My reference was only related to automatics (since that's the topic at hand). I have to cast serious doubt on what you're saying.
If you have an auto, the vehicle will not let you specify a gear that will over-rev, bog down/stall the engine, or drag the tires due to excessively reducing wheel rotation. You can state what you would like it to be, but there are controls in place that over-ride your selection. If I'm in 8th doing 80mph, selecting 1st will not actually take effect (on my Mercedes, Hyundai, or RAM). If you slow to the point that the vehicle can safely get to first, it will prevent up-shifting to 2nd. If the RPMs get high, the vehicle will usually complain about the driver not allowing the up-shift (while also performing rev-limiting). If you select 5th and come to a stop, the automatic transmission will not stay in 5th.
Is it true that you can specify your gear selection and destroy your valve-train or stall your vehicle? Educate me.
Of course not. You can select your gear of choice within certain constraints, such as RPM range, as you’ve already pointed out. But you CAN run the vehicle nearly to redline in your preferred gear in manual mode, whereas this simply isn’t possible in the case of the Ram.
Again, I was responding to this statement:
The steering wheel +/- is the same as newer vehicles with flappy paddle or manual shifter gear selection.
That statement is incorrect, or at least requires a number of qualifiers. In addition to the scenario I just outlined, there’s no ability to upshift as desired. You can effectively downshift on demand, although it’s much more awkward to do so than with paddles or a shift lever, and it may not let you do so as aggressively as with a manual shift program (I have not tested this, as my Ram is not our sports car).
You could make the case that the biggest fallacy is calling a simple gear limiter the same thing as a fully-developed manual shift program / mode. In our Audi and other similarly-equipped vehicles, there are even engine and transmission tuning characteristics that are changed when selecting manual mode. The Ram’s system, by comparison, is just a basic towing aid.
Finally, while you and I understood the context, some readers may not be aware that there are many “flappy paddle” transmissions that are, in fact, manuals. I was just setting the context. No offense intended.
Cheers!