D Mode. S mode shifts a bit to hard for my liking. S or D these trucks are going to move.

Normal daily driving, D mode.
"Spirited" driving or when I need to ensure fast acceleration, Sport mode.
Towing a trailer with any substantial weight to it, manual shift.

D mode most of the time, "S" mode in some twisties and when am showin off a lil (I try not too but could'nt resist showing whats the X made up of to my buddy in A5 2.0).
qq for our mates in Australia - How do you find the X for Mild trails/Mild Offroad - I did take it out on a trail (6 Miles or so) with just a few steep climbs and downhills and was amazed how well it held, not sure if i should push my luck further or just tag along in my buddy's pathfinder (no serious offroad just more trails in Maine)

Why would the trasmission fail if it went into 5th gear? Seems kind of silly to believe that. As others have said leave it in "D" mode when strutting around town and go to "S" when you need more power.

Funny I am Canadian but I think I know the road you are talking about. I was up it in March of this year (although not in my X in a friends Cayenne). Is it the road that goes from Redcliffe on the coast west to Blackbut?

i never liked using the stick to change manually but used s mode when i wanted to get somewhere quicker. it is more reluctant to drop into fifth compared to d mode. since my smg conversion changing gears is alot more fun and easier to understand the gears. car always drops to 2nd and starts in 2nd. not much difference in revs between 1st and 2nd so im guessing used for verticals or hill descend. 3rd and 4rth quite versatile and probably used most of the time. fifth for higher motorway speeds. smg is my best mod, and the steering wheels nicer.

oh "foomph" i know exactly where you are talking about naughty naughty naughty

heheheehheeh

im in Ormeau

my wife drives it in D all the time. when i drive it on the weekends I use Manual. U think it will wear it out faster?

Yes, and it will use more fuel. However, transmissions on these vehicles don't wear out, they just break, and there is a difference. If you shift it reasonably it isn't likely to become the reason for a transmission failure.

I have a mix of both "D" mode and manual mode. On the highways, I usually use D since I don't shift gears often. I do play around with manual mode around town as it's less boring and helps keep my speed downhill instead of barreling down in 5th. I hate the delay of manual mode with the short gearing; there is always a noticeable delay from moving the shifter and the actual gear shift and you have to compensate by shifting early.