2012 Acura MDX Owner's Manual - Page 452

Automatic Transmission To avoid transmission damage, come to a complete stop before shifting into Park. You must also press the release button to shift into park. The shift lever must be in Park before you can remove the key from the ignition switch. Reverse (R) － Press the brake pedal and the release button on the front of the shift lever to shift from Park to reverse. To shift from reverse to neutral, come to a complete stop, and then shift. Press the release button before shifting into reverse from neutral. Neutral (N) － Use neutral if you need to restart a stalled engine, or if it is necessary to stop briefly with the engine idling. Shift to the Park position if you need to leave your vehicle for any reason. Press on the brake pedal when you are moving the shift lever from neutral to another gear. Drive (D) － Use this position for your normal driving. The transmission automatically selects a suitable gear (1 through 6) for your speed and acceleration. You may notice the transmission shifting up at higher engine speeds when the engine is cold. This helps the engine warm up faster. S Position (S) － To shift into the S position, press the release button on the front of the shift lever, and move the lever to S. This position is similar to D, except only gears from first to fifth are selected. (When shifting up automatically, the vehicle speed is higher than when in the D position.) The S position keeps the transmission from cycling between fourth, fifth, and sixth gears in stopand-go driving. With the shift lever in D or S, you can also use the paddle shifters to shift the transmission up or down. Once you begin to use the paddle shifters in S, the transmission will no longer upshift or downshift automatically. For more information of driving with the paddle shifters, see page 449. Driving CONTINUED 445