Front seats........................................................... 1-2
Fore and aft adjustment ....................................... 1-3
Reclining the seatback ........................................ 1-3
Seat cushion height adjustment (Driver ’s seat) ................................................... 1-4
Head restraint adjustment (if equipped) ................ 1-4
Active head restraint (if equipped) ....................... 1-4
Seat heater (if equipped) .................................... 1-5
Rear seats ............................................................ 1-6
Armrest (if equipped) ........................................... 1-7
Head restraint adjustment –Wagon ..................... 1-7
Folding down the rear seatback –Wagon. ............ 1-8
Seatbelts .............................................................. 1-9
Seatbelt safety tips .............................................. 1-9
Emergency Locking Retractor (ELR) ................... 1-11
Automatic/Emergency Locking Retractor (A/ELR) ............................................................ 1-11
Seatbelt warning light and chime ........................ 1-11
Fastening the seatbelt ........................................ 1-12
Seatbelt maintenance ......................................... 1-18
Seatbelt extender ............................................... 1-18 Front seatbelt pretensioners
............................. 1-19
System monitors ............................................... 1-20
System servicing ............................................... 1-21
Precautions against vehicle modification ............ 1-22
Child restraint systems ..................................... 1-22
Where to place a child restraint system .............. 1-23
Choosing a child restraint system ...................... 1-25
Installing child restraint systems with A/ELR seatbelt ........................................................... 1-25
Installing a booster seat ..................................... 1-28
Installation of child restraint systems by use of lower and tether anchorages (LATCH) .............. 1-29
Top tether anchorages ....................................... 1-32
*SRS airbag (Supplemental Restraint System airbag) ................................................ 1-35
Vehicle with driver ’s and front passenger ’s SRS
airbags and lap/shoulder restraints .................. 1-35
Subaru advanced frontal airbag system .............. 1-39
SRS side airbag ................................................. 1-50
SRS airbag system monitors .............................. 1-55
SRS airbag system servicing ... .......................... 1-56
Precautions against vehicle modification ............ 1-57
Seat, seatbelt and SRS airbags1
tems, see the“Child restraint sys-
tems ”section in this chapter.
& Fore and aft adjustment
Pull the lever upward and slide the seat to
the desired position. Then release the
lever and move the seat back and forth to
make sure that it is securely locked intoplace. &
Reclining the seatback
Pull the reclining lever up and adjust the
seatback to the desired position. Then
release the lever and make sure the
seatback is securely locked into place.
The seatback placed in a reclined position
can spring back upward with force when
released. When operating the reclining
lever to return the seatback, hold it lightly
so that it may be raised back gradually.WARNING
To prevent the passenger from slid-
ing under the seatbelt in the event of
a collision, always put the seatback
in the upright position while the
vehicle is in motion. Also, do not
place objects such as cushions
between the passenger and the
seatback. If you do so, the risk of
sliding under the lap belt and of the
lap belt sliding up over the abdomen
will increase, and both can result in
serious internal injury or death. Seat, seatbelt and SRS airbags
1-3
– CONTINUED –
1-4Seat, seatbelt and SRS airbags
&Seat cushion height adjust-
ment (Driver ’s seat)
1) When the lever is pushed down, the seat
is lowered.
2) When the lever is pulled up, the seat rises.
The height of the seat can be adjusted by
moving the seat cushion adjustment lever
up and down. &
Head restraint adjustment (if equipped)To raise the head restraint, pull it up.
To lower it, push the head restraint down
while pressing the release button on the
top of the seatback.
The head restraint should be adjusted so
that the center of the head restraint is
closest to the top of the occupant ’s ears.
WARNING
Never drive the vehicle with the
head restraints removed because
they are designed to reduce the risk
of serious neck injury in the event
that the vehicle is struck from the
rear. &
Active head restraint (if equipped)
The front seats of your vehicle are
equipped with active head restraints. They
automatically tilt forward slightly in the
event the vehicle is struck from the rear,
decreasing the amount of rearward head
movement and thus reducing the risk of
whiplash. For maximum effectiveness, the
head restraint should be adjusted so that
the center of the head restraint is closest
to the top of the occupant ’s ears.
