Tread Depth And Wear Indicator - Skoda Rapid Owner's Manual

164 Care and maintenance of the vehicle
The specified tyre inflation pressure is for cold tyres. The tyre inflation pressure of
warm tyres is higher than of cold tyres.
Therefore, never let the air escape a warm tyre to adjust the tyre inflation pres-
sure. In this case, the tyre inflation pressure would be too low so that it could lead
to sudden bursting of the tyre.
Checking the tyre inflation pressure
Only check the tyre inflation pressure when the tyres were not driven more than a
few miles (kilometres) at low speed in the last three hours.
● Check the tyre inflation pressure regularly and always on cold tyres. Always
check all the tyres, including on the spare wheel, if available. In colder regions, the
tyre inflation pressure should be checked more often, but only if the vehicle has
not been previously moved. Always use an operational tyre inflation pressure
gauge.
● With greater payload, adjust the tyre inflation pressure accordingly.
The spare wheel or emergency spare wheel gets the highest tyre inflation pres-
sure that is specified for the vehicle.
WARNING
A tyre inflation pressure that is too high or too low can lead to the tyre sud-
denly losing air or bursting during driving. This can cause serious accidents
and fatal injuries.
● A tyre inflation pressure that is too low can heat up the tyre so much that
it may lead to tread separation and bursting of the tyre.
● Excessive speeds or overloading of the vehicle may cause overheating and
sudden tyre damage including punctures and detachment of the tread and
thus loss of vehicle control.
● A tyre inflation pressure that is too low or too high reduces the life of the
tyres and degrades the performance of the vehicle.
● Regularly check the tyre inflation pressure, at least once a month and ad-
ditionally before every long journey.
● All tyres must have the correct tyre inflation pressure in accordance with
the payload.
● Never reduce the increased air pressure in warm tyres.
NOTICE
● When attaching the tyre inflation pressure gauge, make sure that it is not
jammed with the valve stem.
● Missing, unsuitable or not properly screwed-on valve caps can cause dam-
age to the tyre valve. Therefore, always drive with fully screwed-on valve caps
that match the factory-fitted valve caps.
For the sake of the environment
A tyre inflation pressure that is too low increases fuel consumption.

Tread depth and wear indicator

ä
First read and observe the introductory information and safety warn-
ings on page 160.
Tread depth
Special driving situations require a tread depth as large as possible and an approx-
imately equal tread depth of the tyres on the front and rear axle. This is especially
true for driving in wintry weather and cold temperatures and in wet conditions
⇒
.
In most countries, the legally permissible minimum remaining tread depth is 1/16"
(1.6 mm), measured in the tread grooves next to the wear indicators. Observe the
country-specific legal regulations.
Winter tyres lose much of their winter performance when the tread is worn down
to a depth of 5/32" (4 mm).
Ð
Fig. 94 Tread: Wear indicator.
£