
15
Introduction
As with other vehicles of this type, failure
to operate this vehicle correctly mayresult in loss of control, an accident or
vehicle rollover.
Specific design characteristics (higher
ground clearance, track, etc.) give this
vehicle a higher center of gravity than
other types of vehicles. It is not designed
for cornering at the same speeds as a
conventional 2-wheel drive sedans or
sports coupe. Avoid sharp turns or abrupt
maneuvers. Failure to operate this vehi-
cle correctly may result in loss of control,
an accident or vehicle rollover.Be sure
to read the “Reducing the risk of a
rollover” driving guidelines, in section
5 of this manual. No special break-in period is needed.
By following a few simple precautions
for the first 600 miles (1,000 km) you
may add to the performance, economy
and life of your vehicle.
Do not race the engine.
While driving, keep your engine speed
(rpm, or revolutions per minute)
between 2,000 rpm and 4,000 rpm.
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 emergen- cies, to allow the brakes to seat prop-
erly.
Don't let the engine idle longer than 3 minutes at one time.
Don't tow a trailer during the first 1,200
miles (2,000 km) of operation.
VEHICLE BREAK-IN PROCESS
VEHICLE HANDLING
INSTRUCTIONS

33
Safety features of your vehicle
WARNING- Driver’s seat
Never attempt to adjust the seatwhile the vehicle is moving. This
could result in loss of control,and an accident causing death,
serious injury, or property dam-
age.
Do not allow anything to interfere 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 orcollision.
seatback upright and the lap por-
tion of the seat belt snug and low
across the hips. This is the best
position to protect you in case of an accident.
In order to avoid unnecessary and perhaps severe air bag
injuries, always sit as far back as
possible from the steering wheel
while maintaining comfortable
control of the vehicle. We recom-
mend that your chest be at least
10 inches (250 mm) away fromthe steering wheel.
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 isreturned without being held and
controlled, the back of the seat
could spring forward resulting in
accidental injury to a person struck
by the seatback.
WARNING- Loose objects
Loose objects in the driver’s foot
area could interfere with the opera-
tion of the foot pedals, possibly
causing an accident. Do not place
anything under the front seats.
WARNING- Driver respon-
sibility for passengers
Riding in a vehicle with the seat-
back reclined could lead to serious
or fatal injury in an accident. If a
seat is reclined during an accident,
the occupant’s hips may slide
under the lap portion of the seat
belt applying great force to the
unprotected abdomen. Serious or fatal internal injuries could result.
The driver must advise the passen-
ger to keep the seatback in an
upright position whenever the vehi-
cle is in motion.

Safety features of your vehicle
4
3
(Continued)
When resetting the seatback to
the upright position, make sure it
is securely latched by pushing it
forward and rearward.
To avoid the possibility of burns, from a hot rear floor surface do
not remove the carpet in the
cargo area. Emission control
devices beneath this floor gener- ate high temperatures.WARNING- Rear seatbacks
The rear seatback must be
securely latched. If not, passen-
gers and objects could be thrown
forward resulting in serious
injury or death in the event of a
sudden stop or collision.
Luggage and other cargo should be laid flat in the cargo area. If
objects are large, heavy, or must
be piled, they must be secured.
Under no circumstances should
cargo be piled higher than the
seatbacks. Failure to follow thesewarnings could result in serious
injury or death in the event of a
sudden stop, collision or rollover.
No passenger should ride in the cargo area or sit or lie on folded
seatbacks while the vehicle is
moving. All passengers must be
properly seated in seats and
restrained properly while riding.
(Continued)
WARNING
After adjusting the seat, always
check that it is securely locked into
place by attempting to move the
seat forward or rearward without
using the lock release lever.
Sudden or unexpected movement
of the driver's seat could cause you
to lose control of the vehicle result- ing in an accident.

Safety features of your vehicle
6
3
Front seat adjustment - power (if equipped)
The front seat can be adjusted by using the control knob located on the outside of
the seat cushion. Before driving, adjust the seat to the proper position so as to
easily control the steering wheel, pedals
and switches on the instrument panel.
Forward and rearward
Push the control knob forward or rear-
ward to move the seat to the desired
position. Release the knob once the seatreaches the desired position.
OLM039006
CAUTION
The power seat is driven by an
electric motor. Stop operatingonce the adjustment is complet-
ed. Excessive operation maydamage the electrical equipment.
When in operation, the power seat consumes a large amount of
electrical power. To prevent unnecessary charging systemdrain, don’t adjust the power seat
longer than necessary while theengine is not running.
Do not operate two or more power seat control knobs at the same
time. Doing so may result inpower seat motor or electrical component malfunction.
WARNING
The power seat is operable with the
ignition OFF.
Therefore, children should never be
left unattended in the car.