CAUTION
. Each active head restraint is
effective only when its height is
properly adjusted and driver/pas-
senger sits in the correct posi-
&Armrest (if equipped)
To lower the armrest, pull on the top edge
of the armrest.
WARNING
To avoid the possibility of serious
injury, passengers must never be
allowed to sit on the center armrest
while the vehicle is in motion. !
Loading long objects
Folding down the armrest and opening the
seatback panel affords a loading space for
long objects.
To open the seatback panel, pull the
release tab.
WARNING
. Secure long objects properly to
prevent them from shooting for-
ward and causing serious injury
during a sudden stop or sharp
cornering. Tie long objects down
with a rope or something equiva-lent.
. Avoid loading objects longer
than 6.6 ft (2 m) and heavier than
55 lbs (25 kg). Such objects can interfere with the driver
’s proper
operation of the vehicle, possibly
causing an accident and serious
injury.
& Head restraint adjustment –
Wagon
WARNING
Never drive the vehicle with the
head restraints removed because
they are designed to reduce the risk
of serious neck injury in the event
that the vehicle is struck from the
rear. Seat, seatbelt and SRS airbags
1-7
– CONTINUED –
WARNING
Do not attach accessories to the
windshield, or fit an extra-wide mir-
ror over the rear view mirror. If the
SRS airbag deploys, those objects
could become projectiles that could
seriously injure vehicle occupants.
! Driver ’s SRS frontal airbag
The driver ’s SRS frontal airbag uses a
dual stage inflator. The inflator operates in
different ways depending on the severity
of impact, backward-forward adjustment
of the driver ’s seat position and whether or
not he/she is wearing the seatbelt.
The backward-forward adjustment of the driver ’s seat position is monitored by the driver
’s seat position sensor under the
driver ’s seat.
Whether or not the driver is wearing the
seatbelt is monitored by the seatbelt
buckle switch.
Observe the following precautions. Failure
to do so may cause the seatbelt buckle
switch and/or the seat position sensor to
malfunction, preventing the Subaru ad-
vanced frontal airbag system from func-
tioning correctly or causing the system tofail. . Do not place articles/metal objects or
install any accessory other than a genuine
SUBARU accessory under the driver ’s
seat. Do not allow the rear seat occupant
to kick the driver ’s seat or push up its
bottom surface with his/her feet. . Do not place a magnet near the
seatbelt buckle or under the driver ’s seat.
If the seatbelt buckle switch and/or the driver ’s seat position sensor have failed,
the SRS airbag system warning light will
illuminate. Although the driver ’sSRS
frontal airbag can deploy regardless of
the backward-forward adjustment of the
driver ’s seat position even when the
warning light is on, have the system
inspected by your SUBARU dealer im-
mediately if the SRS airbag system warn-
ing light comes on. NOTE
The driver
’s SRS side airbag and
seatbelt pretensioner are not controlled
by the Subaru advanced frontal airbagsystem. ! Front passenger ’s SRS frontal air-
bag
The front passenger ’s SRS frontal airbag
uses a dual stage inflator. The inflator
operates in different ways depending on
the severity of impact.
The total load on the seat is monitored by
the occupant detection system ’s weight
sensor located under the seat.
The system has another sensor that
monitors the tension of the front passen-
ger seatbelt. Using the total seat load and
seatbelt tension data from the sensors,
the occupant detection system determines
whether the front passenger ’s SRS frontal
airbag should or should not be inflated.
The occupant detection system may not
inflate the front passenger ’s SRS frontal
airbag even when the driver ’s SRS frontal
airbag deploys. This is normal.
Observe the following precautions. Failure
to do so may prevent the Subaru ad-
vanced frontal airbag system from func-
tioning correctly or cause the system to fail. Seat, seatbelt and SRS airbags
1-41
– CONTINUED –
The SRS airbag can function only when
the ignition switch is in the“ON ”position.
