What Do the Plus and Minus Signs on an Automatic Transmission Mean?
1 Answers
Automatic transmission cars with plus and minus signs refer to the manual mode of the automatic transmission. The plus sign is for manually upshifting, and the minus sign is for downshifting. Below are the specific details: Specific operations for upshifting and downshifting with the plus and minus signs: Regardless of the current gear, pushing the gear lever toward the plus sign direction once will upshift by one gear. After pushing, the gear lever will automatically return to its original position, allowing repeated pushes to upshift further. Pulling the gear lever toward the minus sign direction once will downshift by one gear, and continuous pulls will result in continuous downshifting. Automatic transmissions with plus and minus signs indicate that the transmission is a manual-automatic (Tiptronic) transmission with manual functionality: While driving, shifting the gear lever from the D (Drive) position to the plus/minus side will simulate a manual transmission, preventing the transmission from automatically upshifting. Usage of the plus and minus signs in D mode: With the gear lever in the D position, moving it to the right will engage the manual mode. Pushing the lever upward once will upshift by one gear, while pulling it downward once will downshift by one gear. Note that upshifting may require certain speed and engine RPM conditions, whereas downshifting does not have such requirements.