Greetings City owners,

I've had my 4th generation Honda City VTEC for just over a year now (bout 11k km on the meter) and so far all's good no problems. Today while on a relatively long drive back home, I started playing with the 7-speed Mode thing on the steering wheel, something which I've never really tried out before. I noticed whenever I activated it, my acceleration would increase and I obviously could switch gears manually from 1 to 7. Most of the time I was on the highway so I kept it at 7.

Since my knowledge of automobiles is very very limited, I'd like to ask the experts here about this 7-speed mode and a few other things. Please pardon my noobishness and perhaps stupidity:

1.) S Gear - I'm not 100% on what S gear on the gearshift actually means. As far as I understand it's for more braking power when going downhill? What does S actually stand for anyway? There's some saying Sporty, Second, Slow, etc. I almost never use this gear. I saw a post saying this gear can be used alongside the 7 speed mode for acceleration control. If so, how exactly?

2.) L Gear - Stands for Low gear as far as I understand and I usually use this for a more power when climbing relatively steep slopes. Anything else about it I should know?

3.) 7-Speed Mode - Several questions about this one.
3a.) The Honda sales rep told me this is for "if you need more power climbing hills" but I get the feeling there's much more to it than that. I've heard using 7-speed effectively can increase fuel efficiency?
3b.) I've heard playing around with the 7-speed mode can severely damage the gearbox. Is this true?
3c.) What are the things I should be aware/careful of when using 7-speed mode?

4.) Any general tips & tricks regarding 7-speed mode would be very helpful

Thanks in advance and I apologise if these questions have been answered before. And sorry for the many questions