I like them both, and have both.

I think it depends on the driving you plan on doing. Not sure I would really want a stick for everyday driving in traffic anymore, but used to love it. Driving a stick becomes muscle memory and automatic after a while.

When I ordered the Challenger, I ordered it with the 5 speed automatic so Mrs. HemiEd could drive it, as she refuses to learn how to drive a stick.

Well the Challenger is 50 months old now, and she still hasn't driven it, and says she won't until I get the first dent, so I should have gotten the stick.

Our 4wd Dodge Ram has a 5 speed stick and it is a lot of fun. I honestly don't think an automatic would handle backing the boat up the hill into the garage like the stick does. Forward yes, but not backing up. Low lock rocks!

I think it is funny when you take it to a car wash or a valet, and they have to go get the guy that knows how to drive something with three pedals.

Do those get any of the aforementioned benefits of using a manual (while in manual mode?)

Manual.

Never owned an automatic...

Depends on the car. Some cars should never be produced with an automatic transmission.

Even today, manuals tend to be faster than their equivalent automatic counterparts. Manual is more fun, but automatic is better in 99% of daily driving situations.

I don’t necessarily disagree with that. If an engine is making enough power the difference in parasitic loss is negligible, and modern transmissions have become much more efficient than they used to be.
With the Prius you’ve got a lot of things going on other than just delivering power to the wheels. Like when you first hit the brakes in a Prius you’re not actually putting brake pad to disk, it’s actually connecting the electric motor in reverse as it spins it is charging the batteries. This is how they get their fantastic mileage in stop and go traffic. That’s also something I don’t think would be easy to accomplish with a manual transmission.

I prefer a manual transmission myself. Driving through inclement weather, I feel that I have more complete control over the vehicle than with an AT. Also, from a practical standpoint, I think a MT is cheaper to maintain than an automatic and less prone to breakage. Another plus for me is that I feel I could probably fix a problem with my MT myself, but an AT, probably not.
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That is interesting, things must have changed, I hadn't thought of that.

I know back in my drag racing days, one of the advantages of putting a 'glide in my Mopar (other than the tranny brake :p) was that it only took about 48 hp to run it, and the 727 took about a 100.

I am sure torque converter technology has helped a lot with the gas mileage and the efficiency situation as well. The early "lock up" converters were a real problem source, but I haven't heard anything about them in years now.

In a Vette or something like that, stick all the way. In your commuter box, who wants to mess with a clutch.

It’s still the same transmission spinning all the same parts, but you’ll have more control over when it shifts. This could be good or bad for gas mileage. With me behind the wheel, mostly bad.

I havent driven a stick in years, but i remember it being alot of fun.

It just wouldnt work for me today, (wife) and the stop and go traffic i drive in nearly everyday to and from work.

I think a big part of the efficiency with modern auto transmissions comes from having electric servos do the shifting instead of fluid pressure. At least that’s the main difference between something like a TH700R4 and a 4L60E. They’re both GM 4 speeds but one is electronic controlled and the other still requires fluid pressure to sense when to shift and provide the power to shift.

It just makes you feel like you have more control of the car......almost like the racecar feel.

I dunno JMO....

All I know if that my first car was a 5-spd manual...and i miss driving it LOL.

Give me manual or give me death.

I’m just a shade tree wrench but I’ve been through a few manual transmissions now, once you learn the basic operation of one they’re actually pretty simple beasts. Still wouldn’t touch an automatic though. There’s some voodoo going on inside of one and I’d just prefer to take it to someone that knows what they’re doing.