313
Safety features of your vehicle
Removal and installation
To remove the headrest, raise it as far as
it can go then press the release button
(1) while pulling upward (2).
To reinstall the headrest, put the head- rest poles (3) into the holes while press-
ing the release button (1). Then adjust it
to the appropriate height.Armrest
To use the armrest, pull it forward from
the seatback.
Folding the rear seat
The rear seatbacks may be folded to
facilitate carrying long items or toincrease the luggage capacity of the
vehicle.
OLM039018OLM039019
WARNING
Make sure the headrest locks in
position after adjusting it to proper-
ly protect the occupants.
WARNING
The purpose of the fold-down rear
seatbacks is to allow you to carry
longer objects that could not be
accommodated in the cargo area.
Never allow passengers to sit on
top of the folded down seatback
while the car is moving as this is
not a proper seating position and
no seat belts are available for use.
This could result in serious injury or death in case of an accident or
sudden stop. Objects carried on the
folded down seatback should not
extend higher than the top of the
front seatbacks. Doing this could
allow cargo to slide forward and
cause injury or damage during sud- den stops.

315
Safety features of your vehicle
WARNING
When you return the rear seatback to its upright position after being
folded down:
Be careful not to damage the seat
belt webbing or buckle. Do not
allow the seat belt webbing or
buckle to get caught or pinched in
the rear seat. Ensure that the seat-
back is completely locked into its
upright position by pushing on the
top of the seatback. Otherwise, in
an accident or sudden stop, the
seat could fold down and allow
cargo to enter the passenger com-
partment, which could result in
serious injury or death.
CAUTION- Rear seat belts
When returning the rear seatbacks to the upright position, remember to
return the rear shoulder belts to theirproper position. Routing the seat beltwebbing through the rear seat belt guides will help keep the belts from
being trapped behind or under theseats.
CAUTION - Damaging rear
seat belt buckles
When you fold the rear seatback, push the buckle into the pocket inthe rear cushion. Doing so can pre-
vent the buckle from being dam-aged by the rear seatback.
WARNING- Cargo
Cargo should always be secured to
prevent it from being thrown about
the vehicle in a collision and caus-
ing injury to the vehicle occupants. Do not place objects on the rear
seats, since they cannot be proper-
ly secured and may hit the front seat occupants in a collision.
WARNING - Cargo loading
Make sure the engine is off, the
automatic transaxle is in P (Park) or
the manual transaxle is in reverse,
and the parking brake is securely
applied whenever loading or
unloading cargo. Failure to take
these steps may allow the vehicle
to move if the shift lever is inadver-
tently moved to another position.

Safety features of your vehicle
18
3
Seat belt - Driver's 3-point system
with emergency locking retractor
To fasten your seat belt:
To fasten your seat belt, pull it out of the
retractor and insert the metal tab (1) into
the buckle (2). There will be an audible
"click" when the tab locks into the buckle. The seat belt automatically adjusts to the proper length only after the lap belt por-
tion is adjusted manually so that it fits
snugly around your hips. If you lean for-
ward in a slow, easy motion, the belt will
extend and let you move around. If there
is a sudden stop or impact, however, the
belt will lock into position. It will also lock
if you try to lean forward too quickly.
✽✽ NOTICE
If you are not able to smoothly pull
enough of the safety belt from the
retractor, firmly pull the belt out and
release it. Then you will be able to pull
the belt out smoothly.
Height adjustment
You can adjust the height of the shoulder
belt anchor to one of 4 positions for max-
imum comfort and safety. The height of the seat belt should not be
too near your neck. The shoulder portionshould be adjusted so that it lies across
your chest and midway over your shoul-
der nearest the door and not your neck.
To adjust the height of the seat belt
anchor, lower or raise the height adjuster
into an appropriate position.
B180A01NF-1OLM039026
Front seat

321
Safety features of your vehicle
3 Point rear center belt
To fasten the rear center belt
1. Extract the tongue plate from the holeon the belt assembly cover and slowly pull the tongue plates out from the
retractor. 2. Insert the tongue plate (A) into the
open end of the buckle (C) until an
audible “click" is heard, indicating the
latch is locked. Make sure the belt isnot twisted. 3. Pull the tongue plate (B) and insert the
tongue plate (B) into the open end of
the buckle (D) until an audible “click” is
heard, indicating the latch is locked.
Make sure the belt is not twisted.
1KMB3441OLM039056N1KMB3443
CAUTION- Cargo
Be sure that the cargo is securely
loaded in the rear cargo area. Doing
not so may damage the rear center safety belt in sudden stop or certaincollisions.
CAUTION
When using the rear center seat
belt, the buckle with the “CENTER”mark must be used.