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Introduction
VEHICLE HANDLING
INSTRUCTIONS
As with other vehicles of this type,
failure to operate this vehicle correct-
ly may result in loss of control, an
accident or vehicle rollover.
Specific design characteristics (high-
er ground clearance, track, etc.) give
this vehicle a higher center of gravity
than other types of vehicles. In other
words they are not designed for cor-
nering at the same speeds as con-
ventional 2-wheel drive vehicles.
Avoid sharp turns or abrupt maneu-
vers. 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, in section 5 of this
manual.
VEHICLE BREAK-IN
PROCESS
No 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, econo-
my and life of your vehicle.
Do not race the engine.
Do not maintain a single speed for long periods of time, either fast or
slow. Varying engine speed is
needed to properly break-in the
engine.
Avoid hard stops, except in emer- gencies, to allow the brakes to seat
properly.
Avoid full-throttle starts.
Your vehicle at a glance
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INTERIOR OVERVIEW
1. Door lock/unlock button
2. Power window switches
3. Outside rearview mirror control switch(if equipped)
4. Hood release lever
5. Instrument panel illumination (if equipped)
6. Electronic stability control (if equipped)
7. 4WD LOCK button (if equipped)
8. Steering wheel tilt
9. Brake pedal
10. Accelerator pedal
11. Seat
12. Parking brake lever
13. Fuel filler lid release lever
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Your vehicle at a glance
INSTRUMENT PANEL OVERVIEW
1. Driver’s air bag
2. Light control / Turn signals
3. Instrument cluster
4. Wiper/Washer
5. Ignition switch
6. Steering wheel
7. Digital clock
8. Hazard
9. Audio controls (if equipped)
10. Climate control system (if equipped)
11. Passenger’s air bag
12. Vent controls
13. Glove box
14. Ashtray
15. Cigar lighter
16. Gear shift lever
17. Auto cruise controls (if equipped)
18. PASSENGER AIR BAG “OFF”indicator
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Knowing your vehicle
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(Continued)
your seatback upright and the
lap portion of the safety belt
snug and low across the hips.
This is the best position to
protect you in case of an acci-
dent.
In order to avoid unnecessary and perhaps severe airbag
injuries, always sit as far back
as possible from the steering
wheel so that your chest is at
least 250 mm (10 inches) away
from the steering wheel.WARNING- Loose
objects
Loose objects in the driver’s
foot area could interfere with
the operation of the foot pedals,
possibly causing an accident.
Do not place anything under the
front seats.WARNING- Driver’s seat
Never attempt to adjust seat while the vehicle is moving.
This could result in loss of
control, and an accident caus-
ing death, serious injury, or
property damage.
fere with the normal position
of the seatback. Storing items
against a seatback or in any
other way interfering with
proper locking of a seatback
could result in serious or fatal
injury in a sudden stop or col-
lision.
(Continued)
WARNING- Uprighting
seat
When you return the seatback
to its upright position, hold the
seatback and return it slowly
and be sure there are no other
occupants around the seat. If
the seatback is returned without
being held and controlled, the
back of the seat could spring
forward resulting in accidental
injury to a person struck by the
seatback.
Knowing your vehicle
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The SRS uses a collection of sen-
sors to gather information about the
driver’s and front passenger’s seat
position, the driver’s and front pas-
senger’s safety belt usage and
impact severity.
The driver's and front passenger's
seat position sensors, which are
installed on the seat track let the
airbag control module know where
the seats are positioned. Similarly,
the safety belt usage sensors mea-
sure if the driver and front passen-
ger’s safety belts are fastened. These
sensors provide the ability to control
the SRS deployment based on how
close the driver’s seat is to the steer-
ing wheel, how close the passen-
ger’s seat is to the instrument panel,
whether or not the safety belts are
fastened, and the severity of the
impact.(Continued)
If your vehicle has been sub-
jected to flood conditions (e.g.
soaked carpeting/standing
water on the floor of the vehi-
cle, etc.) or if your vehicle has
become flood damaged in any
way, do not attempt to start
the vehicle or put the key in
the ignition. Have the vehicle
towed to an authorized Kia
dealer for inspection and nec-
essary repairs.
Disregarding this precaution
may cause an unexpected
airbag deployment, which
could result in serious per-
sonal injury or death.(Continued)
If occupants are not wearingsafety belts or correctly seat-
ed, they cannot be fully pro-
tected, and thus face a greater
risk of serious injury or death.
