Yes, and nothing compares to the driving thrill of being in your manual Chevette at a stoplight at the top of one of those glorious hills and see a Rolls Royce crawl right up to your back bumper.
Like many of those who’ve posted about their preference for automatic transmissions, I consider automobiles primarily a means of transportation, not as an extension of my personality or a way to impress others. I’ve owned five automobiles in my life:
[ul]
[li]1974 Datsun B210 Hatchback w/4 speed manual transmission[/li][li]1980 Datsun 210 2-dr sedan w/5 speed manual transmission[/li][li]1980 Honda Accord 4-dr sedan w/5 speed manual transmission[/li][li]1988 Ford Tempo 4-dr sedan w/automatic transmission (3 of them, actually, in the four years I owned it)[/li][li]1995 Honda Civic 4-dr sedan w/5 speed manual transmission[/li][/ul]
Mr. Practicality and Simplicity when it comes to cars, that’s me. None of these cars would have impressed anyone with their looks, styling, performance, or luxury options. They were all acquired for the sole purpose of providing me with a way to get from one place to another.
Having said that, however, I will point out that all except the Tempo had manual transmissions (the Tempo I purchased from my girlfriend, now wife, when she went out of the country for a year and I needed to replace the Accord quickly, not because I actually wanted it). I simply feel far more in control of the vehicle and better able to deal with unexpected situations when I have some input as to how the power generated by the engine is delivered (or not delivered) to the driveshaft and thence to the wheels. All of these cars, except the 74 Datsun, I’ve driven in Atlanta traffic, but shifting up and down in traffic is so (you should pardon the expression) automatic to me that I don’t have to think about it at all; it’s much more worrisome to me to have to drive most automatics, where I can only guess at how, given the current momentum of the vehicle, RPMs, current gear, incline of the road and other factors, the vehicle will respond when I attempt to accelerate. I also hate not being able to decelerate in any way other than using the brakes. My wife’s 1993 Mazda 626 with the V6 would have been an absolute joy to drive with a manual; with the automatic, it was still OK, but nothing like as responsive as it should have been.
I’ve driven a few (a very few) cars with automatics that responded adequately when I accelerated, but in every case they were expensive vehicles with tons of excess power. I still felt the absence of the ability to downshift for engine braking, etc. I suppose one of the newer clutchless manual transmissions might represent a decent compromise, but I’ve never had the chance to try one.
Perhaps it’s a result of having learned to drive a manual transmission in fairly hilly area, but I’ve never had the mortal horror of stopping or parking on hills that seems to affect so many people. I rolled back a few inches a couple of times early on, but haven’t really had problems since.
Finally, I learned to loath the expense of replacing automatic transmissions when I had the Tempo. Twelve hundred bucks ain’t my idea of fun. Sure, I had to have clutch and/or transmission repairs on most of the others, but never more than a few hundred at a time. And we won’t even mention the fuel economy benefits of manual transmissions.
Well, I can say that my Mustang’s shifter is only “OK” quality, but still much much better then that of pony cars of the 1980’s/1990’s.
IMO, you really can’t beat a Toyota manual transmission - it feels like you are shifting an aircraft-quality precision transmission made of teflon-coated precisely-interlocking titanium blocks (whew!). Soooooo much better than my Mustang. I understand that the Tremecs they put on as a factory 5-speed starting in August 1998 (2 weeks after mine was made 
) are really good.
I keep having this discussion with my SO. He thinks that manual transmissions are the way to go. He describes all of the speed and the precision control. His vivid descriptions of hairpin turns on mountain side roads are truly inspiring.
Now for reality. We live in a city. We have four kids. We drive a minivan. We hardly ever drive on the highway, and when we do, I can hardly talk him into going 5 over the limit. We’ve never even been to the mountains together, and everytime I go, I wind up doing 30 km/h behind some big motorhome anyway.
I’ve always owned an automatic (although I can, and too often have to, drive a manual). I’ve never lost control of it, never noticed any speed loss over manuals.
