Skoda Rapid Owner's Manual page 153

Attention to the following notes may affect tyre wear.
Driving style
Fast cornering, sharp acceleration and braking increase the wear of your tyres.
Wheel balance
The wheels of a new vehicle are balanced. When driving, however, there are a
range of factors that may result in an imbalance. This may become apparent by
a "vibration" in the steering. If this is the case, have the wheels checked by a
specialist garage.
Have the wheels likewise rebalanced after replacing the tyres.
Setting the vehicle geometry
Incorrect wheel alignment at the front or rear leads to excess wear on the
tyres and impairs driving safety. With a distinctive tyre wear, we recommend
that you check the setting of the vehicle geometry in a specialist workshop.
WARNING
An incorrect wheel alignment at the front or rear impairs handling.
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Unusual vibrations or pulling of the vehicle to one side could be a sign of
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tyre damage. If there is any doubt that a wheel is damaged, immediately re-
duce your speed and stop! If no external tyre damage is evident, drive slow-
ly and carefully to the nearest specialist garage to have the vehicle
checked.
Tyre wear indicator and wheels exchange
Fig. 126 Principle sketch: Replace tire tread with wear indicators / wheels
150
General Maintenance

Read and observe on page 148 first.
Wear indicators
The base of the tread of the tyres contains has a 1.6 mm high wear indica-
tor » Fig. 126 - . In some countries, different tyre wear rates may apply.
Markings on the walls of the tyres through the letters "TWI", triangular sym-
bols or other symbols identify the position of the wear indicators.
Exchanging the wheels
For uniform wear on all tyres, we recommend that you change the wheels ev-
ery 10 000 km according to the scheme
proximately the same life for all the tyres.
After a wheel has been replaced, the tyre pressure has to be adjusted.
In vehicles with tyre pressure monitoring, tyre pressure values are to be stor-
ed » page 115.
WARNING
You must have your tyres replaced with new ones at the latest when the
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wear indicators have been worn down.
Worn tyres impair necessary adhesion to the road surface, particularly at
■
high speeds on wet roads. This could lead to "aquaplaning" (uncontrolled
vehicle movement – "swimming" on a wet road surface).
Tyre damage

Read and observe on page 148 first.
We recommend checking your tyres and wheel rims for damage (punctures,
cuts, splits and bulges, etc.) on a regular basis. Remove foreign bodies (e.g.
small stones) from the tyre tread immediately.
Drive over kerbs and other such obstacles slowly and at right angles wherever
possible in order to avoid damage to tyres and wheel trims.
Immediately replace damaged wheel rims or tyres.
WARNING
Never drive with damaged tyres – there is the risk of an accident occurring.
» Fig. 126- . You will then obtain ap-
