ground clearance KIA SPORTAGE 2021 User Guide

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Driving your vehicle
If at all possible, avoid sharp turns or
abrupt maneuvers, do not load your
roof rack with heavy cargo, and
never modify your vehicle in any way.
WARNING
Your vehicle is equipped with
tires designed to provide safe
ride and handling capability. Do
not use a size and type of tire
and wheel that is different from
the one that is originally
installed on your vehicle. It can
affect the safety and perform-
ance of your vehicle, which
could lead to steering failure or
rollover and serious injury.
When replacing the tires, be
sure to equip all four tires with
the tire and wheel of the same
size, type, tread, brand and
load-carrying capacity. If you
nevertheless decide to equip
your vehicle with any tire/wheel
combination not recommended
by Kia for off road driving, you
should not use these tires for
highway driving.
WARNING- Rollover
As with other Sports Utility
Vehicle (SUV), failure to operate
this vehicle correctly may result
in loss of control, an accident or
vehicle rollover.
• Utility vehicles have a signifi- cantly higher rollover rate
than other types of vehicles.
• Specific design characteris- tics (higher ground clearance,
narrower track, etc.) give this
vehicle a higher center of
gravity than ordinary vehicles.
• A SUV is not designed for cor- nering at the same speeds as
conventional vehicles.
• Avoid sharp turns or abrupt maneuvers.
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• In a rollover crash, an unbelt-ed person is significantly
more likely to die than a per-
son wearing a seat belt. Make
sure everyone in the vehicle is
properly buckled up.

What to do in an emergency
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When using a compact spare tire,
observe the following precautions:
• Under no circumstances shouldyou 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 bodily
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 is
smaller than the diameter of a con-
ventional tire and reduces the
ground clearance approximately 1
inch (25 mm), which could result in
damage to the vehicle. • Do not take this vehicle through an
automatic vehicle wash while the
compact spare tire is installed.
• Do not use tire chains on the com- pact spare tire. Because of the
smaller size, a tire chain will not fit
properly. This could damage the
vehicle and result in loss of the
chain.
• Do not use the compact spare tire on any other vehicle because this
tire 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 size
and design, mounted on the same
wheel.
• The compact spare tire should not be used on any other wheels, nor
should standard tires, snow tires,
wheel covers or trim rings be used
with the compact spare wheel. If
such use is attempted, damage to
these items or other vehicle com-
ponents may occur. • Do not use more than one compact
spare tire at a time.
• Do not tow a trailer while the com- pact spare tire is installed.

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Maintenance
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 width
and offset.
A wheel that is not the correct size
may adversely affect wheel and
bearing life, braking and stopping
abilities, handling characteristics,
ground clearance, body-to-tire clear-
ance, snow chain clearance,
speedometer and odometer calibra-
tion, headlight aim and bumper
height.
Tire traction
Tire traction can be reduced if you
drive on worn tires, tires that are
improperly inflated or on slippery
road surfaces. Tires should be
replaced when tread wear indicators
appear. Slow down whenever there
is rain, snow or ice on the road, to
reduce the possibility of losing con-
trol of the vehicle.
Tire maintenance
In addition to proper inflation, correct
wheel alignment helps to decrease
tire wear. If you find a tire is worn
unevenly, have your dealer check the
wheel alignment.
When you have new tires installed,
make sure they are balanced. This
will increase vehicle ride comfort and
tire life. Additionally, a tire should
always be rebalanced if it is removed
from the wheel.
Tire sidewall labeling
This information identifies and
describes the fundamental charac-
teristics of the tire and also provides
the tire identification number (TIN)
for safety standard certification. The
TIN can be used to identify the tire in
case of a recall.
1. Manufacturer or brand name
Manufacturer or Brand name is
shown.
CAUTION - Wheel
Wheels that do not meet Kia'sspecifications may fit poorlyand result in damage to thevehicle or unusual handling andpoor vehicle control.
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