height VOLKSWAGEN GOLF 2009 Owners Manual

Before driving
this sectio n yo u'll find infor ma tion about
Gett ing ready and driving safely . . . . . . . . . . . 3 1
Driving in other countr ies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Driving through
water on ro ads . . . . . . . . . . 33
More information:
S tarting , shift ing, pa rking 1 65
189
Consumer information
Driving under the influence of alcohol,
on
the following points be fore and during every drive for you r own safe ty, the safety of passengers
and other s
Check proper functio n of lights and turn signa ls .
Check tire pressu re
258) and fuel 214) .
Make su re that win dows are .
137 .
Always make sure tha t nothing keeps th e pedals from moving freely .
Make sure that children are properly sec
ured by a rest raint sys tem appropriate for their size and
weigh t .
Proper ly ad just front seats , head restraints and mirrors to the correct height
give your feet a good grip, and that give you a feel for the peda ls .
M ake sure that the floormat on the drive r side is properly fastened and canno t interfere with the
peda ls .
Assume a prope r sea ti
ng posi tion before the vehicle starts to move and keep this positio n whil e
driving. Make sure that passe ngers do the same 58 .
P roper ly fasten your safe ty bel t before
driving the vehic le and wear you r safety belt properly at times while driving. Make sure that passe ngers do the same
or
Som e basics 31

Adjusting the seating position
Introduction
this section find inf ormation about:
Examp les
of improper seat ing pos itions . . . 59
Pr ope r seating position . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Manual contr ols on the driver and passe nger
seat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 Ele ctrica l co ntr ols o n the driver and front
passenger seats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Adj ustin g
the head restra ints . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
R emoving and re in stalling head restraints . . . 64
Adj usting the stee
ring whee l position . . . . . . . 65
Cen te r armrest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Number of seats
Th e vehicle
has a t otal of 5 seat ing posit ions: 2 in front and 3 in the rea r. Eac h seating pos ition has a
safety belt.
More information:
funct ions 67
page 69
Ai r ba g syste m 82
safety and child restraints
WARNING
Improper seat ing pos itions increase the risk of severe or fatal injuries in a crash or other accidents,
times .
Never
Always secure children in the vehicle with a n approved and suitable restraint system appropriate for their age, weight, and height 82 .
Always keep your feet on the in front of the seat. Never rest them on the seat,
Always adjust seat , safety belts, and head straints properly before driving and make sure that
inches (25 em) betw een the front pa ssenger' s breastbone and the in strument panel.
ches (25 em) between your breastbone and the steering wheel.
Adjust the driver's seat so that you can push the pedals while keeping your knee(s) slightly bent. The
di stance to the instrument panel in the knee
a rea must be at least 4 inche s
these requirements cannot be met for physical reason s, contact an authorized
Volk swagen dealer or an auth orized gen Facility to see whether adaptive equipment is avai la bl e.
Always hold the steering wheel on the side of the steering wheel rim with your hands at the 9 o'clock and 3 o'clock positions to help reduce the risk of personal injury if the driver's airbag inflates .
Never hold the steering whee l a t the
12 o'clock position or with your hands at e r places inside the steering whee l rim or on the steering wheel hub. Holding the steering wheel the wrong way can cause serious rie s to the hand s, arm s, and head if the
Pointing the steer ing whe el t oward your face dec reases the of the driver's bag to h elp protect you in a
Never drive with backrest s reclined or ed back farthe r than necessary to drive

first rea d and note the introduc­tory information and hee d the WARN­on page 58.
The following describes the proper seating posi­
tions for the driver and front seat passenger .
special modifications to your
vehicle may be necessary .
to
Adjust head restraints so that the upper edge of the head restraint is at least at eye
32 and 33.
Push the head restrai nt completely down for
short even if the top of the head is then be­
people should the head restraint the way up.
Adjust the sea t backrest angle to an upright po­sition so that your back is in contact with it when the veh icle is moving.
Before driving
Fig. 33 P roper safety
Always keep both feet on the whenever the vehicle is moving .
Always adjust and fasten safety belts properly
adjustment:
Adjust the steering whe el so that there are at least inches (25 em) between the steeri ng
wheel and your breast bone
grasp the top of the steering wheel with your bent.
Always hold the steering wheel on the outside of the steering wheel rim with your hands at the
9 o'clock and 3 o'clock positions to help reduce the
risk
of personal injury if the driver's airbag innates.
Never hold the steering wheel at the 12
and
head if th e driver's airbag innates.
Adjust the steering wheel so that the steering
wheel cover points at your chest and not at your
face. Pointing the steer ing wheel toward your face
dec reases the ability
of the driver's airbag to help
protec t you in a
Adjust the driver's seat so tha t you can easily push the pedals the way to the noor while keep­
ing your knee(s) bent.
Adjust the seat height so that the top point o f
the steering wheel can be reached .
Always keep both feet in the times.

