Come on now. This is a forum, we're meant to have discussions here. Even if they have been repeated.
That said, I want to re-iterate the fun and skill factor. Tuned automatics are certainly better than humans at the drag strip. But if you took 10 random people and had them all do drag races in the same car, how much of a difference would they all have?
To exclude launching, assume they all did 30-120 MPH. Would there even be a difference? After all, they are just flooring it and holding the wheel straight.
Now take a manual car. Surely the driver with the best time is very skilled at shifting. He may not beat the automatic, but I can guarantee you two things: 1. He had more fun. 2. He displayed more talent.
And I second the notion of man-machine connection. There's something about driving a car for a while and having its clutch pressure, travel distance, engagement and friction zone, all connected to you by muscle memory, which is special in a really cheesy sort of way.
