Toyota RAV4 EE Owner's Manual page 245

ENGINE (IGNITION) SWITCH, TRANSMISSION AND PARKING BRAKE
(b) Normal driving
1. Start the engine as instructed in "How
to start the engine" on page 410 in
Section 3. The transmission must be in
"P" or "N".
2. With your foot holding down the brake
pedal, shift the shift lever to "D".
When the lever is in the "D" position, the
automatic transmission system will select
a suitable gear for running conditions such
as normal cruising, hill climbing, hard tow-
ing, etc.
Always use the "D" position for better fuel
economy and quieter driving. If the engine
coolant temperature is low, the transmis-
sion will not shift into the overdrive gear
even in the "D" position.
CAUTION
Never put your foot on the accelera-
tor pedal while shifting.
3. Release the parking brake and brake
pedal. Depress the accelerator pedal
slowly for smooth starting.
RAV4_EE
(c) Using engine braking
To use engine braking, you can downshift
the transmission as follows:
Shift into the "3" position. The trans-
D
mission will downshift to third gear and
engine braking will be enabled.
Shift into the "2" position. The trans-
D
mission will downshift to second gear
when the vehicle speed drops down to
or lower than 102 km/h (63 mph), and
stronger engine braking will be en-
abled.
Shift into the "L" position. The trans-
D
mission will downshift to first gear
when the vehicle speed drops down to
or lower than 48 km/h (30 mph), and
maximum engine braking will be en-
abled.
Vehicles with cruise control—When the
cruise control is being used, even if you
downshift from "D" to "3", engine braking
will not be enabled because the cruise
control is not cancelled.
For ways to decrease the vehicle speed,
see "Cruise control" on page 277 in this
Section.
CAUTION
Be careful when downshifting on a
slippery surface. Abrupt
could cause the vehicle to skid or
spin.
Finish
235
shifting