5 17
Driving your vehicle
Manual transaxle operation
• The manual transaxle has 6 for-
ward gears.
This shift pattern is imprinted on
the shift knob. The transaxle is fully
synchronized in all forward gears
so shifting to either a higher or a
lower gear is easily accomplished.
• Depress the clutch pedal down
fully while shifting, then release it
slowly.
If your vehicle is equipped with an
ignition lock switch, the engine will
not start when starting the engine
without depressing the clutch
pedal.
• The shift lever must return to the
neutral position before shifting into
R (Reverse). The button located
immediately below the shift knob
must be pushed upward while
moving the shift lever to the R
(Reverse) position.
•
Make sure the vehicle is completely
stopped before shifting into R
(Reverse).
Never operate the engine with the
tachometer (rpm) in the red zone.
MANUAL TRANSAXLE (IF EQUIPPED)
ODM052010
The button must be pushed while mov-
ing the shift lever.
The shift lever can be moved without
pushing the button.
CAUTION
• When downshifting from 5
(Fifth) gear to 4 (Fourth) gear,
caution should be taken not to
inadvertently move the shift
lever sideways in such a man-
ner that second gear is
engaged.
Such a drastic
downshift may cause the
engine speed to increase to
the point that the tachometer
will enter the red-zone. Such
over-revving of the engine
may possibly cause engine
and transaxle damage.
• Do not downshift more than 2
gears or downshift the gear
when the engine is running at
high speed (5,000 RPM or
higher). Such a downshifting
may damage the engine,
clutch and the transaxle.
