brake VOLKSWAGEN GOLF 2012 User Guide

Maximum
first read and note the introductory information and heed the on
with brake
engines (748 kg.) (748 kg. )
Tongue weight
(91 kg)
The Gross
These ratings are
is the weight of the mount and th e tongue weight of the are added to the
weight ratings given above are of
for every ft m) . o r porti on of additiona l
altitude .
156 Before driving
Exceeding the gross
ous
Exceeding the gross weight ratings can cause
extensive

Keyless Access locking and starting sys­
tem :
on page 165.
The starter button
be used when an au­
t horized
the elec tronic steering is ac tivated when the ignit io n is
swi tched off and the driver door is opened
192.
Switching the ignition on and off
press the starter button once without op­
e rating the brake or
Emergency start feature
an authorize d remote veh icle key is in the
passenger compartment but the inst rume nt
can
Make sure the
key to the right of the steering trim immed iate ly after
p ressing the starter button
the
eng ine starts.
Emergency shut-off
the engine does not switch off by
Press the starte r butt on twice within one sec­
ond or once for more than 2 secon ds
Engine restart function
no author ize d r emote control veh ic le key is iden­
tified in the passenger compartmen t afte r the en­
gine has been switched off, the engin e can be re­
s tarted wi
thin about 5 seconds . A rela ted message
is sh ow n in the instrument cluster displa y.
Afte r the
5 seconds have passed, the engine can
n o be started without an author ized ve hicle
key in the passenger compartment.
Unintended
in se­
rious
start th e engine, and operate vehicle systems such as the power windows,
The doors can be
Starting, shifting, parking 167

emergency. For example , depending on the time of year, people trapped in the vehicle
ca n be exposed to very high or very low tem­
peratures .
Heat
quickly reach levels that can cause uncon­sciousness and death , particularly to
runn in g and the drive r doo r is op ened , a
chime sounds. T he chim e is also a re minde r to swi tch off the engine and turn off the ignition b efore
leavin g and locki ng th e veh icle from the out side . on page 165.
(auto m atic) , or into Neut ral (manu a l o nly) .
167-
3. Turn the veh icle ke y to posi tion -do no t dep ress the accelerator p ed al. A n au-
do not depr ess the accele ra to r p ed al. t
h oriz ed vehicle key must be insi de t he ve h ic le
i n order to start th e engin e .
4 . Wh en the engi ne s ta rts, release th e v ehic le W
he n the e ng ine starts, release th e sta rte r but-
key . to n .
the engi ne does not start , swi tc h off the igni- tion an d s tart aga in after ab ou t o ne minute .
t io n and sta rt again after about one minut e. Use
the em ergenc y sta rt function if n ecessary 16 7 .
6 .
R elease the pa rking brake when you are ready to s tart dr iving 179 .
Never leave the vehicle unattended while the
engine is running. The vehicle could move suddenly, espec ially when the vehicle is in
gear, resulting in accidents and persona l in-jury.
can explode and can cause a vehicle condition.
Never use starting assist fluids .
moving, or if you try to restart the engine right after switching it off.
Avoid high engine speeds,
Do not le t your ve hicle warm up while stan d­ing; in stead . start drivi ng right awa y aft er making s ur e that yo u have good visib ilit y t hro ug h w indows. This help the e ngine reac h opera t­
ing temp e rature faste r an d ke ep d own emissions.

Major con sumers of are sw itched off when the engine is being started .
Stopping the engine
After start ing a engin e, there may be creased operating noises fo r a few seconds .
This is
first read and note the introductory information and heed the on
perform each step
without Keyless Access Vehicles with Access
1. Bring the to a
2. Dep res s and down the brake s tep 4 is
3 . A ut omatic transmission: th e transmission into Park (P) .
4 .
the parking brake to fr om moving
in Briefly press the starter button 167. 5. the engine 167.
6 . With
a
tran smi ssion , shift into 1st gear or re-
ve rse pointin g down hill).
Never stop the engine before the has
come to a trol of the vehicle, crash, and be
be needed to stop the
not be able to steer the
the engine
running and the driver door is opened, a
c him e sounds. Th e c hime is a re minder to
sw itch off the engine and turn off the igniti on before and from the outside.
with automatic t ransmissio ns. the be remov ed from the
ignition when the transmission is in Park (P).
After the engi ne has been switched off. the radiato r fan in the engine compartment may
keep running for ning after the even if the ignition is sw itche d off and t he ve hicle
key has bee n remo ved. Th e radiat or fan sh uts off
automatically when th e engine has down
enough.
Starting, shifting, parking 169

