"A Tiptronic transmission can operate in the same manner as a conventional type of automatic transmission, but the second and sometimes third mode also allows the driver an additional method of manually overriding the automatic shift changes, by moving the shift lever into a second shift gate, equipped with two spring-loaded positions: "upshift" and "downshift". Once the lever is in this gate, the driver takes over most of the gear shifting decisions, which would ordinarily be performed by the transmission's computer, permitting, for example, the delaying of an upshift for increased acceleration, to increase the effect of the engine braking, to prevent shifts in curves, to shift down before passing, or to shift early in economic acceleration. On some models, the upshift and downshift operations can also be commanded by push-buttons or "paddle shifters" installed on the steering wheel, with an optional display in the instrument panel indicating the current gear selection. And since adding Tiptronic to a (semi-)automatic transmission merely means to plug a new shift lever into the computer and update the software, it is light and cheap."

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