four wheel drive VOLVO XC90 2006 Owners Manual

121 Startinganddriving
All-wheeldriveAll-wheeldrive–AWDAll-wheeldriveisalwaysengaged.
All-wheeldrivemeansthatallfourroad
wheelsaredrivenatthesametime.Poweris
automaticallydistributedbetweenfrontand
rearwheels.Anelectronicallycontrolled
clutchsystemdistributesthepowertothe
pairofwheelsthatgripsbest.Thisprovides
thebesttractionandpreventswheelspin.
Undernormaldrivingconditions,themajority
ofpoweristransmittedtothefrontwheels.
All-wheeldriveimprovesdrivingsafetyinrain,
snowandicyconditions.
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148 WheelsandtyresGeneralDrivingcharacteristicsandtyresThetyresgreatlyaffectthecar’sdriving
characteristics.Thetypeoftyre,dimensions,
tyrepressureandspeedratingareimportant
forhowthecarperforms.
Whenchangingtyres,ensurethattyresofthe
sametypeanddimensions,andpreferably
alsothesamemake,arefittedtoallfour
wheels.Followtherecommendedtyre
pressuresspecifiedonthetyrepressure
label,seepage151.
Designationofdimensions
Thedimensionsarestatedonallcartyres.
Example:
225/70R16102H.SpeedratingsThecarisapprovedasawhole,whichmeans
thatdimensionsandspeedratingsmustnot
differfromthosespecifiedonthevehicle’s
registrationdocument.Theonlyexceptiontotheseconditionsiswintertyres(boththose
withstudsandthosewithout).Ifsuchatyreis
chosen,thecarmustnotbedrivenfasterthan
thespeedratingofthetyre(forexample,
classQcanbedrivenatamaximumof
160km/h).
Rememberthattrafficregulationsdetermine
howfastacarcanbedriven,notthespeed
classofthetyres.
Note!Maximumpermittedspeedsindicated.
Newtyres
Tyresareperishable.Aftera
fewyearstheybeginto
hardenatthesametimeas
thefrictioncapacity/charac-
teristicsgraduallydeteri-
orate.Thereforeaimtoget
asfreshtyresaspossiblewhenyoureplace
them.Thisisespeciallyimportantwithregard
towintertyres.Theweekandyearof
manufacture,thetyre’sDOTmarking
(DepartmentofTransportation),arestated
withfourdigits,forexample1502.Thetyreintheillustrationwasmanufacturedinweek15
of2002.
Tyreage
Alltyresolderthansixyearsshouldbe
checkedbyanexperteveniftheyseem
undamaged.Thereasonforthisisthattyres
ageanddecompose,eveniftheyarehardly
everorneverused.Thefunctioncan
thereforebeaffectedduetothetyre’s
constituentmaterialsbeingbrokendown,
anditshouldthennotbeused.
Thisalsoappliestosparetyres,wintertyres
andtyressavedforfutureuse.
Examplesofexternalsignswhichindicate
thatthetyreisunsuitableforusearecracks
ordiscolouration.
Theageofthetyrecanbedeterminedbythe
DOTmarking,seeillustrationabove. 225Sectionwidth(mm)
70Ratiobetweensectionheightand
width(%)
RRadialply
16Rimdiameterininches(")
102Tyreloadindex(inthiscase615kg)
HSpeedrating(inthiscase
210km/h).Q160km/h(usedonlyonwinter
tyres)
T190km/h
H210km/h
V240km/h
W270km/h
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149 Wheelsandtyres
GeneralTyreswithtreadwearindicatorsTreadwearindicatorsarenarrowtreadless
bandsacrossthewidthofthetread.Onthe
sideofthetyrearethelettersTWI(tread
wearindicator).Whenonly1.6mmoftread
remains,thisbandisclearlyvisible.Change
thetyresassoonaspossible.Rememberthat
tyreswithlittletreaddepthprovideverypoor
gripinrainandsnow.WintertyresVolvorecommendswintertyreswith
particulardimensions.Thesearestatedon
thetyrepressurelabel,seepage151forits
location.Thetyredimensionsaredependentontheenginevariant.Whendrivingonwinter
tyres,thesemustbefittedtoallfourwheels.
NOTE!AskaVolvodealerwhichrimandtyre
typesaremostsuitable.
StuddedtyresStuddedwintertyresshouldberuningently
for500-1000kmsothestudssettleproperly
intothetyre.Thisgivesthetyre,and
especiallythestuds,alongerlifespan.
NOTE!Thelegalprovisionsfortheuseof
studdedtyresvaryfromcountrytocountry.
Treaddepth
Roadconditionswithice,slushandlow
temperaturesplaceconsiderablyhigher
demandsontyresthansummerconditions.It
isthereforenotrecommendedtodriveon
wintertyresthathaveatreaddepthofless
thanfourmillimetres.
Snowchains
Snowchainsmayonlybeusedonthefront
wheels.Thisalsoappliestoall-wheel-drive
cars.
Neverdrivefasterthan50km/hwithsnow
chains.Avoiddrivingonbaregroundasthis
wearsoutboththesnowchainsandtyres.
Neverusequick-fitsnowchainsasthespace
betweenthebrakedisksandthewheelsis
toosmall.
IMPORTANT!UseVolvogenuinesnowchainsorequiv-
alentchainsdesignedforthecarmodel,
andtyreandrimdimensions.Consultan
authorisedVolvoworkshop.
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152 WheelsandtyresWarningtriangleandsparewheelWarningtriangle(certain
countries)Followthewarningtriangleregulationsofthe
countryyouarein.
Usethewarningtriangleasfollows:
–Detachthewarningtrianglecase.Itis
heldinplacewithaVelcrostrap.
–Removethewarningtrianglefromits
case(A).
–Foldoutthefoursupportlegsonthe
warningtriangle.
–Foldoutbothredsidesofthewarning
triangle.Placethewarningtriangleinalocationthatisappropriateforthetraffic
situation.
Afteruse:
–Packeverythinginreverseorder.
Makesurethatthewarningtrianglewithcase
issecurelyfastenedinthecompartment.
TemporaryspareThesparewheel
1isonlyintendedtobeused
fortheshorttimeittakestogettheordinary
wheelreplacedorrepaired.Replacethe
sparewheelassoonaspossiblewitha
normalwheel.Thecar’shandlingmaybe
alteredbytheuseofthesparewheel.
Neverdrivefasterthan80km/hwithaspare
wheelonthecar.
Bylaw,itisonlylegaltousethesparewheel/
tyretemporarilyinconnectionwithdamageto
atyre.Awheel/tyreofthistypeshouldbe
replacedwithanormalwheel/tyreassoonas
possible.
Rememberalsothatthistyrecombinedwith
thenormaltyreswillaffectdrivingcharacter-
istics.Onfourwheeldrivevehiclesexcess
speedmayalsodamagethetransmission.
1.Certainvariantsandmarkets
IMPORTANT!Thecarmustneverbedrivenfittedwith
morethanonetemporarysparewheel.
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