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Just take a look at some of the replies in this thread and you can see that for a lot of people, it's an ego thing. "You can't drive properly on dirt roads with

Just take a look at some of the replies in this thread and you can see that for a lot of people, it's an ego thing. "You can't drive properly on dirt roads with an automatic". "You can't drive in the snow with an automatic." "You can't adjust weight distribution with an automatic." Nearly everyone in this thread fancies themselves a proper rally car driver because they have a stick-shift Vauxhall Astra diesel.

darklajid 10y ago
Right. I cannot even comment on the whole 'stick is better for rally cars' debate, because I don't care about that sport and certainly don't qualify as a driver. For me it feels closer, more direct, more fun. And .. that's about it. If someone provides convincing evidence that it's less fuel efficient (maybe?) and that automatic transmissions accelerate faster (a given?) then I shrug and say .. "But this is fun!". On the other hand: Given that I drove manual most of my life and only drove really crappy automatics so far (Smart occasionally, Prius now) I might be biased twice. Both because manual's the norm and everything else feels off by default and because probably not every automatic transmission is created equal. (Advanced challenge: Drive a Citroën 2CV - still one of the cars I love the most. 4 gears, unusual layout, weird stick position)