8-4 Driving tips
Periodic inspections
To keep your vehicle in the best condition
at all times, always have the recommend-
ed maintenance services listed in the
maintenance schedule in the “Warranty
and Maintenance Booklet” performed at
the specified time or mileage intervals.Driving in foreign countries
When planning to use your vehicle in an-
other country: yConfirm the availability of the correct fu-
el. (Refer to the “Fuel requirements” sec-
tion in chapter 7.) y Comply with all regulations and require-
ments of each country.Driving tips for AWD vehicles
All-Wheel Drive distributes the engine
power to all four wheels. AWD vehicles
y Always maintain a safe driving
speed according to the road and
weather conditions in order to
avoid having an accident on a
sharp turn, during sudden braking
or under other similar conditions.
yAlways use the utmost care in
driving – overconfidence because
you are driving an All-Wheel Drive
vehicle could easily lead to a seri-
ous accident.
800004
9-6 In case of emergency
Temporary spare tire
The temporary spare tire is smaller and
lighter than a conventional tire and is de-
signed for emergency use only. Remove
the temporary spare tire and re-install the
conventional tire as soon as possible be-
cause the spare tire is designed only for
temporary use.
Check the inflation pressure of the tempo-
rary spare tire periodically to keep the tire
ready for use. The correct pressure is 60
psi (420 kPa, 4.2 kgf/cm 2
).
When using the temporary spare tire, note
the following. y Do not exceed 50 mph (80 km/h).
y Do not put a tire chain on the temporary
spare tire. Because of the smaller tire
size, a tire chain will not fit properly. y Do not use two or more temporary
spare tires at the same time. y Do not drive over obstacles. This tire
has a smaller diameter, so road clearance
is reduced. 1) Tread wear indicator bar
2) Indicator location mark
y When the wear indicator appears on the
tread, replace the tire. y The temporary spare tire must be used
only on a rear wheel. If a front wheel tire
gets punctured, replace the wheel with a
rear wheel and install the temporary spare
tire in place of the removed rear wheel.
y Never tow a trailer when the tem-
porary spare tire is used. The tem-
porary spare tire is not designed
to sustain the towing load. Use of
the temporary spare tire when
towing can result in failure of the
spare tire and/or less stability of
the vehicle and may lead to an ac-
cident.
yWhen a spare tire is mounted or a
wheel rim is replaced without the
original pressure sensor/trans-
mitter being transferred, the low
tire pressure warning light will
flash. This indicates the tire pres-
sure monitoring system (TPMS) is
unable to monitor all four road
wheels. Contact your SUBARU
dealer as soon as possible for tire
and sensor replacement and/or
system resetting.
Never use any temporary spare tire
other than the original. Using other
sizes may result in severe mechani-
cal damage to the drive train of your
vehicle.1
2
900209
In case of emergency 9-11
– CONTINUED –
Jump starting
If the low tire pressure warning light
comes on while driving, never brake
suddenly and keep driving straight
ahead while gradually reducing
speed. Then slowly pull off the road
to a safe place. Otherwise an acci-
dent involving serious vehicle dam-
age and serious personal injury
could occur.
Check the pressure for all four tires
and adjust the pressure to the COLD
tire pressure shown on the vehicle
placard on the door pillar on the
driver’s side. If this light still comes
on while driving after adjusting the
tire pressure, a tire may have signif-
icant damage and a fast leak that
causes the tire to lose air rapidly. If
you have a flat tire, replace it with a
spare tire as soon as possible.
When a spare tire is mounted or a
wheel rim is replaced without the
original pressure sensor/transmitter
being transferred, the low tire pres-
sure warning light will flash. This in-
dicates the TPMS is unable to moni-
tor all four road wheels. Contact
your SUBARU dealer as soon as
possible for tire and sensor replace-
ment and/or system resetting.
Do not inject any tire liquid or aero-
sol tire sealant into the tires, as this
may cause a malfunction of the tire
pressure sensors.
If the light flashes, promptly contact
a SUBARU dealer to have the sys-
tem inspected.
yBattery fluid is SULFURIC ACID.
Do not let it come in contact with
the eyes, skin, clothing or the ve- hicle.
If battery fluid gets on you, thor-
oughly flush the exposed area
with water immediately. Get medi-
cal help if the fluid has entered
your eyes.
If battery fluid is accidentally
swallowed, immediately drink a
large amount of milk or water, and
obtain immediate medical help.
Keep everyone including children
away from the battery.
yThe gas generated by a battery ex-
plodes if a flame or spark is
brought near it. Do not smoke or
light a match while jump starting.
yNever attempt jump starting if the
discharged battery is frozen. It
could cause the battery to burst or
explode.
