Vauxhall Meriva Owner's Manual page 174

When driving downhill, the brakes a re
under considerab ly m ore load when towing
a cara van / trailer. For this reason, drive in
the same gear as if driv ing uphill and drive
at a similar speed.
In Automatic mode, the Easytronic 3
automatically selec ts the drive programme
with optimum engine brak ing effect.
The cooling fan is electrically operated. Its
cooling power is therefore independent of
the engine speed.
Since a considerable amount of heat is
generated at high engine sp eed s a nd less
at slower speeds, d o not shift down when
climbing hills while the vehicle is still coping
with the g ra dient in the higher gea r.
Diesel engines: O n gradients of 10% or
more, do not drive faster than 20 mph
(30 km /h) in first gear or 30 m ph (50 km/h)
in second gear.
Picture no: 14196s.tif
Start ing on inclines
For vehicles with manual transm ission, the
most fav ourable eng ine speed when
starting-off on an incline is between 2500
and 3000 rpm for petrol engines and
between 2000 and 2500 rpm for diesel
engines. Hold engine speed constant,
engage clutch gradually (let slip), release
ha ndb ra ke and open throttle. If possible,
the engine speed should not drop d uring
this procedure.
For vehicles with Easy tronic 3 in Automa tic
mode, sim ply app ly full gas.
Driving an d Operation
Before starting-off under extreme
conditions (high combination weight,
mountainous terrain w ith steep inclines),
switch off all unnecessary electrical loads
(e.g. heated rear window, air conditioning
system 3, heated front seats 3 ).
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