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Section 3 Comfort Controls and Audio Systems
In this section, you'll find out how to operate the comfort control and audio systems offered w\
ith your vehicle. Be
sure to read about the particular systems supplied with your vehicle.
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Comfort Controls
Climate Control Panel
Air Conditioning
Heating
Defrosting and Defogging
Rear Window Defogger
Ventilation System
HVAC Steering Wheel Controls
Climate Control Personalization (If Equipped)
Audio Systems
Setting the Clock
AM-FM Stereo with Cassette Tape and
Compact Disc Player
(If Equipped)
AM-FM Stereo with Cassette Tape and
MiniDisc' Player (If Equipped) AM-FM Stereo with Cassette Tape and
Compact Disc Player with Radio Data
Systems (RDS) and Digital Signal Processing
(DSP) (If Equipped)
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AM-FM Stereo with Cassette Tape and
MiniDisc' Player with Radio Data Systems
(RDS) and Digital Signal Processing (DSP)
(If Equipped)
Radio Data Systems
(RDS) Program Type
(PTY) Selections
Console-Mounted
CD Changer (Option)
CD Adapter Kits
Radio Personalization (If Equipped)
Theft-Deterrent Feature Audio Steering Wheel Controls
Understanding Radio Reception
Tips About Your Audio System
Care of Your Cassette Tape Player
Care of
Your Compact Discs
Care of Your Compact Disc Player
Diversity Antenna System
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Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine HVAC Steering Wheel Controls
Some heating and cooling
controls can be adjusted at
the steering wheel. Other
touch controls operate some
audio controls. See “Audio
Steering Wheel Controls”
in the Index.
TEMP: Press the up arrow on the control to increase the
temperature and the down
arrow to decrease temperature.
8 FAN: Press the up arrow on the control to increase
the fan speed and the down arrow to decrease fan speed.
Climate Control Personalization
(If Equipped)
With this feature, your vehicle will recall the latest
climate control settings as adjusted the last time your
vehicle was operated. These settings include the set
temperatures for driver and passenger, air conditioning,
mode and fan speed. (This feature does not recall
recirculation
or defrost modes.) This feature allows
two different drivers to store and recall their own
climate control settings. The settings recalled by the
climate control system
are determined by which RKE
transmitter
(“1” or “2”) was used to enter the vehicle.
The number on the back
of the RKE transmitter
corresponds to driver
1 or to driver 2. After any button
is pressed on the
RKE transmitter or the key is placed
in the ignition, the climate control settings will
automatically adjust to where they were last set. The
settings can also be changed by briefly pressing buttons
1 or 2 located on the driver’s door.
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Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine With the radio off and the clock displayed, use FF and
RW to select home or away presets.
To select the away
presets, press and hold FF for five counts until you hear
a beep. The next time the radio comes on, the away
presets will be active. To select the home presets, press
and hold RW for five counts until you hear a beep.
The next time the radio comes on, the home presets
will be active.
When battery power is removed and later applied, you
will not have to reset your home radio presets because
the radio remembers them. However, you will have to
reset
your away radio presets.
Theft-Deterrent Feature
THEFTLOCK@ is designed to discourage theft of your
radio. Your vehicle has
a “built-in” theft-deterrent
feature on each radio that is automatic
-- there is no
programming required. The radio in your vehicle
cannot be used in any other vehicle. When the radio was originally installed in your vehicle at the factory, it
stored the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN). Each
time the ignition
is turned on, the VIN is verified. If the
vehicle’s VIN does not match the VIN stored in the
radio, THEFTLOCK will be activated and the audio system will not play. If the radio is removed from your
vehicle, the original VIN in the radio can be used to
trace the radio back to your vehicle.
Audio Steering Wheel Controls
Some audio controls can
be adjusted at the steering
wheel. They include the
following:
VOL: Press the up arrow
button to increase volume and the down arrow button
to decrease volume.
SEL: When listening to the radio, press the up or down
arrow button to tune to the next or previous preset radio
station. When listening to a cassette tape, the up or down
arrow button can be used to
SEEK forward and rearward
through the tape. Pressing the up or down arrow button
when listening to
a CD will cause the player to go to the
next or previous selection. When in Radio Data Systems
(RDS) Program Type
(PTY) mode, the up or down
arrow button can be used to perform a
PTY preset seek.
PSEEK will appear on the display while the FTY preset seek is performed. The radio will seek all
of the PTYs
stored in presets, except for the PTY Any.

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Section 4 Your Driving and the Road
Here you'll find information about driving on different kinds of roads and in varying weather conditions. We've also
included many other useful tips on driving.
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Defensive Driving
Drunken Driving
Control
of a Vehicle
Braking
Steering
Off-Road Recovery
Passing
Loss of Control
Driving at Night
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4-3 1 Driving in Rain and on Wet Roads
City Driving
Freeway Driving
Before Leaving on a Long Trip
Highway Hypnosis Hill and Mountain Roads
Winter Driving
Loading Your Vehicle
Towing a Trailer

Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine Control of a Vehicle
You have three systems that make your vehicle go where
you want it to go. They are the brakes, the steering and the accelerator. All three systems have to do their work
at the places where the tires meet the road.
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Braking
Braking action involves perception time and
reaction time.
First, you have to decide to push on the brake pedal.
That’s
perception time. Then you have to bring up your
foot and do it. That’s
reaction time.
Average reaction time is about 3/4 of a second. But
that’s only an average. It might be less with one driver
and as long as two or three seconds or more with
another. Age, physical condition, alertness, coordination
and eyesight all play a part.
So do alcohol, drugs and
frustration. But even in 3/4 of a second, a vehicle
moving at
60 mph (100 km/h) travels 66 feet (20 m).
That could be a lot
of distance in an emergency, so
keeping enough space between your vehicle and others
is important.
And, of course, actual stopping distances vary greatly
with the surface of the road (whether it’s pavement or
gravel); the condition
of the road (wet, dry, icy); tire
tread; the condition of your brakes; the weight of the
vehicle and the amount
of brake force applied.
Sometimes, as when you’re driving on snow or ice, it’s
easy to ask more
of those control systems than the tires
and road can provide. That means you can lose control
of your vehicle.
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Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine You can turn the system back on at any time by pressing
the button again. The TRACTION READY message
should display briefly on the Driver Information Center.
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.
MAGNASTEEP
Your vehicle may be equipped with GM
MAGNASTEER, a system that continuously adjusts the
effort you feel when steering at all vehicle speeds. It
provides ease when parking yet a firm, solid feel at highway speeds.
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.
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Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine 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 “Traction
Control 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.
Since your vehicle is equipped with Stabilitrak, you will
see the STABILITY SYS ENGAGED message
on the
Driver Information Center. See “Stability Sys Engaged
Message” in the Index.
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.
To help you steer in the direction you want to go, during
certain sharp or sudden cornering maneuvers, gear selection
is controlled. This will maximize the available
drive wheel torque and minimize the transaxle response
time and shift activity. During this kind of maneuver, the
transaxle shifts automatically as vehicle speed changes.
Steering in Emergencies
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 pulls
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 vehicle 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.
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Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine 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.
Off-Road Recovery
You may find that your right wheels have dropped off the
edge
of a road onto the shoulder while you’re driving.
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.
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