I must admit that up until recently the paddle shifters in Audi cars have been a mystery to me, and I know I'm not the only one. One of most common questions people ask is how to use the paddle shifters. If you've driven a manual transmission before, this post may be easier to understand. (Sidenote: I think everyone should learn to drive manual because you just never know when you'll be in a situation where need to drive one.)

The paddle shifters are located at the top of the steering wheel, and are marked with a "+" (on the right) or "-" (on the left"). We're testing out the S4 this week, so the paddles are silver, but they may be black depending on what model you're driving.

First, when you put the car in "D", you'll need to slide the gear lever to the right to put the car in "M" mode. An "M1" will show up on the dashboard.

As you increase your speed, you'll notice the engine RPM go up. As it's going up you'll tap on the "+" paddle to switch gears. Every time the engine RPM starts to go up you'll tap the paddle to go into the higher gear.

If you forget to change gears as you're stepping on the gas pedal, the car will automatically go back into "D" mode so you don't mess up the engine. You can always change the gears between "D", "S", and "M" anytime while in motion.

I don't see any real benefit to using the paddle shifters for regular driving other than you have more control over when to shift gears. I would use it more when wanting to speed up real quick while driving on the freeway. However, I find that putting the car into "S" mode to get a quick jolt works just as well. Here's a thread on AudiWorld where they talk about driving in "S" as opposed to using the paddle shifters.

From what I've read on other forums such as this one on AudiZine, people have been using the paddle shifters more for driving on curvy mountain roads or when going up and down hills.

Do you have any tips on using the paddle shifters in Audis? Sound off via comments below...