stop start VOLKSWAGEN GOLF 2012 User Guide

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

Remove your left foot from the brake => The accelera te from a stop at the maximum
rate .
you have accelerated , swi tch
weather, road, and traffic conditions permit and other drivers not be gered by your driving and the vehicle's
tory on page 171.
Emergency shift program
selec to r ment
of the forward gears.
some cases, vehicles with a Direct
is then impossible to drive
the vehicle backwards .
any event , have the automatic transmission
checked by an authorized
Overheating of Direct automatic transmission
The automa tic transmission may overheat ,
for example , due to frequent starts , extended o r stop-and-go traffic. Overheating is and, if by a text message in the in strument ditional warning chime may sound. and let the
tr ansmission coo l down => 178
is switched off, when the road is slippery.
you have accelerated, switch back on again.
with the
wards. This can cause the automatic sion to overheat and be damaged.
in Neutral (N), not be lubricat-ed and be damaged . The vehicle does not move forward or in reverse even though a drive position is selected with the selector
the vehicle does not move in the desired tion , the system may not have engaged the drive
position Press the brake pedal and select the drive position again.
does not move in the desired rection , there is a system malfunctio n.
ther park the vehicle in a safe place or drive faster than 12 mph km/h) .
the tex t message and acoustic warning seconds or so, you must park the vehicle in a safe place as soon as you can safely do so and stop the engine .
L et the transmission cool down.
To help prevent damage to the sion, do not drive the vehicl e agai n until the
acoustic warning has s topped. As long as the
e ngine is overheated, avoid stop and start driv-ing and avoid low speed s pace") .

Braking, stopping, and parking
this sectio n
Parking brake . . . . . . . . . . . 182
P arking . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
About the brakes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
Braking assistance systems
Switching
L ock Brake System (ABS) . Br ak e Assist System
(BAS ), Ele ctronic Differential Lock (EDL), R eg ulatio n (ASR) and Electronic C ontrol
(ESC).
More information:
Trai ler towi ng 149
Starting assistance systems 1 95
Tires and whee ls 258
Driving with bad brakes or worn brake pads can cause a and serious personal
injury.
lights up in the instrument cluster display, whether alone or together with a text message, immediately contact an authorized Volkswagen dealer or authorized Facility to have the brake pads checked and, if necessa­
ry, replaced .
Parking improperly can cause serious sonal injury.
lock and you
haust system or catalytic converter could
fu el, etc.
riously injure you and your passengers.
sonal injury.
mote control vehicle key, trapping passen­gers in the vehicle in an emergency. For ample, depending on the time of year, people trapp ed in the vehicle can be exposed to very high or very low temperatures.
children.
Starting, shifting, parking 179

Lights cause or up
I
ES deactivated.
I Together with indicator malfunction .
T ogethe r with warning
or BRAKE:
Brake not dep ressed.
cause
I
The butt on in the is not
engaged .
When the ign ition is switch ed on,
text messages can cause the to break down in traffic and
or text WARN­
stop the as soon as it is safe to do so.
Driving with bad brakes can cause a and serious
the brake warning BRAKE or does not go out, or comes on when driving, either the brake or there is a the as soon as you can do so and get expert assistance 187, Brake
fluid.
the brake warning comes on at the same time as the or the
187 . automatically
turns on when you turn the ignition on and off.
an authorized Volkswagen or an thorized Volkswage n The brake s work without
to
Adapt driving to
road conditions.
E ngage the Automatic
Lock
This up brake
you is safe to drive, drive and very authorized Volkswagen Service or other
spected. Avoid sudden hard braking and steering.
or does not go out, or if it comes on while driving, the system is not working can then be stopped with the
s tandard brakes (without not have the protection
thorized Volkswagen Service as soon as
Starting, shifting, parki ng 181

