2014 OPEL ASTRA J steering

Driving and operating169
■ the driver's seat belt is unfastenedand the driver's door is opened
■ the engine temperature is too low
■ the charging level of the vehicle battery is below a defined level
■ the brake vacuum is not sufficient
■ the vehicle is driven at least at walking speed
■ the climate control system requests
an engine start
■ the air conditioning is manually switched on
If the bonnet is not fully closed, a warning message is displayed in the
Driver Information Centre.
If an electric accessory, e.g. a
portable CD player, is connected to
the power outlet, a brief power drop during restart might be noticeable.
Parking ■ Do not park the vehicle on an easily
ignitable surface. The high
temperature of the exhaust system
could ignite the surface.■ Always apply parking brake. Apply manual parking brake without
pressing release button. Apply as
firmly as possible on downhill or uphill slopes. Depress the foot
brake at the same time to reduce
operating force.
Apply electric parking brake by pulling switch m for approx.
one second.
■ Switch off the engine and ignition. Turn the steering wheel until the
steering wheel lock engages.
■ If the vehicle is on a level surface or
uphill slope, engage first gear or set the selector lever to P before
switching off the ignition. On an
uphill slope, turn the front wheels
away from the kerb.
If the vehicle is on a downhill slope, engage reverse gear or set theselector lever to P before switching
off the ignition. Turn the front
wheels towards the kerb.
■ Lock the vehicle and activate the anti-theft alarm system.Note
In the event of an accident with
airbag deployment, the engine is
turned off automatically if the vehicle
comes to a standstill within a certain time.

Driving and operating181Interactive driving system
Flex Ride Flex Ride driving system allows the
driver to select between three driving
modes:
■ SPORT mode: press button SPORT , LED illuminates.
■ TOUR mode: press button TOUR,
LED illuminates.
■ NORMAL mode: both buttons SPORT and TOUR are not
pressed, no LED illuminates.
Deactivate SPORT mode and TOUR
mode by pressing corresponding
button once more.
In each driving mode Flex Ride
networks the following electronic systems:
■ Continuous Damping Control.
■ Accelerator Pedal Control.
■ Steering Control.
■ Electronic Stability Control (ESC).
■ Antilock brake system (ABS) with cornering brake control (CBC).
■ Automatic transmission.
SPORT mode
The settings of the systems are
adapted to a sportier driving style:
■ Damping of shock absorbers reacts
more stiffly to provide better contact
with the road surface.
■ The engine reacts more quickly to the accelerator pedal.
■ Steering support is reduced.
■ Shift points of automatic transmission occur later.
■ With SPORT mode activated, the illumination of main instruments
changes from white to red.
TOUR mode
The settings of the systems are
adapted to a comfort driving style:
■ Damping of shock absorbers reacts
more softly.
■ Accelerator pedal reacts with standard settings.
■ Steering support is in standard mode.
■ Shift points of automatic transmission occur in a comfort
mode.
■ Illumination of main instruments is white.
NORMAL mode
All settings of the systems are
adapted to standard values.
Drive mode control
Within each manual selected driving
mode SPORT, TOUR or NORMAL,
the Drive Mode Control (DMC)
detects and analyses continuously
the real driving characteristic,
responses by the driver, and the
active dynamic state of the vehicle. If
necessary, the control unit of DMC

