2005 Saab 9-3 Owner's Manual - Page 161

Starting and driving 159 Automatic transmission WARNING • Depress the brake pedal when shifting the selector lever from P or N. • The car must be at a standstill before P, R or N is selected. You have to have your foot on the brake pedal to move the lever out of P. If the car is still moving when a drive position is subsequently selected, this could cause a crash or damage the automatic transmission. • Never park the car with the selector lever in a drive position, even if the parking brake is on. • If you want to leave the car with the engine running, move the selector lever to P or N and apply the parking brake. The automatic transmission has an electronic control module. The control module receives information including accelerator position and road speed. Using this and other information, it controls the hydraulic pressure of the transmission to ensure that gear changing is as smooth as possible. Indication of gear position on main instrument panel The engine can only be started when the selector lever is in the P or N position. When the car is stationary, the engine must be idling when you move the selector lever from one position to another. If not, the transmission could be damaged. Selector lever 1 Position for manual gear selection The remote control can only be removed when the selector lever is in the P position. NOTICE After selecting a drive position, pause briefly to allow the gear to engage (the car starts to pull a little) before you accelerate.