2007 CHEVROLET TRAIL BLAZER steering wheel

Audio System(s)
Determine which radio your vehicle has and then
read the pages following to familiarize yourself
with its features.
Driving without distraction is a necessity for a
safer driving experience. SeeDefensive Driving
on page 306. By taking a few moments to read
this manual and get familiar with your vehicle’s
audio system, you can use it with less effort,
as well as take advantage of its features.
While your vehicle is parked, set up your audio
system by presetting your favorite radio stations,
setting the tone and adjusting the speakers.
Then, when driving conditions permit, you
can tune to your favorite stations using the
presets and steering wheel controls if the
vehicle has them.{CAUTION:
This system provides you with a far greater
access to audio stations and song listings.
Giving extended attention to entertainment
tasks while driving can cause a crash and
you or others can be injured or killed.
Always keep your eyes on the road and
your mind on the drive — avoid engaging
in extended searching while driving.
Keeping your mind on the drive is important for
safe driving. Here are some ways in which you
can help avoid distraction while driving.
While your vehicle is parked:
Familiarize yourself with all of its controls.
Familiarize yourself with its operation.
Set up your audio system by presetting your
favorite radio stations, setting the tone, and
adjusting the speakers. Then, when driving
conditions permit, you can tune to your favorite
radio stations using the presets and steering
wheel controls if the vehicle has them.
238

Theft-Deterrent Feature
THEFTLOCK®is designed to discourage theft
of your vehicle’s radio. The feature works
automatically by learning a portion of the
Vehicle Identication Number (VIN). If the
radio is moved to a different vehicle, it does
not operate and LOCKED displays.
When the radio and vehicle are turned off, the
blinking red light indicates that THEFTLOCK
®
is armed.
With THEFTLOCK
®activated, the radio does
not operate if stolen.
Audio Steering Wheel Controls
If your vehicle has this feature, some audio
functions can be adjusted at the steering wheel.
They include the following:
g(OnStar®/Mute):If your vehicle has OnStar,
press the
gbutton to interact with the OnStar
system. See theOnStar®System on page 145in
this manual for more information.
If your vehicle does not have OnStar, press the
gbutton to silence the system. Press it again,
or any other radio button, to turn on the sound.
300

Your Driving, the Road, and Your Vehicle. 306
Defensive Driving...................................... 306
Drunken Driving........................................ 307
Control of a Vehicle.................................. 310
Braking...................................................... 310
Anti-Lock Brake System (ABS).................. 311
Braking in Emergencies............................. 313
Locking Rear Axle..................................... 313
StabiliTrak
®System................................... 313
All-Wheel Drive (AWD) System
(TrailBlazer SS)...................................... 318
Steering.................................................... 318
Off-Road Recovery.................................... 320
Passing..................................................... 321
Loss of Control.......................................... 322
Competitive Driving................................... 323
Off-Road Driving (Except SS).................... 323
Driving at Night......................................... 339
Driving in Rain and on Wet Roads............ 340City Driving............................................... 344
Freeway Driving........................................ 345
Before Leaving on a Long Trip.................. 346
Highway Hypnosis..................................... 347
Hill and Mountain Roads........................... 348
Winter Driving........................................... 350
If Your Vehicle is Stuck in Sand,
Mud, Ice, or Snow................................. 354
Rocking Your Vehicle to Get It Out........... 354
Recovery Hooks........................................ 355
Loading Your Vehicle................................ 356
Adding a Snow Plow or Similar
Equipment.............................................. 362
Towing........................................................ 362
Towing Your Vehicle................................. 362
Recreational Vehicle Towing...................... 362
Electronically Controlled Air
Suspension System................................ 367
Towing a Trailer........................................ 368
Section 4 Driving Your Vehicle
305

