I got my Fit home last night. Read Over the manual and tried out the paddle shifters this morning. (I used them in the test drive but I didn't know what I was doing).
First of all, you put the transmission in "S" and take off and it's still in "D"rive. The true "S" mode doesn't kick-in until you tap on one of the paddles. The first time I did this, I was moving when I hit the paddle for the first time and I was in 3rd already. If you are not moving, you are in "S" and you tap a paddle, you take off locked in 1st and paddle shift up or down as desired.
It shifts pretty quickly. Buzzing down the street, you tap the + paddle and say "one thousand", at the "and" in "one thousand", it's in the next gear.
I was surprised to find that
the car down shifts for you. You are zipping around town and come to a stop sign (in "S" mode) and you are in 1st automatically without down shifting by hand.
COOL!
This is a fun car to drive.