Pontiac 2009 Vibe Owner's Manual page 142

8-10 Driving and Operating
Driver Shift Control (DSC)
DSC mode allows you to choose
the top gear limit of the vehicle's
transmission and the vehicle's speed
while driving down hill or towing a
trailer. To use this feature, do the
following:
1. Move the shift lever from
D (Drive) left to S (Shift Control).
While driving in this mode,
the transmission will remain
in the driver selected range.
When coming to a stop, the
vehicle will automatically shift
into 1 (First) gear.
2. Move the shift lever forward to
increase the gear range, or
rearward to decrease the gear
range available based upon your
current driving conditions and
needs.
The number displayed in the
instrument cluster is the highest gear
that the transmission will be allowed
to operate in. However, your vehicle
can automatically shift to lower gears
as required by various driving
conditions. This means that all gears
below that number are available.
The display in the instrument
cluster will change from the currently
displayed message to 4 (Fourth)
when you enter S (Shift Control),
and change to indicate the requested
gear range when moving the shift
lever forward or rearward.
While using the DSC feature the
transmission will have firmer shifting
and sportier performance. You can
use this for sport driving or when
climbing hills to stay in gear longer
or to downshift for more power or
engine braking.
The transmission will only allow
shifting into gears appropriate
for the vehicles speed and engine
revolutions per minute (RPM):
•
The transmission will not
automatically shift to the next
higher gear if the vehicle speed
or engine RPM is too high.
•
The transmission will not allow
shifting to the next lower gear if
the vehicle speed or engine RPM
is too high. An audible warning
will sound and the downshift will
not be allowed. The downshift
request will have to be made
again once the vehicle reaches
an acceptable speed.
Downshift Required
Requested Vehicle Speed
4 (Fourth) to Below 95 mph
3 (Third) (153 km/h)
3 (Third) to Below 60 mph
2 (Second) (97 km/h)
2 (Second) to Below 30 mph
1 (First) (48 km/h)