I dont know what all the fuss about manuals is , i've had them all my life in most of my cars and im glad to be rid of them , I'de rather an Auto with a 2500 minimum stall convertor and shift kit anyday. Bloody burning clutches out and stuff , riding the clutch all day in bad traffic , nothing but problems. Ill have my auto's any day . U'll get a quicker gear shift with any decent auto compared to a manual, my old XE ran way quicker q/miles with the auto/b&m quickshifter/stall convetor & shiftkit than it did with the manual gearbox, no matter who drove it ! - so auto's for
me all the way . ..lol
Just personal preference, i like to drive a car, A Manual is better around a circuit, manual is more fun in sprited driving in my view.