182Driving and operating
automatically changes the settings
within the selected driving mode or, when recognising greater variations,
the driving mode is changed for the
length of variation.
If, for example, NORMAL mode is
selected and DMC detects a sporty
driving behaviour, DMC changes
several settings of the Normal mode
into sporty settings. The DMC
changes to SPORT mode in case of
very sporty driving behaviour.
If, for example, TOUR mode is
selected and whilst driving on a
winding road a sudden hard brake is
necessary, DMC will detect the
dynamic vehicle condition and
changes the settings for suspension
to SPORT mode to increase vehicle
stability.
When the driving characteristic or the
dynamic vehicle state returns to
former state, DMC will change the
settings to the preselected driving
mode.Personalised settings in the
Sport mode The driver can select the functions of
the SPORT mode when SPORT
button is pressed. These settings can
be changed in the menu Settings in
the Info-Display. Vehicle
personalisation 3 134.
Flex Ride - OPC Version
The OPC Version of Flex Ride system works in the same way as the
standard Flex Ride system with the
difference that the modes have a
more sporty characteristic.OPC Flex Ride driving system allows
the driver to select between three
driving modes:
■ OPC mode: press button OPC,
LED illuminates.
■ SPORT mode: press button SPORT , LED illuminates.
■ NORMAL mode: neither button SPORT nor OPC is pressed, no
LED illuminates.
Deactivate SPORT mode and OPC mode by pressing corresponding
button once more.
In each driving mode OPC Flex Ride
networks the following electronic systems:
■ Continuous Damping Control.
■ Accelerator Pedal Control.
■ Steering Control.
■ Electronic Stability Control (ESC).
■ Antilock brake system (ABS) with cornering brake control (CBC).

196Driving and operatingThe complete attention of the
driver is always required while
driving. The driver must always be ready to take action and apply the
brakes.
System limitations
The system is designed to warn only for vehicles, but may react also to
other metallic objects.
In the following cases, forward
collision alert may not detect a vehicle
ahead or sensor performance is
limited:
■ on winding roads,
■ when weather limits visibility, e.g. fog, rain, or snow,
■ when the sensor is blocked by snow, ice, slush, mud, dirt, or
windscreen damage.
Following distance
indication The following distance indication
displays the distance to a preceding
moving vehicle. The system uses,
depending on the vehicle equipment,
either the radar behind the radiator
grille or the front camera in the
windscreen to detect the distance of
a vehicle directly ahead in your path.
It is active at speeds above 40 km/h.
When a preceding vehicle is detected
ahead, the distance is indicated in
seconds, displayed on a page in the
Driver Information Centre 3 121.
Press the MENU button on the turn
signal lever to select Vehicle
Information Menu X and turn the
adjuster wheel to choose following distance indication page.The minimum indicated distance is
0.5 s.
If there is no vehicle ahead or the vehicle ahead is out of range, two
dashes will be displayed: -.- s.
Active Emergency Braking
Active emergency braking can help to reduce the damage from crashes with vehicles and obstacles directly
ahead, when a collision can no longer be avoided either by manual braking
or by steering. Before the active
emergency braking applies, the driver
is warned by the forward collision
alert 3 193.
The feature uses various inputs (e.g.
radar sensor, brake pressure, vehicle speed) to calculate the probability ofa frontal collision.
Active emergency braking operates automatically above walking speed,
provided that Auto collision
preparation setting is not deactivated
in the vehicle personalisation menu
3 134.

Driving and operating203
The instructions show:■ a hint when driving faster than 30 km/h,
■ the demand to stop the vehicle, when a parking slot is detected,
■ the direction of driving during the parking manoeuvre,
■ the steering wheel position during parking,
■ for some of the instructions a progress bar is shown.
A successful parking manoeuvre is
indicated by the End position symbol.If the driver does not stop the vehicle
within 10 metres after a parking slot is
proposed, the system starts to search
for another suitable parking slot.
Changing the parking side
The system is configured to detect
parking slots on the passenger side. To detect parking slots on the driver
side, switch turn indicator to the driver side.
Display priorities
After activating the advanced parking
assist, a message appears on the
Driver Information Centre. Indication
of messages with higher priority like
vehicle messages 3 128 will be
displayed. After approving the
message by pressing the SET/CLR
button, parking assist messages
appear again and parking can be
continued.
Deactivation The system is deactivated by:
■ pushing button D for approx.
one second
■ parking manoeuvre successfully ended
■ driving faster than 30 km/h
■ switching off the ignition
Deactivation by the driver or by the
system during manoeuvring will be indicated by Parking Deactivated in
the Driver Information Centre.

