Hyundai Elantra: Driving Your Vehicle / Winter Driving

The severe weather conditions of winter quickly wear out tires and cause other problems. To minimize winter driving problems, you should take the following suggestions:

Snow or Icy Conditions

You need to keep sufficient distance between your vehicle and the vehicle in front of you.

Apply the brakes gently. Speeding, rapid acceleration, sudden brake applications, and sharp turns are potentially very hazardous practices. During deceleration, use engine braking to the fullest extent. Sudden brake applications on snowy or icy roads may cause the vehicle to skid.

To drive your vehicle in deep snow, it may be necessary to use snow tires or to install tire chains on your tires.

Always carry emergency equipment. Some of the items you may want to carry include tire chains, tow straps or chains, a flashlight, emergency flares, sand, a shovel, jumper cables, a window scraper, gloves, ground cloth, coveralls, a blanket, etc.

Snow tires

WARNING

Snow tires should be equivalent in size and type to the vehicle’s standard tires. Otherwise, the safety and handling of your vehicle may be adversely affected.

If you mount snow tires on your vehicle, make sure to use radial tires of the same size and load range as the original tires. Mount snow tires on all four wheels to balance your vehicle’s handling in all weather conditions. The traction provided by snow tires on dry roads may not be as high as your vehicle's original equipment tires. Check with the tire dealer for maximum speed recommendations.

Information

Do not install studded tires without first checking local, state and municipal regulations for possible restrictions against their use.

Tire chains

Since the sidewalls of radial tires are thinner than other types of tires, they may be damaged by mounting some types of tire chains on them. Therefore, the use of snow tires is recommended instead of tire chains. Do not mount tire chains on vehicles equipped with aluminum wheels; if unavoidable use a wire type chain. If tire chains must be used, use genuine HYUNDAI parts and install the tire chain after reviewing the instructions provided with the tire chains. Damage to your vehicle caused by improper tire chain use is not covered by your vehicle manufacturer’s warranty.

WARNING

The use of tire chains may adversely affect vehicle handling:

• Drive less than 20 mph (30 km/h) or the chain manufacturer's recommended speed limit, whichever is lower.
• Drive carefully and avoid bumps, holes, sharp turns, and other road hazards, which may cause the vehicle to bounce.
• Avoid sharp turns or locked wheel braking.

CAUTION

If your vehicle has 225/40R18 size tires, do not use tire chain; they can damage your vehicle (wheel, suspension and body).

Information

• Install tire chains on the front tires. It should be noted that installing tire chains on the tires will provide a greater driving force, but will not prevent side skids.
• Do not install studded tires without first checking local, state and municipal regulations for possible restrictions against their use.

Chain installation

When installing tire chains, follow the manufacturer’s instructions and mount them as tightly possible. Drive slowly (less than 20 mph (30 km/h)) with chains installed. If you hear the chains contacting the body or chassis, stop and tighten them. If they still make contact, slow down until the noise stops. Remove the tire chains as soon as you begin driving on cleared roads.

When mounting snow chains, park the vehicle on level ground away from traffic. Turn on the vehicle Hazard Warning Flasher and place a triangular emergency warning device behind the vehicle (if available). Always place the vehicle in P (Park), apply the parking brake and turn off the engine before installing snow chains.

NOTICE

- When using tire chains:

• Wrong size chains or improperly installed chains can damage your vehicle's brake lines, suspension, body and wheels.
• Use SAE "S" class or wire chains.
• If you hear noise caused by chains contacting the body, retighten the chain to prevent contact with the vehicle body.
• To prevent body damage, retighten the chains after driving 0.3~0.6 miles (0.5~1.0 km).
• Do not use tire chains on vehicles equipped with aluminum wheels. If unavoidable, use a wire type chain.
• Use wire chains less than 0.59 inch (15 mm) wide to prevent damage to the chain’s connection.

• Winter Precautions