Reviving a really old thread...lol
When I went looking for my GTi, I flat out ignored everything that wasn't manual. I drive in stop and go traffic all the time. No big deal. I like shifting. I like shifting in advance of the acceleration bump I want for the pass that's about to happen. Sometimes you get stuck behind people that don't want you to pass them and they will block you in behind other cars, slam the throttle when you come out beside them to pass, pull over in front of me so I am back behind them again or hit the brakes to close the gap I'm about to go through. For people like this, I just give them the chance. I'm geared down well before the pass and accelerating then accelerating out the next lane before they can even react. By the time they slam the throttle or try to move into my lane or whatever stupid control stunt they pull, I'm already gone and the most they can do is scream at me for ruining their control trip.
Paddle shifters will let you shift down in advance too, but an automatic without them, pretty much sucks and even with them can still be horrible. I borrowed a 2017 Taureg for a day. I hated that transmission and of course the turbo was UBER laggy. I would go to pass someone, floor the gas pedal and then count down from 3 before the turbo would kick in. I'd paddle shift down and then if I let off the gas or coasted for a second or braked the transmission would shift back up. GRRR! I never deal with any of that with my manual. I'm in control of the gear ratio, not some predictive algorithm in a computer that has no way of reading my mind or knowing what I am about to do or what the control freak idiot in front of me is thinking.