Driving and operating207
Functionality
The camera is mounted in the tailgatehandle and has a viewing angle of
130°.
Due to the high position of the camera
the rear bumper can be seen on the
display as a guide to position.
The area displayed by the camera is
limited. The distance of the image that
appears on the display differs from
the actual distance.
Guiding lines
Dynamic guiding lines are horizontal
lines in 1 metre intervals projected on
the picture to define the distance to
shown objects.Trajectory lane of the vehicle is
shown in accordance with the
steering angle.
The function can be deactivated in the menu Settings in the Info-Display.
Vehicle personalisation 3 134.
Warning symbols
Warning symbols are indicated as
triangles 9 on the picture which show
obstacles detected by the rear
sensors of the advanced parking
assist.

Driving and operating211
Once setting page is displayed, selectOff to deactivate pop-up function.
Reactivated by selecting On. When
switching on the ignition, pop-up function is deactivated.
Pop-up indication is displayed for approx. 8 seconds in the Driver
Information Centre.
Fault The traffic sign assistant system may
not operate correctly when:
■ the area of the windscreen, where the front camera is located, is notclean
■ traffic signs are completely or partially covered or difficult to
discern
■ there are adverse environmental conditions, e.g. heavy rain, snow,direct sunlight or shadows. In this
case No Traffic Sign Detection due
to Weather is indicated on the
display■ traffic signs are incorrectly mounted
or damaged
■ traffic signs do not comply with the Vienna Convention on traffic signs
(Wiener Übereinkommen über
Straßenverkehrszeichen)Caution
The system is intended to help the driver within a defined speed
range to discern certain traffic
signs. Do not ignore traffic signs
which are not displayed by the
system.
The system does not discern any other than the conventional traffic
signs that might give or end a
speed limit.
Do not let this special feature
tempt you into taking risks when
driving.
Always adapt speed to the road
conditions.
The driver assistance systems do not relieve the driver from full
responsibility for vehicle
operation.
Lane departure warning
The lane departure warning systemobserves the lane markings between
which the vehicle is driving via a front camera. The system detects lane
changes and warns the driver in the
event of an unintended lane change
via visual and acoustic signals.
Criteria for the detection of an
unintended lane change are:
■ no operation of turn signals
■ no brake pedal operation
■ no active accelerator operation or speeding-up
■ no active steering
If the driver is active, no warning will
be issued.

220Driving and operatingDriving characteristics and
towing tips Before attaching a trailer, lubricatethe coupling ball. However, do not do
so if a stabiliser, which acts on the
coupling ball, is being used to reduce
snaking movements.
For trailers with low driving stability
and caravan trailers with a permitted
gross vehicle weight of more than
1300 kg the use of a stabiliser is
strongly recommended when driving
above 80 km/h.
If the trailer starts snaking, drive more slowly, do not attempt to correct the
steering and brake sharply if
necessary.
When driving downhill, drive in the
same gear as if driving uphill and
drive at a similar speed.
Adjust tyre pressure to the value
specified for full load 3 309.Trailer towing
Trailer loads The permissible trailer loads are
vehicle and engine-dependent
maximum values which must not be
exceeded. The actual trailer load is
the difference between the actual
gross weight of the trailer and the
actual coupling socket load with the
trailer coupled.
The permissible trailer loads are
specified in the vehicle documents. In
general, they are valid for gradients
up to max. 12 %.
The permitted trailer load applies up
to the specified incline and up to an
altitude of 1000 metres above sea
level. Since engine power decreases
as altitude increases due to the air becoming thinner, therefore reducing
climbing ability, the permissible gross train weight also decreases by 10 %
for every 1000 metres of additional
altitude. The gross train weight does
not have to be reduced when driving
on roads with slight inclines (less than
8 %, e.g. motorways).The permissible gross train weight
must not be exceeded. This weight is
specified on the identification plate
3 287.
Vertical coupling load
The vertical coupling load is the load
exerted by the trailer on the coupling
ball. It can be varied by changing the
weight distribution when loading the
trailer.
The maximum permissible vertical
coupling load (75 kg) is specified on
the towing equipment identification
plate and in the vehicle documents.
Always aim for the maximum load,
especially in the case of heavy
trailers. The vertical coupling load
should never fall below 25 kg.