Seats and storage
General recommen
dations
Why is your seat adjustment so important?
The safety belts and the airbag system can
only provide maximum protection if the front
seats are correctly adjusted.
There are various ways of adjusting the front
seats to provide safe and comfortable support
for the driver and the front passenger. Adjust
your seat properly so that :
- you can easily and quick ly reach all the
switches and controls in the instrument
panel
- your body is properly supported thus reduc ing physical stress and fatigue
- the safety belts and airbag system can offe r
maximum protection
¢ page 137.
In the following sections, you will see exactly
how you can best adjust your seats .
There are special regulations and instructions
for installing a child safety seat on the front passenger's seat. Always follow the informa
tion regard ing child safety provided in
¢ page 161, Child Safety.
.&_ WARNING
-
Refer to ¢ page 119, Driving Safely for
important information, tips, suggestions
and warnings that you should read and fol
low for your own safety and the safety of
your passengers.
.&_ WARNING
Incorrect seating position of the driver and
all other passengers can result in serious
personal injury.
- Always keep your feet on the floor when
the vehicle is in motion -never put your
feet on top of the instrument panel, out of the w indow or on top of the seat cush
ion. This app lies especially to the passen-
S eat s an d sto rage 53
gers . If your seating position is incorrect,
you increase the risk of injury in the case
of sudden braking or an accident . If the
airbag inflates and the seating position
is incorrect, this cou ld result in pe rsonal
in jury or even death.
- It is important for both the driver and front passenger to keep a distance of at least 10 inches (25 cm) between them
selves and the steering wheel and/or in
strumen t panel. If you're s itting any
closer than th is, the airbag system can
not protect you properly. In addition, the
front seats and head restraints m ust be
adj usted to your body height so that they
can give you max imum protect ion.
- Always try to keep as much distance as
possible between yourself and the steer
ing wheel or instrument panel.
- Do not adjust the driver's or front pas senger's seat whi le the vehicle is moving.
Your seat may move unexpectedly, caus
ing sudden loss of veh icle control and
pe rsonal injury. If you adjust you r seat
while the veh icle is moving, you are ou t
of posit ion.
Driver's seat
The correct seat position is important for safe
and relaxed driving .
We recommend that you adjust the dr iver's
seat in the follow ing manner:
.., Adjust the seat in fore and aft direction so
that you can easily push the pedals to the
floor wh ile keeping your knees slightly bent
¢ .&, in Why is your seat adjustment so im
portant? on page 53.
"" Adjust the seatback so that when you sit
w ith your back against the seatback , you can
s ti ll grasp the top of t he steering wheel.
... App lies to vehicles with adjustab le head re
straints: Adjust the head restraint so the up
per edge is as even as possible wit h the top
of your head. If that is not possib le, try to
adjust the head restraint so that it is as .,.
56 Seats and storage
Center armrest
The center armrest can be adjusted to several
levels.
Fi g. 52 Armrest between t he driver's/front passe nger's
seats .
Adju sting th e ce nter armr est
.. To adjust the angle, raise the armrest from
the start ing pos ition
¢ fig . 52 detent by de
tent.
" To bring the armrest back into the starting
pos ition, raise it out of the top detent and
fold it back down .
The armrest can sl ide forward and back .
Head restraints
Front head restraints
Applies to vehicles: with a djustable head restrain ts
Head restraints that are adjusted according
to body size, along with the seat belt , offer
effective protection.
F ig . 53 Front seat: adj usting th e manual head re
st raints
Fig. 54 Front seat: adjust ing the power head rest rai nt
Adjust the head restraint so the upper edge is
as even as possible with the top of your head.
If that is not possible, t ry to adjust the head
rest raint so that it is as close to this position
as possib le
¢ page 56 .
.,. To adjust the height of the manual head re
straint*, gr ip the head rest raint on the sides
w ith both hands and slide it up/down until it
locks in to p lace
¢fig. 53.
.. To adjust the height o f the power head re
straint*, press the button up/down
¢ fig. 54.
Refer to¢ page 122, Proper adjustment of
head restraints
for guidelines on how to ad
just the height of the front head restraints to s ui t the occupant's body size.
A WARNING
- Driving without head restraints or with
head restra ints that are not properly ad
justed increases the risk of ser ious or fa
tal nec k inju ry dramatica lly.
- Read and heed all WARNINGS
¢ page 122, Proper adjustment of head
restraints.
@ Tips
- To prevent the head restraints from run
ning into the headliner, they retract au
toma tically when moving the seat for
ward or upward .
- Correctly adjusted head restraints a nd
safety belts are an extremely effective
combination of safety featu res.
