tire pressure VOLKSWAGEN GOLF 2008 Owner's Manual

3.2 Tips and Advice
Because technical changes may be made to ve­hicle equipment during the model year, always compare the tire size desig nation on the tir e pressure label on your vehicle with the tire s on your vehicle. Make sure
a previ­ousl y owned ve hicle.
Remember, your safe ty and t h at of your passen­gers also depends on making sure that load
limit s are not exceeded. Vehicle load includes everybody and everything in and on the vehicle.
T hese load limit s arc techni call y referred to the ve hicle's Gross Vehicl e Rating Hatin g is th e maximum load that
Hating are listed on th e s afet y compliance sticker
label on t h e driver's door
fig. l5 .
WARNING
Overloading a vehicl e can cause loss of vehicle control,
more we ight than your vehicle was des ign ed to carry w ill prevent the vehicle from handling properly and increase the risk of the loss of vehicle control.
The on a vehicle that has been over­
loaded may not be abl e to stop the vehicle within a safe distance.
Tires on a vehicle that has been overloaded can fail suddenly cau sin g loss of control and a crash.
Always make sure that the total load being transp o rted-including the weight of a trailer hitch and the to ng u e weight of a loaded trailer -docs not make the vehicle heavie r than the vehicle's Gross Vehicle
WARNING
Inco rrect tire pressures and/or underinfla­tion can lead t o serious or fata l accident.
Incorrect tire pressures and/or underinfla­tion cause increased tire wear and can affect the ha nd lin g of the ve hicle.
Applies to
The tire pressur e monitoring syste m driver ofsignificantloss of pres­
sure.
Each tire, including the spare ( if provided),
should be c heck ed
your vehicle has tire s of a diff erent s ize than the s ize indi ­cated on the vehicle placard or tire inflation pressure lab el, you should consult the appro­priate sec tion of this
and
luminatcd. one or m ore of your tires is signifi ­
cantly under-inflated. should stop and check your tires as soon as possible , and inflate them to the pro p er p ressure. Driving on a sig nif­
icantly under- inflated tire causes the tire to overheat and can lead to tire failure. Under- in-
flation al so reduces fuel effic iency and tire tread life , and may affe ct th e vehic le's handling stopping ability.
ve hicle has also been equipped with a malfunction te llt ale to indi cate when

syste m is not operating properly. When the mal­funct ion telltale (warning light) is illuminat ed, the system may not be able to detect or signal
low tire pressure as intended. malfunc­
tions may occur for a var iety of reasons, in­cluding the installation of incompatible replace­ment tires on the vehicle. Always check the
and warns the driver in the event of a lo ss of pressu re by means of symbols in the instrument cluster dis plays.
Descri
ption
The system uses sensors at th e whee ls . Rad io
signals from the sensors are transmitted to the tire pressure monitoring system Th e sensors are parts of the air valve.
A visua l
and audio warning will signal a rapid or other significant loss of pressure while the ve­
hicle is moving .
The tir e pressure monitorin g system
This warning shows a rapid loss Stop immediately! Inspect all the wheels
T
IRE! of i nflation pressure in at least for e
xt ernal damage and for eign bodies
one tire. and check the tire pressure for all the wheels. If it is not necessary to change a
w heel on th e spot, you can proceed at reduced speed the nearest qualified
and warnin g TIRE The warn ing indicates that at Chec
k the tire pressure at all fou r whee ls leas t one tire is at a criti ca l pres- immediately. If it is not necessary to sure at least
Warning CHECK TIRE After the ig n it ion is switched Check the tire pressure at all fou r wheels a slow loss of pressure is indi-
There is a malfunct ion in the Consult your a uthorized Volkswagen
system. dealer or qualified workshop and have
the p ro ble m corrected
comes on briefly There is a communica tion No action i
s necessaty.
while you are
driving problem between a sensor and the system. Operation can be temporarily di srupted by inter-
f ere nce from transmitters in the
v icinity of the vehicl e working in
t h e same frequency range (e.g.
rad io equipment, cell ula r phone).
WARNING
Checking and 63

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

Never excee d the maximum inflation pressure listed o n the tire sidewall for
that the ve hicle manufacturer. no t the tir e m anufacturer. determines the co rrect
tir e
pressure for the tire s on your vehic le
the required tire pressure from the tire pressure label on the open ed ge of the driver's
door.
Place the air pressure gauge on the dust caps -the re is no need
The tire pressures should only be ch ecked when the tires are co ld. T he s lightl y raised pres­
sures of warm t ires mus t not be red uced.
Adjust the tire pressure to the load you are
carrying.
Vehicle with
Head the required tir e pres sure from the tire
pressure on the ope n edge of the driver's
d oor.
Turn the va lve stem cap counter-cloc kwise to
remove i t from the ti re va lve.
Place the air pressure gauge on the valve.
The tire pressures should onl y be c hecked and adjusted when the tire s are cold. The slightl y
raised pressures of warm tires must not b e re­
duced.
Adju st the tir e pressure to the load you are
carryin g.
the valve stem cap on the valve.
When should check the tire pressure?
The correct tire pressure is especi ally important
at high speeds. The pressure sh oul d there fore be ch ecked at least once a month and always before
s tarting a journey. Do not forge t check the tire pressure on th e spare whee l7l
When should odjust the tire pressures?
Adju st
the tire pressure to the load you are car­
ry ing. Af ter changing a
addition on vehicles with TPMS,
yo u should sp ecify new tire
sudden tire failure loss of control, collision, serious personal injury even death.
Always fill tires to the recommende d and correct tire pressure before dri ving ofT.
Driving with underinflated tires bend m ore, letting them get too hot resulting in
tread separation, sudden tire failure tire
failure and loss of control.
Excessive speed and/or overloading can heat build-up, sudden tire failu re in­cluding a blowout and sudden deflation and
loss o f co ntrol.
If the tir e pressure is too low or too high, the tires w ill wear prematurely and the ve hicle
will not handle we ll.
with tire pressure monitoring system To prevent this, make sure that factory
For the sake of environment
Tip s
For vehicles
may find differences between the pres­
s ur e read ings fro m a hand-held pressure gauge
a nd the pressure readings disp laye d in the in­
s trument The tire pres sure monitoring syste m is more acc urat e.
the is too
applicable =Tire press ure monitoring
applicable
69

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 .

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,