tow VAUXHALL ASTRA J 2017.5 Owner's Guide

Driving and operating175In the event of a fault, a warning
message is displayed in the Driver
Information Centre. Vehicle
messages 3 122.
Continued driving is restricted or not
possible, depending on the fault.
Have the cause of the fault remedied
by a workshop.Brakes
The brake system comprises twoindependent brake circuits.
If a brake circuit fails, the vehicle can
still be braked using the other brake
circuit. However, braking effect is
achieved only when the brake pedal
is depressed firmly. Considerably
more force is needed for this. The
braking distance is extended. Seek
the assistance of a workshop before
continuing the journey.
When the engine is not running, the
support of the brake servo unit
disappears once the brake pedal has
been depressed once or twice.
Braking effect is not reduced, but
braking requires significantly greater
force. It is especially important to bear this in mind when being towed.
Control indicator R 3 110.
Antilock brake system
Antilock brake system (ABS)
prevents the wheels from locking.ABS starts to regulate brake pressure as soon as a wheel shows a tendency to lock. The vehicle remains
steerable, even during hard braking.
ABS control is made apparent
through a pulse in the brake pedal
and the noise of the regulation
process.
For optimum braking, keep the brake
pedal fully depressed throughout the
braking process, despite the fact that
the pedal is pulsating. Do not reduce
the pressure on the pedal.
After starting off, the system performs
a self-test which may be audible.
Control indicator u 3 111.
Adaptive brake light During full braking, all three brake
lights flash for the duration of ABS
control.

190Driving and operatingvisibility. In case of sensor
blockage, clean the sensor
cover.
System limits ● The system's automatic brake force does not permit hard
braking and the braking level
may not be sufficient to avoid a
collision.
● After a sudden lane change, the system needs a certain time to
detect the next preceding
vehicle. So if a new vehicle is
detected, the system may
accelerate instead of braking.
● Adaptive cruise control does ignore the oncoming traffic.
● Adaptive cruise control does not consider pedestrians and
animals for braking and driving off.
● Adaptive cruise control considers
stopped vehicles only at low
speed.● Do not use adaptive cruise control when towing a trailer.
● Do not use adaptive cruise control on roads with an incline ofmore than 10%.
Bends
The adaptive cruise control calculates
a predicted path based on the
centrifugal force. This predicted path
considers the current bend
characteristic, but cannot consider a
future bend change. The system may lose the current vehicle ahead or
consider a vehicle which is not in the
actual lane. This can happen when
entering or exiting a bend or if the
bend gets stronger or weaker. If it no
longer detects any vehicle ahead,
then control indicator A will
extinguish.
If the centrifugal force is too high in a bend, the system slows down the vehicle slightly. This braking level is
not designed to avoid spinning-off the
bend. The driver is responsible for
reducing the selected speed before
entering a bend and in general to
adapt the speed to the road type and
to existing speed limits.
Motorways
On motorways, adapt the set speed
to the situation and the weather.
Always consider that adaptive cruise
control has a limited visibility range, a
limited braking level and a certain
reaction time to verify if a vehicle is on
the driving path or not. Adaptive
cruise control may not be able to
brake the vehicle in time to avoid a
collision with a much slower vehicle or after a lane change. This is

Driving and operating207Notice
If the overtaking vehicle is at least
6 mph faster than the vehicle being
overtaken, the warning symbol B in
the relevant exterior mirror may not
illuminate.
Side blind spot alert is active from
speeds of 6 mph up to 87 mph.
Driving faster than 87 mph
deactivates the system, indicated by
low lighting warning symbols B in
both exterior mirrors. Reducing the speed again will extinguish the
warning symbols. If a vehicle is then
detected in the blind zone, the
warning symbols B will illuminate as
normal on the relevant side.
When the vehicle is started, both exterior mirror displays will briefly
illuminate to indicate that the system
is operating.
The system can be activated or
deactivated in the Info-Display.
Vehicle personalisation 3 124.
Deactivation is indicated by a
message in the Driver Information
Centre.
Detection zones
The detection zones start at the rear
bumper and extend approx.
three metres rearwards and to the
sides. The height of the zone is
approx. between half a metre and
two metres off the ground.
The system is deactivated if the
vehicle is towing a trailer or if a bike
carrier is attached.
Side blind spot alert is designed to
ignore stationary objects, e.g.
guardrails, posts, curbs, walls and
beams. Parked vehicles or oncoming
vehicles are not detected.Fault
Occasional missed alerts can occur
under normal circumstances and will
increase in wet conditions.
Side blind spot alert does not operate when the left or right corners of the
rear bumper are covered with mud,
dirt, snow, ice, slush, or in heavy
rainstorms. Cleaning instructions
3 272.
In the event of a fault in the system or if the system does not work due to
temporary conditions, the symbols in
the mirrors will be permanently
illuminated and a message is
displayed in the Driver Information
Centre. Seek the assistance of a
workshop.
Rear view camera
The rear view camera assists the
driver when reversing by displaying a view of the area behind the vehicle.
The view of the camera is displayed
in the Colour-Info-Display.

