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Driving your vehicle
36 5
VSM operation
When the VSM is in operation, ESC
indicator light ( ) blinks.
When the vehicle stability manage-
ment is operating properly, you can
feel a slight pulsation in the vehicle
and/or abnormal steering responses
(EPS- Electronic Power Steering).
This is only the effect of brake and
EPS control and indicates nothing
unusual.
The VSM does not operate when:
Driving on a sloping road such as a
gradient or incline
Driving in reverse
ESC OFF indicator light ( )
remains on the instrument cluster
EPS indicator light remains on the
instrument cluster
VSM operation off
If you press the ESC OFF button to
turn off the ESC, the VSM will also
cancel and the ESC OFF indicator
light ( ) illuminates.
To turn on the VSM, press the button
again. The ESC OFF indicator light
goes out.
Malfunction indicator
The VSM can be deactivated even if
you don’t cancel the VSM operation
by pressing the ESC OFF button. It
indicates that a malfunction has
been detected somewhere in the
Electric Power Steering system or
VSM system. If the ESC indicator
light ( ) or EPS warning light
remains on, take your vehicle to an
authorized Kia dealer and have the
system checked.
✽ ✽
NOTICE
• The VSM is designed to function
above approximately 13 mph (22
km/h) on curves.
• The VSM is designed to function
above approximately 6 mph (10
km/h) when a vehicle is braking on
a split-mu surface. A split-mu sur-
face is made of two surfaces which
have different friction forces.
WARNING
- Vehicle stability manage-
ment
Drive carefully even though
your vehicle has Vehicle stabili-
ty management. It can only
assist you in maintaining con-
trol under certain circum-
stances.
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Driving your vehicle
The Vehicle Stability Management
system is not a substitute for safe
driving practices but a supplemen-
tary function only. It is the respon-
sibility of the driver to always check
the speed and the distance to the
vehicle ahead. Always hold the
steering wheel firmly while driving.
Your vehicle is designed to activate
according to the driver’s intention,
even with installed VSM. Always fol-
low all the normal precautions for
driving at safe speeds for the condi-
tions – including driving in inclement
weather and on a slippery road.Hill-start assist control (HAC)
A vehicle has the tendency to roll
back on a steep hill when it starts to
go after stopping. The Hill-start
Assist Control (HAC) prevents the
vehicle from rolling back by applying
the brakes automatically for about 2
seconds. The brakes are released
when the accelerator pedal is
depressed or after about 2 seconds.
The HAC is activated only for about 2
seconds, so when the vehicle is
starting off always depress the accel-
erator pedal.
Good braking practices
Check to be sure the parking brake
is not engaged and the parking
brake indicator light is out before
driving away.
Driving through water may get the
brakes wet. They can also get wet
when the vehicle is washed. Wet
brakes can be dangerous! Your
vehicle will not stop as quickly if the
brakes are wet. Wet brakes may
cause the vehicle to pull to one side.
To dry the brakes, apply the brakes
lightly until the braking action
returns to normal, taking care to
keep the vehicle under control at all
times. If the braking action does not
return to normal, stop as soon as it
is safe to do so and call an author-
ized Kia dealer for assistance.
Don't coast down hills with the
vehicle out of gear. This is extreme-
ly hazardous. Keep the vehicle in
gear at all times, use the brakes to
slow down, then shift to a lower
gear so that engine braking will
help you maintain a safe speed.
WARNING- Maintaining
Brake Pressure on Incline
HAC does not replace the need
to apply brakes while stopped on
an incline. While stopped, make
sure you maintain brake pres-
sure sufficient to prevent your
vehicle from rolling backward
and causing an accident. Don’t
release the brake pedal until you
are ready to accelerate forward.WARNING
For maximum protection, always
wear your seat belt. No system,
no matter how advanced, can
compensate for all driver error
and/or driving conditions.
Always drive responsibly.
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Driving your vehicle
38 5
Don't "ride" the brake pedal.
Resting your foot on the brake
pedal while driving can be danger-
ous because the brakes might
overheat and lose their effective-
ness. It also increases the wear of
the brake components.
