2008 Mazda RX-8 Owner's Manual - Page 140

Driving Your Mazda Starting and Driving qActive Adaptive Shift (AAS) Active Adaptive Shift (AAS) automatically controls the transmission shift points to best suit the road conditions and driver input. This optimizes engine performance and improves driving comfort. When cornering the vehicle, AAS mode will hold the transmission in the gear the vehicle was in before entering the curve, allowing the vehicle to be accelerated from the same gear after exiting the curve. If the driver accelerates rapidly, or accelerates and decelerates rapidly by operating the accelerator and brake pedal for a certain period of time while the selector lever is in the D position, AAS mode could activate. When this occurs, AAS mode will maintain the transmission in the optimum gear and the driver may sense that the transmission is not shifting, however this does not indicate an abnormality. NOTE l l l When the ignition switch is in the LOCK position, the shift lever cannot be shifted from P. To be sure the vehicle is in park, the ignition key cannot be removed unless the shift lever is in P. (With Advanced Key) The ignition switch cannot be turned from the ACC position to the LOCK position when the shift lever is not in P. qManual Shift Mode This mode gives you the feel of driving a manual transmission vehicle by operating the shift lever and allows you to control engine rpm and torque to the rear wheels much like a manual transmission when more control is desired. To change to manual shift mode, shift the lever from D to M. qShift-Lock System The shift-lock system prevents shifting out of P unless the brake pedal is depressed. To shift from P: 1. Depress and hold the brake pedal. 2. Start the engine. 3. Move the shift lever. To return to automatic shift mode, shift the lever from M to D. NOTE If you change to manual shift mode when the vehicle is stopped, the gear will shift to M1. 5-14