VOLKSWAGEN GOLF 2005 Owners Manual

driver.
For your safety and the safety of your pas­
sengers, before driving always:
- Make sure
that all lights and signals are
operating corr ect ly.
- Make su re
that the tire pres sure is cor­
r
ect.
- Make sure that all windows are clean
and afford good visibility to the outside .
- Secure all luggage and
other items care ­
page
re­
stra int correctly to protect children
53.
- S it properly in your seat and make sure
that your passengers do the same
4.
- Fasten your safety belt and wear it prop ­
erly. Also instruct your passenge rs to
fasten their safety belts properly
Safe driving is directly related to the condition of the vehicle, the driver as well as
the driver' s ability to concentra te on the road without being distracted.
The driver is responsible for the safety of
the vehi cle and all of its occupants. If your
ability to drive is impa ir ed, safety risks for
everybody in
the vehicle in crease and you
a lso becom e a hazard to everyo ne else
on
the There fo re:
- Never let yourse lf be di stracted by pas­
sengers
or by using the Infotainm ent
syste m or a cellular tel ephone.
- Never drive w
hen your driving ability is
impa ired (by medication s, alco hol,
drugs,
etc.) .
- Observe a
ll traffic laws, rules of th e road
and speed limit s and plain common sense. -
Alway s
adjust you r speed to road, traffic
a
nd weathe r conditions.
- Take frequen t breaks on long trip
s.
Don't drive for more than two hours at a
s tretch.
-
Do n ot drive when you are tir ed, unde r
pressure
or when you are stresse d.
WARNING
Impaired driving safety increases the risk of serious personal injury and death whenever a
vehicle is being used

- Adjust the angle of th e seatback so that
it is in an upri ght position so that your
back comes in full contact with it whe n
yo u dri ve.
-
Adju st the s teerin g w heel so that there
i s a dis
tance of at least
fig. 1. If not poss ibl e, see
yo
ur authorized Volksw agen dealer or
qualified workshop about adaptive
fig. 2 .
- Fasten
and wea r safety belts correctly
13.
-Always keep both feet in the footwell so
that yo u are in con trol of the vehicle at all
tim es.
For detailed information on how to adjust th e
d rive r bookle t 3.1 chapter
WARNING
Dr ivers who are unbelted, out of pos itio n or too close to tl1e airbag can be serio usly injured by an airbag as it unfold s. To help reduce the risk of seriou s personal injury:

inches (25 em) between your breastbone and the steering wheel.
Always hold the s teering wheel on the
Never hold the steering wheel at the 12 o'clock position or with your hands at other positions inside the steering wheel rim or on the steering wheel hub. Holding the steering
wheel the wrong way can cause serious
2.1 Safety first
(continued)
Always sit in an upright posit i on and never lean against or place any part of your body too
close to the area where the airbags are located.
strained.
Never adjust the seats the vehicl e is mov ing. Your seat may move unexpecte dly and yo u could lose control of the vehicle.
Never drive wit11 the backrest reclined or tilted far back! The fart her t11e backrests are tilted back, the greater the risk of injury due to
incorrect positionin g ofthe safety belt and
Children must always ride in child seats
page restraints on t11e front seat some important things to
Move the front passenger seat back as
far as possible. There must be a minimum
of
Adjust th e angle of the seat back so that
it is in an upright position and your back
comes in full contact with it whenever the
veh icle is moving.
Adjust the head restra int so that the
upper edge is as eve n with the top of your
h
ead as poss ible but not lower than eye
leve l
and so that it is as close to the back of
your head as
Keep both feet flat on the floor in the
footwell in fron t
of the front passenger
seat.
Fasten and wea r safety belt s co rrectly
13.
For detail ed inform ation on how to adju st the
front passenger bookl et 3.1 and s torage.""
WARNING
Front seat passengers who are unbelted, out of posit ion or too close to the airbag can be
risk of serious
Passengers must always sit in an upright position and nev er lean against or place any part of their body too clos e to the area where the airbags are located.
Passengers who are u nbelted, out
Safe driving 5

