Does the S Gear Require Manual Gear Shifting?
3 Answers
S gear does not require manual gear shifting. S gear is the sport mode of a car (S stands for Sport). In sport mode, the transmission can shift gears freely, but the timing of gear shifts is delayed, keeping the engine at high RPM for a longer period. This allows the car to maintain low gear and high RPM for an extended duration, resulting in greater torque output and acceleration. While driving, simply push the gear lever into the S position. It is commonly used for climbing hills and quick overtaking. S gear only delays upshifting without altering other operational aspects, which inevitably increases the transmission load and temperature in the short term, leading to accelerated wear.
The S mode in an automatic transmission car is the sport mode, where the system automatically shifts gears for you to maintain a more responsive lower gear with higher RPMs, delivering a more spirited acceleration. If your car is equipped with paddle shifters or a gear lever with manual mode, you can manually shift gears in this mode—such as downshifting to boost torque when overtaking or downshifting to use engine braking on downhill slopes, adding a bit of driving fun. However, for daily driving, manual operation isn't necessary; the system is smart enough to adjust automatically based on throttle input. While manual intervention is enjoyable, frequent operation may wear out transmission components and increase fuel consumption. For city commuting, I prefer to let it handle everything automatically.
When driving a car with sport mode, the S gear does allow manual shifting, but it depends on whether your car has that feature. For example, the model I drive has paddle shifters, so in S mode, I can manually intervene in gear changes at any time, making the acceleration process more controllable, just like in racing games. If there are no paddle shifters and it's purely automatic, it will aggressively delay upshifts to enhance power. Manual shifting is suitable for spirited driving scenarios, such as climbing hills or quick acceleration moments, but for regular road driving, full automatic is more worry-free as the system is optimized to avoid erratic behavior. Modified cars offer more manual options, but don't rely too much on manual mode to avoid a spike in fuel consumption.
