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Honestly, the most annoying thing from re-learning stick has been getting used to the slight bump with every gear change. I know of a handful of stick drivers that can make their car feel like an automatic, but as of right now, I'm nowhere near that proficient.
Once I got over the hurdle of "GAH!!! WHY CAN'T I SHIFT SMOOTHLY!" and just accepted that I can't make every shift as butter smooth as a modern A/T... I've had a blast.
I definitely considered the A/T for a while, but I knew that if I didn't start driving stick again while I was young, I wouldn't bother with it when I'm too old and too lazy to deal with it. Inevitably, knee issues will take away my ability to DD a manual transmission, so I wanted to get some good years before that happens. Plus, even if A/T is by far a more practical choice in SoCal, I'm glad to know how to drive a standard car (a dying skill in the US).
At the end of the day, I'll still have my gripes when stuck in SoCal traffic, but for those Sunday drives with clear B-roads... I wouldn't trade it for anything else.
Like others have said, Manual or Auto, this car is something special. Don't worry about people who rag on you for driving an automatic. It's just technological progression. It'd be akin to people driving old crash boxes looking down on a modern manual transmission for having synchros.
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