9873210 wrote:But there tends to be a lot of machismo and hair-shirt about driving manuals which explains why there are still so many out there despite automatics being clearly superior since the mid '00s.
Maybe I've just been driving the wrong autos, then? My recent experience of a Range Rover Evoque with DSG was just as lumpy, erratic, lurchy and unpredictable as the 2003 Vauxhall which had been my last auto drive. If I'm waiting at a busy rush-hour roundabout and a gap appears and I decide to go for it, I really don't want it to count to thirteen and cough, and then give me half the torque I was expecting. Not with a bunch of BMWs and Audis bearing down on me. Given the choice, I'd rather be in charge of my revs and my choice of gear, thanks. Nothing particularly macho about that.
I've never driven a CVT, but they tell me that they're smoother but a bit noisy at speed. Oh well, I suppose it'll all be in the past when we're all driving EVs?
BJ