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Driving your vehicle
65
WARNING
When you intend to park orstop the vehicle with the
engine on, be careful not to
depress the accelerator pedal
for a long period of time. It
may overheat the engine or
exhaust system and cause
fire.
When you make a sudden stop or turn the steering
wheel rapidly, loose objects
may drop on the floor and it
could interfere with the opera-
tion of the foot pedals, possi-
bly causing an accident. Keep
all things in the vehicle safely
stored.
If you do not focus on driving, it may cause an accident. Be
careful when operating what
may disturb driving such as
audio or heater. It is the
responsibility of the driver to
always drive safely.
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57
Driving your vehicle
Illuminated ignition switch
(if equipped)
Whenever a front door is opened, the
ignition switch will be illuminated for
your convenience, provided the igni-
tion switch is not in the ON position.
The light will go off immediately
when the ignition switch is turned on
or go off after about 30 seconds
when the door is closed.
Ignition switch position
LOCK
The steering wheel locks to protect
against theft. The ignition key can be
removed only in the LOCK position.
When turning the ignition switch to
the LOCK position, push the key
inward at the ACC position and turn
the key toward the LOCK position.
ACC (Accessory)
The steering wheel is unlocked and
electrical accessories are operative.
✽ ✽NOTICE
If difficulty is experienced turning
the ignition switch to the ACC posi-
tion, turn the key while turning the
steering wheel right and left to
release the tension.
OUM054001OYP054029K
KEY POSITIONS
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Driving your vehicle
85
ON
The warning lights can be checked
before the engine is started. This is
the normal running position after the
engine is started.
Do not leave the ignition switch ON ifthe engine is not running to preventbattery discharge.
START
Turn the ignition switch to the START
position to start the engine. The
engine will crank until you release
the key; then it returns to the ON
position. The brake warning light can
be checked in this position.
WARNING - Ignition key
Never turn the ignition switch to LOCK or ACC while the
vehicle is moving. This would
result in loss of directional
control and braking function,
which could cause an acci-
dent.
The anti-theft steering column lock is not a substitute for the
parking brake. Before leaving
the driver's seat, always make
sure the shift lever is engaged
in P (Park), set the parking
brake fully and shut the
engine off. Unexpected and
sudden vehicle movement
may occur if these precau-
tions are not taken.
(Continued)(Continued)
Never reach for the ignitionswitch, or any other controls
through the steering wheel
while the vehicle is in motion.
The presence of your hand or
arm in this area could cause a
loss of vehicle control, an
accident and serious bodily
injury or death.
Do not place any movable objects around the driver’s
seat as they may move while
driving, interfere with the driv-
er and lead to an accident.
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Driving your vehicle
12
5
✽
✽
NOTICE
If you press the engine start/stop
button without depressing the brake
pedal, the engine will not start and
the engine start/stop button changes
as follow:
OFF ➔ ➔
ACC ➔
➔
ON ➔
➔
OFF or ACC
✽
✽
NOTICE
If you leave the engine start/stop
button in the ACC or ON position
for a long time, the battery will dis-
charge.
WARNING
Never press the engine
start/stop button while the
vehicle is in motion. This
would result in loss of direc-
tional control and braking
function, which could cause
an accident.
Before leaving the driver's seat, always make sure the
shift lever is engaged in P
(Park), set the parking brake
fully and shut the engine off.
Unexpected and sudden vehi-
cle movement may occur if
these precautions are not
taken.
(Continued)
(Continued)
Never reach for the enginestart/stop button or any other
controls through the steering
wheel while the vehicle is in
motion. The presence of your
hand or arm in the area could
cause loss of vehicle control,
an accident and serious bodi-
ly injury or death.
Do not place any movable objects around the driver's
seat as they may move while
driving, interfere with the driv-
er and lead to an accident.
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Driving your vehicle
20
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
22
5
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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525
Driving your vehicle
You must consciously take theeffort to learn how to corner in an
AWD vehicle. Do not rely on your
experience in conventional 2WD
vehicles in choosing safe cornering
speed in AWD mode. You must
drive more slowly in AWD.
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 be before
you begin driving. Always hold the steering wheel firm-
ly when you are driving off-road.
Make sure all passengers are wearing seat belts.
If you need to drive through water, stop your vehicle, set your transfer
to the AWD LOCK mode and drive
at less than 5 mph (8 km/h).
WARNING - Steering
wheel
Do not grab the inside of the
steering wheel when you are
driving off-road. You may hurt
your arm by a sudden steering
maneuver or from steering
wheel rebound due to impact
with objects on the ground. You
could lose control of the steer-
ing wheel.
WARNING - Wind danger
If you are driving in heavy wind,
the vehicle's higher center of
gravity decreases your steering
control capacity and requires
you to drive more slowly.
WARNING - Driving
through water
Drive slowly. If you are driving
too fast in water, the water can
get into the engine compartment
and wet the ignition system,
causing your vehicle to sudden-
ly stop. If this happens and your
vehicle is in a tilted position,
your vehicle may roll over.
ODMEDR2146
WARNING - AW D
Reduce speed when you turn
corners. The center of gravity of
AWD vehicles is higher than
that of conventional 2WD vehi-
cles, making them more likely to
roll over when you turn corners
too fast.
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Driving your vehicle
26
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.