Mazda RX-8 Owner's Manual page 160

RX-8_8BQ7-EA-10H_Edition1 Page160
Wednesday, July 14 2010 11:50 AM
Driving Your Mazda
Starting and Driving
WARNING
Keep your hands on the steering wheel
rim when using fingers or thumbs on
the steering shift switches:
Putting your hands inside the rim of
the steering wheel when using the
steering shift switches is dangerous.
If the driver's air bag were to deploy
in a collision, your hands could be
impacted causing injury.
NOTE
When driving slowly, the gears may not
l
shift up.
In manual shift mode, gears do not shift up
l
automatically. Do not run the engine with
the tachometer needle in the RED ZONE. If
the tachometer needle enters the RED
ZONE, you may feel engine-braking
because the fuel delivery will be stopped to
protect the engine. However, this does not
indicate an abnormality.
When depressing the accelerator fully, the
l
transmission will shift to a lower gear,
depending on vehicle speed.
Manually Shifting down
( M6 → M5 → M4 → M3 → M2 →
M1)
To shift down to a lower gear, tap the shift
lever forward ( ) once.
5-18
Form No.8BQ7-EA-10H
Black plate (160,1)
To shift down to a lower gear with the
steering shift switches, press either of the
DOWN switches away from you once
with your thumb.
DOWN switches
WARNING
Do not use engine braking on slippery
road surfaces or at high speeds:
Shifting down while driving on wet,
snowy, or frozen roads, or while
driving at high speeds causes sudden
engine braking, which is dangerous.
The sudden change in tire speed
could cause the tires to skid. This
could lead to loss of vehicle control
and an accident.
Keep your hands on the steering wheel
rim when using fingers or thumbs on
the steering shift switches:
Putting your hands inside the rim of
the steering wheel when using the
steering shift switches is dangerous.
If the driver's air bag were to deploy
in a collision, your hands could be
impacted causing injury.