Manuals > Automatic

[Croyles]

The only real thing manuals are better than automatics for is racing or hauling, period the end. If you know how to treat a car and a you have a tachometer, you can get just as much mileage out of an automatic as you can a manual. Manuals are more fun for some people, automatics are more fun for some people. It isn't like manuals transmissions make your car an awesome rollercoaster ride or anything.

I dont explain things or my opinion very well but I'll try.
You can STILL get better mileage out of a manual. And no one said anything about it being like rollercoaster, if you have a really fast car then yeah, sure. If your driving 100km/h and then slow down to 50km/h because you are in a town, you can leave the car in the highest gear (5th or 6th) and it will use nearly half of the petrol youd use if you were in the 3rd or 4th gear. Automatics will automatically switch your gear down. If you are driving uphill or downhill, its much better being able to switch your gear down. If you are going up something very steep, you still have a chance if you switch even lower (without going further than your trusty redline of course). Even semi-automatics (tiptronics) will change the gear for you if your RPM is very high. Sometimes though, you just need your RPM very high.

But imagine driving through a long open road in a town in the 5th or 6th gear for 30 minutes and you already saved quite a bit of cash.

I don't understand what you mean by more control. The gears shift in the exact same way, fuel goes to the engine the exact same way, and it'll all happen at about the exact same speeds. What does that give the driver of manual control over? The ability to blow his or her engine because they left it in neutral. That's about all I see.

Like I said, going uphill, downhill or around corners. You can regulate your speed and g-force in more ways than acceleration or brake in a manual.
A little neat extra in this department is that you can brake using the engine, so your brakes dont wear out quite so fast (if your bothered about that sort of thing).

And I have no idea at all what makes you think manual transmissions are safer than automatics, at all.

If you are overtaking someone you can switch your gear down and your car will gain much more momentum. You therefore avoid oncoming traffic as soon as possible. You can escape general risks quicker this way too.

Also, faulty brakes are a problem, and a very bad one if your in the middle of driving. So your driving, and your brakes dont work. In a manual you just switch to the lowest possible gear and the engine brakes for you. Of course, its got nothing on your normal brakes, but it definitely does still give you a chance at not rolling off a cliff if you have a reasonable amount of space.
Maybe theres something like this in automatics? I dont actually know..

And like Bert stated, winter is a bummer, and manuals (tend to) handle it better.

Really, it all comes down to preference. I don't have a preference, I can drive either. I think this is all about "I'm better than you, because I have a common but in the long run not so much worthwhile skill that you don't." Well I can talk like a chipmunk! My virtually useless skill is more entertaining.

Yeah theres some friendly competition in this, thats all. Actually, I have a really underdeveloped ego and this is the only way for me to feel great. Im not even talking about driving skill, I think all of you who drive automatics are capable of driving manuals. Of course its about preference, but im still gonna try and prove that manuals are better.