My thoughts on MT and AT having tested them both today. I can only comment on use on normal uk roads and not track use. I have never been on a track.
MT is superb, short and satisfying shifts. Good close ratios plenty of fun on twisty roads. At motorway cruising speeds hovers around 3500 rpm. I liked the MT very much and you won't have regrets with it.
AT is tail of 2 beasts. Normal drive mode is fine if you drive very sensibly(baby or granny on board) then It does the job fine. A spirited drive sees kick downs and quick changes, but not overly impressed. It was shifting unintuitively for me, bit slow compared to MT to get the best out of the car. Put it into sport mode and it holds higher revs for longer, better but not the same control I felt with the MT. At this point I am thinking I want to like the AT but its not as good as MT for sure. However shift it to M and use paddles, and you have something else. Full control of changes, quick shifts, when I wanted it to, got onto a twisty welsh road and boy was it fun. Never tried a paddle shift before, this was my first experience and appreciated the novelty value, but only interested in how it made the driving xperience. I could drive and turn and paddle shift in harmony, Enjoying the drive, the road and avoiding sheep, yes there was one on the road. of course you can get this experience that with MT, but I wanted it in the AT.
Go down a gear and it blips the throttle, agree it is not necessary in town, and when i had it on paddles, i had stares in town due to the revs. But leave it on D in town and no blips.
I spend a lot of time on motorways commutes and rpm is lower at just over 2000rpm. Fuel economy and lower emissions not a factor, lower revs will mean shifting down a gear probably 2 to overtake, but I like a quieter cruise. I will leave it in D when the baby is in the car or when I just want to cruise home on the motorway. Paddles when on my own and a nice twisty road.
I would have gone for the MT if the paddles were rubbish or not fun. I guess it all depends what you intend to use the car for and what you think is fun.
Went for red, auto, leather red, nav and jbl. stock sound system is ok, but having a bose system now , it was too much of a step down. Was told delivery in second half of september. Now the wait begins.