59
Driving your vehicle
E050200APB
Good driving practices
• Never take the vehicle out of gear and
coast down a hill. This is extremely
hazardous. Always leave the vehicle in
gear.
• Don't "ride" the brakes. This can cause
them to overheat and malfunction.
Instead, when you are driving down a
long hill, slow down and shift to a lower
gear. When you do this, engine braking
will help slow down the vehicle.
• Slow down before shifting to a lower
gear. This will help avoid over-revving
the engine, which can cause damage.
• Slow down when you encounter cross
winds. This gives you much better con-
trol of your vehicle.
• Be sure the vehicle is completely
stopped before you attempt to shift into
R (Reverse). The transaxle can be
damaged if you do not. To shift into R
(Reverse), depress the clutch, move
the shift lever to neutral, wait three
seconds, then shift to the R (Reverse)
position.
• Exercise extreme caution when driving
on a slippery surface. Be especially
careful when braking, accelerating or
shifting gears. On a slippery surface,
an abrupt change in vehicle speed can
cause the drive wheels to lose traction
and the vehicle to go out of control.
WARNING
• Always buckle-up! In a collision,
an unbelted occupant is signifi-
cantly more likely to be seriously
injured or killed than a properly
belted occupant.
• Avoid high speeds when corner-
ing or turning.
• Do not make quick steering
wheel movements, such as sharp
lane changes or fast, sharp turns.
• The risk of rollover is greatly
increased if you lose control of
your vehicle at highway speeds.
• Losing control often occurs if two
or more wheels drop off the road-
way and the driver oversteers to
reenter the roadway.
• In the event your vehicle leaves
the roadway, do not steer sharply.
Instead, slow down before
pulling back into the travel lanes.
• Never exceed posted speed lim-
its.
Driving your vehicle
14 5
E060200APB
Good driving practices
• Never move the shift lever from P
(Park) or N (Neutral) to any other posi-
tion with the accelerator pedal
depressed.
• Never move the shift lever into P
(Park) when the vehicle is in motion.
• Be sure the vehicle is completely
stopped before you attempt to shift into
R (Reverse) or D (Drive).
• Never take the vehicle out of gear and
coast down a hill. This may be
extremely hazardous. Always leave
the car in gear when moving.
• Do not "ride" the brakes. This can
cause them to overheat and malfunc-
tion. Instead, when you are driving
down a long hill, slow down and shift to
a lower gear. When you do this, engine
braking will help slow down the vehi-
cle.
• Slow down before shifting to a lower
gear. Otherwise, the lower gear may
not be engaged.
• Always use the parking brake. Do not
depend on placing the transaxle in P
(Park) to keep the vehicle from mov-
ing.
• Exercise extreme caution when driving
on a slippery surface. Be especially
careful when braking, accelerating or
shifting gears. On a slippery surface,
an abrupt change in vehicle speed cancause the drive wheels to lose traction
and the vehicle to go out of control.
• Optimum vehicle performance and
economy is obtained by smoothly
depressing and releasing the accelera-
tor pedal.
E060203AFD
Moving up a steep grade from a stand-
ing start
To move up a steep grade from a stand-
ing start, depress the brake pedal, shift
the shift lever to D (Drive). Select the
appropriate gear depending on load
weight and steepness of the grade, and
release the parking brake. Depress the
accelerator gradually while releasing the
service brakes.
WARNING
• Always buckle-up! In a collision,
an unbelted occupant is signifi-
cantly more likely to be seriously
injured or killed than a properly
belted occupant.
• Avoid high speeds when corner-
ing or turning.
• Do not make quick steering
wheel movements, such as sharp
lane changes or fast, sharp turns.
• The risk of rollover is greatly
increased if you lose control of
your vehicle at highway speeds.
• Losing control often occurs if two
or more wheels drop off the road-
way and the driver oversteers to
reenter the roadway.
• In the event your vehicle leaves
the roadway, do not steer sharply.
Instead, slow down before
pulling back into the travel lanes.
• Never exceed posted speed lim-
its.
WARNING
If your vehicle becomes stuck in
snow, mud, sand, etc., then you
may attempt to rock the vehicle free
by moving it forward and back-
ward. Do not attempt this proce-
dure if people or objects are any-
where near the vehicle. During the
rocking operation the vehicle may
suddenly move forward of back-
ward as it becomes unstuck, caus-
ing injury or damage to nearby peo-
ple or objects.
