Operation Manual

Driv in g and op e ra tio n124
Driving hints
The first 600 miles (1000 km)
Drive your vehicle at various speeds. Do
not use full throttle. Never allow the engine
to labour at low re vs.
Make good use of all gea rs. Depress the
accelerator pedal a maximum of around
three quarters of the ava ilable ped al travel
in all gears and drive ranges.
Do not drive faster than three quarters of
maximum speed.
Avoid quick starts, sudden a cceleration
and prolonged high-speed driving, to
avoid engine d amage and to conserve
fuel.
Do not brake unnecessarily hard for the
first 125 miles (200 km).
If possib le, a void towing another vehicle.
Never coast with engine not running
Many units may then not function (e.g.
brake servo unit, power steering, airbag
system). Driving in this manner is a danger
to yourself and others.
Brake servo unit
With the engine not running, the brake
servo unit is no longer effective once the
brake peda l has been depressed once or
twice. The braking effect is not red uced,
but substantia lly greater foot pressure is
necessary to stop the vehicle.
Power st eering
Nev er leave the steering wheel on full lock
when the v ehicle is stationary, a s this may
damage the power steering pump.
If the power steering should fail - e.g. when
the vehicle is being towed with the engine
switched off - the vehicle can still b e
prop erly steered, but considera bly greater
effort is necessary.
Driving in mountainous terrain or with a
caravan / trailer
Elec trically driven fan; the fan cooling
capacity is not dependent on engine
spe ed. It is not nece ss ary, the refore, when
driving uphill to shift down into a lower
gear if the vehicle can c lim b in a higher
gear.
Driv ing in ext rem e conditions
When driving in hazard ous conditions, e.g.
in s n ow , ice , mu d, sa n d or w at er , drive
slowly and cautiously to allow for greater
brak ing distances.
If stuck, use 2nd gear (automatic
transmission in drive rang e 2) to avoid
spinning the front wheels.
Use sand, tyre chains or other non-slip
ma terials to provide traction when stuck in
snow, mud or ice.
Driv ing through w ater
Before attem pting to drive through water,
check the depth. If the depth is slightly
lower than the underbody of your vehicle,
do not attempt to drive through it.
Driving too quickly through water can
cause water to enter the engine through
the air inta ke, causing severe damage.
Drive slowly, in a high engine rpm in as low
a gear as p ossible.
Driv ing wi th a roof loa d
Do not exceed the permissible roof load -
see page 216. For safety reasons,
distribute the loa d ev enly a nd se cure it
tightly with straps so that it cannot slip. Set
the tyre pressure to the value given for full
load. Do not drive faster than 75 mph
(120 km /h). Check and retighten straps at
frequent intervals.