Mercedes-Benz C 220 1996, Owner'S Manual

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Selector Lever Positions
Important!
Do not exceed the vehicle speed
limits for individual gear selec­
tions. Overrevving the engine
when the selector lever is moved
to a lower driving range could
result in serious damage to the
engine that is not covered by the
Mercedes-Benz Limited Warranty.
Refer to Technical Data for down­
shift points.
R Reverse gear.
Shift to reverse gear only with
the car stopped.
N Neutral.
No power is transmitted from
the engine to the rear axle.
When the brakes are released,
the vehicle can be moved freely
(pushed or towed). Do not en­
gage “ N ” while driving except
to coast when the vehicle is in
danger of skidding (e.g. on icy
roads, see
Winter Driving
Instructions in Index).
Important!
Coasting the vehicle, or driving
for any other reason with se­
lector lever in “ N ” , can result in
transmission damage that is not
covered by the Mercedes-Benz
Limited Warranty.
D The transmission automatically
upshifts to 4th gear. Position
“ D” provides optimum driving
characteristics under all normal
operating conditions.
3 Upshift to 3rd gear only.
Suitable for medium range up-
or downgrades.
Warning!
On slippery road surfaces,
never downshift in order to
obtain braking action. This
could result in rear wheel slip
and reduced vehicle control.
Your vehicle’s ABS will not
prevent this type of loss of
control.
To prevent the engine from
laboring at low RPMs, do not allow
the engine speed to drop too low
on uphill gradients.
Depending on the degree of the
incline, shift selector lever to a
lower gear range early enough to
maintain engine RPM within the
best torque range.
The automatic gear shifting
process can be adapted to
specific operating conditions
using the selector lever.
P Parking lock.
The parking lock is an addition­
al safeguard to the parking
brake when parking the vehicle
Engage only with the car
stopped.
Note:
The key can be removed from
the steering lock only with the
selector lever in position “ P” .
With the key removed, the
selector lever is locked in
position “ P” .
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