2007 KIA Sorento Hand brake

13
Introduction
VEHICLE HANDLING
INSTRUCTIONSAs with other vehicles of this type, failure
to operate this vehicle correctly may
result in loss of control, an accident or
vehicle rollover. Specific design charac-
teristics (higher ground clearance, track,
etc.) give this vehicle a higher center of
gravity than ordinary cars. They are not
designed for cornering at the same
speeds as conventional 2-wheel drive
vehicles. Avoid sharp turns or abrupt
maneuvers. Again, failure to operate this
vehicle correctly may result in loss of
control, an accident or vehicle rollover.
Be sure to read the “on-pavement’’
and “off-road’’ driving guidelines,
Section 5 in this manual.
VEHICLE BREAK-IN PROCESSNo special break-in period is needed. By
following a few simple precautions for the
first 1,000 km (600 miles) you may add to
the performance, economy and life of
your vehicle.
 Do not race the engine.
 Do not maintain a single speed for longperiods of time, either fast or slow.
Varying engine speed is needed to
properly break-in the engine.
 Avoid hard stops, except in emergen- cies, to allow the brakes to seat prop-
erly.
 Avoid full-throttle starts.

37
Knowing your vehicle
Operating door locks from out-
side the vehicle Turn the key toward rear of vehicle tounlock and toward front of vehicle to
lock.
Turn the key toward front of vehicle to lock all doors.
Turn the key to the right once to unlock the driver’s door and to the right twice
within 4 seconds to unlock all doors. (if
equipped) Doors can also be locked and
unlocked with the transmitter key (if
equipped).
Once the doors are unlocked, it may be opened by pulling the door handle.
When closing the door, push the door by hand. Make sure that doors are
closed securely.
✽ ✽ NOTICEIn cold and wet climates door lock and
door mechanisms may not work proper-
ly due to freezing conditions.
To lock a door without the key, push the
inside door lock switch (
➀) to the “LOCK”
position and close the door (
➁).
✽ ✽ NOTICEAlways remove the ignition key, engage
the parking brake, close all windows
and lock all doors when leaving your
vehicle unattended.
DOOR LOCKS
E2BLA302
LOCK
UNLOCK
6BLA304
➀
➁

357
Knowing your vehicle
Curtain air bagCurtain air bags are located along both
sides of the roof rails above the front and
rear doors.
They are designed to help protect the
heads of the front seat occupants and
the rear outboard seat occupants in cer-
tain side impact collisions.
WARNING
The front seat passenger air bagis much larger than the steering
wheel air bag and inflates with
considerably more force. It can
seriously hurt or kill a passenger
who is not in the proper position
and wearing the safety belt prop-
erly. The front passengers should
always move their seat as far
back as practical and sit back in
their seat.
It is essential that the front pas- sengers always wear their safety
belts when vehicle is in motion,
even when the vehicle is moving
in a parking lot or up a driveway
into garage.
If the driver brakes the vehicle heavily prior to an impact, unbelt-
ed occupants will be thrown for-
ward. If the front passenger is not
wearing the safety belts, they will
be directly in front of the air bags
when deployment occurs. In that
situation, serious injury or death
is possible.
(Continued)
(Continued)
Never allow front passenger toput their hands, feet or face on or
close to the instrument panel. In
the event of air bag deployment,
such a mispositioned occupant
would be likely to suffer severe
injury or death.
Never allow children/old and fee- ble persons/pregnant women to
sit on the front passenger’s seat.
They may be seriously injured by
the air bag inflation when air bag
deploys.
Do not put objects or stickers on the instrument panel. Do not
apply any accessory to the front
windshield. Do not install after-
market mirrors or accessories on
the factory-installed rearview mir-
ror. Any of these could interfere
with the deployment of the air bag
or could hit your body at high
speed and cause severe bodily
injury and even death.
S2BLA351

43
Driving your vehicle
START
Turn the ignition key to the START posi-
tion to start the engine. The engine will
crank until you release the key; then it
returns to the ON position. The brake
warning lamp can be checked in this
position.✽ ✽NOTICEIf difficulty is experienced in turning the
ignition key, turn the steering wheel
right and left to release the tension and
then turn the key.
Automatic transmissionWhen turning the ignition switch to the
LOCK position, the shift lever must be in
the P (Park) position.
WARNING
- Ignition key
• Never turn the ignition switch to
LOCK or ACC while the vehicle is
moving. This would result in loss
of directional control and braking
function, which could cause an
immediate accident.
Before leaving the driver’s seat, always make sure the shift lever
is engaged in 1
stgear for manual
transmission or P (Park) for auto-
matic transmission, set the park-
ing brake fully and shut the
engine off. Unexpected and sud-
den vehicle movement may occur
if these precautions are not
taken.
(Continued)
(Continued)
Never reach for the ignitionswitch, or any other controls
through the steering wheel while
the vehicle is in motion. The pres-
ence of your hand or arm in this
area could cause a loss of vehicle
control, an accident and serious
bodily injury or death.
Do not place any movable objects around the driver’s seat as they
may move while driving, interfere
with the driver and lead to an
accident.

