Any stick shift enthusiasts here ?

I would guess that most of you who live in North America drive cars with automatic transmissions as opposed to the manual transmission or stick shift.I drive a 1999 Honda Civic 4 speed automatic myself, which are not very common in Ireland or anywhere else in Europe for that matter, as most cars over here tend to be stick shift,only the premium and luxury cars are auto.

The reason I ask is that I came across this article on CarandDriver.com the other day called Save The Manuals  and it seems that most car makers these days are offering more and more automatic transmissions of one sort or another whether it be paddle shift,tiptronic style buttons,clutchless manuals etc.They must be fearing the full demise of the stick shift soon enough.
Even the high end sports cars which used to be primarily manual are now all offered in automatic only such as the Bugatti Veyron,Nissan GTR,Ferrari 458 and even European hot hatches like the VW Golf & Polo GTI's.

Personally I prefer automatics and I wouldn't like to go back to driving stick.I think auto boxes are a luxurious feature (notice how ALL luxury cars and SUVs are auto)and don't take much away from the driving experience. And they are also getting better and more efficient than the manual ones as gear upshifts can be made faster on a dual clutch auto than a conventional manual.

What do you guys think ??  Stick or auto ? 

Auto for sure. There is too much traffic and stops signs these days, not to mention cops looking for speeders. Whats the point of having a stick if you have to stop at 70? Also, even with an experienced stick drivers, the ride is not near as smooth as with auto.....

When and where I learned to drive mid 80's you were a box if you drove a auto, get the feeling looking around the city I live in now that having your car pimped out is more important than anything.

Great memories of my old man teaching me to drive.  Don't think that happens much anymore.  Stalling at stoplights, shit like that good times.

Sticks are fun in cars that have balls. But not fun all of the time as they can also be a hassle.

Then you have your auto-sticks which aren't bad if you want to be somewhere in the middle. (Which my wife is convinced that she is driving a standard)

Porsche Boxster - weak if it were an automatic, but not all that fun in LA stop n stop traffic

One of my favorite cars was a '65 Plymouth Sport Fury with four in the floor and loud pipes.  Let me be a teenager again.

I drive both automatic and manual cars regularly.

Somehow, manual makes me feel more in control of the vehicle, despite the so-called computer boxes "intuitive" shifting.  No computer is gonna be able to tell what the driver wants at any given time.

My brother has a triptronic transmission Honda.  I say it's a joke.  It's a little switch that makes you feel smart by pressing + & - buttons, fooling you into a sense of control.  The delayed shifting is still palpable.

Tiptronic FTW

quick sports car, manual is a must, how in the hell can a his/her (whatever you want to call an automatic with a pushbutton) going to let you drop from cruising at 40 to downshifting into 2nd revving it all the way and letting the clutch fly?

anything that's not a sports car, automatic for me.

oddly enough, i have a 6 spd sports car and an automatic truck, and i bet the truck would dust the car light to light

can't stand being passenger with some doofus that is driving an automatic and constantly fingering their shifter up and down.

I masertbate a lot does that make me a stick shift enthusiast?

Automatic sucks now w/ the computer delay.  Stick all the way.

Im a stick shift man, although changing hemispheres made it hard to master when the stick went from my left hand to my right hand.

I got to zip around in an 5 speed 1988 BMW M6 today

How do you drink a beer, smoke your joint, flick people off, and hit your buddy when you see a VW if your driving a stick?

Yeah....stupid computers

Learned and grew up driving stick.

Have an auto now and I miss having a stick shift.

I dont even care about having a manual car in traffic. Not that big a hassle to me, some people complain. Next car will definitely be a stick shift again. That way less people can drive my car.

Ive talked on a phone, while drinking a beverage, steering with my knees and have shifted a car. If you drive stick enough you become better with driving with your knees.

1999 Mustang and 2005 Corvette would not want to drive them without a stick!

I myself travel by horse and buggie.  The Amish way. 

 318 or 383??????

I have a '68 Barracuda with a 4 speed.  It's fun, but with no power steering and drum brakes, it's work to drive. 

Not relevant to my point.  Yet, your comments never are.

Try 5 years of manual in that stop and go traffic that is southern California, particularly the 405 and 10 and you'll grow out of it quickly. Lets just say your coffee goes cold fast before your first few sips.  

Of course that was then, now up here in northern California, stick is fun again.  

Maybe because you never have a point.....