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Driving your vehicle
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5
Good driving practices
Never move the shift lever from P
(Park) or N (Neutral) to any other
position with the accelerator pedal
depressed.
Never move the shift lever into "P" when the vehicle is in motion.
Be sure the vehicle is completely stopped before you attempt to shift
into R (Reverse) or D (Drive).
Never take the vehicle out of gear and coast down a hill. This may be
extremely hazardous. Always leave
the vehicle in gear when moving.
Do not "ride" the brakes. This can cause them to overheat and mal-
function. Instead, when you are
driving down a long hill, slow down,
move the shift lever to manual shift
mode and shift to a lower gear.
When using manual shift mode, slow down before shifting to a
lower gear. Always use the parking brake and
shift into P (Park) when parking 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
the vehicle to go out of control.
Optimum vehicle performance and economy is obtained by smoothly
depressing and releasing the
accelerator pedal.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 highway
speeds.
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
Moving up a steep grade from astanding start
To move up a steep grade from a
standing start, depress the brake
pedal, move the shift lever to D
(Drive) and release the parking
brake. Depress the accelerator grad-
ually 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 or backward as it
becomes unstuck, causing
injury or damage to nearby peo-
ple or objects.
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Engine power can be delivered to the
front and rear wheels for maximum
traction. AWD is useful when extra
traction is required, such as, when
driving on slippery, muddy, wet, or
snow-covered roads. Occasional off-
road use such as established
unpaved roads and trails are OK. It is
always important when traveling off-
highway that the driver carefully
reduces the speed to a level that
does not exceed the safe operating
speed for those conditions. In gener-
al, off-road conditions provide less
traction and braking effectiveness
than normal road conditions. The
driver must be especially alert to
avoid driving on slopes which tilt the
vehicle to either side.
These factors must be carefully con-
sidered when driving off-road.
Keeping the vehicle in contact with
the driving surface and under control
in these conditions is always the dri-
ver's responsibility for the safety of
him/herself and passengers.Tight corner brake effect
Tight corner brake effect is a unique
characteristic of all-wheel drive vehi-
cles caused by the difference in tire
rotation at the four wheels.
Sharp turns at low speeds should be
carried out with caution.
ALL WHEEL DRIVE (AWD) (IF EQUIPPED)
WARNING - Off road
driving
This vehicle is designed prima-
rily for on road use although it
can operate effectively off road.
It was not designed to drive in
challenging off-road conditions.
Driving in conditions that
exceed the vehicle's intended
design or the driver's experi-
ence level may result in severe
injury or death.
CAUTION - AW D
When turning sharply on a paved road at low speed whilein all wheel drive, steering con-trol will be difficult.
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Driving your vehicle
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5
✽
✽
NOTICE
• Do not drive through water if the
level is higher than the bottom of
the vehicle.
• 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 section
7). 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 AWD 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 all wheel drive vehicle cannot be towed by an ordinary
tow truck. Make sure that the
vehicle is placed on a flat bed
truck for towing.CAUTION - Mud or snow
If one of the front or rear wheels
begins to spin in mud, snow,etc. the vehicle can sometimesbe driven out by depressing theaccelerator pedal further; how-ever avoid running the enginecontinuously at high rpmbecause doing so could dam-age the AWD system.
WARNING - AWD driving
Avoid high cornering speed.
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 high speed.
In a collision, an unbelted per- son is significantly more like-
ly to die compared to a person
wearing a seat belt.
Loss of control often occurs if two or more wheels drop off
the roadway and the driver
over steers to re-enter the
roadway. In the event your
vehicle leaves the roadway, do
not steer sharply. Instead,
slow down before pulling
back into the travel lanes.
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Full-time AWD vehicles must be
tested on a special four wheel
chassis dynamometer.
✽ ✽ NOTICE
Never engage the parking brake
while performing these tests.
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: 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.
WARNING - Jacked
vehicle
While a full-time AWD vehicle is
raised on a jack, never start the
engine or cause the tires to
rotate.
There is a danger that rotating
tires touching the ground could
cause the vehicle to fall off the
jack and to jump forward or
rearward.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.
ONCEDR3147Roll tester (speedometer)
Temporary free roller
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Driving your vehicle
BRAKE SYSTEM
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 a
stalled 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.(Continued)
Wet brakes may impair thevehicle’s ability to safely slow
down; the vehicle may also
pull to one side when the
brakes are applied. Applying
the brakes lightly will indicate
whether they have been affect-
ed in this way. Always test your
brakes in this fashion after
driving through deep water. To
dry the brakes, apply them
lightly while maintaining a safe
forward 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 the
accelerator and brake pedal
before driving, you may
depress 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 stopping
distances.
When descending a long or steep hill, shift to a lower gear
and avoid continuous applica-
tion of the brakes. Continuous
brake application will cause
the brakes to overheat and
could result in a temporary
loss of braking performance.
(Continued)
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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.
WARNING - Parking
brake
Applying the parking brake
while the vehicle is moving at
normal speeds can cause a
sudden loss of control of the
vehicle. If you must use the
parking brake to stop the vehi-
cle, use great caution in apply-
ing the brake.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 serious
accident.
CAUTION
To avoid costly brake repairs, do not continue to drive withworn brake pads.
Always replace the front or rear brake pads as pairs.
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Driving your vehicle
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.
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.OCM050015
CAUTION
Driving with the parking brakeapplied will cause excessivebrake pad and brake rotor wear.
Do not operate the parking brake while the vehicle ismoving except in an emer-gency situation. It could dam-age the vehicle system andendanger driving safety.
OCM050016
