page 92 VOLKSWAGEN GOLF 2007 Owners Manual

3.2 Tips and Advice
refers to the amount of air in a tire that it needs it to do its job and safe ly carry the combined load of the entire
on the d esign and load limit-the greatest amount of we ight that the can carry safel y and the tire size.
Th e proper lire pressure is frequently re ferred to a s the "recommended co ld tire inflation
It is the tion pre ssure in a tire that counts .
respo nsiv e
is being driven at higher speed s, and th e n cially w hen heavily loaded even within the missible load-carrying capacit ies approved for your vehicl e. T
he r
ecommended tire pressures for your d epend on the kind or tires on your h icl e and the number of passengers and/or amount ofluggage you will be t ransporting.
Th e tire
pressure label on the open ed ge of th e
driver's door on your Volk swagen lists the ommended co ld tir e infl ation pressures for the
at th e tim e it was ufactured.
page fig. 15 for the tion of the label on the open edge of the driver's door (colo r of the actual label and exact locat ion on the
flap.
The table below lists the recommended cold tire
i nflatio n pressures for the models covered by your maximum capacit y we igh t and th e tire
sizes on t h e res pective models as inal equipment, or as a factory opti on.
T ir e Tire
pres-Tire pres-
s ur e front sure rear
kPa
17 91 35 245 35 245
6
1

the instrument cluster, stop and insp ec t th e
tir es.
can also lead t o sudden tire failur e, in­
cluding a blowout and sudden deflati on, causing loss of ve hicle control.
The driv er i s responsible for the correct tire pressures fo r all tire s on the vehicl e. Th e appli ­
cable pressure valu es are locat ed on a sticker on the driver' s sid e page 61, fig . 15 .
w hen all on the ve hicl e are filled
to the correct pressure, th e can work
corre ctly.
A lways inflat e tire s to the recomme nd ed
and correct tire pres sure before driving off.
in tread separa tion, sudden
Excess ive speed and/overloadin g can
ca use heat build-up , sudden tir e failur e and lo ss of control.
If th e tire is no t flat and you do not have to change a w hee l immediate ly , drive at reduce d
s peed to tJ1e neares t se rvic e statio n to ch ec k the tir e press ure and add air as req uired.
Whe n r epl acing tir es or wheel rim s on ve­
hicles equipped with always read and heed the information and all re­page 57, and
Note
M iss in g va lve stem caps can result in damage
to the valve and senso rs in the tire pressure
monitor ing sys tem. To preve nt thi s. a lways drive
wit h valve stem caps that are th e equiva le nt of
64
tho se installed
When switc hin g to diff erent tires, make cer­
tain that the valves and the se nsors are not dam­
ag ed .
For the sake of environment
Unde r-inflated tires will a lso in crease the fu el
consumption.
Tips
The tir e press ure mon itoring system ch ecks
th e tir es for the fac to ry recommend ed in flat ion pressures. The recommended val ues are on th e sticker on the o pen edge of th e driver's door
61, fig.
you are driving on tires other than those in­
s talled at th e factory, have the inflati on pres­
s ure s entered in the press ure monitor ing sys tem
by an authorized Vol kswage n dea ler or qua lified
works hop if they are different.
Th e tire pressure monitor ing system sh uts it­self off if a set of tir es without whee l sensors is
mounted on th e veh icle and it cannot receive senso r sig nals. As soon as the syste m rece ives at
lea st one se nsor signa l, it switches itself on
again.
tir e pressures at regu lar int ervals, even
though you have the monitoring system. In spec t
th e
tires for damage (punctu res , cuts, t ea rs a nd
blis ter s). He move foreig n bodi es from the tir e
tread.
senso rs have to be rep laced, have the valves ch anged at th e sa me tim e.
Disc repancies may occur between the pres­
sures read on the press ure ga uge when inflating the tires and th e pressures read by the tire pres­su re sensors. The electro nic tire pressure moni­toring system is m ore accurate.
When deter min es tha t the air pres ­
s u re in o ne or more tires is too low, ch eck the tire
pressure thoroughly using a pressu re Low pressure in a tire often cannot be determi ned by
looking at the tire. This applies especially for low
profile tires.
When there is a rap id or excessi ve loss of pressure while driving. you are immediately
g iven vis u a l and aud ible warn ing .

