2015 KIA Forte traction control

515
Driving your vehicle
Good driving practices
Never take the vehicle out of gearand coast down a hill. This is
extremely hazardous. Always leave
the vehicle in gear.
Don't "ride" the brakes. This can cause them to overheat and mal-
function. Instead, when you are
driving down a long hill, shift to a
lower gear. When you do this,
engine braking will help slow down
the vehicle.
Slow down before shifting to a lower gear. This will help avoid
over-revving the engine, which can
cause damage.
Slow down when you encounter cross winds. This gives you much
better control of your vehicle.
Be sure the vehicle is completely stopped before you attempt to shift
into R (Reverse). The transaxle can
be damaged if you do not. 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
the vehicle to go out of control.
Always buckle-up! In a collision, an unbelted occupant is signifi-
cantly more likely to be seriously
injured or killed than a properly
belted occupant.
Never exceed posted speed limits.
WARNING- Vehicle handling
Avoid high speeds when cor-
nering or turning. High speed
cornering and turning increas-
es the risk of vehicle rollover
due to loss of vehicle control.
Rollover accidents are extreme-
ly violent and unpredictable.

527
Driving your vehicle
When you drive on a road withpoor traction, such as an icy road,
and operated your brakes continu-
ously, the ABS will be active con-
tinuously and the ABS warning
light may illuminate. Pull your vehi-
cle over to a safe place and stop
the engine.
Restart the engine. If the ABS warning light is off, then your ABS
is normal. Otherwise, you may
have a problem with the ABS.
Contact an authorized Kia dealer
as soon as possible.
✽ ✽ NOTICE
When you jump start your vehicle
because of a drained battery, the
engine may not run as smoothly and
the ABS warning light may turn on
at the same time. This happens
because of the low battery voltage. It
does not mean your ABS has mal-
functioned.
• Do not pump your brakes!
• Have the battery recharged before
driving the vehicle.
Electronic stability control
(ESC)
The Electronic Stability control
(ESC) system is designed to stabi-
lize the vehicle during cornering
maneuvers. ESC checks where you
are steering and where the vehicle is
actually going. ESC applies the
brakes on individual wheels and
intervenes with the engine manage-
ment system to stabilize the vehicle. Electronic stability control (ESC) will
not prevent accidents. Excessive
speed in turns, abrupt maneuvers
and hydroplaning on wet surfaces
can still result in serious accidents.
Only a safe and attentive driver can
prevent accidents by avoiding
maneuvers that cause the vehicle to
lose traction. Even with ESC
installed, always follow all the normal
precautions for driving - including
driving at safe speeds for the condi-
tions.
The Electronic Stability Control
(ESC) system is an electronic sys-
tem designed to help the driver main-
tain vehicle control under adverse
conditions. It is not a substitute for
safe driving practices. Factors includ-
ing speed, road conditions and driv-
er steering input can all affect
whether ESC will be effective in pre-
venting a loss of control. It is still your
responsibility to drive and corner at
reasonable speeds and to leave a
sufficient margin of safety.
OYDDDR2107

529
Driving your vehicle
ESC operation off
ESC OFF stateThis car has 2 kinds of ESC
off states.
If the engine stops when
ESC is off, ESC remains off.
Upon restarting the engine,
the ESC will automatically
turn on again.
ESC off state 1
To cancel ESC operation, press the ESC OFF button
(ESC OFF ) shortly (ESC
OFF indicator light (ESC
OFF ) illuminates). At this
state, the engine control
function does not operate. It
means the traction control
function does not operate.
Brake control function only
operates.
ESC off state 2
To cancel ESC operation, press the ESC OFF button
(ESC OFF ) for more than 3
seconds. ESC OFF indicator
light (ESC OFF ) illuminates
and ESC OFF warning chime
will sound. At this state, the
engine control function and
brake control function do not
operate. It means the car sta-
bility control function does not
operate any more.
Indicator light
When the ignition switch is turned
ON, the indicator light illuminates,
then goes off if ESC system is oper-
ating normally.
The ESC indicator light blinks when-
ever ESC is operating.
The ESC indicator light blinks when-
ever ESC is operating or illuminates
when ESC fails to operate.
The ESC OFF indicator light comes
on when the ESC is turned off with
the button.
■ESC indicator light
■ ESC OFF indicator light

Driving your vehicle
46
5
Driving off-road
Drive carefully off-road because your
vehicle may be damaged by rocks or
roots of trees. Become familiar with
the off-road conditions where you
are going to drive before you begin
driving.
Highway driving
Tires
Adjust the tire inflation pressures to
specification. Low tire inflation pres-
sures will result in overheating and
possible failure of the tires.
Avoid using worn or damaged tires
which may result in reduced traction
or tire failure.
Never exceed the maximum tire
inflation pressure shown on the tires.
Fuel, engine coolant and engine
oil
High speed travel consumes more
fuel than urban motoring. Do not for-
get to check both the engine coolant
and engine oil.
Drive belt
A loose or damaged drive belt may
overheat the engine.
WARNING- Tire tread
Always check the tire tread
before driving your vehicle.
Worn-out tires can result in loss
of vehicle control. Worn-out
tires should be replaced as
soon as possible. For further
information and tread limits,
refer to "Tires and wheels" in
section 7.
WARNING- Under/Over Inflated Tires
Always check the tires for prop-
er inflation before driving.
Underinflated or overinflated
tires can cause poor handling,
loss of vehicle control, and sud-
den tire failure leading to acci-
dents, injuries, and even death.

