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Ok, so I've seen in several car commercials an auto tranny that has your regular gears, but then towards the bottom, you can move it to the right, and there's a + and a -. See the picture below for an example of what I mean (interior shot of an FX45).What are those + and - things...is that like the shifter-based equivalent of TAPshift?Thanks peeps!

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Yes. That is a manual mode for an auto trans. You tap the shifter up and down instead of paddles on the wheel.

Sounds fun!!!

This feature is mainly on LUXURY cars right?

I could swear I saw it in a Hyundai commercial once...but I'm starting to seriously doubt that...But as Scott confirmed, it's the equivalent of TAPshift on the 04 GP GTP...except in the GTP it's a little paddle on the steering wheel.

quote:This feature is mainly on LUXURY cars right?Yes, and on other cars as well.Most Audis have it, VWs are coming with it, the GTI R32 has paddle shifters.A lot of SUVs are coming with it.The one car that had it that almost me switch from a vibe was the Mazda Protoge 6.Mmmm ... manual automatic ... I WANT IT IN MY VIBE! ;_;

My Hyundai Santa Fe had had a manumatic, and I barely ever used. It was nice when we visited the Smokey Mountains, because you could just leave it in forth gear, instead of having the transmission search for the right gear on inclines, but that was about it's only useful purpose.It would also probably be fun on a sporty car, but it didn't help the fun factor much on a 4000 pound 171 hp SUV.

The Hyundai Tiburon has that available as well.

I don't see a lot of good use for the manu-matic type transmissions. I had an "Auto Stick" on my Stratus, and I wasn't impressed. The only place I can see it being useful would be something like nate66 said when they were cruising through the mountains. It really didn't make the car any more fun to drive, in my opinion. Just one more thing to break on the car. There's just no replacement for a clutch and a stick.

Lexus IS300's (Altezza) have them as well, plus rear-wheel drive. Nice cars. I would have bought it had I not been shot down by Toyota financing. In the end, I have a Toyota anyways (that I love and prefer now )! LOL

quote:What do you think of that Sante Fe?We had it for two years, and it was a really nice SUV. It was very solid, interior materials, and build quality were excellent, and it was completely trouble free.We got rid of it, because we wanted something cheaper, and more fuel efficient.

The mitsubishi outlander has it too.the Honda prelude used to have it as well.