1997 Oldsmobile Achieva Owner's Manuals

Avoid needless heavy braking. Some people drive
in spurts
-- heavy acceleration followed by heavy
braking
-- rather than keeping pace with traffic. This
is a mistake. Your brakes may not have time to cool
between hard stops. Your brakes will wear out much
faster if
you do a lot of heavy braking. If you keep pace
with the traffic and allow realistic following distances,
you will eliminate a lot of unnecessary braking. That
means better braking and longer brake life.
If your engine ever stops while you’re driving, brake
normally but don’t pump your brakes. If you do, the
pedal may get harder to push down.
If your engine
stops, you will still have some power brake assist. But
you will use it when you brake. Once the power assist is
used up, it may take longer to stop and the brake pedal
will be harder to push.
Anti-Lock Brakes (ABS)
Your vehicle has anti-lock brakes (ABS). ABS is an
advanced electronic braking system that will help
prevent a braking skid.
When you start your engine, or when you begin to drive
away, your anti-lock brake system will check itself. You
may hear a momentary motor or clicking noise while
this test is going on, and you may even notice that your
brake pedal moves a little. This is normal.
1
If there’s a problem with the
anti-lock brake system, this
warning light will stay on. See “Anti-Lock Brake
System Warning Light” in
the Index.
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1 The anti-lock system can change the brake pressure
You slam on the brakes. Here’s what happens with ABS.
A computer senses that wheels are slowing down. If one
of the wheels is about to stop rolling, the computer will
separately work
the brakes at each front wheel and at the
rear wheels.
You can steer around the obstacle while braking hard.
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As you brake, your computer keeps receiving updates on
wheel speed and controls braking pressure accordingly.
Remember: Anti-lock doesn’t change the time you need
to get your foot up to the brake pedal or always decrease
stopping distance. If you get too close to the vehicle in
front
of you, you won’t have time to apply your brakes
if that vehicle suddenly slows or stops. Always leave
enough room up ahead to stop, even though you have
anti-lock brakes.
Using Anti-Lock
Don’t pump the brakes. Just hold the brake pedal down
and let anti-lock work for you.
You may feel the system
working, or you may notice some noise, but this is normal.
Enhanced Traction System (If Equipped)
If your vehicle has the optional four-speed automatic
transaxle,
it also has an Enhanced Traction System
(ETS) that limits wheel spin. This is especially useful in
slippery road conditions. The system operates only if it
senses that one or both of the front wheels are spinning
or beginning to lose traction. When this happens, the
system reduces engine power and may also upshift the
transaxle
to limit wheel spin.
LOW
TRAC
This light will come on
when your Enhanced
Traction System is limiting
wheel spin. See “Enhanced
Traction System Active
Light” in the Index.
You
may feel or hear the system
working, but this is normal.
The Enhanced Traction System operates in all transaxle
shift lever positions. But the system can upshift the
transaxle only as high
as the shift lever position you’ve
chosen,
so you should use the lower gears only when
necessary. See “Automatic Transaxle” in the Index.
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ETS
OFF
When the system is on and
the parking brake is fully
released, this warning light will come on to let you
know if there’s a problem
with the system. See
“Enhanced Traction System
Warning Light” in
the Index.
When this warning light is on, the system will not limit
wheel spin, Adjust your driving accordingly.
To limit wheel spin, especially in slippery road
conditions,
you should always leave the Enhanced
Traction System on. But you can turn the system off if
you ever need to. (You should turn
the system off if your
vehicle ever gets stuck in sand, mud, ice or snow. See
“Rocking Your Vehicle” in the Index.)
To turn the system on or off,
press the button on the
instrument panel
to the left
of the steering column.
When you turn the system
off, the Enhanced Traction
System warning light will come on and
stay on, and the
indicator light on the button
will go off. If the Enhanced
Traction System is limiting wheel spin when you press
the button to turn the system
off, the warning light will
come on and the indicator light will go off
-- but the
system won’t turn
off right away. It will wait until
there’s no longer a current need
to limit wheel spin.
You can turn the system back on at any time by pressing
the button again. The Enhanced Traction System
warning light should go off, and the indicator light on
the button should come on.
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Braking in Emergencies
With anti-lock, you can steer and brake at the same
time. In many emergencies, steering can help you more
than even the very best braking.
Steering
Power Steering
If you lose power steering assist because the engine
stops or the system is not functioning, you can steer but
it will take much more effort.
Steering Tips
Driving on Curves
It’s important to take curves at a reasonable speed.
A lot of the “driver lost control’’ accidents mentioned on
the news happen on curves. Here’s why:
Experienced driver
or beginner, each of us is subject to
the same laws
of physics when driving on curves. The
traction of the tires against the road surface makes it
possible for the vehicle to change its path when you turn
the front wheels. If there’s no traction, inertia will keep
the vehicle going in the same direction. If you’ve ever
tried to steer a vehicle on wet ice, you’ll understand this. The traction
you can get in a curve depends on the
condition of your tires and the road surface, the angle
at
which the curve is banked, and your speed. While you’re
in a curve, speed is the one factor you can control.
