1997 Pontiac Firebird Owner's Manual - Page 85

Shift Speeds If your speed drops below 20 mph (30 km/h), or if the engine is not running smoothly, you should downshiftto the next lower gear. You may have to downshift two or more gears tokeep the engine running smoothly for or good performance. If pull skip more thanone gear waien you downshift, you could lose control your vehicle. of or And you could injure yourself others. Don't shift fromSIXTH (6) to THIRD (3), or FIFTH (5: to SECOND (2) or FOURTH (4) to FIRST (1). This chart shows when to shift to the next higher gear for best fuel economy. Limited-Slip Rear Axle If you have this feature, your rear axle can give you additional traction on snow, mud, ice, sand or gravel. It works like a standard axle most of the time, butwhen one of the rear wheels hasno traction and the other does, the limited-sliplocking feature will allow the wheel with traction to move thevehicle. I MANUAL TRANSMISSION Engine it02 RECOMMENDED SHIFT SPEEDS,IN MPH (kmfh) Acceloratlen Shlft Speed , I 2to3 I 3to4 I 4to5 45-47 (72-75) I I St06 N'A 2-36