Avoid needless heavy braking. Some people drivein spurts — heavy acceleration followed by heavybraking — rather than keeping pace with traffic. This is amistake. The brakes might not have time to cool betweenhard stops. The brakes will wear out much faster if you doa lot of heavy braking. If you keep pace with the trafficand allow realistic following distances, you will eliminate alot of unnecessary braking. That means better brakingand longer brake life.If your vehicle’s engine ever stops while you are driving,brake normally but do not pump the brakes. If you do, thepedal could get harder to push down. If the engine stops,you will still have some power brake assist. But you willuse it when you brake. Once the power assist is used up,it can take longer to stop and the brake pedal will beharder to push.Adding non-dealer/non-retailer accessories can affectyour vehicle’s performance. See Accessories andModifications on page 5-3.Antilock Brake System (ABS)Your vehicle has the Antilock Brake System (ABS), anadvanced electronic braking system that will helpprevent a braking skid.When you start the engine and begin to drive away,ABS will check itself. You might hear a momentarymotor or clicking noise while this test is going on, andyou might even notice that the brake pedal movesa little. This is normal.If there is a problem withABS, this warning light willstay on. See AntilockBrake System (ABS)Warning Light onpage 3-63.Let us say the road is wet and you are driving safely.Suddenly, an animal jumps out in front of you. You slamon the brakes and continue braking. Here is whathappens with ABS:A computer senses that the wheels are slowing down.If one of the wheels is about to stop rolling, the computerwill separately work the brakes at each wheel.4-4