to the USA models
The tire pressure monitoring system helps the driver to keep track of tire pressures.
Fig. 16 Section of the center console: button for tire
p ressure monitoring disploy
T he tir e pressure monitoring system keep s
track
of air pressure at the four wheels
w hil e yo u
are driving using sen so rs on th e
tir
es and alerts the dri ver if th ere is a lo ss of
pressure with a visual or audibl e warning.
Status inquiry
-
play the status (partial or full load) for
m
onito ring tir e press ures in the
ment clu ster display.
Adjusting
the fig. 16 for more than
two seconds to inform th e system of
hicle load condition.
Switching on
-the fig. 16 for about two
seconds to switch the tire press ure
tori ng syste m on. The system is in
after it is switched o n. The
system
switches on autom atic ally as soon
as a sig nal is receive d from a sensor.
Switching off
-page 65, fig. 16 for
lo nger than te n seconds to switch th e ti re
pressure monito ring system off. The
system switches off automatically if no
sensor sig na l i s received aft e r th e vehicle
has been statio nary for about twenty
th e a id of se nso rs at t h e w heels . The tir e pressure monitoring syste m
rece ives a wireless transmissio n of these sage from the senso rs. In the event of a rapid or severe loss of pressu re wh ile yo u are driving, you are immediately given a visual and/or acoust ic
warning .
65

3.2 Tips and Advice
Displays in the instrument
Display Meaning Act io n -and warni ng T hi s warning shows a rapid loss immediately! In spect the wheels of p ressure in least for external damage and for eign bodies
o ne tir e. and check th e tire pressure for th e wheels. If it is not necessary to change a wheel on the spot, you pro ceed at
reduced s p e ed to the nea re st
and warnin g TIRE The warning ind ic a tes that at Check th e tire pressure at four wheels
sure at least
Warn ing After the ignition is switched on. Check th e tire pressure at four wheels a slow loss of pressure is in di-ca tcd in at le a st one tire.
T here is a malfunction in the your authorized Volkswagen
sys tem. dealer o r
comes o n
disrupted by superposi-
tion from transmi tters in the
the same frequency range (e.g.
rad io equipment. phone).
Load condition
Followi ng
each change in th e load conditio n of
th e yo u have check or adjust tir e sure s. can
page
mus t communicate th e load condition to the sys te m for the tire pressure monitoring system to operat e correctly. the bullon 16 for lo nger th an two seconds to
If you press the bullon briefly. th e monitoring status is shown in the display.
66
wheel
If the vehicle is equipped the fac tory with a
spare wheel in th e same tire /wheel s ize
you re place the w heels o n the at the factory. make sure that the new
w heels are equipped with se nsors whic h are compatible with the factory-installe d tire sure monitoring sys te m. The val ve in each tire is equipped with
mus t be dri ven for a while above mph (25 km/h ) after it has s tood fo r about

