Operation Manual

5-19
Driving your vehicle
5
Manual transaxle operation
The manual transaxle has 6 forward
gears. The transaxle is fully synchro-
nized in all forward gears so shifting
to either a higher or a lower gear is
easily accomplished.
To shift to R (Reverse), make sure
the vehicle has completely stopped,
and then move the shift lever to neu-
tral before moving into R (Reverse).
When you've come to a complete
stop and it's hard to shift into 1st gear
or R (Reverse):
1.Put the shift lever in neutral and
release the clutch pedal.
2.Depress the clutch pedal, and then
shift into first or R (Reverse) gear.
✽
NOTICE
During cold weather, shifting may
be difficult until the transaxle lubri-
cant has warmed up.
MANUAL TRANSAXLE
OLMB053009
The ring (1) must be pulled up while
moving the shift lever.
The shift lever can be moved without
pulling up the ring (1).
• Before leaving the driver’s
seat, always make sure the
shift lever is in 1st gear when
the vehicle is parked on a
uphill and in R (Reverse) on a
downhill, set the parking
brake, and place the ignition
switch in the LOCK/OFF posi-
tion. Unexpected vehicle
movement may occur if these
precautions are not followed.
• Do not use the engine brake
(shifting from a high gear to
lower gear) rapidly on slip-
pery roads. The vehicle may
slip causing an accident.
WARNING