True enough I just really prefer MT. For two reason one of them very important. The first being I find them more fun to drive in general, at least if you don't live in the city.

Second and this is somethign we forget in the hurry to get more power, more speed etc.. IS that I really feel MT are a lot safer to drive simply because it forces you to pay attention to the road. It's very easy to let your mind wander in a AT because of the simplicity of driving. I really think if all cars were MT we would have a lot less people getting rear ended and I wouldn't have to see stories being posted of friends and family of forum members who were killed by some expedition smashing into them from behind from lack of attention etc.

Overall I just think that the MT basically forces you to watch the road and keep your mind on what your doing.

 

As one of you said-the auto vs manual is a personal choice. As for me, I've shifted for 35 years (Datsun 2000, Mazda RX-7, Mitsu Turbo Eclipse, Sentra SE-R, and more) but I've just taken delivery of my 04 Enth. in Silverstone with the A/T and I've got NO regrets. The car is just broken in with 1300 miles on it and whether I floor it in D or manual shift it, it takes off.
I mentioned in another post to Yan that if I turn off A/C and TCS it seems a bit quicker. I also dropped in a K&N air filter.
My lifelong mechanic and friend says this car is like the 69 GTX-probably faster with the A/T thru the 1/4 than the manual due to the electric shifts this car does. Again, it's all personal preference, but if you are undecided, the auto is not hard to live with.

 

AC causes another belt to operate so it will slow the car down some. TCS off should help you launch quicker for sure.