Remember: ABS does not 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 will not have
time to apply the brakes if that vehicle suddenly
slows or stops. Always leave enough room up
ahead to stop, even though you have ABS.
Using ABS
Do not pump the brakes. Just hold the brake
pedal down rmly and let anti-lock work for you.
You might feel the brakes vibrate or notice
some noise, but this is normal.
Braking in Emergencies
With ABS, you can steer and brake at the same
time. In many emergencies, steering can help you
more than even the very best braking.
Locking Rear Axle
If your vehicle has this feature, your locking rear
axle can give you additional traction on snow, mud,
ice, sand or gravel. It works like a standard axle
most of the time, but when one of the rear wheels
has no traction and the other does, this feature will
allow the wheel with traction to move the vehicle.
StabiliTrak®System
Your vehicle is equipped with StabiliTrak®,
Electronic Stability Control (ESC) which combines
antilock brake, traction and stability control
systems and helps the driver maintain directional
control of the vehicle in most driving conditions.
Traction control activates when the controller
senses wheel spin. StabiliTrak
®will selectively
apply the brakes and reduce engine torque to
help regain traction.
Stability control activates when the controller
senses a discrepancy between your intended
path and the direction the vehicle is travelling.
StabiliTrak
®selectively applies braking pressure
at any one of the vehicle’s brakes to help guide the
vehicle in the direction which you are steering.
When you rst start your vehicle and begin to drive
away, the system performs several diagnostic
checks to insure there are no problems. You may
hear or feel the system working. This is normal
and does not mean there is a problem with
your vehicle. If driving conditions delay system
initialization, the STABILITRAK NOT READY
message may be displayed. If this is the case,
your vehicle does not need servicing.
313

StabiliTrak®will turn off automatically if a problem is
detected in the system. The StabiliTrak®light will
come on and SERVICE STABILITRAK will be
displayed on the DIC. For vehicles without a DIC,
the StabiliTrak
®light and the StabiliTrak®service
light will both come on. If the SERVICE
STABILITRAK message (or StabiliTrak
®service
light) does not clear itself after restarting the
vehicle, you should see your dealer for service.
Adding non-GM accessories can affect your
vehicle’s performance. SeeAccessories and
Modications on page 386for more information.
All-Wheel Drive (AWD) System
(TrailBlazer SS)
If your vehicle has this feature, engine power is
sent to all four wheels all the time.
This is like four-wheel drive, but there is no
separate lever or switch to engage or disengage
the front axle. It is fully automatic, and adjusts itself
as needed for road conditions.
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
It is important to take curves at a reasonable speed.
A lot of the “driver lost control” accidents mentioned
on the news happen on curves. Here is 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 is
no traction, inertia will keep the vehicle going in the
same direction. If you have ever tried to steer a
vehicle on wet ice, you will understand this.
The traction you can get in a curve depends on
the condition of the tires and the road surface, the
angle at which the curve is banked, and your
speed. While you are in a curve, speed is the
one factor you can control.
318

Suppose you are 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.
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 will
want to go slower.
If you need to reduce your speed as you approach
a curve, do it before you enter the curve, while
the 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.
Adding non-dealer/non-retailer accessories can
affect your vehicle’s performance. SeeAccessories
and Modications on page 386.Steering in Emergencies
There are times when steering can be more
effective than braking. For example, you come
over a hill and nd 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 cannot; there is not room. That
is the time for evasive action — steering around
the problem.
Your vehicle can perform very well in emergencies
like these. First apply the brakes. SeeBraking
on page 310. 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.
319

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 nd that your right wheels have dropped
off the edge of a road onto the shoulder while you
are 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 the steering
wheel to go straight down the roadway.
320

If other vehicles are lined up to pass a slow
vehicle, wait your turn. But take care that
someone is not 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 vehicle’s 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 vehicle’s inside
mirror, activate the right lane change signal
and move back into the right lane. Remember
that an outside convex mirror makes the vehicle
you just passed seem 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.
Do not overtake a slowly moving vehicle
too rapidly. Even though the brake lamps
are not ashing, it might be slowing down or
starting to turn.
If you are being passed, make it easy for the
following driver to get ahead of you. Perhaps
you can ease a little to the right.
Loss of Control
Let us review what driving experts say about what
happens when the three control systems — brakes,
steering, and acceleration — do not have enough
friction where the tires meet the road to do what the
driver has asked.
In any emergency, do not give up. Keep trying to
steer and constantly seek an escape route or
area of less danger.
Skidding
In a skid, a driver can lose control of the vehicle.
Defensive drivers avoid most skids by taking
reasonable care suited to existing conditions, and
by not overdriving those conditions. But skids
are always possible.
The three types of skids correspond to your
vehicle’s three control systems. In the braking skid,
the wheels are not rolling. In the steering or
cornering skid, too much speed or steering in a
curve causes tires to slip and lose cornering force.
And in the acceleration skid, too much throttle
causes the driving wheels to spin.
A cornering skid is best handled by easing your
foot off the accelerator pedal.
322