General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Why Stick Shifts Are Going Extinct. The End of the Stick Shift. [View all]Straw Man
(6,624 posts)... was when I was dating a woman who had a brand-new Miata. That was in 2002. Fun car, but now I would probably have trouble getting in and out of it. Now I drive a Kia Soul. There was still the option for manual when I bought it in 2017 -- I toyed with the idea, but finally decided against it.
That said, while driving an automatic is easier, more utilitarian, driving a manual transmission is a whole lot more satisfying, not to mention the fact that you have much more control of the interface between the engine and the road. One of my most frustrating experiences was living at the bottom of a long driveway with a landlady who was sloppy about paying the plow guy. I had a car with auto transmission and traction control. I could have made that hill every time with a standard, or even with a regular auto transmission, both of which would have enabled a bit of controlled wheel-spin to get me up the hill. But that damned traction control always killed the power just at the point when I needed it most.