I counted them all up, interpreted confusing answers, added my manual vote, and here is what I came up with:
Manual: 20 Auto: 9 Neutral: 1
Manuals don't bother me in traffic. The worst part about driving manual in traffic for me is imagining all the clutch wear going on.
Autos [censored] me off. They don't shift up when I want them to, they get [censored] gas mileage, the torque converters refuse to lock up except in top gear at lower loads(older autos) which means you can repeatedly press the gas then let off and the rpms will vary wildly, meanwhile your speed stays the same.... This leads to incredible inefficiency, more heat, and an annoyed driver. Just use the [censored] gears! Don't pretend that you have more gears because of your stupid torque converter! Meanwhile, new autos are just fine, they lock up the TC right away and are much more fun and fuel efficient.
And above all, manuals are just way too much fun. I have never understood the mentality that a car needs to be a purpose built sporty/fun car to have a manual. A manual will make anything more fun! Take my car for instance, just some boring V6 sedan. Add a manual to it, and suddenly it becomes something special.
Autos also don't conform to my driving style: Moderate throttle at low-medium rpms to keep engine efficiency high. Autos interpret my throttle command as shift at 4000 rpm, meanwhile in the manual, I shift at about 2700 when it is clear in front of me. If I am done accelerating, and don't need extra power to traverse inclines, then I will shift into very high gears, autos never do that for me. (One exception being my dad's 2014 Mercedes-Benz E550)
Originally Posted By: ecotourist
Manual all the way.
My last 4 cars have been manuals. In fact I search out cars which have good manuals (a BMW 5 series, a 2007 Honda Accord - an uncommon 1 year only sedan with a V6 6MT, a Toyota Solara SL which had a V6 5MT).
In over 50 years of driving I've only owned 2 automatics, both bought used. One was good, the other one wasn't (and a big headache on a low value older vehicle).
The Honda Accord V6 6 Speed sedan was available for TWO years, 2006 and 2007, I have a 2006 right now.