:drama:

Great post. I take the opposite tack with the lifecycle of manuals, though. In twenty years I think a stick and a clutch pedal will be an option, just as it is today. In Europe they still scoff at AT's unless it's on an F1 car, then of course it's ok. :rofl2:

In the US, the AT rules since the US is so auto-centric for commuting as opposed to EuroAsia which is public-transport-centric for commuting. In the US, the rush-hour traffic jam is a fact of life that begs an AT. In Europe it's like 'ok it's Saturday let's take the Carrera out for the day'.

The Manual Transmission/Clutch Shall Endure. I hereby decree it. :driving:

My Car & Driver (April 09) has the 6MT running a 13.4 @ 107. It appears the going trend is to compare the 7AT's fastest times against the 6MT's slowest "magazine" times. As each week passes, the performance gap between the two cars gets larger which amuses me. I would give the automatic a tenth or two at the most in the quarter and that's factoring the 37 extra pounds it's lugging around. Until the two square off at the track with equal drivers, this discussion will continue on, which is harmless entertainment.

Test drove the 7AT this past weekend and was impressed with it's quick shifts and smooth operation, but not enough to sway me away from the manual. In my former drag racing days, we would bust on drivers with automatic transmissions. Those days are gone, A/T's have improved so much they now have to be considered in the purchase of a performance vehicle, where before I would not have given the automatic a second thought. :)

while motor trend posts a 13.2 with the 6MT.... Your right shaba, assaulted by magazine numbers, I have my own to hit back with.

Woot woot hahaha - seriously guys ... we are taking about 0.2 seconds... you know how much time we have wasted arguing about this lol...

.2 seconds is huge! Why, that's as long as my sexual stamina! :mad: