No, it is quite simple. 1. Manuals are for people who enjoy driving. My car can do 82 in second gear, with a 1.3L engine. The auto version is one of the most sluggish cars ever made. 2. Manuals let you have more control over the car. Sometimes I want to keep the revs high, if I’m about to merge but not just yet. 3. If I get stuck, it can always be push started, and being such a light car I could do it myself. Edit: It is a dying art, and part of me is pig headed enough to drive it just because no one else can, and I am a car enthusiast. I tend to do some things like that just to be different, but I really do like manuals a lot more than any other transmission. I particularly hate CVTs.