Always make sure that there are at least
Each passenger must always sit on a seat of their own and properly fasten and wear the safety belt be longing to that seat.
Before driving , always adjust the front senger seat and head re straint properly.
Alway s keep your feet on the floor in front of the seat. Never rest them on the seat, ment panel, out of the window, etc. The airbag
tect you properly and can even increa se th e
risk of injury in a crash.
Neve r drive with the backre st recl ined or tilted far back! The farth er the b ackrests are
tilted back, the greater the risk ofinjury due to
in correct positioning of the safety belt and
must always ride in seats 53. a child seat on the front passenger page
Mak e sure that the seatback s are
curel y lat ch ed in the upright position.
A djust th e head restraint so that the
upper edge is as even with the top of your
head as possible but no lower than eye
pag e 7. If a passe nger is s ittin g in
the rear center seating pos ition, this
pac t h ead restra int is not h eight
a ble , but it must always bee n rais ed
eve r the center rear seating posit ion is
belt on
page 23
Keep both feet flat in the footwell in
front
of the rear seat.
6 Safe driving
Fasten and wear safe ty belt s properly
13.
Make sure that children are always
prop e
rly restra in ed in a child re str aint that
is appropriate for thei r size and age
5 3 .
WARNING
Pas sengers who are improperly seated on the rear seat can be se riou sly injure d in a crash.
Each passen ge r must always sit on a seat of th eir own and properly fasten and wear the safety belt belonging to that seat.
belt s only offer maximum tion when the seat back is securely latched in
th e upright po siti on and the safety belts are
properly positioned on the body. By not sitting
upright , a re ar seat pass enger increases the risk of personal injury from improperl y
Always adjust the head restraint properly so that it can give maximum

pant restraint system and can help to reduce the risk of injuries in accident
tions.
Fig. 3 Correctly adjusted head res traint viewed
from the fron t
The head restraints must be
justed to be
tection.
Adjust the head restrain t so that the
upper edge ofthe restraint is w ith the
top of your head, but no
and so it is as to t he back of your
hea d as fig. 3 and fig. 4 .
Adju stin g head booklet 3. t and
Driving without head restraints or with prot>erly adjusted head restraints increases the risk of se rious injuries in a collision. To help reduce the risk of injury:
Always drive with the head restraints in
place and properly adjust ed.
F ig . 4 Correctly adjusted head rest rain t viewed
from the side
WARNING (continued)
Every person in the ve hicl e must have a properly adjusted hea d restraint.
Always make sure each person in the
cordin g to occupants' size so that upper edge is as eve n with the top of the person's hea d, but no low er th an eye level and so it is as
close t o the bac k of to the hea d as poss ible.
Never attempt to adjust head r estraint while driving. lfyou have d rive n off and must ad ju st driver headrest for an y reason, stop the ve hicle safe ly before attemptin g to adjust the head rest ra int.
must always be properly
page
The center head res trai nt on th e rear seat cannot be adjusted fo r height on th e Golf GTI.

WARNING
Driving head restraint s or with im­
properly adjusted head restraints increases
t h e risk of seriou s injuries in a co llision.
To help reduce the risk of injury:
Always drive with the head restraints in
place and properly adjusted. Remember that the rear center head restraint is not height ad­
justable and that it must be rai sed up all the way whenever the center rear seat is occupied.
Every person in the vehicl e must have a
properly adjusted head restraint.
Always make sure each person in th e ve­
hicle properly adjusts their head restraint.
Neve r attempt to adjust head restraint while driving. If you have driven off and must
adju st the driver headres t for any reason, first
stop the vehicl e sa fely before attempting to adjust th e head restraint.
Childre n must always be properly re­
stra ined in a child restraint that is appropriate
for their age and page 53.
Tips
The active front hea d restr aint s ca n al so activate
w he n a passenge r pushe s up again st the back­rest with enou gh force (for exampl e if yo u let
yourse lf ju st fall into the seat abruptly) or if th e
h ead restraint is pu shed from behind . Th is is
no rmal and
will not damage the he ad rest ra int. It will go back to it s origina l posit ion right
The followin g lists only some of th e pos ition s
that will increase the risk of seriou s injury and
death.
n eve r stand up in the vehicl e
neve r stand on th e sea ts
n eve r knee l on the seat s
neve r lie do wn on th e rear seat

