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Driving your vehicle
22
6
Moving up a steep grade from a
standing start
To move up a steep grade from a
standing start, depress the brake
pedal, shift the shift lever to D
(Drive). Select the appropriate gear
depending on load weight and steep-
ness of the grade, and release the
parking brake. Depress the accelera-
tor gradually while releasing the
service brakes.
WARNING
If your vehicle becomes stuck in
snow, mud, sand, etc., then you
may attempt to rock the vehicle
free by moving it forward and
backward. Do not attempt this
procedure if people or objects
are anywhere near the vehicle.
During the rocking operation
the vehicle may suddenly move
forward of backward as it
becomes unstuck, causing
injury or damage to nearby peo-ple or objects.WARNING
Always buckle-up! In a colli- sion, an unbelted occupant is
significantly more likely to be
seriously injured or killed than
a properly belted 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.
In the event your vehicle leaves the roadway, do not
steer sharply. Instead, slow
down before pulling back into
the travel lanes.
Never exceed posted speed limits.
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Driving your vehicle
24
6
Tight corner brake effect Tight corner brake effect is a unique
characteristic of four-wheel drive
vehicles caused by the difference in
tire rotation at the four wheels and
the zero-degree alignment of thefront wheels and suspension.
Sharp turns at low speeds should be
carried out with caution.
CAUTION
When turning sharply on a
paved road at low speed whilein four-wheel drive (4L mode for full-time 4WD operation or4L/4H mode for part-time 4WDoperation), steering control will be difficult.
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631
Driving your vehicle
✽✽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. Press
the brake pedal several times as
you move slowly until you feel nor-
mal braking forces 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 chapter
8). Always wash your vehicle thor-
oughly after off road use, especially
cleaning the bottom of the vehicle.
Since the driving torque is always applied to the 4 wheels the per-
formance of the 4WD vehicle is
greatly affected by the condition of
the tires. Be sure to equip the vehi-
cle with four tires of the same size
and type.
A full time four wheel drive vehi- cle cannot be towed by an ordi-
nary tow truck. Make sure that
the vehicle is placed on a flat bed
truck for moving.Reducing the risk of a rollover
This multi-purpose passenger vehicle
is defined as a Sports Utility Vehicle
(SUV). SUV’s have higher ground
clearance and a narrower track to
make them capable of performing in a
wide variety of off-road applications.
Specific design characteristics give
them a higher center of gravity than
ordinary vehicles. An advantage of the
higher ground clearance is a better
view of the road, which allows you to
anticipate problems. They are not
designed for cornering at the same
speeds as conventional passenger
vehicles, any more than low-slung
sports vehicles are designed to per-
form satisfactorily in off-road condi-
tions. Due to this risk, driver and pas-sengers are strongly recommended to
buckle their seat belts. In a rollover
crash, an unbelted person is more
likely to die than a person wearing a
seat belt. There are steps that a driver
can make to reduce the risk of a
rollover. If at all possible, avoid sharp
turns or abrupt maneuvers, do not
load your roof rack with heavy cargo,
and never modify your vehicle in any
way.CAUTION - Mud or snow
If one of the front or rear wheels
begins to spin in mud, snow,etc. the vehicle can sometimes be driven out by depressing theaccelerator pedal further; how-ever avoid running the engine continuously at high rpmbecause doing so could dam-age the 4WD system.
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633
Driving your vehicle
Full-time 4WD vehicles must betested on a special four wheel
chassis dynamometer.
Part-time 4WD vehicles must be tested on a 2WD roll tester with the
transfer shift knob in the 2H posi-tion.
✽✽ NOTICE
Never engage the parking brake
while performing these tests.
A full-time 4WD vehicle should not be tested on a 2WD roll tester. If a
2WD roll tester must be used, per-
form the following: 1. Check the tire pressures recom-
mended for your vehicle.
2. Place the rear wheels on the roll tester for a speedometer test as
shown in the illustration.
3. Release the parking brake.
4. Place the front wheels on the tem- porary free roller as shown in the
illustration.
OHM058020Roll tester (speedometer)
Temporary free roller
WARNING - Dynamometer testing
Keep away from the front of the
vehicle while the vehicle is in
gear on the dynamometer. This
is very dangerous as the vehi-
cle can jump forward and cause
serious injury or death.
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Driving your vehicle
34
6
Power brakes
Your vehicle has power-assisted
brakes that adjust automatically
through normal usage.
