2007 Dodge Caliber Owner's Manual - Page 216

216 STARTING AND OPERATING Fully depress the clutch pedal before you shift gears. As you release the clutch pedal, lightly depress the accelerator pedal. partially engaged. This will cause abnormal wear on the clutch. Never shift into REVERSE until the vehicle has come to a complete stop. NOTE: During cold weather, until the transaxle lubricant is warm, you may experience slightly higher shift efforts. This is normal and not harmful to the transaxle. Recommended Shift Speeds To use your manual transaxle for optimal fuel economy, it should be upshifted as listed in table. 5 - Speed Shift Pattern Use each gear in numerical order - do not skip a gear. Be sure the transaxle is in FIRST gear, (not THIRD), when starting from a standing position. Damage to the clutch can result from starting in THIRD. For most city driving you will find it easier to use only the lower gears. For steady highway driving with light accelerations, 5th gear is recommended. Never drive with your foot resting on the clutch pedal, or try to hold the vehicle on a hill with the clutch pedal MANUAL TRANSAXLE RECOMMENDED SPEEDS IN mph (km/h) ACENCELGINE ERA1 to 2 2 to 3 3 to 4 SIZE TION RATE ALL Accel 14 (23) 23 (37) 29 (47) ENGINES Cruise 12 (19) 18 (29) 25 (40) SHIFT 4 to 5 45 (72) 32 (52)