I drove both at the dealership. I drove the automatic first and did not want the car at all.

I did not like the way it shifted as an auto. I also thought it was a tiptronic and tried that out and was severely disappointed in the lag. it still shifted on me even though I tried to force it into second. All you can do with it is try to negotiate the shift points against what it is programmed to do. I cannot believe they are going to only offer the SRT-6 with this autostick - what is the point? It would be like buying a corvette or a Ferrari with a automatic. Don't get me wrong, I would be the first to buy a Porsche with an auto/tiptronic tyranny. This way you get the best of both worlds.

I took the manual out and did not like the clutch pedal. It seems to be a little lose and have some play compared to the other cars I checked out (RX9, 350Z, Corvette). It also has a rubber bumper feel to the shifter, which was a little strange. You can also felt he engine idle through the shift ****, which is fine but I thought Mercedes would have prevented this. It's ok though because feeling the engine through the shift **** has a very American muscle car appeal to it.

But the manual car had some zip to it! On top of that, turning of the dreadful traction control really let it open up.

The only part on the manual that bugs me is that my knee hits the bottom of the dash when my foot is on top of the clutch. They really need to redesign that part of the lower dash.

To each their own,

-marc