Mercedes-Benz CL-Class 2006 Owner's Manual page 290

Drive program C has the following charac-
teristics:
Comfortable engine and suspension
tuning.
The vehicle pulls away more gently in
forward and reverse gears, except
when driving at full throttle.
Fuel metering flexibility is increased.
This provides the vehicle with improved
driving stability on slippery road surfac-
es, for example.
The automatic transmission shifts up
sooner. This means that the vehicle
drives at lower engine speeds and the
wheels are less likely to spin.
Drive program S has the following charac-
teristics:
Sporty engine and suspension tuning.
The vehicle pulls away in first gear.
The automatic transmission shifts up
later.
Manual drive program
!
Warm up the engine quickly. Do not make
use of the engine's full output until its normal op-
erating temperature has been reached.
Only shift the automatic transmission to R when
the vehicle is stationary.
Where possible, avoid allowing a drive wheel to
spin when pulling away on a slippery surface.
You can change gears yourself with the
steering wheel gearshift buttons or the
steering wheel gearshift paddles* the
manual drive program M. The engine,
transmission and suspension tuning is
then dynamic, as for drive program S.
When the automatic transmission is in po-
sition D, you can shift up or down through
the gears using the steering wheel gear-
shift buttons or the steering wheel gear-
shift paddles* ( page 264). The gear
currently selected and engaged is shown in
the multi-function display.
Activating
Press program selector button 1 re-
peatedly until the letter M for manual
drive program M appears in the multi-
function display.
Automatic transmission
Upshifting
Press the button on the right-hand side
of the steering wheel.
or
Pull on the right-hand paddle*.
The automatic transmission shifts up to
the next gear.
Downshifting
G
Risk of accident
Do not change down for additional engine
braking on a slippery road surface. This could
cause the drive wheels to lose their grip and
the vehicle could skid.
Press the button on the left-hand side
of the steering wheel.
or
Pull on the left-hand paddle*.
The automatic transmission shifts
down to the next gear.
i
If you brake the vehicle or come to a halt
without shifting down, the automatic transmis-
sion shifts down to the gear that will allow the
vehicle to accelerate or pull away again.
Controls
269