Why can I shift the gears on my automatic car?

Question

I have a passat which is Automatic but it has this slot that I can put the "shifter" into that has a + and - and I can shift the gears manually but why would I do that is there any advantage to shifting them myself will it go faster or what...

Answer 1

Some people like having control over their shift points. If your car is like mine and shifts at the redline when you floor it you wouldn't gain any acceleration from shifting it manually. If your car is like my mom's and shifts before the usable power band is used up you may benefit from manual shifting. If it doesn't seem to make a difference though, it doesn't.

Answer 2

well you can controll the rpm's better. like in my 1967 buick, just letting it shift by it's self it runs a 1/4 mile in 19 seconds, but me shifting it, it runs about 12 seconds.

so if you know how to do it right, yess i guess it can make it faster!! =]

Answer 3

They tend to be an option for people who like to be able to manually shift, but not all the time, if you like spirited driving, or autocross type driving, you wouldn't want your transmission shifting all the time, you would want to keep your engine in a particular gear or two to maximize time you can spend on the throttle and especially with a small engine, in higher RPMs, rather than shifting gears, or letting an automatic always select the most fuel efficient gear.

Answer 4

sometimes it is better for the engine to be in a lower gear than automatic.

some people just like to shift and not mess with a clutch.