Shifting
Introduction
this section find information about:
Warning
and i ndicator ... .. . .
Pedals
............. ........... .
Manual transmission: Gearshift lever
172
173
174
Automat ic transm ission :
lever.... 175
Sh ifting with nptro nic ® . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
Driving with automatic transmiss ion 177
Automat ic transmission malfunction . . . . . . . . 178
Explanatory
notes in this sec tion regarding
Direct
The backup lights come on.
Climatronic switches to air culation mode.
The rear window wiper switches on when the
windshield wipers are switched on.
More information:
Braking , stoppi ng and parking 179
Climate control
Engine control and emission control system
Emergency
Rapid acceleration can cause skidding and loss of traction , especially on slippery roads,
re sulting in a loss of vehicle control, sions, and seriou s personal injury.
use the kick-down feature or fast cele ration if visibility, weather, road, and
Constant braking causes the brakes to and se rious personal injury.
the brakes or apply the brake
pedal too often or too long.
substantially reduce braking performance, increase stopping
the brakes by keeping your foot on the brake pedal when you do not want to brake . Thi s make the brakes wear faster.
gine braking and reduce the load on the brakes. Otherwise , the brake system could overheat and even

Warning and indica tor lights
on page 171.
L
ights Possible cause up
transmission too hot.
Brake pedal not depressed.
Flash es Possible
cause
The release button in the selector lever did not engage.
blinks, alternating with the selector lever
indicator , for example D.
When the ignition is switched on, several warning
and indicator lights come on briefly for a funct ion
check . They go out after a few seconds .
Failure to heed warning text messages can cause the vehicle to break down in traffic and result in a injury.
or t ext WARN­
172 While driving Proper
response
Do not continue driving
the warni ng does not turn off, do not continue
driving.
175.
Drive at low en gine speed (rpm) to th e nearest
autho rized Vol kswagen dealer or authorized
Volkswagen F acility to have th e system
checked .
Always stop the vehicle as soon as it is safe to do so.
damage.

Pedals in vehicles with manual sion : Accele rator pedal ,® Brake
on page 171.
peda ls must always be able to move freely in
a n d out without interference from floor mats or oth ­
er thing s.
te ners to help preve nt slid ing.
a brake circu it malfunct ions, more brake pedal
tr ave l is needed to bring the ve hic le to a stop ,
and it is important that noth ing is in the way when
yo u have to depress the brake pedal harde r and
farth er than
Objects in the driver footwell can prevent the pedals from moving freely . This can cause loss of vehicle control and increase the risk of serious personal injuries. Fig.
Pedals
in vehicles with au tomatic Acce le rator pedal ,® Brake
a brake circuit fails, more brake pedal
travel will be needed to bring the vehicle to a
stop. The brake pedal must be pressed harder and farther than normal.
Starting, shifting, parking

