Mercedes-Benz SL 2008 Owner's Manual page 106

S Sport For all normal driving con-
ditions
C Comfort For comfort mode
M Manual For manual gearshifting
To activate: press program selector but-
X
ton 1 repeatedly until M appears in the
speedometer display.
If the selector lever is in position D, you can
shift up or down through the gears. The gear
currently selected and engaged is shown in
the speedometer display.
To deactivate: press program selector
X
button 1 repeatedly until S or C appears
in the speedometer display.
Upshifting
Briefly press the selector lever to the right
X
towards D+
or
Pull the right-hand steering wheel gearshift
X
paddle ( page 102).
Y
The automatic transmission shifts up to the
next gear.
SL 65 AMG
!
In manual gearshift program M, the auto-
matic transmission does not shift up auto-
matically even when the limiting speed for
the current gear is reached. When the lim-
iting speed is reached, the fuel supply is cut
to prevent the engine from overrevving.
You must make sure that the engine speed
does not reach the red area of the rev coun-
ter. There is otherwise a risk of engine
damage.
Shift up a gear if the colour in the display
X
changes to red and UP appears in the rev
counter.
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.
Briefly press the selector lever to the left
X
towards D-
or
Automatic transmission
Pull the left-hand steering wheel gearshift
X
paddle ( page 102).
Y
The automatic transmission shifts down to
the next gear.
i
For maximum acceleration, pull the left-
hand steering wheel gearshift paddle until
the transmission selects the optimum gear
for the current speed.
Kickdown
i
It is not possible to use kickdown in man-
ual gearshift program M on vehicles with
AMG engines.
You can also use kickdown for maximum
acceleration in manual gearshift program M.
Depress the accelerator pedal beyond the
X
pressure point.
The transmission shifts to a lower gear
depending on the engine speed.
i
It is not possible to shift gears using the
steering wheel gearshift paddles during
kickdown.
Controls
Z
103