06 Starting and driving
Automatic transmission
not occur until the speed has decreased
enough to allow the lower gear to be used.
ing brake when the car is stationary with the
gear selector in N.
Manual shifting – Geartronic
The manual shifting mode (Geartronic) can be
selected at any time to manually select forward
gears, including while the car is moving.
If you slow to a very low speed, the trans-
mission will automatically shift down.
•
NOTE
If the gear selector is in the Neutral position
and the vehicle has been at a standstill for
at least 3 seconds, the brake pedal must be
pressed before the gear selector can be
moved to another position.
NOTE
Cold starts (turbo engines)
When driving before the engine has reached its
normal operating temperature, the transmis-
sion will shift up at slightly higher engine
speeds to heat the three-way catalytic con-
verter as quickly as possible.
Reverse, Neutral, and Park cannot be
selected in Geartronic mode.
To access the Manual (M) shifting position
from Drive (D), move the gear selector to
the right to M.
•
In order to move the gear selector to another
position:
1. Turn the ignition key to position II (if the
Kickdown
To return to the Drive (D) position from M,
move the gear selector to the left.
•
engine is not already running).
Automatic shift to a lower gear (kickdown) is
achieved by depressing the accelerator pedal
fully and briskly. An upshift will occur when
approaching the top speed for a particular gear
or by releasing the accelerator pedal slightly.
Kickdown can be used for maximum acceler-
ation or when passing at highway speeds.
2. Depress the brake pedal.
While driving
3. Move the gear selector to the desired posi-
tion.
If you select the M position while driving,
•
the gear that was being used in the Drive
position will also initially be selected in the
M position.
06
D – Drive
D is the normal driving position. The Drive posi-
tion offers 5 forward gears2. The car automat-
ically shifts between the various forward gears,
based on the level of acceleration and speed.
The car must be at a standstill when shifting to
position D from position R.
Move the gear selector forward (toward
"+") to shift to a higher gear or rearward
(toward "–") to shift to a lower gear.
•
Safety function
To help prevent excessive engine speeds (rpm)
that could lead to engine damage, the engine
management system includes a function that
prevents kickdown from taking place if the
engine speed is too high.
If you hold the gear selector toward "–", the
•
transmission will downshift one gear at a
time and will utilize the braking power of
the engine. If the current speed is too high
for using a lower gear, the downshift will
Kickdown will not occur if the driver attempts
to use this function when engine speeds are
2
T5 models have 6 forward gears.
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English 
