2015 HYUNDAI TUCSON Owners Manual

5-19
Driving your vehicle
5
Always apply the parking brakewhen leaving the vehicle. Do not
depend on placing the transaxle in
P (Park) to keep the vehicle from
moving.
Exercise extreme caution when driving on a slippery surface. Be
especially careful when braking,
accelerating or shifting gears. On a
slippery surface, an abrupt change
in vehicle speed can cause the
drive wheels to lose traction and
may cause loss of vehicle controlresulting in an accident.
Optimum vehicle performance and economy is obtained by smoothlydepressing and releasing the
accelerator. To reduce the risk of SERIOUS
INJURY or DEATH:
ALWAYS wear your seatbelt.
In a collision, an unbelted
occupant is significantly more
likely to be seriously injured
or killed than a properly belt-ed occupant.
Avoid high speeds when cor- nering or turning.
Do not make quick steering
wheel movements, such as
sharp lane changes or fast,sharp turns.
The risk of rollover is greatly
increased if you lose control
of your vehicle at highwayspeeds.
Loss of control often occurs if
two or more wheels drop off
the roadway and the driver
over steers to reenter the
roadway.
(Continued)
WARNING (Continued)
In the event your vehicle
leaves the roadway, do not
steer sharply. Instead, slow
down before pulling back into
the travel lanes.
HYUNDAI recommends you
follow all posted speed limits.

5-20
Driving your vehicle
The All Wheel Drive (AWD) System
delivers engine power to all front
and rear wheels for maximum trac-
tion. AWD is useful when extra trac-tion is required on roads such slip-
pery, muddy, wet, or snow-covered
roads. Occasional off-road use such as
established unpaved roads and trails
are OK. It is always important that
the driver carefully reduces the
speed to a level that does not exceed
the safe operating speed for those
conditions.✽✽NOTICE
 Do not drive in water if the level is higher than the bottom of the vehi-
cle.
 Check your brake condition once you are out of mud or water.
Depress the brake pedal several
times as you move slowly until you
feel normal braking return.
 Shorten your scheduled mainte- nance interval if you drive in off-
road conditions such as sand, mud
or water (see “Maintenance Under
Severe Usage Conditions” in chap-
ter 7).
 Always wash your vehicle thor- oughly after off road use, especial-
ly the bottom of the vehicle.
 Be sure to equip the vehicle with four tires of the same size and
type.
 Make sure that a full time AWD vehicle is towed by a flat bed tow
truck.
AALLLL WW HHEEEE LL DD RRIIVV EE (( AA WW DD)) (( IIFF EE QQ UUIIPP PPEEDD ))
To reduce the risk of SERIOUS
INJURY or DEATH:
Do not drive in conditions that
exceed the vehicles intended
design such as challenging
off-road conditions.
Avoid high speeds when cor- nering or turning.
Do not make quick steering
wheel movements, such as
sharp lane changes or fast,sharp turns.
The risk of a rollover is great-
ly increased if you lose con-
trol of your vehicle at highwayspeeds.
Loss of control often occurs if
two or more wheels drop off
the roadway and the driver
over steers to reenter the
roadway.
In the event your vehicle
leaves the roadway, do not
steer sharply. Instead, slow
down before pulling back into
the travel lanes.
WARNING

5-21
Driving your vehicle
5
AWD operation
In the AWD LOCK mode, the system is deactivated when vehi-
cle speed is over 19mph (30 km/h) and the mode is shifted to
AWD AUTO mode. If the vehicle speed slows down to 19mph
(30 km/h), the mode shifts back to the AWD LOCK mode.
Use this mode when driving up or down sharp inclines, driving
off-road, driving on sandy and muddy roads, etc. to maximize
traction
AWD AUTO
(AWD LOCK is deactivated)
(not illuminated)
Transfer mode Selection button Indicator light Description
In the AWD AUTO mode, under normal operating conditions,
the vehicle operates similar to conventional 2WD vehicles. If the
system determines there is a need for four wheel drive, the
engine’s driving power is distributed to all four wheels automat-
ically.
Use this mode when driving on normal roads.
AWD LOCK
(illuminated)
All Wheel Drive (AWD) mode selection
If AWD warning light ( ) stays on the instrument cluster, your vehicle may have a malfunction with the
AWD system. When the AWD warning light ( ) illuminates have your vehicle checked by an authorized
HYUNDAI dealer as soon as possible.
WARNING