you are using tires w ith inflatio n
p ressures than those recommended by the tory, the tir e press ure val ues must be re pro­grammed. swagen dealer or q ualified workshop.
you mount wheels whic h d o not have sen sors or have incompatible sensors . th e sys tem cannot recognize the wheel s. The tir e pressure monitoring sys te m is not abl e to measure infla ­
tion press ure. A malfun ction is di sp la ye d.
S t
oring tires
T he se nsors se nd signa ls to t h e tir e press ure
monitori ng sys te m only whi le you arc driv ing .
D eclaration of complianc e
Siemens declares that the product is in full c onfo rmit y w ith the essen­tial requi rements and the other re levant prov i­
sio ns of directi ve 19 99/5/EG.
WARNING
In correc t tire pressures and/or unde r- infla­ti o n can lead t o
an d can
Incorrect t ire p ressures and/o r under-i n­
flatio n ca n also lead to sudden tir e failure, bl owout and sudden d eflati on, causing loss of ve hicl e control.
Always make sure that a ll tires are properl y
inflat ed t o tire press ures fo r th e tires o n
t h e vehicl e and the kind of driv in g yo u plan to
do.
WARNING
The d rive r is responsib le for the correct tire
press ures for all tires on th e ve hicle. The cable pressure values arc loc ate d on sticke r
o n the dri ver's sid e page 61.
correctly.
The use of in correct tire pressure values can lead to acci den ts or other damage. There­
f o re it i s esse ntial that the d river observe the
s p ecified tire p ressure va lues fo r the tires an d
Booklet 3.2 Tips and Advice
WARNI NG (continued)
the correc t pressures fo r the functi on of the
W hen the
the ti re is not flat and you do no t have to
c h an ge a w heel immed ia tely, drive
required fig. 15.
WARNING
Incorrect tire pressure can result in sudde n
t ire failur e loss of control, co llisio n, seri ous
personal i njury an d even death.
A lways in flat e tires to the recommended and correct tire pressure before dri ving
D rivi ng with unde rinfl atc d ti res b end m ore, le ttin g them get too h o t res ulting in tread sep aration, sudden tire failure and loss
o f co ntrol .
Exces sive speed and/ overloading can cause heat build-up , sudden tire fa ilure a nd
l oss of control.
not handl e we ll.
Missin g valve ste m caps can resu lt in damage to th e va lve and sensor s in the tire pressure mon itorin g sys te m. To pre vent t his, alwa ys dri ve
with valve stem caps that are the equi valent of th ose insta lled va lve
s te m caps.
Whe n switc hin g to t a in that the va lve s and the sensors not aged.
For the sake of environment
Low tire pressures also increase fuel consump­
tion.
The tire pressu re monitoring syste m checks
th e tires for the fac tory recommend ed inflation

3.2 Tips and Advice
pressures. The recommended values are on the
s ticker on th e open edge of the driver's door 61, fig. 1 5 .
yo u are driving on tire s other than those in­
s tall ed at the factory, have the inflation pres ­
sures entered in the pressure monito rin g sys te m by a Volk sw agen Serv ice® fac ilit y if they are dif­
ferent . O nl y one va lue can be save d in the syste m for partial or full load.
The tire pressure monitoring sys te m shuts it­self off if a se t of tire s w ithout wheel sensors is mounted on the vehicle and it cannot receive sensor s ignal s. As soon as th e sys te m recei ve s at
tir e press ures at regular interva ls. even though yo u have the monitoring sys te m. Inspect the tire s for damage (punctures. cuts. tears and blister s). Remove foreign bodies from the tire
tread .
sensors have to be repla ced. have the valve s changed at the same time.
Discre pancies may occur betwee n th e pres­
sures read on the pressure gauge when inflating the tires and the pressure s read b y the tire pres­
sure sensors. The e lectroni c tire pressu re moni­
torin g sys te m is more accurate.
The corr ect tire pressure for the tires originally installed on your vehicle is Liste d on
th e tire pr
essure label on the open edge of the driver's door.
The recommended tire pressure s arc on the tire
pres sure lab el and in the page 6 1, T hi s means that the pressure must be c hecke d and adjusted w hen tire has not been driven for more t han a couple of miles (k ilometers ) at low speeds during the previo us three hours. Air in the tires
expands when the tire heat s up as a result of in­
ternal friction as it flexes in use. The tire pressure is high er w he n the tir e has war med up than when it is
tir e that counts. There for e, you should nev er le t a ir out of
a warm tir e to matc h p a ge 61. The tire s
would the n be underinflatcd and could fail sud­
denly.
The tir e pressure la b e l o n your Volkswagen lists the recommended co ld tire inflation pressures for the new, orig in al equipment tires we re on yo ur ve hicl e at the tim e it was m anufa ctured.
For the location of the page 61, fig . 15 .
Most tir
es lose air naturally over time. They can
also lose some air if you drive ove r a pothole or h it a c urb whil e pa rking. is usually not possible
t o see w hether the radia l tires u se d today are un­
derinflated jus t b y looki ng at them.
Therefore, be sure to check tire pressur es at least once a month and always be for e goin g on a lo ng
68 Checking and
trip. Mak e sure to ta ke the numbe r of p eople and the amount of lu ggage into ac count whe n ad ­justing tire pressure for a trip -eve n one that you wou ld not consider to b e page and ve hicle load for more impor­tant information.
Vehicles that h ave full hub caps have va lve ex­
t ende rs in stead of dust caps. To ch ec k tire pres­sure or add ai r. yo u do not need to remove the
extender. Be sure to re in stall v a lve dus t cap s
aft er checkin g or adjustin g tir e pressure.
A lways use an
accurate tire pressure gauge whe n manually c hecking and adju sting inflatio n pres -sures.
let air our of the tire slowly with the edge of the tir e and keep checkin g the pressure until you rea ch the pressure that is correct for the load (passenge rs
and lu gga ge) and kind of dri vin g yo u pla n to do.
th e pressure in an y tire is to o low, no te the dif­
fere nce be tween the pressure in the co ld tir e and the pressure you need and add the air that yo u
need to r e ac h the correc t p res sure for the ve hicle
lo ad (passengers and luggage) for the tires on
your ve hicle as listed on the on your ve hicl e and in thi s manual and th e kind of dri vin g yo u plan