Failure to heed warning lights or t ex t WARN-can result in vehicle damage . Parking brake
Fig. 113 Between the front seats :
on page 179.
the parking brake lever up firmly.
When the ignition is on , the indicator or appears in the instrume nt c luster display to show th at the park ing brake is engaged
the leve r up 113 (arrow) .
While hold ing the release button down, move
t h e lever t he way down.
Parking
Ple ase firs t r ea d and note the introduc­tory info rm ation and heed the WARN­on pa ge 179.
note legal regulations when stopping and
parking your vehicle.
Parking the vehicle
p erform these steps only in the order listed.
the vehicle on a suitab le surface
the rear wheels are braked . Always
use the foot bra ke.
engag ed. This c an cause the brak e to over­
heat and neg ati vely affec t the b rak e sys te m .
start to move even if the parking brake is e ngag ed .
Even
though the tra nsmission is in P ark (P),
t h e vehi cle may move a couple of inche s (a fe w
c entimeters) forwards or backwards if you take
your f oot off the brake pedal after stopping the
ve hicl e without fir s t firmly setting the parking
b rake .
A warning signal sounds if you drive faster
Apply t he parking brake to 182.
For automatic transmissions : (P).
Remove the vehicle key from the igni tion.
necessary , turn the steer ing whee l to
e ngage the steer ing column lock.

transmission into 1st gear (on
and the out.
keys with you when
Before stopping the en gine, turn the steer ing so th at, if the starts to into the curb :
turn the fro nt
Facing
The
on page 179.
New
brake pads do not provide to km)
and must first be To some extent,
you can make up for th e somewhat reduced
formance by more pressu re to t h e brake But, during the break-in period, the
be the brakes are ken in. Avoid hard braking a nd situatio ns that might
requ ire hard brakin g (such as
on operati ng
condit ions and the way the
you
serv ice
damage your bumper and related parts if the front of your vehicle hits a barrier or curb that is too high you are
getting into or out of a parking spot. To
to the ground may be damaged (such as bumper covers, spoilers, and parts of the en-
gine , suspension, and exhaust systems). Wet brake s (for or after heavy be whe n brake discs are wet or, in winter, even
icy. Wet or icy brakes must be dried as soon as by high speed.
Make sur e nobody is behind you and that you do
not enda nge r
or othe rs
t her e is on th e roads and you are not braking brake move any
Brake disc corrosion (rust) and dirt to occur if the is not driven much or is driven fo r short
distances with the brakes have not
been used and th ere is some rust on the discs, the brake discs and pads once in a by
shifting, parking

Do not reduce pressure on the brake
up on the brake.
Lock (EDL and XDL)
EDL is applied during regular straight -line
traction (spinning) and redirec ts the drive force to other drive wheels. extreme cases , EDL swi tches off to keep the brake from
switches on again .
XDL is an extension of the Electronic Differential
Lo ck sys tem . X DL does not react to drive wheel
s lippage when driving straight ahead .
XDL
detects slippage of the inside front wheel during
fast corne ring . X DL app lies enough brake pressure
to
this wheel in order to stop the slippage. This
Driving fast on icy, or wet roads can to a of control and result in serious persona l injury for you and your passengers.
Always adjust your speed and driving
style to roa d , traffic, weather, and visibility conditions. Never the additiona l sa fety that and EDL can
come the of physics and always prevent and wet
roads are dangero us eve n with and the o ther syste ms!
to A vehicle that has
1861 While driving
tance from the vehicle in front of you.
cele rator Even with these syste m s,
th e wheels may start to spin, le ading to a
The effectiveness of ca n be significantly reduced if other components and sys te m s that a ffect vehicle dynamic s, including but not limite d to bra kes , tires, and other te m s mention ed above , are not properly
maintained or fun ctioning.
Always remembe r that vehicle alterations or modifications can affect the functioning of the EDL, and systems.
Changing the vehicle su spension or using an unappro ved tire I wheel combination can
c han ge the way the EDL ,
and system s work and re duce their fectiveness .
The effectiveness of is als o
tires in orde r for and to work erly . Diff eren ces in the tread circumference of the
tir es can cause the system to r educ e the engine
p ower when it is not expected .
is not working, and EDL not work .
may hear noises when these systems are

