2012 FIAT 500 length

•All seat belt systems (except the driver’s) include
Automatic Locking Retractors (ALRs), which lock the
seat belt webbing into position by extending the belt
all the way out and then adjusting the belt to the
desired length to restrain a child seat or secure a large
item in a seat — if equipped
Please pay close attention to the information in this
section. It tells you how to use your restraint system
properly, to keep you and your passengers as safe as
possible.
If you will be carrying children too small for adult-sized
seat belts, the seat belts or the Lower Anchors and Tether
for CHildren (LATCH) feature also can be used to hold
infant and child restraint systems. For more information
on LATCH, refer to “LATCH — Child Seat Anchorage
System (Lower Anchors and Tether for CHildren).” Here are some simple steps you can take to minimize the
risk of harm from a deploying air bag:
1.
Children 12 years old and under should always ride
buckled up in a rear seat.
WARNING!
Infants in rear facing child restraints should never ride
in the front seat of a vehicle with a passenger Ad-
vanced Front Air Bag. An air bag deployment can cause
severe injury or death to infants in that position.
Children that are not big enough to wear the vehicle seat
belt properly (see section on Child Restraints) should be
secured in the rear seat in child restraints or belt-
positioning booster seats. Older children who do not use
child restraints or belt-positioning booster seats should
28 THINGS TO KNOW BEFORE STARTING YOUR VEHICLE

CAUTION!
•Many accessories that can be plugged in draw
power from the vehicle’s battery, even when not in
use (i.e., cellular phones, etc.). Eventually, if
plugged in long enough, the vehicle’s battery will
discharge sufficiently to degrade battery life
and/or prevent the engine from starting.
•Accessories that draw higher power (i.e., coolers,
vacuum cleaners, lights, etc.) will degrade the
battery even more quickly. Only use these inter-
mittently and with great caution.
•After the use of high power draw accessories, or
long periods of the vehicle not being started (with
accessories still plugged in), the vehicle must be
driven a sufficient length of time to allow the
generator to recharge the vehicle’s battery.
CIGAR LIGHTER — IF EQUIPPED
WARNING!
When the cigar lighter is in use it becomes very hot.
To avoid serious injury, handle the cigar lighter with
care. Always check that the cigar lighter has turned
off.
3
UNDERSTANDING THE FEATURES OF YOUR VEHICLE 123

Use each gear in numerical order; do not skip a gear. Be
sure the transmission is in first gear, not third, when
starting from a standing position. Damage to the clutch
can result from starting in third gear.
For most city driving, you will find it easier to use only
the lower gears. For steady highway driving with light
accelerations, fifth gear is recommended.
Never drive with your foot resting on the clutch pedal,
and never try to hold the vehicle on a hill with the clutch
pedal partially engaged. This will cause abnormal wear
on the clutch.
REVERSE gear is not synchronized and the vehicle must
be at a complete stop to shift into REVERSE gear. When
selecting REVERSE gear, the driver should pause (ap-
proximately 2 seconds) after pushing in the clutch pedal
and prior to shifting into REVERSE which allows gears to
stop spinning. Should an unwanted clash noise be pro-
duced, the pause length should be increased.NOTE:
•Clashing REVERSE gear, especially if vehicle is mov-
ing, can result in transmission damage.
•During cold weather, until the transmission lubricant
is warm, you may experience slightly higher shift
efforts. This is normal and not harmful to the
transmission.
Recommended Shift Speeds
To use your manual transmission for optimal fuel
economy, it should be upshifted as listed in the following
table.
Manual Transmission Recommended Shift Speeds
Units In mph (km/h)
Engine Size Accel-
eration Rate 1to2 2to3 3to4 4to5
1.4L Accel 14 (23) 23 (37) 29 (47) 38 (61)
Cruise 12 (19) 18 (29) 25 (40) 32 (52)
210 STARTING AND OPERATING