Tires and
There arc limits to th e amount of load or weig ht that any vehicl e and any tire can carry. A ve hicle that is overloaded will not handle well and is mor e to stop. Overloading can not only
lead l oss of ve hicle control. but ca n al so damage including a blowout
and s udden d eflatio n th at can cause the vehicl e
to crash .
Your safet y
and that of your passengers also de­
pends on making sure th a t l oad limit s arc not ex­ceeded. load in cludes everybody and ev­eryth in g in and on the vehicle. These load limit s are technically refe rred to as th e vehicle' s Gr oss Ratin g
includes the weight of the basic ve­all factory installed accessorie s. a full tank of coolant and other fluids plus max­imum load. The m ax imum load incl udes the number of passengers that the ve hicle is in ­tended to carry lbs. (68 kg) for each pas­senger at designation seating position and the
total wei ght of a ny lu ggage in the ve hicle. yo u the weig ht of the trailer hit ch and the tongue weight of the loaded trailer mus t be included o f the ve hicle load.
T he Gross
Axle is the m aximum load th at can be ap plied at each of the
veh icle's two
has 5 seat ing pos ition s, 2 in the front and 3 in the rear for seating ca­paciry of 5. Eac h seatin g posit ion ha s a sa fe ty bookle t2.1
and
The fact that there is an upper li mit to your ve­
hi cle's Gross Hating means that the total weight of whatever i s bein g carried in the vehicle (in cluding the weight of a trailer hit ch and the tongue weig ht o f the load ed
t railer) is limited. The more passengers in the ve­
hicl e or passengers are heav ier than the standard weig hts assumed mean that less weig ht can be carried lu ggage.
The tire pressure on your Volkswage n also lists the maximum combined weight of all of the occupants and
page fig . 15 .
WARNING
Overloading a ve hicl e can cause loss of vehicle control, a crash or other accident, serious pe r­
sonal injury, nnd even dent h.
more weight than your vehicle was d esig ne d to carry will prevent th e ve hicl e
fr om handling properl y and increase the ri sk of th e loss of ve hicl e control.
The brakes on a ve hicl e that has been over­loaded may not be abl e to sto p the ve hicle
w ithi n a safe di stance.
o n a ve hicle that has been overloaded can
Alway s make sure that the to tal load bein g transported-including the weight of a trail er hitch and the tongu e weight of a loaded trail er -does no t m ake th e ve hicle heavier t11e
ve hicl e's Gross Vehicle Rating .

