Cadillac 2008 XLR Owner's Manual page 89

Driver Shift Control (DSC)
The Driver Shift Control (DSC) feature lets you manually
control over the operation of the transmission.
The Sport Automatic Mode is selected by moving the
shift lever into the DSC area without shifting towards
the + (plus) or − (minus) symbols. While in the
Sport Automatic Mode, the transmission computer
determines when the vehicle is being driven in a
competitive manner. It then selects and holds the
transmission in lower gears giving more noticeable
upshifts for a sportier vehicle performance. Once you
shift to the + (plus) or − (minus) controls, the driver
manual gear selection is activated. A + (plus) symbol
appears on the shift console above the DRIVE (D)
indicator and minus symbol appears below the indicator.
To use this feature, move
the shift lever from the
DRIVE (D) position to the
left and into the driver
shift control gate.
The Head-Up Display (HUD) also displays the requested
gear, though the actual upshift or downshift could be
delayed until the engine speed is correct for that gear.
The requested gear displays on the HUD until the
next time you upshift or downshift. The gear selected
and shown in the HUD is one of a number of gears
available. The vehicle does not upshift beyond
the chosen gear. The actual gear that the vehicle shifts
to depends on a combination of the driver-requested
gear range, vehicle speed and throttle position.
Notice: If you drive your vehicle at high RPMs
without upshifting while using Driver Shift Control
(DSC), you could damage your vehicle. Always
upshift when necessary while using DSC.
If you do not upshift as the engine approaches the red
line on the engine RPM (Revolutions Per Minute) gage,
the engine speed is controlled to limit the engine RPM.
Not all manual downshift requests will be allowed by
the transmission. To prevent excessive engine RPMs,
each gear has a maximum vehicle speed associated
with it. Any downshift request above this speed is
not allowed by the transmission.
If shifting is prevented for any reason, the current
gear flashes multiple times in the Driver Information
Center (DIC), indicating that the transmission has
not shifted gears.
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