2011 CADILLAC CTS brake

Black plate (33,1)Cadillac CTS/CTS-V Owner Manual - 2011
Instruments and Controls 5-33
Press Brake To Start Engine
(Automatic Transmission Only)
If the vehicle has the keyless
access system, this message
displays if you try to start the engine
without having the brake pressed.
The brake needs to be pressed
when starting the engine. See
Ignition Positions (Key Access)
on
page 9‑16or Ignition Positions
(Keyless Access)on page 9‑18for
more information.
Release Park Brake Switch
For vehicles with the Electric
Parking Brake, this message
displays if the Park Brake switch is
pulled while the vehicle is moving.
See the Electric Parking Brake
information under Parking Brake
(Manual)
on page 9‑33or Parking
Brake (Electric)on page 9‑34for
more information.
Service Brake Assist
This message displays if there is a
problem with the brake system. The
brake system warning light and the
antilock brake system (ABS)
warning light may also display on
the instrument panel cluster. See
Brake System Warning Light
on
page 5‑22and Antilock Brake
System (ABS) Warning Lighton
page 5‑23for more information.
Stop as soon as possible and turn
off the vehicle. Restart the vehicle
and check for the message on the
DIC display. If the message displays
immediately or again after you begin
driving, the brake system needs
service. See your dealer as soon as
possible. See Antilock Brake
System (ABS)
on page 9‑32for
more information.
Service Brake System
This message displays, while the
ignition is on, when the brake fluid
level is low. The brake system
warning light on the instrument
panel cluster also comes on. See Brake System Warning Light
on
page 5‑22for more information.
This message may also be
displayed for other brake system
problems. Have the brake system
serviced by your dealer as soon as
possible.
Service Park Brake
For vehicles with the Electric
Parking Brake, this message
displays if a problem is detected
with the electric parking brake
system. See your dealer for service.
Step On Brake To Release
Park Brake
For vehicles with the Electric
Parking Brake, this message
displays if you try to release the
park brake system without first
pressing the brake pedal. See the
Electric Parking Brake information
under Parking Brake (Manual)
on
page 9‑33or Parking Brake
(Electric)on page 9‑34for more
information.

Black plate (41,1)Cadillac CTS/CTS-V Owner Manual - 2011
Instruments and Controls 5-41
If this message comes on while you
are driving, pull off the road as soon
as possible and stop carefully. Try
resetting the system by turning the
ignition off then back on. If this
message still stays on or comes
back on again while you are driving,
the vehicle needs service. Have the
StabiliTrak system inspected by
your dealer as soon as possible.
SeeStabiliTrak System
on
page 9‑38for more information.
Service Suspension System
This message displays when there
is a problem with the Magnetic Ride
Control system. See Magnetic Ride
Control
on page 9‑39for more
information. Have the vehicle
serviced by your dealer.
Service Traction Control
This message displays when there
is a problem with the Traction
Control System (TCS). The TCS/
StabiliTrak warning light on the
instrument panel cluster also comes
on. When this message displays, the system will not limit wheel spin.
Adjust your driving accordingly. See
your dealer for service. See
Traction
Control System (TCS)
on
page 9‑37for more information.
Stabilitrak Competitive Mode
This message displays when the
Competitive Driving mode is
selected. When in this mode, the
Traction Control System (TCS) will
not be operating and the TCS/
StabiliTrak warning light will turn on.
Adjust your driving accordingly. See
“Competitive Driving Mode” under
Traction Control System (TCS)
on
page 9‑37for more information.
Stabilitrak Not Ready
This message may display after first
driving the vehicle and exceeding
30 km/h (19 mph) for 30 seconds.
The TCS/StabiliTrak warning light
on the instrument panel cluster also
comes on. The StabiliTrak system is
not functional until the message has
turned off. See StabiliTrak System
on page 9‑38for more information.
Stabilitrak Off
This message displays when you
turn off StabiliTrak, or when the
stability control has been
automatically disabled. The TCS/
StabiliTrak warning light on the
instrument panel cluster also
comes on.
To realize the full benefits of the
stability enhancement system, you
should normally leave StabiliTrak
on. To turn the StabiliTrak system
on or off, seeStabiliTrak System
on
page 9‑38.
There are several conditions that
can cause this message to appear.
.One condition is overheating,
which could occur if StabiliTrak
activates continuously for an
extended period of time.
.The message also displays if the
brake system warning light is on.
See Brake System Warning
Light on page 5‑22.