neve r lean up aga inst th e in strum ent pan el
n eve r sit on the edge of th e se at
neve r sit sid eways
neve r lean out th e w indow
neve r put your feet ou t th e w indo w
neve r put your feet on the in strument panel
neve r rest your feet o n the seat cu shion or back of th e sea t
never ride in the footwcll
n eve r sit o n th e front o r r ea r center armrest
first
n eve r rid e in th e ca rgo area.
WARNING
Improp er seating positions increase the risk of serious persona l injury and death w henever a
ve hicle is being used.
Alway s make sure that all vehicle occu­
p ants stay in a proper seating position and are
properly res trained wheneve r the vehicle is
being used.
The pedals must always be free lo move and must never be in teJfered with by a
floor mat or any other object.
Make sure th at all ped als move freely without in­
t e rf ere nce and that nothin g prevents th em from
r e turning to their origin al po sitions.
u se floor mats that le ave th e pedal area free and c a n be secured with floor mat f aste ners.
If a brak e cir cui t
fails, increa sed brake pedal trave l is req uired to brin g the vehicle to a full sto p.
WARNING
that cannot move freely can cause lo ss of vehicle control and increase the risk of se­
riou s injury.
Neve r pla ce any objects in the driver's foot­well. An object could get into the pedal area
and interf ere with pedal function . In case of sudden braking or an accident, you would not b e a ble to brake or acce le rat e!
Always make sure th at nothing ca n fall or move into the driver' s footwell.
Always use floor mats that can be securely a ttached to the floor mat fas tene rs and
do not inteJfe re with th e free movement of the pedals .
only floor mats that leave the ped al a rea un­
ob structed and th at are firml y secured so that
th ey cannot slip out of po siti on. s e­
c urin g th e floor mats will prevent them from
s lid ing into positi ons that could interfer e with th
e
pedals or im pair safe operatio n of your ve­
hicl e in oth er ways.
You ca n obtain suitabl e floor mats from your au­
th orized Volkswage n dea ler .
WARNING

Always make sure that floor mats are erly secured.
Never place or install floor mats or other floor coverings in the vehicle that cannot be properly secured in place to prevent them
from slipping and interfering the pedals or the abiliry to control the vehicle.
Never place or install floor mats or other floor cover ings on top of already installed floor mats. Additional floor mats and other
Stowing
Loading the
(cont inued)
cove rings re d uce the s ize of the pedal area and interfe re with pedal s.
Always properly reinstall and secure floor mats that have been removed for cleaning.
Alway s m ake sure tl1at objects cannot fall
into
All luggage and other objects must be properly stowed and secured in the luggage
compartment.
Loose items in the luggage compartmen t
can shift suddenl y changing ve hicl e
in a sudden ve hicle maneuver o r in a
sion.
- Distribute th e lo ad eve nly in the
gage compartment.
- Always pla
ce and properly secure heavy
it
ems as far forward as possibl e in the
gage compartment.
-heavy luggage as low as possib le
in the lu ggage
compartment.
-
lu ggage using the tie-do wns
provided page 12 .
- Make sure
that th e rear seat b ack is
cure ly latched in plac e.
WARNING
Improperly stored lugg age or other item s can fly through the vehicle causing serious
(continued)
Always put objec ts, for example, luggag e or othe r heavy items in the lu ggage compart­ment.
Alwa ys secure objects in t11e lu ggage
able straps.
WARNING
Heavy loads influence the way your hicle handles . To help reduce the risk of a los s of control leading to serious personal injury:
Always keep in mind whe n transporting h eavy objects, that a c han ge in center of graviry can also cause changes in vehicle
heavy objects as far forward in the luggage compartment as poss ible.
Never excee d the Gross Axle Weig ht Rati ng
o r the Gross Vehicle Weig ht Rating specified on the safe ty compli ance stick er on the left door jamb. Exceeding pe rmissibl e w eig ht
sta ndards can cause the vehicle to slide and handle diff ere n tly.

