[Polestar Pete]

There's pros and cons about manual and automatic transmissions. For me, the positives outweigh the negatives.

One downside of course that an automatic gearbox can't think ahead, so won't downshift quickly enough when you're turning or navigating a roundabout - it'll only downshift when the engine speed isn't high enough to cope with the lowered road speed.

It is possible to counter this with the use of flappy paddles (where fitted), but many drivers simply won't bother and will be happy to dawdle their way of out roundabouts until the transmission wakes up enough to catch up with what's going on.

Sport mode can also prevent this to a certain extent, but at the expense of keeping the engine speed artificially high to give you the best torque at all times.

Manual gearboxes of course gives you the choice between torque and comfort.

I last owned a manual car about 15 years ago, but I do wear corduroys and slippers....