:D Grand Nationals were all automatic :D I think

 

I read somewhere the auto has around a 10:1 overall ratio while the manual is 15:1. That should make the manual noticably faster out of the gate, but give the auto more "live-ability" in traffic as well as a slightly better overall gas mileage.

As for automatics being sissified... always remember a properly mapped auto can and often will beat a manual (driver dependant) in a straight line and will almost always turn in more consistant times.

If you want cheap heart pounding gear action, buy a motorcycle and watch while all but the 100k+ cars try and keep up with your 12k investment. Not to mention few if any cars can beat the thrill of mountain riding (we have Deals Gap where I am at).

 

Yeah, because if there's one thing the tC is, it's a drag racing monster.