l have plus and minus options on the transmission stick. l drive an automatic, without sport mode, so l do not have paddle shifters. how does this work?

From a dead stop, put the shift lever in drive, then move it sideways to the + & -- gate. start driving & when u get to 3500 rpm push the shifter towards the + mark, this will shift u to 2ed gear. Get the revs back up to 3500 & shift up (+) again. When u want to slow down, downshift the car at 2000 rpm, the car will automatically match the engine speed to the transmission gear u downshift to. Just practice on a quite road & u will get the feel for shifting. You can upshift at higher rpms for more power. l would not downshift if the tach reads 3500 or more as it will rev the engine too high. Down shifting will make the brakes last longer because u r slowing the car down with the motor compression.