In the event that the power-assisted
brakes lose power because of astalled engine or some other reason,
you can still stop your vehicle by
applying greater force to the brake
pedal than you normally would. The
stopping distance, however, will be
longer.
When the engine is not running, the
reserve brake power is partially
depleted each time the brake pedal
is applied. Do not pump the brake
pedal when the power assist has
been interrupted.
Pump the brake pedal only when
necessary to maintain steering con-
trol on slippery surfaces. BRAKE SYSTEM (Continued)
Always test your brakes in this fashion after driving
through deep water. To dry the
brakes, apply them lightly
while maintaining a safe for-
ward speed until brake per-
formance returns to normal.
Always, confirm the position of the brake and accelerator
pedal before driving. If you
don’t check the position of theaccelerator and brake pedal
before driving, you maydepress the accelerator
instead of the brake pedal. It
may cause a serious accident.WARNING - Brakes
Do not drive with your foot resting on the brake pedal. This will create abnormal high
brake temperatures, exces-sive brake lining and pad
wear, and increased stoppingdistances.
When descending a long or steep hill, shift to a lower gear
and avoid continuous applica-
tion of the brakes. Continuousbrake application will cause
the brakes to overheat and
could result in a temporary
loss of braking performance.
Wet brakes may impair the vehicle’s ability to safely slow
down; the vehicle may alsopull to one side when the
brakes are applied. Applying
the brakes lightly will indicate
whether they have been
affected in this way.
(Continued)
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635
Driving your vehicle
In the event of brake failure
If service brakes fail to operate while
the vehicle is in motion, you can
make an emergency stop with the
parking brake. The stopping dis-
tance, however, will be much greater
than normal.
Disc brakes wear indicator
When your brake pads are worn and
new pads are required, you will hear
a high-pitched warning sound from
your front brakes or rear brakes (if
equipped). You may hear this sound
come and go or it may occur when-
ever you depress the brake pedal.
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.
CAUTION
To avoid costly brake repairs,do not continue to drive withworn brake pads.
Always replace the front or rear brake pads as pairs.
WARNING - Parking brake
Applying the parking brake
while the vehicle is moving atnormal speeds can cause a
sudden loss of control of the
vehicle. If you must use theparking brake to stop the vehi-
cle, use great caution in apply-
ing the brake.
CAUTION
Do not operate the parking brake while the vehicle is mov-ing except in an emergency sit- uation. It could damage thevehicle system and makeendanger driving safety.
WARNING - Brake wear
This brake wear warning sound
means your vehicle needs serv-
ice. If you ignore this audible
warning, you will eventually
lose braking performance,
which could lead to a seriousaccident.
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Driving your vehicle
36
6
Parking brake
Applying the parking brake
To engage the parking brake, first
apply the foot brake and then depress
the parking brake pedal down as far
as possible. In addition it is recom-
mended that when parking the vehicle
on an incline, the shift lever should be
in the P (Park) position.
Releasing the parking brake
To release the parking brake,
depress the parking brake pedal a
second time while applying the foot
brake. The pedal will automatically
extend to the fully released position.
If the parking brake pedal does notrelease or does not release all the
way, we recommend that the system
be checked by an authorized kia
dealer.
CAUTION
Driving with the parking brake
applied will cause excessivebrake pad and brake rotorwear.
Do not operate the parking brake while the vehicle ismoving except in an emer- gency situation. It could dam-age the vehicle system andmake endanger driving safety.
OHM058021
OHM058022
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637
Driving your vehicle
Check the brake warning light by
turning the ignition switch ON (do not
start the engine). This light will be
illuminated when the parking brake is
applied with the ignition switch in the
START or ON position.
Before driving, be sure the parking
brake is fully released and the brake
warning light is off.
If the brake warning light remains on
after the parking brake is released
while the engine is running, there
may be a malfunction in the brake
system. Immediate attention is nec-
essary.If at all possible, cease driving the
vehicle immediately. If that is not pos-
sible, use extreme caution while
operating the vehicle and only con-
tinue to drive the vehicle until you
can reach a safe location or repair
shop.
WARNING
To prevent unintentional movement when stopped and
leaving the vehicle, do not use
the shift lever instead of the
parking brake. Set the parkingbrake AND make sure the shift
lever is securely positioned in
1st (First) gear or in P (Park).
Never allow anyone who is unfamiliar with the vehicle to
touch the parking brake. If theparking brake is released
unintentionally, serious injury
may occur.
All vehicles should always have the parking brake fully
engaged when parking to
avoid inadvertent movement
of the vehicle which can injureoccupants or pedestrians.
WK-23_TF