Mazda mx5 Owner's Manual page 176

When Driving
Transmission
Manually shifting down
You can shift gears down by operating
the selector lever or the steering shift
*
switches .
M6 M5 M4
Using selector lever
To shift down to a lower gear, tap the
selector lever forward
Using steering shift switch
To shift down to a lower gear with the
steering shift switches, pull the DOWN
switch toward you once with your
fi ngers.
4–48
*Some models.
M3 M2 M1
once.
*
DOWN switch (-)
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 tyre speed could
cause the tyres to skid. This could
lead to loss of vehicle control and an
accident.
Keep your hands on the steering wheel
rim when using fi ngers 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 at high speeds, the
gear may not shift down.
During deceleration, the gear may
automatically shift down depending
on vehicle speed.
When depressing the accelerator
fully, the transmission will shift to
a lower gear, depending on vehicle
speed. However, the gears do not
kickdown while the DSC is turned
off.