If a tire goes flat while you are driv-
ing, apply the brakes gently and
keep the vehicle pointed straight
ahead while you slow down. When
you are moving slowly enough for it
to be safe to do so, pull off the road
and stop in a safe place.
If your vehicle is equipped with an
Automatic Transmission, don't let
your vehicle creep forward. To
avoid creeping forward, keep your
foot firmly on the brake pedal when
the vehicle is stopped.
Be cautious when parking on a hill.
Firmly engage the parking brake
and place the shift lever in P (auto-
matic transmission). If your vehicle
is facing downhill, turn the front
wheels into the curb to help keep
the vehicle from rolling.If your vehicle is facing uphill, turn
the front wheels away from the
curb to help keep the vehicle from
rolling. If there is no curb or if it is
required by other conditions to
keep the vehicle from rolling, block
the wheels.
Under some conditions your park-
ing brake can freeze in the
engaged position. This is most like-
ly to happen when there is an
accumulation of snow or ice
around or near the rear brakes or if
the brakes are wet. If there is a risk
that the parking brake may freeze,
apply it only temporarily while you
put the shift lever in P (automatic
transmission) and block the rear
wheels so the vehicle cannot roll.
Then release the parking brake.
Do not hold the vehicle on an
incline with the accelerator pedal.
This can cause the transmission to
overheat. Always use the brake
pedal or parking brake.
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Driving your vehicle
DRIVE mode
The drive mode may be selected
according to the driver’s preference
or road condition.
The mode changes whenever the
DRIVE MODE button is pressed.
❈When COMFORT mode is select-
ed, it is not displayed on the clus-
ter. SMART mode : SMART mode
automatically adjusts the driving
mode (ECO " COMFORT "
SPORT) in accordance with the
driver's driving habits.
COMFORT mode : COMFORT
mode provides soft driving and
comfortable riding.
SPORT mode : SPORT mode pro-
vides sporty but firm riding.
ECO mode : ECO mode improves
fuel efficiency for eco-friendly driv-
ing.
If it is in ECO mode, ECO mode will
be set when the engine is restarted.
(However, if it is in SMART/COM-
FORT/SPORT mode, the driving
mode will be set to COMFORT mode
when the engine is restarted.)
SMART mode
DRIVE MODE INTEGRATED CONTROL SYSTEM
ECO
SMART COMFORT
SPORT
OYG059302
OJF058431L
OJF058430L
OJF058432L
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40 5
SMART mode selects the
proper driving mode
among ECO, COMFORT
and SPORT by judging
the driver's driving habits
(i.e. mild or dynamic) from
the brake pedal depres-
sion or the steering wheel
operation.
Press the DRIVE MODE button to
activate SMART mode. When
SMART mode is activated, the
indicator illuminates on the instru-
ment cluster.
The indicator illuminates in blue,
when the driver's driving is catego-
rized to be mild. It illuminates in
white, when the driver's driving is
categorized to be comfort. It illumi-
nates in red, when the driver's driv-
ing is categorized to be dynamic
during abrupt braking or sharp
curving. The vehicle starts in COMFORT
mode, when the engine was turned
OFF in SMART mode.
SMART mode automatically con-
trols the vehicle driving, such as
gear shifting patterns, engine
torque, riding quality (if equipped
with the electronic suspension sys-
tem), and power distribution (if
equipped with the All-Wheel Drive
(AWD) system), in accordance with
the driver's driving habits.✽ ✽
NOTICE
• When you mildly drive the vehicle
in SMART mode, the driving
mode changes to ECO mode to
improve fuel efficiency. However,
the actual fuel efficiency may dif-
fer in accordance with your driv-
ing situations (i.e. upward/down-
ward slope, vehicle
deceleration/acceleration).
• When you dynamically drive the
vehicle in SMART mode by
abruptly decelerating or sharply
curving, the driving mode changes
to SPORT mode. However, it may
adversely affect fuel economy.SMART
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Driving your vehicle
Various driving situations, which you
may encounter in SMART mode
The driving mode automatically
changes to ECO mode after a cer-
tain period of time, when you gen-
tly depress the accelerator pedal
(Your driving is categorized to be
mild.).
