2000 SUBARU FORESTER tires

Starting and operating7-39
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b elts.
Carry some emerg enc y eq uip ment, suc h as a towing ro p e or c hain, a
shovel, wheel b loc ks, first aid kit and p ortab le p h one or c itizens b and
rad io. Drive c arefully. Do not take unnec essary risks b y d riving in d ang erous
areas or over roug h terrain. Slow d own and emp loy extra c aution at all times. Wh en d riving off-
road , you will not have the b enefit of marked traff ic lanes, b anked
c urves, traffic sig ns and the like. Do not d rive ac ross steep slop es. Instead , d rive ei ther straig ht up or
straig ht d own the slop es. A vehic le c an muc h more e asily tip over sid e-
ways than it c an end over end . Avoid d riving straig ht up or d own slop es
that are too steep . Avoid sharp turning maneuvers, esp ec ially at hig her sp eed s.
Do not g rip the insid e or sp okes of the steering wh eel. A b ad b ump
c ould jerk the wheel and injure your hand s. Instead d rive with your fin-
g ers and thumb s on the outsid e of the rim. If d riving throug h water, suc h as when c rossing sha llow streams, first
c hec k the d ep th of the water and the b ottom of the stream b ed for firm-
ness and ensure that the b ed of the stream is flat. Drive slowly and c om-
p letely throug h the stream. The water should b e sha llow enoug h that it
d oes not reac h the vehic le ’s und erc arriag e. Water entering the eng ine air
intake or the exhaust p ip e or water sp lashing onto elec tric al p arts may
d amag e your vehic le and may c ause it to stall. Neve r attemp t to d rive
throug h rushing water; reg ard less of its d ep th, it c an wash away the
g round from und er your tires, resulting in p ossib le loss of trac tion and
even vehic le rollover. Always c hec k your b rakes for effec tiveness immed iat ely after d riving
in sand , mud or water. Do this b y d riving slowly an d step p ing on the
b rake p ed al. Rep eat that p roc ess several times to d ry out the b rake
d isc s and b rake p ad s. Do not d rive or p ark over or near flammab le materia ls suc h as d ry
g rass or fallen leaves, as they may b urn easily. Th e exhaust system is
very hot while eng ine is running and rig ht after th e eng ine stop s. This
c ould c reate a fire hazard . After d riving throug h tall g rass, mud , roc k, sand , rivers, etc ., c hec k

7-40that there is no g rass, b ush, p ap er, rag s, stones,
sand , etc . ad hering to
or trap p ed on the und erb od y. Clear off any suc h mat ter from the und er-
b od y. If the vehic le is used with these materials t rap p ed or ad hering to
the und erb od y, a mec hanic al b reakd own or fire c ould oc c ur.
Sec ure all c arg o c arried insid e the vehic le and mak e c ertain that it is
not p iled hig her than the seatb ac ks. During sud d en stop s or jolts, unse-
c ured c arg o c ould b e thrown around in the vehic le a nd c ause injury. Do
not p ile heavy load s on the roof. Those load s raise the vehic le’s c enter of
g ravity and make it more p rone to tip over. If you must roc k the vehic le to free it from sand o r mud , d ep ress the
ac c elerator p ed al slig htly and move the selec tor le ver b ac k and forth b e-
tween “D ” and “R ” rep eated ly. Do not rac e the eng ine. For the b est p os-
sib le trac tion, avoid sp inning the wheels when tryi ng to free the vehic le.
When the road surfac e is extremely slip p ery, you c a n ob tain b etter trac -
tion b y starting the vehic le with the transmission in 2nd than 1st (b oth for
MT and AT). Never eq uip your vehic le with tires larg er than tho se sp ec ified in this
manual. Freq uent d riving of an AWD vehic le und er hard -d rivi ng c ond itions suc h
as roug h road s or off road s will nec essitate more f req uent rep lac ement of
eng ine oil, b rake fluid and transmission oil than t hat sp ec ified in the main-
tenanc e sc hed ule d esc rib ed in the “Warranty and Maintenanc e Booklet ”.
Rememb er that d amag e d one to your Sub aru while op er ating it off-road
and not using c ommon sense p rec autions suc h as thos e listed ab ove is
not elig ib le for warranty c overag e.

