User's Guide Part 1

4 – 34
When Driving
Transaxle
WARNING
Keep your hands on the steering wheel
rim when using  ngers on the steering
shift switches:
Putting your hands inside the rim of
the steering wheel when using the
steering shift switches is dangerous.
If the driver's air bag were to deploy
in a collision, your hands could be
impacted causing injury.
NOTE
• When driving slowly, the gears may not
shift up.
•
In manual shift mode, do not run the
engine with the tachometer needle
in the RED ZONE. When the engine
rpm is high, a gear may shift up
automatically to protect the engine.
•
When depressing the accelerator fully,
the transaxle will shift to a lower gear,
depending on vehicle speed.
Manually Shifting down
(M6 → M5 → M4 → M3 → M2 → M1)
To shift down to a lower gear, move the
shift lever forward (
) once.
To shift down to a lower gear with the
steering shift switches, pull the DOWN
switch toward you once with your fi ngers.
DOWN switch
WARNING
Do not use engine braking on slippery
road surfaces or at high speeds:
Shifting down while driving on wet,
snowy, or frozen roads, or while driving
at high speeds causes sudden engine
braking, which is dangerous. The
sudden change in tire speed could
cause the tires to skid. This could
lead to loss of vehicle control and an
accident.
Keep your hands on the steering wheel
rim when using  ngers on the steering
shift switches:
Putting your hands inside the rim of
the steering wheel when using the
steering shift switches is dangerous.
If the driver's air bag were to deploy
in a collision, your hands could be
impacted causing injury.
Mazda3_8CX9-EA-13F_Edition1.indb 34Mazda3_8CX9-EA-13F_Edition1.indb 34 2013/05/17 11:49:402013/05/17 11:49:40