Volvo 2008 C70 - Manual (Page 127)

06 Starting and driving
126
Automatic gearbox
06
Kick-down 1
When the accelerator pedal is pressed all the
way to the floor (beyond the position nor-
mally regarded as full acceleration) a lower
gear is immediately engaged. This is known
as kick-down.
If the accelerator is released from the kick-
down position, the gearbox automatically
changes up.
Kick-down is used when maximum accelera-
tion is needed, such as for overtaking.
Safety function
To prevent overrevving the engine, the gear-
box control program has a protective down-
shift inhibitor which prevents the kick-down
function.
Geartronic does not permit downshifting/
kick-down which would result in an engine
speed high enough to damage the engine.
Nothing happens if the driver still tries to shift
down in this way at high engine speed – the
original gear remains engaged.
When kick-down is activated the car can
change one or more gears at a time depend-
ing on engine speed. The car changes up
when the engine reaches its maximum speed
in order to prevent damage to the engine.
Mechanical gear selector inhibitor
The gear selector can be moved forward and
back freely between N and D. Other posi-
tions are locked with a latch that is released
with the inhibitor button on the gear selector.
With the inhibitor button depressed the lever
can be moved forwards or backwards
between P, R, N and D.
Automatic gear selector inhibitor
Cars with an automatic gearbox have special
safety systems:
Keylock
To remove the ignition key, the gear selector
must be in the P position. The key is locked
in all other positions.
Parking position (P)
Stationary car with engine running:
– Hold your foot on the brake pedal when
moving the gear selector to another posi-
tion.
Electric gear inhibitor – Shiftlock
Parking position (P position)
To be able to move the gear selector from the
P position to other gear positions, the ignition
key must be in position II and the brake
pedal must be depressed.
Shiftlock – Neutral (N position)
If the gear selector is in the N position and
the car has been stationary for at least three
seconds (irrespective of whether the engine
is running) then the gear selector is locked in
the N position.
To be able to move the gear selector from the
N position to another gear position, the brake
pedal must be depressed and the ignition
key must be in position II.
1 Not on diesel cars in manual position.
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