1999 Subaru Forester Owner's Manual - Page 214

Starting and operating B When the brakes get wet When driving in rain, in puddle or after washing the vehicle, the brakes may get wet. As a result, brake stopping distance will be longer. To dry the brakes, drive the vehicle at a safe speed while lightly depressing the brake pedal to heat up the brakes. B Use of engine braking Remember to make use of engine braking in addition to foot braking. When descending a grade, if only the foot brake is used, the brakes may start working improperly because of brake fluid overheating, caused by overheated brake pads. To help prevent this, shift into a lower gear. B Braking when a tire is punctured Do not depress the brake pedal suddenly when a tire is punctured. This could cause a loss of control of the vehicle. Keep driving straight ahead while gradually reducing speed. Then slowly pull off the road to a safe place. J Brake system B Two separate circuits Your vehicle has two separate circuit brake systems. Each circuit works diagonally across the vehicle. If one circuit of the brake system should fail, the other half of the system still works. If one circuit fails, the brake pedal will goes down much closer to the floor than usual and you need to press it down much harder. And a much longer distance will be needed to stop the vehicle. B Brake booster The brake booster uses engine manifold vacuum to assist braking force. Do not turn off the engine while driving because that will turn off the brake booster, resulting in poor braking power. The brakes will continue to work even when the brake booster completely stops functioning. If this happens, however, you will have to push the pedal much harder than normal and the braking distance will increase. - CONTINUED - 7-29