My wifes American, I'm Irish, so she's spent her life driving automatics, and I've only ever really driven manuals.
I gotta say that if I'm to be in charge of half a ton of metal that hurtles me and my companions around the place at sixty (or more...) miles an hour, I want to be in full control of it. I hate the lack of control in an automatic, which really matters when (in a manual) you might decide to down-shift early to get extra accelleration for overtaking or something.
Let me make the decision, not the car
I gotta say that if I'm to be in charge of half a ton of metal that hurtles me and my companions around the place at sixty (or more...) miles an hour, I want to be in full control of it. I hate the lack of control in an automatic, which really matters when (in a manual) you might decide to down-shift early to get extra accelleration for overtaking or something.
Let me make the decision, not the car