The driving mode automatically
changes from SMART ECO mode
to SMART COMFORT mode after
a certain period of time, when you
sharply or repetitively depress the
accelerator pedal.
The driving mode automatically
changes to SMART COMFORT
mode with the same driving pat-
terns, when the vehicle starts to
drive on an upward slope of a cer-
tain angle. The driving mode auto-
matically returns to SMART ECO
mode, when the vehicle enters a
leveled road. The driving mode automatically
changes to SMART SPORT, when
you abruptly accelerate the vehicle
or repetitively operate the steering
wheel (Your driving is categorized
to be sporty.). In this mode, your
vehicle drives in a lower gear for
abrupt accelerating/decelerating
and increases the engine brake
performance.
You may still sense the engine
brake performance, even when you
release the accelerator pedal in
SMART SPORT mode. It is
because your vehicle remains to
be in a lower gear over a certain
period of time for next acceleration.
Thus, it is a comfort driving situa-
tion, not indicating any malfunc-
tion.
The driving mode automatically
changes to SMART SPORT mode
only in harsh driving situations. In
most of the comfort driving situa-
tions, the driving mode sets to be
either in SMART ECO mode or in
SMART COMFORT mode.Limitation of SMART mode
The SMART mode may be limited in
following situations. (The OFF indica-
tor illuminates in those situations.)
The driver manually moves the
shift lever : It deactivates SMART
mode. The vehicle drives, as the
driver manually moves the shift
lever.
The cruise control is activated :
The cruise system may deactivate
the SMART mode. When a higher
system is set by the cruise system,
it starts to control vehicle speed
and deactivates SMART mode.
(SMART mode is not deactivated
just by activing the cruise system.)
The transmission oil temperature is
either extremely low or extremely
high : The SMART mode can be
active in most of the comfort driv-
ing situations. However, an
extremely high/ low transmission
oil temperature may temporarily
deactivate the SMART mode,
because the transmission condi-
tion is out of comfort operation
condition.
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SPORT mode
SPORT mode focuses on
dynamic driving by auto-
matically controlling the
steering wheel, engine
and transmission system.
button is pressed and
the SPORT mode is
selected, the SPORT
indicator (yellow) will illu-
minate.
is activated, and the
ENGINE START/STOP
button is turned off and
on it will change to
COMFORT mode. To
turn on the SPORT
mode press DRIVE
MODE button again.
- After speeding, it main-
tains the gear and
RPM for some time
even though the accel-
erator pedal is not
depressed.
- Up-shifting is delayed.
suspension may be opti-
mized to sporty handling
and hard ride by ECS.
✽ ✽
NOTICE
In Sport drive mode, the fuel effi-
ciency may decrease.
ECO mode
When the Drive Mode is
set to ECO mode, the
engine and transmission
control logic are changed
to maximize fuel efficiency.
When ECO mode is selected by
pressing the DRIVE MODE button,
the ECO indicator (green color) will
illuminate.
If the vehicle is set to ECO mode,
when the engine is turned OFF
and restarted the Drive Mode set-
ting will remain in ECO mode.
✽ ✽
NOTICE
Fuel efficiency depends on the dri-
ver's driving habit and road condi-
tion.
ECOSPORT
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Driving your vehicle
When ECO mode is activated:
The acceleration response may be
slightly reduced if the accelerator
pedal is depressed moderately.
The air conditioner performance
may be limited.
The shift pattern of the automatic
transmission may change.
The engine noise may get louder.
The above situations are comfort
conditions when ECO mode is acti-
vated to improve fuel efficiency.Limitation of ECO mode operation:
If the following conditions occur while
ECO mode is operating, the system
operation is limited even though
there is no change in the ECO indi-
cator.
When the coolant temperature is
low:
The system will be limited until
engine performance becomes
comfort.
When driving up a hill:
The system will be limited to gain
power when driving uphill because
engine torque is restricted.
When driving the vehicle with the
automatic transmission gear shift
lever in manual mode.
The system will be limited accord-
ing to the shift location.