417
Driving your vehicle
If you need to drive in water, stop yourvehicle, set your transfer knob to 4LO
or LOW and drive at less than 8 km/h
(5 mph). Do not drive in water if the level is high-
er than the bottom of the wheel hubs.
Check your brake condition once you are out of mud or water. Press the
brake pedal several times as you move
slowly until you feel normal braking
forces return.
Shorten your scheduled maintenance interval if you drive off-road in condi-
tions such as sand, mud or water (see
“Scheduled Maintenance’’ in the
Index). Always wash your car thor-
oughly.
The full time four wheel drive vehicle cannot be towed by an ordinarily tow
truck. Make sure that the vehicle is
towed with its four wheels raised off the
ground.
Since the driving torque is always applied to the 4 wheels the perform-
ance of the 4WD vehicle is greatly
affected by the condition of the tires.
Be sure to equip them with all four tires
with same size and type.
WARNING
If you are driving in heavy wind, the
vehicle’s higher center of gravity
decreases your steering control.
Drive more slowly than you would
in calm conditions.
WARNING
- Drivingthrough water
If you are driving too fast in water,
the water spray can get into the
engine compartment and wet the
ignition system, causing your vehi-
cle to suddenly stop. If this hap-
pens and your vehicle is in a tilted
position, your vehicle may roll over.
WARNING
Your vehicle is equipped with tires
designed to provide for safe ride
and handling capability.
Do not use a size and type of tire
and wheel that is different from the
one that is originally installed on
your vehicle. It can affect the safety
and performance of your vehicle,
which could lead to handling failure
or rollover and serious injury.
When replacing the tires, be sure to
equip all four tires with the tire and
wheel of the same size, type, tread,
brand and load-carrying capacity. If
you nevertheless decide to equip
your vehicle with any tire/wheel
combination not recommended by
Kia for off road driving, you should
not use these tires for highway driv-
ing.

421
Driving your vehicle
Disc brakes wear indicator Your vehicle has disc brakes.
When your brake pads are worn and it's
time for new pads, you will hear a high-
pitched warning sound from your front
brakes or rear brakes (if equipped). You
may hear this sound come and go or it
may occur whenever you depress the
brake pedal.
Please remember that some driving
conditions or climates may cause a
brake squeal when you first apply (or
lightly apply) the brakes. This is nor-
mal and does not indicate a problem
with your brakes.
✽ ✽NOTICETo avoid costly brake repairs, do not
continue to drive with worn brake pads.
Parking brake To apply the parking brake, pull the park-
ing brake handle fully and firmly upward
while applying the service brake.
WARNING
- Brake wear
This brake wear warning sound
means your vehicle needs service.
If you ignore this audible warning,
you will eventually lose braking per-
formance, which could lead to a
serious accident.
CAUTION
Always replace brake pads as com-
plete front or rear axle sets toensure smooth brake performance.
E2BLA416Z
CAUTION
Driving with the parking brakeapplied will cause excessive brake pad and brake rotor wear.

Driving your vehicle22
4To release the parking brake, pull the
handle up slightly and push the release
button, then lower the handle to the
released position while holding the but-
ton in. Check the brake warning light by turning
the ignition switch ON (do not start the
engine). This light will be illuminated
when the parking brake is applied with
the ignition switch in the START or ON
position.
Before driving, be sure the parking brake
is fully released and the brake warning
light is off.
If the brake warning light remains on
after the parking brake is released, there
may be a malfunction in the brake sys-
tem. Immediate attention is necessary.
If at all possible, cease driving the vehi-
cle immediately. If that is not possible,
use extreme caution while operating the
vehicle and only continue to drive the
vehicle until you can reach a safe loca-
tion or repair shop.
WARNING
- Parking brake
To prevent unintentional move-
ment when stopped, do not use
just the gear shift lever to hold
the vehicle in position. Set the
parking brake AND make sure the
gearshift lever is securely posi-
tioned in 1st (First) gear or R
(Reverse) for manual transmis-
sion equipped vehicles and in P
(Park) for automatic transmission
equipped vehicles.
Never allow a person who is unfa- miliar with the vehicle or children
to touch the parking brake. If the
parking brake is released unin-
tentionally, serious injury may
occur.
E2BLA417
W-75

59
Driving tips
Winter driving We recommend that you carry emer-gency equipment, including tire chains,
a window scraper, windshield deicer, a
bag of sand or salt, flares, a small
shovel and jumper cables.
 Make sure you have sufficient ethylene glycol coolant in the radiator.
 Check the battery condition and cables. Cold temperatures reduce the
capacity of any battery, so it must be in
excellent condition to provide enough
winter starting power.
 Make sure the engine oil viscosity is suitable for cold weather.
 Check the ignition system for loose connections and damage.
 Use antifreeze formulated windshield washer fluid. (Do not use engine
coolant antifreeze.)
 Do not use the parking brake if it might freeze. When parking, shift to 1 (First)
or R (Reverse) with a manual trans-
mission or P (Park) with an automatic
transmission and block the rear
wheels.
Snow tires If you mount snow tires on your Kia,
make sure they are radial tires of the
same size and load range as the original
tires. Mount snow tires on all four wheels
to balance your vehicle’s handling in all
weather conditions. Keep in mind that the
traction provided by snow tires on dry
roads may not be as high as your vehi-
cle's original equipment tires. You should
drive cautiously even when the roads are
clear. Check with the tire dealer for max-
imum speed recommendations.Do not install studded tires without firstchecking local, state and municipal regu-lations for possible restrictions againsttheir use.
Driving in flooded areas Avoid driving through flooded areas
unless you are sure the water is no high-
er than the bottom of the wheel hub.
Drive through any water slowly. Allow
adequate stopping distance because
brake performance may be affected.
After driving through water, dry the
brakes by gently applying them several
times while the vehicle is moving slowly.
WARNING
- Snow tire size
Snow tires should be equivalent in
size and type to the vehicle's stan-
dard tires. Otherwise, the safety and
handling of your vehicle may be
adversely affected.