2004 Cadillac XLR Owner's Manual - Page 81

Driver Shift Control The driver shift control feature gives you more manual control over the operation of the transmission. To use this feature, move the shift lever from the AUTOMATIC OVERDRIVE (D) position to the left and into the driver shift control gate. The currently selected gear will be remembered as the selected gear range and will be displayed on the DIC, or HUD, if equipped. See DIC Warnings and Messages on page 3-59 or Head-Up Display (HUD) on page 3-29. The gear range indicated in the DIC or HUD is only a requested range of available gears. It does not indicate that the vehicle will operate only in that specific gear. The actual gear the vehicle will choose depends on a combination of the driver-requested gear range, vehicle speed and throttle position. If you do not upshift as the engine approaches the redline engine rpm for the selected gear range, an engine speed limiter will prevent over-revving by limiting the engine rpm available. No automatic upshift will occur until you request it. Operating the engine for extended periods of time against the speed limiter is not recommended. A plus symbol will also appear on the shift console above the AUTOMATIC OVERDRIVE (D) indicator and minus symbol will appear below the indicator. To request an upshift, briefly move the shift lever up toward the plus symbol. To request a downshift, briefly move the shift lever down toward the minus symbol. The Driver Information Center (DIC), or Head-Up Display (HUD) if equipped, will display the change in gear range, though the actual upshift or downshift may be delayed until the engine speed is correct for the requested gear range. Not all manual downshift requests will be accepted by the transmission. To prevent over-revving the engine, each gear range has a maximum vehicle speed associated with it. Any downshift request above this speed will be ignored by the transmission. 2-25