[BLSTIC]

I find driving a manual gives me more of a connection to my car.

When my EF was auto I used to guide the car through the streets, slightly detached from the car. Once manual it was more involving, I could feel the immense torque, the coarseness at high revs, and the slight light-load missfire that signalled the end of the head gasket. The auto dulled the torque and muted the vibration of the missfire and natural vibrations of the engine.

Kind of like the differenc between a kids ride horse and a racehorse really. The car still had most of the same bits, but was a completely different animal.

It's worth noting that in every car I have driven in both auto and manual form has had a similar story behind it. Except the naturally aspirated subarus didn't feature the extra torque bit...