5-19
Dri
ving y
our v
ehicle
5
To prevent unnecessary wear or
damage to the clutch:
• Do not rest your foot on the
clutch pedal while driving.
• Do not hold the vehicle with the
clutch on an incline, while wait-
ing for the traffic light, etc.
• Always depress the clutch pedal
down fully to prevent noise or
damage.
• Do not depress the clutch pedal
again until it is fully released.
• Do not start with the 2
nd
(sec-
ond) gear engaged except when
you start on a slippery road.
• Do not drive with cargo loaded
more than the required loading
capacity.
Downshifting
Down shift to a lower gear when
slowing down in heavy traffic or driv-
ing up a steep hill to prevent high
engine loads.
Also, downshifting reduces the
chance of stalling help reaccelerate
the vehicle when you need to
increase your speed.
When the vehicle is going downhill,
downshifting helps maintain safe
speed by providing brake power from
the engine and results in less wear
on the brakes.
To prevent damage to the engine,
clutch and transmission:
• When downshifting from 5
th
gear
to 4
th
gear, be careful not to inad-
vertently push the shift lever
sideways engaging the 2
nd
gear.
A drastic downshift may cause
the engine speed to increase to
the point the tachometer will
enter the red-zone and may
cause engine damage.
• Do not downshift more than two
gear at a time or downshift the
gear when the engine is running
at high speed (5,000 RPM or
higher). Such downshifting may
damage the engine, clutch and
the transmission.
NOTICE
NOTICE
