[TW]Fox;16798641 said:
I always chuckle when Robbie G thinks he's made a smart comment, gets proved wrong and then runs away, replying to newer posts yet casually ignoring these
I stated my view, you stated yours. Any further discussion would have been going round in circles and therefore fruitless, given that it's clear that you view your own purchasing decisions through rose-tinted spectacles, combined with the fact that much of this is subjective, e.g. 'I just enjoy it more'.
But since you asked nicely.
I personally can't be doing with constantly waving my arms and legs around to change gear on my commute. Yes, if I was out in country B roads at the weekend it might make me feel like I was more involved in the drive, but for most of the average commuter car's usage, it's dull cruising on the m-way and dull stopping and starting in city traffic jams. Do you really want to be 'involved' in a commute, or do you want to be separated from it? For me, it's the latter.
Manual offers no advantage on motorways (where, as you already stated, it sits in 5th anyway), manual offers no advantage in traffic jams, unless you want to feel more involved in trundling along on the bumper of the Audi in front.
Iirc you started a whole thread complaining about Plymouth traffic, with a picture of you sat in a traffic jam. For a car that's commuting far more than it's destroying country roads, the commuting aspect has to carry more weight.