Subaru Crosstrek Owners Manual: Driving on snowy and icy roads

To prevent skidding and slipping, avoid sudden braking, abrupt acceleration, highspeed driving, and sharp turning when driving on snowy or icy roads.

Always maintain ample distance between your vehicle and the vehicle ahead of you to avoid the need for sudden braking.

To supplement the foot brake, use the engine brake effectively to control the vehicle speed. (Shift into a lower gear when necessary.) Avoid shifting down abruptly. Such behavior can cause the wheels to lock, possibly leading to loss of vehicle control.

An anti-lock brake system (ABS) enhances your vehicle's braking performance on snowy and icy roads. For information on braking on slippery surfaces, refer to "ABS (Anti-lock Brake System)" F7-32 and "Vehicle Dynamics Control system" F7-34.

WARNING

Do not use the cruise control on slippery roads such as snowy or icy roads. This may cause loss of vehicle control.

CAUTION

Avoid prolonged continuous driving in snowstorms. Snow will enter the engine's intake system and may hinder the airflow, which could result in engine shutdown or even breakdown.

Wiper operation when snowing

Before driving in cold weather, make sure the rubber wiper blades are not frozen to the windshield or rear window.

If the rubber wiper blades are frozen to the windshield or rear window, perform the following procedure.

• To thaw the windshield rubber wiper blades, use the defroster with the airflow selection in "  " and the temperature set for maximum warmth until the rubber wiper blades are completely thawed.

  Refer to "Climate control" F4-1.

• If your vehicle is equipped with a wiper deicer, use it. It is helpful to thaw the windshield rubber wiper blades. Refer to "Defogger and deicer" F3-100.
• To thaw the rear rubber wiper blades, use the rear window defogger. Refer to "Defogger and deicer" F3-100.

When driving in snow, if frozen snow starts to stick on the surface of the windshield despite wiper operation, use the defroster with the airflow selection in " " and the temperature set for maximum warmth.

After the windshield gets warmed enough to melt the frozen snow on it, wash it away using the windshield washer. Refer to "Windshield washer" F3-97.

Snow stuck on the wiper arm prevents the wiper from working effectively. If snow is stuck on the wiper arm, pull off the road to a safe place, then remove it. If you stop the vehicle at road side, use the hazard warning flasher to alert other drivers.

Refer to "Hazard warning flasher" F3-8.

We recommend use of non-freezing type wiper blades (winter blades) during the seasons you could have snow and freezing temperatures. Blades of this type give superior wiping performance in snowy conditions. Be sure to use blades that are suitable for your vehicle.

CAUTION

During high-speed driving, nonfreezing type wiper blades may not perform as well as standard wiper blades. If this happens, reduce the vehicle speed.

NOTE

When the season requiring non-freezing type wiper blades is over, replace them with standard wiper blades.

Corrosion protection

Refer to "Corrosion protection" F10-4.