Driving and operating209
Trajectory lane of the vehicle is
shown in accordance with the
steering angle.
Warning symbols
Warning symbols are indicated as
triangles 9 on the picture, which show
obstacles detected by the rear
sensors of the advanced parking
assist.
Additionally, 9 appears on the top
line of the Info-Display with the
warning to check the vehicle
surrounding.
Deactivation
The camera is switched off when a
certain forward speed is exceeded or
if reverse gear is not engaged for
approx. 15 seconds.
Deactivation of guiding lines and
warning symbols
7'' Colour-Info-Display: Activation or
deactivation of the visual guiding lines and the warning symbols can be
changed via touch buttons in the
lower zone of the display.
8'' Colour-Info-Display: Activation or
deactivation of the visual guiding lines
and the warning symbols can be
changed in the Settings menu in the
Info-Display. Select the relevant
setting in Settings, I Rear Camera .
Info-Display 3 120.
Vehicle personalisation 3 124.
Fault
Fault messages are displayed with a
9 on the top line of the Info-Display.
The rear view camera may not
operate properly when:
● The surrounding is dark.
● The sun or the beam of headlights is shining directly into
the camera lens.
● Ice, snow, mud, or anything else covers the camera lens. Clean
the lens, rinse it with water, and
wipe it with a soft cloth.
● The vehicle is towing a trailer. ● The vehicle had a rear end accident.
● There are extreme temperature changes.

210Driving and operatingTraffic sign assistant
Functionality Traffic sign assistant detects
designated traffic signs via a front
camera and displays them in the
Driver Information Centre.
If the vehicle is equipped with an
embedded navigation system, traffic signs from data maps may be
included additionally.
Traffic signs, which will be detected,
are:
Limit and no passing signs ● speed limit
● no passing
● end of speed limit
● end of no passingRoad signs
Beginning and end of:
● city regions (country-specific)● motorways
● A-roads
● play streetsAdd on signs ● additional hints to traffic signs
● restriction of trailer towing
● tractor constraints
● wet warning
● ice warning
● time constraints
● distance constraints
● direction arrows
Speed limit signs and no passing
signs are displayed in the Driver
Information Centre until the nextspeed limit sign or end of speed limit
is detected or up to a defined sign
timeout.
Indication of multiple signs on the
display is possible.
An exclamation mark in a frame
indicates that there is an additional
sign detected which cannot be clearly
identified by the system.
The system operates without loss of
performance up to a speed of
125 mph depending on the lighting
conditions. At night the system is
active up to a speed of 100 mph.

Driving and operating215The system is operational at vehicle
speeds between 37 mph and
112 mph and if lane markings are
available.
The system gently turns the steering
wheel and the control indicator a
changes to yellow, if the vehicle
approaches a detected lane marking
without using the turn signal in that
direction.
The system alerts by flashing a
together with three chimes, from the respective direction, if the lane is
departed significantly.
The system is only operable when a
lane marking is detected.
If the system only detects lane
markings on one side of the road, it
will only assist for this side.
Lane keep assist detects hands-free
driving. In this case a message in the
Driver Information Centre pops-up
and a chime sounds as long as lane
keep assist detects hands-free
driving.Deactivation
The system is deactivated by
pressing a; the LED in the button
extinguishes.
Fault
The system performance may be affected by:
● Windscreen not clean or affected
by foreign items, e.g. stickers
● Close vehicles ahead
● Banked roads
● Winding or hilly roads
● Road edges
● Roads with poor lane markings
● Sudden lighting changes
● Adverse environmental conditions e.g. heavy rain or
snow
● Vehicle modifications, e.g. tyres.
Switch off the system if the system is
disturbed by tar marks, shadows,
road cracks, temporary or
construction lane markings, or other
road imperfections.9 Warning
Always keep your attention on the
road and maintain proper vehicle
position within the lane, otherwise
vehicle damage, injury or death
could occur.
Lane keep assist does not
continuously steer the vehicle.
The system may not keep the
vehicle in the lane or give an alert,
even if a lane marking is detected.
The steering of the lane keep
assist may not be sufficient to
avoid a lane departure.
The system may not detect hands-
off driving due to external
influences (road condition and
surface, weather etc). The driver
has full responsibility to control the vehicle and is always required tokeep the hands on the steeringwheel while driving.
Using the system while towing a
trailer or on slippery roads could
cause loss of control of the vehicle
and a crash. Switch the system off.

