VOLKSWAGEN GOLF 2003 Owners Manual

Tire service
The service
factors:
Tire pressure
. Required tire pressures are
Low tire pressures increase fuel consumption which is detrimen­
tal to the environment.
pressures. Never exce ed
the maximum tire pressure
on the tire pres­
sure means: the vehicle has been standing
for at
The on new vehicles are When driving, however, various conditions
can cause a to become
This may be noticed as vibrations in the
steering .
have your if a new tire has
been mounted or a tire was repaired.
pressures be checked at once a month and
you do not
need to remove the extender .
check tire pressures when the tires
are When the tires are be higher. Do not reduce the pressure of warm tires.
Don't forget to check the spare
causes exces-
sive and uneven tir e
impairing the
safe ty of the you notice exces­
sive tire contact your authorized
WHAT

AND
Tire wear
The original tires on your veh icle have built­
in wear indicators. They are molded into the
bottom of the tread grooves and appear as approximately 1
a triangle
or other symbols) show
the locations of the
wear indicators .
When the indicators appear in
two or more
adjacent
t he tires wear down this far. Worn tires canno t grip the road surfac e
sudden deflation and loss of vehicle control.
hicle may tend to hydroplane
sooner.
Wheel Bolts
The wheel bolts must always be clean and easy to turn when you're
removing or installing them. Never oil or lubricate wheel bolts.
Check the wheel bolts whenever you change a
ginal factory installed equipment
will adversely affect the safe ation of your vehicle and may cau-se an accident and personal injury.
me loose and cause an accident
during vehicle operation! Extremely high torques can dama-ge the wheel bolts and/or their threads.
64-----------------WHAT

lire rotation
then you must rotate the front tires with the rear tires as shown in the
tion . By doing have
Tires
when tires show wear su ch as
feather-edging th ey be rotated
tion. The rotation direction is ide n tified by
arrow markings on the side s of th e tires. rota tio n directio n must not be reversed . these tir es cannot be switched in
GEN seNice department.
After rotation adjust tire pressure and torque
on page 72 for
and tires approved by the turer have been to the road ­
the spare tire is differe nt from the tires
that you have mounted on your
(for winter tires or wide
Fitting and repairing tires requires expert
and be perfo rmed by a
We recommend that you have your tires
changed by a authorized
beca use they have the
GEN
For safety reasons, tires in pairs and not The tires
with the deepest tread be
mounted on the front
WHAT I

Tire specifications
width in mm
65 Height I width ratio in %
R
15 Rim diameter in inches
91 Load rating code
H = Speed rating code
road speeds:
Summer tires:
S -up to 11
km I h).
Winter tires see page
This can cause
driving characteristics and give your
VOLKSWAGEN optimum driving comfort.
The speed
km I h).

The manufacturing date on the tire Tread wear
side
... 181 ... means that the tire was pro­
duced in the 18th week of
with
age -even if the tires are not used.
cannot be expected to perform use .
Uniform Tire
grades can be found where on the tire side and maximum section width.
For Tread wear
Safety Requirements in addition to
these grades . The
tread
wear grade is a comparative rat­
ing based on the wear rate of the tire when tested under
a tire graded 1 times as on the govern­
ment course as a tire graded The
conditions of their from the norm due
to variations in driving habits. service prac­
tices and differences
in road characteristics
and
Traction
The traction grades, from highest to
are Band Those grades represent
the tire's to stop on wet pavement as
measu red under
I

Temperature
The temperature grades are A (the highest),
B , and
representing the tire's resistance to the generat io n of hea t and its ability to diss i­
pate heat when tested under
con­
ditions on a speci fied indoor laboratory test
and excessive tempera­
t ure can co rresponds to a of perfor­
m an
ce w hich passenge r car tires must meet under the Fed eral Motor G rades Band A represent
h ig h er
you wish to equip your with tires or wheels other than those

The
Winter tires, sometimes
on ice or
winter tires,
winter tires may be
Ask your a uthorized GEN for the recommended tire size.
Winter tires must be mounted on
Because of the tires, they must be
with your Bureau
for possible restrictions.
Winter tires
sign such as bias
affect road
injury.
Winter tires with studs be run
Do not drive a
Winter tires must have the same
-----------------WHAT I

accident and personal injury.
Snow chains
wheels with the
sports suspension. page 61 for
more
When necessary the vehicle must be
equipped with smaller tires -ask your authorized VOLKSWAGEN
dealer.
When necessary the tires -ask your au­thorized
protrud ­
ing no more than
must rotate steering
positions with chains mounted to prevent
damage to
WHAT ------------------71

Changing a wheel
moving suddenly and possibly slipping off the jack, always
a trailer, have to unhook the trailer before you can change a wheel.
72 -----------------WHAT