Page 265 of 477

(Continued)
• In sports mode, the transmissionwill automatically downshift, when
it slows down. When the vehicle
stops, the transmission automatical-
ly selects the 1st gear.
• In sports mode, the transmission will automatically upshift, when the
engine rpm approaches toward the
red zone.
• Even though the driver moves the shift lever to a +(up) or -(down)
position, the transmission may not
make the manually-requested gear
change, if the requested gear is out
of the allowable engine RPM range.
• When driving on a slippery road, set the shift lever in the 2nd gear, which
is better for smooth acceleration on
a slippery road.Shift lock system
For your safety, the automatic trans-
mission has a shift lock system to
prevent the transmission shifting
from P(Park) to R (Reverse), unless
the brake pedal is depressed.
To shift the transmission from
P(Park) into R(Reverse):
1. Depress the brake pedal.
2. Start the engine or turn the Engine Start/Stop button ON.
3. Move the shift lever.
When the brake pedal is repeatedly
depressed and released with the
shift lever in P(Park), you may expe-
rience chattering noises near the
shift lever. This is a normal condition.
5-14
Driving your vehicle
Always fully depress the brake
pedal before and while moving
the shift lever out of P (Park) to
another position to avoid inad-
vertent movement of the vehi-
cle. This may injure persons in
or around the car.
WARNING
Page 266 of 477

Shift-lock override
When the shift lever cannot be
moved from P(Park)/N(Neutral) to R
(Reverse), while depressing the
brake pedal, keep depressing the
brake, and do the followings:
1.Carefully remove the cover (1) ofthe shift-lock access hole.
2.Insert a screwdriver into the access hole and press it.
3.Move the shift lever.
4.Immediately have your vehicle inspected by an authorized
EQUUS dealer.
Good driving practices
Never move the shift lever fromP(Park)/N(Neutral) to any other
position, while depressing the
accelerator.
Never move the gearshift to P (Park), when the vehicle is in
motion.
Make sure to completely stop the vehicle before moving the shift
lever to R(Reverse)/D(Drive).
Never disengage the gear, while driving down on a slope. This may
be extremely hazardous. Always
engage the gear while driving.
Do not "ride" the brakes. This may cause overheating and malfunc-
tion. Instead, when you drive down
a long slope, slow the vehicle
down, set in Sports Mode, and shift
to a lower gear. Those will help the
engine brake slow the vehicle
down.
Slow down before shifting to a lower gear in sports mode.
Otherwise, the lower gear may not
be engaged.
Always set the parking brake. Do not depend on the shift gear in P
(Park) to prevent the vehicle from
moving.
Exercise extreme caution when driving on a slippery surface. Be
careful especially when braking,
accelerating or shifting gears. On a
slippery surface, an abrupt change
in vehicle speed may cause the
drive wheels to lose traction and
the vehicle to go out of control.
Optimum vehicle performance and fuel economy are obtained by
smoothly depressing and releasing
the accelerator.
5-15
Driving your vehicle05
OVI055011N
Page 267 of 477

Moving up a steep grade from astanding start
To drive up on a steep slope,
depress the brake pedal, move the
shift gear to D (Drive), and release
the parking brake. Gradually depress
the accelerator while releasing the
service brakes.
When accelerating on a steep
slope, the vehicle may have a ten-
dency to slide backwards. Shifting
to the 2nd gear (Second Gear) will
help prevent the vehicle from slid-
ing backwards.
5-16
Driving your vehicle
Always buckle up! In a colli- sion, an unbelted occupant is
more likely to be seriously
injured or killed than a proper-
ly belted occupant.
Avoid high speeds when cor- nering or turning.
Do not make quick wheel steering, such as sharp lane
changes or fast, sharp turns.
The risk of rollover is greatly increased when you lose con-
trol of your vehicle at a high
speed.
Loss of control often occurs, when two or more wheels are
swerved out of the roadway
and are overly steered to
reenter the roadway.
In the event your vehicle is swerved out of the roadway,
do not make a sharp steering.
Instead, slow down the vehi-
cle before reentering into the
lanes.
Never exceed posted speed limits.
WARNING
When your vehicle is stuck in
snow, mud, sand and others,
you may rock the vehicle by
moving it forward and back-
wards. Do not attempt this pro-
cedure when there are people
or objects near the vehicle.
During the rocking operation,
the vehicle may suddenly move
forwards or backwards as it
becomes unstuck, causing
injury or damage to nearby peo-
ple or objects.
WARNING
Page 268 of 477

Power brakes
Your vehicle is equipped with the
power-assisted brakes that automat-
ically adjust themselves in a normal
driving condition.
In the event that the power-assisted
brakes lose power because of a
stalled engine or some other rea-
sons, you can still stop your vehicle
by depressing the brake pedal hard-
er than you do in normal driving. A
braking distance, however, will be
longer.
When the engine is OFF, the reserve
brake power becomes partially
depleted each time the brake pedal
is depressed. Do not repeatedly
depress the brake pedal when the
power brake is automatically set.
Pump the brake pedal only when
necessary to maintain the steering
control on slippery surfaces.
B BR
RA
A K
KE
E
S
S Y
Y S
ST
T E
EM
M
5-17
Driving your vehicle05
- Brakes
Do not put your foot on the
brake pedal while driving. This
may abnormally increase the
brake temperatures, wear
down the brake lining/pad,
and increase the braking dis-
tances.
When driving down on a long or steep slope, shift to a lower
gear and avoid depressing the
brakes in a continuous man-
ner. Depressing brakes in a
continuous manner may over-
heat the brakes, resulting in a
temporary loss of braking per-
formance.
(Continued)
(Continued)
Wet brakes may impair thevehicle’s ability to safely slow
down. The vehicle may also be
swerved to one side when the
wet brakes are depressed.
Lightly depress the brakes to
verify whether the brakes are
wet and show the above
symptom. Always test your
brakes in this fashion after
driving through deep water.
To dry the wet brakes, lightly
depress the brakes, while
maintaining a safe driving
speed until the brake perform-
ance returns to normal.
Always confirm the positions of the brake and accelerator,
before driving. If you do not
so, you may be confused and
depress the accelerator
instead of the brake pedal. It
may cause a serious accident.
WARNING
Page 269 of 477

