|
I knew I would get some goats with the manual only comment.
And yes, I speak only for myself and a small contingent of diehards.
I like manuals because I feel genuinely more involved via mechanical linkage to the car. I like that I have greater control over the car because it will never upshift or downshift except when I want it to and I have other control advantages via varying degrees of clutch engagement (although that last bit is only useful a small percentage of my driving time). I honestly hate it when an automatic shifts for me uncommanded.
All that should come with the context that I am a helicopter pilot and that direct mechanical linkage with all four appendages is a similar feel. It just makes me feel like a part of the machine in a way that the disconnected autos don't, but that is my personal preference (and that of a small percentage of enthusiasts).
Do modern high-end autos and DCTs outperform manuals? In most cases yes. Why are the high-end cars (Lambos, Ferrarris, etc) going to them almost exclusively? Because they want to eke out every last possible fraction of a second for performance numbers, and because we are an increasingly push-button automated society. The nintendo/playstation generation wants simple, and there is nothing wrong with that. I just prefer to do it myself.
So,
The RS3 is irrelevant for me and lots of others because it won't come in manual. That, and I have yet to drive any audi that had decent steering feel, especially compared to Bimmers.
|