2000 SUBARU IMPREZA Owners Manual

Starting and operating7-15
–
CONTINUED –
1. Ap p ly the p arking b rake.
2. Turn off unnec essary lig hts and ac c essories.
3. Shift the selec tor lever to the
“P ” or “N ” p osition (p referab ly “P ”
p osition).
The starter will only op erate when the selec t lever is at the “P ” or “N ”
p osition.
4. Turn the ig nition switc h to the “ON ” p osition and c hec k the op era-
tion of the warning and ind ic ator lig hts. Refer to “Warning and ind ic a-
tor lig hts ” sec tion (c hap ter 3).
5. Turn the ig nition switc h to the “START ” p osition without depress-
ing the accelerator pedal . Release the key immed iately after the en-
g ine has started .
If the eng ine d oes not start within ten sec ond s, wa it a while and then
turn the ig nition switc h to the “START ” p osition ag ain while d ep ressing
the ac c elerator p ed al half way d own.
6. Confirm that all warning and ind ic ator lig hts hav e g one out after
the eng ine has started . The fuel injec tion system a utomatic ally lowers
the id le sp eed as the eng ine warms up .
While the eng ine is warming up , make sure that the selec tor lever is at
the “P ” or “N ” p osition and that the p arking b rake is ap p lied .
During cold weather below – 4F ( – 20 C)
If the eng ine is d iffic ult to start using the norma l method (without d e-
p ressing the ac c elerator p ed al), turn the ig nition switc h to the
“ START ” p osition while slig htly d ep ressing the ac c elerator p ed al.
Flooded engine
If the eng ine d oes not start, it may b e flood ed (ex c essive fuel in the
eng ine).
In c ase of a flood ed eng ine, turn the starter motor for five sec ond s
with the ac c elerator p ed al fully d ep ressed . Rep eat this two or three
times until the eng ine starts. Release the ig nition switc h and ac c elera-
tor p ed al as soon as the eng ine starts.

7-16Stopping the engine
WARNING
Do not stop the engine when the vehicle is moving. This will
cause loss of power to the power steering and the brake booster,making steering and braking more difficult. It could also result in
accidental activation of the “LOCK” position on the ignition
switch, causing the steering wheel to lock.
The ig nition switc h should b e turned off only when the eng ine is id ling .
Manual transmission
WARNING
Do not drive the vehicle with the clutch disengaged (i.e., when theclutch pedal is depressed) or with the shift lever in the neutralposition. Engine braking has no effect in either of these condi-tions and the risk of an accident is consequently increased.
CAUTION
Shift into reverse ONLY when the vehicle has completelystopped. It may cause damage to the transmission to try shiftinginto reverse when the vehicle is moving.
The manual transmission is a fully sync hromeshed 5- forward and 1-re-
verse sp eed transmission.

Starting and operating7-17
–
CONTINUED –
HS0365
The shift p attern is shown on the shift lever knob . When shifting from 5th
g ear to reverse g ear, first return the shift lever to neutral p osition then
shift into the reverse g ear.
To c hang e g ears, fully d ep ress the c lutc h p ed al, mo ve the shift lever,
and g rad ually let the p ed al up .
If it is d iffic ult to shift into g ear, p ut the tran smission in neutral, release the
c lutc h p ed al momentarily, and then try ag ain.
Shifting speeds
n Recommended shifting speeds
The b est c omp romise b etween fuel ec onomy and vehic l e p erfor-
manc e d uring normal d riving is ensured b y shifting up at the sp eed s
listed in the following tab le.
Shift up
mp h (km/h)
1st to 2nd15 (24)
2nd to 3rd25 (40)
3rd to 4th40 (65)
4th to 5th45 (73)

7-18n
Maximum allowable speeds
WARNING
When shifting down a gear, ensure that the vehicle is not travel- ling at a speed exceeding the Maximum Allowable Speed for thegear which is about to be selected. Failure to observe this pre-caution can lead to engine over-revving and this in turn canresult in engine damage.In addition, sudden application of engine brakes when the vehicleis travelling on a slippery surface can lead to wheel locking; as a
consequence, control of the vehicle may be lost and the risk ofan accident increased.
The following tab le shows the maximum sp eed s that a re p ossib le with
eac h d ifferent g ear.
Never exc eed the sp eed limit b elow for eac h g ear p o sition exc ep t for
b rief ac c eleration in an emerg enc y. The tac hometer ’s need le (if so
eq uip p ed ) will enter the red area if these sp eed s a re exc eed ed . Fail-
ure to ob seve this p rec aution c an lead to exc essive eng ine wear and
p oor fuel ec onomy.
mph (km/h)
Vehicle
type2.2 liter models2 5 litertype
Gear except OUTBACK
SPORTOUTBACKSPORT2.5 liter
RS models
1st29 (46)29 (47)28 (45)
2nd48 (77)49 (79)47 (76)
3rd70 (113)71 (115)68 (110)
Driving tips
Do not d rive with your foot resting on the c lutc h p ed al and d o not use
the c lutc h to hold your vehic le at a stand still on an up g rad e. Either of
those ac tions may c ause c lutc h d amag e.
Do not d rive with your hand resting on the shift le ver. This may c ause
wear on the transmission c omp onents.