(continuod)
page2.
To hel p prevent p oisonous exhaust ga s from
b eing drawn into the ve hicle , a lways keep the
rear lid or t ailgat e closed w hil e driving.
Neve r transport o bjects la rger than those fitting comple tel y into th e luggage are a cause the rear lid or tailgate canno t b e full y
closed .
yo u absolute ly mus t drive with the rear
lid or t a ilgate ope n, o bserve the foll owing
n otes to reduce the r is k poisoning :
C lose w indows,
C lose th e power
air outl ets in the instrument p a n el,
off the air recirc ulation ,
Always make sure that the doors, the po w er
W here
Booklet 2.1 Safety first
Af te r closin g the rear lid o r tailgate, always make sur e tha t it is properl y closed an d locked.
Never leave your vehicle unattended
ri ous pe rson al injury.
Neve r let childre n play in o r around the hicl e.
Neve r let passengers ride in the luggage compartment. Vehicl e occupants must always
b e properl y res traine d in one of the ve hicle's seatin g position s.
Note
Make su re that the heating wires in the rea r
w indow cannot be scraped and damaged b y
ite ms in the ve hicle .
Air ci rc ulation he lp s to reduce wi ndow fogging. Do not cove r the ventilation slot s in front o f the rea r si de windows beca use this can prev ent sta le
a ir from escaping the
Safe driving 11

2.1 Saf ety fir s t
Tie-downs
The luggag e c
ompartment is equipped with four tie-downs to secu re luggage and
other it ems.
Use th e tie-downs to secu re you r cargo properly "Loa ding the lu ggage com part mem ".
a collisio n, th e law s of phy sics mean that even
s m aller items that are loose in the vehicle will become heavy missiles that ca n ca use serio us
i njury. h em s in the vehicle possess energ y which vary with vehicle speed and the we ight of the item . T he vehicle sp eed is th e mo st sig nifi cant factor.
For example, in a fronta l
collision at a speed of km /h), the forces acting on a times th e
n ormal weight of the item . Thi s means that the weigh t o f the it em wo uld suddenly be about lbs. kg). You can imagine the inj uries that lbs. kg) item f r ee ly through the passenger compartmem could cause in a
If yo u believe that your ve hicl e has a defec t
w hi
ch co uld ca use a c rash, injury, or death,
yo u sh ould inform the
ate ly. should also notify Volk swage n of
America, Inc. If receives similar
complaints, it may open an inves tigation ,
and if it finds that a safety defect exis ts in a
group of vehi cles, it may order a recall and
remedy campaign . H ow ever,
(1-888-327-42 36)
12 Safe driving
WARN ING
Weak, dam age d or improper strap s used to c ure item s to tie -downs can fail during hard or in a collision and cause serious sonal injury.
Alw ays use suitabl e mounting straps and properly secure item s to th e tic -downs in the luggage compartment to help prevent items from shifting or flying forward as dangerous
m issiles .
When th e re ar scat backre st is n o t securely
latched in upright posit ion or fo ld ed down,
erly secure items to the tie-downs in the g age compartment to help prevent items from
flyin g fonvard as dangerous missiles into the passenger compartment.
Never attach a child seat t eth er strap to a
From to Mo nday throug h
Frid ay
have a look at:
http://www-odi. nhtsa.dot.gov/ivoq/
and print out the web form and fax it to
m ail it to:
U
.S. Departmem of Tra nspo rtatio n Nationa l Highwa y
7th Wash ington,