Tires and wheels 471
! Winter (snow) tires
11-16. Tires and wheels
CAUTION
Winter tires are best suited for driving on
snow-covered and icy roads. However,
winter tires do not perform as well as
summer tires and all season tires on roads
other than snow-covered and icy roads.
If you continue to drive despite the
scraping noise from the audible
brake pad wear indicator, it will
result in the need for costly brake
rotor repair or replacement.
& Types of tires
You should be familiar with the type of tires
present on your vehicle.
! All season tires
All season tires are designed to provide an
adequate measure of traction, handling
and braking performance in year-round
driving including snowy and icy road
conditions. However, all season tires do
not offer as much traction performance as
winter (snow) tires in heavy or loose snow
or on icy roads.
& Tire pressure monitoring
system (TPMS) (U.S.-spec.
models)
& Breaking-in of new brake
pads
The tire pressure monitoring system pro-
vides the driver with a warning message by
sending a signal from a sensor that is
installed in each wheel when tire pressure
is severely low. The tire pressure monitor-
ing system will activate only when the
vehicle is driven. Also, this system may not
react immediately to a sudden drop in tire
pressure (for example, a blow-out caused
by running over a sharp object).
When replacing the brake pad, use only
genuine SUBARU parts. After replace-
ment, the new parts must be broken in.
Contact your SUBARU dealer for details.
All season tires are identified by “ALL
SEASON” and/or “M+S” (Mud & Snow) on
the tire sidewall.
! Summer tires
Summer tires are high-speed capability
tires best suited for highway driving under
dry conditions.
Summer tires are inadequate for driving on
slippery roads such as on snow-covered or
icy roads.
If you drive your vehicle on snow-covered
or icy roads, we strongly recommend the
use of winter (snow) tires.
When installing winter tires, be sure to
replace all four tires.
If you adjust the tire pressures in a warm
garage and will then drive the vehicle in
cold outside air, the resulting drop in tire
pressures may cause the low tire pressure
warning light to illuminate. To avoid this
problem when adjusting the tire pressures
in a warm garage, inflate the tires to
pressures higher than those shown on
the tire inflation pressure label. Specifi-
cally, inflate them by an extra 1 psi (6.9
2
kPa, 0.07 kgf/cm ) for every difference of
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