You can squeak a little more out of a Manual, plus it's more fun to drive. As far as a daily driver an auto might be better if you encounter a lot of stop and go, but I don't seem to mind. You'll also be racking up the miles so if you're keeping it for the life of the car I would suggest a manual because automatics are really expensive to replace and no one really knows how long the tranny's last since they are fairly new.

I have no winter driving experience and don't plan on having any.