N
N
Passenger-front seat adjustment:
P ush the passe nger seat as far back as possi­
M ove the front seat backward or for-ward.
Fold backrest forward o r backwa rd
(only in 2-door vehicles)
Lumbar support contro l.
Adjust back rest angle .
Adjust seat height.
on page 58.
The contr o ls on the fr on t passenger seat mirror
those on the
driver seat.
There may be both manual and electrical con­
in place after the leve r is released!
Folding forwar d: Pull the
the way back , p ull
t he lever , a nd fold the back res t back into the upright
p osit
ion . The backrest must in place after the le v-
er is released!
Adj ust the leve r position.
Lea n forward and tu
rn th e adjuster wheel.
Move the lever
times up o r down .
Sitting properly and
safely

on page 58.
The cont rols on the front passenger seat mirro r
those on the driver seat. Fig
. 36 Lumbar support control (if app licable) .
There
may be both manual and elect rical
Forward or back-Adjust backrest angle. ward.
Press fig. 36 switch for each area:
Adjust lumbar support.
Adjust lumbar support height.
Improper use of electrical seat controls can cause serious personal injuries.
up the stored memory set-
tings for the front seats.
on ply concentrated pressure to a area of the seat or backrest.
the vehicle battery is too weak , the elect ri­cal seat adjustment controls may not work .
When entering and exiting the vehicle , be careful not to come into contact with any
switches that could change the seat adjustment.
Starting the engine stops seat adjustment.

Adjusting the head restraints
Fig. 37 Adjusting the head restraints .
on page 58.
th e ce nter head rest rai nt in th e center
pos ition.
There are notches in the head restraint gu ide rods
so that the head restraint can lock into place .
prope rly
tom of the adjus tment range.
Adjusting the height
37 o r 38 is
The head restraint must lock secu re ly in the
gap
may rema in betwee n th e head restra int and th e
ba ckrest when the head rest r
aint is t h e way
down .
Adjusting the head restraint for
go.
Dri v
ing without head restraints or with properly adjusted head restraints increases
the risk of serious injuri es in a collision.

offer optimum protection only when the seat backrest is upright and belts are correctly positioned on the body.
ous injuries by shifting its position on your body from the strong bones to more soft tissue and cause serious injury.
and snug on the occupant's upper body.
portion of the safety belt must be positioned as as possible across the vis and never over the abdomen. Make sure the belt lies flat and snug against the pelvis.
safety belt as as
you cannot untwist a twisted safety wear it anyway, but mak e sure the twisted part is
Safety
on page 69.
not in contact with your body. Have the corrected right away by an authorized Volkswagen dealer or authorized Volkswagen
you have a p hys ical imp airment or
cial modi fica tions to yo ur ve hicle m ay be necessa ­ry.
Contac t yo ur auth orized Volkswage n deale r or author ized Volksw agen Faci lity or call the Volkswage n Custo m er C ARE Cent er at
belt height adj uste rs for the front seats ca n
b e u sed to adjus t the heig ht of t he sh ould er port ion of th e sa fety bel t so tha t it i s pos it io n ed cor rec tly:
Pinch the safe ty belt attach ment togeth er as dicate d by the arr ows and ho ld 55 .
the be lt a nd upp er attac hment up or do wn
until the safety belt is pos it ion ed ove r the ce nter of th e s hould er 7 6, Sa fe ty belt position .
Rele ase the safe ty bel t atta chm ent.
Pull on the safe ty be lt to make sur e tha t the per att ac hm ent is sec urely loc ked in place .
Never
adjust the height of the safety belt
__ h_ile __