7-42tor p ed al, b rake p ed al, and all other c ontrols op er
ate smoothly.
Clear away ic e and snow that has ac c umulated und er the fend ers to
avoid making steering d iffic ult. During severe wint er d riving , stop
when and where it is safe to d o so and c hec k und er the fend ers p eri-
od ic ally. n During cold weather below –4F ( –20 C)
If the eng ine is d iffic ult to start using the norma l method (without d e-
p ressing the ac c elerator p ed al), turn the ig nition switc h to the
“ START ” p osition while slig htly d ep ressing the ac c elerator p ed al.
n Parking in cold weather
WARNING
Snow can trap dangerous exhaust gases under your vehicle. Keep snow clear of the exhaust pipe and from around your
vehicle if you park the vehicle in snow with the engine running.
Do not use the p arking b rake when p arking for long p eriod s in c old
weather sinc e it c ould freeze in that p osition. Ins tead , ob serve the fol-
lowing :
1. Plac e the shift lever in “1 ” or “R ” for manual transmission vehic les,
and in “P ” for automatic transmission vehic les.
2. Use tire stop s und er the tires to p revent the veh ic le from moving .
When the vehic le is p arked in snow or when it snows , raise the wip er
b lad es off the g lass to p revent d amag e to them.
When the vehic le has b een left p arked after use on road s heavily c ov-
ered with snow, or has b een left p arked d uring a sn owstorm, ic ing
may d evelop on the b rake system, whic h c ould c ause p oor b raking
ac tion. Chec k for snow or ic e b uild up on the susp en sion, d isc b rakes
and b rake hoses und erneath the vehic le.
If there is c aked snow or ic e, remove it, b eing c ar eful not to d amag e
the d isc b rakes and b rake hoses and ABS harness. n Refueling in cold weather
To help p revent moisture from forming in the fuel s ystem and the risk
of its freezing , use of an antifreeze ad d itive in t he fuel tank is rec om-

7-44turned fully to the rig ht until the wip er b lad es ar
e c omp letely thawed
out. To thaw out the rear wip er b lad e, use the rear wind ow d efog g er.
When d riving in snow, if frozen snow starts to stic k on the surfac e of
the wind shield d esp ite wip er op eration, use the d ef roster with the air-
flow c ontrol d ial in “
” and the temp erature c ontrol d ial turned fully
to the rig ht. After the wind shield g ets warmed enou g h to melt the fro-
zen snow on it, wash it away using the wind shield w asher.
Snow stuc k on the wip er arm p revents the wip er from working effec -
tively. If snow is stuc k on the wip er arm, p ull off the road to a safe
p lac e, then remove it. If you stop the c ar at road sid e, use the hazard
warning flasher to alert other d rivers.
We rec ommend use of non-freezing typ e wip er b lad es d uring the sea-
sons you c ould have snow and sub -zero temp erature.
Snow tires
WARNING
When replacing a tire, make sure you use only the same size,
circumference, construction, brand, and load range as the origi- nal tires listed on the tire placard. Using other sizes, circumfer-
ence or construction may result in severe mechanical damage tothe drive train of your vehicle and may affect ride, handling, brak-ing, speedometer/odometer calibration, and clearance betweenthe body and tires. It also may be dangerous and lead to loss of
vehicle control. Do not use a combination of radial, belted bias or bias tires
since it may cause dangerous handling characteristics and leadto an accident.
Your vehic le is eq uip p ed with “all season tires ” whic h are d esig ned to
p rovid e an ad eq uate measure of trac tion, hand ling a nd b raking p erfor-
manc e in year-round d riving . In winter, it may b e p ossib le to enhanc e
p erformanc e throug h use of tires d esig ned sp ec ific a lly for winter d riving
c ond itions.
If you c hoose to install winter tires on your vehic le, b e sure to use the

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c orrec t tire size and typ e. All four tires should b
e of the same size,
c onstruc tion, c irc umferenc e, b rand and load rang e a nd you should nev-
er mix rad ial, b elted b ias or b ias tires sinc e this may result in d ang erous
hand ling c harac teristic s.
Rememb er to d rive with c are at all times reg ard less of the typ e of tires on
your vehic le. Tire chains
Driving on snowy g rad es or ic y road s may req uire th e use of tire c hains,
in whic h c ase p ut the c hains on the front wheels on ly. Use only SAE
c lass S typ e c hains that are of the c orrec t size fo r your tires so as not to
d amag e the vehic le b od y or susp ension.
When d riving with tire c hains, d rive at sp eed s b elo w 19 mp h (30 km/h).
When a temp orary sp are tire is on a front wheel, re p lac e the temp orary
sp are tire with the rear tire on the same sid e of t he vehic le, and then fit
c hains on the front tires.
Always use the utmost c are when d riving with tire c hains — overc onfi-
d enc e b ec ause you are d riving with tire c hains c oul d easily lead to a se-
rious ac c id ent.
Rocking the vehicle
If you must roc k the vehic le to free it from snow, sand , or mud , d ep ress the
ac c elerator p ed al slig htly and move the selec tor le ver b ac k and forth b e-
tween “D ” and “R ” rep eated ly. Do not rac e the eng ine. For the b est p ossib le
trac tion, avoid sp inning the wheels when trying to free the vehic le.
When the road surfac e is extremely slip p ery, you c a n ob tain b etter trac -
tion b y starting the vehic le with the transmission in 2nd than 1st (b oth for
MT and AT).
Refer to the “Automatic transmission ” sec tion in this c hap ter for informa-
tion on hold ing the transmission in 2nd p osition.
Corrosion protection
Refer to the “Corrosion p rotec tion ” sec tion (c hap ter 9).

