2006 Saab 9-2X Owner's Manual - Page 182

7-10 Starting and operating grade. Either of those actions may cause clutch damage. Do not drive with your hand resting on the shift lever. This may cause wear on the transmission components. When it is necessary to reduce vehicle speed due to slow traffic, turning corners, or driving up steep hills, downshift to a lower gear before the engine starts to labor. On steep downgrades, downshift the transmission to 4th, 3rd or 2nd gear as necessary; this helps to maintain a safe speed and to extend brake pad life. In this way, the engine provides a braking effect. Remember, if you "ride" (over use) the brakes while descending a hill, they may overheat and not work properly. The engine may, on rare occasions, knock when the vehicle rapidly accelerates or rapidly pulls away from a standstill. This phenomenon is not an indication of a problem in your vehicle. Automatic transmission The automatic transmission is electronically controlled and provides 4 forward speeds and 1 reverse speed. Do not shift from the "P" or "N" position into the "D", "3", "2", "1" or "R" position while depressing the accelerator pedal. This may cause the vehicle to jump forward or backward. NOTE — When the engine coolant temperature is still low, your vehicle's automatic transmission will up-shift at higher engine speeds than when the coolant temperature is sufficiently high in order to shorten the warm-up time and improve driveability. The gearshift timing will automatically shift to the normal timing after the engine has warmed up. — Immediately after ATF (automatic transmission fluid) is replaced, you may feel that the automatic transmission operation is somewhat unusual. This results from invalidation of data the on-board computer has collected and stored in memory to allow the transmission to shift at the most appropriate times for the current condition of your vehicle. Optimized shifting will be restored as the vehicle continues to be driven for a while. — Shift into the "P" or "R" position only after the vehicle is completely stopped. Shifting while the vehicle is moving may cause damage to the transmission. — Do not race the engine for more than five seconds in any position except the "N" or "P" position when the brake is set or when chocks are used in the wheels. This may cause the automatic transmission fluid to overheat. — Avoid shifting from one of the forward driving positions into the "R" position or vice versa until the vehicle has completely stopped. Such shifting may cause damage to the transmission.