2011 Subaru Tribeca Owner's Manual - Page 262

Starting and operating 7-19 Braking & Braking tips WARNING Never rest your foot on the brake pedal while driving. This can cause dangerous overheating of the brakes and needless wear on the brake pads and linings. ! When the brakes get wet When driving in rain 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. ! 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 to get stronger engine braking. ! 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. harder than normal and the braking distance will increase. NOTE Some sound accompanying operation of the vacuum pump may be heard from the engine compartment during driving. This does not indicate a malfunction. ! Brake assist system & Brake system ! Two separate circuits Your vehicle has a dual circuit brake system. 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 go down much closer to the floor than usual and you will need to depress it down much harder. And a much longer distance will be needed to stop the vehicle. ! Brake booster The brake booster uses engine manifold vacuum to assist braking force. If engine manifold vacuum becomes insufficient, such as when driving in a high-altitude place, a vacuum pump assures a sufficient vacuum to operate the brake booster. 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 depress the pedal much WARNING Do not be overconfident about the brake assist. It is not a system that brings more braking ability to the vehicle beyond its braking capability. Always use the utmost care when driving regarding vehicle speed and safe distance. CAUTION When you need to brake suddenly, continue depressing the brake pedal strongly to bring the effect of the brake assist. NOTE When you depress the brake pedal - CONTINUED -