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Originally Posted by Legbreaker
As an ex-professional driver on Sydney's busy streets, I still prefer a manual over an automatic, even with the constant gear changes.
It's all about the control you have over the vehicle. Sure ten or twelve hours ever day on the road in traffic was tough, but on the few occasions I had to drive an automatic, I HATED it.
And since I was doing mobile security patrols at the time with each stop usually no more than a few hundred metres apart, there were a hell of a lot of gear changes!
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I've known a lot of cops in my life (and my next-door neighbor is a retired deputy sheriff for this county), and they have all said that they prefer a stick to an automatic in their police cars, and civilian cars if available. They tell me that transmission response is much faster than on an automatic transmission.
I also know that Special Forces troops I've spoken to prefer a stick when they are driving vehicles appropriate to the role (such as civilian vehicles in urban areas and suchlike). For long, overland hauls, they prefer automatics, however; it reduces driver fatigue. An that was in general the US Army's reasoning to switch to an all-automatic combat fleet -- reduction of driver fatigue.