Winter is a more challenging season to drive than any other time of year. Severe cold can slow down or freeze components, snow and ice can eliminate traction on the roads, storms can hamper visibility, and the shorter daylight hours mean less sunlight to brighten your way. The best advice for dealing with winter woes is to stay at home when you can, particularly when it’s snowing out. But for those times that you do have to go out, here are some winter driving tips. Get Your Car Ready Because driving is so different in the winter, make sure that your vehicle has been prepped for the cold. • Check that all your fluids have been topped up or changed: oil, anti-freeze, brake fluid, transmission fluid, and windshield washer fluid. Your owner’s manual can tell you where the containers for these liquids are located. • To prevent your gas lines from freezing, keep your gas tank at least half full at all times. • Run the heater at least once to make sure that it is working properly. • Inspect your tires to ensure they have enough tread and make sure they are filled to the correct pressure. Consider switching to snow tires, especially if you drive frequently on snow or rough terrain. • Because its capacity goes down in the winter, the battery should be checked. Clean the terminals. If you don’t want to do any of these yourself, bring your vehicle into our Service Department at King O’Rourke Cadillac in Smithtown, New York. Our factory-certified automotive technicians will make your car winter-ready. Stock Emergency Supplies Poor visibility, a sudden snowstorm, or traffic issues may leave you trapped in your vehicle for a while until help arrives. Pack enough emergency supplies such as food, water, warm blankets, winter clothing and boots, and an extra battery charger for your smartphone. A first-aid kit helps with any injuries and a flashlight can brighten a dark night. Have jumper cables on hand to restart your car. An ice scraper frees your windows and windshield from snow and ice, a folding shovel can help dig your car out of the snow, and a bag of sand or kitty litter can increase traction around your tires when they’re stuck. Practice before Hitting the Road If you’re not used to driving in the winter, practice in an empty parking lot, preferably after fresh snow. Start your vehicle, drive forward in a straight line and in a curve, step on the brakes to slow down, and then stop. Practice backing into and out of parallel and perpendicular parking spots. If you can force a skid, practice getting out of it by turning toward where the back end is heading. Drive Slowly If you do just one thing on the road this winter: drive slowly. Ice and snow reduce contact between your tires and the road, which can lessen or eliminate traction. If you’re moving too fast, you may lose control of your vehicle and increase your chances of an accident. Start your journeys earlier and allow more time to get to your destination. Plan your route in advance, taking note of the weather conditions and traffic. Tell someone where you’re going, when you’re leaving, how long it’s going to take, and when you plan on arriving. Leave more space between you and the next vehicle to give you more room to stop. Accelerate and decelerate slowly to maintain what little grip you have on the road. Avoid sudden maneuvers, which may force you to skid. Some Don’ts Do not drive while you are distracted. You’ll need all of your faculties working in top shape to safely negotiate winter roads. Do not eat, put on makeup, fiddle with the infotainment system, or be inattentive. If you must do any of these things or are feeling drowsy, then pull off the road until you return to full attention. Don’t use cruise control. As convenient as this feature is, it is not designed to deal with the hazards of winter driving. Don’t stop fully whenever possible. It’s harder to get going from a full stop when you have little traction. Instead, start decelerating before reaching a stoplight. If you time it correctly, the light will turn from red to green by the time you reach it. You can then start accelerating slowly without having to stop.
2020 Cadillac CT5 Tech Overview
The 2020 Cadillac CT5 impresses as a luxurious sedan that pampers its passengers with premium materials while rushing from 0 to 60 MPH in as little as 4.9 seconds. This stylish driving experience makes your ride safer and more interesting with a host of high-tech features. Enhancing the User Experience You can control the infotainment features of the Cadillac User Experience (CUE) in three convenient ways: through the 10-inch diagonal multi-touch HD color display, by speaking commands that use Natural Voice Recognition, or with the rotary controller, which is mounted on the center console. It connects to your compatible smartphone so you can make calls, access selected apps, or listen to text messages while you’re on the highway. You can customize profiles for each driver or connect other mobile devices using three USB ports. A built-in LTE Wi-Fi® hotspot allows for Internet browsing. CUE lets you keep watch on young drivers who want to drive solo by engaging Teen Driver technology. It encourages good driving habits by letting you set limits on speed and sound volume, automatically turn on available safety features, and mute the audio system until front safety belts are fastened. It also issues an in-vehicle report that encourages you to examine what your youngster did on the trip. Keeping You Aware In the 2020 Cadillac CT5, the following technologies keep you aware of your driving environment so you can quickly respond to issues: • The Following Distance Indicator tells you the gap time between you and the next vehicle to prevent following too closely. • Lane Keep Assist with Lane Departure Warning provides subtle steering turns to tell you that you’re drifting across the highway without engaging a turn signal. • The Head-Up Display project information like speed or navigation on the windshield, helping you to keep your focus ahead. • IntelliBeam headlamps automatically switch between low and high beams depending on the presence of additional traffic at night. • The 8-inch gauge cluster puts important operating info behind the wheel. Guarding Your Safety Numerous driver assists increase your confidence behind the wheel by guarding your safety: • Forward Collision Alert tells you if you’re about to hit the vehicle in front of you with Enhanced Automatic Emergency Braking stopping the CT5 if you do not react in time. Front Pedestrian Braking does the same thing when people are involved. • Lane Change Alert with Side Blind Zone Alert shows indicators on the appropriate side mirrors when other vehicles enter your blind zone. • HD Surround Vision reveals virtual bird’s-eye views of your surrounding, making tight maneuvers easier. The Surround Vision Recorder can record and store this video for later playback. • Advanced Adaptive Cruise Control automatically adapts vehicle speed to traffic changes to keep you at a safe distance from the car in front. • Automatic Seat Belt Tightening tightens your safety restraints during sudden braking or emergency maneuvers. When conditions turn to normal, the seat belts increase their slack. Making Parking Easier To make parking and side views easier, you can power-adjust the power-folding mirrors. When you back into a parking lot, the Rear Camera Mirror projects an unobstructed view of what’s behind you on the rearview mirror. Rear Park Assist provides distance alerts so you know how close you’re getting to hazards in the back of you. If a person walks behind you, Rear Pedestrian Alert tells you that somebody is there. When you back out of a parking spot, Rear Cross-Traffic Alert can tell you if a vehicle is crossing your reverse path. To help with parallel and perpendicular parking, you can also turn on Automatic Parking Assist to take care of steering and braking. You follow text commands to control gear changes and can override acceleration and braking as needed. Assisting with Security To protect your investment in the 2020 Cadillac CTR, the self-powered Theft-Deterrent Alarm can set off warnings when somebody tampers with the vehicle. With Remote Start, you can run the engine before you reach your vehicle. This gives time for Climate Control to make the interior comfortable. Although OnStar® & Cadillac Connected Services help with such tasks as turn-by-turn navigation through real-time traffic and remote access of your vehicle, their most important function is to help you when the unexpected happens. I If you’re involved in a crash, built-in sensors automatically connect you a live OnStar Advisor even if you cannot call by yourself. You can also contact an advisor at any time by pressing the red Emergency button. The advisor can then dispatch first responders or roadside assistance to your location. He or she can also help local authorities to locate your vehicle if it is stolen.
