2006 PONTIAC TORRENT ABS

If the light comes on while you are driving, pull off the
road and stop carefully. You may notice that the pedal
is harder to push. Or, the pedal may go closer to
the oor. It may take longer to stop. If the light is still
on, have the vehicle towed for service. SeeTowing
Your Vehicle on page 4-36.
{CAUTION:
Your brake system may not be working
properly if the brake system warning light is
on. Driving with the brake system warning
light on can lead to an accident. If the light
is still on after you have pulled off the road
and stopped carefully, have the vehicle towed
for service.
Anti-Lock Brake System
Warning Light
With the anti-lock brake
system, the light will come
on when your engine is
started and may stay on
for several seconds.
That is normal.
If the ABS warning light comes on and stays on, there
may be a problem with the anti-lock portion of the
brake system. If the red BRAKE light is not on, you
still have brakes, but you do not have anti-lock brakes.
SeeBrake System Warning Light on page 3-28.
If the light stays on, turn the ignition to OFF. If the
light comes on when you are driving, stop as soon
as possible and turn the ignition off. Then start
the engine again to reset the system. If the light still
stays on, or comes on again while you are driving, your
vehicle needs service. If the regular brake system
warning light is not on, you still have brakes, but you
do not have anti-lock brakes. If the regular brake system
warning light is also on, you do not have anti-lock
brakes and there is a problem with your regular brakes.
SeeBrake System Warning Light on page 3-28.
3-29

Your Driving, the Road, and Your Vehicle..........4-2
Defensive Driving...........................................4-2
Drunken Driving.............................................4-3
Control of a Vehicle........................................4-5
Braking.........................................................4-6
Anti-Lock Brake System (ABS).........................4-7
Braking in Emergencies...................................4-8
Traction Control System (TCS).........................4-9
All-Wheel Drive (AWD) System.......................4-10
Steering......................................................4-11
Off-Road Recovery.......................................4-13
Passing.......................................................4-14
Loss of Control.............................................4-15
Driving at Night............................................4-16
Driving in Rain and on Wet Roads..................4-17City Driving..................................................4-20
Freeway Driving...........................................4-21
Before Leaving on a Long Trip.......................4-22
Highway Hypnosis........................................4-23
Hill and Mountain Roads................................4-24
Winter Driving..............................................4-26
If Your Vehicle is Stuck in Sand, Mud,
Ice or Snow..............................................4-30
Rocking Your Vehicle to Get It Out.................4-31
Loading Your Vehicle....................................4-31
Towing..........................................................4-36
Towing Your Vehicle.....................................4-36
Recreational Vehicle Towing...........................4-36
Towing a Trailer...........................................4-38
Section 4 Driving Your Vehicle
4-1

Anti-Lock Brake System (ABS)
Your vehicle may have anti-lock brakes. ABS is an
advanced electronic braking system that will help
prevent a braking skid.
If your vehicle has anti-lock
brakes, this warning light
on the instrument panel
will come on briey
when you start your
vehicle.
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 or pulses a little.
This is normal.Let us say the road is wet and you are driving
safely. Suddenly, an animal jumps out in front of you.
You slam on the brakes and continue braking.
Here is 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 wheel.
4-7

Momentum will carry it in whatever direction it was
headed when the wheels stopped rolling. That could
be off the road, into the very thing you were trying
to avoid, or into traffic.
If you do not have anti-lock brakes, use a “squeeze”
braking technique. This will give you maximum braking
while maintaining steering control. You can do this
by pushing on the brake pedal with steadily increasing
pressure.
In an emergency, you will probably want to squeeze
the brakes hard without locking the wheels. If you hear
or feel the wheels sliding, ease off the brake pedal.
This will help you retain steering control. If you do have
anti-lock brakes, it is different. SeeAnti-Lock Brake
System (ABS) on page 4-7.
In many emergencies, steering can help you more
than even the very best braking.Traction Control System (TCS)
Your vehicle may have a traction control system 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 to limit wheel spin.
This light will come on
when your traction control
system is limiting wheel
spin. You may feel or hear
the system working, but
this is normal.
The traction control system automatically comes on
whenever you start your vehicle. To limit wheel
spin, especially in slippery road conditions, you should
always leave the system on. But you can turn the
traction control 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 and rocking the vehicle is
required. SeeRocking Your Vehicle to Get It Out
on page 4-31.
4-9

Of course, traction is reduced when water, snow, ice,
gravel, or other material is on the road. For safety,
you will want to slow down and adjust your driving to
these conditions. It is important to slow down on slippery
surfaces because stopping distance will be longer
and vehicle control more limited.
While driving on a surface with reduced traction, try
your best to avoid sudden steering, acceleration,
or braking, including engine braking by shifting to a
lower gear. Any sudden changes could cause the tires
to slide. You may not realize the surface is slippery
until your vehicle is skidding. Learn to recognize warning
clues — such as enough water, ice, or packed snow
on the road to make a mirrored surface — and
slow down when you have any doubt.
If you have the Anti-Lock Brake System (ABS),
remember: It helps avoid only the braking skid. If you
do not have ABS, then in a braking skid, where the
wheels are no longer rolling, release enough pressure
on the brakes to get the wheels rolling again. This
restores steering control. Push the brake pedal down
steadily when you have to stop suddenly. As long as
the wheels are rolling, you will have steering control.Driving at Night
Night driving is more dangerous than day driving. One
reason is that some drivers are likely to be impaired — by
alcohol or drugs, with night vision problems, or by fatigue.
Here are some tips on night driving.
Drive defensively.
Do not drink and drive.
Adjust the inside rearview mirror to reduce the
glare from headlamps behind you.
Since you cannot see as well, you may need to
slow down and keep more space between you
and other vehicles.
Slow down, especially on higher speed roads.
Your vehicle’s headlamps can light up only so
much road ahead.
In remote areas, watch for animals.
If you are tired, pull off the road in a safe place
and rest.
No one can see as well at night as in the daytime.
But as we get older these differences increase.
A 50-year-old driver may require at least twice as much
light to see the same thing at night as a 20-year-old.
4-16