Black plate (3,1)Cadillac CTS/CTS-V Owner Manual - 2011
Lighting 6-3
Daytime Running
Lamps (DRL)
Daytime Running Lamps (DRL) can
make it easier for others to see the
front of your vehicle during the day.
Fully functional daytime running
lamps are required on all vehicles
first sold in Canada.
The DRL system will make either
the reduced intensity low‐beam
headlamps or dedicated DRLs come
on when the following conditions
are met:
.It is still daylight and the ignition
is in ON/RUN or START.
.The exterior lamp control is in off
or AUTO and the headlamps
are off.
.The automatic transmission is
not in P (Park).
When DRLs are on, only the
reduced intensity low‐beam
headlamps or dedicated DRLs will be on. The other exterior lamps and
the instrument panel cluster will not
be on.
When the exterior lamp control is in
AUTO and it is dark enough outside,
the DRL turns off and the low-beam
headlamps will turn on. When it is
bright enough outside, the low-beam
headlamps will go off, and the DRL
will turn back on. If the vehicle is
started in a dark garage, the
automatic headlamp system comes
on immediately. Once the vehicle
leaves the garage, it takes about
one minute for the automatic
headlamp system to change to DRL
if it is light outside. During that
delay, the instrument panel cluster
may not be as bright as usual. Make
sure the instrument panel brightness
lever is in the full bright position.
See
Instrument Panel Illumination
Control on page 6‑5.
Turning the exterior lamp control to
off or to the low-beam headlamp
position will turn off the DRL. If the parking lamps or the fog lamps were
turned on instead, the DRL will still
turn off.
This will work regardless of gear
position and whether or not the
parking brake is set.
Automatic Headlamp
System
When it is dark enough outside and
the exterior lamps control is in the
automatic position, the headlamps
come on automatically. See
Exterior
Lamp Controls on page 6‑1.
The vehicle has a light sensor
located on top of the instrument
panel. Make sure it is not covered,
or the headlamps will be on when
they are not needed.
The system may also turn on the
headlamps when driving through a
parking garage or tunnel.

Black plate (1,1)Cadillac CTS/CTS-V Owner Manual - 2011
Driving and Operating 9-1
Driving and
Operating
Driving Information
Defensive Driving . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-2
Drunk Driving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-2
Control of a Vehicle . . . . . . . . . . . 9-3
Braking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-3
Steering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-4
Off-Road Recovery . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-5
Loss of Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-6
Competitive Driving . . . . . . . . . . . 9-7
Driving on Wet Roads . . . . . . . . . 9-7
Highway Hypnosis . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-8
Hill and Mountain Roads . . . . . . 9-8
Winter Driving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-9
If the Vehicle is Stuck . . . . . . . . 9-11
Vehicle Load Limits . . . . . . . . . . 9-11
Starting and Operating
New Vehicle Break-In . . . . . . . . 9-16
Ignition Positions (KeyAccess) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-16
Ignition Positions (Keyless Access) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-18 Retained Accessory
Power (RAP) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-19
Starting the Engine . . . . . . . . . . 9-19
Engine Coolant Heater . . . . . . . 9-21
Shifting Into Park . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-22
Shifting Out of Park . . . . . . . . . . 9-23
Parking (Manual Transmission) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-24
Parking Over Things That Burn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-24
Engine Exhaust
Engine Exhaust . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-24
Running the Vehicle WhileParked . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-25
Automatic Transmission
Automatic Transmission . . . . . 9-26
Manual Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-28
Manual Transmission
Manual Transmission . . . . . . . . 9-30
Drive Systems
All-Wheel Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-32
Brakes
Antilock BrakeSystem (ABS) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-32
Parking Brake (Manual) . . . . . . 9-33
Parking Brake (Electric) . . . . . . 9-34
Brake Assist (Except CTS-V) . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-36
Ride Control Systems
Traction ControlSystem (TCS) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-37
StabiliTrak System . . . . . . . . . . . 9-38
Competitive Driving Mode . . . 9-39
Magnetic Ride Control . . . . . . . 9-39
Limited-Slip Rear Axle . . . . . . . 9-40
Cruise Control
Cruise Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-40
Object Detection Systems
Ultrasonic Parking Assist . . . . 9-42
Rear Vision Camera (RVC) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-44

