
A Tiptronic transmission (also know as "Shifttronic," "Q-Tronic," "Multitronic," "iShift," "S-matic," "MultiMatic," "Manual Shift Mode," "SportShift," "E-Shift," "Geartronic," and "Sequential transmission",) can operate just as the common type of automatic transmission, but it also allows the driver to override the automatic mode by moving the shift lever into a second (Tiptronic) shift gate equipped with two spring-loaded positions: "upshift" and "downshift".
Once in this gate, the driver takes over most of the shifting decisions ordinarily performed by the transmissions computer, permitting, for example, the delaying of an upshift for increased acceleration or explicitly commanding a downshift to increase the braking effect of the engine. On some cars, the upshift and downshift operations can also be commanded by pushbuttons or rocker switches installed on the steering wheel and a display commonly indicates the current gear selection.