The whole thing is not about what/who is better. Yes, I'm old school and I rather have my hands busy than having a freehand to pick my nose as I drive. As someone here posted, if everything nowadays comes with auto + paddle shifters, then I'll be buying used and old cars in the not so distant future. The OP was just asking for our insights as to what are our preferences. In theory, no one here is better than the other (cough, cough).
IMO the true essence of a sports cars are:
1- Tachometer dead centered above the steering wheel.
2- Not much interior space but the driver side (and maybe a passenger seat for the mistress).
3- Low center of gravity
4- And a manual transmission that includes a clutch pedal and a shifter stick.
Now, given the new technology and (F1 inspirations) we can find an array of vehicles from super exotics down to the most affordable cars, utilizing this new tech stuff and some of them have proven to be better in some instances where a paddle shifter (teptronic, slapper, semi auto stick) or whatever they call them to be able to set new records at just about any track and even when doing battle against manual transmissions as well.
Most of us know, it all comes down to driver and the vehicle abilities but if paddle shifter/slapper drivers feel better at driving without a real shifter and a clutch lever then... let them be. Meanwhile I'll be having real fun with busy hands and feet while trying to tame the Z demons.
