getting fast cars in automatic....

[z28dreams]

OP,

What it really gets down to is what YOU want to drive. Who cares what other people think of you - it's not their car.

Basically, there's a huge stigma attached to owning a sports car in automatic. In the past, it was because these transmissions were slower. This is hardly the case anymore.

The sad truth too is that 90% of manual drivers suck bad enough that people in an auto would keep up with or outrun them.

I can drive stick, but have never owned a manual, so I'm not particularly good at it. Having always lived in or near a large city, the thought of driving in rush hour traffic with a manual makes me want to vomit.

You can still get the manual control of a car without dealing with all that crap - paddle shifters and other semi-automatic systems out there make this possible.

My suggestion is to go take a day or two to learn manual, and then decide if you are willing to sacrifice some convenience for the "fun" factor. It's useful to know, and you may prefer it.

For me, living in DC and driving on the beltway, that "fun" factor is quickly canceled out by 90 minutes of stop-and-go rush hour traffic every day.