Manual transmission: Gearshift lever
Fig. Gea rshift pattern of a 6-speed manual
t r ansmission .
Please first read and note the introduc­tory information and heed the o n page 171.
The positions of the
individua l gea rs are shown on
t he gearshift leve r
Depress the clutch pedal the way and hold.
Move the gearshift lever into the desired
Release the clutc h pedal to engage the gear.
T he c
lutch pedal must be
shift to the reverse gear when the vehic le
is not moving.
Depr ess the and hold
Move the gearshift lever to neutral and press
down .
Move the shift lever to the left and then push
f orward into the reverse gear position @.
Release the clut ch pedal to engage the gear .
Downshifting
You should always downshift gear by gear when
driving , meaning always in to the next lowes t gear. Do not downshift when the engine rpm (revo lutions
At fast speeds or high
engine rpms, skipping over one or more gears
when downshifting can cause damage to the clutch
and transmission, even
if a gear is not engaged
... -
Down shifting to a lowe r gear incorrectly can result in loss of vehicle control and can
cause accidents and serious personal inju-ries.
When the engine is running and a gear is en-
gaged, the vehic le will start to move as soon
as the c lutch pedal is released, even when
th e parking brake is applied. This a lso ap-plies when the parking brake is engaged.
Never shift into reverse when the vehicle
is moving.
Shifting
down to a gear that is too low when driving at fa st spee ds or high engine rpms can
cause extensive damage to the clutch and
transmission. That is true even if the clutch pedal is pressed so that the clutch is not
To help prevent damage and premature wear:
Do not rest your hand on the gearshift leve r
while driving. time, the pressure ca use premature wear in the transmission.
Make sure that the vehicle has come to a
comple te stop before shifti ng into reve rse.
Do not hold the vehicle on a hill using

Automatic transmission:
Auto mati c transmissio n wit h sh ift
first re ad and note the tory information and heed the on page 171.
posi-Designation Meaning tion
Automa tic tra nsm issio n ic With you must depress
th e brake and pres sing
th e
in order to
move the
is in Neu-(N) , yo u before you can move the to Drive (D), Drive or Reverse (R).
sett ing is sho wn in the ins trument as the current gear (if
p Park is not moving. To change the
button
R Reverse The
re ver se gea r is en gage d. into Reverse when the
Transmis sion is in
D Drive (sta ndard dri v-fo rwa rd gears shift up and down auto m atica lly. The transmi s-
ing pos ition) sion
shifts as needed depending on engine individual driving and
forward gears automa tica lly upshift later and dow nshift earlier
s than in th e (Dri ve) position , to take advan ta ge of the engin e's
driving position) p
ower reserves. The tran smi ssion shift s as needed dependi ng on
e ng ine in divid ual driving and speed.
Automatic
The Automati c Lock in Park (P) and (N) prevents drive posit ions fro m b eing g aged inadvertentl y, w hich ca use the to move.
wards if it is stuc k in sno w or mud. The gages automa tically if th e brake pr esse d and the is in is traveling no
fast er than abo ut 3 mph (5 km/h ).
To the depress and the brake wit h th e ign ition switched on. Press the
(N) (e.g ., when shifting from Reverse (R) to Drive (D)). Th is mak es
i t possib le to "roc k" the
ra re cases , th e m ay not eng age on vehicles
w ith Direct Gea rbox. this happens,
power to th e drive ven t th e and a tex t sage Lock
sh ift ing , parking 175

Moving the selector lever to the wrong posi-tion can cause loss of vehicle control, a co sion, and serious personal injury.
Unintended vehicle movement can cause se-rious personal injury.
you must leave your vehicle while the engine is running, al-ways set the parking brake and shift the transmission into Park (P).
Shifting with Tiptronic®
Fig . 111 lever in Tiptronic position.
Please first read and note the introduc­
on page 171.
176 While driving
WARNING (continued )
will roll down hills, whether the engine is
When the engine is running and a drive gear-Drive (D), or Reverse
(R) -has been selected, press and hold the
brake pedal to keep the vehicle from moving.
The vehicle may and move forward or backward even if the engine is idling ly.
the selec tor lever is moved into Neutral (N) by mistake when the vehicle is moving , take
your foot off the accelerator pedal. Wait until the
engine speed has dropped to idle speed before
mov ing the selector lever into a drive gear.
Leaving the selector le ver for a long period of
whe el with optional Tiptronic
shift paddles .
Tiptronic lets yo u upshift and downshift manually
with
the a utomatic transm ission. When Tiptronic
mode is used, the transmi ssio n stays in the curren t
gea r and does not upshift or dow nshift