Determining correct
Use the example below to calc ul ate the
to ta l weight of the passen ge rs and lu ggage
or other things that yo u pla n to transport
so that you can make sure tha t
w ill not be overlo ad ed .
Steps for Determining Load
limit
l. Locate the statement
WEIGHT
placard (tire infla­
tion
press ure page 61,
fig. 15 .
2. Determine the combined
weight of the dri ver and pas­
sengers that will be riding in
your
3. Subtract the combined
weight of the driver and pas­
se
ngers from kilog rams
or pounds page 61,
fig. 15.
4. T he resulting figure equals
the availabl e amount of cargo
and luggage load capacity. For
example ,
if the amount
equals
lbs . passengers in
your vehicle, the amount of
availab le cargo and luggag e
lo ad
capacity is lb s.
(5 x = lbs.)
5. Determine the combine d
weight
of lu ggage and cargo
being loaded on the
-the tire page 73,
fig . 19 )
to dete rmine the designated load
ratin g for a specific
and 71

3.2 Tip s and Advice
Tire service
The serv ice life of tires depends on a lot of different things including proper
lation and balancing, correct tire pressure and driving style.
Fig. 17 Tire tread : tread wear indicators (TWI)
T re ad
Wear Indicator {T W I)
The original tires on your ve hicle have 1/16 inch
(1.6 mm) high fig . 17 ning across the tread. Dependi ng on the m ake, there will be six to eight o f them evenly placed around th e tire.
he tread
Tir e press ure
In correct tire pressure cau ses premature wear and ca n cause sudden tire blow-out. For this
reason , tire pressure must be c h ecke d at least once a page 68.
D riving style
Driving fast around curve s, heavy acceleration and hard braki ng increase tire
Rota ting tires for m ore even wear
If the front tires arc worn considerably more than the rear ones. rotate them shown 18 . All the tires will then last for about the same amount of time.
A
ll four tires should h ave the same amount of wear. All four w heels mus t have th e same ro llin g
circumference.
72
Fig_ 18 Rotat ing tires for more even wear
Wheel balanci ng
The wheels on new vehicles are balanced. I low­vario us s ituation s during everyday driv ing can cause them to become unbalanced, re­
s u lting in vibrations you can usu ally feel through
t h e stee ring wheel.
tire wea r. impairin g the safe ty of the ve hicl e. tires show excess ive wea r. have the w heel a lig n-
m ent checke d by Volkswagen
d ealer or qualified works ho p.
Sudden tire failu re
Never drive ve hicle when
Worn tires safety
and loss of comrol.
Always keep chemical s that can cause tire
damage, s u ch as grease,

(continued)
T ires age even if they arc not being used
and can f ail suddenly, especially at high
s peeds. Tire s that are more than 6 years old can only be used in an emerge ncy and then special care and at lo we r speeds.
(continued)
Never mount used tires on yo ur ve hicle if yo u are not sure of their used tir es may have been damaged eve n though the damage cannot be seen that can lead to sudden tire fa ilure and loss of vehicl e control.
Ne w tires and wheels have to be broke n in.
Ratio of height to width (aspect ratio)
of tire - Load
index &
speed rating
in
hicle's design
. The tires and rim s approved by Volk swagen are specially matched to th e te ristics of th e ve hicl e and can make a major comribution to good road ho ldin g and safe
We recommend that all wo rk on tires and wheels be performed by an authorized Volkswage n dealer. They arc famil iar with recommended procedures and have the sp ecial tools
and spare pa rts as well as the proper facilit ies for disposing of the old tires .
Author ized Volkswage n dealers have
the sary info rmation about technical requirements for installing or changin g tires and rims.
R
eplacing tires and wheels
Tires should b e replaced at lea st in pairs and not
individuall y (fo r example both front !ires or
ve hicle with read and heed th e page 75,