I lol'd.
I love manual transmission. Doesn't even bother me to drive around in Portland during rush hour traffic. About the only nuisance is when I'm on a steep hell at a stop light / stop sign and someone is wayyyy too close to my rear end. No matter how quick you are, when you release the brake and push on the gas you're going to drift back a little bit. At least in my experience.
When I first started driving, I was scared to death of shifting into first gear on even the slightest incline. Now it's no big whoop.
I learned on a 5-speed Porsche 914 2.0L in the 1970s.
The most important aspect of manuals is that (a) you can see a patch of ice or a hill ahead, and downshift ahead of time - an automatic cannot 'know' what's coming and cannot prepare for the new condition. It can only react once you have arrived at the new condition. Granted most modern computer-assisted automatics can be very good, especially in highly engineered cars like Mercedes - their 6- and 7-speed automatics do brilliantly and I get about 46mpg (diesel) in my used 2005.
(b) you can jump-start a vehicle with a dead battery, busted starter, etc. Just get a hill, coast down with the clutch disengaged and the tranny in 1 or 2, and when you have a good bunch of momentum, release the clutch. As long as your alternator is still good, the rolling wheels will turn over the engine and the alternator will ignite the spark plugs, and cough-cough-chuf-POW!-pop-pop VROOM your engine is running! It's a bumpy ride starting an engine this way but you can now drive home or drive to a garage and get you starter or battery fixed.
(c) All automatic transmissions allow at least a little slip between then engine and the wheels, even in overdrive. That slip wastes fuel, but in a manual you make a direct, mechanical, no-slack connection from the engine to the wheels. It gains you a couple extra mpgs on the highway.
To reppy's point about derp-a-zoids who pull right up to your bumper when you're on a hill stopped at a light, the trick is the two-feet-operate-three-pedals method:
1. Right foot is on fuel pedal, slightly above idle (watch your tach.) Maybe 1700 or 2000 depending on the car.
2. Left foot is turned out horizontal so your heel is on the brake (depressed enough to hold the car on the hill,) and you point your toe on the clutch pedal to keep the clutch disengaged.
3. Light turns yellow the other way, so un-point your toe and the clutch begins to engage. Your car will lurch forward a bit but it is being held back at by the brakes.
This is like the moment during a rocket launch that the rocket motor is ignited and generating thrust but still clamped down to the launch pad.
4. Green Light! Apply full throttle with the right foot, (you
always floor it at the green light, right?) Twist your left heel off the brake and pull off your toe to engage the clutch fully. You will rocket into the intersection smartly and with an engine roar which (Boston driving) is good for intimidating pedestrians, bicycles and other retarded Steven-Hawking-mobiles in the crosswalks, and (Boston again) they will scatter like cockroaches before you.
YOU ARE ON YOUR WAY!! (Boston drivers don't
share the road, we
clear the road.)
Now if you REALLY want to have fun, try double-clutching an older tractor-trailer (thru the 1980s) - those trannys did NOT have synchronizing rings!
Jaybug (above) also seems to know about this. It's a b_tch to learn but actually really cool once you discover the knack.
Lastly, If you are cruzzin' along and a thimble-brained numb-nut [TM] cuts in front of you, disengage the clutch as you brake. Once you need to apply power again, check your speed, as you might have decelerated below the speed range of the current gear. Select a lower gear if you need, then release the clutch and build back to your original speed.
Optional: Flip the numb-nut a birdie as you blow his doors off. (I had a buddy back East who kept loose pennies in his center console and he'd huck a penny at the guy's window glass... Don't do this nowadays...)
