Owners Manual

Driving in winter
Drive particularly carefully on slippery roads
in winter. Avoid sudden acceleration, steering
and braking maneuvers.
G
WARNING
Do not downshift for additional engine
braking on a slippery road surface. This could
cause the drive wheels to lose their grip and
the vehicle could skid. You could lose control
of the vehicle and cause an accident.
If the vehicle threatens to skid or cannot be
stopped when moving at low speed, shift to
the neutral position N. Try to maintain control
of the vehicle using corrective steering
!
Vehicles with automatic transmission
may roll only briefly in the neutral position
N. Prolonged rolling of the wheels, e.g.
when being towed, will result in
transmission damage.
Road salt may adversely affect braking
performance. In order to achieve the normal
braking effect, you will need to apply more
force to the brake pedal. Apply the brakes
repeatedly when driving for longer periods on
gritted or salted roads. This will restore the
brakes to their normal level of performance.
When stopping the vehicle after traveling on
roads that have been salted, make sure that
the brakes are fully functional before
proceeding further.
i
Mount snow chains on the wheels of the
driven axle in good time for driving on snow,
slush or ice. Comply with the
manufacturer's fitting instructions.
You will find information about winter tires
and snow chains in the "Wheels and tires"
section (Y page 156).
Tire grip
G
WARNING
Whereas the vehicle can be fully controlled at
a certain speed on dry roads, you must reduce
your speed on wet or icy roads to achieve the
same road safety. You could otherwise cause
an accident.
Pay particular attention to the road conditions
at temperatures around freezing point.
If ice has formed on the road surface (e.g.
from fog), a thin film of water rapidly forms on
the ice when you brake, considerably
reducing tire traction. Drive with particular
care in such weather conditions.
Stopping the vehicle and switching
off the engine
G
WARNING
Always switch off the engine and apply the
parking brake before leaving the vehicle.
Otherwise, the vehicle could roll away if it is
not secured.
On gradients steeper than 15%:
R
secure an unladen vehicle at the front axle,
e.g. using a wheel chock or similar object.
R
additionally, secure a laden vehicle at the
rear axle, e.g. using a wheel chock or similar
object.
G
WARNING
Make sure that the exhaust system does not
under any circumstances come into contact
with flammable materials such as dry grass or
gasoline. Do not park the vehicle on dry
grassland or harvested grain fields. The hot
exhaust system could ignite the flammable
material and set the vehicle on fire.
G
WARNING
Only remove the key from the ignition lock
when the vehicle is stationary, since you
cannot steer the vehicle with the key
removed.
Never leave children unsupervised in the
vehicle. They could release the parking brake.
This could lead to a serious or fatal accident.
Driving and parking
113
Controls
Z