Subaru WRX & WRX STI Manuals 2014 Impreza WRX & WRX STI Owner's Manual | Page 294

Driving tips/Winter driving

obey the specification that is
printed on the tire placard. The
tire placard is located on the
bottom of driver’s door pillar.
If all of four winter tires are not
the same for items (a) to (h), there
is a possibility that serious mechanical damage could occur to
the drive train of your car, and
affect the following.
— Ride
— Handling
— Braking
— Speedometer/Odometer
calibration
— Clearance between the body
and tires
It also may be dangerous and
lead to loss of vehicle control,
and it can lead to an accident.
. Do not use a combination of
radial, belted bias or bias tires
since it may cause dangerous
handling characteristics and lead
to an accident.
Your vehicle is equipped with “summer
tires” as original equipment, which are
inadequate for driving on slippery roads
such as on snow-covered or icy roads.

Compared with winter and all-season
tires, summer tires give significantly less
grip on snowy and icy road surfaces.
Therefore, use of winter tires is strongly
recommended when driving with such
road 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, construction, brand and load range and you should
never mix radial, belted bias or bias tires
since this may result in dangerous handling 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.

& Tire chains
CAUTION
Tire chains cannot be used on your
Impreza, WRX and STI because of
the lack of clearance between the
tires and vehicle body.

8-9

& Rocking the vehicle
If you must rock the vehicle to free it from
snow, sand, or mud, depress the accelerator pedal slightly and move the shift
lever back and forth between “1” 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.