Manual Mode - Opel ASTRA Owner's Manual

156 Driving and operating
If selector lever is moved from R to the
left, D is directly engaged.
If selector lever is moved from D to +
or -, manual mode M is selected and
the transmission shifts.
Starting off
Depress the foot brake and move the
selector lever to D/M or R. If D is
selected, transmission is in automatic
mode and first gear is engaged. If R
is selected, reverse gear is engaged.
The vehicle starts to move when the
foot brake is released.
To start-off without depressing the
foot brake, accelerate immediately
after engaging a gear as long as D or
R flashes.
If neither the accelerator nor the
brake pedal are depressed, no gear
is engaged and D or R flashes for a
brief time in the display.
Stopping the vehicle
In D, first gear is engaged and the
clutch is released when the vehicle is
stopped. In R, reverse gear remains
engaged.
Engine braking
Automatic mode
When driving downhill, the manual
transmission automated does not
shift into higher gears until a fairly
high engine speed has been reached.
It shifts down in good time when
braking.

Manual mode

To utilise the engine braking effect,
select a lower gear in good time when
driving downhill. Changing into
manual mode is only possible while
the engine is running or during an
Autostop.
Rocking the vehicle
Rocking the vehicle is only
permissible if the vehicle is stuck in
sand, mud or snow. Move the selector
lever between R and D in a repeat
pattern. Do not race the engine and
avoid sudden acceleration.
Parking
The most recently engaged gear (see
transmission display) remains
engaged when switching off ignition.
With N, no gear is engaged.
Therefore always apply the parking
brake when switching off ignition. If
parking brake is not applied, P flashes
in the transmission display and the
key cannot be removed from the
ignition switch. P stops flashing in the
transmission display as soon as the
parking brake is slightly applied.
When the ignition is switched off, the
transmission no longer responds to
movement of the selector lever.
Manual mode
If a higher gear is selected when the
engine speed is too low, or a lower
gear when the speed is too high, the
shift is not executed. This prevents
the engine from running at too low or
too high an engine speed. A warning
message is displayed in the Driver
Information Centre. Vehicle
messages 3 105.