Driver’s and front passenger’s airbag are designed to inflate
only in certain frontal colli-
sion, and side and curtain
airbags are designed to inflate
in certain side impacts.
Frontal airbags are not
designed to provide protec-
tion in side impacts, rear
impacts, rollovers, or less
severe frontal collisions. They
will not provide protection
from later impacts in a multi-
impact collision.
(Continued)
Knowing your vehicle
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Driver’s airbag
Your vehicle is equipped with an
Advanced Supplemental Restraint
(Air Bag) System and lap/shoulder
belts at both the driver and passen-
ger seating positions.
The driver’s airbag is stored in the
center of the steering wheel.
(Continued)
Have your car checked by a
Kia dealer as soon as possible
if the SRS warning light
comes on. Ignoring the indica-
tor light can result in serious
or fatal injury.
Sitting improperly or out of position can provide incorrect
data to the occupant classifi-
cation system and result in
serious or fatal injury in a
crash. All occupants should
sit upright in their seats with
their feet on the floor.WARNING- Steering
wheel
You must always sit as far back from the steering wheel
airbag as possible (chest at
least 250 mm (10 inches) away
from the steering wheel), while
still maintaining a comfortable
seating position for good
vehicle control, in order to
reduce the risk of injury or
death in a collision.
Never place objects over the airbag storage compartments
or between the airbags and
yourself. Due to the speed and
force of the airbag inflation,
such objects could hit your
body at high speed and cause
severe bodily injury and even
death.
Do not put stickers or orna- ments on the steering wheel
cover. These may interfere
with the deployment of the
airbag.
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Knowing your vehicle
(Continued)
If the driver brakes the vehicleheavily in an urgent situa-
tions, occupants will be
thrown forward. If front pas-
sengers are not wearing the
safety belts, they will be
directly in front of the storage
compartment when inflation
occurs. In that situation, seri-
ous injury or death is possi-
ble.
Never allow front passenger to put their hands or feet on
the instrument panel or put
their face close to the instru-
ment panel. The airbag will
impact the front passenger
when it inflates.
(Continued)(Continued)
Never allow children/old and feeble persons/pregnant
women to sit on the front pas-
senger’s seat. Do not put child
restraint systems on the front
passenger’s seat either. They
may be seriously injured by
the airbag inflation when
airbag deploys.
Do not put objects or stickers on the instrument panel. Do
not apply any accessory on
the front windshield glass or
do not install aftermarket mir-
rors or accessories on the fac-
tory installed rearview mirror.
These may interfere with the
deployment of airbag inflation
or could hit your body at high
speed and cause severe bodi-
ly injury and even death.WARNING
The front seat passenger’sairbag is much larger than the
steering wheel airbag 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 proper-
ly. 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 passengers always wear their
safety belts, even when the
vehicle is moving in a parking
lot or up a driveway into
garage. (Continued)
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Knowing your vehicle
How does the airbag system
operate
Airbags only operate when theignition switch is turned to the ON
or START positions.
Airbags inflate instantly in the event of serious frontal or side col-
lision in order to help protect the
occupants from physical injury.
The airbag Electronic Control Unit
(ECU) is a small computer which
calculates the immediate impact
information and sends out a
deployment signal based on the
ECU's calculation of the likely
severity of the developing collision.
There is no single vehicle speed at which the airbags will inflate. Airbag deployment depends on a
number of factors including vehicle
speed, angles of impact and the
density and stiffness of the vehi-
cles or objects which your vehicle
hits in the collision. However, fac-
tors are not limited to those men-
tioned above.
The front airbags will completely inflate and deflate in an instant.
It is impossible for you to see the
airbags inflate during an accident.
It is much more likely that you will
simply see the deflated airbags
hanging out of their storage com-
partments after the collision. In order to help provide protection
in a severe collision, the airbags
must inflate rapidly. The speed of
airbag inflation has been deter-
mined by the Canadian Motor
Vehicle Safety Standard (CMVSS)
to reduce the likelihood of serious
or life-threatening injuries and is
thus a mandatory part of the airbag
design.
However, airbag inflation can also
cause injuries which normally can
include facial abrasions, bruises
and broken bones, and sometimes
more serious injuries because that
inflation speed also causes the
airbags to expand with a great deal
force.
There are even circumstances under which contact with the
steering wheel airbag can cause
fatal injuries, especially if the
occupant is positioned exces-
sively close to the steering
wheel.