Manuals are a lot of fun when the road is a lot of fun.
I guess that's the appeal of those flappy-paddle automatics, being able to select the gear you want and yet have an automatic whenever you want it.
I have found something interesting to be true of my 08 GT vert:
The engine is so flexible, has such a broad torque range, that on back roads (where I would want a manual) I basically just select back and forth between 2 and 3, and that does the trick for every situation.
But when I drive my buddy's manual, I think "this is fun" at first.
A few dozen shifts later I'm thinking "man, now I have to shift again" and want my auto back.
I guess I'm just old and lazy...