Driving Your Mazda; Transaxle Ranges; Automatic Transaxle - Page 82

5-8

Driving Your Mazda

Starting and Driving

Form No. 8Q47-EA-01F

Various Lockouts:

▼

Transaxle Ranges

The shift lever must be in P or N to 
operate the starter.

P (Park) 

P locks the transaxle and prevents the 
front wheels from rotating.

R (Reverse) 

In position R, the vehicle moves only 
backward. You must be at a complete stop 
before shifting to or from R, except as 
explained under Rocking the Vehicle
(page 4-7) .

N (Neutral) 

In N, the wheels and transaxle are not 
locked. The vehicle will roll freely even 
on the slightest incline unless the parking 
brake or brakes are on.

Automatic Transaxle 
Controls

Indicates that you must depress the 

brake pedal and hold in the lock-

release button to shift (The ignition 

switch must be in the ON position).

Indicates the shift lever can be 

shifted freely into any position.

Indicates that you must hold in the 

lock-release button to shift.

Lock-release button

To prevent unsafe 
shifting

Shift pattern 
indicator

Shows shift lever 
position

Hold button

Pushing this button 
activates the hold 
mode.
Pushing this again 
deactivates this mode.

Holding the Vehicle with P:
Setting the shift lever to the P position 
without using the parking brake to 
hold the vehicle is dangerous. If P 
fails to hold, the vehicle could move 
and cause an accident. To hold the 
vehicle, set the shift lever to P AND 
set the parking brake.

•

Shifting into P, N or R while the 
vehicle is moving can damage your 
transaxle.

•

Shifting into a driving gear or 
reverse when the engine is running 
faster than idle can damage the 
transaxle.

WARNING

CAUTION

J76Y.book  Page 8  Wednesday, March 27, 2002  5:04 PM