2009 Saturn VUE Owner's Manual - Page 224

4-20 Driving Your Vehicle Driving Across an Incline An off-road trail will probably go across the incline of a hill. To decide whether to try to drive across the incline, consider the following: left and right wheels - might not prevent the vehicle from tilting and rolling over. Driving across an incline puts more weight on the downhill wheels which could cause a downhill slide or a rollover. • Surface conditions can be a problem. Loose gravel, muddy spots, or even wet grass can cause the tires to slip sideways, downhill. If the vehicle slips sideways, it can hit something that will trip it - a rock, a rut, etc. - and roll over. • Hidden obstacles can make the steepness of the incline even worse. If you drive across a rock with the uphill wheels, or if the downhill wheels drop into a rut or depression, the vehicle can tilt even more. For these reasons, carefully consider whether to try to drive across an incline. Just because the trail goes across the incline does not mean you have to drive it. The last vehicle to try it might have rolled over. Things not to do when driving down a hill: • When driving downhill, avoid turns that take you across the incline of the hill. A hill that is not too steep to drive down might be too steep to drive across. The vehicle could roll over. { CAUTION Driving across an incline that is too steep will make your vehicle roll over. You could be seriously injured or killed. If you have any doubt about the steepness of the incline, do not drive across it. Find another route instead. • Never go downhill with the transmission in N (Neutral), called free-wheeling. The brakes will have to do all the work and could overheat and fade. Vehicles are much more likely to stall when going uphill, but if it happens when going downhill: 1. Stop the vehicle by applying the regular brakes and apply the parking brake. 2. Shift to P (Park) and, while still braking, restart the engine. 3. Shift back to a low gear, release the parking brake, and drive straight down. 4. If the engine will not start, get out and get help. • A hill that can be driven straight up or down might be too steep to drive across. When going straight up or down a hill, the length of the wheel base - the distance from the front wheels to the rear wheels - reduces the likelihood the vehicle will tumble end over end. But when driving across an incline, the narrower track width - the distance between the