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Vehicle capacity weight
HS0251
HS0250
Tire information label
The load c ap ac ity of your vehic le is d etermined b y weig ht, not b y avail-
ab le c arg o sp ac e. The maximum load you c an c arry in your vehic le is
shown as the Vehic le Cap ac ity Weig ht on the tire in formation lab el at-
tac hed to the d river ’s sid e d oor jamb . It inc lud es the total weig ht of d river
and all p asseng ers and their b elong ing s, any op tion al eq uip ment suc h
as a trailer hitc h, roof rac k or b ike c arrier, etc . , and the tong ue load of a
trailer.
The tire information lab el also shows rec ommend ed t ire inflation p ressure
und er full load ing and trailer towing c ond itions. A d just tire inflation p res-
sures ac c ord ing to the load ing c ond itions. For the tire inflation p ressures,
refer to the “Tires and wheel ” sec tion in Chap ter 10.

7-48
GVWR and GAWR (Gross Vehicle Weight Rating and
Gross Axle Weight Rating)
HS0143
Certification plate
The c ertific ation p late attac hed to the d river ’s sid e d oor jamb shows
GVWR (Gross Vehic le Weig ht Rating ) and GAWR (Gross Axle Weig ht
Rating ).
The GVW (Gross Vehic le Weig ht) must never exc eed th e GVWR. GVW is
the c omb ined total of weig ht of the vehic le, fuel, d river, all p asseng ers,
lug g ag e, any op tional eq uip ment and trailer tong ue load . Therefore, the
GVW c hang es d ep end ing on the situation. The GVWR eq uals Curb
Weig ht (ac tual weig ht of your vehic le – inc lud ing stand ard eq uip ment,
fluid s, emerg enc y tools and sp are tire assemb ly) p l us the vehic le c ap ac -
ity weig ht.
In ad d ition, the total weig ht ap p lied to eac h axle (GAW) must never ex-
c eed the GAWR. The front and rear GAWs c an b e ad jus ted b y reloc ating
lug g ag e insid e the vehic le.
Even if the total weig ht of your lug g ag e is lower t han the vehic le c ap ac ity
weig ht, either front or rear GAW may exc eed the GAW R, d ep end ing on
the d istrib ution of the lug g ag e.
If you c arry heavy load s in the vehic le, you should c onfirm that GVW and
front and rear GAWs are within the GVWR and GAWR b y p utting your
vehic le on a vehic le sc ale, found at a c ommerc ial w eig hing station.
Do not use rep lac ement tires with a lower load rang e than the orig inals
b ec ause they may lower the GVWR and GAWR limitation s. Rep lac ement

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tires with a hig her load rang e than the orig inals d
o not inc rease the
GVWR and GAWR limitations.
Trailer towing
Your c ar is d esig ned and intend ed to b e used p rimar ily as a p asseng er-
c arrying vehic le. Towing a trailer p uts ad d itional load s on your c ar’s en-
g ine, d rivetrain, b rakes, tires and susp ension and has an ad verse effec t
on fuel ec onomy.
If you d o d ec id e to tow a trailer, your safety and satisfac tion d ep end
up on p rop er use of c orrec t eq uip ment and c autious o p eration of your ve-
hic le. Seek the ad vic e of your SUBARU d ealer to ass ist you in p urc has-
ing a hitc h and other nec essary towing eq uip ment ap p rop riate for your
vehic le. In ad d ition, b e sure to follow the instruc tions on c orrec t installa-
tion and use p rovid ed b y the trailer and other towi ng eq uip ment
manufac turers.
SUBARU assumes no resp onsib ility for injuries or ve hic le d amag e that
result from trailer towing eq uip ment, or from any e rrors or omissions in
the instruc tions ac c omp anying suc h eq uip ment or for your failure to fol-
low the p rop er instruc tions.
Warranties and maintenance
SUBARU warranties d o not ap p ly to vehic le d amag e or malfunc tion
c aused b y trailer towing . If you use your vehic le t o tow a trailer, more
freq uent maintenanc e will b e req uired d ue to the ad d itional load .
(Refer to “Maintenanc e sc hed ule und er severe d riving c ond ition s” in
the Warranty and Maintenanc e Booklet.)
Und er no c irc umstanc es should a trailer b e towed wi th a new vehic le
or a vehic le with any new p owertrain c omp onent (eng ine, transmis-
sion, d ifferential, wheel b earing s, etc .) for the f irst 1,000 miles (1,600
km) of d riving .