When an airbag deploys , fine dust is released.
This is normal and is not caused by a fire in the hicle . This dust is made up mostly of a powder
used to lubricate the airbags as they deploy. This
dust could irritate skin and eyes and cause
ciently when used with properly worn safety belts
and a proper seating position in Introduct ion on page 58
equipment
Your safety and the safety of your passenge rs
shouldn't be left to c hance. Advances in
gy have made a number of featu res availab le to
help reduce the risk of injury in a collision . The
Sophisticated safety belts for
belt pretensioners for driver and front
passenger .
Advanced front airbag system for driver and
front passenger .
ger.
Airbag indicato r
BAG light.
Electronic control unit and associa ted sensors.
Before driving
Head restraints with height adjustmen t
Adjustable steering column.
LATCH/U CRA lower universal and top tether
anchorages for child safety seats at the rear
These features
can't work as a system if they are not always
be tu rned
off if the weight on the front passe nger seat is less
than the amount programmed in the elect ronic
con t
rol unit . Th e front airbag on the passenge r side
will also be turned off if the combine d weigh t of an
i nfant
of about one year of age in one of the child
seats that was used to certify the Advanced Airbag
ard BAG
Never rely on airbags alone for protection.
69, Safety belts.
ery per son in the vehicle is properly seated on a sea t of his or her own, properly fastens the safety belts belonging to that seat before the vehicle starts to move, and keeps the belts properly fasten ed while riding i n the hicle. This applies eve n when just driving around town. Therefore, always wear your safety belts and make sure that everybody in your vehicle is properl y restrai ned .
too close to the steering wheel or strument panel decrease the ness of the airbags and will increase the risk of personal injury in a collision.

Booster seats and safety
first read and note the introduc­
on page
or 18 kg) are best protected in
the vis, of these and
they must not use the restraint.
T
he not fit most
Booster seats raise these dren up so that the safe ty
can protect them in a
Do not use the fea ture when
u sin g the
midway over th e you must transport an
height adjustment to
make sure that the neck.
make sure that the across the thighs or
who are at 4 ft. 9 i n. (57 inches I 1.45 meters) can u se the 3 point and Never use the portio n of the to re ­
s train any of how big the is.
Before driving
remember that do not have the
pronounced
portion of the and The requires that a as Never the pass over the
is best to put these
and parts of
the safety body in the right The routing of the over the body is very important for the protection , whe ther or not a booster seat is
used . age 12 and under must ride
in the rear seat.
airbags must force. order to do its job, the airbag needs room to inflate so that it
he or she be struck receive
serious or
orde r for the airbag to offer protectio n, it is im­
portant that
dren, who must be in the front seat unde r excep­circumstances, be restrai ned and as
far away from th e airbag as By kee ping
r oom between the
precautions when
route the unused safety arou nd the rear head restraint to prevent a from
in it.

Whenever a the safety must
be webbing cannot you restraint can be
goes around a corner.
restraint on a seat, prefe rably
o n a rear sea t
the restraint on a rear seat
restraint in your
Route the safety
as specified by the res tra int manufactur­er.
insert the
Make sure that the red
Remove from the it
Push the
installed with the safety
Activate the feature 117 , Activating the switchable locking fea­
ture .
on the safety is properly fastened and tight.
Check the restraint at the place where the restraint.
The
r estraints i f th e restraint must be installe d on the front seat
restraint manufac­
turer's instructions when installing a restraint in your
the restraint on a seat, prefe rably
o n a re ar seat in exceptio n al circum­s ta nces you must install the
Make sure the front seat backrest is in the right position .
Move the front passenger seat to the rearmost
position in the seat's fore and aft adjustment range,
as far away from the airbag as
height juster so that safety install the restraint.
Route the safety
as specified by the
the tongue into the for that
seating position.
Make sure that the red button faces
away from the
Remove from the and straint.
Push the weight to make sure that the restraint be installed with the safety
Make sure the safety is not so tight that it
causes the weight-sensing mat to measure more
weight than is actually
on the seat.
Activate the belt's switchable feature
Check the restraint at the where the restraint.
T he seat
After checking to make sure that the
restraint is correctly recognized by the weight­
sensing mat inside the front passenger seat, so that the front passenger airbag status is
GER BAG be sure to read
the additional important information and heed the
about the Advanced Airbag
BAG
especially those 12 years and younger ,
must restrain -
ed for their age and size.