[Memphis]

Originally Posted by jeebus

I have owned around 20 cars. Up until my last one, they were all manuals. I bit the bullet and bought a BMW 335d with an automatic because they don't offer a manual in that car. It was a fantastic automatic. Predictable, quick, smooth. But every single day I drove it I felt my soul being sucked away just that much more. So even though it was ridiculously fast (chipped with ~540tq), it just didn't do it for me because shifting matters that much. So I sold it and bought a BRZ. I don't miss the BMW one bit.

So you see, while we MT freaks might be a little crazy to you autotragic drivers, we are the more passionate drivers and we know what we want. How often do you find an automotive journalist say they'd prefer the automatic....like almost never. There's a reason for that.

And yes, ABS does take away a little bit of the driving experience and feel, but the benefits outweigh the cons in almost all cases. I have raced non-ABS vehicles and my brain just cannot process fast enough to pump to avoid lockup in all situations. My brain can, however, process fast enough to shift. So I wouldn't really say this comparison is valid.

Yeah you guys are real lovers of the art of shifting. I bet you suck on that manual real well too.