There are several different positions for your shift lever.

PARK (P): This position locks your rear wheels. It is the best position to use when you start your engine because your vehicle cannot move easily.

Caution: It is dangerous to get out of the vehicle if the shift lever is not fully in P (Park) with the parking brake firmly set. The vehicle can roll.

Do not leave the vehicle when the engine is running unless you have to. If you have left the engine running, the vehicle can move suddenly. You or others could be injured. To be sure the vehicle will not move, even when you are on fairly level ground, always set the parking brake and move the shift lever to P (Park). See Shifting Into Park .

Be sure the shift lever is fully in PARK (P) before starting the engine. Your vehicle has an automatic transmission shift lock control system.

You have to fully apply your regular brakes before you can shift from PARK (P) when the vehicle is running. If you cannot shift out of PARK (P), ease pressure on the shift lever and push the shift lever all the way into PARK (P) as you maintain brake application. Then move the shift lever into the gear desired. See Shifting Out of Park .

REVERSE (R): Use this gear to back up.

Notice: Shifting to R (Reverse) while the vehicle is moving forward could damage the transmission. The repairs would not be covered by the vehicle warranty. Shift to R (Reverse) only after the vehicle is stopped.

To rock your vehicle back and forth to get out of snow, ice, or sand without damaging your transmission, see If Your Vehicle is Stuck in Sand, Mud, Ice, or Snow .

NEUTRAL (N): In this position, your engine does not connect with the wheels. To restart when you are already moving, use NEUTRAL (N) only. Also, use NEUTRAL (N) when your vehicle is being towed. Use Neutral (N) if the car must be moved with the engine off for short distances. Please see Towing Your Vehicle

Caution: Shifting into a drive gear while the engine is running at high speed is dangerous. Unless your foot is firmly on the brake pedal, the vehicle could move very rapidly. You could lose control and hit people or objects. Do not shift into a drive gear while the engine is running at high speed.

Notice: Shifting out of P (Park) or N (Neutral) with the engine running at high speed may damage the transmission. The repairs would not be covered by the vehicle warranty. Be sure the engine is not running at high speed when shifting the vehicle.

AUTOMATIC OVERDRIVE (D): This position is for normal driving.

Notice: Spinning the tires or holding the vehicle in one place on a hill using only the accelerator pedal may damage the transmission. The repair will not be covered by the vehicle warranty. If you are stuck, do not spin the tires. When stopping on a hill, use the brakes to hold the vehicle in place.

Maximum engine speed is limited to protect driveline components from improper operation.

Driver Shift Control (DSC)

The Driver Shift Control (DSC) feature lets you manually control over the operation of the transmission.

To use this feature, move the shift lever from the AUTOMATIC OVERDRIVE (D) position to the left and into the driver shift control gate.

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The DSC mode is selected by moving the shift lever into the DSC area, which activates the driver manual gear selection. To request an upshift in DSC, briefly move the shift lever up toward the plus (+) symbol . To request a downshift, briefly move the shift lever down toward the minus (-) symbol. A plus (+) symbol will appear on the shift console above the AUTOMATIC OVERDRIVE (D) indicator and minus symbol will appear below the indicator. The Head-Up Display (HUD) will also display the change in gear, though the actual upshift or downshift may be delayed until the engine speed is correct for that gear. The gear displays on the HUD until the next time you upshift or downshift. The gear selected and shown in the HUD is one of a number of gears available. It does not mean that the vehicle will operate only in that specific gear. The actual gear that the vehicle shifts to depends on a combination of the driver-requested gear range, vehicle speed and throttle position.

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The Sport Automatic Mode is selected by moving the shift lever into the DSC area without shifting towards the plus (+) or minus (-) symbols. While in the Sport Automatic Mode, the transmission computer determines when the vehicle is being driven in a competitive manner. It will then select and hold the transmission in lower gears and have more noticeable upshifts for a sportier vehicle performance until you use the plus (+) or minus (-) controls, which activates the driver manual gear selection. A plus (+) symbol will appear on the shift console above the AUTOMATIC OVERDRIVE (D) indicator and minus symbol will appear below the indicator. The Head-Up Display (HUD) will also display the change in gear, though the actual upshift or downshift may be delayed until the engine speed is correct for that gear.

The gear displays on the HUD until the next time you upshift or downshift.

The gear selected and shown in the HUD is one of a number of gears available. It does not mean that the vehicle will operate only in that specific gear.

Notice: If you drive the vehicle at high RPMs without upshifting while using Driver Shift Control (DSC), you could damage the vehicle. Always upshift when necessary while using DSC.

If you do not upshift as the engine approaches the red line on the engine rpm (revolutions per minute) gage, the engine speed is controlled to limit the engine rpm.

Not all manual downshift requests will be allowed by the transmission. To prevent excessive engine rpms, each gear has a maximum vehicle speed associated with it. Any downshift request above this speed will not be allowed by the transmission.

If shifting is prevented for any reason, the current gear will flash multiple times in the DIC, indicating that the transmission has not shifted gears.

Some automatic downshifts may occur to maintain minimum engine speed. This only happens if the vehicle is left in too high of a gear for the vehicle's speed. For example, if you have been driving in fifth gear range and come to a stop without manually downshifting, fifth gear will continue to display in the HUD. The transmission will automatically downshift to second gear. As you begin to drive and accelerate, the transmission will automatically upshift as quickly as possible to the selected fifth gear.

In higher gears, an automatic downshift will occur if you press the accelerator pedal to the floor. This feature provides adequate acceleration capabilities if you forget to downshift manually.

Automatic upshifts and downshifts will not display in the HUD.

DSC can be used while using cruise control, but transmission shifting will be different while the cruise control is on. This is not a malfunction and is necessary to allow proper operation of the cruise control.

To return to fully automatic operation, move the shift lever to the right and back into the AUTOMATIC OVERDRIVE (D).

When accelerating your vehicle from a stop in snowy and icy conditions, you may want to shift into second gear. A higher gear allows you to gain more traction on slippery surfaces.