I grew up on a farm and know how to drive standard. My first car was a Plymouth Sundance, but it was automatic. My second car was a Toyota Tercel, and it was standard. I loved that car!. It died with 470000(292000 miles) km on it. Then i had a 90 Dodge Ram, which I lent to my friend and he wrote off a few weeks after I got it. It was auto. Then i got a 95 neon, and it was stick. Now I Have a 95 dakota, and a 90 dodge ram again, and they are both autos. I have to say I love my stadards, but also like the easiness that autos ,ale driving. But Im definately getting a stick for my next truck, and I find they are better on gas than autos.

 

for certain things i would like a standard and certain things i would like a auto.(i drive an auto) for offroading (muddin) applications i would prefer to have an automatic because i know from experience that when your going through deep mud and your just barely keepin your truck from gettin stuck that letting off the gas to shift causes you to lose momentum and get stuck so for that i would prefer and auto but with a chip or something so that it will hold out gears longer. for drag racing id rather have an auto also for the same reason that when you shift you lose momentum. thats the reason that drag cars have 2 spd auto trannies. for street racing or track racing id rather have a standard because you can downshift to slowdown without using your brakes.
just my $0.02

 

Most of my vehicles have been manuals. I like the feeling of control while making the machine do what I want it to, when I want it to do it. The only 2 of my past vehicles that I can think of, that were automatics, are trucks. Its not that I prefer autos in trucks, it just worked out that way. We hadn't had a truck around the house in quite awhile and the wife convinced me it would be a good idea to have one again. I bought a Nissan Hardbody that was a 5 spd but found it was to small, wife doesn't like sticks, it kept getting broken into, and that was 3 strikes and its gone. I don't think I would have bought my QC if it was a stick just because she wouldn't be able to drive it. She still won't drive the QC but thats just she thinks its monsterously huge

 

Here's my take (granted it's more towards cars). Before my Avenger had the swap done to it, it was an automatic. I liked being able to drink my coffee coming to work and it was convenient when I was stopped on a hill and just plain, not having to worry about nothing but the gas and brake. I agree with John about the auto too. I also missed driving a stick so, when I had the swap done, I requested a manual tranny...and I don't have issues on hill or inclines, although drinking coffee in lower gears is pretty tough, I don't worry about what gear I'm in or what I need to go into because I learned to drive in a manual car and I took to it pretty quickly, so it's pretty much second nature to me. I also like knowing that I can squeeze every last bit of rpm out of the motor before shifting (power in my hands thing). All in all, I've only owned one car that was an auto and 5 standards...personal preferrence - standards
IMO, there are different applications for both transmissions, one isn't necessarily better than the other, just whatever suits you. For anyone that thinks that a manual is best for racing...look into shift kits and high stall torque converters.

Cliff notes...Automatic tranny - convenient and worry free when it comes to gearing....Manual tranny - control over the motor (that's all I see, lol)

*edit*
I just saw when this thread was started[sm=burnout.gif]