four wheel drive SKODA RAPID SPACEBACK 2013 1.G Owner's Manual

WARNING (Continued)■The lock tongue should only be inserted into the lock which is the correct
one for your seat. Wrong use of the safety belt will reduce its capacity to
protect and the risk of injury increases.■
The slot of the belt tongue must not be blocked, otherwise the belt
tongue will not lock in place properly.
■
Many layers of clothing and loose clothing (e. g. a winter coat over a jack-
et) do not allow you to be correctly seated and impairs proper operation of
the seat belts.
■
It is prohibited to use clamps or other objects to adjust seat belts (e. g. for
shortening the belts for smaller persons).
■
The seat belts for the rear seats can only fulfil their function reliably
when the seat backrests are correctly locked into position » page 67.
WARNINGInformation on the care and maintenance of the safety belts■The belt webbing must always be kept clean. Soiled belt webbing may im-
pair proper operation of the inertia reel » page 128.■
The seat belts must not be removed or changed in any way. Do not at-
tempt to repair the seat belts yourself.
■
Check the condition of all the seat belts on a regular basis. If any damage
to the seat belts, seat belt connections, inertia reel or the lock is detected,
the relevant seat belt must be replaced by a specialist garage.
■
Damaged seat belts which have been subjected to stress in an accident
and were therefore stretched, must be replaced – this is best done by a
specialist garage. The anchorage points of the belts must also be inspec-
ted. The anchorage points for the belts should also be checked.
Note
The national legal requirements must be observed when using seat belts.The physical principle of a frontal collisionFig. 4
Driver without a fastened seat belt/rear seat passenger without a
fastened seat belt
Read and observe
on page 10 first.
As soon as the vehicle is moving, so-called kinetic energy (the energy of mo-
tion) is produced both in terms of the car as well as in terms of the occupants.
The magnitude of this kinetic energy depends essentially on the speed at
which the vehicle is travelling and on the weight of the vehicle including the
occupants. The greater the speed and weight increase, the greater the
amount of energy which has to be absorbed in the event of an accident.
The speed of the vehicle is the most important factor. Doubling the speed of
the vehicle from 25 km/h up to 50 km/hour increases the kinetic energy four
times.
The idea that it is possible to support your body with your hands in a minor ac-
cident is incorrect. Even in a collision at only a low speed, the forces acting on
the body are such that it is no longer possible to support your body.
Even if you only drive at a speed of 30-50 km/h, the forces that your body is
exposed to in the event of an accident can exceed a metric ton (1000 kg).
For example, a person's weight of 80 kg “increases” to 4.8 tons (4,800 kg) at 50 km/h.
In the event of a frontal collision, occupants of the car not wearing a seat belt
are thrown forward and strike parts of the interior of the car, such as the
steering wheel, dash panel, windscreen in ways which cannot be control-
led » Fig. 4 - 
. In certain circumstances you could even be thrown out of the
vehicle, which could cause life threatening or even fatal injuries. 
11Seat belts

CAUTION■Despite such intervention by the vehicle electric system management, the
vehicle battery may be drained. For example, when the ignition is switched on
a long time with the engine turned off or the side or parking lights are turned
on during longer parking.■
Consumers that are supplied via a 12-V power socket can cause the vehicle
battery to discharge when the ignition is switched off.
Note
Driving comfort is not impaired by consumers being deactivated. The driver is
often not aware of it having taken place.Wheels
Tyres and wheel rims
 Introduction
This chapter contains information on the following subjects:
Service life of tyres
143
New tyres
144
Unidirectional tyres
145WARNINGThe national legal regulations must be observed for the use of tyres.WARNINGInstructions for the use of tyres■For the first 500 km, new tyres do not yet provide optimum grip, and ap-
propriate care should therefore be taken when driving – risk of accident!■
Only use radial tyres of the same type, size (rolling circumference) and
tread pattern on all four wheels.
■
For reasons of driving safety, do not replace tyres individually.
■
Never exceed the maximum permissible load bearing capacity of moun-
ted tyres.
■
Never exceed the maximum permissible speed for the mounted tyres.
■
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 suspicion that a wheel is damaged, immediately
reduce your speed and stop! If no external damage is evident, drive slowly
and carefully to the nearest specialist garage to have the vehicle checked.
■
Only use tyres or wheel rims that have been approved by ŠKODA for your
model of vehicle. Failure to observe this instruction will adversely affect the
road safety of your vehicle.
WARNINGInformation regarding tyre damage or wear■Never use tyres if you do not know anything about the condition and age.■
Never drive with damaged tyres.
■
Immediately replace damaged wheel rims or tyres. 
142General Maintenance

