2006 Mercedes SLK-Class Owner's Manual - Page 165

Controls in detail Automatic transmission* Gear selector lever one-touch gearshifting Even with an automatic transmission, you can change the gears manually and limit or extend the gear range for automatic shifting with the gear selector lever in position D and driving in the automatic program mode C or S. Downshifting Warning! Upshifting G Briefly press the gear selector lever to the right in the D+ direction. The transmission will shift from the current gear to the next higher gear as permitted by the shift program. This action simultaneously extends the gear range of the transmission. Canceling gear range limit On slippery road surfaces, never downshift in order to obtain braking action. This could result in drive wheel slip and reduced vehicle control. Your vehicle's ABS will not prevent this type of loss of control. ! Allow engine to warm up under low load use. Do not place full load on the engine until the operating temperature has been reached. Shift into reverse gear R or parking position P only when the vehicle is stopped. Avoid spinning of a drive wheel for an extended period when driving off on slippery road surfaces. This may cause serious damage to the drivetrain which is not covered by the Mercedes-Benz Limited Warranty. Briefly press the gear selector lever to the left in the D- direction. The transmission will shift from the current gear to the next lower gear as permitted by the shift program. This action simultaneously limits the gear range of the transmission ( page 160). Press and hold the gear selector lever in the D+ direction until D reappears in the multifunction display. The transmission will shift from the current gear range directly to gear range D. Shifting into optimal gear range Press and hold the gear selector lever in the D- direction. The transmission will automatically select the gear range suited for optimal acceleration and deceleration. This will involve shifting down one or more gears. i To avoid overrevving the engine when the gear selector lever is moved to the D- direction, the transmission will not shift to a lower gear if the engine's max. speed would be exceeded. 164