Kia Sorento Owner's Manual page 472

Driving your vehicle
Reducing the risk of a rollover
This multi-purpose passenger vehi-
cle is defined as a Sports Utility
Vehicle (SUV). SUV's have higher
ground clearance and a narrower
track to make them capable of per-
forming in a wide variety of off-road
applications. Specific design charac-
teristics give them a higher centre of
gravity than ordinary vehicles. An
advantage of the higher ground
clearance is a better view of the
road, which allows you to anticipate
problems. They are not designed for
cornering at the same speeds as
conventional passenger vehicles,
any more than low-slung sports vehi-
cles are designed to perform satis-
factorily in off-road conditions. Due to
this risk, driver and passengers are
strongly recommended to buckle
their seat belts. In a rollover crash,
an unbelted person is more likely to
die than a person wearing a seat
belt. There are steps that a driver
can make to reduce the risk of a
rollover. If at all possible, avoid sharp
turns or abrupt manoeuvres, do not
load your roof rack with heavy cargo,
and never modify your vehicle in any
way.
5 32
WARNING
- Rollover
As with other Sports Utility
Vehicle (SUV), failure to operate
this vehicle correctly may result
in loss of control, an accident or
vehicle rollover.
• Utility vehicles have a signifi-
cantly higher rollover rate
than other types of vehicles.
• Specific design characteris-
tics (higher ground clearance,
narrower track, etc.) give this
vehicle a higher centre of
gravity than ordinary vehicles.
• A SUV is not designed for cor-
nering at the same speeds as
conventional vehicles.
• Avoid sharp turns or abrupt
manoeuvres.
• In a rollover crash, an unbelt-
ed person is significantly
more likely to die than a per-
son wearing a seat belt. Make
sure everyone in the vehicle is
properly buckled up.
WARNING
Your vehicle is equipped with
tyres designed to provide safe
ride and handling capability. Do
not use a size and type of tyre
and wheel that is different from
the one that is originally
installed on your vehicle. It can
affect the safety and perform-
ance of your vehicle, which
could lead to steering failure or
rollover and serious injury.
When replacing the tyres, be
sure to equip all four tyres with
the tyre and wheel of the same
size, type, tread, brand and
load-carrying capacity. If you
nevertheless decide to equip
your vehicle with any tyre/wheel
combination not recommended
by Kia for off road driving, you
should not use these tyres for
highway driving.