A VW technician inspecting a tyre with a light

Tyre Maintenance

Regular maintenance and correct replacement of your tyres is vital, there are three basic checks that you can do to help prolong the life of your tyres, reduce your fuel bills and CO2 emissions, and ensure your Volkswagen can brake, accelerate and corner properly.

  • Check your tyre pressure
  • Check your tread depth is not below the legal minimum of 1.6mm. This is essential for your safety in all weather conditions.
  • Inspect your tyres regularly for any cuts, bulges, uneven wear or objects embedded in the tread.

Measuring tyre pressure

Since 2014, we have equipped all of our cars with tyre pressure monitoring systems.

Tyre pressure monitoring system

How it works

  • A tyre pressure sensor is built into every wheel.
  • It transmits information to a control unit.
  • The on-board computer displays the tyre pressure.
  • If the pressure falls, the system warns the driver.

Please note: if you change your tyres the monitoring system will need to be partly replaced and also recalibrated.

Models with the direct system as standard:

  • Touareg
  • Arteon

Models with the direct system on request:

  • Tiguan
  • Passat
  • Touran

Tyre pressure FAQs

Minimum tread depth

A Volkswagen service employee is measuring the tyre tread depth

Tyre tread

Checking the tyre tread depth is one of the most important checks you can do yourself. Across the UK and Europe, the minimum allowed tread depth is 1.6mm, with 3mm or more being recommended. A quick way to check the depth yourself is the 20p check, simply insert a 20p coin into the tread grooves on your tyre and if you can see its outer band the depth is too low. 

How deep should your tread depth be?

Deeper tyre treads are better at draining off water and help prevent aquaplaning in wet conditions. We recommend at least 3mm depth in the summer and 4mm in winter. See the diagram below to learn how tread depth affects your stopping distance on a snowy surface at 50kph.

Illustration of a Volkswagen tyre and the right minimum tread depth and how to measure it

How to increase your tyre's service life

A service employee checks the tyre of a VW

Tyre tips

We have put together a few handy tips to ensure a long tyre service life.

Illustration of tyres

Tyre damage

Learn about the most common types of tyre damage here.

Illustration of abnormal tyre wear on a VW tyre

Abnormal tyre wear

Find out here about the potential irregular damage patterns that require action.

Volkswagen tyres

With the right care, your Volkswagen tyres can drive you the equivalent of once around the world. Make informed choices about tyres by understanding the different types, what they’re made of and tyre labelling.

Next steps

About my car

How to guides: Tyres

Next steps