[OFFICIAL] Manual v. Automatic Thread

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Originally Posted by awkwardturtle

I couldn't live with an automatic, personally. That's not a sports car to me. Hell, I actually wish they wouldn't make sports car with automatic options because that's why you see so many 50 year old women driving mustangs.

And no, I don't have any rhyme or reason as to why I think that, it's just something I've always thought. Even if the automatic is faster, more convenient, etc, I could never allow myself an automatic in a sporty car like the Z.

The Z's automatic is in such a different category from a mustang's there's no point mentioning the two in any comparative analysis. Go test drive one at a dealership and you'll see what we're talking about.

Do you fault F1 drivers for not using a clutch? Do you think the GT-R isn't a sportscar because it doesn't have a clutch? Or let's step back from the clutch... How about "Real men don't rely on power steering and power brakes?". What about ABS and Traction Control, should a Sports Car come with those? Synchro-Rev-Match? I'm sure you turn that off 100% of the time, just like you turn off VDC, right? Why not gut the air conditioning from the car too? It just wastes power.

I can appreciate a purist in a hobby, but if you're trying to be pure to some ideal of "traditional" car racing with all-manual inputs, you have to step back a whole lot further in technology than a 6MT 370Z. Otherwise you're just pussyfooting around with "I'm gonna draw the line at exactly where my car is, but not one inch further".