Maybe they call it sporty, perhaps you feel like it's sporty, but the ratios are quite a bit lower and far apart
http://www.new-cars.com/2004/acura/acura-rsx-specs.html
Auto definitely shifts faster, they're usually plagued by crap ratios.
Actually looking at that chart I totally understand why you complain about your car now, the manual transmission has 17% higher gearing in 1st, combined with torque converter slippage, ouch.