Black plate (1,1)
Chevrolet Sonic Owner Manual - 2013 - 2nd PrintReady - 10/11/12
Driving and Operating
9-1
Driving and
Operating
Driving Information
Distracted Driving . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-2
Defensive Driving . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-2
Drunk Driving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-3
Control of a Vehicle . . . . . . . . . . . 9-3
Braking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-3
Steering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-3
Off-Road Recovery . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-4
Loss of Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-4
Driving on Wet Roads . . . . . . . . . 9-5
Highway Hypnosis . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-6
Hill and Mountain Roads . . . . . . 9-6
Winter Driving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-7
If the Vehicle Is Stuck . . . . . . . . . 9-8
Vehicle Load Limits . . . . . . . . . . . 9-9
Starting and Operating
New Vehicle Break-In . . . . . . . . 9-13
Ignition Positions . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-14
Starting the Engine . . . . . . . . . . 9-16
Engine Heater . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-17
Retained Accessory
Power (RAP) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-18
Transmission) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-18
Shifting out of Park (Automatic
Transmission) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-19
Parking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-20
Parking over Things
That Burn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-20
Engine Exhaust
Engine Exhaust . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-20
Running the Vehicle While
Parked . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-21
Automatic Transmission
Automatic Transmission . . . . . 9-21
Manual Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-23
Manual Transmission
Manual Transmission . . . . . . . . 9-24
System (ABS) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-25
Parking Brake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-26
Brake Assist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-27
Hill Start Assist (HSA) . . . . . . . 9-27
Ride Control Systems
System (TCS) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-28
Cruise Control
Cruise Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-31
Fuel
Fuel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-33
Recommended Fuel . . . . . . . . . 9-33
Gasoline Specifications . . . . . . 9-34
California Fuel
Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-34
Fuels in Foreign Countries . . . 9-34
Fuel Additives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-35
Filling the Tank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-36
Filling a Portable Fuel
Container . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-37
Towing
Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-37
Conversions and Add-Ons