[Adrian Thompson]

I am so tired of the snobbery from so called car enthusiasts about manuals Vs Automatics. Sure, I was a little **** too who grew up believing the only reason to own an auto was because you lacked sufficient arms or legs to drive a 'real' car. But then I grew up in the UK where a 1.6L 90hp 4cyl was a family car, and if you tried to insure anything with more than about 150 hp at less than 25 years old they'd have laughed you out and flat out refused to even quote you. Back then old three speed auto's really were horrible with so little power and torque plus old torque convertor technology. I moved here in 94 and soon after got to drive some C4 Corvettes with both the truly hideous Doug Nash 4+3 manual, as well as the 4L60 Auto's. That instantly showed me that not only could Auto's be perfectly effective and fun to drive, but it's possible for them to be far better than manuals in some instances. The next step forward was when I got to drive an E39 540 and discovered that (by the standards of the day) 'modern' electronics and calibration made autos really nice with the ability to much better predict what gear you needed next etc. Things have really improved this century to the point where honestly for 99.9% of occasions an auto is a better alternative than a manual for most people in most situations. I will also say that with many modern high performance cars there is no way a mere mortal like myself could keep up with shifting in high performance driving. Having driven a friends new GT500 on track last year, and not being named Senna, Prost, Piquet or Mansell, there is no way I would be able to keep up with that car on corner exist if I had to shift as well.

Get over it. Auto's are just as good as manuals. IF you enjoy a manual more, bully for you, but don't piss on people who manage to enjoy the automotive experience while only using two pedals.

Amusing aside. As stated above, my fleet is now all auto (Except the C30, but that's hiding out back and not on the road), but I wanted to make sure my youngest daughter could drive a manual in case of emergencies. Having no manual I asked my Brother in law to teach her, so he took her out in his Jeep. Thirty mins later they came back, he was glowing with praise, she was already doing perfect clutchless upshift with no problem. She found it easy. Her take though? 'Why would anyone actually want to do that? What's the point?' She can drive a manual, but she doesn't' see the point.