5-22
Driving your vehicle
✽✽NOTICE
When the AWD LOCK mode is
deactivated, a sensation may be felt
as the driving power is delivered
entirely to the front wheels.
For safe AWD operation
Before driving
Make sure all passengers are wearing seat belts.
Sit upright and closer to the steer- ing wheel than usual. Adjust the
steering wheel to a position com-
fortable for you to drive.
Driving on snow-covered or icy
roads
Start off slowly by applying theaccelerator pedal gently.
Use snow tires or tire chains.
Keep sufficient distance between your vehicle and the vehicle in front
of you.
Use engine braking during deceler- ation.
Avoid speeding, rapid acceleration, sudden brake applications, and
sharp turns to prevent skids.
Driving in sand or mud
Maintain slow and constant speed.
Use tire chains driving in mud ifnecessary.
Keep sufficient distance between your vehicle and the vehicle in front
of you.
Reduce vehicle speed and always check the road condition.
Avoid speeding, rapid acceleration, sudden brake applications, and
sharp turns to prevent getting
stuck.
When driving on normal roads,
deactivate the AWD LOCK mode
by pushing the AWD LOCK but-
ton (AWD LOCK indicator light
goes off). Driving on normal
roads with the AWD LOCK
mode, especially, when corner-
ing may cause mechanical
noise or vibration. The noiseand vibration will disappear
when the AWD LOCK mode is
deactivated. Prolong drivingwith the noise and vibration
may damage some parts of the
power train.CAUTION
When the vehicle is stuck in
snow, sand or mud, place a non-slip material under the drive
wheels to provide traction OR
Slowly spin the wheels in for-
ward and reverse directions
which causes a rocking motion
that may free the vehicle.
However, avoid running the
engine continuously at high
rpm, doing so may damage the
AWD system.
CAUTION

5-23
Driving your vehicle
5
Driving up or down hills
Driving uphill - Before starting off, check if it ispossible to drive uphill.
- Drive as straight as possible.
Driving downhill
- Do not change gear while drivingdownhill. Select gear before driv-
ing downhill.
- Drive slowly using engine braking while driving downhill.
- Drive straight as possible.
OLMB053017OLMB053018
Do not drive across the contour
of steep hills. A slight change in
the wheel angle can destabilize
the vehicle, or a stable vehicle
may lose stability if the vehicle
stops its forward motion. Your
vehicle may roll over and lead to
a serious injury or death.
WARNING
Exercise extreme caution driv-
ing up or down steep hills. The
vehicle may flip depending on
the grade, terrain and water /
mud conditions.
WARNING

5-24
Driving your vehicle
Driving through water
Try to avoid driving in deep stand-ing water. It may stall your engine
and clog your exhaust pipes.
If you need to drive in water, stop your vehicle, set the vehicle in
AWD LOCK mode and drive under5mph (8 km/h).
Do not change gear while driving in water.
Additional driving conditions
Become familiar with the off-roadconditions before driving.
Always pay attention when driving off-road and avoid dangerous
areas.
Drive slowly when driving in heavy wind.
Reduce vehicle speed when cor- nering. The center of gravity of
AWD vehicles is higher than con-
ventional 2WD vehicles, making
them more likely to roll over when
you rapidly turn corners. Always hold the steering wheel
firmly when you are driving off-road.
Always drive slowly in water. If
you drive too fast, water may
get into the engine compart-ment and wet the ignition sys-
tem causing your vehicle to
suddenly stop.
CAUTION
OLMB053019
Do not grab the inside of the
steering wheel when you are
driving off-road. You may hurt
your arm by a sudden steering
maneuver or from steeringwheel rebound due to an impact
with objects on the ground. You
could lose control of the steer-
ing wheel that may lead to seri-
ous injury or death.
WARNING

5-25
Driving your vehicle
5
Emergency precautions
Tires
Do not use tire and wheel with differ-
ent size and type from the one origi-
nally installed on your vehicle. It can
affect the safety and performance of
your vehicle, which could lead to
steering failure or rollover causing
serious injury.
When replacing the tires, be sure to
equip all four tires with the tire and
wheel of the same size, type, tread,
brand and load-carrying capacity. If
you equip your vehicle with anytire/wheel combination not recom-
mended by HYUNDAI for off-road
driving, you should not use these
tires for highway driving.
Towing
AWD vehicles must be towed with awheel lift and dollies or flatbed equip-ment with all the wheels off the
ground. For more information, refer
to “Towing” in chapter 6.
Dynamometer testing
A full-time AWD vehicle must be test-
ed on a special four wheel chassis
dynamometer.A full-time AWD vehicle should not
be tested on a 2WD roll tester. If a
2WD roll tester must be used, per-
form the following procedure:
1.Check the tire pressures recom-mended for your vehicle.
2.Place the front wheels on the roll tester for a speedometer test as
shown in the illustration.
3.Release the parking brake.
4.Place the rear wheels on the tem- porary free roller as shown in the
illustration.
Never start or run the engine
while a full-time AWD vehicle is
raised on a jack. The vehicle can
slip or roll off of a jack causing
serious injury or death to you or
those nearby.
WARNING
OLMB053020Roll Tester (Speedometer)
Temporary Free Roller

5-26
Driving your vehicle
Never engage the parking
brake while performing thetest.
When the vehicle is lifted up,
do not operate the front and
rear wheel separately. All fourwheels should be operated.
CAUTION
Keep away from the front of the
vehicle while the vehicle is in
gear on the dynamometer. The
vehicle can jump forward and
cause serious injury or death.
WARNING