Maintenance and service 11 - 2 3
– CONTINUED –
Parking brake stroke
Check the parking brake stroke according
to the maintenance schedule in the “War-
ranty and Maintenance Booklet”. When
the parking brake is properly adjusted,
braking power is fully applied by pressing
the pedal five to six notches gently but
firmly (approximately 67 lbs, 300 N, 30
kg). If the parking brake pedal stroke is not
within the specified range, have the brake
system checked and adjusted at your
SUBARU dealer.Tires and wheels „Types of tires
You should be familiar with type of tires
present on your vehicle. T All season tires
The factory-installed tires on your new ve-
hicle are all season tires.
All season tires are designed to provide
an adequate measure of traction, handling
and braking performance in year-round
driving including snowy and icy road con-
ditions. However all season tires do not of-
fer as much traction performance as win-
ter (snow) tires in heavy or loose snow or
on icy roads.
All season tires are identified by “ALL
SEASON” and/or “M+S” (Mud & Snow) on
the tire sidewall. T Summer tires
Summer tires are high-speed capability
tires best suited for highway driving under
dry conditions.
Summer tires are inadequate for driving
on slippery roads such as on snow-cov-
ered or icy roads.
If you drive your vehicle on snow-covered
or icy roads, we strongly recommend the
use of winter (snow) tires.
When installing winter tires, be sure to re- place all four tires. T
Winter (snow) tires
Winter tires are best suited for driving on
snow-covered and icy roads. However
winter tires do not perform as well as sum-
mer tires and all season tires on roads oth-
er than snow-covered and icy roads. „ Tire pressure monitoring sys- tem (TPMS)
The tire pressure monitoring system pro-
vides the driver with a warning message
by sending a signal from a sensor that is
installed in each wheel when tire pressure
is severely low. The tire pressure monitor-
ing system will activate only when the ve-
hicle is driven. Also, this system may not
react immediately to a sudden drop in tire
pressure (for example, a blow-out caused
by running over a sharp object).
If you adjust the tire pressures in a warm
garage and will then drive the vehicle in
cold outside air, the resulting drop in tire
pressures may cause the low tire pressure
warning light to come on. To avoid this
problem when adjusting the tire pressures
in a warm garage, inflate the tires to pres-
sures higher than those shown on the tire
placard. Specifically, inflate them by an
extra 1 psi (6.9 kPa, 0.07 kgf/cm 2
) for ev-
B00325
11 - 2 4 Maintenance and service
ery difference of 10 °F (5.6 °C) between the
temperature in the garage and the tem-
perature outside. By way of example, the
following table shows the required tire
pressures that correspond to various out-
side temperatures when the temperature
in the garage is 60 °F (15.6 °C).
Standard tire pressures:
Front: 33 psi (230 kPa, 2.3 kgf/cm 2
)
Rear: 32 psi (220 kPa, 2.2 kgf/cm 2
)
Garage temperature: 60 °F (15.6 °C)
If the low tire pressure warning light
comes on when you drive the vehicle in
cold outside air after adjusting the tire
pressures in a warm garage, re-adjust the
tire pressures using the method described
above. Then, increase the vehicle speed
to at least 20 mph (32 km/h) and check to
see that the low tire pressure warning light goes off a few minutes later. If the low tire
pressure warning light does not go off, the
tire pressure monitoring system may not
be functioning normally. In this event, go
to a SUBARU dealer to have the system
inspected as soon as possible.
While the vehicle is driven, friction be-
tween tires and the road surface causes
the tires to warm up. After illumination of
the low tire pressure warning light, any in-
crease in the tire pressures caused by an
increase in the outside air temperature or
by an increase in the temperature in the
tires can cause the low tire pressure warn-
ing light to go off.
System resetting is necessary when the
wheels are changed (for example, a
switch to snow tires) and new TPMS
valves are installed on the newly fitted
wheels. Have this work performed by a
SUBARU dealer following wheel replace- ment.
It may not be possible to install TPMS
valves on certain wheels that are on the
market. Therefore, if you change the
wheels (for example, a switch to snow
tires), use wheels that have the same part
number as the standard-equipment
wheels. Without four operational TPMS
valve/sensors on the wheels, the TPMS
will not fully function and the warning light
in the instrument panel will flash.
When a tire is replaced, adjustments are
necessary to ensure continued normal op- eration of the tire pressure monitoring sys-
tem. As with wheel replacement, there-
fore, you should have the work performed
by a SUBARU dealer.
Outside
temperature Adjusted pressure
[psi (kPa, kgf/cm 2
)]
front rear
30 °F (–1 °C) 36 (250, 2.5) 35 (240, 2.4)
10 °F (–12 °C) 38
(265, 2.65) 37
(255, 2.55)
–10 °F
(–23 °C) 40 (280, 2.8) 39 (270, 2.7)
If the low tire pressure warning light
does not come on briefly after the ig-
nition switch is turned ON or the
light is flashing, you should have
your Tire Pressure Monitoring Sys-
tem checked at a SUBARU dealer as
soon as possible.
If this light comes on while driving,
never brake suddenly and keep driv-
ing straight ahead while gradually
reducing speed. Then slowly pull off
the road to a safe place. Otherwise
an accident involving serious vehi-
cle damage and serious personal in-
jury could occur.