Black plate (3,1)Cadillac CTS/CTS-V Owner Manual - 2011
Driving and Operating 9-3
Death and injury associated with
drinking and driving is a global
tragedy.
Alcohol affects four things that
anyone needs to drive a vehicle:
judgment, muscular coordination,
vision, and attentiveness.
Police records show that almost
40 percent of all motor
vehicle-related deaths involve
alcohol. In most cases, these
deaths are the result of someone
who was drinking and driving. In
recent years, more than
17,000 annual motor vehicle-related
deaths have been associated with
the use of alcohol, with about
250,000 people injured.
For persons under 21, it is against
the law in every U.S. state to drink
alcohol. There are good medical,
psychological, and developmental
reasons for these laws.
The obvious way to eliminate the
leading highway safety problem is
for people never to drink alcohol
and then drive.Medical research shows that
alcohol in a person's system can
make crash injuries worse,
especially injuries to the brain,
spinal cord, or heart. This means
that when anyone who has been
drinking
—driver or passenger —is
in a crash, that person's chance of
being killed or permanently disabled
is higher than if the person had not
been drinking.
Control of a Vehicle
The following three systems
help to control the vehicle while
driving —brakes, steering, and
accelerator. At times, as when
driving on snow or ice, it is easy to
ask more of those control systems
than the tires and road can provide.
Meaning, you can lose control of the
vehicle. See Traction Control
System (TCS) on page 9‑37.
Adding non‐dealer accessories can
affect vehicle performance. See
Accessories and Modifications
on
page 10‑4.
Braking
See Brake System Warning Lighton page 5‑22.
Braking action involves perception
time and reaction time. Deciding to
push the brake pedal is perception
time. Actually doing it is
reaction time.
Average reaction time is about
three‐fourths of a second. But that is
only an average. It might be less
with one driver and as long as two
or three seconds or more with
another. Age, physical condition,
alertness, coordination, and
eyesight all play a part. So do
alcohol, drugs, and frustration. But
even in three‐fourths of a second, a
vehicle moving at 100 km/h
(60 mph) travels 20 m (66 ft). That
could be a lot of distance in an
emergency, so keeping enough
space between the vehicle and
others is important.

Black plate (4,1)Cadillac CTS/CTS-V Owner Manual - 2011
9-4 Driving and Operating
And, of course, actual stopping
distances vary greatly with the
surface of the road, whether it is
pavement or gravel; the condition of
the road, whether it is wet, dry,
or icy; tire tread; the condition of the
brakes; the weight of the vehicle;
and the amount of brake force
applied.
Avoid needless heavy
braking. Some people drive in
spurts—heavy acceleration
followed by heavy braking —rather
than keeping pace with traffic. This
is a mistake. The brakes might not
have time to cool between hard
stops. The brakes will wear out
much faster with a lot of heavy
braking. Keeping pace with the
traffic and allowing realistic following
distances eliminates a lot of
unnecessary braking. That means
better braking and longer brake life.
If the engine ever stops while the
vehicle is being driven, brake
normally but do not pump the
brakes. If the brakes are pumped,
the pedal could get harder to push down. If the engine stops, there will
still be some power brake assist but
it will be used when the brake is
applied. Once the power assist is
used up, it can take longer to stop
and the brake pedal will be harder
to push.
Adding non‐dealer accessories can
affect vehicle performance. See
Accessories and Modifications
on
page 10‑4.
Steering
Power Steering
If power steering assist is lost
because the engine stops or the
power steering system is not
functioning, the vehicle can be
steered but it will take more effort.
Speed Variable Assist Steering
The vehicle has a steering system
that varies the amount of effort
required to steer the vehicle in
relation to the speed of the vehicle. The amount of steering effort
required is less at slower speeds
to make the vehicle more
maneuverable and easier to park. At
faster speeds, the steering effort
increases to provide a sport-like feel
to the steering. This provides
maximum control and stability.
If the vehicle seems harder to steer
than normal when parking or driving
slowly, there may be a problem with
the system. You will still have power
steering, but steering will be stiffer
than normal at slow speeds. See
your dealer for service.
Steering Tips
It is important to take curves at a
reasonable speed.
Traction in a curve depends on the
condition of the tires and the road
surface, the angle at which the
curve is banked, and vehicle speed.
While in a curve, speed is the one
factor that can be controlled.

