Winter driving
Carry some emergency equipment, such as a window scraper, a bag of sand, flares, a small shovel and jumper cables.
Check the battery and cables. Cold tem- peratures reduce battery capacity. The battery must be in good condition to provide enough power for cold winter starts.
It normally takes longer to start the engine in very cold weather conditions. Use an engine oil of a proper grade and viscosity for cold weather. Using heavy summer oil will make it harder to start the engine.
Keep the door locks from freezing by squirting them with deicer or glycerin.
Forcing a frozen door open may damage or separate the rubber weather strips around the door. If the door is frozen, use hot water to melt the ice, and afterwards thoroughly wipe the water away.
Use a windshield washer fluid that con- tains an antifreeze solution. Do not use engine antifreeze or other substitutes because they may damage the paint of
the vehicle.
If you fill the reservoir tank with a fluid with a different concentration from the one used previously, purge the old fluid from the piping between the reservoir tank and washer nozzles by operating the washer for a certain period of time. Otherwise, if the concentration of the fluid remaining in the piping is too low for the outside temperature, it may freeze and block the nozzles.
Before entering the vehicle, remove any snow or ice from your shoes because that could make the pedals slippery and driving dangerous.
While warming up the vehicle before driving, check that the accelerator pedal, brake pedal, and all other controls operate smoothly.
Clear away ice and snow that has accu- mulated under the fenders to avoid making steering difficult. During severe winter driving, stop when and where it is safe to do so and check under the fenders periodically.
When parking for long periods in cold weather, you should observe the following tips.
To help prevent moisture from forming in the fuel system and the risk of its freezing, use of an antifreeze additive in the fuel tank is recommended during cold weather.
Use only additives that are specifically designed for this purpose. When an anti- freeze additive is used, its effect lasts longer if the tank is refilled whenever the fuel level reaches half empty.
If your SUBARU is not going to be used for an extended period, it is best to have the fuel tank filled to capacity.
& Driving on snowy and icy roads
To prevent skidding and slipping, avoid sudden braking, abrupt acceleration, high- speed driving, and sharp turning when driving on snowy or icy roads.
Always maintain ample distance between your vehicle and the vehicle ahead of you to avoid the need for sudden braking.
To supplement the foot brake, use the engine brake effectively to control the vehicle speed. (Shift into a lower gear when necessary.)
Avoid shifting down abruptly. Such beha- vior can cause the wheels to lock, possibly leading to loss of vehicle control.
An anti-lock brake system (ABS) en- hances your vehicle’s braking perfor- mance on snowy and icy roads. For information on braking on slippery sur- faces, refer to “ABS (Anti-lock Brake System)” P332 and “Vehicle Dynamics Control system” P334.
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Before driving in cold weather, make sure the wiper blade rubbers are not frozen to the windshield or rear window.
If the wiper blade rubbers are frozen to the windshield or rear window, perform the following procedure.
” and the temperature set for maximum warmth until the wiper blade rubbers are completely thawed. Refer to “Climate control” P263.When driving in snow, if frozen snow starts to stick on the surface of the windshield despite wiper operation, use the defroster with the airflow selection in “ 
” and the temperature set for maximum warmth. After the windshield gets warmed enough to melt the frozen snow on it, wash it away using the windshield washer. Refer to “Windshield washer” P245.
Snow stuck on the wiper arm prevents the wiper from working effectively. If snow is stuck on the wiper arm, pull off the road to a safe place, then remove it. If you stop the vehicle at road side, use the hazard warning flasher to alert other drivers. Refer to “Hazard warning flasher” P164.
Check that the headlights are clean before driving. If snow, frost or ice are attached to the headlights, remove it.
If the headlights are not clean, they will not light the front normally. Also if the indica- tors and brake lamps are not clean, the vehicle will not be able to inform its status to other drivers and it may result in an accident.
Refer to “Corrosion protection” P450.
Your vehicle is equipped with “all season tires” as original equipment, which are designed to provide an adequate measure of traction, handling and braking perfor- mance in year-round driving. In winter, it may be possible to enhance performance through use of tires designed specifically for winter driving conditions.
When you choose to install winter tires on your vehicle, be sure to use the correct tire size and type. You must install four winter tires that are of the same size, construc- tion, brand and load range and you should never mix radial, belted bias or bias tires since this may result in dangerous hand- ling characteristics. When you choose a tire, make sure that there is enough clearance between the tire and vehicle
body.
Remember to drive with care at all times regardless of the type of tires on your vehicle.
NOTE
To help avoid damage to your vehicle, drive slowly, readjust or remove the device if it is contacting your vehicle, and do not spin your wheels. Damage caused to your vehicle by use of a traction device is not covered under warranty.
Make certain that any traction device you use is an SAE class S device, and use it on the front wheels only. Always use the utmost care when driving with a traction device. Overconfidence be- cause you are using a traction device could easily lead to a serious accident.
& Rocking the vehicle
If you must rock the vehicle to free it from snow, sand, or mud, depress the accel- erator pedal slightly and move the select lever back and forth between “D” and “R” repeatedly. Do not race the engine. For the best possible traction, avoid spinning the wheels when trying to free the vehicle.
When the road surface is extremely slippery, you can obtain better traction by starting the vehicle with the transmission in 2nd than 1st.
For information about holding the trans- mission in the 2nd position, refer to “Selection of manual mode” P324.
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