I know a lot of folks with a Sport Auto like having the paddle shifters available while in "D" but it caused me a bit of trouble on the highway today. While I was in process of turning into the left lane to pass a slow car I somehow hit the "-" paddle by mistake, which for some reason caused the gear to shift into 2nd gear and bam it red lined. I was like "OH SNAP!" and hit the "+" paddle as quickly as I can but not before the engine started screaming, "puut puut puuting" and stopped accelerating. If the car behind me wasn't so far away I probably would have been rear ended. I'm chicken, I wait for big gaps, saved me this time.
I was probably going around 45 at the time, I had already hit the gas to speed up and the engine had probably already down shifted to speed up when I hit the "-" paddle. Isn't the computer supposed to not allow unsafe gear shifts (said so in the manual, didn't it)? I think that was pretty dangerous.
And going 45mph at 2nd gear, does that harm the engine? I know from a couple of searches that red lining the fit won't do any damage, but is what happened to me a bit different?