Black plate (5,1)Cadillac CTS/CTS-V Owner Manual - 2011
Driving and Operating 9-5
If there is a need to reduce speed,
do it before entering the curve, while
the front wheels are straight.
Try to adjust the speed so you can
drive through the curve. Maintain a
reasonable, steady speed. Wait to
accelerate until out of the curve, and
then accelerate gently into the
straightaway.
Steering in Emergencies
There are times when steering can
be more effective than braking. For
example, you come over a hill and
find a truck stopped in your lane,
or a car suddenly pulls out from
nowhere, or a child darts out from
between parked cars and stops right
in front of you. These problems can
be avoided by braking—if you can
stop in time. But sometimes you
cannot stop in time because there is
no room. That is the time for
evasive action —steering around
the problem.
The vehicle can perform very well in
emergencies like these. First apply
the brakes. See Braking
onpage 9‑3
. It is better to remove as
much speed as possible from a
collision. Then steer around the
problem, to the left or right
depending on the space available.
An emergency like this requires
close attention and a quick decision.
If holding the steering wheel at the
recommended 9 and 3 o'clock
positions, it can be turned a full
180 degrees very quickly without
removing either hand. But you have
to act fast, steer quickly, and just as
quickly straighten the wheel once
you have avoided the object. The fact that such emergency
situations are always possible is a
good reason to practice defensive
driving at all times and wear safety
belts properly.
Off-Road Recovery
The vehicle's right wheels can drop
off the edge of a road onto the
shoulder while driving.
If the level of the shoulder is only
slightly below the pavement,
recovery should be fairly easy. Ease
off the accelerator and then, if there
is nothing in the way, steer so that

Black plate (6,1)Cadillac CTS/CTS-V Owner Manual - 2011
9-6 Driving and Operating
the vehicle straddles the edge of the
pavement. Turn the steering wheel
8 to 13 cm (3 to 5 inches), about
one-eighth turn, until the right front
tire contacts the pavement edge.
Then turn the steering wheel to go
straight down the roadway.
Loss of Control
Let us review what driving experts
say about what happens when the
three control systems—brakes,
steering, and acceleration —do not
have enough friction where the tires
meet the road to do what the driver
has asked.
In any emergency, do not give up.
Keep trying to steer and constantly
seek an escape route or area of
less danger.
Skidding
In a skid, a driver can lose control of
the vehicle. Defensive drivers avoid
most skids by taking reasonable
care suited to existing conditions,
and by not overdriving those
conditions. But skids are always
possible.
The three types of skids correspond
to the vehicle's three control
systems. In the braking skid, the
wheels are not rolling. In the
steering or cornering skid, too much
speed or steering in a curve causes
tires to slip and lose cornering force.
And in the acceleration skid, too
much throttle causes the driving
wheels to spin.
If the vehicle starts to slide, ease
your foot off the accelerator pedal
and quickly steer the way you want
the vehicle to go. If you start
steering quickly enough, the vehicle
may straighten out. Always be ready
for a second skid if it occurs. Of course, traction is reduced when
water, snow, ice, gravel, or other
material is on the road. For safety,
slow down and adjust your driving to
these conditions. It is important to
slow down on slippery surfaces
because stopping distance is longer
and vehicle control more limited.
While driving on a surface with
reduced traction, try to avoid
sudden steering, acceleration,
or braking, including reducing
vehicle speed by shifting to a lower
gear. Any sudden changes could
cause the tires to slide. You might
not realize the surface is slippery
until the vehicle is skidding. Learn to
recognize warning clues
—such as
enough water, ice, or packed snow
on the road to make a mirrored
surface —and slow down when you
have any doubt.
Remember: Antilock brakes help
avoid only the braking skid.