The Subaru advanced frontal airbag sys-
tem is designed to determine the activa-
tion or deactivation condition of the frontpassenger ’s SRS frontal airbag depend-
ing on the total load on the front passen-ger ’s seat monitored by the front passen-
ger ’s occupant detection system weight
sensor. For this reason, only the driver ’s
SRS frontal airbag may deploy in the
event of a collision, but this does not mean
failure of the system.
If the front sub sensors inside both front
fenders and the impact sensors in the
airbag control module detect a predeter-
mined amount of force during a frontal
collision, the control module sends signals
to the airbag module(s) (only driver ’s
module or both driver ’s and front passen-
ger ’s modules) instructing the module(s)
to inflate the SRS frontal airbag(s). Thedriver ’s and front passenger ’s SRS frontal
airbags use dual stage inflators.
The two inflators of each airbag are
triggered either sequentially or simulta-
neously, depending on the severity of
impact, backward-forward adjustment of
the driver ’s seat position and fastening/
unfastening of the seatbelt in the case of
the driver ’s SRS frontal airbag and de-
pending on the severity of impact and the total load on the seat in the case of the
front passenger
’s SRS frontal airbag. After
deployment, the SRS airbag immediately
starts to deflate so that the driver ’s vision
is not obstructed. The time required from
detecting impact to the deflation of the
SRS airbag after deployment is shorter
than the blink of an eye.
Both when only the driver ’s SRS frontal
airbag deploys and the driver ’s and front
passenger ’s SRS frontal airbags deploy,
the driver ’s and front passenger ’s seatbelt
pretensioners operate at the same time.
Although it is highly unlikely that the SRS
airbag would activate in a non-accident
situation, should it occur, the SRS airbag
will deflate quickly, not obscuring vision
and will not interfere with the driver ’s
ability to maintain control of the vehicle.
When the SRS airbag deploys, a sudden,
fairly loud inflation noise will be heard and
some smoke will be released. These
occurrences are a normal result of the
deployment. This smoke does not indicate
a fire in the vehicle.
CAUTION
Do not touch the SRS airbag system
components around the steering
wheel and dashboard with bare hands right after deployment. Doing
so can cause burns because the
components can be very hot as a
result of deployment.
The driver ’s SRS frontal airbag and front
passenger ’s SRS frontal airbag are de-
signed to deploy in the event of an
accident involving a moderate to severe
frontal collision. It is basically not designed
to deploy in lesser frontal impacts be-
cause the necessary protection can be
achieved by the seatbelt alone. Also, they
are basically not designed to deploy in
side or rear impacts or in roll-over acci-
dents because deployment of only thedriver ’s SRS frontal airbag or both driver ’s
and front passenger ’s SRS frontal airbags
would not help the occupant in those
situations. The driver ’s and front passen-
ger ’s SRS frontal airbags are designed to
function on a one-time-only basis.
SRS airbag deployment depends on the
level of force experienced in the passen-
ger compartment during a collision. That
level differs from one type of collision to
another, and it may have no bearing on
the visible damage done to the vehicleitself. Seat, seatbelt and SRS airbags
1-47
– CONTINUED –
7-6Starting and operating
CAUTION
Resultant vehicle damage due to
improper testing is not covered
under the SUBARU Limited War-
ranty and is the responsibility of
the state inspection program or its
contractors or licensees.
The EPA has issued regulations for
inspecting the On-Board Diagnostic
(OBD) system as part of the state emis-
sions inspection. The OBD system is
designed to detect engine and transmis-
sion problems that might cause vehicle
emissions to exceed allowable limits.
These inspections apply to all 1996 model
year and newer passenger cars and light
trucks. Over 30 states plus the District of
Columbia have implemented the OBD
system inspection. . The inspection of the OBD system
consists of a visual operational check of the “CHECK ENGINE ”warning light/mal-
function indicator lamp (MIL) and an
examination of the OBD system with an
electronic scan tool while the engine isrunning. . Avehicle
passes the OBD system
inspection if proper the “CHECK ENGINE ”
warning light/MIL illumination is observed,
there is nostored diagnostic trouble codes, and the OBD system readiness
monitors are complete. .
