ground clearance KIA CERATO 2008 Owners Manual

Knowing your vehicle
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Side airbags (if equipped)
Side airbags (side and/or curtain airbags) are designed to inflate when
the impact is delivered to side colli-sion sensors depending on thestrength, speed or angles of impact
of side impact collision or rollover bythe side impact. Although the front airbags (driver’s
and front passenger’s airbags) aredesigned to inflate only in frontal col-
lision, it may inflate in any collision if
front impact sensors are delivered
with certain impact.
Side airbags (side and/or curtain airbags) are designed to inflate only
in side impact collision, it may inflate
in any collision if side impact sensors
are delivered with certain impact.
In other words, they may inflate inaccidents such as slant collision orimpact, collision or impact where the
front portion of the vehicle goes
under a vehicle with a higher ground
clearance (bus or truck), collision
with a utility pole or rollover.
Therefore, drive safely at all times.
If the vehicle chassis is impacted by
bumps or objects on unimproved
roads or sidewalks, airbags may
deploy. Drive carefully on unim-
proved roads or on surfaces not
designed for vehicle traffic.
To protect occupants, front airbags
or pre-tensioner seat belts may
deploy in certain side impact colli-
sions.
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In a slant impact or collision, the
force delivered will be relatively
weaker than that of frontal colli-
sion. So, the airbags may not
inflate. At the moment of an accident, driv-
ers brake heavily with reflex. In
such heavy braking, the front por-
tion of the vehicle is lowered by the
force of the braking and the vehicle
can go under a vehicle with a high-
er ground clearance. Airbags maynot inflate in this situation because
impacts may not be delivered or
may be delivered with less intensi-
ty. Airbags may not inflate in rollover
accidents because airbag deploy-
ment would not provide proper pro-
tection to the occupants.
However, side airbags may inflate when the vehicle is rolled over by a
side impact collision, if the vehicleis equipped with side airbags
and/or curtain airbags.
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In case of an emergency
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The compact spare should be inflat-
ed to 60 psi (420 kPa).
✽✽
NOTICE
Check the inflation pressure after
installing the spare tire. Adjust it to
the specified pressure, as necessary.
When using a compact spare tire,
observe the following precautions:
Under no circumstances should you exceed 50 mph (80 km/h); a higher speed could damage the
tire.
Ensure that you drive slowly enough for the road conditions to
avoid all hazards. Any road hazard,
such as a pothole or debris, could
seriously damage the compact
spare.
Any continuous road use of this tire could result in tire failure, loss of
vehicle control, and possible per-
sonal injury.
Do not exceed the vehicle’s maxi- mum load rating or the load-carry-
ing capacity shown on the sidewall
of the compact spare tire.
Avoid driving over obstacles. The compact spare tire diameter issmaller than the diameter of a con-
ventional tire and reduces the
ground clearance approximately 1inch (25 mm), which could result in
damage to the vehicle. Do not take this vehicle through an
automatic car wash.
Do not use tire chains on this tire. Because of the smaller size, a tire
chain will not fit properly. This could
damage the vehicle and result inloss of the chain.
This tire should not be installed on the front axle if the vehicle must be
driven in snow or on ice.
Do not use the compact spare tire on any other vehicle because thistire has been designed especially
for your vehicle.
The compact spare tire’s tread life is shorter than a regular tire.
Inspect your compact spare tire
regularly and replace worn com-
pact spare tires with the same sizeand design, mounted on the samewheel.
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CAUTION - Compact
spare
This spare tire should be usedonly for VERY short distances.Compact spares should NEVER be used for long drives orextended distances.

Maintenance
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Wheel replacement
When replacing the metal wheels for
any reason, make sure the new
wheels are equivalent to the original
factory units in diameter, rim widthand offset.WARNING
When replacing tires, never mix radial, bias-belted, and
bias-type tires. All four tires
should be of the same size,
design and construction. Use
only the tire sizes listed on the
Tire Label found below the
door striker on the driver’s
side. Make sure that all tires
and wheels are the same size
and have the same load-carry-
ing capacity. Use only tire andwheel combinations recom-
mended on the Tire Label or
by an Authorized Kia Dealer.
Failure to follow these precau-
tions can adversely affect the
safety and handling of your
vehicle.
(Continued)(Continued)
The use of any other tire sizeor type may seriously affect
ride, handling, ground clear-
ance, tire clearance, andspeedometer calibration.
Driving on worn-out tires is very hazardous and will
reduce braking effectiveness,
steering accuracy, and trac-tion.
It is best to replace all four tires at the same time. If that is
not possible, or necessary,
then replace the two front or
two rear tires as a pair.Replacing just one tire can
seriously affect your vehicle’shandling.
WARNING
A wheel that is not the correct
size may adversely affect wheel
and bearing life, braking and
stopping abilities, handling
characteristics, ground clear-
ance, body-to-tire clearance,
snow chain clearance,
speedometer calibration, head-
light aim and bumper height.