A manual may be fine if you plan on driving the Indy 500, but you’re really going to have to repeat the part about why on earth an average city living person really needs a manual.
You people who hate automatics are turning this country into a police state! First, you banned all the automatics outright, and now you’re after the semi-automatics. Soon, they will all be illegal! And then you won’t even be able to protect yourself in your own home!
Oh, wait … sorry, I thought this was a gun control debate.
OMG! Someone notify the media! Hell, notify Ed. Phil and I actuall agree on something! Fuckin’ A! I knew the discord couldn’t last forever. 
–Tim
Always driven automatics. Have had several people try to teach me to drive a stick and gosh darn if I didn’t work my little heart out, but it just didn’t take. Just couldn’t get the hang of it. And if you think that makes me a bad driver, SCA-REWWWWW YOUUUUUUUUU! I’ve managed to avoid several accidents (NONE of which would have been my fault initially) in an automatic 4-cylinder Mustang (which had more pickup than a scalded dog) and an automatic '67 T-bird. I learned early on how to ‘shift’ an automatic by briefly easing up on the gas pedal, but I don’t really do that anymore. Never, ever had a problem with transmissions, even after putting 135,000 (NYC/LA/interstate driving) miles on the Mustang. And there have been any number of times I’ve been driving in a city and thought “Thank fook I’m not in a manual or I would’ve been in deeeep doo-doo just now!”
So BLEAH!
Oh, and Silvio: the Fred Flintstone modification suggestion was hilarious! Must remember to use that one on my “manual transmission snob” family members sometime!
If it has a 5 speed, that’s because it has no power, so you are shifting 5 times up and down for every block of city traffic.
And I have to wait 15 for the bridge toll booth traffic, with my clutch foot getting so damn sore.
They belong in the dump, all of them. They have outlived their times.
My first car was an 81 Camero with automatic transmission. I never got heat for it. I don’t see the point of having a manual in city traffic.
I learned to drive on a 4-speed '72 Volkswagon Bug. I loved that car…
I have always had manuals, I still prefer them for handling in the snow, but yes, as most people said, in stop-and-go traffic, an automatic is better.
I bought my first automatic 4 years ago, when I had to get a “family” car, a Saturn wagon. I figured what the heck, I’ll be lazy. I love it, though.
I nearly gave myself whiplash the first few weeks with it, reaching for the non-existant clutch pedal and accidentally hitting the brake. What an idiot!
I do have to admit that for daily commuting through traffic lights, or highway traffic jams a manual doesn’t work very well. I get serious clutch-cramps, plus the extra work really shortens the life of the clutch. If I was going to get two cars, I would get an auto for commuting, but still need the manual for the weekends.
People keep mentioning the superiority of manuals on ice, and I wanted to expound a bit. An automatic will often lurch into gear, or downshift unexpectedly. This sudden change in torque will often “break” the car from the road(loss of synchronized speed and wheel turn), which will often end up with the car never regaining traction until it slides into the ditch.I’ve never driven a fancy automatic with a spangly traction control system, so I don’t know if solves the problem or not. Also if you are in the ditch, a manual will allow easy rocking back and forth until you are clear, while an auto will often not engage fast enough, or drop the tranny completely.
I recently inherited my dad’s 1985 Porsche, which is a standard. It has 160K miles on it and still hauls ass.
Now that I’ve disclosed my bias…
I like standard better than automatic because:
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As automatic transmissions get older, they need a lot more maintenance than a manual.
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There is nothing like driving balls-out on a standard, nailing the top end of every gear in an out-and-out sprint.
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Until recently, all sports cars were faster off the line with a manual tranny. I think it was the Corvette that first upended this long-standing rule. It still holds true for most sports cars, though.
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It’s easier to do stunts like 180s and stuff with a standard.
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Chicks dig it.
I drive a truck with 10 speeds (You need seven of them to get up to 20 MPH) and a clutch that feels like doing leg presses in Boston traffic 8-10 hours a day. So I have no sympathy for anyone who bitches that their little 5 speed is to much trouble to drive and their clutch foot is getting sore.