Suppose you’re steering through a sharp curve. Then you
suddenly accelerate. Both control systems
-- steering and
acceleration
-- have to do their work where the tires meet
the road. Adding the sudden acceleration can demand too much of those places. You can lose control. Refer to
“Enhanced Traction system” in the Index.
What should you do if this ever happens? Ease up
on the
accelerator pedal, steer the vehicle the way you want it
to go, and slow down.
Speed limit signs near curves warn that you should
adjust your speed. Of course, the posted speeds are
based on good weather and road conditions. Under less
favorable conditions you’ll want to go slower.
If you need to reduce your speed as you approach a
curve, do it before you enter the curve, while your front
wheels are straight ahead.
Try to adjust your speed
so you can “drive” through the
curve. Maintain a reasonable, steady speed. Wait to
accelerate until you are out of the curve, and then
accelerate gently into the straightaway.
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Steering in Emergencies
lull
There are times when steering can be more effective
than braking. For example, you come over a hill and
find a truck stopped in your lane, or a car suddenly
p
out from nowhere, or a child darts out from between
parked cars and stops right in front
of you. You can
avoid these problems by braking
-- if you can stop
in time. But sometimes you can’t; there isn’t room.
That’s the time for evasive action
-- steering around
the problem.
Your Oldsmobile can perform very well in emergencies
like these. First apply your brakes. (See “Braking in
Emergencies” earlier in this section.) It is better to
remove as much speed as you can from a possible
collision. Then steer around the problem, to
the left
or right depending on the space available.
S
An emergency like this requires close attention and a
quick decision. If you are holding the steering wheel at
the recommended
9 and 3 o’clock positions, you can
turn it a full 180 degrees very quickly without removing
either hand. But you have to act fast, steer quickly, and
just
as quickly straighten the wheel once you have
avoided the object.
The fact that such emergency situations
are always
possible is
a good reason to practice defensive driving at
all times and wear safety belts properly.
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Off-Road Recovery Passing
You may find sometime that your right wheels have
dropped off the edge of a road onto
the shoulder while
you’re driving.
OFF-ROAD RECOVERY RECOVER e* PI
SLOW DOWN
y, Icl !
7 edge of paved surface
If the level of the shoulder is only slightly below the
pavement, recovery should be fairly easy. Ease
off the
accelerator and then,
if there is nothing in the way, steer so
that your vehicle straddles the edge of the pavement. You
can turn the steering wheel up to one-quarter
turn until the
right front
tire contacts the pavement edge. Then turn your
steering wheel to go straight down the roadway. The
driver of a vehicle about to pass another on a
two-lane highway waits
for just the right moment,
accelerates, moves around the vehicle ahead, then goes
back into the right lane again.
A simple maneuver?
Not necessarily! Passing another vehicle on a two-lane
highway is a potentially dangerous move, since the
passing vehicle occupies the same lane
as oncoming
traffic for several seconds.
A miscalculation, an error in
judgment, or a brief surrender
to frustration or anger can
suddenly put the passing driver face to face with the
worst of all traffic accidents
-- the head-on collision.
So here are some tips for passing:
0 “Drive ahead.” Look down the road, to the sides and
to crossroads for situations that might affect your
passing patterns. If you have any doubt whatsoever
about making a successful pass, wait for
a better time.
Watch for traffic signs, pavement markings and lines.
If you can see a sign up ahead that might indicate a
turn or an intersection, delay your pass.
A broken
center line usually indicates it’s all right to pass
(providing the road ahead is clear). Never cross a solid
line on your side of the lane or a double solid line,
even if the road seems empty
of approaching traffic.
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Do not get too close to the vehicle you want to pass
while you’re awaiting an opportunity. For one thing,
following too closely reduces your area of vision,
especially
if you’re following a larger vehicle.
Also, you won’t have adequate space if the vehicle
ahead suddenly slows or stops. Keep back a
reasonable distance.
0 When it looks like a chance to pass is coming up,
start to accelerate but stay in the right lane and don’t
get too close. Time your move
so you will be
increasing speed as the time comes to move into the
other lane. If the way is clear to pass, you will have a
“running start” that more than makes up for the
distance you would lose by dropping back. And
if
something happens to cause you to cancel your pass,
you need only slow down and drop back again and
wait
for another opportunity.
0 If other cars are lined up to pass a slow vehicle, wait
your turn. But take care that someone isn’t trying
to
pass you as you pull out to pass the slow vehicle.
Remember to glance over your shoulder and
check
the blind spot.
Check your mirrors, glance over your shoulder, and start
your left lane change signal before moving out
of the
right lane to pass. When you are far enough ahead of the
passed vehicle to see its front
in your inside mirror,
activate your right lane change signal and move back into
the right lane. (Remember that your right outside mirror is convex. The vehicle you just passed may seem to be
farther away from
you than it really is.)
Try not to pass more than one vehicle at a time on
two-lane roads. Reconsider before passing the
next vehicle.
Don’t overtake a slowly moving vehicle too rapidly.
Even though the brake lamps are not flashing, it may
be slowing down or starting
to turn.
If you’re being passed, make it easy for the
following driver to get ahead
of you. Perhaps you
can ease a 1itt.le to the right.
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