Subaru Forester Manuals 2010 Forester Owner’s Manual | Page 229

Starting and operating “R” position or vice versa until the vehicle has completely stopped. Such shifting may cause damage to the transmission. . When parking the vehicle, first securely apply the parking brake and then place the selector lever in the “P” position. Avoid parking for a long time with the selector lever in any other position as doing so could result in a dead battery. allow the transmission to shift at the most appropriate times for the current condition of your vehicle. Optimized shifting will be restored as the vehicle continues to be driven for a while. & Selector lever NOTE . When the engine coolant temperature is still low, the automatic transmission will upshift to higher engine speeds than when the coolant temperature is sufficiently high in order to shorten the warm-up time and improve driveability. The gearshift timing will automatically shift to the normal timing after the engine has warmed up. . Immediately after ATF (automatic transmission fluid) is replaced, you may feel that the automatic transmission operation is somewhat unusual. This results from invalidation of data which the on-board computer has collected and stored in memory to : Shift possible with brake pedal depressed : Shift possible with brake pedal not depressed The selector lever has four positions, “P”, “R”, “N”, “D” and also has manual gate for using “SPORT” mode or manual mode. ! P (Park) This position is for parking the vehicle and starting the engine. In this position, the transmission is me- 7-17 chanically locked to prevent the vehicle from rolling freely. When you park the vehicle, first set the parking brake fully, then shift into the “P” position. Do not hold the vehicle with only the transmission. To shift the selector lever from the “P” to any other position, you should depress the brake pedal fully then move the selector lever. This prevents the vehicle from lurching when it is started. ! R (Reverse) This position is for backing the vehicle. To shift from the “N” to “R” position, stop the vehicle completely then move the lever to the “R” position. When the ignition switch has been turned to the “LOCK” position, movement of the selector lever from the “N” position to the “R” position is possible for a limited time period by depressing the brake pedal, and then it becomes impossible. For details, refer to “Selector lever reverse inhibiting function” F7-18. ! N (Neutral) This position is for restarting a stalled engine. In this position the wheels and transmission are not locked. In this position, the – CONTINUED –