In the event of brake failure
When service brakes fail to operate
while driving, you can make an
emergency stop by setting the park-
ing brake. The braking distance,
however, will become longer than
normal.
Disc brakes wear indicator
Your vehicle is equipped with disc
brakes. When your brake pads are
worn down and new pads are
required, you will hear a high-pitched
warning sound from the front or rear
brakes. You may hear this beeping
sound or it may sound when the
brake pedal is depressed.
Please remember that some driving
conditions or climates may cause a
brake squeal when you first apply (or
lightly apply) the brakes. This is nor-
mal and does not indicate a problem
with your brakes.
To prevent costly brake repairs,do not drive continuously with
the worn-down brake pads.
Always replace brake pads in a set of a complete front and rear
axle.
NOTICE
5-18
Driving your vehicle
- Parking brake
Setting the parking brake while
driving at a normal speed may
cause a sudden loss of vehicle
control. If you must set the
parking brake to stop, set it with
great caution.
WARNING
- Brake wear
This brake wear warning sound
indicates that your vehicle
should be repaired. If you
ignore this audible warning
sound, you will eventually lose
braking performance, which
may lead to a serious accident.
WARNING
Page 270 of 477

Electric parking brake (EPB)
Applying the parking brake
To set the parking brake, depress the
brake pedal first and then pull the
EPB switch. Make sure that the
brake warning light illuminates.
Releasing the parking brake
To release the EPB, press the EPB
switch as follows:
Turn the Engine Start/Stop ButtonON.
Depress the brake pedal.
Make sure the brake warning light
goes OFF.
To automatically release EPB:
Shift lever in P (Park) With the engine running, depress
the brake pedal and move the shift
lever from P (Park) to R (Rear)/
N (Neutral)/D (Drive).
Shift lever in N (Neutral) With the engine running, depress
the brake pedal and move the shift
lever from N(Neutral) to R (Rear)/
D (Drive).
Depress the accelerator pedal, sat- isfying the following conditions.
1. Run the engine
2. Fasten the driver's seat belt
3. Close the driver's door, engine hood and trunk
4. Shift the gear to R (Rear)/ D (Drive)
Make sure the brake warning light
goes OFF.
5-19
Driving your vehicle05
Do not set the parking brake
while the vehicle is moving
except in an emergency situa-
tion. It may damage the brake
system and lead to an accident.
WARNING
OVI055110N
OVI055109N
Page 271 of 477

Information
• You can set the EPB, even thoughthe Engine Start/Stop button is OFF.
However, for your safety, you can-
not release it.
• For your safety, depress the brake pedal and manually release the
parking brake by pressing the EPB
switch, when driving down on a
slope and driving back up.
When the parking brake warning light is still ON, even when the
EPB is released, have the sys-
tem be checked by an author-
ized EQUUS dealer.
Do not drive your vehicle with the EPB set. It may excessively
wear down the brake pad and
brake rotor.
EPB may automatically applies,
when:
It is requested by other systems.
The engine is turned OFF and theEPB is set ON. If the accelerator is depressed, but
still the EPB is not automatically
released, a warning message will
be displayed with a warning sound.
When the driver's seat belt is unfastened, the engine hood is
open with the shift lever in
D(Drive), or the trunk is open with
the shift lever in R(Reverse), a
warning message will be displayed
with a warning sound.
When there is a problem with the vehicle, a warning message will be
displayed with a warning sound.
If any of the above situations occurs,
depress the brake pedal and release
EPB by pressing the EPB switch.
NOTICE
i
5-20
Driving your vehicle
OVINDR5912
Page 272 of 477

A clicking sound may be heardwhile setting or releasing the
EPB. This is a normal condition,
and indicates that the EPB prop-
erly functions.
When leaving your key with a parking lot attendant or valet
assistant, inform him/her of the
EPB operation.
The EPB may malfunction if you drive with the EPB set.
Gradually depress the accelera- tor, when you want to automati-
cally release EPB by depressing
it.
EPB malfunction indicator
This warning light illuminates when
the Engine Start/Stop button is
turned ON and OFF in approximate-
ly 3 seconds, even though the sys-
tem normally operates.
If the EPB malfunction indicator
remains ON, flash, or does not illumi-
nate, when turning ON the Engine
Start/Stop button, this indicates the
malfunction of the EPB.
If this occurs, immediately have your
vehicle checked by an authorized
EQUUS dealer.
The EPB malfunction indicator may
illuminate, when the ESC malfunc-
tion indicator illuminates. In this
case, it does not indicate the EPB
malfunction.
NOTICE
5-21
Driving your vehicle05
To prevent unintentional vehi-cle movement when parking
or after leaving the vehicle, do
not substitute setting of the
parking brake with setting of
the shift lever. Set the parking
brake and secure to position
the shift lever in P(Park).
Never allow anyone, who is unfamiliar with the vehicle, to
touch the EPB switch. If the
EPB is unintentionally
released, serious injury may
occur.
All vehicles must always set the parking brake, while park-
ing, in order to avoid inadver-
tent vehicle movement, which
may injure occupants or
passers-by.
WARNING
OVI055111N