Driving your vehicle
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Harsher weather conditions during winter
can increase wear and the likelihood of
other problems. To minimise winter driv-
ing problems, you should follow these
suggestions:
Snowy or icy conditions
To drive your vehicle in deep snow, it may
be necessary to use snow tyres or to
install tyre chains on your tyres. If snow
tyres are needed, it is necessary to
select tyres equivalent in size and type of
the original equipment tyres. Failure to do
so may adversely affect the safety and
handling of your car. Furthermore,
speeding, rapid acceleration, sudden
brake applications, and sharp turns are
potentially very hazardous practices.
During deceleration, use engine braking
to the fullest extent. Sudden brake appli-
cations on snowy or icy roads may cause
skids to occur. You need to keep suffi-
cient distance between the vehicle in
operation in front and your vehicle. Also,
apply the brake gently. It should be noted
that installing tyre chains on the tyre will
provide a greater driving force, but will
not prevent skidding.
✽NOTICE
Tyre chains are not legal in all countries.
Check country and state laws before fit-
ting tyre chains.
Snow tyres
If you mount snow tyres on your vehicle,
make sure they are radial tyres of the
same size and load range as the original
tyres. Mount snow tyres on all four
wheels to balance your vehicle’s han-
dling in all weather conditions. Keep in
mind that the traction provided by snow
tyres on dry roads may not be as high as
your vehicle's original equipment tyres.
You should drive cautiously even when
the roads are clear. Check with the tyre
dealer for maximum speed recommen-
dations.
Do not install studded tyres without first
checking local, state and municipal regu-
lations for possible restrictions against
their use.
WINTER DRIVING
WARNING- Snow tyre size
Snow tyres should be equivalent in
size and type to the vehicle's stan-
dard tyres. Otherwise, the safety
and handling of your vehicle may
be adversely affected.
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What to do in an emergency
• Use a towing strap less than 5 m (16
feet) long. Attach a white or red cloth
(about 30 cm (12 inches) wide) in the
middle of the strap for easy visibility.
• Drive carefully so that the towing strap
is not loosened during towing.
Emergency towing precautions
• Place the ignition switch in ACC so the
steering wheel isn’t locked.
• Place the shift lever in N (Neutral).
• Release the parking bake.
• Press the brake pedal with more force
than normal since you will have
reduced brake performance.
• More steering effort will be required
because the power steering system
will be disabled.
• If you are driving down a long hill, the
brakes may overheat and brake per-
formance will be reduced. Stop often
and let the brakes cool off.CAUTION - Automatic
transaxle/Continuously
Variable Transaxle/Dual
clutch transmission
• If the car is being towed with all
four wheels on the ground, it can
be towed only from the front. Be
sure that the transaxle is in neu-
tral. Be sure the steering is
unlocked by placing the ignition
switch in the ACC position. A
driver must be in the towed vehi-
cle to operate the steering and
brakes.
• To avoid serious damage to the
transaxle, limit the vehicle speed
to 15 km/h (10 mph) and drive
less than 1.5 km (1 mile) when
towing.
• 4 A/T - Before towing, check the
level of the automatic transaxle
fluid. If it is below the "HOT"
range on the dipstick, add fluid. If
you cannot add fluid, a towing
dolly must be used.
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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.Tyre traction
Tyre traction can be reduced if you
drive on worn tyres, tyres that are
improperly inflated or on slippery
road surfaces. Tyres should be
replaced when tread wear indicators
appear. To reduce the possibility of
losing control, slow down whenever
there is rain, snow or ice on the road.
Tyre maintenance
In addition to proper inflation, correct
wheel alignment helps to decrease
tyre wear. If you find a tyre is worn
unevenly, have your dealer check the
wheel alignment.
When you have new tyres installed,
make sure they are balanced. This
will increase vehicle ride comfort and
tyre life. Additionally, a tyre should
always be rebalanced if it is removed
from the wheel.
WARNING
A wheel that is not the correct
size may adversely affect wheel
and bearing life, braking and
stopping abilities, handling
characteristics, ground clear-
ance, body-to-tyre clearance,
snow chain clearance,
speedometer and odometer cal-
ibration, headlight aim and
bumper height.
(Continued)
• The use of any other tyre size
or type may seriously affect
ride, handling, ground clear-
ance, stopping distance, body
to tyre clearance, snow tyre
clearance, and speedometer
reliability.
• It is best to replace all four
tyres at the same time. If that
is not possible, or necessary,
then replace the two front or
two rear tyres as a pair.
Replacing just one tyre can
seriously affect your vehicle’s
handling.
• The ABS works by comparing
the speed of the wheels. Tyre
size can affect wheel speed.
When replacing tyres, all 4
tyres must use the same size
originally supplied with the
vehicle. Using tyres of a dif-
ferent size can cause the ABS
(Anti-lock Brake System) and
ESC (Electronic Stability
Control) (if equipped) to work
irregularly.