this section find info rmat ion about:
Effi cient driving sty le
....... . 189
Fue l-efficient driv in g . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Fuel consumpti on, envi ronme ntal impact, and wear
a nd tear on eng ine, brakes and tires depend main­
l y on the
pe rsona l d riving style.
External conditions (weather , road condi tions).
Technical requir emen ts.
Efficient driving
on page 189.
Shifting faster
As a rule , th e app lies: The h igh er gear is
a lways the most e ffi cient gear . The rule of thumb
for mos t veh icles is to drive in 3rd gear at
mph
gears when upshifting also saves
Do not run the gea rs up to their lim it. Use 1st gear o nly to s tart movin g and then sm oot hly s hift into
2 n d gear. Avoid kick-do wns in vehicl es with auto ­
matic tra nsm issions.
Coasting
you take your foot off the accel erator, fuel de liv­ery to the engine is interrupted , which lowers fuel consum ptio n.
Therefo re , whe n nearing a red stop for in­
stance , the veh icle to coas t without usin g the
accelerator . Pre ss the peda l a nd release it
o nly if the vehicle mov ing too slowly or the coast­
ing distance is too long. The engine
situa tions where the
swi tch off the eng in e.
conditions. Defensive driving and with traffic
Freq uent braki ng and accelerat ion increase s fuel
cons umption significantly . Just by driving defen­
s ive ly and keep ing a sufficiently large
distance
away fro m the
caused by taking your foot off the accelerator . Active braking and acceler ­
at ing is then not nece ssarily re qu ired .
Calm and smooth driving
Consistency is more important than speed. The
m ore smo oth ly you drive , the less fuel the vehic le
consumes.
Whe n driving
on the highw ay or free way, a co n­
stant , m ode rate speed is more efficien t and eco­
n omi ca l than constantly accelerating and brak ing.
you can reach your dest ination just as
quick ly by driv ing at a mod erate, but steady sp eed.
Th e crui se control syst
em can assist in mainta ining
a un iform dri vin g style.
Moderate use of extra electrical loads
Comfort in sid e the ve hicle is nic e and important ,
but it is importa nt to use the m in an envi ronm enta l­
l y conscious manner.
Some devices can increase fuel consumptio n
whe n activated (exa mples):
Starting, shiftin g, parki ng 189

Climate control system (air cond itioner): th e
trast ing temperatures , it requires a large amount of energy, which is genera ted by the engine. The
tempe ratu re in the shou ld therefore not be
ext remely different from that of the outside ature . may be to venti la te the veh icle fore driving and then to drive a short distance with
the windows open. After that, sw itch on the air
Keep the
windows increase fuel consumption.
off the rear window defroste r as soon as
t he windows are free of fog and ice.
14
miles
Fi g.
116 F uel consumption in mpg at 2 different
outside air temperatures .
on page 189.
D riving defensive
ly and economica lly can easily duce fuel cons umptio n by to 15%.
The veh icle consumes the most fuel when ating. Defensive driving requires less braking and
ther efore less acceleration. possibl e, coast the
vehicle to a stop , for example, when you can see that the next traffic light is red or about to turn red.
Avoid traveling short distances
A co ld engine consumes sign ificantly more fuel media tely after starting .
consumption (examples):
Malfunction ing eng ine control.
Drivi ng in the mountain s.
T owing a tra iler.
-1
Fig. 117 Fuel consumption in ent outside air temperatures .
To reduce fuel consumption and the emission of
ature. Criti cal in thi s con te xt is also the outside air temperature.
T herefo re , avoid driving short distances sarily and consolidate routes.
Un der the same conditions , the veh icle consumes
more fuel in winte r tha n in summer.
in some places, but also not neces -
sary and wastes fuel.