220Driving and operatingFor the values specific to your
vehicle, refer to the EEC Certificate of Conformity provided with your vehicle
or other national registration
documents.
General information
The official fuel consumption and
specific CO 2 emission figures quoted
relate to the EU base model with
standard equipment.
Fuel consumption data and CO 2
emission data are determined
according to regulation R (EC)
No. 715/2007 (in the latest applicable version), taking into consideration the
vehicle weight in running order, as specified by the regulation.
The figures are provided only for the
purpose of comparison between
different vehicle variants and must
not be taken as a guarantee for the
actual fuel consumption of a
particular vehicle. Additional
equipment may result in slightly
higher results than the stated
consumption and CO 2 figures.Furthermore, fuel consumption is
dependent on personal driving style
as well as road and traffic conditions.Trailer hitch
General information
Only use towing equipment that has
been approved for your vehicle.
Entrust retrofitting of towing
equipment to a workshop. It may be
necessary to make changes that
affect the cooling system, heat
shields or other equipment.
The bulb outage detection function for
trailer brake light cannot detect a
partial bulb outage, e.g. in case of four times five watt bulbs, the function only
detects lamp outage when only a
single five Watt lamp remains or none remain.
Fitting of towing equipment could
cover the opening of the towing eye. If this is the case use the coupling ball
bar for towing. Always keep the
coupling ball bar in the vehicle when
not in use.

Driving and operating221Driving characteristics and
towing tips
Before attaching a trailer, lubricate
the coupling ball. However, do not do
so if a stabiliser, which acts on the
coupling ball, is being used to reduce snaking movements.
During trailer towing do not exceed a
speed of 50 mph. A maximum speed
of 60 mph is only appropriate if an
oscillation damper is used and the
permissible gross trailer weight does
not exceed the vehicle's curb weight.
For trailers with low driving stability
and caravan trailers, the use of an
oscillation damper is strongly
recommended.
If the trailer starts snaking, drive more slowly, do not attempt to correct the
steering and brake sharply if
necessary.
When driving downhill, drive in the
same gear as if driving uphill and
drive at a similar speed.
Adjust tyre pressure to the value
specified for full load 3 292.Trailer towing
Trailer loadsThe permissible trailer loads are
vehicle and engine-dependent
maximum values which must not be
exceeded. The actual trailer load is the difference between the actual
gross weight of the trailer and the
actual coupling socket load with the
trailer coupled.
The permissible trailer loads are
specified in the vehicle documents. In general, they are valid for gradients
up to 12%.
The permissible trailer load applies
up to the specified incline and at sea
level. Since engine power decreases
as altitude increases due to the air
becoming thinner, therefore reducing
climbing ability, the permissible gross
train weight also decreases by 10%
for every 1000 metres of altitude. The gross train weight does not have to be
reduced when driving on roads with
slight inclines (less than 8%, e.g.
motorways).The permissible gross train weight must not be exceeded. This weight is specified on the identification plate
3 279.
Vertical coupling load
The vertical coupling load is the load
exerted by the trailer on the coupling
ball. It can be varied by changing the
weight distribution when loading the
trailer.
The maximum permissible vertical
coupling load (75 kg) is specified on
the towing equipment identification
plate and in the vehicle documents.
Always aim for the maximum load,
especially in the case of heavy
trailers. The vertical coupling load
should never fall below 25 kg.
Rear axle load
When the trailer is coupled and the
towing vehicle fully loaded, the
permissible rear axle load (see
identification plate or vehicle
documents) may be exceeded by
40 kg. If the permissible rear axle load is exceeded, a maximum speed of60 mph applies.

222Driving and operatingTowing equipmentCaution
When operating without a trailer,
remove the coupling ball bar.
Stowage of coupling ball bar
The bag with the coupling ball bar is
stowed on the rear floor cover in the
load compartment.
Place the strap through the rear right
lashing eye, wrap around twice and
tighten the strap to secure the bag.
Illustration shows 5-door hatchback.
Illustration shows Sports Tourer.
Fitting the coupling ball bar
On Sports Tourer remove cover from
rear bumper by pushing.
Disengage and fold down the
connecting socket. Remove the
sealing plug from the opening for the
coupling ball bar and stow it.

Driving and operating223Checking the tensioning of the
coupling ball bar
● Red marking on rotary knob must
point towards green marking on
coupling ball bar.
● The gap between the rotary knob
and the coupling ball bar must be approx. 6 mm.
● The key must be in position c.
Otherwise, the coupling ball bar must be tensioned before being inserted:
● Unlock coupling ball bar by turning key to position c.
● Pull out rotary knob and turn
clockwise as far as it will go.
Inserting the coupling ball bar
Insert the tensioned coupling ball bar
in the opening and push firmly
upwards until it audibly engages.
The rotary handle snaps back into its
original position resting against the
coupling ball bar without a gap.9 Warning
Do not touch rotary handle during
insertion.
Lock the coupling ball bar by turning
the key to position e. Remove the key
and close the protective flap.
Eye for break-away stopping cable