistance systems and the
braking support systems depends on the tire traction.
If you notice unusual vibration or if the vehicle pulls to one
side when driving, always stop as soon as it is safe to do so
and check the wheels and tires for damage.
To reduce the risk of losing control, crashes, and serious
personal injuries, never loosen the bolts on wheels with bolted
rim rings.

Never mount used tires on your vehicle if you are not sure of
their past use. Old, used tires and wheels may have damage
that cannot be seen that can lead to sudden tire failure and loss
of vehicle control.
Tires age even if they are not being used and can fail sudden-
ly, especially at high speeds, causing loss of vehicle control,
accidents, and severe personal injuries. Tires that are more
than 6 years old can be used only in an emergency and even
then only with special care and at low speed.
For technical reasons it is usually not possible to use wheel rims
from other vehicles. Even wheel rims from the same model may not fit
properly. Check with an authorized Volkswagen dealer or authorized
Volkswagen Service Facility if necessary.
Tire and wheel handling

Fig. 110 Tire rotation diagram.

The tires and wheels are essential parts of the vehicle's design. The
tires and wheels approved by Volkswagen are specially matched to
the characteristics of the vehicle for good road holding and safe han-
dling when in good condition and properly inflated.
Avoiding tire damage
If you must drive over a curb or other obstacle, drive very slowly
and as much as possible at a right angle to the curb with the tire tread
of both front wheels contacting the curb at the same time.
Regularly check tires for damage, such as punctures, cuts, tears
and blisters.
Remove embedded material in the tread profile that has not yet
penetrated the inside of the tire ⇒ Tire wear and damage.
Heed all warning messages from the Tire Pressure Monitoring Sys-
tem
Replace worn or damaged tires immediately ⇒  Tire wear and
damage.
Damage to tires and wheels is often not readily visible. If you notice
unusual vibration or the vehicle pulls to one side, this may indicate
that one of the tires is damaged. The tires must be checked immedi-
ately for hidden damage by an authorized Volkswagen dealer or an
authorized Volkswagen Service Facility. See also ⇒ Tire wear and
damage.
Never exceed the load and permissible maximum speed rating of
the tires ⇒ Tire labeling.
Always keep aggressive chemicals including grease, oil, gasoline
and brake fluid off the tires, including the spare wheel ⇒ .
Replace missing valve caps immediately.
Unidirectional tires
Unidirectional tires are designed to rotate only in one direction. Unidi-
rectional tires have arrows on the sidewalls that show the direction of
rotation ⇒ Tire labeling. Unidirectional tires must always be mounted
according to the specified direction of rotation in order to deliver their
best grip, braking performance, low road noise, and good wear as
well as good hydroplaning resistance.
If you have to mount a tire opposite to its proper direction of rotation,
you must drive more carefully, since the tire is no longer being used
as designed. This is particularly important on wet roads. You must

replace or remount the tire as soon as possible in order to restore the
correct direction of rotation.
Rotating tires
To help ensure even wear on all tires, regular tire rotation according
to the diagram ⇒ fig. 110 is recommended. In this way all tires can
have about the same service life.
Volkswagen recommends that you have your tires rotated by an au-
thorized Volkswagen dealer or authorized Volkswagen Service Facili-
ty.
Tires more than 6 years old
Tires age even if they are not being used. Physical and chemical pro-
cesses reduce tire strength and performance and cause them to
harden and become brittle. Old tires can fail suddenly and without
warning.
Volkswagen recommends replacing tires that are 6 years and older.
This also applies to tires that look new (an unused spare and the tire
on the compact spare wheel) or that seem to still be usable with tread
depth that has not yet reached the legal minimum depth ⇒ .
The age of each tire can be determined with the manufacturing date
that is part of the U.S. DOT tire identification number (4).) ⇒ Tire label-
ing.
Tire storage
Mark tires before removing them to help make sure that the previous
location (left, right, front, rear) and rolling direction can be maintained
when remounting them. Store tires in a cool, dry and preferably dark
place. Do not store tires mounted on wheels standing up.
Tires not mounted on wheels should be covered to help protect them
from dirt and stored vertically (sitting on the tread).
WARNING
Aggressive fluids and materials can cause visible and invisible
tire damage that can cause tire blowouts.
Always keep chemicals, oils, grease, fuels, braking fluids and
other aggressive substances away from tires.

