I find it interesting that several articles, including this one, recommend the automatic over the manual transmission. I think this preference is based on the amount of mileage the test cars have. Since I owned my car since new, I've had a chance to see how things have progressed over time. It's my experience that like all older german products, the crossfire requires some breaking in before you really notice the sweet spot of these cars. For the first 10k-15k miles I've owned the car, every mechanical aspect of the car was very tight and difficult to move. But I've noticed things have loosened up very nicely over the ~15k mile mark. I think the shifter, while still notchy, has a great feel to it and requires far less effort now.