Maintenance
Engine compartment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-3
Maintenance services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-4
• Owner’s responsibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-4
• Owner maintenance precautions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-5
Owner maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-6
• Owner maintenance schedule. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-6
Scheduled maintenance service. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-8
• Normal maintenance schedule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-10
• Maintenance under severe usage conditions. . . . . . . 7-23
Explanation of scheduled maintenance items . . . 7-25
Engine oil. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-29
• Checking the engine oil level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-29
• Changing the engine oil and filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-30
Engine coolant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-31
• Checking the coolant level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-31
• Changing the coolant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-33
Brake/clutch fluid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-34
• Checking the brake/clutch fluid level . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-34
Washer fluid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-35
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-35
Parking brake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-35
• Checking the parking brake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-35
Air cleaner. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-36
• Filter replacement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-36
Climate control air filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-37
• Filter inspection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-37
Wiper blades . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-38
• Blade inspection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-38
• Blade replacement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-38
Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-\
41
• For best battery service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-41
• Battery recharging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-43
• Reset items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-43\
Tires and wheels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-44
• Tire care . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-\
44
• Recommended cold tire inflation pressures . . . . . . . 7-44
• Checking tire inflation pressure. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-45
• Tire rotation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-46
• Wheel alignment and tire balance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-47
• Tire replacement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-48
• Wheel replacement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-49
• Tire traction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-49
• Tire maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-49
• Tire sidewall labeling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-49
• All season tires . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-55
• Summer tires . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-55
• Snow tires . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-\
55
• Radial-ply tires . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-56
• Low aspect raito tire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-56
7

749
Maintenance
Wheel replacement
When replacing the metal wheels for
any reason, make sure the new
wheels are equivalent to the original
factory units in diameter, rim width
and offset.
A wheel that is not the correct size
may adversely affect wheel and
bearing life, braking and stopping
abilities, handling characteristics,
ground clearance, body-to-tire clear-
ance, snow chain clearance,
speedometer and odometer calibra-
tion, headlight aim and bumper
height.
Tire traction
Tire traction can be reduced if you
drive on worn tires, tires that are
improperly inflated or on slippery
road surfaces. Tires should be
replaced when tread wear indicators
appear. Slow down whenever there
is rain, snow or ice on the road, to
reduce the possibility of losing con-
trol of the vehicle.
Tire maintenance
In addition to proper inflation, correct
wheel alignment helps to decrease
tire wear. If you find a tire is worn
unevenly, have your dealer check the
wheel alignment.
When you have new tires installed,
make sure they are balanced. This
will increase vehicle ride comfort and
tire life. Additionally, a tire should
always be rebalanced if it is removed
from the wheel.
Tire sidewall labeling
This information identifies and
describes the fundamental charac-
teristics of the tire and also provides
the tire identification number (TIN)
for safety standard certification. The
TIN can be used to identify the tire in
case of a recall.
1. Manufacturer or brand name
Manufacturer or Brand name is
shown.
CAUTION - Wheel
Wheels that do not meet Kia'sspecifications may fit poorlyand result in damage to thevehicle or unusual handling andpoor vehicle control.
I030B04JM
1
1
23
4
5,6
7

Maintenance
52
7
7. Uniform tire quality grading
Quality grades can be found where
applicable on the tire sidewall
between tread shoulder and maxi-
mum section width.
For example:
TREADWEAR 440
TRACTION A
TEMPERATURE A
Tread wear
The tread wear grade is a compara-
tive rating based on the wear rate of
the tire when tested under controlled
conditions on a specified govern-
ment test course. For example, a tire
graded 150 would wear one-and-a-
half times (1½) as well on the gov-
ernment course as a tire graded 100.
The relative performance of tires
depends upon the actual conditions
of their use, however, and may
depart significantly from the norm
due to variations in driving habits,
service practices and differences in
road characteristics and climate. Tires degrade over time, even when
they are not being used. Regardless
of the remaining tread, we recom-
mend that tires be replaced after
approximately six (6) years of nor-
mal service. Heat caused by hot cli-
mates or frequent high loading con-
ditions can accelerate the aging
process.
These grades are molded on the
side-walls of passenger vehicle tires.
The tires available as standard or
optional equipment on your vehicles
may vary with respect to grade.
Traction - AA, A, B & C
The traction grades, from highest to
lowest, are AA, A, B and C. Those
grades represent the tires ability to
stop on wet pavement as measured
under controlled conditions on spec-
ified government test surfaces of
asphalt and concrete. A tire marked
C may have poor traction perform-
ance.
The traction grade assigned to this
tire is based on straight-ahead brak-
ing traction tests, and does not
include acceleration, cornering,
hydroplaning, or peak traction char-
acteristics.