Toyota RAV4 EE Owner's Manual page 260

250
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
Multidrive system will select a suitable ra-
tio for running conditions such as normal
cruising, hill climbing, hard towing, etc.
Always use the "D" position for better fuel
economy and quieter driving.
3. Release the parking brake and brake
pedal. Depress the accelerator pedal
slowly for smooth starting.
CAUTION
Never put your foot on the acceler-
D
ator pedal while shifting.
Always keep your foot on the brake
D
pedal while stopped with the engine
running. This prevents the vehicle
from creeping.
NOTICE
Always use the brake pedal or the
parking brake to hold the vehicle on
an upgrade. Do not attempt to hold
the vehicle using the accelerator ped-
al, as this can cause the transmission
to overheat.
RAV4_EE
(c) Driving in "M" position
Using the shift lever—
You can change the gear step in the
7−Speed Sport Sequential Shiftmatic
mode. The gear step can be switched
between "M7" (seventh gear step) and
"M1" (first gear step) by moving the
shift lever up to the "+" side or down
to the "–" side.
Using the paddle shift switches—
You can change the gear
7−Speed Sport Sequential Shiftmatic
mode. The gear step can be changed
from "M7" (seventh gear step) through
to "M1" (first gear step) by operating
the "+" and "–" paddle shift switches.
When in "M" position, "M" and the se-
lected gear step is displayed in the shift
position indicator.
When the shift lever is shifted to the "M"
position, the initial gear step is selected
depending on the vehicle speed.
When driving in the 7−Speed Sport Se-
quential Shiftmatic mode, the gear step
will not change unless the shift lever or
paddle shift switches are operated. How-
ever, the gear step will change automati-
cally in the following situations:
When the engine speed is too high or
D
too low
When the vehicle speed drops (down-
D
shift only)
When the transmission fluid tempera-
D
ture is extremely high (upshift only)
Finish
step in