getting fast cars in automatic....

[astroglide]

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I am going to buy a car and a lot of the cars I like are the semi-trick ones like VW GTI and Subaru WRX. The problem is I don't know how to drive a stick shift. Am I a big tool if I get these cars in automatic and just use the paddle shifter occ.? fwiw, its not that i dont want to learn driving a stick its just that I dont want to.

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with audi/vw, i think their automatics rock because of the direct shift gearbox. it can run in fully automatic mode (normal or sport), but it also has paddles on the steering wheel for clutch-free gear changes. the gti actually quotes slightly better gas mileage for dsg over manual and even identical or slightly faster 0-60 times, so those commonly-cited advantages are out the window. there's also a launch control feature built into newer models that will basically queue up an automated redline drag race shifting mode when you enter a command sequence.

my car is a manual jetta gli. it's very fun to drive, and i've been a stick driver all the way back to my very first car. if i were to buy a gti, i would go dsg. i drove an audi a3 with it, and i thought it was a ton of fun with plenty of control. even though you don't have experience with manuals, test driving a dsg automatic should be a very different experience from a standard automatic. i suggest giving that a twirl.