WARNING
Tires age even if they are not being used and can fail suddenly,
especially at high speeds, causing loss of vehicle control, acci-
dents, and severe personal injuries.
Tires that are more than 6 years old can be used only in an
emergency and even then only with special care and at low
speed.
Always dispose of old tires in accordance with legal require-
ments.
Wheel rims

Damaged wheel rims must be replaced, and you must never take
them apart or try to repair them yourself. Have an authorized
Volkswagen dealer or an authorized Volkswagen Service Facility re-
pair them for you ⇒ .
Wheel rims with bolted decorative covers
Light-alloy wheels may have interchangeable decorative covers at-
tached to the rim with self-locking screws. If you want to replace
damaged wheel covers, contact your authorized Volkswagen dealer
or authorized Volkswagen Service Facility.
WARNING
Using improper or damaged wheel rims can affect driving safe-
ty, cause accidents and severe personal injury.
Use only wheel rims approved for the vehicle.
Regularly check wheel rims for damage and replace them if
necessary.
WARNING
Improper loosening and tightening of the bolts on wheel rims
with bolted rim rings can cause accidents and severe personal
injury.
Never loosen bolted connections on wheel rims with bolted
rim rings.
Have all work on wheel rims with bolted rim rings performed
by an authorized Volkswagen dealer or authorized Volkswagen
Service Facility.
New and replacement tires

Install only radial tires only of the same make, the same dimen-
sions (tread circumference), and similar tread profile on all 4 wheels.
The tread depth of new tires can differ between tire models and
manufacturers because of different design features and tread design.
Replacing tires
Tires should be replaced in pairs and not individually (both front
tires or both rear tires at the same time) ⇒ .
Replace tires only with tires that have the same specifications, in-
cluding width and diameter, load and top speed rating as the tires
approved by Volkswagen for your vehicle and model.
Never use tires that are larger or wider than the dimensions of the
tires approved by Volkswagen for your vehicle and model. Larger
tires could scrape and rub on the vehicle body or other parts of the
vehicle.
Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS) considerations
Factory-installed wheels are equipped with a sensor that constantly
monitors tire pressure, then transmits this information to the TPMS ⇒ 
Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS). If you are going to replace
the wheels, make sure that the new wheels also have sensors that
are compatible with the TPMS on your vehicle. New wheels with sen-
sors have to be recognized and integrated into the system. The new
wheels and sensors are recognized and integrated when driving off
the first time.
If you install wheels that do not have sensors, or have sensors that
are not compatible, the TPMS will not work properly. In this case, the
TPMS will not be able to monitor tire pressure or warn you if pressure
is low. An error message may appear in the instrument cluster display
or the TPMS will switch itself off.
Whenever you change sensors, you have to install new valves and
seals. Please see an authorized Volkswagen dealer of an authorized
Volkswagen Service Facility.
Always drive with the valve caps securely installed. We recom-
mend using factory-supplied valve caps. Ask an authorized
Volkswagen dealer or an authorized Volkswagen Service Facility to
replace lost caps.
If you install new tires that differ the original Volkswagen specifica-
tions, for your vehicle and model, the benchmark tire inflation pres-

If a sensor for the Tire Pressure Monitoring System must be
replaced, the corresponding valve must be replaced at the same
time.
Always dispose of old tires in accordance with legal require-
ments.
TPMS wheel sensors are classified as Perchlorate Material –
special handling may apply. Obey all legal requirements regarding
handling and disposal of these components – see
http://www.dtsc.ca.gov/hazardouswaste/perchlorate. Obey all appli-
cable legal requirements regarding handling and disposal of the vehi-
cle or parts of its restraint system, including airbag modules and safe-
ty belts with pretensioners. Authorized Volkswagen dealers and au-
thorized Volkswagen Service Facilities are familiar with the require-
ments, and we recommend that you have them perform this service
for you.
If the replacement wheel is different from the tires that you have
mounted on your vehicle — for example, winter tires, wider, low-
profile tires or a compact spare — only use the replacement wheel for
a short time and drive cautiously.
Replace it with a tire matching the others on your vehicle as soon
as possible.
Although tire size specifications can be the same, the actual di-
mensions may differ from those nominal values for different tire
makes, or the tire contours may be significantly different.