A vehicle
fails the OBD inspection if the
“ CHECK ENGINE ”warning light/MIL is
not properly operating or there are one or
more diagnostic trouble codes stored in
the vehicle ’s computer with the “CHECK
ENGINE ”warning light/MIL illuminated.
. A state emission inspection may reject
(not pass or fail) a vehicle if the number of
OBD system readiness monitors “Not
Ready ”is greater than one. Under this
condition, the vehicle operator should be
instructed to drive his/her vehicle for a few
days to set the monitors and return for an
emission re-inspection. . Owners of rejected or failing vehicles
should contact their SUBARU Dealer for service. Preparing to drive
You should perform the following checks
and adjustments every day before you
start driving.
1. Check that all windows, mirrors, and
lights are clean and unobstructed.
2. Check the appearance and condition
of the tires. Also check tires for properinflation.
3. Look under the vehicle for any sign of leaks.
4. Check that the hood, trunk (Sedan)
and rear gate (Wagon) are fully closed.
5. Check the adjustment of the seat.
6. Check the adjustment of the inside
and outside mirrors.
7. Fasten your seatbelt. Check that your
passengers have fastened their seatbelts.
8. Check the operation of the warning
and indicator lights when the ignition
switch is turned to the
“ON ”position.
9. Check the gauges, indicator and warn-
ing lights after starting the engine.
NOTE
Engine oil, engine coolant, brake fluid,
washer fluid and other fluid levels
should be checked daily, weekly or at
fuel stops.
14-4Index
Driver ’s Control Center Differential ............................... 7-12
Auto indicator light ................................................. 3-20
Indicator light ......................................................... 3-21
Driving All-Wheel Drive vehicle ........................................... 3-19
Car phone/cell phone .................................................. 7
Drinking ..................................................................... 6
Drugs ........................................................................ 6
Foreign countries ..................................................... 8-4
Pets .......................................................................... 7
Snowy and icy roads ................................................ 8-9
Tips........................................................ 7-10, 7-12, 8-5
Tired or sleepy. ........................................................... 7
E
Electrical system ........................................................ 12-3
Electronic Brake Force Distribution (EBD) system ........................................................... 3-18, 7-23
Emergency Locking Retractor (ELR) ............................. 1-11
Engine Compartment overview ........................................... 11-6
Coolant ................................................................ 11-13
Exhaust gas (Carbon monoxide) ............................ 6, 8-2
Hood .................................................................... 11-4
Oil........................................................................ 11-8Overheating .......................................................... 9-11
Starting ................................................................... 7-7
Stopping ................................................................. 7-8
Exterior care .............................................................. 10-2 F
Flat tires
..................................................................... 9-4
Floor mat .................................................................... 6-9
Fluid level Automatic transmission ......................................... 11-20
Brake .................................................................. 11-25
Clutch ................................................................. 11-26
Power steering ..................................................... 11-24
Front
Differential gear oil ................................................ 11-21
Fog light .............................................................. 11-49
Seatbelt pretensioners ............................................ 1-19
Seats ..................................................................... 1-2
Turn signal light .................................................... 11-49
Fuel ........................................................................... 7-2
Economy hints ........................................................ 8-2
Filler lid and cap ...................................................... 7-4
Gauge ............................................................ 3-8, 3-12
Requirements ......................................................... 7-2
Fuses ..................................................................... 11-42
Fuses and circuits ...................................................... 12-6
G
GAWR (Gross Axle Weight Rating) ............................... 8-14
Glove box ................................................................... 6-4
GVWR (Gross Vehicle Weight Rating) ... ........................ 8-14
H
Hazard warning flasher .......................................... 3-6, 9-2
Head restraint adjustment ............................................. 1-4
Rear ...................................................................... 1-7