You can't damage your car by playing with those. In manual (+/-) mode, the computer will not let you make a catastrophic shift. It let's you shift only up to the point it thinks is safe for he engine.

Ie. You can't drop to 2nd or 1st gear at 100kmh

 

LOL The only damage is if you get caught by police at that speed with a hefty speeding ticket

 

"S" mode (Sport Mode) is really useless. In "D" mode, if you floor the gas pedal, the computer will automatically switch to "S" mode internally.

"+/-" mode (or TipTronic mode) lets you choose the gear you want to be in. The computer will prevent you from downshifting when RPM is too high and will upshift automatically when you get to the red line.

You can switch to any mode at any time.

By experience on the road, TipTronic mode i use on the highway when i want to slowdown a tad by downshifting.

By experience on the track, +/- (or tiptronic mode) is more efficient in the sense that it will upshift at higher revs then the "S" mode... just a bit more revs.... The downside on the track is that it will upshift on you at any moment even if not appropriate (i.e. in a turn).

Play with it, it's fun. But you will soon want a real stick shift.

 

To be very simple about it...25% more fuel consumption, 75% more fun! It holds each gear longer in the rev range and rev-matches as it downshifts. Shnazzy little system.

The +/- is manual override (multitronic) of the Automatic transmission. + is upshift, - is downshift. It'll bounce off redline as long as you let it, so be sure to shift!

Enjoy the Ride!