Always check the inflation pressure when the tyres are cold. Do not reduce the
higher pressure on warm tyres.
With greater additional load, adjust the tyre inflation pressure accordingly.
Driving style
Fast cornering, sharp acceleration and braking increase the wear of your tyres.
Balancing wheels
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.
Have the wheels re-balanced after replacing the tyres.
Wheel alignment errors
Incorrect wheel alignment at the front or rear leads to excess wear of the
tyres.
Tyre damage
Drive over kerbs and other such obstacles slowly and at right angles wherever
possible in order to avoid damage to tyres and wheel trims.
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.
Replacing wheels
If significantly greater wear is present on the front tyres, we recommend
swapping the front wheels with the rear wheels as shown in the dia-
gram » Fig. 130 -
 . You will then obtain approximately the same life for all the
tyres.
We recommend that you swap the tyres every 10,000 km in order to achieve
even wear on all tyres and to ensure optimal service life for the tyres.
Storing tyres
Identify disassembled tyres so that the previous direction of rotation can be maintained if the tyres are reassembled.
Always store wheels or tyres in a cool, dry place that is as dark as possible.
Tyres which are not fixed to a wheel trim should be stored upright.Wear indicators
The base of the tread of the tyres has 1.6 mm high wear indicators installed.
These wear indicators are evenly spaced around the circumference of the tyre,
depending on the make » Fig. 130- 
. Markings on the walls of the tyres
through the letters “TWI”, triangular symbols or other symbols identify the po-
sition of the wear indicators.
Tyre age
Tyres age and lose their original characteristics, even if they are not being
used. Therefore, we recommend not using summer or winter tyres older than 6
or 4 years old respectively.
New tyres
Read and observe
and on page 142 first.
Only use radial tyres of the same type, size (rolling circumference) and tread
pattern on one axle on all four wheels.
The tyre/wheel combinations which are approved for your vehicle are indica-
ted in your vehicle documents.
Where possible, replace tyres by axle. Always fit the tyres with the deeper
tread depth to the front wheels.
Explanation of tyre markings
195/55 R 15 85 H
What this means is:
195Tyre width in mm » Fig. 131 on page 14365Height/width ratio in % » Fig. 131 on page 143RCode letter for the type of tyre – Radial » Fig. 131 on page 14315Diameter of wheel in inches » Fig. 131 on page 14385Load index » HSpeed symbol »
The date of manufacture is stated on the tyre wall (possibly on the inside). e.g.
DOT ... 11 14...
means, for example, that the tyre was manufactured in the week 11 of 2014. 
144General Maintenance

ChangeFig. 133
Fixing the spare or temporary
spare wheel
Read and observe on page 146 first.
The spare or temporary spare wheel is located in a well under the floor cover-
ing in the boot and is fixed in place with a special bolt » Fig. 133.
Take out the wheel
›
Open the boot lid.
›
Lift up the floor in the luggage compartment.
›
Remove the box with the tool kit.
›
Unscrew the nut » Fig. 133anti-clockwise.
›
Take out the wheel.
Stow the wheel
›
Place the wheel into the spare wheel well with the wheel rim pointing down-
ward.
›
Screw the nut » Fig. 133clockwise until the wheel is safely secured.
›
Place the box with the tool kit back into the spare wheel and secure it with
the tape.
›
Fold back the floor in the luggage compartment.
›
Close the boot lid.
Spare wheel
Read and observe
on page 146 first.
A warning label is displayed on the rim of the temporary spare wheel.
Please note the following if you intend to use the temporary spare wheel. › The warning label must not be covered after installing the wheel.
› Be particularly observant when driving.
› The temporary spare wheel is inflated to the maximum inflation pressure for
the vehicle » Fig. 130 on page 143 .
› Only use this temporary spare wheel to reach the nearest specialist garage,
as it is not intended for long-term use.WARNING■ Never drive with more than one temporary spare wheel mounted!■Only use the temporary spare wheel when absolutely necessary.■
Never use the temporary spare wheel if it is damaged.
■
If the dimensions or design of the temporary spare wheel differ from the
fitted tyres, never drive faster than 80 km/h (or 50 mph).
■
Avoid accelerating at full throttle, sharp braking and fast cornering.
■
The snow chains cannot be used on the temporary spare wheel.
■
Observe the instructions on the warning sign of the temporary spare
wheel.
Winter operation
 Introduction
This chapter contains information on the following subjects:
Winter tyres
147
Snow chains
148
Winter tyres
Fitting winter tyres will significantly improve the handling of your vehicle when
driving in wintry road conditions. Summer tyres have less grip on ice, snow and
at temperatures below 7 °C. This is especially true of vehicles fitted with wide
tyres or high-speed tyres .
In order to achieve the best possible handling properties, winter tyres must be
fitted on all four wheels, the minimum tread depth must be 4 mm and tyres
must be no older than 4 years.
Winter tyres of a lower speed category can be used provided that the permissi-
ble maximum speed of these tyres is not exceeded even if the possible maxi-
mum speed of the vehicle is higher.
The speed limit for winter tyres can be set in the MAXI DOT display in the
menu item Winter tyres » page 42 . 
147Wheels