Geartronic allows you to manually shift among your vehicle's six forward speeds. Geartronic can be selected at any time.

• To access the manual shifting position from Drive (D), move the gear selector to the right (to the area marked M in the illustration.

• To return to the D position from the manual shifting position, move the gear selector to the left.

While driving

• If you select the manual shifting position while driving, the gear that was being used in the Drive position will also initially be selected in the manual shifting position.

• Move the gear selector forward (toward "+") to shift to a higher gear or rearward (toward "–") to shift to a lower gear.

• 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 not occur until the speed has decreased enough to allow the lower gear to be used.

• If you slow to a very low speed, the transmission will automatically shift down.

Shiftlock – Neutral (N)

If the gear selector is in the N position and the vehicle has been stationary for at least 3 seconds (irrespective of whether the engine is running) then the gear selector is locked.

To be able to move the gear selector from N to another gear position, the brake pedal must be depressed and the ignition must be in position II, see page 82.

Geartronic–Sport mode (S)

This transmission mode provides sportier shifting characteristics and enables a more active driving style by making it possible to drive at higher rpm in each gear before shifting up. The engine also responds faster when the throttle pedal is pressed.

To access Sport mode from Drive (D), move the gear selector to the right. The transmission will not switch to manual shifting mode until the gear selector is moved forward or rearward toward + or –.

Sport mode can be selected any time.

NOTE
• When the transmission is in Sport mode, the transmission symbol in the main instrument panel will change from D to S (see page 75).
• Please be aware that using Sport mode may result in a slight decrease in fuel economy. Driving in D can help improve fuel economy.

Geartronic–starting on slippery surfaces

Selecting 3rd gear in Geartronic’s manual shifting mode can help provide better traction when starting off on slippery surfaces. To do so:

1. Depress the brake pedal and move the gear selector to the right from the D position to the manual shifting position. The text in the instrument panel display will change from D to 1.

2. Press the gear selector forward and release it (this selects 2nd gear). Press the selector forward again and release it to select 3rd gear.

3. Release the brake pedal and press gently on the accelerator pedal.