I may be imagining this- but I'm sure the PRNDS next to the gear knob used to illuminate the setting you were in- in addition to telling you on the dash. They're still illuminated- but nothing highlighted what you're in.

am I imagining it?

 

thanks 

I think you are imagining it. Mine has never illuminated on the gear selector. Unless of course mine has always been faulty and yours has just become faulty !   

Thanks mate- I must have been! 

is there a need to move the gear lever into s mode if you can change the gears whilst in d mode? whats the difference?

S mode lets you rev higher before upshifts (when still in auto mode, i.e before you play with the paddles!) and it also changes your steering feedback (if set in the dash options. So you get a different, more sporty!!!, driving feel.

Also, D mode will  drop back into auto mode after avshort while, where as S mode stays in manual paddle mode until you switch back nto D. I use S a lot, as it gives better pickup after downshifting during breaking. In auto mode, the gearbox seems to preselect the wrong way not anticipating you are going to accelerate again rather than coming to a stop, i.e sharp bends, roundabouts, givecways, etc.

20 hours ago, simonb65 said:

S mode lets you rev higher before upshifts (when still in auto mode, i.e before you play with the paddles!) and it also changes your steering feedback (if set in the dash options. So you get a different, more sporty!!!, driving feel.

Also, D mode will  drop back into auto mode after avshort while, where as S mode stays in manual paddle mode until you switch back nto D. I use S a lot, as it gives better pickup after downshifting during breaking. In auto mode, the gearbox seems to preselect the wrong way not anticipating you are going to accelerate again rather than coming to a stop, i.e sharp bends, roundabouts, givecways, etc.

yes I've just experienced the preselecting the wrong way in the D mode. my first auto box car so thanks for your explanation. makes a lot of sense to me now!

when is it best to put the gear into P mode- I feel it "clunks" into that gear as if I'm forcing it sometimes. should I switch the engine off first? I park on a hill occasionally and the car will jerk forward a bit once the handbrake is applied and my foot released off the brake. would the gearbox be damaged if I was in P mode before releasing my foot do you think?

I've always had a manual gearbox in past cars!!!

Park should not clunk when the gear lever is put there. Park locks the prop shaft in position so technically if this is applied there is no need to apply the handbrake. That being said, if you were on a hill, park could fail as it is basically a locking pin and this could break, so always apply the handbrake too. 

If you put the car in park and take your foot off the foot brake before applying the handbrake then the car could move, making it difficult to remove from park later. This is because the prop shaft will have moved causing some stress on the locking pin. 

In practice, the order should be stop on the foot brake, hold the car in the foot brake, then put the gear selector in Park, then before removing your foot from the foot brake, apply the handbrake and only when this is in place, should you remove your foot from the brake. 

If you find it difficult to get your gear selector into Park, I would suggest it needs looked at. 

13 hours ago, Edge of Reason said:

Park should not clunk when the gear lever is put there. Park locks the prop shaft in position so technically if this is applied there is no need to apply the handbrake. That being said, if you were on a hill, park could fail as it is basically a locking pin and this could break, so always apply the handbrake too. 

If you put the car in park and take your foot off the foot brake before applying the handbrake then the car could move, making it difficult to remove from park later. This is because the prop shaft will have moved causing some stress on the locking pin. 

In practice, the order should be stop on the foot brake, hold the car in the foot brake, then put the gear selector in Park, then before removing your foot from the foot brake, apply the handbrake and only when this is in place, should you remove your foot from the brake. 

If you find it difficult to get your gear selector into Park, I would suggest it needs looked at. 

thanks for your reply. I understand how park works now. my driveway is inclined so I feel I've got to lift footbrake with handbrake on before applying park because of the little movement. I believe your scenario might be fine on level ground only yeh? 

The way I’ve described it should work on any surface. If the car moves after placed in park, this can cause stress on the park mechanism. So if held on the foot brake until the handbrake is fully on so the car is steady, then selector placed in park, this should ensure the minimum of stress. 

I should have said the final moves of park and handbrake can be done in any order equally. As long as the foot is not released from the foot brake until the handbrake mechanism is fully applied. The most important thing is that the car doesn’t move after Park is selected. It is this after-movement that can cause difficulty in later releasing the selector from Park.