Depending on the make of the car you are in, “D” and “S” are typically marked separately, but they bring one of two things to mind. “D” stands for Drive, while “S” stands for Sport. That said, there are a few cars where D and S are actually marked together on the gear selector, or sometimes as a dedicated button near the center console. It’s one of those things that doesn’t really explain itself, especially considering what S means on a gear shift can vary depending on what you drive. As you may have guessed, the letters do break down to Drive and Sport, but the way they actually behave behind the scenes varies quite a bit from brand to brand.

Again, most cars have the two modes marked separately. But you’ll spot them paired up on Honda and Acura models, plus cars from the VW Group (including Volkswagen, Audi, and a handful of other stablemates). It works a little differently across both brands, too.

Let’s start with the Hondas first. On Honda and Acura models with 10-speed automatic gearboxes, the S typically points towards a sequential mode that hands you a more involved experience for improved paddle shifting, which some cars feature. Take the 2019 Acura RDX, for example. This luxury SUV runs a 10-speed automatic transmission and lets you shift between modes manually using push buttons. One of these buttons is labeled D/S, and it works like a toggle. Push it once, and you’re cruising in regular Drive. In that mode, you get early upshifts and low engine speeds, which is great for relaxed runs on the motorway. Hit it a second time, and S kicks in, which is officially known as Sequential SportShift.

Sequential SportShift is a special mode built around paddle-shift driving, though it works just fine even if you don’t touch the paddles. The whole point is to give the car a sportier feel, with the transmission holding onto lower gears for longer. Leave the paddles alone and the car still shifts itself, just more aggressively, to favor performance. Pull a paddle, though, and you drop into the automatic car’s manual mode – that’s when you’ll spot an “M” lighting up next to the gear number. Only then do automatic upshifts stop completely, although the car will still drop down a gear if you come to a stop, just so the engine doesn’t stall.

On the VW side of things, the setup is a little different. D/S still works like a toggle, except the S behaves much like the Sport mode you’d find on other cars. It also takes a different form physically. Rather than sitting as a separate button like on the Honda, it lives on the selector lever itself. On the 2020 Audi A6, for instance, the gear sequence goes P, R, N, D/S. To swap between D and S, all you have to do is give the lever a quick tug rearward. The mode switches and then clicks back into place. The same goes for other cars like the VW Golf. As for the drive itself, S keeps revs higher, sharpens throttle response, and delays upshifts.

No matter the model, all you have to keep in mind is that D is the arguably boring default, while S helps keep the car a bit keener. And regardless of whether S stands for sequential or sport, D/S works similarly across Honda and Volkswagen Group cars. The only real split shows up when you reach for a paddle, if it’s available. From that point on, Honda hands you manual control, while VW keeps doing its own thing automatically.