Originally Posted by wstar

There's no driving to actually do in stop and go traffic. You're just sitting there tailing someone at 5mph and hoping some idiot behind you doesn't doze off enough to rear-end you. So I don't see how the 6MT keeps you any less bored, unless you get excited by constantly slipping your clutch in and out of gear at low speed, gently wearing it out with every press.

The "and this is my first manual car" is telling too. Come back and tell us what you think after a few more years in that stop and go traffic. My last car was a 6MT, I drove it for 10 years, and most of that time I was commuting in Houston. At the beginning I made all kinds of justifications about how the 6MT was worth it, but by the end I was ready to throw in the towel. Most of my driving miles on that car were spent slipping the clutch in 5mph traffic, and it's hard to justify that for the 10% of the time when you get to open it up on a weekend cruise.

I don't even commute now because I work from home, but I still went with the 7AT because quite frankly it's the most kick-*** automatic I've ever driven, and Houston still has traffic that I occasionally have to wade through. 7 gears, a lower-geared 1st gear than your 6mt, and one less pedal to worry about, it's a win for me. I stay in M-mode all the time, and for all practical (and many not-so-practical) purposes it's basically like driving a manual without ever having to worry about the clutch.

"But, but, if you're not using a clutch, you're not a real driver..."

Yeah and if you're not rev-matching for yourself with a perfect heel-toe technique you're not either, so you always turn off your 6MT's SRM system right?... right?......