Starting and operating7-19
–
CONTINUED –
When it is nec essary to red uc e vehic le sp eed d ue to
slow traffic , turn-
ing c orners, or d riving up steep hills, d ownshift t o a lower g ear b efore
the eng ine starts to lab or.
On steep d owng rad es, d ownshift the transmission to 4th, 3rd or 2nd
g ear as nec essary; this help s to maintain a safe sp eed and to extend
b rake p ad life.
In this way, the eng ine p rovid es a b raking effec t. Rememb er, if you
“ rid e ” (over use) the b rakes while d esc end ing a hill, the y may over-
heat and not work p rop erly.
Automatic transmission
WARNING
Do not shift from the “P” or “N” position into the “D”, “3”, “2”,
“1” or “R” position while depressing the accelerator pedal. This
may cause the vehicle to jump forward or backward.
CAUTION
Shift into the “P” or “R” position only after the vehicle is com-
pletely stopped. Shifting while the vehicle is moving may cause
damage to the transmission. Do not race the engine for more than five seconds in any posi-
tion except the “N” or “P” position when the brake is set or the
tires are on blocks. This may cause the automatic transmissionfluid to overheat. Avoid shifting from one of the forward driving positions into
the “R” position or vice versa until the vehicle has completely
stopped. Such shifting may cause damage to the transmission.
The automatic transmission is elec tronic ally c ontro lled with 4-forward
sp eed s and 1-reverse sp eed .

7-20NOTE
Immediately after a disconnected battery is reconnected or ATF (au- tomatic transmission fluid) is replaced, you may feel that the auto-matic transmission operation is somewhat unusual.This results from erasure or invalidation of data the on-board com-puter has collected and stored in memory to allow the transmissionto shift at the most appropriate times for the current condition ofyour vehicle. Optimized shifting will be restored as the vehicle con-tinues to be driven for a while.
Selector lever
OM-H0149
Release button With the brake pedal depressed, shift while pressing the button in Shift while pressing the button in Shift without pressing the button
HS0129
The selec tor lever has seven p ositions.
The release b utton must b e p ushed to selec t the “P ”, “R ”, or “2 ” p osi-
tions.
P (Park)
This p osition is for p arking the vehic le and starti ng the eng ine.
In this p osition, the transmission is mec hanic ally loc ked to p revent the
vehic le from rolling freely.
When you p ark the vehic le, first set the p arking b r ake fully, then shift
into the “P ” p osition. Do not hold the vehic le with only the tr ansmis-
sion.
A shift interloc k func tion is emp loyed in the autom atic transmission
system to ensure safe starting of the vehic le.

Starting and operating7-21
–
CONTINUED –
To shift the selec tor lever from the
“P ” to the any other p osition, you
have to d ep ress the b rake p ed al fully then p ush the release b utton on
the selec tor lever when the ig nition switc h is in t he “ON ” p osition. This
p revents the vehic le from lurc hing when it is start ed .
If the shift lever d oes not move from the “P ” p osition with the b rake
p ed al d ep ressed and the release b utton p ushed in wh en the ig nition
switc h is in the “ON ” p osition, refer to the “Shift loc k release ” sec tion
in this c hap ter. R (Reverse)
This p osition is for b ac king the vehic le.
To shift from the “N ” to “R ” p osition, first stop the vehic le c omp letely
then move the lever to the “R ” p osition while p ushing the release b ut-
ton. N (Neutral)
WARNING
Do not drive the vehicle with the selector lever in the “N” (neutral)
position. Engine braking has no effect in this condition and the risk of an accident is consequently increased.
This p osition is for restarting a stalled eng ine.
In this p osition the wheels and transmission are no t loc ked . In this
p osition, the transmission is neutral; the vehic le will roll freely, even on
the slig htest inc line unless the p arking b rake or f oot b rake is on.
Avoid c oasting with the transmission neutral. Durin g c oasting , the
eng ine b raking d oes not ac t. D (Drive)
This p osition is for normal d riving .
The transmission automatic ally shifts into a suitab le g ear from 1st to
4th ac c ord ing to the vehic le sp eed and the ac c elera tion you req uire.
When more ac c eleration is req uired in this p osition , p ress the ac c eler-
ator p ed al fully to the floor and hold that p ositio n. The transmission
will automatic ally d ownshift to 3rd , 2nd or 1st g ea r. When you release

7-22the p ed al, the transmission will return to the orig
inal g ear p osition.
n While climbing a grade
When d riving up a hill, und esired up shift to 4th g e ar is p revented from
taking p lac e when the ac c elerator is released . This minimizes the
c hanc e of sub seq uent d ownshifting to a lower g ear w hen ac c elerat-
ing ag ain. This p revents rep eated up shifting and d o wnshifting result-
ing in a smoother op eration of the vehic le. NOTE
The transmission may downshift to 2nd or 1st gear, depending on the way the accelerator pedal is pressed to accelerate the vehicleagain. n While going down a hill
When d esc end ing a steep hill, d ep ressing the b rake p ed al will c ause
the transmission to d ownshift to 3rd g ear, thus ap p lying eng ine b rak-
ing . Reac c eleration for a short time will c ause the transmission to up -
shift normally. NOTE In some cases, depressing the brake pedal on a downhill grade
does not result in an automatic downshift to 3rd gear. This canhappen when the automatic transmission fluid temperature is
very low, for example, during driving shortly after the vehicle has
been parked for an extended period of time. When the ATF tem-perature has risen to a certain level, automatic downshift normal-ly takes place. In the meantime, downshift manually for enginebraking as required.Also, downshifting when braking downhill will not occur at
speeds above approximately 50 mph (80 km/h). 3 (Third)
This p osition is for using eng ine b raking when g oin g d own a hill or for
c limb ing a g rad e.
The transmission automatic ally shifts into a suitab le g ear from 1st to
3rd ac c ord ing to the vehic le sp eed and the ac c elera tion you req uire.