What is the worst time for this? Wet ice. Very cold
snow or ice can be slick and hard to drive on. But wet
ice can be even more trouble because it may offer
the least traction of all. You can get wet ice when it is
about freezing, 32°F (0°C), and freezing rain begins
to fall. Try to avoid driving on wet ice until salt and
sand crews can get there.
Whatever the condition — smooth ice, packed, blowing,
or loose snow — drive with caution.If you have the Traction Control System (TCS), it will
improve your ability to accelerate when driving on
a slippery road. But you can turn the TCS off if you
ever need to. You should turn the TCS off if your
vehicle ever gets stuck in sand, mud, ice, or snow.
SeeIf Your Vehicle is Stuck in Sand, Mud, Ice or
Snow on page 4-30. Even though your vehicle has TCS,
you will want to slow down and adjust your driving to
the road conditions. Under certain conditions, you
may want to turn the TCS off, such as when driving
through deep snow and loose gravel, to help maintain
vehicle motion at lower speeds. SeeTraction Control
System (TCS) on page 4-9.
If you do not have TCS, accelerate gently. Try not to
break the fragile traction. If you accelerate too fast,
the drive wheels will spin and polish the surface under
the tires even more.
Unless you have the Anti-Lock Brake System (ABS),
you will want to brake very gently, too. If you do
have ABS, seeAnti-Lock Brake System (ABS) on
page 4-7. ABS improves your vehicle’s stability when
you make a hard stop on a slippery road. Whether
you have ABS or not, you will want to begin stopping
sooner than you would on dry pavement. Without ABS,
if you feel your vehicle begin to slide, let up on the
brakes a little. Push the brake pedal down steadily to
get the most traction you can.
4-27

Remember, unless you have ABS, if you brake so
hard that your wheels stop rolling, you will just slide.
Brake so your wheels always keep rolling and you
can still steer.
Whatever your braking system, allow greater
following distance on any slippery road.
Watch for slippery spots. The road might be
ne until you hit a spot that is covered with ice.
On an otherwise clear road, ice patches may appear
in shaded areas where the sun cannot reach,
such as around clumps of trees, behind buildings,
or under bridges. Sometimes the surface of a
curve or an overpass may remain icy when the
surrounding roads are clear. If you see a patch
of ice ahead of you, brake before you are on it.
Try not to brake while you are actually on the ice,
and avoid sudden steering maneuvers.
If You Are Caught in a Blizzard
If you are stopped by heavy snow, you could be in
a serious situation. You should probably stay with
your vehicle unless you know for sure that you are
near help and you can hike through the snow.Here are some things to do to summon help and keep
yourself and your passengers safe:
Turn on your hazard ashers.
Tie a red cloth to your vehicle to alert police that
you have been stopped by the snow.
Put on extra clothing or wrap a blanket around you.
If you do not have blankets or extra clothing, make
body insulators from newspapers, burlap bags,
rags, oor mats — anything you can wrap around
yourself or tuck under your clothing to keep warm.
4-28

Parking on Hills
{CAUTION:
You really should not park your vehicle, with
a trailer attached, on a hill. If something goes
wrong, your rig could start to move. People
can be injured, and both your vehicle and
the trailer can be damaged.
But if you ever have to park your rig on a hill,
do the following:
1. Apply your regular brakes, but do not shift
into PARK (P) yet.
2. Have someone place chocks under the trailer
wheels.
3. When the wheel chocks are in place, release
the regular brakes until the chocks absorb
the load.
4. Reapply the regular brakes. Then apply your
parking brake, and then shift to PARK (P).
5. Release the regular brakes.
When You Are Ready to Leave After
Parking on a Hill
1. Apply your regular brakes and hold the pedal down
while you do the following:
Start your engine.
Shift into a gear.
Release the parking brake.
2. Let up on the brake pedal.
3. Drive slowly until the trailer is clear of the chocks.
4. Stop and have someone pick up and store
the chocks.
Maintenance When Trailer Towing
Your vehicle will need service more often when you are
pulling a trailer. See the Maintenance Schedule for more
on this. Things that are especially important in trailer
operation are automatic transaxle uid, engine oil, belts,
cooling system and brake system. Each of these is
covered in this manual, and the Index will help you nd
them quickly. If you are trailering, it is a good idea to
review these sections before you start your trip.
Check periodically to see that all hitch nuts and bolts
are tight.
4-44