54GETTING TO KNOW YOUR CAR
ADJUSTING THE FRONT
FOGLIGHTS
The foglight beam can be adjusted by
means of screw A-fig. 79.
Have the lights checked at a Fiat
Dealershipand adjusted if necessary. If you have never driven a car with
ABS before, you should practice using
the system on slippery terrain, obvi-
ously with the necessary safety pre-
cautions and keeping to the Highway
Code of the country you are in. It is
also a good idea to read the following
information carefully.
The advantage in using the ABS sys-
tem is that it continues to give you
maximum manoeuvrability even when
braking hard in conditions of poor grip
by preventing the wheels locking.
You should, however, not expect
the braking distance to always de-
crease: for example surfaces with
gravel or fresh snow on a slippery
road will in fact increase the braking
distance.
To exploit the ABS system to the full
in the event of necessity, you should
take heed of the following advice:ABS
The car is fitted with an ABS braking
system, which prevents the wheels
from locking when braking, makes the
most of road grip and gives the best
control when emergency braking un-
der difficult road conditions.
The driver can tell the ABS system
has come into play because the brake
pedal pulsates slightly and the system
gets noisier.
This should not be interpreted as a
fault in the brakes; on the contrary it
is a sign that the ABS system is work-
ing: it tells the driver that the car is
travelling at the limit of its road grip
and that the speed should be altered
to fit the type of road surface.
The ABS is an addition to the basic
braking system. If there is a malfunc-
tion, the system turns off automati-
cally and only the ordinary brakes
continue to work.
If a failure occurs, and, consequently,
the wheel anti-locking system is not
effective, the braking system will con-
tinue to work as usual.
fig. 79 Versione S and Active
P4Q01017
75DRIVING YOUR CAR
DRIVING AT NIGHT
If you are driving at night these are
the main rules to follow.
– Drive especially carefully: it is
harder to drive at night.
– Slow down especially if the road is
not lit.
– At the first signs of sleepiness,
stop: continuing would be a risk for
yourself and everybody else. Only
start driving again when you have had
enough rest.
– Keep a greater safety distance
from the cars in front of you than dur-
ing daylight hours: it is hard to judge
how fast other cars are going when all
you can see are their lights.
– Make sure the headlight beams are
properly positioned: if they are too
low, they reduce visibility and strain
your eyes. If they are too high they
can dazzle other drivers.
– Only use main beam headlights
when you are driving outside town
and when you are sure they do not
annoy other drivers. – Dip main-beam headlights (if on) as
soon as you see cars coming in the
other direction and pass them with
the headlights dipped.
– Keep all lights clean.
– Be careful of animals crossing the
road when driving in the country.
DRIVING IN THE RAIN
Rain and wet road surfaces spell dan-
ger.
All manoeuvres are more difficult on
a wet road because the grip of the
wheels on the tarmac is greatly re-
duced. This is why braking distances
are much longer and road-holding is
lower.
Here is some advice for driving in
the rain:
– Reduce speed and maintain a
greater safety distance from the cars
in front.
– If it is raining particularly heavily,
visibility is also reduced. In these
cases, switch on the dipped headlightseven if it is still daylight so you can be
seen more easily.
– Do not drive through puddles at
speed and hold on tightly to the wheel
if you do: a puddle taken at high speed
might cause you to lose control of the
car (“aquaplaning”).
– Move the ventilation controls to
the position for demisting the win-
dows (see
GETTING TO KNOW YOUR
CAR
), to avoid visibility problems.
– Periodically check the condition of
the windscreen wiper blades.
DRIVING IN FOG
– If the fog is thick, do not start out
on a journey unless you absolutely
have to.
If driving in mist, blanket fog or when
there is the danger of fog patches:
– keep your speed down;
– turn on the dipped headlights, rear
fog lights and front fog lights, if fitted,
even during the day. Do not drive
with your headlights at full-beam.
